Move Over Black Friday and Cyber Monday... Today is Giving Tuesday

I didn't go to the mall on Black Friday - I took my kids to the movies.

I didn't shop on Saturday or Sunday either.

And Cyber Monday? Yep, no shopping then either. (Well, maybe a tiny little bit, but Hanukkah is early this year!)

So today, the first Giving Tuesday, I'm going to spend all the money I didn't spend the last four days.

And I can't wait.

Giving Tuesday is all about giving to others, which for me is much closer to the holiday spirit than buying more stuff for my overly materialistic children. I'd much rather buy a doll for a child who doesn't even have one then buy another one for my daughter who has plenty (and by plenty I mean way too many).

Here are a few organizations I'm supporting this year:

• Kiva. My amazing cousin Mary first told me about this organization last year - they provide life-changing micro loans to people in developing countries who use these funds to build their own businesses and do other incredible things. During the holiday season, you can give Kiva Cards for $25 (or more) to friends and family, who can then choose what projects they would like to support.

• It Takes A Family. This organization has a single goal: to bring families effected by Hurricane Sandy together with families who want to help them. You can Sign-up here to be matched with a family. You can also contact me if you would like to contribute to help the family Sandler & Wald has already been paired with through the program.

• Book Pantry of Orange. Run single-handedly by Carol Lukoff, The Book Pantry of Orange provides books to kids who otherwise wouldn't have any. I can't even imagine. Year-round the book pantry primarily gives out gently used books to the kids who visit, but for the holidays wouldn't it be great if all the kids could have the thrill of unwrapping a brand-new book? BaristaKids.com is holding a Holiday Book Drive, you can find out how to contribute here.

What organizations are you supporting on Giving Tuesday? Please share in the comments below!

Happy Father's Day!

After making Father's Day videos last year, I figured I wouldn't repeat myself again this year.

But then the kids provided such cute footage of themselves wishing their dad a happy Father's Day, that I couldn't help myself.

Happy Father's Day!



A Yarnbombing Comes to Town

I've made no secret of my love of yarnbombing, so I was beyond happy when a yarnbombing came to my own little town in New Jersey last weekend.

I had the pleasure of meeting the organizer, who was every bit as lovely as you would think a person who organizes yarnbombings - or as this was called CommuKnitty- would be:

And then I made a collage of the yarnbombing awesomeness for Barista Kids:

And then, I was feeling so inspired I did my ultimate act of devotion, I created an Animoto video. Enjoy.

If you're local, you can learn more about Rebel Yarns: A Community Art Action, here.

Hanukkah Menorahs You Have to See to Believe

Last year I put together a series of eight posts of weird, unique, quirky, inflated, Santa'd and downright ugly menorahs for Hanukkah.

Here's a few of the more absurd menorahs that were featured (my personal favorites for being totally ridiculous are of course the dog-hat menorahs):

And with all that searching for outlandish menorahs, of course I found a few beautiful menorahs, too:

To see last year's collection of menorahs in all their glory, check out the Eight Days of Ugly Menorahs:

Part I: Muttel and Catzel
Part II: The Cats Edition
Part III: The Dogs Edition
Part IV: The Inflatables
Part V: The Hats and Pets Edition
Part VI: The Inflatables
Part VII: What's a Nice Menorah Like You Doing in a Place Like This?
Part VIII: The Christmas Menorahs Edition

And because I still couldn't stop, I've also got from last year all these posts about (you guessed it!) menorahs:

• Menorah-Topped Cars and a lovely Ice Menorah
• I can see a little light... an ode to beautiful menorahs
• The Nostalgia Edition - featuring my kids lighting the menorah
• Menorahs you can make from handprints, branches, metrocards and cupcakes - which are all pretty snazzy, like this one from A Design Affair:

And of course, my menorah wrap-up wouldn't be complete without the post that started it all, which is about how I was lucky enough to meet the incredible bloggers Nicole from Momtrends and Jill from Glamamom - which makes suffering through ugly menorahs totally worth it and then some.

Do you know of a spectacularly ugly  - or pretty - menorah? Please leave a comment or a link so I can add it to the collection!

