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June 20, 2011 Posted by : Kari Byron

Kari Byron, Mythbuster Mom: Preschool Hustle

Category : Education, Kari Byron, Kids' Room, Library, Toddlers

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Kari Byron, Mythbuster MomI am writing another $50 check, to another preschool … just for the chance to have my application reviewed.

The more I think about this game, the more it feels like a grift. I show up to a potential preschool along with a dozen other mommies and daddies to compete for a spot that may actually not exist. We’re all trying to look like the most interested, the most invested, and the best candidate — all while our 2-year-olds are running around putting things in their mouths with their finger up their nose.

Is this just an urban problem or modern problem? Is this really the lynchpin for my child’s entire future? If I choose the wrong preschool, am I dooming her to a life of, “Do you want fries with that?”

The stress is overwhelming. It was easier for me to get into college. It was easier for me to get an apartment in San Francisco at the peak of the dot com boom!

I never took rejection as personally, as I do now when it comes to my kid. I got a letter in the mail denying me from a preschool co-op that I applied to when my daughter was a few months old. My husband had to put ME on a “time out.”

The preschool hustle is making me a crazy person.

If I make it to the end of this process without choking out the obligatory suck-up mommy taking pictures of the potty area and asking philosophical questions about their educational structure…My baby may just learn how to make ants on a log and finger paint macaroni art.

Next stop, Harvard.

Kari Byron began her career as a sculptor and painter before finding her dream jobs as host on the Discovery Channel hit shows MythBusters and Head Rush, where she gets to explore and experiment to her heart’s content. Kari lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter. Follow her on Twitter: @KariByron.

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March 07, 2011 Posted by : Kari Byron

Kari Byron, Mythbuster Mom: Dipping a Toe in the Twitter Stream

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Kari Byron's daughter

Image Courtesy Kari Byron

As I watched my 19-month-old daughter masterfully navigate my iPhone, I couldn’t help but wonder how far technology will innovate in her lifetime. I am seriously in awe: She unlocked the phone, found Yo Gabba Gabba on my iTunes, and played the video. She figured it out faster than I first did. That is the moment I realized, “I need to keep up or become obsolete.”

So the next stop for me: Twitter.

It may seem silly, but I have had an internal philosophical debate about synthetic intimacy since Friendster. My hesitation may stem from the fact that I am a prodigal daughter of the Silicon Valley. As the Internet was becoming a juggernaut, I skipped town and lived out of a backpack. My friends were drenched in technology by the time I got back. My refrain was, “Why would I want to be in a chat room? I can just go to an actual place where people are! Friends? You don’t even know them!” Since then I’ve always felt one step behind.

It’s time to catch up. As my nerd posse would say, “Resistance is futile.”

I agonized over opening a Twitter account. I have a healthy fear of the Internet; everything you say is written in pen. There are no “take backs.” Besides, what if no one follows me? What if I don’t have anything to say? What if I say the wrong thing? I suddenly felt like it was the first day of school and I was wearing the off-brand jeans my mom bought on sale at Mervyn’s.

But… Here we go! I just signed up. I am on the train. I tweeted my first tweet. Somehow it feels like the world just got smaller. I am in the club, part of the Matrix, connected. I may not have profound wisdom or charming jokes to share just yet, but…

I am a citizen of the modern world.

Yes, I know everyone is already on Twitter … but at least I got online before my daughter did. Maybe the next step will be figuring out how to fix my computer without asking the twenty-somethings in the office to help me.

Kari can be found on Twitter @KariByron.

Kari Byron began her career as a sculptor and painter before finding her dream jobs as host on the Discovery Channel hit shows MythBusters and Head Rush, where she gets to explore and experiment to her heart’s content. Kari lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter. Follow her on Twitter: @KariByron.

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February 07, 2011 Posted by : Kari Byron

Kari Byron, Mythbuster Mom: A Valentine’s Day Threesome

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Kari Byron, her husband Paul and daughter Stella.

Apparently I need to find some less attractive babysitters.  Valentine’s Day is coming up and I have called everyone I know.

