Eden Prairie News - Blog entry - Comments

Update: According to the

Leah Shaffer — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:50:08 -0600

Update: According to the Eden Prairie City Manager's Friday report: "staff is gathering the necessary data to submit a proposal to Google to be included in their next level of assessment of communities where they might consider building and operating a community broadband network similar to the one they operate in Mountain View, California."

Name suggestions anyone? Perhaps "Little Google on the Prairie?"

Real Parent: Up in the air

Deb Sweeney — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:55:08 -0600

Real Parent: Up in the air

‘Tis the season when you might be tempted to board an airliner, small child(ren) in tow, and go someplace – anyplace – warmer than here.

While flying is no doubt convenient when one needs to cross several lines of latitude in a short time, I’m not sure I can personally recommend it with kids. We have had a long line of Sweeney air disasters.

How I recall running at top speed (while carrying a baby, a diaper bag and a backpack in one arm and bodily dragging a screaming toddler with the other) across acres of oversized airport, only to watch our plane pulling away from the gate.

Then there was the serial in-flight puking – that impromptu Superman-cape-style replacement garment we made out of one of the scratchy in-flight blankets was genius.

And who can forget Vinegar Bag – the time when our entire plane, already on edge due to Kid No. 1’s persistent screaming, hated us even more as our carry-on, stuffed into the overhead compartment by a grouchy stewardess, slowly began dripping homemade tarragon vinegar onto the heads of the people seated in front of us?

Car travel has a lot to recommend it in terms of hiding the sins of yourself and your children within your own, relatively soundproof box. Still, flying with young children is sometimes necessary. Here are a few things I have learned from experience.

* Book with care. Flight delays and missed connections that are annoying when traveling as an adult become disasters with small children. Book nonstop if at all possible, choose a carrier with multiple flights to your destination and travel early in the day to minimize your chance of getting stuck. If you book a connecting flight, avoid short connections so you can get your slow-moving clan where it needs to go. Flying with kids will take longer and cost more. Deal with it.

Think about your seating as well. It’s worth trying to find an emptier plane. Sitting in the back row near the engines provides useful masking noise for your baby’s crying and distances you from frequent flyers who are the most likely to be annoyed by your foolish fertility. It’s also near the bathroom for your children’s frequent trips.

* Pack for illness. Assume that one of your kids will become violently ill during the flight. Bring a full-sized bath towel, a shirt to fit any child under the age of 10, a gallon-size Ziploc bag, and a 30-gallon plastic garbage bag. The kid should throw up directly into the big Ziploc or the towel if possible (the barf bags on the plane are way too small) and then you can put the dirty clothes and towel in the garbage bag. Bring a tiny Motrin bottle for when someone spikes a fever during flight.

* Pack for delays. Bring extra diapers, wipes, food and drink. Expect to be loaded down like a pack animal and to check everything non-child-related. Do not bother bringing a book or crossword for yourself.

* Plan to pacify. If your child is nursing, be prepared to nurse the entire flight. If your child will take a pacifier, bring a dozen. If you think you may be able to get your baby or toddler addicted to videogames, now is the time to break out the Gameboy.

* Snack carefully. Food is great for pacifying kids, but not so much that it makes them throw up. A bottle, sippy cup or straw, even if your kid is a little old for these normally, helps with ears. You can lay your bath towel on the seat under the kids for easier cleanup (at least until you need the towel for the vomit.) Think about foods that will help with queasiness (saltines, graham crackers).

* Attempt to teach plane manners. Explain to your kids, before they start, that they need to use quiet voices, be good sports (i.e. no whining) and they shouldn’t kick the seat in front of them. Make it a point to praise them after the first five minutes of good behavior (hopefully they make it that far) and give a reward partway through.

Flying with kids does get easier, but if you have young ones, well, you are not so likely to have a bon voyage. Aim for a tolerable voyage, wherever your final destination may be.

Deb Sweeney is an Eden Prairie parent of five children ages 7 to 14. Sweeney’s column appears the third week of the month.

Ron Case does not have

ToddM — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:41:11 -0600

Ron Case does not have "every right" to campaign in his classroom.

Carefully read Principal Richter's letter - "The district does not condone political activity for personal gain in our classrooms." It's also a violation of school district policy and state law.

Ron Case has every right to

NG — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:33:14 -0600

Ron Case has every right to campaign in his PUBLIC classroom! What is wrong with you people? Why did the paper print the story twice?

Is DFL suppose to mean Democrat? How is that relevent? Democrats pay taxes too!

