Summer is around the corner, so the local sporting goods store is clearing out their children's winter gear at 50% off. One of the things the kids will need for next winter is some snow pants. But with kids growing so fast, it's hard to figure out what's going to fit them next winter. So even though we might be saving 50% on last season's gear, there's no guarantee that what we're buying will still fit by next winter.
Now thanks to these charts provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), you can take some of the guesswork out of buying seasonal clothes ahead of time. And for a cheap RiceDaddy like me, that means I could buy the previous season's gear for half-off and still be sure that the gear will fit next year!
If you've ever looked through your kid's file at the pediatrician's office, you will notice that their height, weight and head circumference are all plotted on these same charts. Here's how it works:
Find your child's height on the y-axis. In this example, the child is 42.5" (107.5cm) tall.
Find your child's age on the x-axis. In this example, the child is 5 years, 4 months (metric equivalent unknown :).
Find out where those coordinates meet, and find the closest percentile curve upon which your child's measurement lies. In this example, the child is on the 25th percentile (the line right below the heavy red line which represents the 50th percentile).
Since the child in this example will be about six years old next winter, trace that age from the x-axis up to where it intersects with the percentile curve your child is on. On the 25th percentile in this case, it appears that the child will be about 44" (111.5cm) tall by this coming winter. That's a growth of about 1 1/2 inches.
Note that there are different charts to track length/height, weight, head circumference for boys, girls, birth to 36 months, and from 2 years to 20 years old. Be sure you are using the appropriate chart for your child.
In honor of today's release of the sophomore album by Los Angeles kindie rock family band (and Rice Daddies fave) Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips, we are happy to be giving away 5 autographed copies of the new CD to Rice Daddies readers.
If you're not familiar with the music of Mista Cookie Jar, a.k.a. C.J. Pizarro, he calls it "Urban-Island-Funky-Rock-N-Roll for the Inner Child." His first album, The Love Bubble, has been on repeat in our house for a long time, and it definitely makes children of all ages get up and dance.
Case in point: I just hit "play" on the video below for "Happy Place," off the new album, while writing this and my three-year-old daughter just ran over to the computer for the other room where she was playing with my iPhone.
CJ is one of the scant handful of Asian American kindie artists I've been able to find, and I'm so happy to be able to support him not only because he provides an Asian American face and voice for my kids but because, also, he's really good! It was honor to share the stage with him last November at Skylight Books in LA when he came out to perform at a reading for Rad Dad: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Fatherhood.
Enjoy the "Happy Place" video then scroll down for how to enter to win your own signed copy of Ultramagnetic Universal Love Revolution:
To enter to win one of five signed copies of Ultramagnetic Universal Love Revolution by Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips, send an email with "Mista Cookie Jar" in the subject line to daddyinastrangeland@mac.com by this Friday, May 11, at midnight PDT. To purchase your own copy now on CD or download, go to cdbaby or iTunes.
Thank you, Rachel Maddow!
I too was wondering why Ann Romney deserved an apology. I don't get why Democrats turned on Hilary Rosen or why they let the Repubs turn this into an issue.
Being the wife of a guy from a politics family worth hundreds of millions of dollars does not even come close to putting Ann Romney on the same level as women who work for survival--or even regular middle class women who don't have access to the wealth that pays for help. It's a "choice" for Ann Romney because she's filthy rich; not everyone has that "choice." It's insulting how Romney made this statement against working women by turning to his wife and then suddenly pretends Hilary Rosen was attacking stay-at-home moms. It shows how out of touch the Repubs are with real women.
I’m an avid road cyclist, and my riding buddies fit the stereotype: tough, quiet, spandexed. Before Eliot was born, I liked to soften these guys up by telling them how excited I was about my imminent fatherhood. I remember one of them—one of our team’s tougher, quieter, more spandexed members—telling me that after having his first child he could no longer watch Law & Order or CSI, or any of those procedurals whose drama revolves around the killed and the killing, or the dead and the dying.
“That’s someone’s child,” he said. “I just can’t handle it anymore.”
It’s a simple sentiment, perhaps, but the force of its generalization still moves me. Even if I felt then that it was somewhat overstated, it feels considerably less so now that I’ve made the transition from expectant father to father. At the very least, it’s become far more difficult to handle stories about children dying—and almost impossible to hear about them being killed.
