Teeny Manolo » Superfantastic

My Parents Were Awesome

Glinda — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 05:20:04 +0000

Now, I know I told you I would have the downsides to homeschooling for you today, but then I realized it was Wednesday.

Nobody wants to hear complaints on a Wednesday.

So, I bring to you the tumblr My Parents Were Awesome, and some of the awesomeness contained therein.

Cute Hairstyles for Girls

Glinda — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:05:33 +0000

I’m going to start this post off by apologizing to all the mothers of boys out there who read this blog.

As another person who has a son, I totally sympathize with all of the exclusive stuff that goes on with girls, whether it be clothes, or makeup, or whatever that we are usually not a part of. It’s annoying. I get it.

But I HAVE to share this website.

You see, I was searching in vain for quite a long time for easy, quick hairstyles for my two year old and her below shoulder length hair. I know how to French Braid, but seriously, that can only get you so far.

I stumbled across this website and hallelujah! Finally a place with a bunch of great, easy styles and video tutorials to boot! I actually found them before the 20/20 spot, but kudos to them, they deserve the spotlight!

It doesn’t hurt that Mindy and her entire family are cute as buttons, either.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Glinda — Sun, 08 May 2011 04:31:18 +0000

I cannot believe that in the four years I have been here, that I have never posted this. Erma Bombeck was the original, and the best.

My Favorite Child

by Erma Bombeck

Every mother has a favorite child. She cannot help it. She is only human. I have mine. That child for whom I felt a special closeness. The one I reach out to in a rare moment, to share a love that no one else could possibly understand.

My favorite child is the one who was too sick to eat the ice cream at his birthday party, had measles at Christmas and wore leg braces to bed because he toed in.

She was the fever the middle of the night, the asthma attack, the child in my arms at the emergency ward.

My favorite child spent Christmas alone away from the family, was stranded after the game with a gas tank on E, lost the money for his class ring.

My favorite child is the one who screwed up the piano recital, misspelled committee in a spelling bee, ran the wrong way with the football and had his bike stolen because he was careless.

My favorite child is the one who fell asleep over an assignment on China that the teacher never bothered to grade, flunked her drivers license test five times and told us she could hardly wait to get out of the house.

My favorite child is the one I punished for lying, grounded for insensitivity to other people’s feelings and informed he was a royal pain to the entire family.

My favorite child slammed doors in frustration, cried when she didn’t think I saw her, withdrew and said she could not talk to me.

My favorite child always needed a haircut, had hair that wouldn’t curl, had no date for Saturday night and a car that cost $1000 to fix.

My favorite child said dumb things for which there were no excuses. He was selfish, immature, bad tempered and self-centered. He was vulnerable, lonely, unsure of what he was doing in this world . . . and quite wonderful.

The one I loved the most is the one whom I have watched struggle and-because the struggle was his-done nothing.

All mothers have their favorite child.

It is always the same one, the one who needs you at the moment for whatever reason-to cling to, to shout at, to hurt, to hug, to flatter, to reverse charges to, to unload on, to use-but mostly to be there.

Songs as Understood by a Five Year Old

Glinda — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 06:20:49 +0000

Cracked has some very awesome submissions that envision what popular songs sound like to five year olds. I have to say, I was so there on that Stairway to Heaven picture when I was young. There are 27 in all, here is a sampling:

The Kids of PS22 Chorus Do it Again

Glinda — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:38:51 +0000

Pure awesomeness.

Your Weekend AMAZING

Glinda — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 05:30:41 +0000

These girls are BEYOND SUPERFANTASTIC!

via Boing Boing

Things I Love: Mustela PhysiObebe

Glinda — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:54:11 +0000

My love affair with this product began with the Munchkin, and has continued with the Munchkinette.

Where to start? It is a no-rinse wash for babies that is perfect for (ahem) the holidays when you are staying out later than normal and possibly skipping baths, yet still needing to cleanse sensitive areas. It is ridiculously easy to use, smells fabulous, and if you just make sure it isn’t cold before applying to baby, then everyone is happy as a clam. This is one of my favorite shower gifts to give to new moms.

It comes in handy way more often than you would think. Got a kid who gets carsick often? This is the product for you. I used it more times than I can count on the Munchkin, who was famous for his ability to get sick in the car on even the shortest of trips. Takes the smell right off them. Same for a diaper explosion or any other of the three thousand things that happen to kids that make them dirty and smell not-so-superfantastic.