Kid O - Great Toys from a Good Company

The most dedicated blog readers might remember that this winter I lamented being unable to find a shape sorter my toddler son Ziggy would play with despite my most first-world efforts to find one for him.

Among the many shape sorters I purchased was a sorting house by one of my favorite brands, Kid O. I loved the design, and even better, Ziggy showed a mild interest in using it.

But then the sorting house started falling apart. I added it to my "gonna fix someday soon" pile of toys, and of course that mythical day when I sit around fixing toddler toys never came.

But the day of throwing out the broken toddler toys did come. And out with the trash went the shape sorter house.

Then I sent a completely unnecessarily rude email to Kid O complaining about the shape sorter house. I'm not really sure what made me think the company was purposely selling shoddy stuff, since I have lots of there other products and not only are they all incredible quality, but they also have a great aesthetic and not a single licensed character in sight.

So of course I shouldn't have been surprised when my nasty email was returned with a completely gracious reply. Kid O understood there was a quality issue with the house, and it was no longer being sold. Could they send me something else as a replacement?

Every company should be so awesome.
_______________

Kid O sent us a Bilibo, which I had been planning to buy for about as long as I had been meaning to fix the broken toys in our house.

The Bilibo is a toy that enables kids of all ages to use their imaginations and be endlessly creative in deciding how to use it - my children have had their Bilibo serve as a house, campsite, garden, Giraffey bed, and transportation provider to various stuffed animals and Barbies with long commutes.

The Bilibo is also great for dress-up, and makes a nice helmet, turtle shell, or camel bump depending on your comedic or dramatic needs.

Thank you, Kid O for being a good company with great toys.

Being Thankful

This post is from 2008.

Our little clan had a tropical twist on Thanksgiving this year, with a non-oft vacation to celebrate in Puerto Rico.

On Thanksgiving, right before bed, after eating too much, sunning to much, and swimming way too much, I exclaimed"Hey! We should all say what we're thankful for!"

Mike and I said some boring platitude stuff, Kay added an inspiring "me too" and Magpie stole the show with: "I'm thankful for Hashem for this perfect little sister," and kissed Kay on the head.

Happy Thanksgiving.

What are you grateful for?

Congratulations to Kristie Jones! "Akin - A Story of a Boy" Selected as a BlogHer 2011 Voices of the Year

As I write this post, the annual BlogHer conference is happening in San Diego. And despite all the tweets reminding me of the good times and great people I'm missing, I'm fine that I'm not there. (Really. I'm not just saying that.)

I'm also proud to have my own small connection to this year's conference, and to be able to share a story about how blogging (and Twitter) are not a total waste of time.

In addition to everything else, the BlogHer conference highlights selected blog posts that have been chosen as Voices of the Year. Some of those posts are also being read tonight at the Community Keynote event (OK, I might be a little bit less fine about missing this).

I nominated Kristie Jones' post A Story of a Boy - Akin, which was a guest post she wrote at Our Cups Runneth Over. I'll be honest, this blog is not on my usual circuit (though it should be), but Amanda of New Mom on the Blog tweeted that the post was a must-read, so of course I clicked-over and must-read it.

And Amanda was right, this was an incredibly moving, and meaningful post. I was still thinking about the post when there came the call for submissions for Voices of the Year. 

So I nominated A Story of a Boy - Akin, and was beyond delighted to find out that not only was it selected as one of the 2011 Voices of the Year, but the post also received the most votes, so it received the People's Choice Award in the Perspective's category.

Congratulations, Kristie on being a BlogHer Voices of the Year.

And thank you, Kristie and Our Cups Runneth Over for sharing Akin's story.

I still think about it.

Wordless Wednesday: Flat Stanley Visits the One and Only New York City!

My kid got one of those Flat Stanley assignments. (For those asking "What is Flat Stanley?" it is a class project when kids are given a "Flat Stanley" to mail to a friend or family member in another city so Stanley can experience life there and report back on his time visiting a far-away land. It is based on the 1964 children's book called (you guessed it!) Flat Stanley.) 

