Resolutions for 2014

I love making resolutions! I don't just make them on New Year's I love them so much. I don't care that I usually don't keep them, it's never a bad time to resolve to better yourself.

Here are my loftiest resolutions for 2014:

1) Improve time management skills

This will bring about all other resolutions. My biggest setback is poor time management skills. There will still be mostly random times of the day where I have to stop what I'm doing and take care of my baby, whether that's feeding, cleaning, playing or what have you, but the rest of the day I should be able to jot out time to do this and that which will allow me to endeavor the following...

2) Get Organized

I have clutter everywhere. Clutter that's followed me from my childhood home to my first apartment with my husband to our apartment now. There's a lot I can get rid of, and the rest need a home in my home where they can stay and return when I'm done using them.

3)get cleaner

Having a baby necessitates this. She's not crawling around yet but she'll be there before I  know it, so I need to get better at housekeeping. I really need to change my attitude about this. I have so many emotional hangups when it comes to cleaning and decluttering. I wish I could just get hypnotized and have whatever it is in my brain that makes it impossible for me to keep a mountain of clothes and crap to form around me removed or erased, but really I need to just work at it and do the brain rewiring myself. It's like learning a new language. Maybe I can do that too while i'm at it!

4)Exercize and Eat Healthier

I definitely overdid it during this past holiday. A couple years ago a lost around 30 pounds by changing up my diet and starting an exercise regimen. I know it's doable so i'm not stressing so much about it. It all goes back to time management. 

5)Sell My Crochet

people have been telling me for years that I should sell what I make. I think i've finally mustered up the confidence to try!

6)Make More Guilt Free Time for Me

Again, this goes back to time management and cleaning. I'd feel better about crocheting or blogging (or taking a nap) if I'm not thinking "boy, I should really sweep those stairs".


What's NOT on Netflix

This list posted on Reddit has all of the movies and TV shows that are no longer available. I didn't even know so many titles were available to begin with! Netflix needs to promote more of their collection instead of just showing the same titles over and over again as their recommendations.

Lots of luck to all of you in the new year!

Why you should consider keeping your kid off of Facebook

Though at this point it's a ubiquitous part of everyone's life, we decided pretty early in my pregnancy that when the time came we wouldn't be posting pictures of our daughter on Facebook. My husband and I have both had profiles since our college years, so we have the typical love/hate relationship with Facebook and the influence it has on our lives.

This has been surprisingly one of the HARDEST decision we've made, especially when we see all of the other cute babies our family and friends are proudly showing off. Our baby is the cutest baby in the UNIVERSE!! It would be really easy for us to cave and I'm surprised we haven't fallen off the wagon yet. However we've also been saved from some headaches we've seen other parents have to deal with.

If you're an avid Facebook user it may not even be a question as to whether you're going to post pictures of your children, but like anything you decide to do as a parent I think it's worth taking a look at some potential repercussions. DISCLAIMER: You are not a terrible parent for posting pics of your kid on facebook.I'm just sharing some of the reasons why we decided not to do so in the hopes of creating some discussion.

1) Your Child's Privacy

60 Minutes recently did a story on how developers are able to use Facebook's database of faces (all those tagged pictures) to create facial recognition software advertisers can use to target consumers. This may sound a little conspiracy nutty but it seems to me that its only a short jump to Big Brother being able to follow us around a la Minority Report. The technology already exists, it's just a matter of who's using it. We're hoping to keep our daughter off the grid until she's old enough to make her own decisions about her identity and whether or not she wants a web presence.

2) Everyone Else's Sanity

Lets face it, there are people out there who overdo the baby on facebook thing. You know the ones: their photo albums are time lapses of their kid's first year. Considering we have over a thousand pictures of our daughter from her first month between us thanks to our iphones, I'm sure most of our friends would tire pretty quickly from the cuteness overload. And they would overload. Very quickly. She's really cute!

3) Save Yourself from Criticism

Everyone has their opinions on child rearing and I'd hate to be the source of dinner table gossip after posting a pic of something I decided to do with my daughter. When you post a picture of yourself or your family on the internet, it's there for everyone to put in their 2 cents.

4) The Future

I fully expect at some point that our kids will want to be part of whatever incarnation of social networking that is around, and most likely it will be when they are way too young (or at least what we will consider way too young). I feel that if I give my child a web presence at this point, it would be somewhat hypocritical of me to tell them"no" later on when they ask if they can have a facebook or twitter or whatever will be around. I won't be keeping them off of the internet if they're already on there.

5) You're Forced to Keep in Touch

Though Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, it's also lead to something of an over-casualization of correspondence since it's super easy to just like a post or leave a comment and not add any more depth to the interaction. It takes some effort to gather all the physical and email addresses of friends and family that you'd like to stay in touch with! Our solution to sharing our daughter's milestones without Facebook is to send out a monthly email, as well as holiday cards. Everyone likes getting a card in their mail or pics of cute babies in their inbox! There's something about having something physical to open up and look at like a picture or card that satisfies our caveman brains. People become more invested in your child's progress if they only see pictures every so often and have something they can stick on their fridge. 

If you do decide to keep your kid off of Facebook it's important to go over your decidion with your family. You wouldn't want someone to ruin all your effort by posting a pic from a party. So far our family and friends have been very respectful and understanding and some have even applauded our decision.

We're also well aware that by emailing pictures Google has a copy for themselves that they can use however they like. So in the end is it an exercise in futility? Maybe, but we're trying our best to minimize any web presence our kids may have before they're old enough to make their own decisions on their web identity.

Today on the Liturgical Calendar

I hope you're all having a merry Christmas! Today is the Feast of Stephen of Christmas carol fame. I know I'm plum tuckered out from all the Christmas food and fun yesterday, so today is a day for relaxing and watching my baby play with her new toys.

