A Little House Christmas at Adventure Theatre MTC

November 23, 2012

Last week the production A Little House Christmas opened at Adventure Theatre MTC in Glen Echo Park. We typically are lucky enough to see the plays on the eve before the opening during the final dress rehearsal and my girls were particularly excited to see the first holiday play of the season. As we entered the theater, I immediately knew that things really are different with Adventure Theatre since they merged — never before have I seen such an elaborate and beautiful set at this particular theater than with this production. The prairie house is intricately built out onto the stage, including a loft bed for the girls but it was the wheat that wrapped around the house with the soft evening light behind that really grabbed me. Kudos to Adventure Theatre MTC for further extending our children’s imaginations with the possibilities in set design and creation through this production – I really loved it. And all this before the show even got started!

Photo Credit: Adventure Theatre MTC

Now to the show. My girls are seven and four this month and I am a little embarrassed to admit that I haven’t yet exposed them to Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Little House series. In fact, over the summer, we vacationed with a group of friends and one is an elementary school teacher who really raved about the series and how much her kids, a boy and a girl (both about the same age as my girls), really love the stories and the TV series (which she picked up on the cheap at BJs). Clearly I need to add it to their Christmas lists. Prior knowledge of the book and premise really isn’t necessary to enjoy this delightful 45-minute production, however. The three young girls starring in the play, Katie Littleton as Laura Ingalls, Maya Brettell as Mary Ingalls and Caroline Coleman as Nellie Oleson, do a remarkable job through their acting and expressions of conveying the story and message to the younger kids in the audience – and also really keep the attention of even the youngest in the audience.

As the production opens, we quickly learn the Ingalls family has moved into the country and they’ve invited some friends over for a pre-holiday feast. The addition of the “city girl”, Nellie Oleson, to the house shifts the dynamics and Laura has little patience for the girl’s snobby, obnoxious behavior. The messages involved in these kid friendships are ideal for the tween set and I believe would appeal to boys as well as girls. Certainly the behavior of the girls created some “teachable moment” opportunities for me and my girls as we drove home and talked about good and bad behavior and how we treat our friends.

Suddenly the threat of a nasty storm moves in over the prairie, complete with remarkable special effects on the set – it rained in between the windows of the cabins – really a great detail to look out for that added extra pizzaz to the show. Also – listen carefully for some of the words and phrases used in the play – clearly old-fashioned and hilarious to consider bringing back. As Christmas draws near and the unrelenting storm fails to ease up, the Ingalls girls adjust to the idea of celebrating Christmas without Santa and without any gifts. Both of their parents attempt to soften their disappointment and ultimately, the girls discover they can still enjoy and celebrate the holiday even if Santa can’t make it across the river.

Fabulous dancing scene. Photo Credit: Adventure Theatre MTC

At this point, me and my friends started wondering how we were going to explain this one to the kids later and considered whipping up some consistent talking points so we wouldn’t further confuse matters with conflicting stories but at least in my house, it wasn’t needed. I expected many questions about where the flying reindeer were and why couldn’t Santa get to their house if he can get everywhere else – but none of that happened. In the end, though my youngest wasn’t likely absorbing the full message of the show, even she digested some of it because they left the play happy and content that the Ingalls girls still celebrated Christmas, even if it was a little different this year. In the end, the family had one another and the warmth of their home on the prairie, and everything felt right.

The Adventure Theatre recommends the play for kids ages 4 and up. My 4-year-old definitely enjoyed the show and sat happily for the 45-minute production but I can see how not all 4-year-olds would sit through it. My advice if your kids are on the younger side would be to base that decision on your own child but I would think the show is universally appealing to those 5 and up, and particularly relevant to the tween-aged kids. Catch this lovely holiday production before it ends on December 31. Tickets are $19 and can be purchased online

Disclosure: Adventure Theatre MTC gifted the tickets to me but my opinions here are all my own.