(I hope Ron Case did not get into too much trouble over this)

Man Arrested In Round Lake

1965 — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:14:48 -0600

Man Arrested In Round Lake Park Assault

http://wcco.com/crime/eden.prairie.assault.2.1500640.html

Wow, you're so right! I

merynfluker — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:11:35 -0600

Wow, you're so right! I totally feel like a slacker for not doing a comparable workout. Our president is in fine physical condition, regardless of how one views his policy decisions, and we can all use a reminder to stay in shape. Thanks for the info Justin!

I would have posted this

William Wood — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:43:14 -0600

I would have posted this reply to the main global warming thread but it appears that commentary for that article is no longer available. In that discussion, I argued at length for the need to increase the use of nuclear power.

In the news today:
Obama renews commitment to nuclear energy

My kudos to the Commander in Chief for this one. I know supporting nuclear power is not going to make him Mr. Popular and I respect his courage for standing up for it despite that.

Ideally, we need to develop a nuclear power plant design that can be adapted to sites throughout the US. This will help keep the costs as low as possible and make safety easier to manage. The biggest hurdle, obviously, is the waste storage issue, given that the Yucca Mountain storage facility has all but been killed. Obama's comments recognize this and now it is up to the scientific and engineering communities to rise to the challenge of finding safe storage alternatives.

Folks, if you cut through all the blah-de-blah, this is going to be the issue that gets noted in the history books next to Obama's entry. He gets my support if he can pull this off. (P.S. Minnesota lawmakers who do not support lifting the state ban on new nuclear power plants, take note: you are on the wrong side of history on this one.)

This story was also picked

ToddM — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:58:46 -0600

This story was also picked up by True North:

http://looktruenorth.com/elections/minnesota-senate/11219--qcorrective-a...

For those who don't want to

stark — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:09:16 -0600

For those who don't want to follow the link, here is the email where the Principal acknowledges that corrective action has been taken against Ron Case. (I'm not sure what corrective action means. Did he have to stay inside during recess?)

Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 09:08:26 -0600
From: chrichter@edenpr.k12.mn.us
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
CC: mkrull@edenpr.org

Subject: Concern

Good Morning,

My name is Chuck Richter. I'm the principal at Oak Point Intermediate School in Eden Prairie, Mn [sic]. I understand that you sent an email to our Superintendent Dr. Krull. As the principal who works directly with Mr. Case, I am responding.

I am aware of the concern you have regarding political activities in Eden Prairie Schools. The district does not condone political activity for personal gain in our classrooms. I have looked into the matter regarding the video, and corrective action regarding this issue has been taken.

Please direct any further questions to me by phone. I can be reached at 952-975-7611.

Chuck Richter
Principal
Oak Point Intermediate

Any chance that Principal

ToddM — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:53:21 -0600

Any chance that Principal Chuck Richter will post here and elaborate on what "corrective action" entails?

Read the letter: HERE!

Climate-gate has struck

1965 — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:47:57 -0600

Climate-gate has struck again: A new investigation reveals crucial flaws in data about climate change, as well as attempts by leading researchers to cover up their own mistakes.

Climate Researchers Manipulated and Hid Data
Full article can be found here->
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/02/02/climate-researchers-manipulate...

Is that why the left side of

Mathias Baden — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:50:32 -0600

Is that why the left side of my neck hurts today? Because I've been shoveling only to the left? Hmmmm. You might have a point here. I'm going to try tip No. 4 tonight. Thanks.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

It's a nice quiet place to

EdenPrairiePlayers — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:01:23 -0600

It's a nice quiet place to sit, have a cup of coffee, or maybe a glass of wine, and good conversation. It's located right under Anytime Fitness, on the side away from the Mitchell Road.

www.edenprairieplayers.org

What happened to the good

tginmn — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:58:22 -0500

What happened to the good old townhall meeting that Jim Ramstad had. Jim was able to stand in front of a crowd that wasn't always friendly. Jim was respected by most residents regardless of political affiliation. Now we get Erik Paulson who carefully stages meetings with hand picked business groups and telle meetings in which the questions are cherry picked by his staff. Sure he claims that all questions will be answered in a private email. Erik talks the talk on health care reform but can't walk the walk. I stopped by the GOP both at the state fair and asked two of the people working the both what was the GOP plan for fixing the broken health care system. The first one tried to change the subject and the second one tried but he could not respond to most of my questions. Basically the GOP only plan is to stop real reform so they can defeat Obama. The country first is BS when they tried to defeat a program that will take care of the majority of Americans and stop the bleeding of the GDP.

Garage sales are really

browns — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:43:00 -0500

Garage sales are really great. If anyone is seeking for garage door repairers than they should contact
Austin garage doors. They are providing best services at affordable prices.