Here are a few wonderful activities for children in our community:
Mother Goose (music, stories, games)
Storytime at the library
Open play at bounce facilities
Craft activities
Art lessons
Mommy and Me yoga
And that's just a few I can think of off the top of my head. I am sure if I really looked, I could find many other examples. There are also groups for moms - La Leche League, holistic moms, meetups, playgroups.... you get the idea.
It's wonderful!
There is just one problem: they meet, almost without fail, somewhere between 9 am and 3 pm, on weekdays.
That leaves us out. Of all of them.
Sure, there are some weekend events. But on weekends, there is laundry to be done, house to be cleaned up, weddings, visits with family, and anything we couldn't do during the week. We can't often make it to these events. Usually, though, we don't fit the demographic anyway. Sophie is too young, Emma too old.
I would love to take Sophie to Mommy and me exercise or storytime. Mother Goose has times for various baby stages so she'd fit right in. Some of the mom groups sound amazing, too.
It's almost like working moms aren't counted anymore.
I don't want this to be a "Mommy wars" post - I've done both, working mom and stay-at-home mom. Both are important. One is not better than the other. One is not harder than the other. That is not the point of this at all. But I have noticed, and not only recently, that organizers forget that some moms work, too.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Would you surgically impair your tongue to lose weight?
I heard about this on the radio this morning: a plastic surgeon in LA has developed a "Miracle Patch" to help patients lose 20 lbs a month. No drugs or chemicals are used. Sounds good, right?
Wrong.
He surgically applies the patch to the tongue, making it extremely painful to eat. THAT is how the patients lose so much weight - they can't eat solid food.
It's crazy.
I just can't fathom being willing to have something surgically applied to your tongue that will make it so painful to eat anything at all. And what about speaking? How does the tongue know the difference? Or will we see a new trend of thin, mute people?
There is a gallery on the doctor's website that includes a photo of a patient having this procedure performed. It is a square mesh patch sewn onto the tongue with blue surgical thread at the corners. So, if Sally Somebody has this done, she will be thin, mute, and look like grandma sewed a piece of plastic canvas to her tongue with extra blue thread.
Just wonderful.
But what should we expect from someone who advertises "Mommy and Me" plastic surgery packages?
It's revolting.
Wrong.
He surgically applies the patch to the tongue, making it extremely painful to eat. THAT is how the patients lose so much weight - they can't eat solid food.
It's crazy.
I just can't fathom being willing to have something surgically applied to your tongue that will make it so painful to eat anything at all. And what about speaking? How does the tongue know the difference? Or will we see a new trend of thin, mute people?
There is a gallery on the doctor's website that includes a photo of a patient having this procedure performed. It is a square mesh patch sewn onto the tongue with blue surgical thread at the corners. So, if Sally Somebody has this done, she will be thin, mute, and look like grandma sewed a piece of plastic canvas to her tongue with extra blue thread.
Just wonderful.
But what should we expect from someone who advertises "Mommy and Me" plastic surgery packages?
It's revolting.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Dating my daughter
I went on a date with my daughter on Sunday.
In the efforts to not have her feel excluded, replaced, or anything negative about having a new baby in the house, she has continued the Daddy-Daughter Date from her small childhood, but I realized last week that since the baby was born eight months ago, she and I hadn't really had any time together, just the two of us.
So, I made a date with her.
We left S home with Daddy, and started with lunch. We tried a new restaurant, and she was having trouble deciding what to order. I asked her what she was looking at, and she said she couldn't decide between the half sandwich and cup of soup, or a full sandwich because she could get fresh fruit as the side item. No pizza, no chips as the side. A sign of my first baby growing up.
We had a while before our movie started, so we did a little shopping next. We have a wedding to attend this Saturday; it's turned cold here and all her dressy clothes are very much for summer. We each got a new outfit for the wedding, and S even got a new dress. We looked through the dresses in E's size, then she wanted to look at dresses in my size. We got side-by-side fitting rooms and showed each other the dresses as we tried them on. She helped pick out S's, also. No asking for more, no grumbling about buying something for the baby our our day. Another sign that she's growing up.
Next was Borders. They were having a tent sale this weekend; the most expensive book we saw in the tent was $3.99 and all were buy one get one free. Too bad neither of us found anything. We went inside the store and found the book we were after. She has really gotten into the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovitch. She has read the first six books in just a few weeks, so we bought number seven.
Then it was time for the movie. We watched You Again, with Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, and Betty White. And the dad from Alias. It was a very funny movie, by the way. The whole theater was laughing out loud. We passed up popcorn (still full from lunch - we agreed that next time it will be half sandwiches and soup) but each got a box of candy. We laughed, we munched candy, moaned about how full we were but couldn't resist the sweets, laughed some more.
