permanent vacation

Tina Lutz and I have been friends for many years, crossing paths and living in each others cities since we met at Esprit in the 80's in San Francisco. Then when we bought our home up here in Rhode Island I heard that Tina and her husband Justin were also looking for a 'summer place' up here. Well low and behold we are now neighbors! It's a little crazy... Their beautiful 'summer house' that has now become their permanent home was just written up in Cookie Magazine! It's such a beautiful home, so comfortable and at ease, it has this special trick of never looking messy! (maybe it's her german roots that gave her the idea to create ingenious storage in just about every room!)


You can see for yourself her effortless style, which also comes through in her eponymous collection Lutz & Patmos which is filled with luxury sweaters that she and her friend/partner Marcia Patmos have created. If you want to find something incredibly well constructed and designed visit her website to find beautiful sweaters for the coming fall season!


It's so much fun to have a neighbor that's inspring and as it happens her son Lou and Franny are pals as well! I hope Tina and Justins house will inspire you as well!


visit lutz & patmos here
or get the September issue of Cookie Magazine!

Home Again (Naturally)

The Feng Shui of packing

We traveled something over 3,500 miles in 12 days. Sometimes, in hindsight, everything seems a blur of trees and water. And, I'd be lying if I didn't say we have returned more tired than when we left - if not strangely refreshed. But, one thing is for sure - we had a WONDERFUL time and saw many things. The kids did and saw things that are a first - and the weather couldn't have been much better throughout. The memories will be invaluable to us. Really, if you're up to taking a road trip with the kids, I would highly recommend it. In fact, we are already talking about doing it again... this time going up the eastern coast of Canada camping. But, first, we need to get some rest. Oh yes, and I guess it's time to get back to work! Below, I've submitted some pics to wrap up some of the best moments.

Canada or bust

camp fires and endless s'mores

fishing

Toronto

Niagra Falls

A refreshing smoothie at just the right time

surprisingly patient kids!

Burntside Lake, Minnesota

Burntside Lake, MN

We made it to Minnesota and only about 2 days behind schedule! --oops! just too much beauty! The entire trip has been fantastic and I highly recommend a road trip to anyone who is ready to take it on, be ready for anything, and willing to just go with the flow... We have been on a tight schedule to meet my family up at one of the small islands on Burntside Lake in Minnesota and we ended up 1 1/2 days behind, but at least we were meeting an extended group of friends and family so everyone understood our 1500 mile drive and our possible delays.


We arrived in Ely, Minnesota (just a 5 minute drive from Burntside Lake). Ely is such an idyllic town with all the essentials at hand, ours being a nice cup of coffee. So we took part and then made our way to the island on the lake. We were able to share in 3 days of relaxation and fun and an amazing abundance of wildly good food and laughter (and just a bit of Aquavit!). There is nothing better than a crisp clean lake for a morning bath, collecting your own drinking water from a natural spring nearby, and nothing much else except fishing and swimming or canoeing. A bit of 'roughing' it - but the kids don't complain if their rituals are missed or forgotten, let me tell you!

the closest thing to JAWS !!!

Sander caught a giant 5 lb. Northern Pike, on one of his first casts of the line into the water...which was the very first time he actually fished! We all went totally wild and it was so fun for Sander as we gathered up the flipping fish in a net! Now, he has turned into a big fisherman, at each stop along the drive since he runs into the store to ask if they sell fishing lures... We are so happy that he has taken up such a wonderful sport! All he wanted to do the rest of the visit was go down to the large rock shore and fish for that elusive 10 lb fish!!!!

But I must say that our friends have a pretty unique setup on their little island, with an outside kitchen (which consists of an ancient oven, washing pots, chopping blocks, and no electricity - which accounts for this late post). Just about none of those 'day to day' necessities that you think you need, but you really don't! How about looking down at 20 feet deep water and see the rocks at the bottom.. now that's a clear lake! And, everyone works pretty hard to preserve that.

