Scary Name, Minor Problem

Lizzy has had a rash around her mouth for a couple of weeks now. At first I wasn't too concerned, because the child can (and does) use her tongue to "wash her face" - and it's scarily flexible. She can get it all the way up to her nose and down to her chin. Impressive, but disgusting, like Abby's party trick of literally putting her foot in her mouth.

But it's getting worse, so I was worried about it developing into impetigo or thrush (which she had as a nursing baby) or God forbid allergic eczema (which was the first symptom of Abby's severe nut allergy). That last was my biggest fear - with a half sister on the one side with severe allergies, and a half sister on the other side with asthma, she's pretty high risk for such things. So I took her to the pediatrician across the street, who diagnosed it as something that gave me just a momentary heart attack, until I realized what the words meant.

Lizzy has salivary dermatitis.

Sounds awful, doesn't it? But like some other medical terms Abby and Lizzy have encountered in their young lives, it's a very fancy name for a very minor problem (as I write this, Lizzy is jumping up and down, shrieking, "salivawy duhmatitis!" over and over). It's the same thing that teething babies get on their chins and chests from all the drool; the reason we put them in bibs even when they aren't eating. The core issue is that she licks her lips too much.

Solution: get her to stop doing it. Then we have another problem; most treatments that taste foul enough to stop her are also not okay to ingest. So we go the middle route - instead of making it taste terrible, make it have no taste at all. Hydrocortizone cream twice a day (after tooth-brushing) and this baby brand of lip balm, which is completely unscented and boring. And constant reminders to not lick her lips.

We'll see how it goes.

Good TV for Powerful Girls

We're working on Healthier Choices at Chez Gamers' Babes in the New Year. One of these is all-veggies-must-be-eaten-before-second-helpings-of-anything-else, one is homework-and-active-stuff-first-and-TV-later, and one is no-TV-while-eating. In the past five days, even before they went back to school yesterday, this cut down on our screen time a lot. And I had a little fairly-quiet time to think on what Abby (9) has been watching. I've come to a conclusion, and it's this:

While there is good American TV for "tween" children, Australian, UK, or Canadian TV is consistently better as a class.

At least with those choices available on Netflix. I'm not talking about what we call "baby shows" here; the preschool TV we watch is usually pretty good. I'm talking about shows that are clever while not being nasty, are actually appropriate for the age group at which they are marketed, and while funny are also decently respectful - without too many off-color jokes or suggestive gestures or graphic violence.

We started this tween TV thing with the Nickelodeon show iCarly, which is aimed at girls ages 7-14, although the characters are between 14 and 17 as the show progresses. iCarly is fine (at least in the seasons we've watched - the first three); the suggestive jokes go right over the kids' heads, there's never anything more sexual than kissing, and the violence is very slapstick (and even my little one gets that). However, the Adults Are Useless trope is in full effect, except in very few episodes. And iCarly led us to Fred: The Movie, which is not acceptable in our household. At all.

It also led us to assorted shows from Disney. Disney is interesting. As a rule, the animated choices (at least those available on Netflix) from the House of Mouse are acceptable; our favorite is Phineas and Ferb. It's clever and cute, and the violence is both cartoonish and slapstick. And it's Disney, so at least one catchy tune per episode. But every single Disney live action TV show we've seen (not so much in the TV movies we've seen), there is no respect shown by anyone to anyone (although because it's Disney there is usually an "Awww" lesson at the end of an arc). The adults in our house do not like this.

Now, on to the good stuff. I'm mostly talking about Abby's age/interest group here; Leanna is the next group up and interested in different things, and Lizzy is still in the preschool demographic.

• Avatar the Last Airbender, Jackie Chan Adventures, Ruby Gloom, Teen Titans, Powerpuff Girls
• They all have very strong - and varied - female characters - Katara and Toph, Jade, Ruby, Raven and Starfire, and the titular Powerpuff Girls.
• They are either shaped like regular human beings (as opposed to Barbie dolls) or are so cartoonish that it's obvious even to the 4yo that they are not "real people shapes".
• They have either real-life lessons that do not (generally) seem too forced, or the stories are told in such a way that a child of the intended demographic can extrapolate the lesson or theme (teamwork, equality, friendship, love, etc)
• Anything from Australian producer Jonathan M Schiff - we've seen H20 Just Add Water, The Elephant Princess, Wicked Science, and Ocean Girl
• These are more teenage shows, as in some of those shown above, with a whiff of the arcane/magical. They have the usual high-school kinds of plots, with the mermaid/teen genius/magical princess twists that make them more interesting. 
• Even though there are plenty of the Mean Girl or Pop Star plots (and a lot of bared midriffs), they are somehow more wholesome than most of the offerings from Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel. It may be simply an intrinsic difference between Australian and American TV.
• Strong female characters, good and bad, with believable motivations
• Australian shows of this type don't seem to be as obsessed with body shape as American shows do. Some of these teenage girls actually have hips, for instance.
• Classic Sci-fi/Fantasy/Horror Comedy
• Star Trek (original and animated). Sure, they're sexist as hell, but they made for good discussion fodder. And they were pretty obvious as far as other prejudices go. Most of the newer stuff is too mature for Abby
• The Addams Family - suits my Perky Goth down to the ground. They are a loving and supportive family in spite of their weirdness.
• The Sarah Jane Adventures - this one is newer, but it's a family-friendlier take on the Whoniverse, which is older than Star Trek. Strong female characters. Older-but-still-lovely-and-competent female characters even. And we may be able to watch some OldWho, but she's too young for NewWho's darkness.