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Holidays, Theater for kids

You need to relax more.

November 14, 2012

That was the five word response I got one day, not long ago, from Mr. Wired Momma in response to an email I sent him. I have absolutely no idea what the content of the email was that I sent him that elicited his response. And as you might imagine, my initial reaction to his email was anything but pleasant.

I was pretty much ready to tell him what he needs…….

And then I just actually thought about what he said. He was totally right.

Is this what Mr. WM had in mind when he told me to relax? Photo Credit: Gaylord Hotels

Surely he means regular trips to the day spa and solo weekend get-aways to paradise islands, I thought wistfully?

But then I rejoined reality and decided instead of being defensive, I was going to do just that. Relax more.

But HOW?

We’ll get to that later but for now – YOU need to relax more too.

What I’m seeing emerge from that tired, cranky working mom’s memo after she abruptly quit – is this overwhelming recognition that instead of ending up exhausted and feeling like we are failing at everything – oh – and not really enjoying our kids along the way – there are resources we can deploy and things we can do – to keep everything moving as scheduled and as one of my favorite commenters wrote (favorite because of her total honesty) – to “keep everyone from screaming at each other.”

Amen sister.

Amen.

Here’s where you come in. I am hoping you will share with me..and in turn my readers…what secrets you’ve deployed in your own homes to help keep the train running on time, that maybe helps your husband participate in the daily schedules or activities, and overall just keeps the peace. I’m thinking we could all learn some really great tips from each other. Ways you’ve learned to LET GO.

Photo Credit: December 6, 2010 New Yorker

I was totally inspired by one reader’s comment yesterday that she purchased a shoe organizer from Target and puts her daughter’s clothes in for the week. This way her husband can help her daughter get ready in the morning while she does something else – but she knows her daughter won’t end up going to school wearing dirty laundry.

Please – be creative – I’m soliciting all kinds of tips and tricks. Do you and your husband use an app to manage lists for the grocery store or upcoming birthdays? I recently just learned about Tracy Meyers Friend, a local mom, who developed a list making app with her sister called Don’t Forget Your List. What a great idea! I am planning to download their app this week and am thinking Mr. WM could use it too. If you’re a fan of the show Parenthood, surely you saw how they devoted part of an episode this season to using family apps to help keep everyone organized. One friend swears by Evernote.

How about meals? Do you cook on the weekends? Do you use a grocery delivery service? How do you manage those? What about making doctors appointments or purchasing birthday or holiday gifts? There is no detail we aren’t interested in if you have a scoop.

As you can see, there is no tip that might not be valuable to someone else and I’d love to hear them. Feel free to be creative – send me a pic of your system or a link to your favorite app. Or just send me an email. Whatever you prefer. But I would LOVE to put together a WM readers resource post of all the ways we’ve each developed a system at home that keeps others involved, or keeps the peace, or helps you feel more relaxed. Ways you’ve learned to let go.

And about that – us needing to relax more – maybe learning some new tips will help us do just that. So look – I’m really eager to hear what you say. Email me at wiredmomma@me.com. Please get me your emails by next Wednesday Nov 21. I’ll work on the post that weekend and post it the last week of November. And one lucky person will receive a $25 gift card to Restaurant.com for sharing with us – I’ll have one of my girls draw a name out of the hat.

A great big thank you in advance to everyone who sends in their tips – this is something to be thankful for next week! And until then, be sure to hit “Like” on the Wired Momma Facebook page to keep up with the fun and encourage your friends to do the same (and to send me their tips!).

 

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Moms/Entrepreneurs, Motherhood, Restaurant.com

A Great Advance for Women: 2012 Election Outcome in the Senate

November 7, 2012

We each have our own story and reaction to last night’s election night outcome. But for me – honestly – the thing that I was most excited to share with my girls this morning – and to watch unfold in January – was the victory for women last night.

I am in awe of the results from election day for women. No matter which party you voted for, SIX women picked up Senate seats last night.