After a much too quick visit we are back on the road again and looking forward to passing through Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and then Toronto, Canada! After that we are on to the nearby Niagra Falls and then back home as we travel quickly through upstate NY and Massachussetts... it's all going so quickly but we are savoring every moment of this exciting trip - and the kids have thus far been wonderful, except for a few stern looks and the shaking of the head occassionally!

the lake

my favorite thing this week - the loon!

While on our vacation here in Minnesota I remembered how wonderful is the call of the Loon! It happens to be the Minnesota state bird. Before we went on our trip we checked out the call on You Tube and I let the kids hear the beautiful sound and they loved it. When we arrived up at Burntside Lake we instantly heard one and the kids went wild. My friend Patty said that she feels that kids can make the Loon call better than adults and I think she was right! The kids just picked up the sound and we had a great time with it!

It was so beautiful to sit and eat dinner outside and then hear the call and we all went quiet and listed to see where the Loon was... if it was nearby... and if we could catch a glimpse! In the morning it was particularly beautiful to wake up to the sound...

Thank you Loon for making our trip just that much more magical!

(in the image above the Loon carries her baby on her back! -- I love that!)

camping in canada

The car is packed up once again and on our way across Ontario and along the north side of Lake Superior and we finally had the perfect opportunity to get some camping in... After Ottowa we made our way through the border town of Sault Ste. Marie, where we finally reached Lake Superior! After a brief stop in Sault Ste. Marie (trust me) we made our way north towards Wawa, which would be our first camping site.

As soon as we started along the coast of Lake Superior the views became incredibly breath taking! At one moment I was driving along and I was brought to tears by the beauty! It's impossible to explain but I would say that the drive from Sault St. Marie, Ontario all the way to Grand Marais, Minnesota was beautiful and what I thought was the original reason behind this trip! We were very lucky with the weather (and the kids!) and it was constantly clear sky, good spirits, and sunny the entire route. We weren't traveling as fast as we had thought, as we learned that with kids in tow you have to stop every hour and a half to let them burn off some energy and look around - but this was fine by us.

Trowbridge Falls, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Our first campsite was in Wawa, a totally idyllic setting next to a river feeding the lake, a silent night, beautiful full moon, a tent, some happy kids, and some s'mores (not to mention some pesky mosquitos). But the next morning we had to get up early and get ourselves on the road fairly quickly. Our next destination was Thunder Bay, which I had a childhood memory of as being a great place. Along the way we hit a sweet little community called White River, probably our favorite little town along the route north of the lake, a chip wagon (these are in just about every town across canada!) a HUGE playground and a long long long freight train passed through that the kids just loved - probably because my husband made sure they had front row seats! As well, we came across a little 'bistro' in the town that had a perfect coffee, breakfast, and conversation with the locals. We spent a bit longer than planned in the town, but that's how it works sometimes! We were set for the road! --next stop Thunder Bay!

Again the driving was pretty impressive! With stunning cliffs and lakes and rivers it was all perfect. We got a tip from a family at the playground in White River that we should camp at Trowbridge Falls Campground, which we did. Our campsite was even better than the previous one, a bunch of open air space and right next to river 'rapids' and a series of short water falls, the kids had a blast swimming, jumping on the rocks, building wood dams, and our campsite overlooked it all at the top of a short path! We slept to the sounds of the river moving past! We had to get up early again (this was a recurring thing considering we kept stopping along the way and worked out anyway because the kids rise at sunrise...) so that we could meet my family on Burntside Lake, near the town of Ely, Minnesota - way north! We were already running a half day late!

Grand Marais, Minnesota

So we got up early in the morning and skipped breakfast, crossed the border fairly quickly, and made our way down to Grand Marais, MN on the coast of Lake Superior! Honestly it felt like a bit of civilization after the last 2 days, a natural foods co-op!! YAY! - some herring sandwiches and we were ready to go on our way. The coast of Lake Superior in Minnesota was beautiful but much more crowded than the roads in Canada, but after the solitute of the drive that we had been on it was fine.