In Valentines past, I have gone to extraordinary lengths to show my love and be romantic with my husband. Back when we were starving artists I even got a job delivering roses … just so I could keep all the extras. I covered my one bedroom studio apartment in petals and cooked a candlelight dinner. Dinner may sound cliché but this vegetarian went so far as to cook him a steak! I guess nothing says romance to a southern boy like red meat. (P.S.  I wore rubber gloves and yes, I gagged while cooking it!)

This Valentine’s Day is going to be different. We are three now. Quite honestly I am looking forward to doing something special for my new little Valentine. In fact, I think my husband and I are more in love with each other now that she is in the picture.  It seems fitting to include her in the celebration.

When I was a kid, this was a special holiday for me.  My mom and dad always had a little special surprise waiting for me.  I could look forward to heart shaped pancakes and a themed lunch in my Annie lunchbox.  A little box of chocolates all my own, or some kind of fun present, would be waiting for me after school.  I remember carefully sorting out my Garfield classroom cards to make sure the cutest boy got the best one and the boy who glued my ponytail to the desk (you know who you are Josh H.) got the plain boring one.

I know this holiday can seem like a corporate scam to get you to spend money.  With our busy hectic lives, I just see it as a reminder to tell my family how much they mean to me.  I don’t need my husband to buy me fancy presents.  We don’t need an expensive night out.

I think the best gift is time devoted to us being together, all of us.

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Kari Byron began her career as a sculptor and painter before finding her dream jobs as host on the Discovery Channel hit shows MythBusters and Head Rush, where she gets to explore and experiment to her heart’s content. Kari lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter. Follow her on Twitter: @KariByron.

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January 04, 2011 Posted by : Kari Byron

Kari Byron, Mythbuster Mom: New Year’s Resolution and My Drive to the Grocery Store

Category : Geek Moms, Kari Byron

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Mythbuster Mom Kari Byron. Image: Discovery Channel

The luxury car weaving wildly through traffic, without using a turn signal, just cut me off. While I slam on the brakes, he is looking in his rearview mirror, without apology, to either see if I am mad or just check me out. I am grinding my teeth, trying desperately to hold in the tsunami of expletives and gripping the steering wheel so that my twitching trigger finger does not rise.

“Take a deep breath. His punishment is that he has to be him for the rest of his life,” I say to myself.

I glance in my mirror to see my smiling daughter talking to her bear. The world is mine again.

I think back to my first driving lesson. Not the one when I was 16 and I almost hit that fruit stand. Instead, I’m remembering a time when I was about 5, in the back seat of my dad’s car. A similar situation faced us, but the subsequent reaction was a sort of suburban vengeance. We screeched around the offender’s car and cut him off at a dangerous distance all while my dad flipped the bird. The look of satisfaction on his face was my lesson. Until I had Stella, I might have been tempted to react in a similar fashion. I mean seriously, how satisfying is it to “teach someone a lesson?”

…But does it really? Is the world a better place now? Doubtful.

So here is my New Year’s resolution: I am going to drive like the person I want to be.

Maybe you are how you drive. The luxury car jerk is either an entitled sadist or oblivious to how he disrupts the world, only to get to the light at the same time as the rest of us. That lady in the SUV who breezed through that stop sign and pretends not to see that old man crossing the street with his dog: perhaps a narcissist. She doesn’t have time to wait for a neighbor, but cares enough about what he thinks to stare straight ahead as if she didn’t see him. She did. Then finally, a young girl in a beat-up two-door, slows down and waves me into her lane. Polite and considerate, her little gesture did make my world a better place.

How amazing would the roads and the world be if everyone let you into their lane when you needed to get over? What if a turn signal wasn’t considered an act of aggression? What if we all waited at crosswalks and waved in thanks when someone let us in front of them?

Since I can only control my little world, that is my resolution. I am going to teach my daughter to drive.

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Kari Byron began her career as a sculptor and painter before finding her dream jobs as host on the Discovery Channel hit shows MythBusters and Head Rush, where she gets to explore and experiment to her heart’s content. Kari lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter. Follow her on Twitter: @KariByron.

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December 02, 2010 Posted by : Kari Byron

Kari Byron, Mythbuster Mom: Affirmations for a Working Mom

Category : Geek Moms, Kari Byron, Mom at Work, Office

Kari and daughter Stella Ruby

“You can have it all.”

