Category: Parenting website

Music for parents: Sara Groves and Andrew Peterson. For kids: TobyMac, Phil Joel and Steve Green

Post author By Andy Rowell
Post date April 1, 2011

We have enjoyed the music of Sara Groves and Andrew Peterson for sane words in the midst of parenting. They have kept us going.

Lots of good songs about the pain and beauty of marriage on Fireflies and Songs (2009) by Sara Groves and one about parenting “Setting Up the Pins” that is about the repetition involved. It was written while doing dishes. Our kids put it on repeat on the CD player–no kidding. Fireflies and Songs was named best album of the year by Christianity Today in 2009. Groves has a blog and is on Twitter.

Groves also has the “Song for my Sons” song on Tell Me What You Know (2007) and another favorite “When the Saints” that keeps us going.

I want to get this one too sometime. Her Station Wagon: Songs for New Parents (2009).

On Andrew Peterson’s album, Counting Stars (2010), there are a couple good songs about marriage: “Dancing in the Minefields” and “World Traveler” and one about parenting “Planting Trees.” Counting Stars was the #5 album at Christianity Today music awards for 2010. He is on Twitter.

We have also enjoyed: TobyMac’s “Get Back Up” on his Tonight (2010). There is a lot of falling down in our house.

We have also enjoyed “Strong and Courageous” on DeliberateKids.2 (2010) by Phil Joel.

Seeds of Faith has great original Scriptural songs for kids. We like the whole album. There are other Seeds albums that look good as well.

We also recommend the:

Steve Green Hide ’em In Your Heart (1 and 2) albums from 1988 and 1990.

Our kids are 5, 3, and 10 mos. at the moment.

For more kids’ music we have enjoyed, see my Music category.

Parenting website Sports Equipment

Tee Ball and Coach’s Pitch Baseball Bat Shopping

Post author By Andy Rowell
Post date February 25, 2011
2 Comments on Tee Ball and Coach’s Pitch Baseball Bat Shopping

I researched Tee Ball and Coach’s Pitch baseball bats a bit today.

You can get a Tee Ball bat for under $30 but the “Coach’s pitch bats” or “Youth” bats sell for $80-$250.

There is probably not much difference in the performance of the Tee Ball bats so it is probably fine to just grab one from Target, Sports Authority, Dick’s or Wal-mart.

But as a comparison, you might consider the basic option for a 4-5 year old from Louisville Slugger: the Omaha Tee Ball bat.

It comes nice and small:

24″ / 13 oz.
25″ / 14 oz.
26″ / 15 oz.

This is a called a -9 bat because it has 9 less ounces than inches. In general, you want to use as light a bat as you can find.

But apparently Tee Ball bats are not really designed for hitting a pitched ball.

A point of comparison then for the next size up is the Louisville Sluggers Omaha Coach’s Pitch bat for a 5-6 year old.

They are slightly bigger than the Tee Ball bats:

26″ / 16 oz.
27″ / 17 oz.
28″ / 18 oz.

This is a called a -10 bat because it has 10 less ounces than inches.

Neither of these Louisville Slugger Omaha bats are composite bats but are rather aluminum ones. A lot of composite bats have been outlawed this year by leagues because they hit farther and faster than aluminum ones (and have the accompanying dangers).

I would like to get two bats for our three and five year olds to start using: the smallest Tee Ball bat (24″ / 13 oz.) and the smallest Coach’s Pitch bat (26″ / 16 oz.).

P.S. Leagues have unique rules about which bats are allowed so it is smart to wait until you know those rules before purchasing. For example, counterintuitively, our “Coach’s Pitch” league for 4-5 year olds only allows Tee Ball bats labeled as such and does not allow “Coach’s pitch” bats.

MacGregor Batting Tee is sturdy for kids and college players

and my

Sesame Street podcast: The Word on the Street

Post author By Andy Rowell
Post date February 17, 2011

We have enjoyed the 5 minute Sesame Street podcasts. In each episode, they teach a vocabulary word–“The Word on the Street.” You can download them free and easily with iTunes. It is a nice thing to have on your laptop if you need to give the kids something to watch in a pinch. We have sometimes watched them on my laptop at breakfast. There are maybe 100 back episodes you can download for free.