Hello Dear Readers, I have not done much with this blog in a while, and I've decided to put it to rest. However, you can visit me at my new blog http://www.tracymcgill.blogspot.com where I'll be focusing less on the shenanigans of my children- though I will still attempt to wax poetic on various tween topics and solicit any advice you readers may have- and focus more on other interests, like writing, publishing, books, bikes, maybe some Woody Allen movies, and the overuse of the grammatically incorrect phrase "my bad". I don't get it. Aaanyway, please check it out and if... Continue reading

Thanks to all who entered this fantastic giveaway and thanks for all the great comments. I enjoyed reading about all the different movies you watch. Sounds like Mike Meyers is your favorite scary dude. To the winners you'll need to contact me at tweenwhisperer@gmail.com with your shipping address (remember, it must be in the US) by Wed. the 28th. If I don't hear from you, I'll have to pick another winner, and nobody wants that! Don't worry I won't sell, distribute or whisper your address to anyone. The four winners of the Vampire's Assistant Fun Pack are: Anette D. Erin... Continue reading

I'm so excited to announce this sweet giveaway. I wish I could win it! About the movie: In theaters October 23rd Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, based on the popular series of books by Darren Shan, is a fantasy-adventure about a teenager who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares. CIRQUE DU FREAK has been rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned... Continue reading

I am pleased to bring you an interview with Vinny Whiskers' author, Gregory Kemp. Vinny Whiskers, published by WEbook, is a great book for adventure lovers and animal lovers, tweens who love to read and tweens who are more reluctant. You can read my full review here. In the meantime, I give you Gregory Kemp. Is this your first book? GK: The Legend of Vinny Whiskers is my first novel. I contributed nine essays to 101 Things Every Man Should Know How to Do, an anthology which was published by WEbook earlier this year. There is a lot of funny... Continue reading

Sleeper (1973) I've never been much of a fan of the screwball comedy so I was fully prepared for this to be the first Woody Allen movie that I would hate. And there were plenty of zany, madcap, roll your eyes moments, but I surprisingly didn't hate it. And I laughed. A lot. Many parts were reminiscent of the silent era, Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. The premise is that Woody Allen plays Miles Monroe, a health food store owner in Greenwich Village in 1973, who has been cryogenically frozen in aluminum foil and unwrapped 200 years later to find... Continue reading

Okay, I've heard from many of you about the outrageous tween Halloween costumes. One of you found my site by searching "tween girl halloween costumes that don't suck". Not sure if it was a mom looking for a costume that doesn't begin with the word "sexy" or if it was a tween looking for a costume that's not been suggested by her mother. So I've come up with some costumes that may make both of you happy. Of course, every tween is different and they each have their own ideas of what's cool. If you get the eye roll, just... Continue reading

Has American Girl jumped the shark? On that note, has the phrase "jumped the shark" jumped the shark? The controversy over the new "Gwen" doll sure has people talking about the company and there's no such thing as bad press right? If you haven't heard, Gwen, is a homeless girl and is meant to teach girls about the realities of homeless people in the U.S. I'm not convinced that this is A.) sincere and B.) really going to teach girls whose parents can shell out the $95 to buy the doll about the plight of the homeless. Although my oldest... Continue reading

I'm sure I'm not the only to have noticed the transformation of Halloween costumes for women over the past few years. Somehow the powers that be over at the costume design warehouse got in their heads that all us women really want to be for Halloween is a tramp. Yes! They've figured us out. Forget woman's lib and equal rights. Our deepest desire is to be a slutty pirate or a Little Bo Peep who's lost her dignity. Well, obviously these costumes are selling or they wouldn't still be out there. But now they are invading our young girls. In... Continue reading

I'm a big fan of the educational programming on cable. I like to watch the History Channel, Animal Planet, NatGeo, and the like. Whale Wars had MJ and I riveted and I must admit that Pawn Stars sucks me in. My husband and I have been enjoying Locked Up Abroad, although I tend to get heart palpitations while watching that show. I used to be a fan of The Learning Channel, especially when Trading Spaces was big, but lately I've noticed there's not so much learning going on there, but more and more voyeurism. They're fast becoming The Exploitation Channel.... Continue reading

Most of my fellow bloggers, and when I say most I mean all, have what is called Wordless Wednesday, the idea that a picture says a thousand words. There's even a blog that lists all the Wordless Wednesdays that have been submitted. I especially enjoy the dog blog entries. So, yeah, it's a great idea, especially since it gives you a day off from thinking of something to write about. But the competition to capture the perfect Wordless Wednesday is just too much for me. Thus is born Woody Allen Wednesday. For those of you born after say, 1985, you're... Continue reading

Do you dread practicing the weekly spelling list with your child? More importantly, does your child dread it? Well, check out this new spelling software at SpellQuizzer that will have your child begging you to practice their spelling words. You simply create your own spelling list by speaking the words into a microphone (if you don't have one you can pick one up for about $10) then the student takes the test by listening to the words and typing them into the computer. My son thinks this is a riot. Of course kids just enjoy doing anything on the computer,... Continue reading

I never thought it would happen to me, but it did. I fell in love on-line. With a bike. I wasn't planning it. It just happened. And quite innocently. This is my story. I used to be a recreational mountain biker, in my days before children came along and I lived in the mountain bike-friendly region of New Hampshire instead of the mountain-less midwest. My husband and I spent a lot of time at ski areas not just in the winter, but in the summer where we would fly down ski trails on our bikes, which at first I was... Continue reading