Canary Wharf, London, September 11th 2008. On September 11th 2008 I caught a flight to London very early in the morning. I was planning to be in the city for three days. I got an early flight out and was there for a mere two days, most of it spent with friends in Canary Wharf. I was on my way to Germany. I was due to become a godfather. But in London I met a few friends who work until 8 and apparently party until midnight. Why not, I suppose. I...
Problem: A mom I met at a parenting class (that we were both required by law to attend) has been asking me to babysit her kid. I did it for a couple days before I noticed she was taking increasing advantage of my kindness (read: if you ask me a favor I won't say no right away, therefore you've got a window of time to walk all over me until I come to my senses). She'd say she needed me to babysit him for 6 hours, the next day it became 9 hours, then before the next day was done she'd jac...
Even at 16, I can recall watching The Cosby Show thinking, I want to be a calm, cool, collected dad like Cliff Huxtable. I had a Cliff/Theo moment with my 13-year-old son recently after he had an inordinate number of gaffes within a 24-hour period. I picked my son up from school the other day, and we talked on the way to pick his sister up from her campus. I asked him how he felt about a test he’d taken, and if he was ready for his test on the following day. He quic...
Here it goes...when I was a kid...but really when I was a kid we actually did this thing called going outside and playing. We played kickball, wiffleball, spud, tag, kick the can. All of the other kids on our street played outside too. I also did these other incredible and amazing things - I walked to school. I walked to the store. I rode my bike to the swimming pool. This wasn't when I was 12. I was young. My sister and I would walk...
I try really hard to be a good mom but there are days. Days like today. Mornings like this morning that I want to put in my two weeks notice and move on. That's a joke. Why do kids have to be so difficult? I am a big believer in picking your battles. I try not to make a big deal about the little things so hopefully I can have more impact on the big things that really matter. But...but...this morning it was all about little things. It's abou...
Amanda surprised me tonight. Every night we read together before I put her to bed. No one else, not even her dad can do it (she won't have it), I have to do and it is one of our rituals that I enjoy. Well, tonight, she read one of the stories we have read before, to me. Word for word, for the most part, with a few stumble here and ther, which is quite normal! But she is six and she read on her own and I am so proud of her! I gave her a big hug and...
Now that I have a daughter, I get to enjoy first hand experience with the battle to find age appropriate clothing. It starts VERY young. My current issue is with Halloween costumes. Isabella loves to pretend to be a kitty. She crawls around and warbles and exaggerated "Meeeeoooow". She loves Tom and Jerry. A kitty cat is the perfect thing for her to "be" for Halloween. You would think it would be very simple to find a plain cat costume for a toddler.&n...
We are a week away from the first day of school for my children. Adam begins high school and Amanda goes into first grade!
I've done all the usual stuff, clothes shopping for both of them. My son is almost as tall as I am and he's going to be 14 in....OMG...two weeks! We're planning a park visit for him! He's grown out of almost all of his clothes! All I kept hearing from him was, "Mom I have nothing to wear"; "Mom, my pants are too short"; "Mom, I have no underwear"! Good grief! I can never buy enough socks or underwear because those go missing in action! As for Amanda, she's transitioning from a size 6/7 to a size 7/8. She's grown too!
MAJOR PARENTING WHINE/VENT..... After reading Tex's latest article, Minivan Confessions , I admit to being somewhat relieved. Why? I'm not alone! And because every year at this time my kids seem to get cranky. Not just a here and there crankiness, but an honest to goodness "what will it be today?" foulness. My twelve year old doesn't want to do anything but play on his computer. Part of it is laziness. I love him, but am not blind to his tendency t...
This is an article I wrote and posted on BFDs site last year. Now that I have my own site, I think it should be here. Thinking Things Through August 27, 2007 This is an article written by MamaCharlie: Often lately I hear the statement, "Your child doesn't need you to be his friend, he needs you to be his parent." I assume that I am supposed to agree unquestioningly, thinking, "Of course!" But I don't. ...
There's something to be said about walking into a room and seeing that the 18 month old has thrown all the books on the floor making a big mess with the top most book being the book on discipline. I think she's sending a message.
Our son Jacob was born via unplanned C-section after a long and arduouslabor. While in the hospital, I was asked to keep track of feeding anddiaper activities using paper hospital forms. Instead I found an onlinetool called Baby Insights that helps track baby sleep , breastfeeding , bottle feeding, pumpingand medical information for mom and baby. Jacob's pediatrician recommended formula supplementation as I was concernedabout breastfeeding and my intake of medication fo...
Introducing Alice Jo Margaret P. Little sister to Elana Grace aged 4. Our little Apple was born on March 20 at 3:37am after a very interesting labour at 39 weeks 4 days. She was 3.65kg (8lbs) 51cm and had a head circumference of 33.5cm. After a false labour at 38 weeks 4 days where we discovered an irritable uterus and she was half posterior she turned in the following week. Elana got a vomiting bug on the Monday night and wasn't feeling the best Tuesday but she picked...
As an a 11 year old boy I would never have thought of punching a police officer in the face, because i was brought up to believe better, but sine the secular progressive movement movement has started the common courtesy have gone by the wayside.. Now we have an 11 year old girl attacking a fellow student, tying too push her in front of a bus, when the student was told to stop by a teacher she continued to try so the police were celled,. upon arrival the student not only continues ti try ...
My husband, Ray, and I are expecting our first child in 3 months, and just like any expectant mother, my mind has been full of all the natural concerns. Am I ready? Will I be a good mom? Will I be able to save my kid if she chokes on a penny? Will I know how to respond when things don’t go as I imagine? Yes, those are all the natural concerns that all parents face, but what’s eating at me most goes beyond these age old questions. My mind all...