Our Flat Stanley traveled from the suburban countryside of New Jersey to the urban fairytale that is the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Flat Stanley returned with a trove of photos of everywhere from Arthur Avenue in the Bronx to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village.

I share with you now my favorite photo of Stanley on the town:

Thank you so much to Stanley's hosts for showing him such a good time, New York City style.

Have you ever participated in a Flat Stanley project? Where did your Stanley visit?

(Almost) Worldess Wednesday: Ziggy the Puddle Jumper

My son Ziggy, like many (most?) toddlers is puddle obsessed. Lucky for him we have a perma-puddle in our back yard where there is a nice little mud pit despite my arduous efforts to eradicate it with grass.

When Ziggy sees the giant puddle at his sisters' school he goes completely and utterly bonkers.

At least someone is enjoying all this rain.

And for once, I decided to be a good sport, and jumped on it along with him.

I have no idea what the other moms thought about this, but my kid found it hilarious and I guess that's all that matters anyway.

And you? Do you puddle jump or puddle avoid?

Yes, I Still Have It - The Mario Brothers Sweatshirt from the 1990s

We moved last summer into what our realtor called our "forever house," which I'm guessing is supposed to be the opposite of a "starter home." For me, forever just seems to refer to how long it's going to take me to unpack.

Still, sometimes unpacking uncovers possessions that are truly priceless. So, I've decided to start sharing them here with all of you in my new feature, Yes, I Still Have It. 

First up, the sweatshirt my incredibly talented and thoughtful BFF made me back when we were in high school and I was Mario Brothers obsessed. In those good ol days, there wasn't branded everything. If you wanted a Mario Brothers sweatshirt, you had to make it yourself (or have an incredibly talented and thoughtful BFF to make it for you). And, this hand-painted version is about a million times better then anything you could ever buy.

So if you're reading, ALC, not only do Yes, I Still Have It, my equally-Mario-Brothers-obsessed daughter loves wearing it, too.

Twenty years later, and it's still totally awesome.

Wordless Wednesday - Obligatory Passover Pictures

Monday night was the first night of the eight-night holiday of Passover. We had a great time at our seder, spending it with my brother and his new bride, and our very dear friends who were nice enough to not only lead the seder but to also bring the best apple kugel I've ever eaten.

For those of you who celebrate, the scenes below will look familiar. For those who don't, this is Passover...

Brisket fresh from Citarella in Manhattan, ready to cook:

Toddler eating matzoh:

Seder Plate:

Children noshing gefilte fish before the guests arrive:

And of course, what seder could be complete without guests dressed-up like plagues:

Chag Sameach Pesach!

More Random Handprints for you and me!

Have you ever wondered what I do in my spare time besides write endless posts about my beloved collections, my in-need-of-instructions husband, and my adorable brood?

Let me be honest - despite a full schedule of laundry, craft supply organizing and second-grade homework, I have found myself with some extra time of late. So, I have started writing elsewhere besides my dear ol blog. That's right, the Random Handprints empire is growing!

You can now find me writing at the ever-stylish Momtrends - my first post is A Guide to Celebrating Purim... in Style with lots of fun ideas for a chag sameach with your family.

I'm also contributing to ShePosts, an incredible resource which covers the latest news from all over the mom blogosphere. My first post looked at how Toy Fair Tightens Reigns on Press Credentials for Bloggers. And today, I wrote about how a Blogger Campaigns to Stop the R-Word.

I am excited for the opportunity to contribute to these two great sites that I have long-admired and oft-read, and am yet again amazed at the wonderful opportunities that this blog has brought my way.

Now, if I could only get the hang of second-grade homework...

Two Ways of Looking at a Memo Pad

This is my memo pad:

I like to write lists on it.

To do lists (that I write, but don't actually do).

Grocery lists.

Lists of people whose calls I need to return.

Lists of blog posts to write.

Lists of play dates to schedule.

Lists of books to read, shows to watch, bills to pay.

Today, I went to write one of my endless lists and found a charming drawing on the back of the sheet. And, as I turned to the next page, and the next, it became clear all the pages were embellished with my daughter Kay's signature style.

The drawings I discovered brightened up my day, and I know the ones I discover tomorrow will, too.

