Because natural isn't always possible — or easy.
Posted in exercise, Gender, parenting, Play on Sep 18th, 2011
Little Girl has been asking to play soccer for about a year now, as unbelievable as that sounds. We’d drive past the field and she’s squeal and ask me to stop the car. Now that she’s three, I decided to sign her up for a local program. We recently had our first session. She was [...]
“Ummm, Mama, there’s water all over the floor in the bathroom. I flushed and flushed and FLUSHED, but it wouldn’t go down.” “My sister is stacking chairs to try and steal blanka off your dresser.” “She has something in her hands and she won’t show me what it is.” THUNK. “Awww, are you okay? MOM!!!” [...]
Posted in Emotional development, parenting, Pissy mussings on Aug 23rd, 2011
I have been staying close to home lately. (Long story…) I decided to catch up on scrapbooking. I feel especially guilty about Little Girl’s books — or lack of. Big Girl has about eight completed books including a fairly obsessive pregnancy book with about 30 belly shots. As of last week, Little Girl had one [...]
Posted in Environment, Food, Going Green, Organic, parenting, Reduce, Sustainable on Aug 19th, 2011
Growing up, I lived in a house with a huge (for Long Island) backyard. It was a stretched pentagon-shaped piece of property 60 feet across in the front but about 300 feet across in the back. It went back at its deepest 250 feet deep, and the house wasn’t big so there was a wide [...]
Posted in parenting, Pissy mussings on Aug 15th, 2011
There are plenty of CEOs out there who also happen to be parents. I wonder which job they think is harder: being a parent or being an executive. I’d be willing to bet it’s most would say being a parent — hands down. As parents, we are in total control. There’s no executive board to [...]
Posted in parenting, Pop Culture, Research on Aug 12th, 2011
Dear Parent of the Kid in My Kid’s Camp: I dropped my daughter off this morning to your child singing away. What a beautiful voice she has, but holy crap, how does she know that song?!? Your little girl — what is she? Seven or eight? — was singing Rihanna’s S&M. What? You don’t remember [...]
Posted in Emotional development, exercise, parenting on Jun 29th, 2011
Big Girl is on a local swim team. She loves it. Last year, when she was six, she was not what I would call great. Or even good. She never won a single meet. Didn’t even come close, really. But she stuck with it, and we were proud. Most important: She enjoyed herself. This year, [...]
Little Girl turns three this week. It’s so cliche to ask, but how did that happen? It seems like only yesterday that I was walking the halls of the maternity wing, willing her to move down and out into the world, and now she’s old enough to talk and sing and laugh. She’s even become [...]
Posted in parenting on Jun 14th, 2011
When my kid has issues, I am the first one to admit it: It’s probably my fault. Whether it’s due to genetics (we’ve got anxiety and depression on both family trees) or parenting skills, it’s still my fault or my husband’s. And now a story in The Atlantic Monthly confirms it. The story — How [...]
Posted in Emotional development, parenting, toddlers on May 17th, 2011
Little Girl is angelic. Big light blue eyes, blond curls, porcelain skin. Truly, truly angelic. Tonight, that little angel behaved like a devil, dropping not one but THREE f-bombs. We were having dinner. I’m coaxing her to sit still and face the table. She was ignoring me. I gave her a final warning: “Turn around [...]