Awe Shucks!

alyssaroyse — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:20:44 -0500

THANKS SO MUCH! It's funny, of all I do, TinkerTank is, in many ways closest to my heart. But I haven't yet gotten around to promoting it, which I need to do . So thanks. I'm tired of Hallmark owning the holidays.

And in response to the other thread, is it okay to promote yourself on BlogHer? Isn't that what freinds do for each other? I think of BlogHer as a big group of friends who care what we all think and feel and DO. I'm a thinking woman who happens to be a mom. I made TinkerTank for people like me - and there are a TON of you here. So yeah, promotion is good.

Thanks again!

___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com

oh my

Mir Kamin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:05:33 -0500

Alyssa, I think I love you. That is BRILLIANT!

--
Mir Kamin
(BlogHer Mommy & Family contributing editor)

Personal: Woulda Coulda Shoulda

Having it all with less: Want Not

TinkerTank has you covered!

alyssaroyse — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:14:46 -0500

You'd think I'd be better about letting all of you know that i have solved the Holiday Conundrum. (but, i dunno, between being a mommy, running a company and having a life, i forget to promote the things that i do just for fun.)

The Easter Bunny is a girl. Esther Biegnet, to be exact. She's very quiet and has adopted thousands of children around the world, all of whom help her with her Easter Antics. She's the director of HR at TinkerTank Inc, a cool company that was founded by Santa Claus and The Tooth Fairy (who's name is Bruce.)

I created TinkerTank with my daughter when she was at that same magical age - wanting to believe but knowing "better." So, instead, we took the magic and the myth and made "real" people that other parents could use to keep the magic alive with their kids.

You've got bios, photos, email and FAQ's for all the major holidays. And yes, painstaking research went in to creating culturally ACCURATE histories of each Holiday.

I need to get back to promoting this site, I had big plans for it, but life got in the way. Hmph! But here ya go...... This should help!

___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com

Yes, you definitely should

Denise — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:38:02 -0500

And if you do, I look forward to reading the blog post about it. :-)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Mrs. Claus next year

JenRackley — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:03:23 -0500

So each year I host a Breakfast with Santa for my community. I'm pretty convinced now that I should hire a woman this Christmas! LOL

http://lovelyracket.blogspot.com

LOL RJ is a brilliant child

Denise — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 07:26:44 -0500

Or maybe she really listens to my rages against the patriarchy more than the others do - because none of them has ever questioned the gender of Santa or the EB before, even the big kid who wants to be a women's studies major. :-)

Happy Easter.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Paging the Easter Bunny

Mir Kamin — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:35:06 -0500

My daughter has crossed over into that magical age where she knows the truth about Santa and the Easter Bunny, but is still young enough to think she's pretty darn worldly in having this knowledge. As a result, she has been asking me about the "Easter Bunny" all week.

Yes. "Easter Bunny." Just like that -- air quotes and all. Lest I forget that she's far too hip to fall for that story, y'know.

(I notice she's not too hip to request peanut butter eggs, though. Just sayin'.)

Meanwhile, this has not been the very finest week of my life, and as a result, the "Easter Bunny" found herself making a mad dash to the store on Friday shortly before the kids came home from school....

But this isn't about me. Nope, this is about other blogging moms and what they have to say about the Easter Bunny. After all, tomorrow's Easter, and the famed bunny is on many minds.

Ann Hagman Cardinal is waxing nostalgic over at La Bloga:

On this, my 16th Easter in Vermont, I find myself driving around in the blinding snow as I rush around to buy last minute candy for my eleven year old son’s basket. No, he no longer believes in the Easter bunny, but I will continue to make up a basket for him, probably until he’s 45.

[...]

My childhood memories of Easter in our small 1960’s New Jersey town are so vivid they are in Technicolor. [...] I would endure church with my parents and four older siblings, restless throughout because after mass we would participate in the community Easter egg hunt. I can still see the green field now, with the brightly colored eggs peeking out from behind the trees and shrubs. It was always a sunny day with blue skies and moderate temperatures. Then we would return home and the sugar bacchanalia would commence. I would spend the rest of the afternoon trying to protect my chocolate bunny from my three greedy brothers. Usually my father would be the one to bite its head off. Despite the gluttony of the men in my family, the warmth of those Easter Sundays is what I recall first.

