Monthly Archives: June 2008

Screen time

Buying time with online videos

Works for Me Wednesday

One of the most valuable tools in my Bag of Parenting Tricks is distraction. One of my favorite sources for when I need a few seconds to finish up a task or go to the bathroom unattended is YouTube. Some of the videos are very, very short, but Poppy has learned to hit play again as needed. Her current favorite is very short, so that skill comes in handy for both of us when she wants to watch is over and over and over again.

I have a bookmark file of go-to videos. Most of them are on YouTube, but some are from other sources. There are lots of video podcasts available, too, but I haven’t looked into those so much. If you had a video iPod, I can see where kid-focused podcasts could be awfully helpful for visits to the doctor or other confined spaces.

Here are some of Poppy’s current favorites:

  • Hippos in Mara River
  • Animal videos with David Attenborough
  • Sherlock Hemlock and the Missing Chicken Salad Sandwich
  • Mahnamahna
  • Chickens on piano
  • Jelly Man Kelly
  • Pigs on a farm

    For more tips, visit Works for Me Wednesday headquarters.

    • Flotsam / Jetsam

    On the move

    The Mara Conservancy, a non-profit organisation, depends entirely on tourism revenue for the protection of 510 km2 of an area known as the Mara Triangle. Widely recognised as one of Kenya’s most efficient and transparent conservation authorities, in seven years the Mara Conservancy has virtually eliminated heavy poaching, which had previously made the area unsafe for tourists and rangers, as well as building over 150km of roads and employing 75 rangers and auxiliary staff from the local communities.

    Joseph Kimojino is a conservationist for the Mara Conservancy. He has a Twitter account, which is where he posted this link to a video of migrating zebras. All of the stripes make me a little dizzy.


    The Start of the Great Migration, Masai Mara from Joseph Kimojino on Vimeo.

    blessings

    Role reversal

    Sometimes Poppy likes to pretend to put me down for a nap. Unlike “Squish Mommy” — in which she squashes my faces — I like this game quite a bit. First, Poppy says, “Mommy lay down!” and points to the couch. While I’m getting comfortable, she runs to her room for a blanket. “Spread the blankie on Mommy” comes next. Then Pi sings a lullaby (culled from an Elmo story) while I close my eyes. If I try to get up during any of this, she uses one little finger to gently push my head back onto the pillow. It’s the best game ever.