The fake iPod and the deluxe chin up bar incident

For the girls' birthday two years ago (I think), we gave them VTech Kidizoom cameras, which, by the way, I would definitely recommend if you're in the market for a little kid camera.  All three still work great, even after being dropped and/or knocked off tables multiple times, and the girls have enjoyed taking pictures and videos with them.  The quality isn't the greatest but if you keep in mind that it's meant for little kids, you'll get over it.

The girls have certain songs that they like and the CD player is available to them whenever they feel the need to listen to music.  The past six months have been quite a learning experience for them with respect to technology and electronics.  They know what iPods are and so Allie decided to make her own.  How'd she do that?  Simple.  She videoed the CD player while it was playing a song and now that song is portable and can be listened to from her camera.  I was quite impressed with her creativity.



I can't say that I haven't thought of purchasing the smallest of the small iPods for them.  I really don't think they need them now though and that's holding me back.  Well, that and also the fact that they're still on the young side.  (Maybe I'm just on the old side.)  Either way, I wonder if their generation and generations to come will experience hearing loss earlier and more eyesight issues because of all these gadgets.  (I sound like an old person now.  You kids and all your gadgets.)



Topic #2

Because it's winter and the girls have been cooped up for month and months and it feels like we'll be cooped up for months and months to come, I asked Rich to hang up a chin up bar I discovered collecting dust in the basement.  There was a big screw in the middle of the bar so the girls couldn't use it for full gymnastics stunts like pullovers but they could swing from it, do chin-ups, and complete the first part of a pullover (the pull but not the over.)  Rich had to screw two small metal plates into the doorframe but I didn't care as the frame has some peeling paint and eventually will need to be repainted.  Patching up two screw holes is no biggie.  (Definitely not compared to what we have to fix now.)

We were taking the bar up and down from the doorway for safety reasons (adults as well as kids - I walked into it a few times) until I twisted it on too tight one day.  The girls were using it quite often and I think it gave them some added confidence at gymnastics.  And then the door frame broke.

I had a terrible night of sleep that night.  The back-up battery for our house alarm needed to be replaced so the alarm system would start beeping at random times, like 1:30 in the morning on this particular night.  And then there were other noises, like people breathing and the heat kicking on, and I couldn't sleep and then just when I started to fall asleep, I heard this loud snapping sound.  I could tell that it was from upstairs and thought it was just the house settling.  I ended up in bed with Allie at 5:00 that morning and again, there was a loud snap but this time I could tell that it was from her doorway, where the bar was.

This is what her door looks like now when it's closed.



And the broken door frame.  Who would have thought that a chin up bar could cause so much damage?  But yet again, who would expect their four year old kitchen cabinets to fall apart and pull away from the wall?



I'll add it to my list of grievances.