Beating The Heat: Play-Doh Style!

Don’t know what the weather’s like where you’re at, but, it’s been a swampy mess down here and Greta and I have been literally melting in the heat. Proclaiming she was too hot to walk the other day, Greta actually crumpled to her knees and made me carry her to the car before ballet class.

The next day, she crawled to the back door to put her shoes on because “her feet stopped working.” and then yesterday it was so hot that it actually rained. Today too. And when I say rain, I’m not talking about deep, cleansing rain that makes the L.A. skyline all super blue. Nope. This was just enough rain to increase the swamp factor in the air and make your car looks like shit. Good times.

So, when the rain started today we decided to stay inside and color until it cooled down. And once it did, we hurried to the store to pick up something new and fun (and most importantly, cheap!) to play with. We only ventured as far as CVS, so, our options were kinda limited, but, today, luck was on our side. And somewhere between the kids crafts and fake Barbie dolls on the toy aisle, I found the perfect inside toy…the Play-Doh Fun Factory!

Longtime Play-Doh aficionados will remember the Fun Factory as the little hand pump machine with the plastic strips with different shaped holes in them. I don’t know if my brother and I ever actually owned one, but, man, did we love that thing when we were kids. Anyway, one of Greta’s friends has a vintage Fun Factory and we’ve been on the hunt for one for for weeks now.

Our only disappointment was that the 2013 edition of the Fun Factory doesn’t come with those cool little plastic scissors, but instead comes with a tiny knife. Weird huh? Other than that, the little pump still cranks out star-shaped snakes and long, curly Play-Doh hair with the best of em. So, hooray for indoor summer fun!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Greta’s feet did start working again the other day. All I had to do was promise her a Hello Kitty popsicle and she was cured. Strange how that works, huh?

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Location:Burbank, CA

The last day of school…

Thursday is Greta’s last official day of Parks & Rec. pre-school and I gotta admit, I’m kind of dreading it. And not just because we have to cook a lasagne for the last day potluck, which means Mrs. Yeti and I will be popping a homemade (or more likely frozen) lasagne in the over at like, 8:00AM, so it’s ready in time. The real reason I’m dreading it is because, well, I’ve grown kinda used to the routine of it all over the past eight weeks.

Honestly, it’s been kinda nice having Greta go to “school” (call it anything other than that at your own peril, she is obsessed with the idea of going to school because that’s “what big kids do”) twice a week. I know three hours of truly alone, alone time every week doesn’t sound like much, but, trust me, it’s been amazing. I made a deal with myself early on that I wouldn’t do anything to do with cleaning or cooking during my sacred hour and a half every Tuesday and Thursday. It was my time to work on whatever I wanted (or needed!) to work on or even just sip my coffee and catch up on “my stories” on Tivo. And, man alive, who knew you could get so much shit done in an hour and a half without a toddler tugging at you the whole time. Wow, if this is a sample of what her being in real school is like, sign my ass up! Just kidding. Kind of.

Anyway, speaking of school, another cool thing about Greta’s preschool is that she’s met loads of new friends, several of whom will be going to the same school as she does when she starts Kindergarten next year. And the best thing about that is that aside from liking all of her new friends (except for that one creepy, greasy-haired boy, he knows who he is) I genuinely enjoy the company of their moms as well.

And though I’ll miss my free time, the thing I’ll probably miss even more are the good times I had hanging with the other moms. And, just so you know, I’m using the term “moms” here like hipster thespians use the word “actor” to describe both male and female actors. As in: “Yeti9000’s well stocked snack bag was the envy of the other moms at the park.” Which it often is, by the way. Anyway, immediately following “school”, myself and the other moms would hang out for an hour or so and chat while the kids wore themselves out on the playground. We didn’t always agree on everything and as a rule they tended much more towards the “helicopter parent” school of thought than I do. Except for the “stripper mom” who arrived late every morning in her vintage muscle car with her blonde hair tousled just so. She was always very chill, but, that’s probably because she was tired from working all night. I’m just saying…

And even though there was some spirited parental judgement tossed around initially — some of the moms still comment on some of the stuff we let Greta watch on TV — I can’t say that I didn’t judge back (see above comments re: “stripper mom”), so, it was all good and, overall, this new group of compadres in the parenting wars was a pretty fun bunch.

Several of the Moms were Indian too, so, aside from talking about Indian food all the time, one Mom actually brought some for us all to share one day! Which was awesome! But mostly we just talked about our kids. Because of the age requirement for “school”, all of our kids were pretty much the same age, and almost all of them were girls, so, we had a lot in common.

So, until next fall when the cheapie Parks & Rec. pre-school classes start back up again in earnest…farewell, mis amigas. May the summer be good to you and may you find other bearded fat dudes to chat with in the park while your children play. Oh, and in case you were wondering how Greta’s dealing with the end of “school”, she’s totally cool with it. I asked her today if she was sad that she only had one more day of school and she said: “No, because that mean swimming class is starting!” Ha! I wish I shared her enthusiasm. If you remember, last year’s batch of swim moms sucked ass. Meanest women on the planet.

Luckily we’re at a new pool this year, so, hopefully that means a whole new crop of cool moms (and maybe even dads!) and kids to hang out with. Who knows, maybe stripper mom will be there too!