Mashup, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love your youtube incarnation at TimeTube - you’re so slick and inviting.

I love your twittearth manifestation - more addictive than twitter, can it be true?

I love you as the Flickr globe in Tag Galaxy - it was never as much fun to go flickring as it is now.

And I adore, absolutely adore, your literary style at We Tell Stories - you captivated me for hours.

I’m inlike with you Mashup. Let’s be BFFs.

Photo credit: Brian Hession

Our winner is the ever so cute Owen, here with his mom, Meg:

Aren’t they simply the epitome of motherly happiness? I love this picture, makes me smile every time. 

Congratulations Owen and Meg!

To the rest of you who participated, thank you so much, you made this contest our best ever. 

Happy Mother Day to all of you mothers our there, I wish us all many moments of happiness and bliss.

And puppies you shall receive.

The movies below are part of an extremely cool project we did here at Tiny Love with Media Design Students at HIT. We showed them our beloved puppy, Fred and asked them to let their creativity loose upon him, to some charming results.

Like this amazing work of claymotion:

And this lovely work of paper art:

And one of my personal favorites, “The Real Fred”:

(Not to worry, the dog is a trained professional.)

You can see all of them here, and I will continue posting more of this exciting project in the coming weeks.

How far would you go protecting your kids?

It’s not as dumb a question as it looks at first glance. Of course you will risk life and limb for your kids, my question is - how far would you go shielding them from the world’s misfortunes, from knowing things that might make them worried or sad?

I’ve been thinking a lot about loss and sorrow this week. It’s just one of those weeks, you know. As adults, we know that loss, sorrow, pain and hardship are all parts of life, unavoidable on the grander scheme of things. Giving birth, for example, is an unmeasurable happiness that cannot come without great pain. Losing a loved one is something we all dread, but know is eventually unavoidable. We learn to deal with them and we learn to accept them. But how do we learn all that? Who provides us with the tools, with the skills, to process pain, to tackle hardship, to overcome sorrow?

If you’re unlucky, life will teach you these lessons on their own time. You will be faced with an overwhelming challenge and you will be forced to surmount it. If you’re luckier, your parents will guide you thorough the challenges of life step by step, from easy to hard, until you are capable of dealing with hardships as an independent adult.

As parents, we make a point of keeping our children’s lives trouble free. Let them know nothing of pain, of death, of sorrow. Let them be cheerfully oblivious to their existence. Let them pursue their lives without any worries, isn’t that what’s being a child is all about?

But I think there’s an inherent mistake here. I think that the idea that being a child means being carefree is a misconception. I think that children begin being worried about stuff much earlier than we suspect, and that their worries are amplified by their naturally limited perception but also by lack of knowledge.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating screenings of Sophie’s Choice to toddlers here, I’m just saying that by hiding the more negative parts of life from children, we inadvertently leave them to deal with them by themselves, with their empty toolbox. I’m saying that we need to give our children the credit of being aware of the world around them and not pretend they live in the Magic Kingdom where nothing bad ever happens.

Give them the privilege of learning how to cope with hardship with the compassionate and thoughtful mitigation of parenthood, and not being thrown unexpectedly out of your protective bubble by one of life’s surprises.

And come back later this week for the puppies.

Photo credit: Lexie

Well, maybe not THE WORLD per-se, just the British. Ok, maybe not all of the U.K, but definitely this guy. (Hat tip: Parent Hacks)

I think it’s pretty well documented (like here and here) that I’m not exactly a Type A person. More like a Type A-drink-preferably-with-a-little- umbrella-on-it-will-be-lovely- now-thank-you person. Nor am I a Type A mom: not the pusher, not the over-achiever, not the stressful kind. Nope, I don’t do stress, it really messes up my nap schedule.

And finally, FINALLY, I have a support group. And a manifesto. And a dry-humored English guy who thinks it’s not just okay to get out of bed around 10 on the weekends, but that it’s to be encouraged. Well, he says it so much better than me so let me just quote him for a second here: “A lot can be achieved by lying in bed. Simply by doing nothing, you can train children to do useful things.” YES! I love this guy. I would gladly come over to his house on a Saturday and cook him breakfast if, you know, he wasn’t living so far away from me and it wasn’t a Saturday and I could actually cook.

Seriously though, the guy might have a great sense of humor, and you should totally read this piece with the realization that he is using it liberally, but he also has some very thoughtful ideas about parenting, and some ideas that might actually make a positive difference in the way we are with our kids.

Photo Credit: Adam

OMG people, you rock. I salute you.

