Social Media Parenting

Park City Utah Skiing: Back on the Bunny Slope

Posted on 03. Jan, 2010 by rudy.

I remember my dad teaching me how to ski when I was nearly four years old like it was yesterday. Him with his patience sliding slowly backwards down the hill with his bottom up in the air while holding my ski tips together. I was in the bunny slope and soon I was plowing, turning and stopping all on my own. My dad had put in a lot of hard work and we left the bunny slope my fourth day and I hadn’t been back since.

Growing up my family always treasured our ski vacations, we went often and we got better and braver trying new things all the time. I had dreamt of the day I could put my own bottom up in air and teach my children how to ski, hoping I would be as patient as my dad was with me.

Well, it finally came true this holiday vacation. It was Christmas day in Park City UT, a perfect blue sky, not too cold. My nearly four year old was geared up in her ski suit, boots and helmet with brand new pink ski goggles. I was teary eyed when I looked at her standing there with her skies snapped on looking so much like me.

Day one was a really big deal to me and I wasn’t going to let anything ruin it. Not me, not her sensitivity and nerves, not any obstacle. I wanted her to have fun, to be brave and hopefully remember this experience forever. I was nervous and I was back in the bunny slope. I didn’t expect her to be ready to go up the chair lift right away but when she saw other little girls doing it she shuffled towards the line. Up we went and she wasn’t the least bit scared. I was thrilled. At the top I did what my dad had done. I placed myself with my back to the base, my bottom up and put her tips together. Ready to slide, she freaked. At first I was disappointed that she didn’t trust me or the tiny little hill. It was a harsh reality when I had been visualizing myself in this awkward position for years and it wasn’t going to happen. Still I didn’t want her to have a bad and scary experience. Luckily there was anther option, the worm. The worm is a rubber band that screws onto the tips to keep them together forcing a plow, I had seen the ski instructors use it on the little ones.

We took a hot chocolate break and located the ski shop in the lodge. Found the wormy thing and bought it. Back on top of the bunny slope we attached the purple wiggly worm. I was surprised she had picked purple over green but she was really excited to try it. Once again I got myself into position but instead of my bottom in the air I held her hands. I started to allow myself and her slide a little. A smile so big grew on her face as she realized she was sliding down with a nice big plow. It was amazing for me to experience this once again but through her eyes. She quickly started to trust me and the hill allowing me to keep a further distance, no hands. We played the freeze game to teach her how to stop and pretended to fly airplanes to teach her how to turn. She didn’t want to leave at the end of the day but I could tell she was exhausted.

Day two she got braver yet. The worm was secured on the tips and I kept an even further distance between us. She learned the love for speed mid day and I was no longer able to glide backwards ahead of her, instead I followed. She wasn’t all that interested in turning although she thought she was turning it was more like a quick wiggle. Again not ready to leave when it was time to go, she feel asleep in the car.

Day three she was eager to get up the lift, she was annoyed with the morning lines. She never stopped to let me fix or readjust anything at the top, wiggling until she started to glide. I followed proudly after. She lead me trough the Candy Lane obstacle course turning at the poles and ducking under the tunnels, down towards the wavy bumps going up and down, up and down, All I could see was her tiny little body with a big helmet swaying down the hill, but I knew there was a smile on her face and so I had a smile on mine. I don’t know how many times we went up the lift that day, too many to count. We had nice conversations on the way up about the glittering snow, the snowmen she had noticed on the edge and the children skiing below. On the way down I had butterflies and happiness fill my body as I got to share this with her. I can easily say that those three days were some of the best days I’ve ever had and I will treasure them forever. I hope she, like me will be looking forward to teaching her own children how to ski one day. She won’t have to worry about her bottom being up in the air, but she’ll remember her purple wiggly worm who got her down the bunny slope.

Day four will come soon enough and I think she’s ready to leave the bunny slope now.

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Great Wednesday Toy Specials @toysrus – Empty store at 9am

Posted on 16. Dec, 2009 by rudy.

Great Wednesday Toy Specials @toysrus – Empty store at 9am, originally uploaded by socialmediaparenting.

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Heart of the Rockies Half Marathon – Four Minutes Late

Posted on 02. Dec, 2009 by Sara.

photo credit: Kamal H.

I’m pretty used to embarrassing myself by now, so it came to no surprise that I was four minutes late to my first Half Marathon race. I have to say this one tops the list. How could I be so casual about knowing when and where this race started? After all I had trained for 12 weeks, you’d think I’d take it a bit more serious than that. I guess knowing that the pamphlet with time and directions conveniently in the car was good enough. When you’re as busy as me sometimes it’s just easier to hope that I know all the details rather than actually making sure I know them.

I started racing towards the back end of the patch of runners as they were taking off yards away from me. My vision for this race had played out so differently in my mind. I was going to take it easy, listen to my body, pace myself… make it all the way to the end. I made sure not to make eye contact with any of the spectators making their way back down the path from the starting line as I dodged them. I didn’t want to do this anymore. I wanted to quit. And I almost did because it was ridiculously embarrassing.

