Author: ggsprinkles

Christmas is a big deal in our house. Not over the top, but very much a holiday. I collect ornaments and have since my teen years, so that means a second tree (and maybe a third) would be a very good idea. But as it is, we have just the one tree, and I imagine that if it could talk, it would have a lot of ugly things to say about over crowded branches (you can’t actually see the branches) and maybe deliver a lecture on the dangers of excessive Christmas bling on the tree. At any rate, I knew there would inevitably be a GG Sprinkles episode on Christmas. But Hanukkah was rapidly approaching and would precede Christmas, and I really wanted to do an episode on Hanukkah. I was spurred by what I knew was a lovely holiday celebrated by millions of Jews around the world and by the increasing anti-semitism in the last few years, not just in the States but elsewhere in the world. I wanted to make the statement to the kids that, while Christmas is a lovely holiday celebrated by many Christians, so Hanukkah is also lovely and an equally meaningful and worthy holiday with its own traditions and celebrations.

I knew very little about Hanukkah, I’m embarrassed to say, so the first thing I did was order what was basically a Hanukkah kit, with a menorah, candles, colorful dreidels, chocolate coins and a pamphlet to explain what one does with all of those items. But reading a pamphlet and only a pamphlet is not my style with any Sprinkles topic, especially one as important as this. I hit the Internet hard and read tons of articles about the origin of Hanukkah and the finer points of correctly lighting a menorah. I learned that dreidels have letters on all four sides that represent words meaning “A great miracle happened there” except in Israel where one letter changes to make the sentence “A great miracle happened here.” I feel very bad that during the episode I accidentally left out the word “great” because it truly was a great miracle. I practiced spinning my dreidel and made a cheat sheet so I’d remember which letter meant what in the distribution of the coins (which I learned are called gelt).

I read about the different kinds of foods Jewish families would possibly enjoy during the eight days of Hanukkah. I learned that they fix foods fried in oil because of the miracle of the oil that happened so long ago when Judah led his people to take back their temple from the evil Antiochus. Jelly donuts are a favorite, but I’m no cook. I needed something I could actually make, so I found a recipe for bimuelos, a fried dough treat with Spanish origins that looked delicious (and is!) and decided to make them during the episode.

I learned a lot of the terminology and names, and got help with pronunciations (I had Antiochus all wrong, so it’s good that I checked). But the most important thing, of course, was to read about the menorah and how to properly light the candles. I was, in fact, concerned that it might not be appropriate to light it at all, as a non Jew and during the course of a demonstration. There were mixed opinions on that online, so I decided to go ahead. I wanted to demonstrate the order in which one would light the candles, light only two, and promptly extinguish them. I wanted to do this episode prior to the start of Hanukkah rather than waiting until the first night to avoid any possible hint of disrespect.

I get a bit anxious before some of our videos, but I actually had trouble sleeping the night before this one. I was terrified that I would get something wrong. I try very hard not to do that no matter the episode because these are recorded for children (case in point: I insisted we re-record our Octupus’ Garden episode because I said the octopus had tentacles when they’re really called arms, and it’s octopuses, not octopi). Would the kids know? Possibly not, but I would. And they deserve accuracy. So I demonstrated the lighting of the menorah, spun the dreidel, and made bimuelos. I read my poem called ‘The Story of Hanukkah’ and then one called ‘Traditions of Love,’ which emphasizes the point that I most wanted to make: that whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or any other holiday that comes around this time of year, these celebrations and traditions are worthy of respect, as are the people who celebrate them. And the world would be a much better place if we could all just remember that. ❤️

Easier said than done, right? It’s very easy and even understandable to forget what blessings we have in our lives while in the midst of a global pandemic. I, for one, figure I’m blessed if I’m well and able to write about all of this. There’s no doubt that how we as adults deal with the current chaos affects how our children deal with it. Talk about an awesome responsibility!

