Tic Toc Restaurant

Next month, the Pittsburgh downtown department store, Kaufmanns, will officially change its name to Macys. It's a day many of us will mourn. Anyone who has grown up in Pittsburgh spent every fall at a Kaufmanns department store getting a new outfit for school. We took special trips with parents and grandparents to the downtown Kaufmanns where we were amazed by the size of the store and the beautiful windows. We were always told, if you get lost while we're downtown, meet under the Kaufmanns clock. I don't need to explain that to any fellow Pittsburgher.

I've only shopped at Macys a few times since it arrived in Pittsburgh as a Lazarus taking over another beloved Pittsburgh department store, Hornes. I don't like it at all. Too bright and too open. Much too easy to find things and not enough sales. Like most Pittsburghers, I like to shop in overcrowded racks in a dim room where every once in awhile I hold up a Liz Claiborne dress triumphantly and shout out, "It's on sale for $10!"

Kaufmanns was started by the Kaufmann brothers from the Southside many years ago. Although it hasn't been owned by the Kaufmann family for eons, most Pittsburghers seem to conveniently forget that and felt as if we were still going to a department store owned by one of us who understands us. I'm fairly certain that Macys does not understand us. Again, the brightness of the store is the first big tip-off that they don't have a clue what Pittsburgh likes.

What can I do, though? The deal is done, and in just a few weeks there will be just one major department store in Pittsburgh and not the one I like. I did the only thing I could do, I gathered up my 6 and 3 year old and took them downtown to meet their grandmother at the Tic Toc Restaurant before the name Kaufmanns is gone forever from Pittsburgh. If you're from Pittsburgh, you'll understand.

I also understand that the Boscovs department store going in at my local mall is still family run. I may check them out - maybe they understand what a girl from Pittsburgh needs in a department store.

Lassie Come Home

We were on vacation last week on the Outer Banks - a 9 to 10 hour drive from our home. We hooked up the portable DVD player (I owe an eternal debt of gratitude to whomever invented that!) and set out. The trip down was easy and peaceful. We watched Dora the Explorer, The Wizard of Oz, and Chicken Run. We were all happy.

For the trip home, I decided to put in Lassie Come Home. The classic movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowell. We had borrowed it from a friend who assured us that it was a great movie. Now, if I remember anything from my childhood, I should remember that Lassie always gets in trouble and always seems to be on death's door at some point during each of her movies. This one was no different. Lassie was sold by her poor family to a wealthy man in Scotland. She fought off wild beasts and even swam across the river separating Scotland from England to be reunited to her family in Yorkshire. My children were hysterical. The 3 year old couldn't stop crying and the 6 year old fought bravely to hold back tears. I almost ripped the movie out but the 6 year old started to cry harder because he just had to see the end of the movie and see what happened to Lassie. It was 90 minutes of pure torture. Of course Lassie made it home safely, got to stay with her poor family, and the wealthy man even gave Lassie's owner a job. Another happy ending for Lassie.

After that episode, I put in a Blue's Clues DVD and took a nap.

The "Jokes"

Everyone who has children knows that they have funny words for certain things. Our oldest used to declare things "a little bit scroungy" and called a washcloth "a quashquash."

Our 3 year old has her own set of funny things that she likes to say. Instead of sometimes, it is "timetimes." She often watches me put "saratacs" onto my eyes, needs a "wiper towel" in order to clean up some mess or another, and babies use "firepates."

The other day at a Memorial Day parade, she informed us that she had received a balloon from a joke.

"A what," we asked?
"A joke," she replied, "the joke gave me the balloon."

After a moment, we realized that she meant a clown. A clown had given her a balloon. Timetimes, our kids can be pretty funny.

Where Have I Been???

My large fan base (actually, just my mother) has been wondering where my posts have gone. What can I say? I have been busy homeschooling, running a resale, planning birthday parties, and getting our home ready to go on the market. Life is busy in the suburbs.

I am back, though, and hope to be a bit more faithful throughout the summer when my homeschooling responsibilities are not as large and no resale until September.

We began the month of May with my daughter's third birthday party. There was no doubt how we would celebrate this monumental milestone - we would have a Blues Clues birthday party! She has been a bit obsessed with Blue, Steve, and Joe for some time now.

So, with 12 or so 2 to 7 year olds in tow, I took them on a treasure hunt in our backyard with their handy dandy notebooks (bought 3/$1 at the dollar store). They put the clues together, sat in the thinking chair, and figured out it was a birthday party! We ate good food, ran around a lot, and had a Blues Clues birthday cake.

After the party, my daughter was sitting around watching me as I cleaned up all the remants of the party. I was feeling pretty tired until she said to me, "Mommy - that was a really fun, party." It's those small moments that make all the work worthwhile.

Obsessions

My two year old daughter is always obsessed with something. About a year ago it was her baby doll, Sha Sha. An odd name, I know. Her name is actually Felicia but was quickly changed to something the two year old could actually say. Sha Sha and her dingy pink one-piece outfit went with us everywhere. We even have Sha Sha in the 18 month Sears portrait.

After Sha Sha came her 5 year old brother's Steeler's hat. She insists that it is her hat. She wore it everywhere, backwards, and even slept with it at night. I'm still not sure how my husband convinced her not to wear the Steelers hat to church.

After the hat came an old cell phone, various books, and then and old firepates (translation - pacifier) that she found in her dresser. That one lasted until the dog ate it.

I am sure you are all wondering what could possibly be her latest obsession. It is an old, beat up helicopter (translation - calculator) that barely works. It goes everywhere with her - even to bed at night. The best part of this one - it is easily lost in the middle of the night when it falls under her bed. Fortunately, she cries for Daddy, not Mommy, to come and find it.

Where Does the Time Go?

My oldest is now 5. Actually, 5 1/2 as he often reminds me. He still says some of the cutest things. Aminal instead of animal. Hangaburger instead of hamburger. Headyache instead of headache.

I know that he is at the age where I need to start to really crack down on these last few words that he says incorrectly. After all, he sets the table for me, dresses himself, makes his bed, and can almost tie his shoes. He's not a baby anymore.

So, the other day when he said "aminal", I gently told him that the word is actually animal. We worked at it a few times and suddenly he said animal perfectly for the first time in his life. I should have been excited and proud, and I was - sort of. I was also sad. It's the end of an era for my oldest. He's no longer the cute toddler but instead a young man growing up right before my eyes.

I might need to wait awhile before I start to work on "hangaburger" and "headyache."

The Terrible Blog

I live in Pittsburgh. If you follow professional football at all, you know that the Steelers are in the Super Bowl this year. What you may not know is that my city has gone insane.

On my street alone, there are large banners declaring this is Steeler Country along with large inflatable footballs and inflatable Steelers in several yards. When the Steelers won the AFC Championship, there were fireworks going off all around my house.

The news each night for the past 4 weeks has been 20 minutes of Steelers news followed by 10 seconds of other news, 20 seconds of weather, and then right back to more Steelers news. I'm not even sure if we still have troops in Iraq it's been so long since I've seen an actual newscast.

Instead of working, most companies have turned Fridays into informal tailgating parties. The Pittsburgh School District has announced a 2 hour delay for all schools in the district the day after the Super Bowl. I guess so all children have plenty of time to celebrate the big win.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Steelers and love watching football each Sunday. There is nothing that would make me happier than to have the Steelers win the Super Bowl. I even have the required Steeler legacy - my mom has been a season ticket holder since 1973 and once went to a Steeler game when she was a week overdue with my brother. Believe me, I understand devotion to the team.

I still think the city has gone crazy.