In this season of sharing

Ellen graduated from Parents As Teachers this week. How is that possible? We talked about Kindergarten and everything, which is crazy town. Mind you, Ells has a late birthday, so she'll be almost 6 when she starts school, but still it's just right around the corner. (Literally, the school is right around the corner from our house and we talk about Kindergarten.every.day.)

Back to the topic at hand ... do you have a problem with sharing at your house? Ellen really does a pretty good job, for which I give full credit to daycare, but she does have her moments. Our P.A.T. educator gave us a good tip (especially for only children who don't have to share all day) ... have a chat with your little darling before a play date or big family gathering. Let them decide if there are 1 or 2 toys they don't want to share and put those away. Then, everything else is fair game.

We're hosting Christmas, so we might have to use this trick for a few of Santa's deliveries!

Pseudo slacker

Last week for Girly's Halloween party at school, I signed up to bring tablecloths. Then, I felt bad and agreed to bring cheese and crackers, too. Sure, it was participation, but I have unreasonable Martha-goals for myself and feel guilty when I don't make something from scratch.

So, in a moment of inspiration, I realized that I had tiny "fall" cookie cutters in my drawer for lord knows what reason. I think I got them at Michael's in the $1 bin several years ago and they have never been used, other than thrown around the kitchen by Girly. I just cut the slices of cheese into fun pumpkin, bat and moon shapes and slapped it on a paper plate. It was fun, kid-friendly, and looked like I made an effort. In other words, score, score, SCORE.

I think I had the popular bento-style lunches in the back of my brain somewhere. Have you seen those? Another Lunch is a great blog with totally cute ideas. I would love to make and receive a lunch like that - but - let's be honest. Who the hell has time? If that was part of the daily program at our house, it would look more like me running around at 6:55am, trying to make coffee and peel a banana, and searching for the freaking bunny toothpicks.

So, again, in other words - not going to happen.

For or against?

We are having a party at our house this weekend and a couple of issues have come up ... let's take a poll!

1. Are you for or against plastic playground equipment in your backyard?

I'm not really talking about big swing sets because, a) sometimes you inherit one in a move, or b) they are a much longer term investment. Rather, I'm talking about the plastic forts / slides / playhouses.

I was initially against them and classified them in the 'unnecessary kid gear' category. It seemed to be one of those things you could drop $75-100 on and not get your money's worth. Then, our Girl developed an obsession with slides and thoroughly enjoys the small plastic slides at school and Grammy's house.

Does the novelty wear off if it's in your own back yard? Is it a god-send for play date entertainment?

2. Do you like to attend parties with or without your kids?

We've had a Cinco de Mayo party for several years running. Last year, with a 5-month-old, the party turned into a family affair and our friends were invited to bring their kids. It was a lot of fun and a lot of craziness!

My rationale FOR bringing kids: a) I like to see our friends and I don't want them to have to pay for a sitter to come to our party, and b) It's fun to see all the kids together because it doesn't happen very often.

Now, I'm wondering ... would it be a lot more fun / relaxing to NOT bring kids? Not from my planning standpoint, but from a guest-enjoyment-perspective. Maybe parents are looking for opportunities to get out of the house without their kids? (I know I do sometimes).

What's your vote?