As Thanksgiving approached last month, I realized that there were several issues with having GG Sprinkles do an episode on this very American holiday. First, and sadly, while it’s often true that way too many people can’t afford the big holiday dinner that you see in glossy magazine photos, that was undoubtedly even more true this year with thousands out of work and traditional feasts not always an option for many families. Second, an increasing number of people object to celebrating a holiday that glosses over in a big way the relationship between the pilgrims and the Native Americans and ignores the violence against tribes that came soon after. And then, of course, there’s the fact that Thanksgiving appears to be a uniquely American holiday, and GG Sprinkles goes out to wherever YouTube is available.

So I decided to first investigate whether other countries have a similar holiday; turns out there are several. Canada actually calls theirs Thanksgiving. Liberia observes Thanksgiving since their origins are American. One Australian territory also has a day of Thanksgiving. But there are other countries who have a similar day of celebration, including India, Japan, China, and Germany. In Japan, the people basically have a Labor Thanksgiving to say thank you to those who keep things running and keep everyone safe and healthy. The children make cards for first responders and health care workers, among others. I decided to tell my young audience how people around the world celebrate. Then I thought it appropriate to acknowledge that Thanksgiving, no matter when and how one might traditionally celebrate it, would probably be different, with possibly fewer family members gathered together and other differences. And then I focused on the idea of counting our blessings instead of stressing over things we cannot change and mourning the absence of traditions we might be used to on this day.

I demonstrated a couple of simple crafts that kids might find fun and meaningful. I traced my hand to do the classic turkey and added the component of fingerprints on the feathers for mom to keep forever. I also showed them how to make a blessing tree. At the end of the episode, I showed the progress our little oak tree had made since I planted the acorn in our fall episode. I see this as a clear sign to hang in there (not that many acorns grow when you plant them in a pot).

Honestly, it’s hard for us big people to understand why our lives are so different, why we can’t necessarily gather with extended family, why our holidays have turned into life-or-death events where the danger of transmitting the virus frequently trumps holidays as usual. But I know that, for me, it helped a bit to look at the bigger picture and focus on the good things in my life and know that better days are just ahead for all of us. I was hoping it would help my little viewers as well. ❤️

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For some reason, the idea of doing an episode of GG Sprinkles on shoes just occurred to me on a whim. Well, a whim and my realization that I hadn’t charged my light-up shoes in a while. And that started my taking stock of my shoe collection. I’m not talking about expensive trendy shoes they might wear in the show Sex and the City. Nope, I’m talking about weird shoes that might sparkle, shine, boast vivid colors, light up—or all of the above. In my defense (should I need one), when I broke my ankle a couple of years ago and was depressed that healing didn’t happen overnight as I’d hoped, my husband encouraged me to buy a few pairs of shoes that could serve as goals to get me up and moving in hopes that they would look as good on my feet as they did in their boxes. Those were some pretty obnoxiously gaudy shoes. And I loved them all.

But I can’t claim the ankle as my only excuse for owning interesting shoes. It’s very much who I am. So I charged my light-up shoes (naturally) and dug my most interesting of all my interesting shoes out of my closet and out from under my bed. I wrote a poem about all types of shoes, the many different materials they’re made of, and their various purposes. But I wanted to go a bit further and talk about the benefits of walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, as the saying goes. I didn’t think the kids who watch our episodes were too young to grasp the idea of putting themselves in someone else’s place, to understand where another person is coming from, how and why they’re thinking and feeling. I wanted to convince them to try to see things from another’s point of view. That resulted in a second poem about walking a mile in another’s shoes.

I showed the kids my various shoes, including the ruby slippers my daughter Katie made me a sequin at a time and which look eerily and beautifully like the movie shoes, and then read the relevant poetry. It turned out to be a fun episode, and it was well received by parents who watched it. I wish I were better at practicing what I preach when it comes to walking a mile in other people’s shoes, though. I try, of course. At least I have some pretty cool shoes to walk around in while I work to be a better me. And they really do light up. ❤️

One of my daughters had an invisible friend named Amo Fotebaum (no idea of the origin of that name) and Amo was a good buddy. She went everywhere Katie wanted her to go and basically was there when she was needed. I remember reading at the time that kids who had invisible friends were frequently gifted. I decided right then that Amo was a very welcome whatever-she-was in our home. I think with our daughter’s experience in mind one day, my husband suggested invisible friends as a topic for GG Sprinkles. I liked it and decided to expand it to cover friends of all kinds.