chippie wagon in White River, Ontario

Not to sound a bit suspicious, but sometimes it seems from passing that the Canadians live on the Lake Superior and on the US side it seems the citizens make it a business! Canada felt more sparse and almost rural as we crossed over the northern shore of the lake and once we started down the west side and back into the US again we could see that it was much more 'active' with inns,coffee shops, gift shops, etc in every town. It's not really a bad thing, it's quite nice after you have been driving for days though many 'empty' towns hoping to find that cute lunch spot...Don't let that make me sound like I'm complaining, because I'm not. In fact, when you think of it, who needs a quaint lunch spot when the 'chippie' wagons popping up along the route throughout Canada offered us ample opportunity to indulge in fish and chips - and a unique 'cuisine' native to the area called poutine, which takes a little getting used to! My husband said it reminded him of something similar that is popular in the north of England.... either way, you have to try it once at least.

And next stop: Snake Island, Burntside Lake, Minnesota! We are looking forward to that!

Cruising the Trans-Canada Highway

Wednesday morning saw us piling back into the car and saying 'au revoir' to Montreal. We were heading for Ottawa, where we thought we'd just have lunch and then keep on driving. I was totally surprised at how beautiful of a capital Ottawa is - and how pretty it's government center is, all of the embassies were completely amazing! some modern, old and everything in between - all of this located mostly overlooking the Ottawa River where it is joined by two other rivers.


We ended up looking around more than we planned, taking in the Parliament building and the canal nearby. But, by far, the most exciting discovery for the kids was Rideau Hall nearby - the official residence of the Governor General - with its two ceremonial guards standing sternly at the front gates with their bear skin hats! Sander was excited to have his picture taken with the guard, as you can see.


But, Franny wasn't so sure. She said she was waiting to have her picture taken with the 'Princess' inside instead... Soon enough we were back on the highway as it went from 3 lanes down to 2 lanes and finally gave us a very long stretch along the Ottawa River of only one lane.


The scenery is mostly farm land and thick stretches of trees. But, occasionally, the landscape opens up to a river view that is beautiful. We did a large stretch of land today. And, I'm surprised the kids are still without tantrums or complete meltdowns.


We've just about gone through every car game you can think of though, and we make more than a few pit stops to keep things fresh - even if it only means getting the kids to squeegee the car windows for 5 minutes while we fill up on the gas. And, never underestimate the calming power of chewing gum.... trust me! You can easily buy yourself an hour of quiet with that simple gesture. Tomorrow we make for the border town Sault Ste Marie and then start our drive up and around the northern edge of Lake Superior, which is supposed to be one of the best drives. We'll let you know how it goes. If you've been this way before on a road trip, please let me know of any sites to stop at along the way - we're just kind of making it up as we go along at this point! This has been a really lovely drive, we have been lucky with the weather and I can't think of a better vacation so far!!

Some Vintage Inspiration

Designed by Jean Prouvé in 1952

I love... no, I LOVE looking for great finds. My preference is perusing flea markets - and I'm not bothered to have to travel a pretty fair distance just to have a look around. In the 90's, when I lived in San Francisco while working for Espirit, I used to frequent a flea market just over the Golden Gate bridge on Sundays. I'd find some great stuff. I was just thinking of this because I was looking at some things that Rachel had posted over at Hand Made Charlotte recently - aren't they all beautiful objects? She has a good eye for such things apparently, and in this case I didn't have to waste a long hot journey in the car to enjoy looking at them.... especially with the kids in tow! Thanks Rachel. 

Designed in 1975 by Luigi Colani for the German company Elbro, “Rappelkiste” is made from beech and plywood

Gilbert Rohde Playpen Crib, displayed at the 1933-34 World’s Fair, Chicago

Bent steel and aluminum bicycle by Jean Prouvé, circa 1941

Designed in 1972 by Roger Landault and manufactured b7 Cattaneo in Italy

Montreal - first stop on road trip!

