King Tut with and without kids

25 May

We were invited to a member’s opening for King Tut at the Pacific Science Center and I was totally excited.  I talked the kids up: I pointed out the posters all over Seattle.  I told them all about King Tut’s sparkly gold.  I thought it would be as magical for them as Gaugain at the Seattle Art Museum.  What I forgot to do was my kid-friendly research: tombs are dark places and there was a little movie (1 minute tops!) in the darkened beginning of the entry room.  This did not bode well for the kid who hates movies/darkness/confined spaces and when the door closed it was game over.  I didn’t want to make a scene so I decided that was enough of King Tut for that day and came back today with the hubby. (PS I found a great babysitter on Urbansitter a new site for finding/scheduling sitters and she was a life-saver!  This might be my new go-to find a sitter in a pinch site.)

I’m so glad we went without my guys because now I know what to show them when we do take them although I think they might still be a little young. (We have had a lot of circle of life questions since we went fishing a couple weeks ago and this would probably put them over the top.  I think King Tut might be more of a 5 and up type of exhibit.)   It was nice to get to see everything and actually read and take it all in without having to translate, explain or stop little hands from trying to grab things.  The movie clips and explanations scattered throughout the exhibit were entertaining and informative as well-we took a lot longer going through than I thought we would.  (I studied a lot about ancient Egypt when I was teaching so I found it so amazing seeing all these artifacts in real life!  And in my city! I was in my nerd element.)


Of course, the things I found most interesting were the necklaces and jewellery:

They remind me of some jewels I’ve had my eyes on from Baublebar.  (I can’t wait till they’re back in stock)

And these too!

And I couldn’t help but giggle over the ancient potty.

But I won’t spoil the exhibit with anymore pics.  I think you need to see it for yourself if you’re in Seattle and if you set the scene right for your little ones, (maybe this book will help?) they will probably find it entertaining too.  I’m still in awe of how lucky we are to have such beautiful ancient artifacts visiting us for a little while.  (King Tut will be here until January 6th.  Maybe by then we’ll be able to convince the scared one this is something very cool he might want to see.)

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Sanity savers for boy moms

25 May

Before last week I thought the three things every boy mom needed in her purse were:

1) band-aids. (I’ve been tempted to cart around a cooler of ice too and a small medic kit, but I think that is excessive.)

2) a cup.  (The hubby wonders why I have all these old coffee cups in the car all the time.  I am not lazy.  When a boy has to pee, he has to pee.  These cups are car-savers.)

3) chocolate.  (self-explanatory)

But last week we had a morning where band-aids and the cup were both used before noon and I was one frazzled momma.  By nap time, which miraculously happened when I coerced/negotiated the duo to sleep in a fort we built,

I was so totally desperate for chocolate but the one piece of chocolate stashed in my purse had melted slightly into a kind of flattened unappetizing ball.  I didn’t dare move because I didn’t want to wake the boys so I ate it anyways.  (Yes, we do gross and disgusting things sometimes as stay at home moms.  Please don’t judge.  I was absolutely desperate.) And then I was in chocolate heaven until I bit down on something hard.  A little round ball.  How did that make it through the factory inspection?
A couple minutes later the the panic set in.  Something in my gut told me the little ball came from a packet of those little “DO NOT EAT” packets that had fallen apart in my purse a week before and I totally forgot to clean it out.  I rummaged through my purse and sure enough, there it was.  All of sudden I was on the verge of dying. Why can’t you eat these things?  Was I going to lose consciousness?  Should I call 911?  (Remember this was an overly crazy day and I am a bit dramatic.)
I frantically googled “Silica Powder” and “poison” and poison control came up.  I dialed the number and frantically told my story.

“How long ago did this happen? The packet is a choking hazard.  Did someone swallow the packet?” said a calm voice on the other end (let’s call him the “Voice of God”)

No, I just almost ate one of the little balls but spit it out.  Is it bad?  (crossed fingers, crossed chest, waited for choking feeling in throat to start caving in.)

“How old are you miss?  Or did a child eat it?” The calm voice asked again.

Um.  Not a child. me. 29.  (or a number close to that number.  I might have lied a little.)

“I think you’ll be fine.  Drink lots of water. Can I help you with anything else?”

Light at the end of the tunnel.  Glorious light.

No, that was all.  And then I remembered all the other times why I’ve ever called poison control.  The berries in the front yard-no the boys haven’t eaten them yet- but I was curious if they were poison just in case they did. The diaper cream that I accidentally brushed my teeth with because we left it on the bathroom counter.  And a few other things I’m too embarrassed to reveal but oh so thankful for the help poison control gave.

So I’ve now removed #3 chocolate(blech! ruined!) and added this number:  1-800-222-1222 to my list of things boy moms definitely need.  All this amazing knowledge a phone call away and it’s way too important to wait for google to find it.  ( FYI they do take your name, number and address.  Or maybe that’s just for me.)

(PS The boys slept through the whole ordeal.  So thankfully this was truly not one of those poison/choking/dying situations because there would be no 3-year-olds saving momma with a miraculous 911 call.)

(PPS there’s also another fabulous number/resource you can use in Seattle for non-emergency things but things you want to know about.  It’s the Ask a Librarian number/email and it’s 24/7!)

Make your own Ipad baby monitor

22 May

When we first traveled with the guys we always carted along this cheap baby monitor so we could hear them in one room sleeping while we sat on the patio or vegged in another room.  (We tend to get places with more than one room when we travel so we can actually zone out and feel like we’re vacationing too when the duo sleeps.) It’s small, no-fuss and not the heavy duty one we have at home so we don’t have to panic if we leave it somewhere but it’s reassuring to bring one to catch the early wake-up noises so we don’t have a major meltdown in a hotel room.

One trip we forgot it, so my hubby, a modern-day Macgyver figured out how to make a baby-monitor with the Ipad using the hotel’s free Wifi and facetime on our Iphone.  He set the Ipad in one room facing the guys and we kept the cell phone on our table in the other room and we were able to catch one guy getting up before he woke up his brother.  I heart technology!

(This post is part of a Travel Tip link up with Walkingontravels and Suitcasesandsippycups.  Hope it helps:) )

 

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