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Goofy welcomes our family to the happiest place on earth. Well, almost happiest...

I don’t think I ever met anyone who did not like a good vacation. Nice weather, good food, new places to see and who could forget…..meltdowns. We have all had to deal with them. Kids getting to bed two hours late then waking up early because they are just too excited to sleep. By dinner time they are either passed out (if you are lucky) or if you are like me, they are wild animals who need to be sedated!

We had the good fortune to visit Disney World recently and while our photos capture smiles on rides, meeting Pluto and colorful parades….some of the moments I will remember most were not captured on film. There was my 7-year-old falling to his knees at Hollywood Studios because we would not go to yet another gift shop. Even more vivid is my 5-year-old pouting at dinner because they put a pickle on his plate.  Ah yes, I love my children and the trip was wonderful, but I do imagine a vacation without these little “incidents.”

I try to get them to bed at a decent hour. Sadly, that means my husband and I are also in bed at that same decent hour (ah….parenthood).  I try to make sure they eat semi-healthy (no candy before 9AM) and I do my best to ignore their moans and groans, but at some point I have to pull them aside and have that little “chat” about consequences and choices.

Does anyone else have a vacation memory to share? A really good one? Help us all feel better and let us know we are not alone.

The New York Times published quite the interesting article this week relating to Disney’s Baby Einstein brand of electronic media (VHS, DVD, CD) which were marketed as tools to make your children smarter by plopping them in front of a television or stereo playing them.

It turns out that the efficacy of these videos is still unproven (even though the line has been available for over ten years!) and some (most notably the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, less so myself) have said using them really isn’t a great idea and Disney is now offering refunds.

I’ve never been a fan of sitting Mini in front of a movie or video, though I confess to having done it, though it was more for a “five-minutes-to-do-something” break than a “get smart quick” scheme.

Now that Mini is in 4th grade, it’s important to me to not let her get sucked into the vortex of television and online programming that’s less than educational. She reads (Greg Heffley’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid and R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps series’ are current favorites) and listens to audiobooks (J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series) quite a bit. We play games, though I will say boardgames aren’t my favorite things.

We go places, too. And not just the park or the mall…We go to aquariums (Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, SC and the local N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores), we visit museums (there’s a lovely history of Onslow County at the Onslow County Museum in Richlands) and, though Mini doesn’t know it, we’ll be making a trip to the N.C. Zoo at Asheboro soon. The hope is that these interactive and engaging activities will help Mini develop a curious mind and interest in the world around her.

The only way to get your kids smart(er) is to actively engage them in activities. Reading and writing, playing games and having honest-to-goodness-conversations will do more than any 30-minute DVD of pretty colors and soothing music, I can promise you. It’s activities and interaction that will make children smart.

What activities do you use to help your child develop thinking skills? How do you feel about the Baby Einstein products? Share your questions, ideas and experiences in the comments.