It was Tuesday. The clock on the car dash read 5:15. Kid#1 had a piano lesson, Kid #2 had soccer practice, and Kid #3 needed to be picked up from soccer practice (on a different field, of course.) No problem, right? You’ve been there, too. I could have easily managed it, if my husband were here and not on a business trip, if the car didn’t desperately need gas, and if they’d actually remembered to bring the piano music, the water bottle, and the #4 soccer ball. Ugh, I thought, with a frustrated pound on the steering wheel. I hate September. Let’s just get it all out. (Feel free to repeat …
So, it's back-to-school time after an Irene-imposed delay . Hooray! I must admit we're all ready for it around here. This is a tribute to parents everywhere who are gearing up for the craziness of early mornings. I have a friend who wants to create a silent movie across cultures documenting those last three minutes before leaving for school in the morning. She predicts that no matter the language or country, it will look pretty much the same -- frantic grown-ups rushing half-dressed kids out the door. This poem was written when we were living in England, so it has some British twists, but the…
I never went to sleep-away camp. No way, no how. Summers for me were spent running from backyard to backyard in my suburban Midwest neighborhood. We’d make up games, swim in Stacey’s pool, eat lunch on the patio. We’d lay out towels in the grass, search for shapes in the clouds, have red Kool-Aid and Nacho Cheese Doritos for a snack. After dinner, we’d play kick-the-can in the street, hunt for lightening bugs, and plan to meet again the next day to do it all over again. Perfect. When I was first dating my husband and found out that his perfect summer meant leaving his family and …
Our neighbor, Griffin, is learning to swim to this summer. His big eyes as he blows bubbles, his dramatic kicks, and his bravado are so fun to watch. They remind me of our youngest daughter learning to swim two years ago. After strict adherence to the polliwog-to-shark swim lesson protocol for our older two, we only half-heartedly signed up kid number three for a class when she was four. Our attendance was spotty: we’d go when it conveniently fit into our schedule. With this lackadaisical approach and Maya’s apparent lack of interest in the water, I had begun to imagine her at age 13, color …
"There’s more than one way to skin a cat." We’ve all heard this expression before. It conjures up quite a grotesque visual and I apologize for even taking your mind there in the literal sense. However, we all know and have experienced the truth of its figurative meaning in our lives when we see it. Managers know this deeply when trying to accomplish a goal with a group of employees. The idea of brainstorming is now common and essential to most business decisions. Many companies that thrive and outlast the bumpy road of the world economy today can only do so when they hire outside …
How many times a day, a week, a month do we say out loud or think in our heads, “I’m a bad mother?” We berate ourselves when we’ve had to miss the first T-ball game of our child’s life because of work. When we’re told by our 11-year-old at dinner, “Mom, you forgot to pack me a lunch today,” we give ourselves a sarcastic shove in the gut as a voice says, “Way to go, Mother of the Year!” Okay, okay, now don’t all gasp! I know what you’re thinking; you’re thinking that IS horrible! I bet you’re saying to yourself, “What kind of mother would forget to feed their child?” Well, I did! I …
The pen pal is still alive people! Yesiree! It is! I have witnessed it first hand and it is just as darn tootin’ magical as ever! No, this is not Little House on the Prairie, I can assure you. We still have our Wii going two hours a day, the DS on supercharge and the iPods getting fresh downloads of Gaga and Eminem as I type. But it is true that my kids are now officially pen pals with their cousins. Yeah, yeah, emails and texting you’re probably thinking; that’s not a real pen pal. But I’m telling you this is the old fashioned, get out a piece of paper and write a letter with a real …
Little spot, I heard you were here. I saw you there on the white screen. You are in me, but not me. I don’t know you, like I know the backs of my hands or every line on my face. They say you are a part of me now and that you have made yourself known. The kids are crying, worried, losing sleep. Your hearty handshake of "hello" has not loosened its grip on my stomach. And my breath! My breath is heavy. Is that because you've already made yourself known to the rest of me? Trying to show all parts, who's the boss? I don't know you but you are a part of me now. Like an uninvited guest barging…
Its spring sports season now that April is here. It’s that time when boys and girls come off the bus, whine through their homework and rush out the door for baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, you name it, this town’s got it. Yippee. It’s also time for all the parents to begin the 4:50 pm drive around town in complete circles. One kid gets deposited at Sowams while another has to be at Sherwood a half hour later. They both need to be picked up at 7 pm. The little one goes off to the high school for t-ball (wow! Now that’s actually convenient, smack in between the other two fields!) But …