Thank you, Kay.

Linking-up to Finding the Funny at Kelley's Break Room and My Life and Kids.

The Bestest Show on Earth - The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway

Not that I expected anything less, but The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway was the bestest show in the whole Globey world.  And I'm not just saying that because Pee-wee gave me my very first best-ever super-duper post modern autograph.

I had the very good fortune of seeing the show (which was also a historic taping for an HBO special airing in Spring 2011) with my online acquaintance and now real-life friend Jill from Glamamom, which made good times even more fun. We also had the incredible luck of sitting next to two hilarious and uber-knowledgeable Pee-wee aficionados who gave us all the inside trivia, gossip and insights about Paul Reubens, and just about every other character past and present who might ever have been associated now or sometime in the future with Pee-wee, his playhouse, or even the playhouse's playhouse.  I have never been so sorry not to have gotten someone's email before, especially since these two fans from Washington, D.C. were the reason I was blessed with the finest accomplishment of my adult life - an @PeeWeeHerman retweet. (Yes, I know his PR company probably wrote it, I'm not totally naive.)

The show is pure delight and Pee-wee giddiness. I loved everything about it, especially the happy childhood memories it kindled from seeing the cartoon Penny after all these years, to listening to the wondrously clangy C-C-C-Conky. And Miss Yvonne? She hasn't aged a bit. Still the prettiest woman in Puppetland by far.

The best part for someone like me who loves everything about show business? The behind-the-scenes takes and re-takes and jokes Pee-wee made (always in character) after the show ended.

Pure magic.

Disclaimer: I won free tickets to see the show via a Twitter Contest. I have been a faithful fan of Pee-wee Herman for over two decades.  And I have the doll to prove it.

Thank You, Pee-wee Herman!

Last night, I thought seeing the historic taping for HBO of The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway would be the coolest thing that ever happened to me. I especially thought this when I got to be part of some really amazing behind-the-scenes stuff, and when Pee Wee told about 300 of the funniest jokes I've ever heard to the audience.

Then, today.... @PeeWeeHerman re-tweeted my tweet to his 654,800 followers:

I had joked yesterday that I didn't really care if I got Paul Reubens autograph, which back in the day would be my ultimate celebrity memento, what I really wanted was for him to reply to me on Twitter - that this was the new autograph. 

Thank you, Pee Wee for my first new age autograph. I'll  never forget it.

Today I've been Married for Eight Years

That's right, as of around 7:00 pm tonight I've been married for eight years, all of them to the same great guy. We met two years to the day before our wedding, so that makes this anniversary a nice, even decade of togetherness.

Here's a quick run-down of our time together by the numbers.  Since meeting we've:

- Lived in 4 states
- Resided in 6 apartments and 2 houses
- Held down 9 jobs, including 3 at now-defunct companies
- Driven 4 different cars
- Brought 3 kids into the world
- Argued 1,839,029 times (of which I was right 1,839,021 times)

- Things I would change: 0

Here we are, in 2003, we've been married for one day.

And here, all these years later:

Comment for a Cause: Support the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

Thank you everyone for your support of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and your thoughtful comments. I'll be sending a donation to CCFC from Random Handprints Comment for a Cause tomorrow. 

I'm not buying much this holiday season. Hanukkah has already come-and-gone at our house, and we didn't give the kids that much, and my husband and I didn't give each other much, either. I'd like to say that's because we're very trendy, and we all know green is the way to go these days. But it's really just because our house is so full of stuff already it looks like one big junk-filled closet. So, no more stuff for us this holiday season.

But I did still go shopping for kids. Just not my kids. This year, I bought stuff for kids who not only need it, but might actually appreciate it. Whether it's books, toys, clothes, or something painfully practical, there's a lot of need out there. Just not in my house, and probably not at lot of your houses, either.  I know my kids don't need another puzzle or stuffed animal, but someone else out there really does. This year I went shopping "Blueberry Sal" style - one gift for my family, two or three gifts for another family.

