Story Time with a 4.5 year old!

My daughter decided it was story time. She wanted to tell them to her friends 1 year old brother who we are watching. I have not edited these. My only input was to ask her to repeat or to clarify something.

"Once a frog met a scary monster. The scary monster made a potion out of the frog. And only if someone smelled him would he be a frog again. But no one ever came to smell him, so he was a potion forever."

"There was lots of people at a zoo. And lots and lots of people came. And they all seed everything and then it was a great zoo and then the animals never ever escaped. They decided to stay there day AND night. And then they drank ate & played. They were so tired they went fast asleep."

"There was a princess who loved to kiss frogs and play and work. And then she found a great castle which was not scary. So she stepped inside and she loved it. And when she stepped inside, she got a princess gown so she became a real princess. And the bed was her favorite color. She liked orange and that was the color of the bed. And then the prince came and married her. and lived happily ever after. The End"

"Once there was a girl who was all alone in a parade. And she never ever met any other friends. And she didn't have any friends. She decided to make friends. But none of the friends didn't like her. Some were boys, some were bad, some didn't like her songs, and dresses, and gowns, and beds. And she never ever made friends. The End."

"It's the bestest one. It is about the bathroom that never ever flushed people down the drain. Once there was a toilet that didn't flush people down the drain. But it always used to flush them down. But it learned to never, ever flush people down. Then they all lived without dying. Then they all played jump, spin like a princess, and lived happily ever after without getting flushed."

"There were arrows being thrown all over the town. Then people pulled on them, took them out, and threw them out in the garbage. Then it was very happy days. Then people through more, and more, and more arrows. Then the city was destroyed and they all went to hospitals."

"It's that tomato frog (a frog grabber with a frog grabber head) got hurt. Then he slept in Francis (her ladybug tent named after the ladybug in Bugs Life) then he was really feeling better now. And he is out of Francis and real happy and he was loved. Then he played almost every day with me. The End!"

I hope her friends don't end up with nightmares from the "happy" endings.

Dear Disney Channel - Some Consistency Please

My daughter loves the My Friends Tigger & Pooh show. It has easily been one of her favorites since it premiered when she was 17 months old - just weeks before her first trip to Disney World.

At 4.5, she wants to be a Super Sleuth when she grows up. She is determined to be Darby for Halloween. We are actually off today in search of a blue baseball hat that we can turn into a Super Sleuth Cap.

She has been sad that there have not been many new episodes and that it has all but disappeared from your TV listings. Fortunately, we have many episodes saved on our TIVO and own a few DVDs.

Maybe it is because she has two science minded parents, but we always enjoyed watching this show as they explain how the world works - Fireflies, Plants Growing, Mirrors, Echoes, and more.

She also loves the games and activities on your website. I discovered this weekend that they have disappeared from Playhouse Disney Online. So PLEASE, stop advertising them on TV. She was yelling at the TV today about trying to trick her when the advertisement came on for My Friends Tigger & Pooh online.

So please, if you are going to completely remove a much loved TV show & website, please stop advertising it!

Thank you,

Signed,

A parent of an unhappy 4.5 year old

Great Deals on Magazines

Amazon.com has some great prices on 2 year subscriptions right now.

Parenting Early Years is $9.97 for 22 issues over 24 months. That works out to $0.45/issue

Working Mother (2-year) is also $9.97 for 16 issues over 24 months. That works out to $0.62/issue.

If you are looking for gifts, Seventeen (2-year) is $10 for 20 issues over 20 months. I loved Seventeen as a teen. Other magazines in this deal, are Forbes, XBox Magazine, Outdoor Life, and many more.


Note: I am an Amazon Associate and receive a percentage of sales made through these links.

There are Great Deals Around - Pictures, Nintendo DSi, Movie Tickets, & Back to School Items

I wanted to share a few great deals with my readers.

Snapfish has launched their redesigned website. They are offering an 8x10 photo collage for free with free shipping. Use the code GRANDSHIP. This offer is only available for items shipped and is not available for in store pick up at their various partners. This offer is good today (August 16) and tomorrow (August 17).

Walgreen's is offering 25 free prints with the code 25FREECREDIT. You can enter this into your account and have until October 15 to use them. I have used Walgreen's for quite a few orders and have been pleased with their quality. They are also offering 75% off of a 5x7 easel print as today's daily deal. They will have a daily deal each day this week, starting yesterday (Sunday) with a free 8x10 print.

Target has a set of daily deal specials each day. Today's specials are Nintendo DS related. The main special is a Nintendo DSi bundle which includes AC & car adapters. They also have specials on games and accessory kits. At a 15% discount on the main system, this may be a good time to buy if you are planning to give your child one for the holidays or an upcoming birthday.

PlumDistrict is offering a Fandango movie ticket for $6 (up to a $12 value). You can only purchase one per person, but you and a spouse could each create an account and purchase one. I did not see any restrictions on one per household.

Staples has a free electric pencil sharpener (after rebate), $0.01 notebooks, printer paper, and photo paper. They also have $1 Sharpies (5 pk), Dry Erase Markers, Children's scissors, and pens. I have stocked up on a few of their recent back to school deals and plan to visit this one as well.

Office Max has $0.20 Crayola 24 packs of crayons. I like to stock up on these at back to school to use in party goody bags or for giving as small gifts with coloring or activity books. There is a limit of 3. 1" binders are $0.30 and are great for organizing your child's school projects or even organizing your own life. Wooden rulers are $0.05 each and pencils are $0.10 for a 12 pack. Loose leaf paper is $0.20 and ball point pens are $0.10

What deals have you found?

Why is it always 1am?

Last night, as I was reading before bed at 1:20a (yes, we stay up late), we hear a chirp repeated about every 15 seconds. We quickly recognize it as the low battery alert for one of our smoke detectors.

The smoke detectors in our house are wired to electricity with a battery backup. When the battery runs low, they chirp. I swear they have a clock that knows to chirp during the night. They never seem to chirp at 8a, 2p, or even at 10p. No, it is always in the wee hours of the morning.

Of course, we have 9 smoke detectors in our house, 6 on the top floor alone. So now it is a matter of figuring out which one it is. It takes us 20 minutes to figure out that there are two chirping. A third started chirping, because in checking the battery it did not get put back in properly. Of course, one of the chirps is coming from our daughter's room. So we turn all the lights out, find a working flashlight, and quietly change her battery without waking her. Finally, at 1:50a, batteries have been replaced and chirping stopped. Time to settle back down for bed.

Needless to say, with the late night adventures, neither my husband nor I woke up early to go running.

In our previous houses without the hard wired alarms, we would change the batteries routinely. However with the primarily electric alarms, we have opted to conserve batteries by waiting for the low battery alert to change the batteries. I am now rethinking this approach.

Free Chuck E Cheese Reward Certificates

Chuck E Cheese now has reward calendars on their website. You can print the calendars and when your child completes the calendar, they can redeem it at Chuck E Cheese for 10 tokens.

There are 13 different calendars/certificates that are available. Calendars are available for potty training, teeth brushing, sleeping through the night, manners, and more. There are also one time certificates such as for losing a tooth, sports team award, or a doctor's visit.

While you are on the Chuck E Cheese website, remember to register to receive coupons via e-mail. These coupons are typically better than the ones that are available for download on their site. Also, don't forget to play the ticket blaster game to virtually earn real tickets.

The certificates do require a pizza purchase for redemption. You may only redeem one certificate per child each day. However, you can typically combine these with other coupons.