But I didn’t. I didn’t because I had worked way too hard not to finish, I wasn’t about to let myself down. The even bigger reason why I didn’t quit was because my husband and kids were out there somewhere along the road waiting to see me run and finish. They were proud of me and they were excited, I wasn’t going to let them down either. So I kept running.

Once I calmed down and got my rhythm back I felt pretty good. I was passing runners so at this point I stopped worrying about being last. When I approached the mile 6 and my legs were starting to feel just a little tired. Then I spotted a very small group of people standing by the road. There was a tall and handsome man, a girl in a shiny pink jacket and a green wagon with two little ones inside, my family. I suddenly felt happy and shy at the same time. Happy because it was so heart warming to see them all there cheering me on and excited I was running towards them. Shy for the exact same reason. I’m definitely not used to being the center of attention. My husband snapped about a hundred pictures of me as I ran by, even after I passed. He can’t help himself. I saw them pulled over by the road a couple more times after that and about a few hundred pictures later they took of toward the fish line to wait.

Somewhere along mile 9 I was ready to quit again. I was alone. No one there to keep me motivated and I was extremely tired. I was paying for my early sprinting at this point. When I realized I was about 1 mile closer to the crowd and the finish line I woke up again. I heard music and cheering and suddenly I didn’t feel alone anymore, I knew my cheerleaders would be there waiting for me. I was excited again. I found energy somewhere, must have been all the adrenalin I had heard so much about that finally kicked in. Running felt easy again and I ignored the pain under my toes that I assumed was blisters.

As I closed in on the finish line I heard my name through the speakers… I did it, is all I could think. I crossed the finish line, they ripped of my tag to record my time and I stumbled towards my daughter who hugged me tight while cheering. It doesn’t get any better then that.

I will never be four minutes late again.

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Maclaren Baby Stroller Recall: U.S. Parents Get Repair Kit while UK Parents Do Not

Posted on 10. Nov, 2009 by rudy.

Source: AP via Youtube

Ok, so many of you reading this have already heard about the Maclaren recall of over 1,000,000 baby strollers produced from 1999 to 2009. Upon learning about a severe hazard with their strollers, 12 U.S. cases where children had to have their fingertips amputated after getting their fingers caught in the folding mechanism, the company made a bold but much needed move. They publicly acknowledged the defect and offered a repair kit to every Maclaren owner, in the United States.

“This is an industrywide problem. And we’ve taken the leadership on this because we designed this 40 years ago … We had a number of cases of people having their fingers caught in the elbow hinge, and they brought it to our attention,” Bahman Kia, Maclaren’s CEO, told “Good Morning America.”

This was the right thing to do by Maclaren, for U.S. parents. But what about those in the UK? Why are they not getting the same repair modification kit?

According to the Telegraph:

A spokesman said: “We wish to reassure our customers that they should continue to use their existing Maclaren buggies since they are safe when opened and closed correctly.

As further reassurance we have updated our operating instructions and placed a warning label on the buggy to ensure that customers take care and keep children away from the buggy when it is being folded or unfolded. Our advice is that consumers should take the same level of caution and care as when opening or closing a car door or any other moving part that can be found in many other baby and toddler products.

Just like any other mom or dad, my parental instincts kicked in after first hearing about the news. I thought about my kids and their safety. How lucky we were that this did not happen to them. I thought about what those young kids who got injured had to go through and how their parents must feel. How sad is it that it took 12 children getting injured before a recall was made?

Twitter and the blogosphere is buzzing with the Maclaren recall news. Much of it focusses on the negative aspects of the situation. After all, shocking headlines get the eyeballs.

Here’s a screen of the stream of news on Twitter for the search term – Maclaren:

I checked t see if Maclaren has a Twitter account and did not find one.

Update: After scanning the “Maclaren” Twitter stream, I did stumble upon the Maclaren U.S. Twitter account and told them that our VIN # is half scratched off. I asked them for advice on how we can get the VIN # or submit the form without the Vin#. No reply thus far. If anyone knows the answer, please leave a comment below. Thanks.

I did find what seems to be their Maclaren Facebook fan page. The first comment I saw was from a parent asking about the VIN# of the stroller and how to find it.

So I went t the Maclaren site and found the page where you can enter your information to get the repair kit – Maclaren recall page. Sure enough, they ask for the VIN# as you can see in the image below. So I went into our garage to get the VIN number for our stroller and found that half of it was scratched off. The sticker is in a location that is prone to wear and tear.

So now I have to figure out how get the repair kit without the VIN#.

For parents, child safety is on our minds all the time. We choose products and services that have the highest rating from review sites but also from our peers, friends and family. More and more, we choose to accept or at the least, consider, the opinions of those who take the time to share their thoughts and opinions online. On social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, not to mention the host of parenting blogs and forums that exist.