We made it to Montreal and we are loving it! On Monday we awoke early and began our 400 mile journey from Rhode Island, we high-tailed it quick for the first four hours but by the time we reached Vermont we were all ready for a more scenic route (and we were slightly ahead of our schedule) and so we drove through the Hero Islands of Lake Champlain in the north of the state. And it was a beautiful and perfect contrast to the larger highways we had been traveling on. We were immersed in farm land, modest lake homes and small campgrounds dotting the small islands and further along Route 2, just before the Canadian border, we found a small beach and lunch stop that was perfect! We were all excited to jump into the water to cool our feet and wake ourselves up a bit. The further we pulled away from the Boston area heading north, the more beautiful and rolling was the scenery. We decided we needed to make a visit to Vermont and stay a bit longer.

hotel saint-sulpice

Then we chose to use a smaller entrance to Canada which is so different from the large customs booth on the standard highway - for a distinct experience with the kids it is far more interesting. It was delightful to see the small booth surrounded by farm lands as far as the eye could see. A modest outpost with a single Canadian flag and one official barely able to converse in English while my husband explained things in his basic French (he is a firm believer that it is respectful to try and speak the native language no matter how awful you may sound using it!). After a long speech in English/French which only amounted to something like "just drive up to the next stop sign and turn left for Montreal," we were on our way into Canada. We were all cheering in the car! It's amazing how the landscape changes when a language changes, well not really the landscape but more everything else! I was recently in Niagara Falls and there was hardly any noticeable change when I crossed over the border - except for the flags. But entering Quebec truly feels like you're entering into a 'foreign' country, which we found refreshing. Now we felt like we were going somewhere.


Montreal is a perfect place for a visiting family (and I am sure if we had done more research it would have been even better). But even without knowing much about Montreal we have had the best time! The pace here is perfect for kids, bike riding is almost akin to Copenhagen or Amsterdam, and they have the same bike loan system (had we been prepared with some type of bike seat for Franny we would have gone everywhere on them!) as some European cities are fostering. We spent most of the first full day down at the waterfront, a sprawling place that is wonderful for kids and adults! We rented a quad-cycle (which enabled us to cover a lot of ground), raced toy boats, played on the playground, searched out the piers, and wandered around the Vieux Montreal - where we booked our hotel. There are boat tours, horse drawn carriages, a street festival, various churches and plenty of cafes and restaurants. My favorite part about this town is there is never really a crowd! Nothing felt crowded. If you want to do something you can pretty much just walk up to it! Montreal is easily navigated and has enough variation to keep any small family busy - and you don't have to be tempted into the warren of underground shopping areas, which in our opinion are just your average extended shopping mall (though I'm sure in the winter it is more appreciated!) - though the kids sure appreciated the 'bouncy' castle.

bleu nui

arthur quentin

Speaking of shopping malls, we took a look at Rue St Catherine, the long shopping street that traverses the city centre and is home to many of the larger shops, including the department store La Baie. It was as you'd expect in any larger city but wasn't as special as we had come to expect. We also made a tour of Rue St Denis, Makie' gave us the idea to visit two shops Bleu Nui and (3913 rue Saint-Denis) for beautiful bedding and accessories and Arthur Quentin (3940 rue Saint-Denis) for kitchen and lot's of other wonderful things. The southern portion that leads down toward the Hotel de Ville and crosses the UQAM isn't anything really interesting and reminded me of the Haight Ashbury in San Francisco - geered more toward students.


Montreal is an interesting city, some apparently call it the Paris of Canada, and we kind of wish we had a bit of extra time to experience it, especially the Parc du Mont-Royal and the Ile St Helene. I'm sure my husband wishes he had more time to perfect his use of the French language too!

After our day and a half in Montreal we are back into the car tomorrow. We don't quite know where we are going, except towards the West. We expect a few days as we cross Canada driving towards the Northern part of Minnesota, Ely to be exact, for some seriously secluded camping on Burntside Lake! We will keep you posted (if we can get internet access) and let you know how the Road Trip is coming along!

Car playlist so far: Michael Jackson (the kids love 'Beat It'!), Neko Case and a bit of 70's ROCK radio stations we stumbled on in the north of Vermont (assume this was the influence of Burlington)!

