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Pimp My Card Table: The entries and winners are here ...
Sorry for the half-assed-ness on the blog lately. I've been working on a top secret project that has kept me busy, causing me to do crazy things like announce the winners of the Pimp My Card Table Contest more than a week after Thanksgiving.
Courtesy Alissa McLean
A belated Happy Thanksgiving ...
The entrants deserve better. Despite a modest turnout, I was thrilled with the variety and dedication from the kids and parents involved in our first kids table-themed contest. (The post explaining Pimp My Card Table is here.) There was a Middle Eastern theme, hats, a Thanksgiving poem and a table filled with something like 47 pies that has been haunting my dreams. And everyone everywhere seemed happy. Apparently craftiness is the cure for dysfunction.
All of the entrants are below, including my table, which was already detailed here. While there are no losers, the two victorious tables are listed the end. (Note to contestants in future The Poop challenges: starting your note with the words "I hesitate to even send this one in ..." is generally the mark of a great entry.)
Congratulations to all! I'll contact the winners on Monday about the prizes. And look for an incredible comeback from the blog next week. I have some really fun stuff planned, including one surprise so incredible to viewers of local television that I'm scared to say it out loud.
Read More 'Pimp My Card Table: The entries and winners are here ...' »| December 03 2010 at 09:32 AM
Pimp My Card Table: Peter's dessert table entry ...
A place where nobody dared to go. The love that we came to know ...
I've already received a few contributions to the Pimp My Card Table contest. I'm hoping that people are just waiting until the Sunday deadline, but bracing myself for a low turnout. If you're holding out, please turn your entry in so I feel like less of a loser! Don't be shy!
Our family dressed up the dessert table. We had four children, but I quickly figured out that my 7-year-old nephew Chris (pictured above) was the child with the necessary skills to spearhead this project. I decided that I would come up with the theme and let him help execute it. We had a couple of phone conversations in advance of Thanksgiving. While I may be mistaken, I suspect he was working on blueprints during the conversation.
I wanted to go with a "Xanadu" theme, focusing more on the song than the movie. Chris was born 23 years after the movie came out, but I was inspired enough by the lyrics for both of us: Read More 'Pimp My Card Table: Peter's dessert table entry ...' »
| November 27 2010 at 08:45 AM
Little girl enters our Thanksgiving contest one year early ...
I received this e-mail late last week from The Poop reader Heather, whose daughter was a frontrunner in the Pimp My Card Table decoration contest before it even existed. More information about the contest is here.
Heather's e-mail is below:
"At first glance this may not be that impressive. But the thing is, my then 5-year-old daughter dreamed it all up on her own. She had a 'vision.'
"Last year when she found out we were having Thanksgiving at our house, she immediately asked if she could be in charge of decorations. Then she began to excitedly explain that she wanted to make the dining room look like it was in the middle of a forest with falling leaves all around. I don't have the makings of such visions in my house, so off to the craft store we went on the day before Thanksgiving to find a store full of Christmas decorations, and one single fake tree branch with fall leaves. We bought it, hung the leaves from the ceiling along with the branch (the tree), and scattered more leaves on the table. Read More 'Little girl enters our Thanksgiving contest one year early ...' »
| November 24 2010 at 02:32 PM
Thanksgiving kids table contest ... frequently asked questions
I'm getting nervous about Pimp My Card Table, our Thanksgiving challenge to make the little kids table the most amazing table in the house. I'm less worried about being the only one participating -- among other things, I've talked about the contest on a Sacramento radio show -- but I'm starting to feel the pressure of competition. I have about five different unrelated ideas and have prepared absolutely nothing. So far, my sister's 7-year-old son is the only one being focused and organized.
rickrockhill.blogspot.com
You don't need an ice sculpture to enter ...
But that's the beauty of this contest. Last minute is probably the best way to go. You can be sitting around the house before the meal is served, looking for something to keep the kids occupied while everyone else watches football, and throw together a fabulous table using things in the house in less than an hour.
My biggest problem with this contest is the inability to point to past winners to provide an example. But I do have one reader with a great story about how her child gave the Thanksgiving table a makeover last year. I'll share that this afternoon.