SIX

This morning we can tell our children that 1 in every 5 Senators is a woman. Just yesterday I was explaining to my almost seven-year-old why she should always vote when given the chance and in a somewhat feeble attempt to give her perspective, I explained to her that women in our country have only had the right to vote since 1920 when the 19th Amendment passed.

Okay, I left out the part about the 19th Amendment but I did try to make a big stink about cherishing the right to vote and the women who came before her who didn’t have that ability. This was how I tried to explain to her what freedom means.

So now we wake up today to learn of this record-breaking moment for women in the Senate, though according to this Bloomberg piece (notably the only one I could find thoroughly covering the advances of women in the Senate), a few races were still being tallied as they published the piece around 3AM.

I think this is so significant and important not just for our daughters to know but also for our sons – for them all to know that this is a defining moment in history when women are striving for elected office and reaching elected office in record numbers. Again – on both sides of the aisle. And how about the state of New Hampshire? In case you didn’t hear this through all the other election night coverage, here’s this amazing fact from the Bloomberg piece:

“In neighboring New Hampshire, female incumbent senators Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, will be part of another first. New Hampshire in January becomes the only state to have women in the governor’s mansion, in both Senate seats, and in all House seats.”

I look forward to watching these new female elected leaders take office, to seeing what new issues they bring forward and to continuing the conversation about who our political leaders our with my girls – and how meaningful it is that more of our leaders are women.

How did you explain what freedom is to your little ones? I definitely struggled with that one.

For more fun and frolic – though admittedly because I know just how diverse my readers are and they don’t come to me for political commentary – I generally try to avoid political pieces – be sure to “Like” the Wired Momma Facebook page. For the next two months, I will have less time to blog but I will definitely check in more with everyone on the WM FB page – so don’t miss out!

 

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Politics

Wanna join Mothers Against Daylight Savings?

November 3, 2012

Feel anxious and angry on the eve of one night every year (and no, I’m not talking about your birthday)? Wondering why in the world we have daylight savings?

Then come join MADs – Mothers Against Daylight Savings – membership is free, benefits include shared feelings of anger, rage, exhaustion and a community feeling against farmers, or whomever it is that forces us to roll the time back one precious hour every year. My friend Keeley and I originally founded this group back when we each had only one child and though we feel Parents Against Daylight Savings is more aptly named, it seemed no one would want to join anything called PADs. Are we right?

In fact, all 35 of the faithful and loyal readers of my original Wired Momma blog recall the initial MADs posting back in November 2oo7. Look, the ominous they claim time heals all wounds. Does time really heal this one? Is there really hope? Is there any day that is more anti-mom than daylight savings (mother’s day, perhaps?)? Some might claim there are many days but I declare none more painful than the first day of daylight savings.

Let’s review the first rule of MADs Fight Club: Back in ’07 I rightly kicked you off my blog and ended our friendship if you still think daylight savings means “one extra hour of sleep.”

Who are these people? Should we pillage and burn things outside their homes next year on daylight savings? We could all agree to meet at say, oh 4:45am, right? Cause that’s when most people’s day starts when they’re getting “one extra hour of sleep”. Bite me, whoever you are.

On the eve of daylight savings, we all share in the ill-feelings towards those bastards for whom tomorrow actually means extra sleep.  And for the other parents with kids who are early risers, you might also be wondering – do we dare warn the children that it might take longer to reach – oh – 7am – than they are used too? Or just let them suck it up and wonder why the light has arrived but their designated awake time hasn’t.

As the president and co-founding member of MADs, I remind you that you are not alone tomorrow. You won’t be alone when you are cleaning out the fridge or putting away summer clothes by 8am. Not to mention the added misery that it seems to take these children weeks to adjust to the new time. Why is that?

Please  join MADs, membership is free and the rewards are priceless.

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Baby Sleep, Daylight Savings, Life with 2 kids, Motherhood
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