(sorry that the photos are a bit washed out... I had a little trouble with my 'usual' system so I had to improvise...)

just to clarify

I was listening to NPR the other day and they had a piece on Mommy Bloggers, aparently there was some kind of convention or meeting of Mommy Bloggers (and hrumph, I wasn't invited...) and NPR decided to attend and ask a few questions. Unfortunately I didn't hear the whole story but it was put forth that some bloggers are getting lots of loot out of the deal. Becuase of the power of these Mommy bloggers, businesses are sending out tons of complimentary gifts (to put it nicely) so that their product will be reviewed on these increasingly important blogs.

I just wanted to make it clear that I do not ask for free ANYTHING I don't write stories on products just to get something for free. I write my blogs from my heart and I try to write about what I feel will be helpful to you... all the parent's out there! If anything I am trying to give you tips and information on things that you may already have in your home and I try not to be too product based. I must admit that I do BEG Weleda from time to time to send me ANYTHING because I love everything... but other than that, it's all about sharing information, new and old information, that can hep us be better parents.

Thank you so very much for visiting my blog and I always like to hear your comments!

Creative Ideas On the Quick

If, by this time of year, you just find yourself in one of those days when the kids just are not impressed with anything you come up with for an activity? Or the beach and swimming pool just aren't going to cut it for some reason? And, if boredom just appears to be the running theme in your house? Well, try pulling something out of the thin air, something you haven't considered before - change up the speed a bit. Create a whole new playing field with a few easy steps.

The other day, my kids were just in that zone where nothing that had previously entertained them was going to entertain them now. And, worse, my son was just starting that long and irritating process of slowly but surely baiting his sister into some mischievous behaviour. I could have tried the Legos, or building blocks, but that was way to 'boring'. I could have even suggested some rarer activities like building a log cabin using sticks from outside and then running the hose nearby so that it made a river down the lawn. None of it was working for some reason.

So, I took a page out of a few suggestions that I had read on Blair at Wise Crafts site. I had never considered that emptying the contents of the piggy bank and scrubbing each and every coin with some soap and water would get past the stage of actually pouring out the coins on a table. To my great surprise, both kids took to the task fairly willingly. At first there were a few small moans, but sure enough, once they got into - the whole thing unfolded into more than an hours easy entertainment. **Just be aware that the coins being cleaned aren't collector's items, as apparently coin cleaning (to many collectors) actually takes away more from the coin than it does add anything. But, in our case, this is not a concern. We even practiced some counting - so I think it could be a great idea if you find yourself at a loose end with young kids.

As well, I think the next task I borrowed from Blair's suggestions for activities at home was to let the kids 'decorate' their own sneakers. In fact, because my kids are younger than Blairs, the finished product was not as impressive as you might hope. But, the actual process of drawing on a pair of sneakers was just the right amount of fun, and semi-forbidden behaviour, to get their interests right awayy! I thought it was a good idea to pull out some older shoes and I even let them go at a pair of my own white sneakers that I knew I'd not be wearing anytime soon again. 

I'm showing you a sample of what Blair's daughter Emma had done with a pair she decorated. My own kids drawing was something more akin to a Jackson Pollock painting gone bad...... but, at least they had much fun!

So, a couple of small ideas that can get you some extra mileage in the activities department. I like ideas like this - things that you don't normally conjure yourself until someone else recommends it. In that regard, if any of you have similar suggestions I'd like to hear about them so we can share them. One can't ever have enough ammunition against a case of persistent boredom! 

favorite thing of the week -- Olivia!

I know we are not the only ones who live far away from family and relatives, and we do think that it takes a village! ...or lots of cousins, friends and family!

Let me explain, It started early on when we lived in New York City. It was very easy then to entice my Swedish cousins to come here to help us out...I mean what's better than a visit to New York and helping out with the kids. It may be called an Au pair but when it's family it's really great. Recently we had my husbands niece visiting for a month from California -- it's good for everyone, the kids get to hang out a bit with their cousins and it's a lot of fun spending more time with family. It occurred to me recently that the people around us don't do this, so either we are crazy or maybe it's a good idea!

Olivia has been here for a more than a month from Southern California, playing with the kids, going on some goofy trips with us and hanging out at the beach.... In the past we have had my cousins visit from Sweden doing the same, the kids have been exposed to a bit of a creative Swedish spirit and my cousins have been able to get the feeling of living here in the USA (they are only allowed to stay for three months, but that's just enough time to get to know each other! and maybe come back the next summer!! ha!)