Now that I could Google invisible friends (not an option in my daughter’s childhood), I researched the topic a bit. I didn’t see a reference to gifted children, but I did see that children with invisible friends clearly have active imaginations. And I read something else that was interesting and that made total sense: Invisible friends allow kids to have some control. The invisible friend says and does what the child commands it to. It sits where it’s told and plays whatever the child wants to play. This made so much sense to me, especially these days. Adults currently are feeling like they have no control: they can’t go many places they would usually go; they have to observe protocols to stay safe; food and supplies they would normally buy without a thought may not be available. Can you imagine how unsettled little ones must be feeling? Nevertheless, my goal of this recording wasn’t to encourage kids to have invisible friends, but rather to acknowledge their existence (if that word works here) and talk about their place in kids’ lives.

I wrote a poem called ‘Emmaline’ about an invisible friend who goes to school, plays, eats lunch with her human friend, and is basically a friend the child has all to herself, even as the child acknowledges that her buddy Emmaline is a friend ‘only [she] can see.’ I also wrote a poem called ‘Different Friends’ that covers school friends, neighborhood friends, animal friends (both real and plush) and, of course, invisible friends. I was able to locate two animals I played with as a child and used them as examples. I even sang a bit of a song Katie learned in preschool called ‘Germs the Invisible Dog.’

I think wherever we can find good friends, whether real or not, two-footed or four-footed, we value them and we need them. And children are no different. So if your child tells you not to sit somewhere because their ‘friend’ is already sitting there, just move on down a seat or two. And be glad that your little one has a friend they believe they can always count on. Because the truth is, they can. ❤️

We took GG Sprinkles on the road yet again, this time to the St. Louis Zoo. Masks were required as was social distancing, and we were good with that. We knew we’d have too much video to do only one episode, so we broke it into two. The official poem that I include with every episode didn’t happen until the end of the second segment, so we devoted most of the time to seeing the animals and commenting on a lot of them.

The St. Louis Zoo is unique among city zoos in that it’s free. It usually draws crowds who support it by becoming zoo members and spending money in the gift shops and food kiosks. Like everything else in these unprecedented times, the zoo was in a bit of a lull. You have to make reservations (not a requirement normally) and arrive within that time frame. So we saw far fewer people than we might usually see on a nice day, and I missed the little ones running around. We were there on a school day, but I still figured we’d see some children and you can hear some wee voices on the videos. I’m sure zoo management will be pleased and relieved when life returns to normal and there are chaotic and rambunctious crowds enjoying the animals rather than the carefully managed flow of visitors.

As I’ve said before on my blog, I think it’s so important to give kids a slice of normalcy whenever possible, and we were going for that in these two episodes. It was good for us as well to get out and walk around and act ‘normal’ as we tried to see and video as many animals as we could. We apparently hit during nap time for some of them, which is unfortunate, but we did our best. We saw gorillas and the big cats and—well—you’ll see.

Enjoy your trip to the zoo!

We decided to do something we had never tried in our over seventy episodes of GG Sprinkles—we decided to take an episode out of our family room and into the world of sea life at the St. Louis Aquarium. We haven’t gone out much since the pandemic more or less imprisoned many of us in our homes, but we knew restrictions were in place and we felt safe as soon as we arrived. I had made a mask suitable for a visit to the aquarium, and we were ready to spend some quality time with sea life.

We shot bits of video all over the aquarium and communed with river otters and sharks. It was fun to be able to see all of it for ourselves and to figure out what would entertain little ones. I put my hand in the tank of doctor fish and let them swarm my hand and nibble my fingers. That entertained me, so I figured the kids would like it. Petting the stingrays was something I had resisted in previous trips to the aquarium, but I decided to be brave and give it a try. A tad slimy, but a very interesting experience. I knew the sharks would likely be a favorite, so we got some video in front of the tank as well as looking overhead where they swim above aquarium visitors. I’ve been to the aquariums in Monterey, California, and Gatlinburg, Tennessee, both bigger than the new one we have here, and the tunnels where the sharks are above you are the best. I’m glad our local aquarium decided to create that same experience.