So there you have it, folks, a review of What's Good on TV. Have fun with the links

Why Wait?

Really, why wait until Saturday when I'm feeling so much better today? I mean, yesterday was tough; there was rent to be paid, jobs to be rejected for, not enough sleep having been had, winter in Seattle to experience, etcetera, ad nauseum. It's enough to make the most cheerful person (that's me, and don't you forget it) morose.

So we still have the weather issue, but the rent is paid, the rejection is a day further in the past, and I turned out the lights before midnight last night. And - most importantly although I hadn't realized it was bugging me until it wasn't an issue any more - my pantry (and my freezer, fridge, and fruit bowl) is now full.

This is huge. It's not that it's comfort food, precisely; it's that the food is all here, handy and ready to go at need. It's that I have a choice between oranges and pears, and that I don't have to cajole the kids into eating things they hate because it's what we have on hand. It's because I went to Grocery Outlet and got canned and fresh and frozen produce, and dairy and meat and cheese and bread and cereal and snacks and all the extras like paper towels and everything else, that I filled up the trunk of my car, for under $75. I got sopping wet hauling it all into my apartment, but I'm pretty sure the savings is worth it to me when I'm unemployed.

All I need now is the few things they didn't have (or I forgot to grab), like my favorite spreadable butter, and powdered dishwasher detergent, and table sugar. And the stuff my mom got at Costco yesterday (I dont think I'll have to buy my own juice for a month). The rest is done.

That always makes me feel better.

Up, Down, Up, Down

I'd say I have not gotten over my holiday fatigue. I'm absurdly emotional, with equal likelihood of tears given to the good (my mom got me a bluetooth earpiece to go with my new Windows Phone and a jar of my favorite vegetable just because she loves me! A friend said I'm a good person! My husband told me I'm intelligent! People are trying to help me get a job! I get to use a cause near and dear to my heart in my Research Writing class!), and the bad (still not employed, and rent is due, and I'm feeling worthlessly non-contributory, and I'm feeling personally rejected (yes, yes, also absurd) after job-hunting for nine months).

I imagine that this is in (large) part because I stay up Too Damn Late ever since oh... Thanksgiving, watching TV and folding laundry and doing online job searches and playing games and reading and munching (and no, I'm not pregnant - even leaving aside the permanent form of birth control we initiated during after Lizzy's (surgical) birth, the timing is wrong). My very diurnal system is quasi-nocturnal at the moment and that can't be good for me. I'm not really an early bird or a night owl; I'm more of a midday kind of person. 9AM to 3PM is generally my best time of day.

So what I need is to:

1. Jump back on the healthy food choices and portion sizes bandwagon, which is already initiated; I can't go low-carb like my spouse because I have food allergies and sensitivities that won't permit it, but I can go lower-carb, as in tonight's meal; we all get pork chops and salad, but I'll make a bigger salad for me and eat a lot less of the rice I make for the kids than I would otherwise.
2. Get to bed earlier; this should be easier because school starts for the kids tomorrow, so they will go to bed earlier and therefore I will too. Also, if I have to pop a Benadryl (or two) for a night or two to get myself back on track I can do that.

I'll let you know how I feel by Saturday's post.

T-Shirts and Small Children

Today I am wearing this T-Shirt, which I purchased originally from CafePress (and yes, I did take the picture myself, while wearing the shirt, hence the slightly wrinkled look). For those who are neither gamers nor gun enthusiasts, the point is that RPG can stand for Rocket Propelled Grenade or Role Playing Game, and I (as a gamer) approve the gaming context.

But Lizzy does not know that, nor does she read yet. She only knows our role-playing adventures as Game Night. So when I put this shirt on this morning, I found her interpretation of it - "Say No to Guns and Say Yes to Dice" - fairly impressively abstract for four years old.

At the moment we have a couple of neighbor boys over, assisting Abby with her Harry Potter Quidditch Pitch Lego set (she got it for her birthday from her Aunt Laura). Their interpretation of the T-shirt was amusing, because they wanted to know why it's not cool to have both - after all, some of the RPGames have RPGrenades in them, don['t they, Abby's Mom?

Well, yes, they do. We as a rule do not play those games, however, because at my house, I have decreed my kids too young to do so (these boys bracket Abby in age, but that's up their parents; they're not my kids and so it's not my say... except when they are here playing with my girls).

Interesting dichotomy. I wonder how much of it is the gender of the kids in question.

Quiet Geeky Parties

Our annual NYD potluck and game day was scaled way down this year; we invited a lot fewer people than usual (through lack of space and funds). So we had a couple of neighbor kids early in the day and one couple and their kids later on. We don't see these people nearly often enough (they used to live downstairs but have moved a couple towns away) and so we had a blast, playing board games and eating spaghetti, mostly. The kids played a simple game called "Spin Until You Drop" which is Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Last person standing wins.

So here it is, 8:30 not that long after Lizzy's usual bedtime, no work tomorrow; although I do have school, and to help my mom with storing her Christmas decorations and possibly bringing leftover spaghetti sauce to a friend whose husband is in the hospital (because as always we cooked for an army but a small platoon showed up). Tasty sauces, too... one meatballs in red sauce, one veggie (mushrooms, onions, and artichoke) marinara, and one chicken-and-celery-in-cream-sauce.

Right now the dishwasher is running, we're watching a "baby show" and then I'll put the kids to bed about an hour late, each. A nice quiet evening.

And the house is still mostly clean.