What's NOT on Netflix 

I'm not sure when Netflix's license for Jim Henson studio films expired, but when it did so did some of their great Christmas specials including The Christmas Toy and one of my favorites Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas. I might just have to get a hard copy for my holiday viewing. Until then you can see some of the musical numbers the Jim Henson YouTube channel.

What's on Netflix: Holiday Edition

The Christmas Spirit is in full swing at the Hunter house, and my favorite way of taking in some Christmas cheer is to put on a holiday movie. After some backbreaking research involving lots of popcorn and hot chocolate, I've come up with the following selections for your Holiday viewing pleasure:

1) Lady GaGa and the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular

Kudos to ABC for putting this on Netflix. It's your old fashion tv Christmas special delivered the only way Lady Gaga and the Muppets can: with quirky, goofy skits and eclectic costumes. If you're not a big Gaga fan or if you're a bigger Muppet fan, you may find yourself wishing for more muppets. Then again who doesn't want more muppets!

2)The Radio City Christmas Spectacular

This performance was televised to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the show. I have to admit I was sobbing hormonal mommy sobs while watching this as I'm eagerly anticipating the day I can take my kids to see this show live. But in the meantime, I'm glad it's available to watch since it's really an incredible show. There are a few pitfalls that come with filming a performance that's designed for the stage. Some of the set pieces are reliant on the point of view from the audience so the perspective is a little off, especially during the numbers where a background screen is utilized. But all in all it's great family viewing and great for those who can't make it out to New York to see the show live. 

3) Nutcracker: the Motion Picture

This 1986 production of the nutcracker features sets and costumes designed by Maurice Sendak. A whimsical and surreal interpretation of the classical ballet. Warning: your kids might be obsessed with ballet for a while after watching it. I was!

4) All I Want for Christmas

This is a great New York Christmas movie and stands as exhibit B that the real Santa can be found at Macy's Herald Square (see exhibit A: Miracle on 34th Street). It follows a brother and sister as they try to get their divorced parents to reconcile by Christmas. Featuring Lauren Bacall as their grandmother and Leslie Neilson as Santa!

5) White Christmas

The classic musical will make you long for those Radio Days. I did always find the May-December match of Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney a little creepy, but it's easy to overlook as you get swept up by the singing and dancing. 

6) Love Actually

This movie will go down as my generation's contribution to Christmas classics. It spawned many ensemble holiday movie knock offs (see Valentine's Day, New Years, etc) but none have captured the warmth of this film and the complexity of the characters' relationships. I probably like Laura Linney's character's story the best.

7) Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mickey Mouse

House of Mouse was Disney's Saturday morning cartoon that featured classic shorts book ended by stories of the goings on between various Disney characters at Mickey's club. This edition features a couple of newer shorts, but concludes with Mickeys Christmas Carol. This used to be a special that aired every year on CBS. It features Mickey as Bob Cratchit, Goofy as Jacob Marley, and the giant from Fun and Fancy Free as the ghost of Christmas Present, and of course Scrooge McDuck as Ebeneezer Scrooge. It's fun to try and find all the other Disney characters that appear throughout the film. A great retelling of the classic Dickens tale.  I'm glad it's available for streaming for this generation of kiddies.

8) Veggie Tales: Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving

If you're looking for a movie for the kids that keeps Christ in Christmas, this movie is for you. It follows the Veggies as they tell the story of Saint Nicholas's life and learn about the true meaning of Christmas. This movie does a great job of meshing the story of St Nicholas with the myth of Santa Claus

9) A Very Barry Christmas

This quirky stop motion film finds Santa trading places with an Australian safari owner and his misfit animals including a clumsy kangaroo and a thespian platypus. Nothing says Christmas like stop motion Santas.

10) The nightmare before Christmas

This is my all time favorite holiday movie because it combines my two favorite holidays! You can watch it guilt free from October to January. From the Danny Elfman score to the comically macabre characters, this movie has Tim Burton written all over it. Jack Skellington is so charasmatic that his merchandise is still selling today. This is one of those movies you can watch over and over again and still find something new in each frame.  

So grab some hot cocoa and popcorn and fire up your steaming device for some Christmas movie fun!

Christmas Miracles

My 5 month old loves the mistletoe. It hangs on the through way between our living room and den area and has a little gold bell that she never fails to look at when we pass under. I'm not sure if she's come to expect a smooch every time we pass under, but she's always delighted to receive one.

While she's too young to learn about Santa and elves and come to expect magically delivered presents, watching her ooh and aah over our humble decorations really brings me back to the simple joy of the season. I never get tired of watching her marvel at the lights or ornaments that we jingle at her. And although it's been snowing in the northeast, she's infinitely more fascinated by the curtains on the window than the white stuff outside. Future interior decorator?

All of the little discoveries that the new kids in my life make bring back memories that have been buried so deep in my brain. When my daughter sucks on her taggies hippo I can remember the taste and feel of satin versus cotton. When my 3 year old niece kicked the door stop expecting it to bounce back, I remember doing the same to the door stops in my grandmothers apartment and loving the deep "boing" sound they made as it waved back and forth.

I hope this nostalgia also brings understanding. When my baby is a toddler and getting in all sorts of trouble I hope I take the time to remember what it was like discovering the world for the first time.

What's on Netflix

I was really hoping The Lion in Winter was available for streaming. It's a great Christmas movie if you love great acting and medieval history. But alas, its only available on dvd.

Instead I watched Becket, in which a younger Peter O'Toole plays a younger Henry II. It's incredible watching Richard Burton as the archbishop of Canterbury and Peter O'Toole as the king as they duke it out in a classic "church and state" feud in what may be the original "bro-mance". Great acting, medieval history, a great movie to remember Peter O'Toole by.