I guess this also works for our family since we are just about the last to have kids on both sides of our family so we have family that is just about the ripe age for helping out. What could be more fun!

If you have a good way that your family helps out, share it with us in the comments section! You never know who you are going to give some great ideas to and if we all share with each other, your ideas will just grow and grow.

road tripping - here we go!!

We are about to take off on our road trip to Minnesota, I hope to be blogging along the way so follow along with us and we will give you all of the woderful, or greuling, details! Unfortunately we didn't have time to plan a whole lot about this trip except for the route. Our first stop is going to be Montreal... we should be there just about on Monday and Tuesday, so if you have anything you feel that we can't miss please make a comment below and let us know about it!! (we need your help!)

After Montreal it's onto Thunder Bay and then somewhere in between the two... so please give us a heads up if there is anything we need to see, somewhere we need to stay (actually we need campground information... we are tenting it!), or any kind of food that we need to eat!

And don't worry about shopping on Nonchalant Mom, Julie is working hard at sending out orders while I am gone, she is amazing and on top of it all... who needs me anyhow!

new on nonchalant mom - nico nico

I just added a new collection to Nonchalant Mom and it is called Nico Nico. I fell in love with this collection instantly and when I got to know the woman behind Nico Nico better the whole collection just got better! Nico Nico comes from the familiar base story, "when I had kids I realized that there weren't the kinds of things out there that I wanted my kids to wear" but very seldom is the result as well thought out and pulled together as Nico Nico.


Sue Tsai started Nico Nico together with her friend Momo but is now continuing on her own, she has a background in Design, but it may be from her work as a stylist in Los Angeles that she honed her eye for details that make her collection incredibly comfortable, soft and extremely cool! She tells me that she feels that it's the flat lock stitch that really worked for her and cinched the deal for her collection Nico Nico. She goes on to explain "I love simple colors but always love a splash of color in the graphic or the way the outfit is put together. I keep the palate very simple- it's great when layered. Children's clothes that I LOVED were one of two things- too expensive or the designs and cuts were wrong." I think she is right, how many times have you seen kids t-shirts with giant wide cut arms, now what kid have you ever seen with anything other than tiny little arms! and expensive, I know a bit about that... it's really hard to find something that is well designed and priced right and produced with a conscience -- Sue was certain that if she made anything for kids is had to be organic, and I think she executed it all perfectly! I LOVE Nico Nico and I hope you do too!


Thank you Sue and we look forward to seeing a lot more from you here at Nonchalant Mom!

click here for link to nico nico on nonchalantmom

the Nonchalantdad: When A Treat Is No Longer A Treat

I was watching the older version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the other evening with the kids and I was gently reminded of something. Remember when eating sweets was really a treat? I'm thinking of the part with Charlie when he enters the candy shop and has a coin or two to drop on something special. It reminded me of when I was a child and with my mother in England. We'd be on a day trip to visit one of our many 'aunts'. We'd be given a bit of change and told to go to the corner shop for something special - probably so they could have an important natter. Or, we'd be promised something special for later in the afternoon. Just a few decades ago, treats were still something of a ..... treat. Now, it more than seems, the treat has come out of the closet and is on the full attack against us and our kids. 

I only say this because I'm a bit more than fed up with having to fight with the kids every time we go anywhere, I mean just about anywhere, and something sweet is being offered. For example, just about everywhere I went with the kids this last week either something was being offered to them or I was having to navigate a situation where sweets were practically standing in my way. There was the bank, which is to be expected considering they have been doing this kind of thing for years. But, even that is different now. I can almost guarantee that my kids will walk out with an array of lollipops whereas when I was younger just getting one was the treat!  Or, how about the doctors office, or even the damn dentist. How about at school? Kids birthday parties are not safe now either. It's almost de rigour to expect a bag of goodies for your child before you can even consider cake and ice cream. By the time the kids come home from a birthday party, it seems like they've been to Halloween and back! And, any adult party that involves having the kids along always seems to devolve into giving the kids ample amounts of sweets just to keep them busy perhaps, and out of your hair. Oh, I complain of course, but I'm becoming my own worst enemy now too. I get tired, just like you - and I give in. I look at it as winning the war perhaps, but losing a few battles. Ohhhh shame on me. 