There’s nothing I can say about Trayvon Martin, or his case, that hasn’t already been said. Ta-Nehisi Coates and his Atlantic Monthly colleagues have been our best guides to his story's twists and turns. Bruce Reyes-Chow at Hyphen’s blog has even tried to make sense of the overlap of Asian American privilege and what he calls “white” privilege that he sees lurking beneath the “lack of privilege” that marked Trayvon as a body to be targeted, pursued and shot down. Numerousothers have attempted to see themselves through the lens of Trayvon’s death, and to mourn the persistence of racism.
But the voices that have affected me the most aren’t the angry ones, or the historical ones, or the legal or political ones, though each of these have played a crucial part in how I’ve come to understand Trayvon’s death. The most affecting voices have been the ones that see their own children in Trayvon, or even their own hypothetical children. I’m not in the habit of being moved by the emotional ploys of politicians, but I really did believe in the pain Obama was trying to convey when he said that if he had had a son, he would have looked like Trayvon.
Trayvon’s death hurts in many ways, not least of them historically, so of course the old divisions have been busy policing the authenticity of pain and identification. Black commentators have criticized white commentators’ claims that Trayvon reminds them of their own children, and confessionals of white guilt have flooded the airwaves and blogosphere. These discussions certainly have their place and I think we owe it to Trayvon to think through them as carefully as possible, in all their uncomfortable complexity. But the reason I’m writing this post is not to add to any of that.
The reason is because… well, it’s because I thought I'd ask us to pause for a moment and look at Trayvon's face. I think most of us have already done this, but there's something important in that pause. There's a feeling I get that I think most of you get as well, and I'd venture to say it's the powerful feeling of the general and specific coinciding. He belongs to us—and that matters tremendously.
It has been a grueling last couple of weeks for me, as some concerned neighbors in my area have banded up together and tried to fight against developers seeking to build a Taco Bell in our community, right down the street from our elementary public schools. It's been grueling because while I'm fairly good at getting conversation going on a blog, it's an entirely different world when it comes to food. Life is complex. I think most of the people in the community are against Taco Bell for the same reasons: processed unhealthy food, increased traffic, late night carousing in a family neighborhood, and increased litter and petty crime.
The issue--and I will admit that I didn't know this was an issue beforehand--is that there's a huge gulf in our culture with respect to food, and it is very much related to money. I thought I was doing the right thing by telling people and linking to one restaurant's views on how Taco Bell threatens the local food businesses in our area, but that may not have been the best thing to do--I had never eaten at this restaurant and hadn't realized how expensive it was and how it could keep most people out! Obviously, not everyone, including me, can afford an $11 hamburger made with meat from grass-fed vegetarian cows. People think my perspective is elitist. Which is partly undeniable--even though I can't afford to eat at high class restaurants, I feel it's undeniable that restaurants that serve organic and responsible food are better for the health of the country than a chain that pops out processed meat in tacos that cost 99 cents. While I can't afford an $11 hamburger or a $17 pasta dish, I buy organic chickens and eggs, and I mostly buy organic vegetables--which cost a hell of a lot of money. We keep salt, sugar, and processed food to a minimum in my house. I could probably cut my grocery bill in half if I brought in more flavored cereals, chips, and ready-made TV dinners. But I don't it's good for my kids, which is very elitist. We've got a horrible epidemic of childhood obesity in this country, childhood allergies and genetic issues are out of control, and while I don't know if I would blame it on the food industry, it's one of the main variables that has changed during the 70's when I was born. I'm not against Taco Bell, per se, but it doesn't belong around kids. The food is bad for kids, and the traffic for the neighborhood is bad too.
So what is the solution? It seems like it's hard to be a good parent without being somewhat elitist. There are just too many choices, and when you cut down the cheap choices and insist on food that is more expensive, you're being elitist because you're discriminating against people who don't want to pay a lot for food. There just is no way around this political minefield. You can't win them all, and you have to do what's best for your kids. Right now, corporate America and fast food corporations are declaring a war on our kids, and they're winning. Even a rich and famous guy like Jamie Oliver gets push back.
Responding to a call for personal stories about school at my K2twelve blog, Ed Yau wrote me about the challenges he faced getting his son into a Pre-K in New York City. Sage, the app that resulted from his tackling the difficult process of placing his son in a public Pre-K program is the running for NYC Big Apps 3.0. Click Here to vote for it.
Guest Post: “Sage” by Edward Yau
It still blows my mind that my 3-yr old son is ready for Pre-K in the Fall, but the reality was even more stark when it came time to figure out how to actually get him into a school. I started this research process with nothing more than a few vague notions from friends and family. The fact was I knew absolutely nothing!
