The New Black, Part Deux

First off, we watched this post on a friend's blog tonight and just laughed! B-word, the new black. It's a Tina Fey SNL skit on Hillary.

Which brings us to the new black under my roof. J. took a career/skills test at school, and came out with high marks in science, leadership and persuasion. And assertiveness. Not so much on accommodating skills however.

"A bit bossy, huh?" I laughed.

"I am not!" she said.

I pointed out this was a good thing, referring to the "the new black."

Easter Eggs, They are Still Fun

Apparently. As we're walking through Top Foods today, J. turns and asks when we're going to buy the Easter egg stuff.

Really? I thought, frankly, she'd outgrown that, but apparently not. She went on to gush on how fun it was to color the eggs and draw on them with the clear crayons. Okay, well, if she still wants to do the eggs, which no one ever eats, we'll do the eggs.

I had to laugh, since soon after she turned 10 or 11, I went on an all out mission to nuke Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Sandman. She still believed in them all, and I was tired of it. I wanted to get some sleep on Christmas Eve (Gary usually went to bed early), and same went for the Saturday before E-day. My jewelry box was beginning to look a bit gruesome with all those teeth stacking up.

So, I started to make sure she found the Christmas presents and the jelly bean sacks underneath the sink. Finally, she gave it up about 11-12 and told me, okay mom, you can stop.

Another School Recognizes the Middle Class are Good Folks to Have Around

This NPR article caught my eye. So now I believe it's Harvard, Yale and now Stanford that have agreed to waive tuition is the family makes less than $100,000 a year.

So, I guess I can quit work so my darlin can go to Stanford? Or maybe Brown, according to the NYT article.

Society or Scholastics

Coming down to the wire on what high school to go to.

Both girls agreed to go to an open house at Auburn Mountainview, and I think they were impressed, even though most of their friends are still going to Auburn Senior High. To recap, J.'s BF was slated to go to Auburn Mountainview, so we thought the matter was settled. But then BF's dad (parent's are divorced) wants her to go to Auburn Senior High. So the tug and pull continues.

There are more honors classes at AMV, and it's a newer school. But the refrain of "all my friends are going to ASH" is beginning to wear Gary and I down. Everyone once and awhile a helpful friend sez, "You need to be the adult here." Thanks for that.

They are already defining their generation!

I read this over the shoulder of my daughter, who was looking at a friend's My Space page (and no, she still doesn't have one.) LOL.

Remember when beepers was the thing to have : )
If you are under the age of 13...you should not read this and if you
do, you should not repost this.
Just because you were born in '97 doesn't mean you're a 90's kid. It's not
like you could remember the original Simpsons.
I am sorry but three conscious years of the 90's just wont cut it.

You're a 90's kid if: You can finish this [ice ice _ _ _ _ ]
You remember watching: -Doug -Ren & Stimpy
-Pinky and the Brain
-AAAAAAAH Real Monsters!
-Rockos modern Life.

You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE!"
You just cant resist finishing this . . . "Iiiiiiin west philidelphia
born and raised . . ."

You remember:
-TGIF
-Step by Step
-Family Matters
-Dinosaurs
-Boy Meets World.

You remember when it was actually worth getting up early on a
Saturday to watch cartoons. You got super excited when it was Oregon Trail day
in computer class at school.

You remember reading "Goosebumps" You took plastic cartoon lunch
boxes to school. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after (almost) every
sentence . . . not

when everyhting was settled by:
-rock paper scissors or
-bubble gum bubble gum in a dish or
-daddy had a donkey inky binky bonky.

when cops and robbers was a daily activity. when we played Hide and go seek
until our legs grew numb.

when we used to obey our parents You used to listen to the radio all day
long just to record your FAVORITE song of ALL time.
"Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?" was both a game and a TV game
show.
Captain Planet. He's a Hero. You knew that Kimberly, the pink ranger, and
Tommy, the green ranger, were meant to be together. ???

You remember when Super Nintendos and Sega Genisis became popular.
You always wanted to send in a tape to America's Funniest Home Videos . . . but
never taped anything funny. You remember watching Home Alone 1, 2 , and 3 . . .
and tried to pull the pranks on "intruders"

You remember watching:
-The Magic School Bus
-Wishbone
-Reading Rainbow on PBS.

You remember when Yo-Yos were cool. You remember those Where's Waldo books.
You remember eating Warheads.

You remember watching:
-the 1st Batman
-Aladdin
-Ninja Turtles
-3 Ninjas movies.

You remember Ring Pops. You remember drinking Surge, and Tang. If you
remember when every thing was "da BOMB!" When they made the new lunchables so
that you could make pizza AND tacos. You remember boom boxes vs. cd players.
Making those little paper fortune cookie things, and then predicting your life
with them.

You played and/or collected "Pogs" :) You had at least one
Tamagotchi, GigaPet, or Nano and brought it everywhere. . . . Furbies. You
haven't always had a computer, and it was cool to have the internet. And Windows
95 was the best. You watched the original cartoons of Rugrats, Power Rangers,
and Ninja Turtles. Michael Jordan was a king. YIKES pencils and erasers were the
stuff!

All your school supplies were "Lisa Frank" brand. You remember when
the new Beanie Babies and Talking Elmo were always sold out
You collected those Beanie Babies.
Carebears Gak was the coolest stuff invented. Lambchop's song never
ended. The old dollar bills. Silver dollars, which were cool to have. You
remember a time before the WB. You collected all the Troll dolls

If you even know what an original walkman is. You remember wanting to sit
on the orange Nickelodeon couch. You've gotten creeped out by "Are You Afraid of
the Dark?" You know the Macarena by heart.

"Talk to the hand" . . . enough said You always said, "Then why don't you
marry it!" You went to McDonald's to play in the playplace. You remember playing
on merry go rounds at the playground.

Before the MySpace frenzy . . . Before the Internet & text
messaging . . . Before Sidekicks & iPods . . . Before MIKE JONES . . .
Before PlayStation2 or X-BOX . . . Before Spongebob . . . Back when you put off
the 5 hours of homework you had every night. When light up sneakers were
cool.

When you rented VHS tapes, not DVDs. When gas was $0.95 a gallon
& Caller ID was a new thing. When we recorded stuff on VCRs. When we called
the radio station to request songs to hear off of our walkman. When checking out
drawing books and that one book about the rainbow fish from the library was THE
cool thing to do. You had slap braclets! We had the cool no tye shoe strings
that curled you could get them in every color . . . . Way back. Before we
realized all this would eventually disappear.

Who would have thought you'd miss the 90's so much!!!!! Post this in your
bulletin if you remember these days . . . .

Anyway, that's what this generation looks back on with nostalgia.

The Feud is Over, For Now

J. hasn't spoke to her best friend all week. They were first feuding about a sleepover, and then other things.

J. wouldn't tell me what. But toward the end, they started texting each other, and then finally, today talking (good thing too, since they had a project to complete).

Sometimes, I think even BFs need to take a time out from each other. Clears out the carbon.

Cell phones, when should your kids get 'em

There was an interesting post today at my old tromping grounds, The News Tribune, about when kids should get cell phones. The article seemed to conclude this event should probably happen around 6th or seventh grade.

Okay, for some odd reason, they aren't posting the article online...dummies, but here is the same article from the Associated Press in a Pittsburgh paper.

We gave J. a phone in 6th grade, just before her 13th b-day because a. she was going to her first public school b. it was in a rough neighborhood and c. she had to walk to a friend's house after school.

Soo, we've been at this for three years, and so far, so good. (she's IMing her friends and texting more than actually using the phone.)

One suggestion I'd make to parents...draw up a contract, and get unlimited texting.