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I saw this story on NPR.com about The Top Five Worries of Parents.

Apparently, according to a survey, parents are worrying about the wrong things. They worry about:
1. Kidnapping
2. School snipers
3. Terrorists
4. Dangerous strangers
5. Drugs

But they should be worried about:
1. Car accidents
2. Homicide (usually committed by a person who knows the child, not a stranger)
3. Abuse
4. Suicide
5. Drowning

Now, what struck me about this article is that from the beginning of the article, it wasn’t clear what kind of worrying they meant. My parenting worries don’t generally involve bodily harm or death. I have other worries to keep me occupied from things I don’t have control over, like terrorists or school snipers. I came up with my own list of worries, and only two involve bodily harm:

1. Am I causing psychological damage by being a bad parent?
2. Will she be screwed up if she is an only child?
3. Getting hit by a car when she runs into the street because I didn’t teach her to listen to the word Stop or No.
4. Not finding a decent elementary school
5. Serious illness

And about the list of things we parents should be worried about… I had a car seat check just the other week because I was unsure I had reinstalled the car seat properly. I had. And I really don’t know what to say about the rest.

Back in October, I checked out a few Halloween themed books for Lilia. I read her this one: Creepy Crawly Critters and Other Halloween Tongue Twisters
, and thought, what is the point of this? It was filled with simple tongue twisters that did not twist my tongue. I read through it once and thought I would return it quickly. Well, when Daddy and Lilia read it, hilarity ensued. Daddy immediately stumbled over phrases, and they cracked up for hours over, “Which witches britches itch?” (which wasn’t easy to type… it’s not only a tongue twister, but a finger twister).

I decided to check out the joke books in the children’s section, and found this one:
What Do You Hear When Cows Sing?: And Other Silly Riddles
So… do you know? Do you know? What do you hear when cows sing??
Moosic, of course!

Well, now Lilia is practicing her joke telling, and always trying to come up with new ones. Here’s her latest:

Where does a dog park his car?

In a Barking Space!

In case you were wondering how a three (almost four) year old can write her own jokes, I will explain the process…

We were driving up the hill home, and I said aloud, “I hope there is a parking space in front of the house.” Lilia sees two dogs waiting to cross the street, and blurts out, “Barking Space” and cracks up. Barking Space! So then I came up with the “Where does a dog park his car?” bit, based on her punchline.

Sadly, there was not a barking (nor a parking) space in front of our house.

Just got this email from BabyCenter:
Your Child’s Growing Brain
Fascinating things are happening in your child’s brain right now!

I clicked the link, but it didn’t tell me why Lilia decided to leave my side in a parking lot yesterday and take off behind 7 parked (thank goodness they weren’t backing up) cars, ignoring my pleas to stop, and dart into the road.

I am usually pretty cool in emergency situations, but I had the folded stroller in my hand and a couple bags, so as I ran, I ended up tripping and falling on the pavement while a woman, who is my mystery, unnamed hero, ran from the other side of the parking lot and scooped Lilia up before any harm came to her.

I thought Lilia knew to stay out of the street, to stay by our side, and to always hold my hand when crossing the street, because that is what she has always done. In fact, I thought maybe there was something wrong with her for not displaying what I thought was the typical “toddler dart”. Maybe she was lazy, or maybe I scared her into submission? It turns out she just hadn’t thought of it yet.

Luckily we were near Target. I hobbled* in and bought a leash. Until I’m sure the message has gotten through to her growing brain, the girl is in lock-down.

*My boo-boos on my left hand, right elbow and right knee will serve as reminders to keep her in lock down for at least the next month. At least my expensive no-line bifocals didn’t break when they flew off my face.

I’ve been boring my faithful readers with my writing… I know what you really want… you want Lilia posts!

While I worked through three summer courses, poor Lilia got very familiar with PBS Kids and a stack of DVDs I checked out from the library. She likes absolutely everything that is geared towards kids. If I change the channel to news, she gets very sad– we haven’t watched much of the Olympics, but she was interested in the actual events (diving, gymnastics), and when Bob Costas (ugh, do I dislike him!) would come on, she thought we had switched the channel on her! Her favorite shows: Curious George, Teletubbies, Sesame Street, and Barney. *Edited to add: we don’t have cable, so we don’t get Phillies games on TV often… but there is one tonight, and Lilia is very excited!* The videos from the library were my favorites.

A Tomie dePaola collection with a story called, “Charlie Needs a Cloak“– he shears the sheep, cards the wool, spins the wool into yarn, dyes the yarn with berries, weaves the yarn into cloth, and sews his own cloak! This is one of those cases where the video is better than the book… they are both great, but seeing it come to life is more entertaining than my reading of it, I’m sure.

I also loved Sesame Street: Old School, Volume 2 (1974-1979). I loved it so much, I bought it, and have just ordered Volume 1 (which the library doesn’t have). Our favorite clip: Two little dolls (enjoy!)

And Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and other stories, which had Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins and The Foolish Frog by Pete Seeger. Pat Hutchins is great! We have Good-Night, Owl! already, and I just checked out The Wind Blew, which is a new favorite. Lilia loves wind!

Speaking of Pete Seeger, did I mention that Lilia recognizes the sound of a banjo? Seriously, I spend most of the day in awe of Lilia. I don’t care how she compares to other little kids– it just amazes me that in less than 2 and a half years on this planet, this little girl can hear a couple strums on a banjo, and say “Banjo”!

The “Fall” semester starts Monday, and I anticipate we will be watching more PBS and checking out more videos from the library. We did manage to get out of the house a bit during my classes, and more after I finished on August 9th.

Walking with Daddy at the Schuylkill Center

Lilia STILL loves swings!

Driving the Trolley at the Please Touch Museum

Last Saturday, we went for a drive and saw three beautiful hot-air balloons in the sky. We managed to catch one of them landing!

On Sunday, after a really nice brunch at a restaurant Bonnie Mac recommended (Ida Mae’s Bruncherie), we went to a playground and a community garden. Look at this goldfinch chowing down on this flower:

Well, I hope that satisfies all you Lilia fans for now! As I said, classes start again on Monday… but my anticipated graduation is December!

I’ve seen recommendations for Cool Kids Music– whether that’s Music for Cool Kids or Cool Music for Kids, I don’t know– and I’ve checked some out from the library. Laurie Berkner? Boring! Dan Zanes? Okay, but the girl doesn’t really like– it’s more for the parents. Lil likes the classics… Ella Jenkins, Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, and the Classic Sesame Street we watch on YouTube. In the middle of the “Lilia Playlist” were two videos– Violin by They Might be Giants and All Around the Kitchen by Dan Zanes. As soon as Violin came on, she said “Nooooooo”– so I skipped to Dan Zanes, and again… “Nooooooo”. She wasn’t happy till she saw Baa Baa Bamba, a classic Sesame Street featuring farm animals. So, she has confirmed that this new Cool Kids Music trend is really for the parents.

She does like to sing “Baby’s in Black” by the Beatles… I’ve been practicing it on the ukulele. And she says “You are my sunshine” is her favorite song.