A Recommendation...from me...and from my mailbox

Before I jump into my next post and leave behind finally- at least for while- the sore subject of age...let me just tell you that there's nothing that brightens a gal's day than to retreive the mail the day after her birthday and find a postcard from her OBGYN's office, with the title:

Menopause ...Helping you get through is just one of the things we do.

Listen, I know we all have to go through it...and my time is approaching at lightening speed...but honestly, let's have a little sensitivity. At least wait until a week after a woman's birthday before sending out the card.

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Actually, I'm hiding my head in the sand a bit longer with that whole thing... or should I say sand-box...because really, I am a mommy to a preschooler. So, holding my fingers in my ears...ladidadida...can't hear you....

So, onto the subject of children (whew!) I wanted to recommend a wonderful audio series.
Seriously, this is one of the most entertaining series of tapes I've ever encountered.
It's called The Pond and it is a Christian series that combines good moral lessons with incredible humor. We're talking, laugh out loud humor. Sometimes, humor that purposely flings out over the children's heads and landing right at us, the adults!

Right before Christmas, I took a chance and ordered it on Christianbooks.com because it happened to be on sale. It came in a set of 6 cassettes, with a total of 4 stories on each tape...all for one low, low price, so I went for it. Apparently, it is a Christian radio series (such as Odysessy is) but I had never heard of it before my purchase.

Now, almost every night, the girls and I listen, all snuggled up in thier beds, to one of the episodes. They are honestly a hoot! (And we Northern gals don't say that expression lightly!)
I think I would recommend them for children anywhere from age 4 to 12...I know that's a big age stretch, but I really think that most kids of every age are going to really be entertained.
And so are the parents!
The characters are all pond creatures that speak like...well, grown men...one with particularly strong Brooklyn accent and a gruff voice. The irony of it is irrisistable. I'm still not sure why all the pond animals are male, but the humor is universal - and there is a little girl that visits the pond on occasion, too.

What I also love, besides the great lessons and humor, is the fact that my children can listen to the stories and use thier good old-fashioned imaginations. They have to invent their own images of each of the characters and their happenings...which is made easy by the great voices and storylines.
Yep, just like the old radio days, I suppose!
I love listening to them at night, right before sleep...but they would also be perfect on car trips, too.
(And though I purchased them as cassettes, you can go their website and order CD's, as well.)

And yes, they also make DVDs- with actual pictures- but as much as my kids love movies, I'm going to stick with the audio version in this series. I saw a clip of the video version, and it looks just fine...but it just it wouldn't be the same.
In this ultra-electronic day and age, it's kind of nice to actually have to use your imaginations to picture those crazy characters...to "see" the scenes that are happening with the sound effects...to lie in the dark with your kids giggling over the same story... or even laughing all by yourself at some parent-aimed humor.

Good stuff!

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There. I feel better. But if I go to my mailbox tomorrow and come back with a coupon for Depends ActiveWear, it will really cease to be amusing.

*Edited to say: Thank you so much, ladies, for your encouraging perspective on "the change". I knew so many of my friends here had already been through this...it's good to know it's not the end of the world. ;)
Also, I hope I'm not implying that it signifies that we are truly old when it happens...it's just that, being a little sensitive as I am about this last birthday, I'm wishing the person in charge of those files at the office wasn't so...well...prompt! :)