I can’t express how much I hate that cliché phrase. If I read another article about a celebrity mom who balances an amazing career with the perfect family, all while giving cooking/housekeeping tips, I am going to dig my eyes out with a rusty spoon. (Wait, I guess I can express it.) Maybe you can “have it all” if you don’t include such concepts as sleep, a clean house, and a healthy relationship with coffee.

Maybe my cynicism is due to my 16 month old having all her teeth come in at once and having learned to yell “mommy” when she needs me…repeatedly…all night long. Today I am a zombie; and I am pretty sure that is apple sauce in my hair.

Being a working mom is hard. Anyone that tells you different is lying. Not that I would have it any other way. I never really entertained the idea that I would give up my career. I am on Mythbusters, for Pete’s sake! I would love to stay at home with my Stella Ruby. After all, she is the most beautiful baby ever born. I love her so much I could bring myself to tears just thinking about her. Though hard, this is the most amazing adventure.

I do have dark moments of working-mom guilt, but I actively try to crush them with my list. I am a list person. Here is my list of working mom affirmations:

  1. My daughter has a positive role model of a career woman. She can be anyone she wants to be.
  2. I never take a moment with her for granted. She has my full attention and I savour my time with her like dark chocolate.
  3. She has a college fund and she is only 1.
  4. I am the first one she sees in the morning and the one who kisses her goodnight.
  5. My mom worked and I turned out fine, right?

And if those don’t work, I just say “Thank you, age of technology!” What did mommies do before iphones, Skype, web cameras, texting and cell phones? My daughter and I connect digitally all day. Even my co-workers love watching videos of her that I shove in front of them — or they love me enough to pretend.

So far, she seems like a well-adjusted, outgoing, happy child. I guess I haven’t screwed her up yet.

 

Kari Byron began her career as a sculptor and painter before finding her dream jobs as host on the Discovery Channel hit shows MythBusters and Head Rush, where she gets to explore and experiment to her heart’s content. Kari lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter. Follow her on Twitter: @KariByron.

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November 02, 2010 Posted by : Kari Byron

Kari Byron, Mythbuster Mom: How Do You Get Kids Interested in Science?

Category : Education, Elementary, Experiments and Science, Geek Moms, Kari Byron, Kids' Room, Library, Teens, Tweens

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Image CC by automationtx via Flickr

GeekMom is thrilled to bring our readers another column by Kari Byron, the female face on the hit Discovery Channel show MythBusters and host of the Science Channel’s new Head Rush. Kari sends us regular updates on life as a MythBuster Mom.

Science is hot right now. Everywhere I travel parents are in a panic to get their kids interested in science. I guess one day, America woke up and realized our pipeline of home-grown engineers, scientists, and inventors was drying up.

Let’s face it: subjects like science and math have an unfortunate reputation for being boring and dry and, dare I say, even “nerdy.” Honestly, that is how I felt when I was 12. Science was so often taught as a list of facts to memorize: “List the components of a cell,” “What does H2O stand for?” “Who is the father of the theory of relativity?” Snore. I didn’t understand why science couldn’t be more like art class. So I can understand where kids are coming from today.

Another huge roadblock for students is the lack of role models in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (what the President calls the STEM initiative) in our media-driven world of glamour, fame, and money. Close your eyes and picture a scientist. Do you see an awkward nerdy man with bad posture, glasses and a lab coat? Who wants to be him when you are inundated with exciting visions of gorgeous movie stars and rich athletes?

Solutions aren’t easy. Parents ask me, “How do I get my kid into science?”

The good news is that if you are asking that question it probably means you are half way there. Being involved is an amazing start. A parent is the most important role model, regardless of what your eye-rolling tween says.

I like to teach science to kids like I teach art. Get their hands dirty. Engage their natural curiosity. Drop Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke and let it explode all over the backyard. Snap! That’s chemistry. Show them science isn’t just answers on an exam, but the world all around you. Take a nature walk with a camera. Bring home pictures of animals and find out what they eat, when they sleep. Snap! That’s biology. I also like to call it hiding the broccoli in the cheese sauce. Making science more hands-on creates a base of scientific literacy as well as quality time bonding. Your kids will be learning in spite of themselves. That look of wonder and discovery you see in their faces will become addictive -– for both of you.