[...]

And though right now Carlos’ favorite part is that it is one of two days a year I allow him to eat candy in the morning, I hope there is more he will remember. A day of bright colors and sweet tastes. A day of rebirth and new promise. And the gift of another day our little family can celebrate together. And perhaps in loving memory of my father, I will bite the head off of Carlos’ chocolate Easter bunny.

At The Big DumpTruck, Jody is imploring the hopping giftster to bring her some better weather:

We could skip the candy if you would just bring me a warm, sunny day. I realize that Easter is way early this year, so normally we're dealing with April temps instead of March ones, but still, I have certain expectations about Easter that just aren't going to be met.

[...]

So I'll ask again; instead of sugary stuff, can you give me a 55 degree day with puffy clouds and no wind? That would rock. (Of course, I wouldn't turn down the warm day AND some of those chocolate covered marshmallow rabbits that I love...)

And ... for a different kind of girl coloring eggs turns her thoughts to what's important about Easter egg hunts:

I left my Tool Man and our little bolts home alone this afternoon to color eggs (after we'd been to our town Easter egg hunt, which, btw, if your kid is 10 years old, fellow Moms and Dads, you do not need to hustle out there with them to get the goods, alright?! Sheesh. The only exception to this rule is as follows: if - and only if - you see a giant Reece's Peanut Butter Egg on the ground and your 10 year old has dashed by it in hopes of snagging that lame stick of Laffy Taffy. Then, by all means, knock out the kid zeroing in on your chocolate and peanut butter, throw your body over the treat, then remind your kid when he comes back with his bucket of crappy bubblegum and assorted jawbreakers that you talked about the good stuff strategy and you damn well expect better out of him next year).

Do you ever wonder about the inner workings of the Easter Bunny's life? Visit Blonde Mom Blog to find out just how far the wondering can go:

Here are some Easter Bunny unsolved mysteries that trouble my soul here on Easter eve:

* Is the Easter Bunny male or female? I’ve always assumed he was male, but in this day and age perhaps that’s sexist.
* Where does the Easter Bunny live? Miss C asked me this in all seriousness recently and I was completely dumbfounded. Does he live with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the North Pole? In Easter Land? Peeps-ville? Eggsylvania? Ponyville? The Playboy Mansion?
* If you use the same baskets from year to year, like we do, do you leave them out? Where do you leave them? The hearth, the kitchen table, or the front doorstep?
* How does the Easter bunny get in your house? He can’t use the chimney. That’s blasphemous against Santa!
* What is the Easter Bunny’s mode of transportation? A carrot mobile? Does he flap his big giant bunny ears and fly?
* Does the Easter Bunny have little bunny helpers?

Perhaps we can direct Blonde Mom to go hang out with Denise's family, because over at Flamingo House Happenings I read a most compelling argument for the Easter Bunny being... female!

Yesterday when TW picked up the kids from school there was a discussion about what the Easter Bunny might bring. This led to RJ saying that she is pretty sure the Easter Bunny is a girl. She is also very, very sure that Santa Claus is a woman.

TW questioned this because, ya know, Santa Claus is a dude. Everybody knows this.

RJ does not agree because what everybody really knows is men do not know enough about children to be able to provide the perfect, high quality gifts delivered by Santa Claus. Only a woman would have the insight into gifting and into children to be able to pull of a great gift giving season - year after year after year.

TW asked her how she reconciles that with the long, long history we have of Santa Claus being a man.

RJ says, duh. Santa is a woman dressed like a man. History proves that women have often had to pretend to be men in order to accomplish great things. And, that they have had to allow men to take credit for their work because women aren’t allowed to do great things.

Speaking as someone who will apparently be playing the Easter Bunny -- oh, wait, excuse me... I mean, "Easter Bunny" -- for years to come, I have to say I think RJ is on to something.

Many hoppy returns (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist) to all as we head into Easter Sunday!

BlogHer Contributing Editor Mir also blogs at Woulda Coulda Shoulda and Want Not.