If you have a baby or know someone that does, get it. You won’t regret it. It’s also paraben, triclosan, and pthalate-free.

Things I Love: Peek…Aren’t You Curious?*

Glinda — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:28:47 +0000

It had been a while since I had been to one of my favorite shopping malls, and I happened to finally stop by a couple of weeks ago. They have done some remodeling and taken out some kid-friendly features in order to appear more “upscale” so I hadn’t been in a really big hurry to go back.

But, a new store that I’d never heard about had popped up in my absence, and I have to say I was really, really impressed with the quality and design of the clothing. I know y’all like to see the goods before buying, but there aren’t a whole lot of these stores in brick-and-mortar form, so online is the way most of you will be able to access their stuff.

And what wonderful stuff it was! I liked many, many things, but here are a few of my favorites:

Little Peanut Dress

The fabric is soft and lovely, the garment itself well-constructed. I adored all of their “little peanut” line.

Stinson Polo

The ultimate in surfer cool, I liked a lot of their shirts for boys.

Frida Skirt

The picture does not do this skirt any justice. The embroidery is absolutely beautiful, and again, the skirt is well-made.

Junglie Elephant

Their whole line of Junglie and Bunglie animals were some of the softest, cuddliest I’ve ever felt.

Oh, and I always award bonus points to stores who emphasize books, and they had a large and impressive book display in the very front of the store.

*I am not affiliated with Peek…, nor am I receiving any sort of compensation for this review. Good clothes are hard to find, and I wanted to pass the info along.

Books for Boys: Percy Jackson and The Olympians*

Glinda — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:27:21 +0000

“Action, mommy. A really good book has lots of action.”

If you are looking for books that the boy in your life will look forward to reading, take it from my seven year old. They love action.

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan delivers exactly that. Beginning with The Lighning Thief and ending with The Last Olympian, even a fairly reluctant reader will be hard-pressed to put the books down. Not only do they move along briskly, with plenty of the aforementioned action, but there is quite a bit of humor, topped off with a nice dusting of Greek mythology. I should know, because I read all of them before my son did.

For, uh, research purposes, of course.

The books follow demigod Percy Jackson through five years of living out a prophecy foretold by the Oracle of Delphi. Who happens to be a mummy in an attic at the demigod summer camp. Percy must battle gods and monsters in order to save Mount Olympus, which is located at the top of the Empire State Building. Natch. Throw in some centaurs, labyrinths, Mist, and capricious Greek gods, and tell me how you can possibly resist.

I highly recommend the books for that certain someone who is bound to be whining about being half-dead from boredom in about two weeks from now.

*I bought all of these myself at Target. No freebies here. Now normally I don’t buy my books at Target, but I have a seven month old, so you’ve got to cut me some slack.

Teething Biscuit Giveaway!

Glinda — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 05:28:02 +0000

Remember those teething biscuits I raved about?

Well, the owners of the company were awesome, and sent me a few boxes of them, along with some of their other products, which are some lovely kid-friendly cookies called Dino Bites in different flavors. All of the products are 100% natural, vegan, and well, awesome. I have to admit that I am not a vegan, and love my butter, but even I really enjoyed the cookies. They are light, delicately flavored, and have just the perfect amount of crisp.

So, I’d like to give you some! I’ll be giving away four sets of teething biscuit/cookie combos, with a total of three boxes per prize.

Here’s how you can enter:

-One entry for adding Teeny Manolo on your RSS feed.

-Two entriesfor becoming a fan of Teeny Manolo on Facebook.

-Two entries for following Teeny Manolo on Twitter. (Be like Veronica Webb, who for some strange reason is following me! I will confess to screeching when I saw the name! Love her!)

-Three entries for blogging about the giveaway and linking back to the site.

The first three options are easily done by looking for the handy-dandy Twitter, Facebook, and RSS buttons at the top of the peach-colored middle column of the site.

The winner will be picked by random number generator on Tuesday June 22, 2010. Unfortunately, contest winners must be from the United States or Canada. I love you Aussies, but it would cost me a fortune!

You must leave a comment on this post so I know how many entries to give you! We work on the honor system here, so don’t make me disqualify you!