Alrik has discovered the joys of Google Slides (PowerPoint-like presentations).
It all started when he made me watch multiple inane YouTube videos that were quizzes purporting to help you discern things like what color you should dye your hair, but then all the questions would be things like, "What kind of flowers would you grow in a garden?" and "If you could be any type of animal, which would you be? Now choose from these three options."
To celebrate the nonsense, I made my own quiz that I forced my family to complete:
Feel free to total up your numbers, and do let me know which animal you are!
Do your kids listen to Kidz Bop music albums? Mikko got into them in a big way a couple years ago and has since gone back off them, but they greatly amused me. For the uninitiated into their ubiquitous television infomercials, they're CDs of kids singing pop songs.
Since these pop songs are being sung by minors, the producers have changed many of the lyrics to often hilarious and baffling results. I'm not even talking censoring swears or bowdlerizing sexiness — they change things in some truly bizarre ways, ostensibly to protect your children's innocent ears.
Here are a few of my still-family-friendly favorites:
Ever wonder what goes on on Twitter when you're not looking? So. Much. Fun.
I'm over there all the time as @Hobo_Mama (parenting & other nonsense) and @PirateFamilyFun (for our YouTube adventures) and (new) @LaurenWaynecom (for writing shtuff). I might need to join a support group….
I think it is important to appreciate what you have and not just on Thanksgiving. It's important to remember to be grateful when your life feels abundant, but perhaps even more-so when times are hard. That said, I have some tough things going on right now and am having a hard time over here so… I want to challenge myself to remember all the things in my life for which to be grateful. I enjoyed the challenge at Let's Take the Metro a couple of years ago, so I'm going to challenge you in a similar fashion. Are you ready?
You can still participate and link up below!
Even though our family is puke-tastically sick, we're having a nice quiet Thanksgiving at home.
We're semi-fasting for the above reason, but we have good food on hand to break our fast when we can!
Blackadder! Our choice of Thanksgiving Day sickbed amusement.
String cheese, or as Mikko calls it, octopus cheese. Because I tear the bottom apart for him like a squid-ly thing before handing it over.
This clown will sing and dance for you for just a quarter! That's some old-school entertainment.
Mikko was so taken with the juke box (I helped him choose the Beatles' "Birthday" since it's one of his favorites) that he wants to build his own. He was fascinated when I told him I actually have a record player stashed away somewhere. No records, but a genuine player.
Thirty eight is solidly in the middle of my life. Thirty eight is realizing that there are likely as many years behind me as there are ahead. It is acknowledging that life is no longer a green field, that certain doors are closed, that some choices are irrevocable, and that many of the big what-ifs that haunted my childhood have been answered. Thirty eight is also realizing that despite these answers, there are far, far more new questions.
If you are not yet 38, come back to this. Or write your own. If you are past, let me know what’s to come. Or maybe let it be a surprise. I’m still coming to terms with this part of my life.
I'm doing a super-quick poll (one question!) of my readers — regular or new — to find out what content you'd like to see on Hobo Mama. What keeps you coming back, or what would interest you in the future?
Choose what content sounds MOST compelling to you. You can choose multiple items. Pick only the categories you think you'd want to read often. Some categories might overlap, and you can add in anything you think was left out that you'd appreciate.
If you want to leave comments on the poll itself, take it at this link. Otherwise, you can leave comments on the post if you have anything to say about the selections you chose!
Thank you for taking the survey! I appreciate your feedback. If you want to add anything, feel free to leave a comment.
Welcome to the Sunday Surf, a tour of the best blogposts I've read throughout the week.
It's hard to tell in this picture because it was raining so I put my coat on, plus I'm wearing Superbaby, but I went as a wet nurse. Why not! I had the perfect prop for it this year.
"Thoughts, specific thoughts, get in the way of an actual experience of patience. … A potential solution? Presence. I know the word presence may be kind of thrown around these days, but we all have the ability to be present with what’s going on within and around us in the way we choose. That is at the heart of true patience. Choice."
You can link up your own posts on Patience at the Natural Parents Network Blog Hop for the next week: http://presenceparenting.com/patience-npn/ (And read a bunch of great posts already linked!)
My friend JW said this song reminds her of me, because it starts out “I feel like an old hobo…” How did I listen to it a hundred times and not notice that before??
We found that despite all this physical activity, the number of calories that the Hadza burned per day was indistinguishable from that of typical adults in Europe and the United States. We ran a number of statistical tests, accounting for body mass, lean body mass, age, sex and fat mass, and still found no difference in daily energy expenditure between the Hadza and their Western counterparts.
This doesn’t, of course, mean that I should let go my quest to be more primally active. Just thought it was interesting that energy expenditure remains constant, no matter the overall activity level.
Calling for submissions for the November 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting! Theme: Family Service Projects: How do you develop compassion in kids? What are your experiences or suggestions for serving with kids? Or try a service project, and let us know how it goes. Deadline:Tuesday, November 6. Fill out thewebformand email your submission to us by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time: CarNatPar {at} NaturalParentsNetwork.com
As a carnival host, you can snag more participants and keep them apprised of due dates and themes!
Check out upcoming carnivals in the calendar below, and click the "plus" button at the bottom to add it to your Google account.
To add carnivals to the calendar, see the static page with an email form that takes you step by step through submitting your carnival information. Any carnivals on topics of interest to natural parenting bloggers are welcome.
I'm Lauren Wayne, writer and natural parent. I embrace attached parenting with an emphasis toward green living.
Riding the rails with my husband, Crackerdog Sam, and our hobo kids, Mikko Lint Picker (born June 2007), Alrik Irontrousers (born May 2011), and Karsten (born October 2014). Trying every day to parent intentionally and with grace.
I'm Lauren Wayne, writer and natural parent. I embrace attached parenting with an emphasis toward green living. 