Once home we had to choose what snippets would be best for the complete video, which was different from our usual one-take episodes. We filmed the last few minutes back at home so that I could read a poem about our aquarium visit and say goodbye. We had fun with this one, but I honestly think that one of the best things about it is how normal it all felt, being out and doing something fun. I was hoping that it would have the same effect on the kids watching. We all need a touch of normalcy in our current situation, especially the children. And they deserve it.

Whenever possible, I like to use the GG Sprinkles forum for more than entertainment. I like to educate a bit or, in the case of this episode, eliminate a bit of fear. When I was a little girl, trips to our dentist—the only one in our little Tennessee town—were often not pleasant experiences. But things have changed a great deal since then. There are now pediatric dentists and family dentists who are ready and willing to work with little ones to provide the best experience possible. In the long run, if the dentist and his team can make a child’s visit as pleasant as possible, that would have to make their jobs a tad easier.

I decided to enlist the assistance of my not-so-willing dog, Gracie, to help make the point. The poem that I wrote was about a typical trip to the dentist. I had actually had my own 6-month checkup the previous week, which gave me the idea for this topic, so I took the opportunity to talk to the friendly dental assistant about how they work with children. The poem is written more as if a child is speaking, as many of my Sprinkles poems are. That made it more fun to write, for sure. I took some pictures of the staff and even of me in the dentist’s chair.

I pulled out Gracie’s toothbrush, doggie toothpaste, and breath drops, as well as my own toothbrush. After I read my poem, I grabbed Gracie and demonstrated how the dentist puts a covering on your chest to keep your shirt dry and then proceeded to brush Gracie’s teeth. Sort of. She wasn’t inclined to cooperate fully, but we did our best. And I knew the kids would like the humor of trying to brush a dog’s teeth.

Hopefully the upbeat message made the point that the dentist isn’t someone to fear, that he/she is there to help make a sore tooth better and keep our teeth clean and healthy. And Gracie is speaking to me again. Finally. ❤️

Let’s face it: We all need music in our lives, even if we don’t know it. It doesn’t have to be professional or polished. In fact, it can be music we create. Nothing fancy, of course. Instruments can be pretty primitive, and sometimes the more primitive the better. Or at least, more fun. It was the fun part of this that made me research instruments that you can make with materials on hand. In particular, I wanted to see what children could create. I taught high school, so I didn’t have that wisdom that teachers in the lower grades have and that I’ve always admired.

Percussion instruments are always a favorite and the easiest to create. I found out that macaroni can be used in a variety of ways. I put some in a margarine container which made a fine (and pretty loud) percussion instrument. Anything resembling maracas was popular with my kids, so I used plastic spoons, plastic Easter eggs, and rice to make reasonable shakers. And I grabbed a big plastic bowl to use as a drum, but there are fancier ones with directions online. I discovered that it’s possible to create a primitive but workable guitar out of a shoebox, but I didn’t have all the ‘ingredients’ that I needed. However, I did decide to include water glasses to help with melodies. Who would have thought, by the way, that they’d be difficult to tune!

The one instrument that I really wanted to make and play was one I’ve admired since childhood: the spoons. I’ve always been fascinated by musicians, usually country, who could play them so well. I was jealous. And so, of course, I had to learn. I watched YouTube videos and read articles and, naturally, I practiced. And by golly, I did it! Not well, necessarily, but I could do it. I doubt the Grand ‘Ole Opry will be calling anytime soon, but hey…

I decided to sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm and accompany myself with water glasses and percussion. It lacked polish (I’m WAY understating that) but it was fun. I started this post by saying we all need music in our lives, and I wasn’t kidding. There isn’t nearly enough joy these days with COVID, the political landscape, and weather events that seem to be increasingly bigger and more devastating. I think we need music to drown out the sadness. And the louder, the better. And who cares if it isn’t polished or professional, as long as it’s loud and fun. If it comes from the heart, macaroni shakers and shoebox guitars will work just fine. Let the little ones create, sing and dance. And let their spirits—and ours—be lifted by the melodious and not so melodious sounds. ❤️

I wish I could tell you that I’ve never given up, but I can’t. I have a feeling I’m in some very good company in this. I also have to admit that I’m sometimes reluctant to try new things. And as the former nanny of a risk-taking little boy, I can honestly say that I’ve been around someone who isn’t afraid to try anything and everything. No matter how high the monkey bars or how slippery the slide. And, as much as that daredevil approach to life scares me, I admire it. So I wanted to emphasize to little ones that they shouldn’t be afraid to try things, and they shouldn’t give up if they can’t master something right away.