Then there's my favourite now - the cinema. You don't only have a treat - you eat the whole damn factory that made the stuff. Order a small soda perhaps and the thing comes to you looking like what we called large just a decade or so ago - or maybe extra large. And, of course you are going to be tempted, right? It's only 25 cents more!  And juices, most of the time, unless you've remembered your own, they've got you cornered on that one too. Think water in a bottle is a safe option? Oh no, now some of them infuse sweetener. And, what the hell is up with this BIG GULP thing? Who needs that much liquid anyhow - why not just go all the way and tie a bucket around your head, much like a horse. I'm just getting started now.... what about what used to be a few strings of liqourice, now it's huge bags of the stuff. And, a small bag of popcorn can feed a family of 5 now... or is that my imagination. People, we are surrounded. I mean come on... we've had to invent new words in the English language for the new sizes.

And listen, you don't even need to go to the candy shop any more - the stuff is everywhere! I was in the hardware store with the kids, and they got racks of it. Go into the office supply shop - tons of the sweet stuff on sale and right where they know you're going to see it. I came in for sheets of printing paper and I end up needing a huge bag of sweets, how does that work? I'm surprised I don't walk into one of these shops now with the kids and someone is specifically hired just to start throwing the bags of candy at you as you enter, or teams of people shoving the stuff in your pockets as you try to scramble back to your car!  At church, at ball games, at the bank, the post office, the doctors office... it's out of control. What's so sweet about a sweet when your entire day is just one long sweet. It's entered snack time too - I've seen it slowly infiltrating under different guises at school too... I'm not fooled by that frosted covered fruit roll thingy that looks like it never met a fruit in its life! Where do the kids get this stuff, and how are we as parents enabling them.....

And then we all wonder what is happening to the average diet. Hell, why not just give up and start mashing the stuff up and serving it with some gravy and calling it dinner. Wait a minute - I think I just saw an ad for IHOP where they offered something quite similar.... oh, now, I'm feeling a bit sick from the thought of it.

It's not enough to complain any longer. But, what's a boy to do? I can't just leave you with a nasty thought, now can I. It can't all be hopeless. So, here is what I've started doing more of lately. If you can't beat them (and good luck trying to), then don't join them - get creative, try something different. And, if this means misleading the kids a bit, well.... I've got to do what I've got to do. The alternative is just to ugly.

So, I regulate. Say I go to the cinema with the kids. I agree that they can have a treat (I don't like to smuggle goods in). I just don't agree that they can consume a whole bag of sweets. I make it clear to them that I will take the bag and dole out a portion to each. And, we'll wash it down with water. Leftovers will be returned home for another occasion. As for the shops, I warn them beforehand that we might encounter a lot of sweets. I also warn them that we will not be getting any. Advanced warnings can go a long way. And, if that doesn't quite work, then I make something up like telling them how their teeth will all fall out if they go over a certain limit.... and it won't be pretty. But, I've found, it's not always the kids that are a problem. It can be hard to deny the kids a treat when someone is offering. Usually, I'll tell the kids that they can have a portion of what they are given, and then the rest can be saved for later. Which, by the time an hour or two has passed, I can safely discard the offending treat(s). And, on occasion, someone has been more than insistent that the kids take a sweet even after I've gently tried to tell them no. Then, I bring out what I call the 'big gun' and say something under my breath alluding to the fact that the kids might have some unnameable problem that means they can't consume sweets. I hate to do it. But, like I've said - you've got to fight fire with fire sometimes. It's just not fun.

The sweet thing is out of control. I'm doing the best I can. Do you have any suggestions. I'm open to persuasion. I'd love to hear it. And, while you're at it, maybe you want to share the oddest place you've seen lately that is offering sweets - a place that you just can't imagine would do such a thing.