I hit a wall as soon as I started. The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) website is jammed pack with information and I didn't even know where to begin. Since I wasn't familiar with the terminology, it took me awhile to even figure out how to find the school I was 'zoned' for. After reading up on eligibility and following the recommendation that we visit at least several schools, I came up with a list of schools that are geographically convenient to our apartment. However, it was clear that we couldn't just tour every single one of them. So I painstakingly started downloading school progress reports and putting together spreadsheets in order to somehow narrow the list down. Once it was time to tour some schools, I found myself printing out the school information I had compiled before visiting, just to remind myself what I had thought and to come up with questions to ask.
I got tired of the cumbersome process and decided to use my geek powers to build a mobile website called Sage (See: http://bit.ly/zOe9Sc). I figured I couldn't be the only one suffering through this research process, so I designed and built Sage as a tool to help parents quickly find the schools that they are zoned for or close to. School performance data is neatly presented. Sage could be used by parents searching for schools as well as those looking to monitor their school.
Even though Sage helps you find a school's performance easily, it's important to remember that the letter grades given by the NYCDOE need to be taken with a grain of salt. The worst part is that these letter grades are highly political and no one seems to want to talk about them. I had to grill at least three educators before I could get a straight answer about what they mean. Statistics can be massaged until you get the answer you want and the NYCDOE includes many subjective factors when they come up with the letter grades. Whether or not it's fair, schools that improve year over year are given a lot of credit, which means their overall grade may not reflect how the students are actually doing. I found that the best thing to do is to compare the letter grades against the actual state test results, that way you can gain a little more insight on what's behind them.
Letter grades and test scores offer useful information about school, but there is no replacement for attending a tour and getting to know the people that run it. There is much more to a school than its test score.
More about Sage:
Sage (http://nysage.com): Check outhttp://bit.ly/zOe9Scfor a brief video and description. It’s been submitted into the 2012 NYC Big Apps competition, so please check it out and cast a vote starting on before March 9th! There are very few apps for parents on the competition, so it's important that the tech community knows that we have a voice. You can use it on your Android or iPhone device, but it will also work on Chrome and Safari on your desktop.
Here the resources that I found myself using the most:
NYC Department of Education: Obviously you’ve got to start at the source of it all! http://schools.nyc.gov/
Inside Schools: The best resource guide for schools. Provides reviews, parent comments and more. A must see. http://insideschools.org/
School Book: By the New York Times. Another awesome resource for finding school information. Lots of stats, charts, graphs, articles etc. Another must see. http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook
Am I the only one who thinks about the infamous battle between Kirk and Spock in “Amok time” (Star Trek Season Two Episode One) when it comes to Asians and public displays of affection?
It’s OK. You don’t have to admit to anything. I’m not trying to out anyone. Let me take the brunt of the ridicule and taunting. But at minimum admit that the rigid ritualistic act of dating in traditional Asian cultures is very… Vulcan.
Wandering Apricot has a funny post about it. (You might say, it’ll “bowl” you over – read her post, you’ll see what I mean.) And I’ve written about how the older generation of Asians aren’t a particularly touchy-feely crowd. I cited a 2009 BBC article called “No Kissing Please, We are Indians.”
There’s a lighthearted post on the Mom N-Stinks blog pondering why her children get “grossed out” every time “me and Adam hug and/or kiss.” The Nickelodeon Parents Connect blog says “the fact that your kids have begun to see your displays of affection as "gross" is probably all the more reason to keep it up.”
They go on to say appropriate relationship behavior is one of the life skills parents teach. Julie Hanahan at the Chicago Parent offers a glossary of romantic gestures parents might consciously model for their children. They include holding hands, hugging, kissing, and flirting.
I can safely say my parents never “gestured” (at least not in my presence – I mean they had me and my sister, so they had to have at some point.)
I can also safely say, I’m not going to win any awards for having healthy relationships.
But I’m hesitant to say that the two correlate. I just can’t with a clear conscience blame my bad relationships on the lack of “gesturing” between my parents.
Instead I’m going to copy and paste a chunk of text from a 2003 commentary by Jonathan Le:
Americans associate affection with compassion and openness. American affection happens instantaneously -- you hug your sister, she hugs you back, everybody is happy. Asians associate affection with keeping appearances and being loyal. Asian affection is more patient. It could take as long as a whole lifetime to manifest itself. It's more implied than shown outright…
These parents assume that because they have taken care of their children since birth, it should be obvious that they care about them, that they love them. And there isn't really any need for them to smother each other with hugs every day. Though, they tend to forget that, "not every day" does not mean "never again."
I think his closing lines say it all: "not every day" does not mean "never again."
