GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT
Lots of people and events make me smile. ‘Girls’ Night Out’ makes me smile… and laugh… and relax.
I love sitting down with these girlfriends I’ve known since high school- and some grade school. No introductions, No ‘you know my neighbor from soccer’. All we do is share stories, food and drink.
I also appreciate all we went through to get there- sitters, driving, rearranging schedules. It can be hard to organize. Sometimes it takes weeks. But it’s worth it.
Kids come up, of course. A lot of good information comes up too- instant mom reviews of a certain toy, or stroller, or new show. But the beauty of the ’Girls’ Night’ is the spontaneous light bulb that happens every few minutes. My friend sitting across from me had one of these moments and got the biggest smile on her face. I just looked at her and said, “What?”
“I almost forgot to tell you,” she yelped. She ran into a guy who knows the guy she dated in GRADE SCHOOL. The guy ran into her old ‘boyfriend’ at a high school reunion and we all haven’t seen this guy in 20-plus years. Her GRADE SCHOOL ‘boyfriend’ asked about her…
She smiled at me and said, “Maybe he still likes me.”
We laughed till our sides hurt and I said, “I can’t believe we’re talking about this!”
But that’s what happens when old friends get together, and new friends too. Girls can talk about silly stuff and a lot of times that is wonderful and necessary.
Women are put in charge of socks, and school shoes, and mittens, and colds, and what to bring in for show and tell, and soccer practice, and family, and life.
If you don’t have a ‘Girls’ Night’ planned, do it. If you’re thinking of setting one up- call me!
SUNDAY MORNING
It is so nice every once in a while to have nothing to do.
Sitting around, drinking coffee and tea and reading the paper is precious. The grocery shopping is done. Birthday parties have been attended. Halloween costumes are ready and the house is clean. It is a moment of Zen.
Wouldn’t life be grand if it were always like this? No running around, no rushing!
No hopping in the car, no playdates, no taking on new tasks…
Hmmmm…
Sounds kinda boring…
Good thing it only happens once in a blue moon.
THE NO-STRESS PUMPKIN PATCH
I’m into no-stress endeavors. I’m into Halloween. I’m into pumpkins…
So I’m delighted to tell you- I’m into Homestead Farm.
It’s a real, working farm with apples to pick, animals to look at, hayrides to take and plenty of pumpkins.
The best part is the location. It’s just out at the end of River Road, about 8 miles past Potomac Village.
Go anytime, look at farm animals and pick out a pumpkin. My son was especially psyched when the roosters answered his calls of ‘Cock a Doodle Do’ for about 5 minutes straight- back and forth. It was a great moment (why didn’t I have the camcorder?!).
It’s pretty laid back. Plus, they have a huge assortment of pumpkins and gourds for Halloween porch decorations.
And I want to give a shout out to new ‘Fairy Tale’ pumpkins. I saw them at Homestead Farm yesterday and then later in the day at a roadside stand on River Road down in Bethesda. They look like the pumpkin coach from Cinderella- wide and plump. They are a must-have for the porch, but no carving, please.
So check out Homestead Farm for a close-in, no-stress pumpkin patch outing. For details and hours go to www.Homestead-farm.net.
Happy Pumpkin Picking!
NO BIAS
I cannot believe how much my son loves cars. He knows all the brands and is now starting to memorize kinds of cars, as in a Toyota Camry vs. a Toyota Corolla.
He loves to point out the differences in cars AND trucks AND SUVs from hubcaps to tail lights. He also loves that he knows all the different logos for cars. He’s learning to read (memorize) the names on cars.
We were writing with sidewalk chalk yesterday and he spelled out- TOYOTA. He has a special affinity to Toyotas because both of his grandmothers drive Toyota Camrys. Thus- that IS his favorite car.
It’s become another learning tool and it’s fun. The part that is especially sweet is that he makes no judgment on how cool a car is in relation to its price. I don’t mention prices of cars to him. I figure he has the rest of his life to think about car prices.
Actually, I don’t mention the price of anything… he’s three. It is so fun to look at the world through his eyes- no bias; if a car has a cool trunk or headlights or door handle, he points it out and he thinks it’s cool. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a Honda or a Hyundai, a Volkswagen or a Volvo, a Fiat or a Ferrari.
Wouldn’t it be nice if people could view things, events and other people and enjoy them… without bias? Could the world work that way? Maybe… I’d love to find out.
ROOKIE MISTAKE
Note to self: make sure your child is really excited about something before you travel 2 hours for it.
Last summer I learned that Thomas the Tank Engine was coming to Cumberland, Maryland. Conor loves Thomas and I was excited that a full-size Thomas existed. I read that it makes stops all over the country to historical railroad stations. So, wanting to give my child a wonderful experience, I bought tickets online… and then looked at a map. Cumberland is FAR from Bethesda where we live, as in about 2 hours and 15 minutes… and that’s without stopping. Still I thought, Conor will love this, he deserves this.
We talked about it with Conor who was 2 ½ at the time and he seemed to like the idea.
We set out that Saturday and after driving for a full hour out I- 270 Conor announced to us, “I do not want to ride the train”.
My throat closed up. I couldn’t breathe. My husband gripped the steering wheel. We didn’t look back at Conor, we just looked at each other. John took a deep breath, and mouthed, ‘relax’. I took a moment and looked back at Conor and cheerily said, “We’re just going to take a look at it, I think it will be fun!”
Another hour and 15 minutes later we were in Cumberland. The railroad was great, but we were holding our breath. We walked without saying much up to Thomas and waited in line to board. I brought a small Thomas along with us that Conor played with while we waited in line. As he played with the mini version of what stood beside us, John and I just kept looking at each other and crossing our fingers.
We boarded the train, Conor was a little fidgety, but cool. The train started, “We’re on!” I thought. Thomas the Tank Engine then went about 10 minutes down the track, then stopped and then went in reverse back to the station. Honestly, Conor liked running around the little hay-bale maze afterwards much better.
FAST FORWARD TO LAST MONTH-
I got an email that a movie theater was doing a special debut of a few new Thomas episodes at 10am on a Saturday in Gaithersburg.
So, I looked at a map… THEN I bought the tickets. We went, NO traffic since it was Saturday morning. We bought popcorn, watched Thomas on the big screen and had a great time.
I learned from my rookie mistake and didn’t repeat it… Yey- Victory!
NERDS RULE THE WORLD
Nerds rule the world. Think about it…
Bill Gates is a nerd. Warren Buffet is a nerd. Mark Cuban tries not to be, but he’s a nerd. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were high school nerds. I can’t imagine any of the Supreme Court Justices are not nerds. And Drew Carey is a nerd.
I was watching the ‘Power of 10’ the other night and Drew Carey reminded a contestant that “nerds rule the world”. My husband picked up on the line, just like I did and brought it up to me later.
“Let’s encourage Conor to be a nerd,” he said. “What, by example?” I thought. Then we talked about letting our son decide what he wants to do with activities, stress that learning is fun and making sure he doesn’t top out in high school.
Drew Carey is now hosting ‘Power of 10’ AND soon, ‘The Price Is Right’ and he is hilarious (I’ve always been a big fan)! He also strikes me as an intelligent investor and I know he made gobs of money from his long-running sitcom. And Drew Carey is a nerd… a funny nerd, but still, a nerd.
Nerds can communicate an idea effectively; they are just not the most popular kids in their class. And who really cares about being popular after you turn 18 anyway?
Embrace the nerd!
They run corporate America, the Government and your local toy store.
There are worse ways your kid could turn out.
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