“Put on ‘Lola’ again!” shouted my five-year-old Godchild to his mother the other day from the backseat of the car. She acquiesced by pushing the back button on her iPod so that the Kinks' ‘Lola’ could blare out. He sat there singing his little heart out, “where we drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry co-LA...” Drinking champagne? And should I mention that the song is about an encounter a man has with a transvestite! Two topics that are typically not on a five-year-old’s radar. But as a parent of three, this is sometimes how life goes. The oldest child is cared for, …
Dear Facebook, I give up. I’m now officially a member of your alliance. You’ve done it again - made another loyal “friend” out of me. I’m a full-fledged user, abuser, I’m hooked, I’m crooked, whatever you want to call it, I’m IT! I tried to resist using you for many months. “I’m never on” I used to say full of goody- two shoes perfection. “I don’t need that; I can phone my real friends if I really need to talk to one.” ”Who needs to put it all out there?” I would snicker. “Don’t these people have lives? Don’t they have anything better to do on their vacation then punch every photo and…
I’ve recently had the opportunity to view the documentary, Race to Nowhere, which chronicles teenagers who are on a fast-paced quest for success. They are the students achieving it all. They are playing varsity sports, leading the student council, playing an instrument and taking a full load of AP courses so that they can get into the college of their choice. This is a very noble endeavor and one that would make many parents proud to know their child is well on his/her way to success. However, this film exposes (SPOILER ALERT!) the fact that to do all this and to be all this and to …
Could it really be spring? On March 18? I don’t know about you but the past two days have been the most beautiful days. The cornflower blue sky of yesterday made way for today’s warmer breezes. I almost don’t want to jinx it by believing it’s actually here. I left the local college I work at promptly at 5 to get a jump on my Friday night and spied college kids throwing Frisbees, playing hacky sac and just lounging around the green spaces. Kids in flip flops unloading SUVs with the night’s “supplies” of food and beverages. Is it really here? As I pulled into my neighborhood, windows …
I’m heading up to Vermont for some skiing with my family and friends from college. It will be a great time. We’ll relax après with a beer or two, recounting the day’s bumps and jumps like the old days when we went to school up in Burlington. But it will be different. Different because we are grownups now and the knees don’t respond so well to the bumps like they used to. Different because we have our own children to “gear up" and feed and ready for the slopes; and different because we’re gathering to celebrate the life of one of our own. Her name is Hailey Mae. Hailey was a beautiful baby…
I was standing at the kitchen sink doing the morning routine. Still in my robe, making a ham sandwich and cutting off the crusts. The kids were coming and going. I’m shouting orders, “Brush your teeth, brush your hair, the bus is coming!” Half of me was moving mechanically. Half was listening as this one or that one got my attention to sign a permission slip or find the $2.50 for hot lunch. My morning coffee hadn’t kicked in yet. I was snapping the lid on the sandwich container when, BAM! Searing pain pulses through my eye socket. My hand goes to my right eye as I turn around to see …
“I was singing, ‘I Gotta Feeling’ at the top of my lungs in spin class!” my sister’s telling me on the phone yesterday as I’m walking into work. “Singing?” I ask, still not believing her. “Yes! Singing! I swear! The instructor hands me her microphone and, in the middle of spin class, tells me to sing, so I start. And I not only just sing the song, I start to sing, ‘that today’s gonna be a good spin! That today’s gonna be a good, good spin, I can feel it...’” And there and then I just about die laughing imagining my sister, who’s four days away from her 50th birthday, sweating, purple-faced…
This afternoon my husband asked if our neighbors had a fax machine. “What’s a fax machine?” my five-year-old asked. “A machine that gives you facts,” my nine-year-old shot back. Once again I was reminded of my age and how quickly things change. I was also reminded of the way our children’s little wheels spin to boil things down to the simplest terms and I smiled with envy. So what questions are on our kids minds? As part of the 100th day celebration in our schools, I recently had a chance to find out. My nine-year-old came home with a set of stapled pages entitled My 100 Book. It was…
“Go with the flow,” “hang loose,” or as my niece says, “Chillax!” What is all this going with the flow about when I’ve got so much to do? How can I “chillax” when sometimes I feel like showering on any given day is cause for celebration? Last week I realized after sitting at the hockey rink for two hours that I still had my pajamas on! And it was a 1 pm game. How did this happen? I was talking about this with my friend the other day on the phone. I’m spouting on and on about how I’m going to be a better mom, I’m going to take care of myself, I’m going to make lists and get back on the …
SNOW DAY! I know, I know, Yikes! The kids are home all day loooooooonnnnnnngggggg! Here are a few tips on how to make the most of your snow day.... Embrace it. Put your big girl snow pants on and get out there with them. Breathe in the fresh AIR! Put your iPod on while shoveling. There are so many AMAZING podcasts out there to listen to in any area of interest. My favorites are "Miracle Thoughts by Marianne Williamson" (itunes), and most of the podcasts put out by The Shift Network. If you go to (http://enlightenedbusinesssummit.com) there are some great lectures by cutting edge, enlightened …