For brands, many products when compared to competitors are pretty similar. It’s the voice of other parents and thought leaders within our own spheres that will help us make better decisions when choosing what to buy and from which brand. Sometimes I think brands forget about this. In a huge PR nightmare situation like this one that Maclaren is dealing with now, it’s not what they do to help remedy the situation, but how they do it that will determine how their customers feel about them moving forward.

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A Text Message to Santa

Posted on 05. Nov, 2009 by Sara.

We’re close enough to christmas that it’s okay to use Santa and his Elves as a behavioral tool. In recent moments of a pre-tantrums, I have reminded my preschooler that Santa’s elves are watching her to make sure she’s being a good girl or she will be without presents this year. I have also used the “Santa tool” in the store whenever my preschooler demands I buy her something because in her words, “I’m being such a good girl.” This is when I tell her, “Why don’t we write it down on your list for Santa?” She is very okay with that.

Okay, she was very okay with that until she asked to add the Lucky Care Bear to the list and I couldn’t find a pen. My husband seems to always “borrow” my pens and then they magically disappear. She got mad (pre-tantrum), I got annoyed. I don’t know how I came up with what I did next but it was brilliant. I simply said, “Hey, it’s okay. We can text it to him.” Like I said, it was brilliant. She quieted down and together we texted Santa:

Dear Santa (aka her uncle), I wish for a teddy bear named Lucky for christmas this year. Love, Summer.

So maybe I though of it because for some weird reason, it made sense. Who really writes letters these days. We have internet enabled phones that allow us to email, text, tweet, blog and oh yeah, we can call people too… My daughter didn’t think it was strange, that’s crazy!

Since my kids are too young to write their Santa lists they drawn Santa a picture to leave next to the cookies and milk, and they will again this year. I will hold on to this Christmas tradition, in spite of technology, as long as I can. But maybe, in dire situations, texting the actual list is the way to go:

Dear Santa (aka my husband), this year for christmas I wish for a spa weekend. Love, me

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I remembered

Posted on 02. Nov, 2009 by Sara.

Bonk, was the noise I heard when my twin daughter fell off the dining room chair and hit her head on the tile. Then a terrible scream. My mind was blank… I put her diaper-less twin brother down from the changing table and ran to her. After hugs and kisses she was fine. I was worried. Like a hawk I watched her every move for the rest of the day. She seemed perfect. Still when she let out a whimper around midnight I quietly got her from her crib and placed her in the pack-n-play set up in our bedroom. She continued to sleep, I didn’t. I spent most of the night listening to her soft breathing.

She woke up early, as usual and called “Mama” out into the darkness. I knew she was all right. I was going to pretend I wasn’t there so we could all stay in bed just a little bit longer, much needed for a mom of three like me. Since the twins were born I have lived a life of total routine, how else would I get through the day? Unlike my preschooler the twins had to learn how to fall asleep on their own at 6 weeks old. Going from just one child to three overnight it’s been hard to spend, in my mind, enough time with each one. I laid there, listening to her babbles in the dark, when I realized something… An opportunity was presented that hasn’t happened since my preschooler was two, since before the twins were born.

So I said, “Good morning love,” and she reached for me. She hasn’t spent a morning on my pillow before, but she embraced the idea and was extremely happy to be there. She snuggled and chatted, giggled and patted us on our faces. I got to smell her hair and hold her tight. I got to absorb just her. I remembered now. I remembered this feeling of warm snuggly love. It’s like butterflies in my tummy. None of the daily stresses exist; it’s only about you and your child. Sure we all have lots of loving moments throughout the day, but this is different. She got the chance to be the only one that mattered here and now. I could tell she felt special, she was so happy. I remember these morning snuggles with my toddler and I felt happy and sad at the same time. Sad that routines and survival had taken over, my children are young and still I had forgotten to make time for these moments. Sad that I had forgotten how this feels and how important it is to the child and me. Happy that I got a chance to remember now, before it’s too late.

We spent the next 30 minutes holding her, watching her and we received lots of kisses. She eventually said, “Out,” and it was time to start the day. I had a morning I will treasure forever. Now I will make it routine to do this more often.

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Halloween in Fort Collins was awesome

Posted on 01. Nov, 2009 by rudy.

Halloween in Fort Collins was awesome, originally uploaded by socialmediaparenting.

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All you Need is Love

Posted on 25. Oct, 2009 by rudy.

All you Need is Love, originally uploaded by socialmediaparenting.

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Fossil Creek Water Park in Fort Collins

Posted on 30. Aug, 2009 by rudy.

Fossil Creek Water Park in Fort Collins, originally uploaded by socialmediaparenting.

Although summer is virtually over, weather permitting, there’s still
time to get wet at the Fossil Creek water park. Yesterday, the temps
were just right for it.

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