This holiday season I'm also making a donation to the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC).  They're out there making sure our kids get more out of their childhood then unhealthy food and brain-numbing "educational" TV.  The people at the CCFC are the ones who made sure our kids don't have to look at Ronald McDonald on their report cards, or hold Sunny D parties in their classrooms, or listen to non-stop radio ads when they're on the school bus (Though it looks like more schools are about to get BusRadio - please help prevent this from happening!)  And the folks at the CCFC manage to do all this, and they do not accept any corporate donations.

If you are also grateful for the efforts made on behalf of children by the CCFC, leave a comment of support for all they do below. I'll donate a dollar to the CCFC for every comment left here between now and Christmas (also known as Merry Zoo Day at our house).

You can also make a tax-deductible donation here, and through Dec. 31, 2010, all donations over $150 will be matched by an anonymous donor.

P.S. If you are looking for some ideas to celebrate the season with more joy and less consumption, check out the wonderful and useful CCFC Guide to Commercial-Free Holidays.

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE COMMENTS! Also wanted to update the above with information via CCFC - BusRadio has ceased operations! Yet another reason to be thankful for all CCFC does.

Holiday Traditions - Random Handprints Style

Our holiday traditions are scant. And I like it that way. My husband works too much, so it's nice on the days he's home to just be with our kids and not feel pressured to get dressed in nice clothes, or for him to have to drive in traffic on the one day he doesn't need to commute into the City for work. For me, I'm happy for my day off from the tyranny of car pool and lunch making. So while others are cooking, cleaning, driving and celebrating we're eating hamburgers at the local diner. 

And we are all so very happy.

I can think of only two family traditions that we stick to every year. One is the display of our lovely light-up spinning dreidel that we acquired our first year in the 'burbs when the kids convinced us if we didn't put something up for the holidays, we'd be that house. (I'm not sure what that house is exactly, but I am sure we don't want to be it.)

So every year we take out this very delightful, slightly kitschy dreidel and put it in the front window.

(Also pictured, the ugly menorah and the fab Chanukkit)

And we are all so very happy.

Our other family tradition is our annual trip to the Bronx Zoo on Christmas, which we call Merry Zoo Day.

The zoo has a decent sized group of people like ourselves who make it at yearly occasion, and we got to know other families well-enough to exchange holidays greetings and enthusiastic insider exclamations of "See you next year!" 

Kay enjoyed the s'mores.

If you look closely, her puppy Lodo is wearing his Christmas sweater (as a skirt).

I envisioned the kids coming home from college on winter vacation and insisting we take our yearly trip to the zoo, despite been too grown-up for such outings. I imagined being able to say proudly, as someone else said to us on our first Merry Zoo Day, "Been coming here, let's see, must be twenty years now. Every Christmas Day."

Sadly, last year budget cuts led to the Bronx Zoo's Christmas Day closure so now we hit the Central Park Zoo instead. Not a bad change at all, and it's made especially nice with the addition of being able to add in a stop for lunch at our favorite Thai place on Ninth Avenue, Wondee Siam II .

And we are all so very happy.

What about you? Are you more or less traditional when it comes to holidays?

Grateful for helpful sisters

Today, I was not feeling well. I asked Kay, "Please, can you give Ziggy something to play with?"

Ever helpful as all four-year-olds are, Kay replies "Sure, Mom!"

I look over and see this:

Thanks, Kay.

A website everyone should check out

I rarely find a site or organization I feel compelled to pass along, but I am a really big fan of an organization in Boston working to curb marketing and advertising to children. They are Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), and I cannot believe some of the things the corporate world is doing. Some examples:

• McDonalds being allowed to advertise on public school report cards in Florida
• Bratz and other commercial items being sold by Scholastic at School Book Fairs
• BabyFirstTV, the first TV channel aimed at infants as young as six-months old.

The CCFC successfully protested against all these attempts by the corporate world to truly act against the best interests of children, and I am just genuinely grateful these folks are out there looking out for children and doing something about the ridiculous marketing to kids that is so incredibly widespread these days.

If you feel like getting angry about the state of the world, definitely check out CCFC's website and the links to current campaigns. And then, you can click "take action" on their campaigns, and feel a little better about this little over-producing, global warming, materialistic chunk of dirt and water we call earth.