Praising The Effort! Why Didn’t I Think of That?
I am constantly reminded, thankfully, that motherhood is an evolution. It’s a constant learning process. Just when I think I have it mastered, a.k.a., ‘I know my child’, I am in a situation that surprises me, or he surprises me… Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I sometimes foolishly, on a particularly fantastic day, think that I have it all goin’ on.
And then I don’t. I have read so many parenting books, blogs, internet articles and parenting magazines that I sometimes, again foolishly, think there can’t be a parenting technique or philosophy, I don’t know about.
And then, Kindergarten began…
Click Here to Continue Reading at DC Metro Moms…
I’m Twittering! (I know I’m the last one on earth to start twittering)
Hi! I’m Twittering! And I need some help! DC Metro Moms out there- is there a list of all of us who twitter so I can follow you and ask you to follow me??!!
Please leave a comment if you use twitter- so I can follow you!
Thanks!
I’m BanBlueberry.
Do You Have Hair Issues? I Do.
Are you having Hair Issues? I am.
I don’t have time for bangs anymore!
Click Here to read about it at DC Metro Moms 
What’s In A Name?
I could talk about names all day. I’m fascinated with names and why people choose certain names.
It’s a HUGE responsibility giving someone a name, and I don’t think you realize this until you’re pregnant. Or, at least I didn’t.
Just agreeing on a name can be tough. I know everyone has said,
“Yeah, I knew a real jerk named Bob*, we’re not going with Bob*.”
(* Fill in any possible name in the world)
Family names are cool. And old-fashioned names are making a comeback. But they always are, aren’t they? We have a neighbor named Harriet, and her granddaughter is Harriet too, they call her ‘Haddy’. Neighbors down the street gave their 2 kids the same monogram. We have another little neighbor named Jasper (it’s old-fashioned AND a family name, it turns out).
Don’t believe me about old-fashioned names? Check out the Social Security website! Yes, that social security. The Social Security Administration has a part of their website devoted solely to the popularity of names!!!
Click Here to Continue Reading at DC Metro Moms-
Toys, Toys Everywhere…
It is great to be organized; but what do you do when you cannot fit another ‘organizer’ in your living room?
I have 8, yes, 8 toy baskets in my living room, all in various shades of green. And no, I’m not proud of this.
It started out innocently enough-
I’m pretty neat and tidy. I don’t want toys just lying around everywhere. I want structure, not chaos…
‘Let’s get some toy baskets! Perfect! We can just throw toys in them, and things will be ‘put away’…’
And then I just kept getting more baskets…
To put toys, and toys, and toys in.
And I swear I de-clutter on a pretty regular basis!
But I have baskets everywhere now-
I have baskets for Legos, cars, trucks, marble games, Tinker Toys, more cars, more trucks, and I even have a little basket for the 4 remotes we have (don’t even get me started on that one).
I like a house to be lived-in, and use every room, but this is getting ridiculous!
Will there ever be a day that I don’t have hundreds of matchbox cars and hotwheels cars in rooms all over the house?
When will I stop finding little lego pieces in the couch?
Will there ever be a time that I don’t see a Dr. Seuss book in a corner?…
Click Here to Continue Reading at DC Metro Moms…
The Tao of Scrapbooking
Tao: a way, path, route, doctrine, principle, philosophy
I’ve never… scrapbooked. There, I said it.
I have lots of photo albums filled with pictures of my son. I even have them organized into ‘just my son’s life’ albums and general family photo albums…
So now I’m going to further document my son’s life with scrapbooks-
nursery school programs, a little artwork, the lock of hair from his first haircut, leftover pictures that I have in a box…
and then it hit me as I was going through all this stuff-
My Scrapbook is a Book of Scrap… or it will be– because I haven’t done it yet…
Or will it?
Click here to continue reading at DC Metro Moms…
Why I Love Women… A Shopping Story
I love women…
The other day I found myself in the rare situation of being childless, husbandless, and in the unfamiliar territory of being pretty-much-caught-up-with-stuff… baring laundry, coming up with a new kid craft, cleaning out my car…
And in my possession: a $25 gift card to a new favorite store of mine…
So what to do? Why, go shopping of course!
I embarked on my shopping journey and found 2 pairs of summer crop pants, and $25 off- perfect! I was leaving, when out of the corner of my left eye- a red sign caught my attention… 25% Off.