That’s how MythBusters became a juggernaut of science engagement for kids. We weren’t trying to teach science, we were just having fun while using science as a tool. They see us having fun and join us on the journey.

There you have it, sage advice from a totally unqualified former art major who now loves science and uses it every day.

Kari Byron began her career as a sculptor and painter before finding her dream jobs as host on the Discovery Channel hit shows MythBusters and Head Rush, where she gets to explore and experiment to her heart’s content. Kari lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter. Follow her on Twitter: @KariByron.

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October 04, 2010 Posted by : Kari Byron

Kari Byron – From MythBuster to Mom

Category : Babies, Education, Kari Byron, Kids' Room, Library, Mom at Work, Office, Technology

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Mythbuster and GeekMom Kari Byron's job often involves shooting things and blowing stuff up. Image: Discovery Channel

GeekMom is thrilled to welcome Kari Byron, the female face on the hit Discovery Channel show MythBusters and host of the Science Channel’s new Head Rush, to our site. Kari will be sending us regular updates on life as a MythBuster Mom.

“Holy crap. I am a mom!”

That is seriously what I was thinking as the dust settled around me from shooting a .50 caliber rifle. On my first experiment back from maternity leave, I found myself perched on a hill in a rock quarry aiming a huge firearm at a remote-controlled SUV covered in phone books. But how come I still felt like me? I figured once you become a mom, you settled down and let the waistline of your jeans slowly creep north.

I guess a lot of people thought the same. The first reaction I usually got to the news of my impending little one was, “Your life is about to change. You won’t be jumping out of any more planes.” Or, “Are you still going to work at MythBusters?”

In one respect they were right. My life was about to change. Pregnancy is a hard state of being on its own; but add the aroma of rotting meat, the sounds of gunfire and the haze of a working metal shop and you have a rough sea ahead.

In the beginning, a little nausea and napping under my desk was all I expected. When I really took a look at what I do on a daily basis, however, I realized being a pregnant MythBuster was going to be hard. Welding smoke, paint fumes, mold-making gases are all toxic. Turns out, there is no such thing as fetal earphones for shooting a gun or blasting a bomb. Skydiving, hang gliding, bungee jumping were all out.

None of this seemed like a sacrifice compared to the health of my mini, of course, but 10 months of data collecting was the worst! (That’s right; I said 10 months. Let’s bust that nine-month myth right now.)

Then Stella Ruby arrived. All the exciting experiences that I watched from a safe distance were completely dwarfed by the adventure I was just about to begin. Everything did change, but not the way I expected.

“You will take less risks as a mom,” everyone told me. What?! I am still me. I don’t hold back from doing daring things. Of course I still jump out of planes! What really changed was that my everyday life has become a profoundly blissful experience. I get just as excited about peek-a-boo as I do about counting down an explosion.

Even though I will have to eat live bugs this season and possibly handle poop, I am not fazed. I still do exciting, daredevil, and wild things — but now I do them so that my little girl will know that a mommy can distinguish between a C4 and an ANFO explosion.

If I want my daughter to be an adventurous independent woman who doesn’t shy away from new experiences, I will have to be that woman too.

Kari Byron is a born tinkerer and explorer. By the age of 5, she was experimenting on her sister and using dolls as crash test dummies. Luckily for her parents, they always caught her right before her little sister took a ride down a laundry chute or was the subject of an “around-the-world” attempt on the playground swings. Kari began her career as a sculptor and painter before finding her dream jobs on MythBusters and Head Rush, where she gets to explore and experiment to her heart’s content. Kari lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and one-year-old daughter.

And remember: the all-new season of MythBusters starts this Wednesday, October 6th at 9pm et/pt on the Discovery Channel.

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Kari Byron began her career as a sculptor and painter before finding her dream jobs as host on the Discovery Channel hit shows MythBusters and Head Rush, where she gets to explore and experiment to her heart’s content. Kari lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter. Follow her on Twitter: @KariByron.

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