He’s talking about displays of affection between his parents and him, but the conversation can be broadened to include “gestures” between husbands and wives, partners.
While he admits to being jealous of his American friends hanging on their parents like monkeys, I don’t think Jonathan is proclaiming the Kirk-style full on hug superior to the Spock-style “Con, Good Job.” I think he appreciates the uniqueness of the expressions and wonders every now and then what the fruit tastes like on the other side of the orchard.
If I were to put together a “Recommended Reading” list for dads, FÃ bio Moon and Gabriel BÃ ’s Daytripper would definitely be on it.
It’s tough for me to talk about it without spoiling it for those who haven’t read it yet. I suck at being coy with the details – especially when it comes to a story like Daytripper -- where I’ve been so eager to tell to anyone who’ll listen about it.
So let me warn you now: POSSIBLE SPOILERS.
If you are the type that gets put off when an ending is prematurely revealed, STOP HERE. I’m more of a “process guy”. I’m more interested in how the story got to where ever it ends up than the ending itself (though in this case, it is the ending that makes sense of everything on the “trip”). Daytripper is a surreal journey that might immediately be mistaken as one man’s life flashing before his eyes but after the second chapter it might be that the man being shown alternate lives so he can pass in peace. Providing an itinerary for the “trip”, each chapter is named after the man’s age as it relates to that part of the story.
The story begins with the grown (32 year old) son of a famous father waiting across the street from the auditorium where his father is to receive an award. He is in an empty bar killing some time before the start of the event. He starts out just wanting a pack of cigarettes, but the bar is empty and the bartender seems friendly (Conducive for “just one drink”).
The bar is named “Genaro”, so it is natural for, Brà s, the son of the famous father to ask the bartender: “So, are you Genaro?” The bartender responds: “That’s what most people think. But, Genaro, was my father’s name… He named it after himself. I just inherited the place.”
“You could have changed the name of the bar,” Brà s says.
The bartender, Genarinho, responds, “It would still be his bar and I would still be his son.”
Brà s: “We’re all somebody’s son, right?”
Genarinho: “Right. We just don't get to choose our family.”
Genarinho’s nephew enters the bar. This is where the introduction ends and story begins.
Brà s is a writer like his father. But unlike his father, no one recognizes him as a “cultural icon”. He writes obituaries, which either Jorge, Brà s’ best friend, or his girlfriend (I can’t remember) tell him is as equally important because of the sense of closure they offer to the surviving families of the deceased.
I wouldn’t say Brà s is jealous of his father (at least not in the poisonous way that drives soap opera plots). I would say Brà s wants to be a peer to his father. In the events leading up to the start of the story, you are told that Brà s’ father has forgotten his birthday and has forgotten to invite him to the ceremony being held in his honor. It is his mother, who urges him to go and it is Brà s who leads you to believe father has done this before and that Brà s does not interpret it as a personal slight but as a slightly painful part of his father’s personality. So of course he is going to the gala honoring his father, direct invite or not.
Among the many themes possible in Daytripper is the one of “action”. Brà s struggles with his inertness. The example that comes to mind is how, when you were a young child, you were told to stay where you were, if you were ever separated from your parent and lost.
Brà s is lost. He is not unhappy about his job as a obituary writer but he is uninspired by it. He wants more. Brà s is lost and doing what that lost child was told to do – staying right where he was when he realized he was lost and waiting for a parent to find him and set him back on his way.
His friends – Lemanja (goddess of the sea and protector of children) – even his parents – all tell him to take action – to decide – and be on his way. But he has many reasons – both real and invented -- for hesitating. In the context of the story, you are never told whether the events that happen to him after the bar are real or imagined.
Another possible theme in the story directly addresses the relationship between father and son – legacy?
There is no doubt about the influence Brà s’ father has on his life, though it is not an intentional or direct influence. Brà s’ father is not depicted as being overbearing or domineering. It is more a condition of how Brà s empowers the image of his father in his life. I say “image” because his father probably has no clue about the weight of his actions on his son.
As a father of sons, it is the ending of Daytripper that makes it a must read for fathers. I wish I was smart enough to properly convey the sense of its profundity I felt when I read it. I can say though that it is a lost letter from his deceased father found within the pages of Brà s’ first book. And add that the way the letter was found and who found the letter is very symbolic of the relationship between fathers and sons.
As a father to son(s) and/or daughter(s), what books or movies would you recommend to new dads? In addition, to Daytripper, I think all Rice Daddies should watch Jack Neo’s I Not Stupid and I Not Stupid Too.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Sorry I couldn't resist, with all these videos circulating on the internet why not this one:
