Then, when I dropped off the kids at their tennis lesson, I decided to zip over to Starbucks instead of watching their practice (as I normally would).  Sitting down with my Kindle, happy to snag one of the few cushy club chairs in the cafe, I drew the tall iced red-eye beverage toward me, looking forward to tasting the creamy goodness slip down my throat when suddenly I saw them falling – drip, drip, drip onto my fresh-from-the-cleaner starched white blouse – blasted red-eye coffee droplets.

ARGH!

After suffering several more little annoyances, I finally surrendered to the day and chalked it up as one of those “Alexander” days.

As soon as the kids and I arrived home, I took off my blouse to treat the stains.  Uncharacteristically, I stayed in my white cami while I applied the stain remover.

Just a short while later, as I started pulling out ingredients to make dinner, my son walked up to me and said, “Hey Mom! You know what you look like?”

I slowly lifted my head, turned toward him and said softly, “After the day I’ve had, I suggest you be careful here, son.”

Not having worked out yet this week, I was thinking,

“someone from The Sopranos”

or

“one of the guys in Goodfellas.”

I braced for the worst and prepared to stay calm, no matter what came out.

He hesitated for just a moment then said, “You know that lady in Terminator? Sarah Connor?”

Wha?!

Woohoo!  I’ll take that.  Oh, yeah!  I’ll gladly accept that compliment.*

I grinned more widely than I had all day, grabbed him and repeated, “I love you” at least ten times while hugging his little torso.

Well, maybe today wasn’t a total loss.

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*No…in reality I do NOT look like Linda Hamilton at her finest buffness.  Not even close. I still dream of having those arms, sure.  But that’s the beauty of his statement.  It’s his perception. Our kids see us with great big, humongous rose-colored glasses and, particularly when we’re having a lousy day, they have magically descriptive ways of letting us know. You know?

“Just write off about five years of their lives.”

“During those years, they think you know nothing.  Then, in college, miraculously, you’re once again brilliant and they ask you how to do everything from folding laundry to paying rent.”

“Oh, they’ll tell you they hate you, but they’re just really mad at you.”

“I didn’t know the person who inhabited my daughter’s body during those years.  But, in about eleventh grade, the daughter I knew returned.”

In the early years of their lives, many kids try hard to please their parents. They implicitly acknowledge their necessary state of dependence and pretty much worship the ground we walk on. The effect on parents’ egos is rather intoxicating. We reach a point where we start to believe we know what we’re doing.  We stand tall and breath sighs of relief, as we begin to feel confident in our parenting abilities.  We go through stages where we proudly boast about achievements and quickly pull out photos of the little angels.  But if we talk to parents with teenagers, we often hear them say (to those of us with younger children) that we should “enjoy it while you can” because it can change in a flash when those adorable toddlers and grade school kids reach adolescence.

As my kids approached middle school, I witnessed other teens grow sassy and more defiant so I found myself getting a little nervous, worrying more than I used to, wondering if my kids would change and, more importantly if our relationships would drastically change.

Well?

So far, so good.

One of the few notable differences in our household involves my daughter’s preferences in clothing. In elementary school, she would wear nearly any clothes I brought home, whether they were from the Gap, Limited Too, Abercrombie, Nordstrom, or even (gasp!) Tar-zhay.  Now, however, due in part to television shows like Gossip Girl and books like The Clique series, she has grown more and more brand conscious.

The cast of characters in these titles wears (among others) Prada, D&G, Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Ralph Lauren Collection, Juicy Couture and Miu Miu.  They carry Birkins. And they can’t yet drive.

So, when my daughter and I were shopping yesterday, looking for cute pumps (for me) to take to BlogHer, I probably should not have been surprised when she approached me carrying oodles of Coach, Michael Kors, Gucci and Tory Burch shoes that she wanted me to buy for her.

My head filled with jumbled, conflicted thoughts.  “She appreciates good quality and is certainly developing a sense of style,” I thought, “but I shudder at the thought of purchasing Tory Burch shoes for a young girl whose feet might grow tomorrow or next month.”

“Furthermore, have we learned nothing from the excessive materialism of the last decade? We try to teach our kids to save money, give to charities, and to focus on family activities (which should rarely include shopping at the mall or boutiques).”

Right?

“What values am I teaching my daughter if I spend money on designer clothes and shoes instead of putting it into a college fund?”

But I have to admit, when I see Lily van der Woodsen sashaying across rooms in gorgeous Chanel suits toting her Birkin, I feel inspired to put on one of my favorite skirts rather than slipping into my comfy sweats and flip flops.

Similarly, if these shows and books influence young girls to dress a little better or to discover a sense of style, then I’m inclined to tolerate them.  I see it as analogous to Stacy London, host of What Not to Wear, when she helps ordinary women understand (among other things) that tapered pants flatter no one.

So, at the end of our shopping excursion,  I made a point of explaining to my daughter that style can be found at many stores.  It’s not exclusively reserved for haute couture.

She seemed to understand and agree, at least to some extent.  We talked for nearly an hour about priorities and values, outward appearance and inner beauty, as well as the fashion industry and catty classmates.  I’m not sure that her heart won’t leap a little when she picks up a pair of Jimmy Choos, but I know that she understands that it’s unreasonable absurd outrageous for a middle school girl – in the real world – to wear Christian Louboutin stilettos.

Most importantly, I feel just as connected to my little girl as I did before she started watching Gossip Girl.

And if you missed the sincere, heartfelt eulogy by Brooke Shields, here it is:

You could feel the love.

RIP Michael Jackson. You really are gone too soon.

Read all about the match by clicking here.

For more information about the iPhone 3G s, read this or this.

If you haven’t discovered Brotherhood 2.0 and the Vlogbrothers, I recommend your checking them out.

More on them after I figure out what they’re all about…

After popping in the Wii disk, you design a fitness profile so the figure on your television screen looks more or less like you.  Then, with a picture-in-picture type of format, your trainer (you select either a male or female) appears to show you what to do.

My favorite part of EA Sports Active is the variety of activities included in the workouts (like basketball, inline skating and tennis) and the ability to modify the intensity level of each workout.  So, if I’m not up for a high intensity workout, I can dial down the degree and opt for a medium intensity.

Bottom line?

• Includes a good mix of traditional resistance training and Wii sports activities.  This is not a Kathy Smith or Denise Austin old-style aerobics workout.
• Three levels of intensity, so it’s good for beginners as well as more experienced users.
• It brings more of a sporty, active lifestyle into your home workout.
• It’s fun! I enjoy this program enough that I actually make time for the workouts.  I suppose the fact that the workouts average around 25 minutes per session helps quite a bit – it’s just the right amount of time to squeeze into my busy days.

Cons?

• I have yet to do any floor exercises (crunches, push ups, leg lifts, etc.) so my abs are neglected.
• The resistance band seems so weak, I often wonder whether it’s going to snap and break.
• The Wii remote and sensor are less than perfect.  The reps sometimes test my patience.  Timing must be (perhaps unreasonably) precise.

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Here’s the review:

Ready 2 Rumble (Wii) is a fun, invigorating game that is best described as an extremely buffed-up Wii Sports boxing. There are multiple moves, such as the uppercut, hook, jab, etc. There are also heavy versions of all the punches too, which makes it fun to really smash the opponent.

The characters can range from funny to seriously tough.

There are some real people– Shaun White, Jon Travolta– while there are some not real people that you create in championship mode. In championship mode you create your own boxer, but that guy starts out as the worst boxer possible– 1/100 strength, 1/100 punch speed, 1/100 agility, etc.

You build up your strength in training activities– hit the mitt, speed bag, medicine ball, jump rope, and others. The only downside to this championship mode is that many of the training levels do not read your movements with the Wii remote, and it is extremely tough to build up that level. Also, if you already have something built up, let’s say 98/100 strength, if you do something like jump rope that is very difficult, it lowers your strength, so you have to do a strength exercise again.

Also, beating the Gym level and the next cage are both fairly easy, but when you get to the next round, the game suddenly gets very tough.

That being said, multi-player is fun, because the other person, assuming they know how to play, should be better than a breeze or really tough match like the sporadic playing in championship mode. It is fun and sometimes even a brief workout to play someone else, especially if you’re playing in an advanced arena, for then you have roaring fans and spouts of fire next to you when you walk out of the entrance gate.

Overall, Ready 2 Rumble has an enjoyable multi-player boxing, but in the single player modes, it seems the game-makers just tried too hard.

RATING (10 being the best): 5.7/10

Keep in mind: Older teens (and those looking for more challenging boxing than that found in Wii Sports) might like the precision required by the various punches, but younger kids will likely become frustrated. Our rating is based on that notion. Modify it for your kids’ preferences.

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Here’s a video trailer. Check it:

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Special thanks to Romeo Corsi and the folks at RocketXL for giving us a review copy of the game.