For our Proud Mama Mother’s Day Contest we received over 400 submissions of awfully adorable babies. The agony of picking only five! It was terrible I tell you. Terrible. But what wouldn’t we do for you.

I am almost as proud as their mamas to present to you our five finalists. Cast your vote, let us hear it - who should be the winner? Who should win all those great prizes?

Make sure to click on the pictures for a better view and to read the beautiful and touching stories our proud mamas wrote.

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Just a reminder, dear enthusiastic voters - please restrict your votes to one per voter! Thanks!

Last time we spoke, I had a husband with a broken femur. This week, my friends, what I have is a mama’s boy.

One week. One short week is all it took to undo 10 years of hard work.

Maybe I should explain in more details.

Among other things, a broken femur impairs your ability to climb stairs effectively, and that is a problem when 58 stairs stand between the ground level and the entrance to your home. What is a broken-femured person to do?

So A. went straight from the hospital to live at his parents’ house for a week, until his physiotherapist thought him how to handle the stairs things so he could return home. And, oh, what a joyful homecoming it was. Odysseus coming back from his sojourning, fully armed with a pair of crutches.

His second night back home, we had the following conversation:

Me, bringing him a plate with some strawberries: “Here you go honey”

A: “Thanks.” (looking down on the plate) “Hmm… Did you sprinkle sugar on top?”

Me: “No.”

A: “Well, can you sprinkle sugar on top of my strawberries?”

Me: “No.”

A, murmuring to himself: “My mom always sprinkles sugar on my strawberries.”

And like that, 10 long years of patient labor has vanished in one week of unstoppable pampering. Any suggestions on how to reprogram husbands?

Photo credit: Anthony Easton

Well, maybe masses is not quite right, but for the few of you who still read me faithfully.

This one I love for two reasons: one, it’s really truly amazing and inspiring, and two, it demonstrates how a commercial can really give you something of value, and not just annoy you. (Via Mighty Girl)

Have you all seen Michel Gondry’s newest film “Be Kind, Rewind” yet? Well I did. In a movie theater no less. (No biggie, only happens once a year or so that we actually go out to watch a movie.) I loved it, and it’s no surprise. I mean, dude - Jack Black. Need I say more? Ok well, Mos Def. Anyways, “Be Kind, Rewind” has sparked a slew of “sweded” videos, and this one is one the funnier ones:

And finally, it’s a video of a little dude playing Hey Jude. Trust me, you need nothing more. (Via my dedicated reader Ronnie - her second appearance in two days. Respect.)

Because they get it.

Case in point #1:

Restroom conversation with a mom/co-worker

Me: So my husband had a serious femur fracture. We’re looking at at least a few months of some degree of disability.

Co-Worker: God, that’s horrible. So you’re left with all the mornings and all the showers and everything?

Me: Yup. Exactly.

Co-Worker: Wow. Now that REALLY sucks.

Case in point #2:

Meeting a mom/friend of mine in the street this afternoon.

Me: So A. has a serious yada yada yada

Friend: OMG. That’s terrible.

Me: Yeah…

Friend: So now drinks are at your place. I’ll come tonight with a cold six-pack.

Me: Yeah!

Have you ever noticed how raising children is not an easy task? Oh, you haven’t? Well, take yourself a few minutes, pick any random post at this blog, or any other mommyblog for that matter, and you’ll get the cold hard truth: raising kids is not an easy task.

In a way, this whole mommyblogging thing is rooted in reporting about the difficulties of parenthood. We don’t want to read about how easy it is, or how great. Well, we do, but it’s more comforting to learn that others share your own problems, that you’re not the only one who is facing these challenges. I want to know that your kids are also making scenes at the supermarket. I want to know that your baby is also having rough nights. I want to be assured I’m not the only one who’s 4yo won’t eat nothing but pasta.

So raising children is hard. Then your husband crushes his femur and suddenly “hard” gets many new dimensions to it. [EDITED TO ADD: My devoted reader Ronnie wanted me to add, for the sake of context, that he did so by falling off his skateboard. A. is grateful to you now, Ronnie.]

Suddenly there’s no one to take turns with you in doing the showers routine. Suddenly the morning drop-offs at school are all yours. Suddenly you are reminded that the kitchen does not clean itself after dinner. Suddenly there’s no one to turn to when you. just. need. 5. minutes.

The whole division of powers you had going on, where you do the routines and he brings his super-human patience to crisis times is being put on hold for a few good weeks. Bad Cop/Good Cop? No can do solo. Go - ask - your - daddy - i f- you - can - whatever? Well, no. More like Please - don’t - be - power - rangers -near - daddy’s - leg.

You know what the bright side is though? So much writing material. Blog posting galore. I hope.