To help make the point, I used my own experience as a little girl who used her allowance to buy her first pair of roller skates and then spent a considerable amount of time on her rear end as she tried to stay upright. But, of course, I didn’t give up, and not just because those skates cost me five dollars of hard-earned allowance and I wanted to get my money’s worth. No, I really wanted to master the art of roller skating so I could skate with my friends. And it didn’t take very long for me to do just that. I like to use some kind of visuals when I present, and since I didn’t have any roller skates, I set up my Victorian ice skater display my parents gave me. By the way, ice skating was something I truly never mastered; my ankles couldn’t take it.

To help make the point that one shouldn’t be afraid to try new things, I used the lyrics to the song ‘Try Everything’ from the excellent movie ‘Zootopia.’ I love the lyrics to this one that include lines like ‘Birds don’t just fly/they fall down and get up’ and ‘nobody learns without getting it wrong.’ But my favorite line is ‘I wanna try even though I could fail.’ I used the example of my attempts at hoola hooping, which I still haven’t mastered. I did promise in the episode, though, that if I eventually succeed in being able to hoola hoop, I will demonstrate it in an upcoming episode. No pressure, right?

I wrote a poem about my roller skating experience and another about not giving up, and I was good to go with this episode. It was almost a way to redeem myself. As a nanny, I really held Cooper back, I think. I kept him off playground equipment that scared me. I fretted and worried and didn’t let him take risks that kids really need to take to spread their wings and see what they can do. I let my own fears control Cooper, and I’ve always regretted it even though my motives were pure. So I think a child’s—or anyone’s—resolve to ‘try everything’ is closer to the attitude we all should have. And once we try it, we shouldn’t give up on it too easily. Like the song says, we need to try even though we could fail. After all, failing at something isn’t the worst thing that could happen; never trying because of fear would be the bigger failure.

I always wanted to build a racetrack. Well, sort of. And I thought I could indulge that fantasy and share it with my GG Sprinkles viewers. I decided to use what I had on hand to build my racetrack, and that happened to be poster board, along with tape and markers.

I built a pretty impressive three-lane straightaway, but decided that wasn’t much of a challenge for my race cars, so I built hills in each of my three lanes just to shake things up. That actually worked a little too well, but the craziness only added to the fun. The three cars have been in my when-the-grandkids-visit toy box for a while. These tiny vehicles let no obstacles stand in their way, and they’re very energetic. And a tad noisy. Gracie used to bark incessantly at them when we’d run them in the family room. She’s not a big fan of fast, noisy things. Cooper, on the other hand, is and so I took the cars with me when I nannied. The cars went under every piece of furniture and an appliance or two, but they survived. So these noisy little beauties were just what I needed on my poster board track. I created flags at the finish line and colored them to match the cars and we were good to go.

There aren’t many Sprinkles episodes where I leave the rocking chair and get down on the floor, but this was one. And I had a good time. But it wasn’t just race cars that I wanted to feature; I wanted to do something with roller coasters as well. This was a bit trickier, though. I couldn’t figure out how to build one of those out of poster board. It occurred to me that if I cut strips of plain white paper and taped them together end to end, I could design in miniature any roller coaster I wanted. I have an acrylic ‘table’ I use in my episodes, so I used tape to put the long paper strip on the table, creating loop-the-loops, drops, and death-defying hills. I hoped the kids might decide to create their own racetracks and design their own roller coasters.

I wrote poetry about things that go fast and riding roller coasters. Part of the underlying message here is that sometimes things that scare us become some of our favorites once we try them. In this case, you need only to take that first ride on a roller coaster and then chances are you’ll want another. And another. And the screams as you loop the loop and leave your breath behind you on that last steep drop are a major part of the fun. ❤️