In the meantime, below are a few frequently asked questions about Pimp My Card Table. I'll answer any more you have in the comments ...
Are there prizes? Yes, there will be prizes. There will be less than the Halloween contest, but they will be better.
How will the tables be judged? Like our other contests, it will probably seem totally arbitrary. Basically, we'll know the winners when we see them. That being said, resourcefulness will be more important than technical mastery. Be creative, try to get the kids involved and when all is lost just do something that makes you laugh. Read More 'Thanksgiving kids table contest ... frequently asked questions' »
| November 24 2010 at 09:10 AM
What kid birthdays were the biggest in your family?
I'm headed to a momentous birthday for my son, Kyle, this weekend -- perhaps the biggest landmark since he turned 10, at least for me. There was something significant about that one, going into double digits. Being 10 seemed so much more grown up than being 9.
sephra.com
Thirteen had a certain sizzle ...
Turning 10 was also a biggie for my daughter, Hayley, three years later, mainly because it meant she would finally be allowed to get her ears pierced. I don't know why we decided that was the age it would be OK. I think it was more a case of putting it off as long as we could, and latching on to the 10th birthday as a milestone worthy of stabbing a needle through her soft dangling flesh. Even though fourth grade isn't that much bigger a deal than third grade, somehow having a two-digit age made you practically a teenager, or at least on your way to becoming one.
There are other biggies in our culture. Thirteen has a certain sizzle because it means you are undeniably a teen. Sixteen, of course, has the cachet of a driver's license, even if you still have only a learner's permit in your pocket and you don't get your license to thrill until months after you blow out your candles. Just knowing you can get your license makes 16 a banner year.
Eighteen came and went for Kyle without much fanfare. Legally he became an adult, but he was still in school, living in the dorms, so it's not as if he had to strike out on his own and get a job in the mines. Yes, he could vote, which was pretty exciting, and he was contacted by Selective Service, which is scary even when there isn't a draft. But mostly, he took it in stride. Read More 'What kid birthdays were the biggest in your family?' »
| October 01 2010 at 06:42 AM
Low-cost high-fun birthday party suggestions
I was talking recently about birthday party ideas with my friend Jennifer, who was looking for a local actor or someone else who is not creepy and might dress up as a Disney princess for her 3-year-old daughter's birthday. When I tried to help out by checking around the Internet, I found it easier to locate someone willing to strip in a Snow White costume -- along with a low-cost pole -- than a reasonably priced princess for a kids' party.
blogs.tampabay.com
"After I blow a hole in somebody and slip around on their guts ... I always like to make balloon animals."
We both have children who are hitting that age where the ultra-cheap party in the backyard with friends doesn't make the impact that it did when they were 2 years old. But much like it was with my wedding, I've noticed that the price seems to get jacked up when something is called a kid birthday party. Other than having parties at parks or at home, I'm wondering what parents have done to make birthdays look expensive, without spending a lot of money. Have you hired an acting student to play their favorite character or hero? Have you found a local business that doesn't gouge kids? Have you attached a bunch of trash bags to a leaf blower and made a jumpy house? (Bonus with the last idea: a guest appearance from the fire department!) My suggestion is below. Yours in the comments.
My older son turns 5 this weekend, and while we had a budget, we didn't want to set an expensive party precedent in the current economy. I briefly considered renting or borrowing a projector and showing drive-in style movies on the back wall of our house, but looked at when the sun set and decided a 6:45 p.m. party was a little late for preschoolers. (Maybe next year ...) I also considered taking inspiration from the Cowboy Gil scene in "Parenthood," before deciding that I just don't have the comic energy -- and didn't want to ruin any bath mats.
And then I saw an interview with Jeff Bridges on television. And it all started to come together ...
Read More 'Low-cost high-fun birthday party suggestions' »| March 25 2010 at 10:02 AM
Where were you 10 years ago?
This may be a defense mechanism, but I have very few major regrets in my life. I really wish I could take back the year I spent in law school, but even that arguably served a greater purpose -- making me eternally appreciate the fact that I could make a modest living writing about conversion vans and Charley and Humphrey.
zerozeroes.com
Definitely not missing 1999 ...
