Cross-posted and archived from DC Metro Moms. Original post date November 26, 2007. Growing up white candles dotted each window in our home on Thanksgiving day. When guests would leave we would turn them on and it was officially the Christmas season in our house. That weekend we would all head out to the tree farm and pick out the perfect tree. We would spend hours decorating it and putting up more lights outside. Our house quickly converted into a winter wonderland that wouldn't come down until after January 1. I loved every minute of it and it created beautiful memories for me as a child and an adult.Now an old married woman I realize I have married the Grinch. How I failed to realize this I do not know. Each year the rules get more stringent than the last. First, it was simply … [Read more...]
The Yoke of Guilt – Part Deux
Cross-posted and archived from DC Metro Moms. Original post date March 18, 2008.Last year when I was new to the whole work at home Mom thing I wrote a post about the guilt I feel and lay on myself. It wasn't so much that I had guilt over not enough time with my child or family it was the day in and day out beating I gave to just me over staying home and continuing to work. I couldn't find the balance. I wrote-What it all really boils down to is that inherently in me I've always had issues with being at home. Now that I'm here in the daily mire of it and yes, the joys of it, I'm conflicted. I just can't seem to hand myself over to that domestic mommy. I can't and won't give up trying to write, no one wants me to, but I can't seem to find a balance that sits well with me. I can't seem … [Read more...]
Tell Me We Are Smarter Than This
Cross-posted and archived from DC Metro Moms. Original post from October 31, 2007. Article referenced no longer available. It was regarding parents who let their children eat all their Hallloween loot in one sitting. I read articles like this one from Reuters and I think who is the audience for this type of piece? Morons? I mean really! Moderate sugar intake on Halloween? Wowie Kazowie I would have never thought o f that! Gee, thanks doctor of the moment! Thank you for that enlightening piece of information. Before your insightful words Mr. MD I was just going to give my two year old all the candy in one sitting. She could just plop herself down on the floor in front of whatever horror movie is playing, maybe I’ll let her watch Suspiria. That has ballet in it and it’s … [Read more...]
So is that like, uh a real job?
It is always when I'm about to go to an event with a lot of our friends that I begin to feel the 'I' word. Insecure. I didn't always feel that way. Nope. It only started when I quit my 9-5 job and decided to make a go of this whole writing thing that I felt these pangs of insecurity.We go to an event and the topic of work comes up. No one asks me about my job anymore. I'm left out of the conversation unless I shoehorn my way in. When I would begin to talk about a particular project I could see the judgment. The "HA! Yeah right! You don't really work anymore, you just stay home." It has been said to me more than once. It has gotten to the point that now I don't even talk about work. Even if I'm really excited about something or something big is coming up I just find something else to talk … [Read more...]
How Much Do You Tell Your Children?
Cross-posted and archived from DC Metro Moms. Original post from May 13, 2008.Recently, The Washington Post ran a cover story for their Magazine titled, "The Secret Lives of Moms". The mother on the cover was portrayed as a June Cleaver type woman with a bottle of Jack Daniels and handcuffs hanging out of her apron pockets which made me cringe just looking at it. The line beside it began with, "If you have bongs or thongs in your past..." Thongs? What heck is wrong with a thong? Yes, they are uncomfortable but that is why there is the g-string. Are Moms not supposed to wear these?!But, I digress. The point of this piece is how much do we tell our children about our pasts? Do we lie and cover up our mistakes for fear they will follow in our footsteps? Do we use the brutal honesty … [Read more...]
Top Five Reasons to Get Excited About Fall
Cross-posted and archived from DC Metro Moms. Original post August 22, 2008.My husband asked for hot tea the other day. My first reaction was to look at him like he was the 5th horseman of the Apocalypse but instead, I just sort of sniffed the air and agreed. It felt like hot tea time. Yet, here we are in August.Two days later a friend of mine stated that it was time to wear jeans. She was declaring summer officially over despite it being about 90 degrees outside. My inbox is loaded with back-to-school ads, requests for advice posts about the new school year and the latest fall fashions. There was even that one ominous Halloween craft story request. Already? It's not that I hate summer. In fact, it is my favorite season of the four. It's just that about this time every year be it the … [Read more...]
Tired Tank Needs to Retire
It's Fall. Time for pumpkins, brightly colored gourds, bales of hay and hot mugs of cider. Make that cold cider because it is just too hot! Temperatures are supposed to reach 90 today and while I would love to be breaking out a nice sweater and boots I'll be wearing capri's and a tank again. This severely extended Indian Summer has me agitated for a variety of reasons.First, it throws me off balance. I miss the smell of the fallen leaves, the damp air and the fall rain. I can see the Occoquan river from my deck and it is incredibly low. It breaks my heart. This is not normal and it is distressing. Our water supply is in jeopardy. We need rain. We need cooler weather. Second and way more trivial, is that my anniversary is in the fall. My husband gave me a nice shopping spree as my gift. A … [Read more...]
Losing a Job- Like the Five Stages of Grief
Cross-posted and archived from DC Metro Moms. Original post date July 25, 2008. It has been one month since my husband walked through our front door suddenly unemployed. Laid off. One month of us spending time together as a family, having long, quiet talks about everything from the state of our finances, job searching and health insurance quandaries to who we are as a family. During this past month we have frozen our gym memberships, eliminated contributions to our daughter's college fund and taken away all of life's tiny luxuries that we often take for granted when stockpiling unnecessary items at the grocery store, Target and almost everywhere else. It's been all about less waste and less consumption this past month and we are probably all the better for it. I have however noticed … [Read more...]
Kid’s Parties- Is It Just Keeping Up With the Joneses?
Cross-posted and archived from DC Metro Moms. Original post from February 27, 2008. My daughter turned two this weekend. Yes, I know, it is hard to believe. I can barely wrap my brain around it either. However, you know what the hardest part of her turning two was for me? It was- To have a party or not to have a party? It was the ultimate question on my mind. What would people think if we opted out of this birthday milestone? Would we be labeled as bad, unloving parents?I drove myself mad with this conundrum. I wanted so badly for her birthday to go right I kind of freaked out. There were blog posts about it. I consulted friends and family. Everyone had an opinion and an idea of what I should be doing or forgetting all together. When it came right down to it I felt like my … [Read more...]
Is That a Hooker on my Block?
Cross-posted and archived from DC Metro Moms. Orginial post date June 15, 2008It started with a late night knock on a neighbors door. Then another neighbor and another. Slowly, the houses on one side of the street all began experiencing late night visitors. Especially if they had a red door. In the last few weeks the street traffic on my block has increased and it comes in the form of a John it seems. That's right. You heard me. We seem to have some prostitution brewing on our street. In an area that looks suspiciously like a cross between Disney's 'It's a Small World' village and the movie set of 'Pleasantville' our block has suddenly gotten a lot of late night callers. All of them heading to the same location in the dead of night. Many leaving in the early hours of the morning. One … [Read more...]