I heard last year that Zhu Zhu Pets, those hamster toys that supposedly interact with each other, were the “hot item” of the Xmas season and pretty hard to find. Well, apparently that didn’t last long – today I saw a bunch at Grocery Outlet. They were about $10 each (which is about the same price you can find them online – Grocery Outlet doesn’t always sell things at bargain prices), and I think they only had one color (beige), but I didn’t look at the model. Still, it’s pretty amazing how they went from hard to find to overstock.
As toys go, they seem to be OK. My daughters like the ones they got because they “feel so much like real pets” and play with them occasionally (they’ve had them for 2 1/2 months). But they haven’t been able to get them to interact with each other. They would like more, though (and they’re not getting them).
Author: marga (Page 29 of 158)
A couple of Xmas ago, my friend and former egyptologist Lola, got Mika her first Theodosia book: Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos. Mika, as was her custom back then, threw a fit about the book (my kids have severe transitional issues). But it didn’t take long before she wanted Mike to read it to her. It may not be an exaggeration to say that she became immediately enthralled by the story – and that it quickly became her favorite book every.
The book (which is followed by Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris and the just published Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus
) concerns a precocious 11-year-old girl name Theodosia who lives in Edwardian London with her egyptologist parents, who run a small museum. Theodosia is not just a budding egyptologist herself, but she has an uncanny ability to feel the black magic arising out of antiquities. This leads her to uncover mysteries and live exciting adventures and become the unacknowledged heroine. I haven’t read the books myself (Mike is the one reading them to Mika, and I’m not much of a reader of kids’ books), but of course, Theodosia seems like your stereotypical spunky, wise-beyond-her-years, courageous little girls on which much girl literature is based. In other words, the sort of girl all little girls aspire (or should aspire) to be. No wonder Mika loves it.
The books have also fueled Mika’s passion for Ancient Egypt – something which I, of course, have encouraged (for those who don’t know me, I was an Ancient Egyptian Archaeology major in college). This year we are throwing Mika an Ancient Egyptian birthday party. To my great happiness, the 3rd Theodosia book came out early, so I will actually be able to give it to Mika for her birthday.
As for this posting, the purpose is to encourage everyone whose kids (specially girls) have shown any interest in Ancient Egypt to get the books for their children. The San Leandro library now has them (thanks to Mike who told them they should get them), and I’m sure other libraries out there do as well. The first two are now on soft-cover and quite affordable. Sorry, we can’t loan you our copies because Mike is currently reading them to Camila (not that I think she’s getting much out of them).
I’m happy to say that the author has written on her blog that she’s just finished writing the fourth Theodosia book, Theodosia and the Last Pharaoh, so the adventure will continue.
I just bought this lipstick, a L’Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick at Grocery Outlet for $2. It has a printed retail value of $8.50, but I’ve seen it for $4 on e-bay. The color I got (they only had 2), mochaccino, seems to have been discontinued – that’s probably why it’s at Grocery Outlet. Surprisingly, I liked it very much. I also liked how creamy the lipstick is and how easy to apply – there is no friction at all. And it feels nice and moisturizing.
Alas, that’s probably why this is the shortest-lasting lipstick in the history of humankind. I don’t think it lasted even half an hour, and as if that wasn’t enough, it bled below my lower lip. Maybe that’s why they didn’t sell and ended up at Grocery Outlet.
I wasn’t a big fan of having to transition to digital TV – specially as we had no plans of buying new, expensive, TVs – but the transition was all in all pretty painless (though we did have to spend some extra money on the conveters), and, as a bonus, I got two new TV stations I like.
Once is PBS World, which allows me to catch up on PBS and BBC news programs when it’s more convenient to me, and the other one is Qubo, a channel that shows children’s cartoons all day long. As we don’t have cable, and I do let my TV babysit my kids, that’s quite welcomed.
But what I like about Qubo is the type of programs it has. Many of the cartoons are based on books, such as Babar, Macy and Pippy Longstockings, and others are just very smart. Jane and the Dragon is about a little girl who refuses to be a maiden and tries hard to be a knight.
My favorite show, by far, is Adventures from the Book of Virtues – a show that teaches ethical/moral lessons from stories from around the world. Just a while ago, for example, they had the story of Damon and Pythias, two good friends from Syracuse. One of them stood up against the tyrant of the time, advocating democracy – he was arrested and sentenced to be killed (hey, doesn’t this sound like what’s going on in Iran as we speak?), and he asked as his last wish that he be allowed to say goodbye to his family. The other friend offered to stay on his place, to make sure his friend returned. I loved the story, not just because it teaches about the depth of loyalty and friendship, but because it reinforces the ideal I’m trying to teach my children, that you should stand up to tyranny even on the face of prison or death. I’m not sure that there are many shows around that are willing to tackle such complex ethical issues. And as if that was not enough, the show teaches my kids about important historical figures (like Plato).
The one big problem with Qubo is that all its commercials (between shows, rather than within them, which is a plus) are infomercials for stupid things. Some of them are for children, but many are for adults: furniture warehouses, adjustable beds, gold buyers, etc. They are also terribly long. But I guess that’s the price for fairly good children’s programming.
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