I'm an extremely thankful individual in general, but the end of the decade definitely puts things into greater perspective. I've spent a fair amount of time over the past few days thinking about where I was 10 years ago, and I get kind of a sick feeling in my stomach. That was also the general time period that I started going out with my wife, and I realize that if I never asked her out or botched that relationship or stepped on a butterfly, it's cosmically conceivable that I could be living without two wonderful boys and a great partner -- oblivious to the wonderful life I'm missing out on.
My then-and-now taking stock of life is below. Yours in the comments. The idea is to feel kind of good about ourselves, but I'm guessing that there will be a few people who were the CEO of Pets.com then and living in a refrigerator box now. Try not to kill our buzz. The refrigerator box isn't leaking, right?
Then: Spent New Year's Eve in the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office, ready to write a story in case the Y2K led to a rash of killings, suicides or a fight-to-the-death battle between machine and man. (Actual body count that night: zero.)
Now: Spent New Year's Eve in my Oakland home, using the East Coast television feed to fool my kid into thinking that 9 p.m. was midnight. We went to Zoo Lights at the Oakland Zoo and ate pizza. Definitely not thinking about the apocalypse.
Read More 'Where were you 10 years ago?' »| January 04 2010 at 07:02 AM
The Poop eats cake ...
After much procrastination, we've finally scheduled The Poop Meet-Up/Cake-Eating/Giraffey's 2nd Birthday Extravaganza -- for 9 a.m. Sunday Sept. 27 at the Koret Children's Quarter playground in Golden Gate Park.
This will be an extremely casual meeting, although prizes, a cake baking contest and nametags may be involved. Details are available on our Facebook page, Fans of The Poop Parenting Blog. More information about how to join the fan page is available here, or just click the "Follow on Facebook" link on the upper right corner of the blog.
(You don't have to be on Facebook to come, although it would probably be easier. While the date, time and location won't change, we'll probably keep most of our discussions about the meet-up off the regular site, for obvious reasons.)
| August 10 2009 at 06:46 PM
The Poop gathering this summer?
We're thinking of organizing an informal Poop gathering later in the summer. No real reason, except that comment threads like this one have all but depleted any goodwill we might have acquired over the past three years, and I'm thinking we should organize something festive while we still have a few fans left.
(Plus, a certain stuffed grassland-dwelling mammal has a birthday coming up ...)
I'm thinking something small, involving a park, a hamburger cake and maybe a few name tags. This is one of those situations where the discussion would probably go much more smoothly on our Facebook page, where there are less angry child-hating people and apology-seeking The Smiths fans to derail the discussion. You can find out how to get to our Facebook page here.
For those who aren't on Facebook, you're not going to miss out. If and when we set a date, time and place, it will be announced here.
| June 09 2009 at 05:16 PM
What makes a baby shower great?
What makes a baby shower great? The answers you give of course depend on your pregnancy, personality, family, and friends. Ideally, your baby shower is a reflection of your interests and tastes. I am trying to totally keep that in mind as I help plan a co-ed baby shower for my friend. It's tough to not let my bossy instincts (yet again) take over as I work with our mutual friends on the shower details. Just because I don't personally like doing a craft project under any condition, some of my female friends do. On the other hand, we are serving booze, so how bad could it really be?
pinkcakebox.com
Hope there's a bottle of rum inside this cake ...
Making lists helps breakdown the areas of any event, and a baby shower is no exception.
Who are the guests? Friends, family, and co-workers? Ladies only? Kids, too? Sticking to ladies only means the guest list may be smaller, which is a for sure cost saver. Moms may assume bringing their babies or kids are okay. The only nice answer is, "Of course you can bring your wee one!" Any other answer may bring awkward or hard feelings, so best not to go there.
Co-ed showers can be more lively and fun, if my experience is telling. The father-to-be (FTB) probably needs a place to go during the shower, anyway, and may like to be included on this special, perhaps once in a lifetime occasion. The MTB and FTB can get unsolicited and random advice from the shower attendees. Hopefully they will also enjoy some tasty grub, baby gifts, and have a few chuckles and smiles. For a starting point in the planning, ask the mother-to-be (MTB) who she would like to attend.
Read More 'What makes a baby shower great?' »| May 22 2009 at 04:46 PM
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