And it was in front of another favorite store of mine… I timidly walked over to check it out, and then hesitantly walked into the store, I’d already dared to spend money on myself, let alone the time I’d spent ‘frivolously’, instead of cleaning, washing, cooking, or setting up paydates, don’t push it, I thought…
And then an older woman approached me, “Do you have the 20% card?”
Continue Reading At DC Metro Moms…
DC Metro Moms Party with ‘Top Chef’ Spike at his ‘Good Stuff Eatery’
What do you get when you cross-
Good Food,
Beer,
MILKSHAKES,
A Bravo Top Chef,
and those wild and crazy DC Metro Mom Contributors?
Well, a FANTASTIC time, of course!
The place? Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill! Good Stuff? Are you kidding me?
I love this place- look up at my blog title… I love ‘good stuff’ !!
‘Bravo Top Chef’ contestant Spike Mendelsohn showed off his culinary skills last night for DC Metro Mom contributors. This is his new restaurant, specializing in burgers and fries and salads and other comfort food. I love that there are delicious milkshakes on the menu and
I especially love that I got carded when I ordered a beer!!
There’s Spike with some of our lovely DC Metro Mom Contributors…
He’s super nice, and talented- I loved my salad!
Everyone had fun; we always do when we get together…
Most of the seating is upstairs, I like this layout…
And there’s the infamous famous Jessica (A Parent In Silver Spring) holding her beer…
What a fabulous time: good food, good friends.
Spike’s new restaurant serves really good food and is reasonably priced…
AND he is working right now on opening a ‘pizza joint’ next door- SUPER COOL!
Thank you to Quaker Oats for appreciating Moms!
The Birds and The Bees and 5-Year-Olds
It was a normal day, matchbox cars everywhere, a nice afternoon, and then my 5-year-old son got up to go to the bathroom.
While he was going to the bathroom, he asked me, completely out-of-the-blue,
“Mom, why do girls sit down to go pee-pee?”
By the way, my son closes the bathroom door at friends’ houses, and out in public, but sometimes he ‘forgets’ at home… and I don’t make a big deal about this because I don’t want him to ‘feel embarrassed’ about his body, blah, blah, blah, psycho-babble, blah, blah, blah…
So I very matter-of-factly told him,
“Because girls have vaginas.”
I’ve told him this before, but he forgot, probably because he just doesn’t care that much.
“Faginas?” He asked with a funny look on his face.
“V-aginas.” I answered.
He started laughing,
Continue reading this at DC Metro Moms…
Good Mom / Bad Mom
I have my good days… and I have my bad days.
Don’t you love those days that are terrific? When everything falls into place at just the right time: everyone is happy, the house is clean, the wash is done and folded, dinner is planned and you’re doing an educational art project with your son? I have days like that… sometimes. And on days like that I say to myself,
‘I have got this mom-thing down!’
Most days are pretty much like that, without the laundry getting done, and my son and I doing something together, although it is not always an educational art project…
And then there are days that are not-so-good.
On these days I forget to do something, my son is cranky, or we are out-of-sync or all of the above.
I give myself a break on the forgetting part because we all know that you just become more forgetful once you give birth, it must be one of those left-brain/right-brain things… I don’t know, I forget.
But anyway- on the incredibly harried days I think to myself,
‘How can I possibly be so inept at something I’ve been doing 24/7 for 5 years?!…’
Does this happen to anyone else?!!
My thoughts usually get better in a little while, when a tantrum is over, or I realize that you can’t always have a logical discussion with a 5-year-old…
And then I realize that I am unconsciously basing my net worth on if my child is happy, and fed, and not tired and cranky…
And this is not totally out-of-line, because I can control/fix/remedy most of these scenarios… And it’s my job.
But I shouldn’t get frustrated with myself, if my son isn’t thrilled about eating lima beans.
My mood is so affected by my little guy’s.
If he’s having a good day, I’m having a good day. When he gets excited about something, I do too.
If he’s sick, I might as well be…
I wonder if this ever changes? The way my mother looks at me sometimes, I don’t think it does…
I am constantly reminded of the overwhelmingly ENORMOUS amount of love,
that my heart can generate for such a little human being…
Love is powerful, however. It’s been written about for centuries…
So it’s no surprise that then he smiles, and it’s a good day again.
An abbreviated version of this can be read at DC Metro Moms.
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