Sunday, July 15, 2012
Connecting with our neighbors through a sticky grin
March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, April showers bring May flowers, and sticky grins signal the start of summer on our street. As soon as the mercury rises, our favorite family dessert would be listed on a menu as “Ice-cream out front on a cone.” It comes in many flavors—chocolate chip cookie dough, cookies and cream, mint chocolate chip, brownie moose tracks, Samoa, vanilla with sprinkles, straight-up chocolate, and even, now that mom eats vegan sometimes, coconut turtle trails ice-cream. The most important part is that it is eaten out on the front wall and up and down the sidewalk on our street. I love it because it is a great way to connect with our neighbors, young and old. We can catch up on what has been happening over …
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The key to opening a toddler's mind is through their stomach!
Last weekend, some friends invited us over for a barbecu. They have three kids and the father is from New Zealand. He’s an amazing cook and didn’t disappoint when he made lamb chops. Upon arriving, the first thing they told us was that at their home, the children eat the same meals as the adults and this evening would be no different. Great for us as the same rule applies in our home. I’m a busy, working mom and I don’t have time to make different meals for each family member. Furthermore, I accustomed my daughter to an array of foods from the moment she could eat solids. Especially in a cosmopolitan city like Washington, D.C., I think it is imperative that children be introduced to all sorts of ethnic foods. I come from a “foodie” and …
Sunday, June 17, 2012
When quitting is a good life lesson
Like mother like daughter. I know the adage and I see it acted out most days with my teen. She does not look like me at all and we certainly have our differences but we both "over commit". I always hear that women who over commit do not know how to say "no" or how to decline requests for help. That has never been my problem. I am not easily intimidated or even very sensitive. But I am very curious. Whenever someone approaches me with a new project or activity, I am always prone to say "yes" just to learn more about something new. I am a generalist and can get excited about fine art, international development or feral cats at the drop of a hat. Maybe it is "adult onset ADHD", I do not know. But I have always been like that and regularly …
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Teaching kids the meaning of commitment
This spring, I confess I have dreamed of rain on Saturday mornings. Why would I want it to rain, you ask? Because a Saturday morning in our house goes one of two ways. If it's a rainy day, Claire's already up and out of bed playing with her siblings proclaiming victory that soccer is cancelled. "Woo hoo!", she shouts, as mother nature agrees with a loud clap of thunder. However, if it's bright and sunny, Claire almost always sleeps in. I slip into her room and climb up into her loft bed. I cautiously, but firmly nudge the sleeping dragon. Hoping to ease into the morning, in my sweetest possible voice I say, "Claire, it's Saturday, time to wake up. You have a soccer game." Her head burrows deeper into her pillow. "Humph." My voice is a …
Sunday, June 3, 2012
When is it ok to quit an activity?
I love Olympic Summers! I'm not an athlete but there's nothing like watching the Opening Ceremonies, rooting for your country and just cheering on these amazing and dedicated young men and women. My first recollection on the Olympics was the summer of 1984. I was almost ten and had been taking Gymnastics for about two years. I really was God awful at it, but I went once a week and even took more classes during breaks and summer. But boy, do I remember the '84 Olympics! I watched, with awe, as did the rest of the world, how spunky Mary Lou Retton broke records and won our hearts as she vaulted and tumbled on TV. I decided at that very moment that I was going to be an Olympian. I wanted to be a gymnast and go to the next Olympics. I told my …
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Figuring out when to take an activity to the next level
Claire was four when she first asked for ballet lessons. She, like many other little 4-year-old girls, loved to dress up and pirouette around the house. She would watch Angelina Ballerina and try to stand on the very tips of her toes, as if she was on pointe. After she asked, I researched some options and settled on a program at a D.C. Rec Center. I wanted something laid back that wasn't too expensive in case she didn't really like it and it seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I took her once a week, with her other siblings in tow. At times, it required a lot of prodding to get her to go. The class was more of a movement class with a little bit of ballet thrown in. She had fun while she was in class but otherwise complained. After finishing …
Monday, April 16, 2012
Books, Movies, Media and Kids
“Have you done your reading log yet?” I asked Zack after school one day. “No, not yet. I don’t have anything to read.” He had just finished the Harry Potter series and was at a loss for what to start next. “We have a million books in this house,” I said. “Find something to read.” He lazily walked over to the bookshelves and perused for a while. Then, he went down to the basement. About 15 minutes later, he emerged with "The Odyssey," the Robert Fitzgerald translation—not a kid’s version. Flopping down on the couch he said, “I think I’ll start this.” Thinking of Circe and of Sirens, I almost said no, but held my tongue. I remembered slogging through "The Odyssey" in college and figured that he would read the first few pages and get bored. …
Saturday, March 10, 2012
When to draw the line sharing private funnies on Facebook.
One afternoon a few weeks ago, I was sitting downstairs on the computer trying desperately to sift through the hundreds of mostly junk emails in my inbox, when I heard Henry shout from the bathroom upstairs, "Mom! Mom!". It was Ella's naptime so immediately I whisper-yelled, "Shhhh, Henry. Not so loud. What's wrong?" "Mom, I need you to come up." I figured it was just a post-poop clean up, so I contemplated a few more emails, giving him a little time to finish up. Then thinking it best not to leave a pooping four year old alone for too long, I ran upstairs. Much to my dismay, he hadn't even hopped on the toilet. He looked up at me with a frightened look on his face and asked quietly, but very seriously, "There aren't any Muppets in the …
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Will my daughter hate me for posting pictures of her on Facebook?
Two weeks ago, I was Skyping with my cousin in Italy. Her daughter was born Feb. 1 and I still hadn’t seen a picture of her. How dare they NOT post pics of their first born on Facebook!? I couldn’t believe it! When my daughter was born, our friends and family around the globe knew her name and weight before my own parents did….and they were just a few feet away from us in the hospital waiting room! I couldn’t believe that, in this day and age, my cousin hadn’t even updated her status or tweeted about her mini-me who was born during an atypical snowstorm in Rome. I expected to see dozens of pictures of my new niece wearing a little pink bonnet as epic snowflakes framed her from the hospital window. This is 2012 isn’t it?! Alas, that didn’t …
Saturday, February 11, 2012
The best summer camp around
It's that time of year, when camp brochures flood our mail slot. Soccer camps, baseball camps, art camps, dance camps, technology camps, cake camps — the list goes on. We haven't gotten too into the D.C. camp scene, yet. Aside from a classic overnight camp that Zack goes to in the mountains of Pennsylvania, the kids haven’t found anything that strikes their fancy. There is one camp, however, that requires no glossy brochure to get the kids’ attention. It requires no coaxing or prodding, no hard sell. They start asking about it as they tearfully leave Grandma’s and Grandfather's after Christmas break. "When are we coming back to Grandfather's or Grandma's this summer?" We affectionately call these camps Camp Grandma and Camp Grandfather. …
Dont tread on me 1776
6:24 pm on Tuesday, June 19, 2012
All you can do is as a parent is love and forgive..Yourself and your kids. more ›