The absolute best part of the afternoon? We both agreed that we had a wonderful time. She wasn't embarassed to be out with her mom, we enjoyed each other's company and conversation, and didn't argue about anything. We sang along to the radio, chatted about anything and everything, and just hung out.
And it was incredible.
I think we need to make this a regularly scheduled event.
In the efforts to not have her feel excluded, replaced, or anything negative about having a new baby in the house, she has continued the Daddy-Daughter Date from her small childhood, but I realized last week that since the baby was born eight months ago, she and I hadn't really had any time together, just the two of us.
So, I made a date with her.
We left S home with Daddy, and started with lunch. We tried a new restaurant, and she was having trouble deciding what to order. I asked her what she was looking at, and she said she couldn't decide between the half sandwich and cup of soup, or a full sandwich because she could get fresh fruit as the side item. No pizza, no chips as the side. A sign of my first baby growing up.
We had a while before our movie started, so we did a little shopping next. We have a wedding to attend this Saturday; it's turned cold here and all her dressy clothes are very much for summer. We each got a new outfit for the wedding, and S even got a new dress. We looked through the dresses in E's size, then she wanted to look at dresses in my size. We got side-by-side fitting rooms and showed each other the dresses as we tried them on. She helped pick out S's, also. No asking for more, no grumbling about buying something for the baby our our day. Another sign that she's growing up.
Next was Borders. They were having a tent sale this weekend; the most expensive book we saw in the tent was $3.99 and all were buy one get one free. Too bad neither of us found anything. We went inside the store and found the book we were after. She has really gotten into the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovitch. She has read the first six books in just a few weeks, so we bought number seven.
Then it was time for the movie. We watched You Again, with Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, and Betty White. And the dad from Alias. It was a very funny movie, by the way. The whole theater was laughing out loud. We passed up popcorn (still full from lunch - we agreed that next time it will be half sandwiches and soup) but each got a box of candy. We laughed, we munched candy, moaned about how full we were but couldn't resist the sweets, laughed some more.
The absolute best part of the afternoon? We both agreed that we had a wonderful time. She wasn't embarassed to be out with her mom, we enjoyed each other's company and conversation, and didn't argue about anything. We sang along to the radio, chatted about anything and everything, and just hung out.
And it was incredible.
I think we need to make this a regularly scheduled event.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
View from the living room floor
Hey, there's something bright and colorful!
*scoot-scoot-scoot*
Wow, they make sounds if I bang two together! I wonder what happens when I bang it on the dog...
*scoot-scoot-reach*
He jumps! Hahaha! Oh. Then he goes away. Well, I'll show him!
*scoot-scoot-scoot-scoot-scoot-scoot*
Oh hey, what's that? It's splashy! And the dog was drinking it so it must be good to play with.
*splash-splash-splash*
Hey! Mommy, why are you taking me back into the living room? I was having fun! I wasn't done yet!
*scoot-scoot-scoot*
Oh wait, what's this?
*reaching under the couch*
Cool! A long black thing with a square black thing in the middle! And it keeps coming! *gigglegigglegiggle*
Mommy! Why did you take that away? Oh, it's attached to the shiny thing that opens up and has lights and sounds and pictures of sister and me. Ok, it's still fun.
*reaching again*
*and again*
*and again*
But I don't wanna be in my exersaucer! Noooo!! Ooh, it plays music when I jump! Cool! What does this button do? And I can chew on this part all I want? Sweet! Look Mommy - I can reach the books now!
Hey, where did the doggies go? I can go back on the floor? Nice. Let's see what changed.
*scoot-scoot-scoot*
Mommy walked by! Pick me up!! Please!
Mmmm, Mommy cuddles. This is nice. I'm sleepy now after all that exploring. Naptime!
*scoot-scoot-scoot*
Wow, they make sounds if I bang two together! I wonder what happens when I bang it on the dog...
*scoot-scoot-reach*
He jumps! Hahaha! Oh. Then he goes away. Well, I'll show him!
*scoot-scoot-scoot-scoot-scoot-scoot*
Oh hey, what's that? It's splashy! And the dog was drinking it so it must be good to play with.
*splash-splash-splash*
Hey! Mommy, why are you taking me back into the living room? I was having fun! I wasn't done yet!
*scoot-scoot-scoot*
Oh wait, what's this?
*reaching under the couch*
Cool! A long black thing with a square black thing in the middle! And it keeps coming! *gigglegigglegiggle*
Mommy! Why did you take that away? Oh, it's attached to the shiny thing that opens up and has lights and sounds and pictures of sister and me. Ok, it's still fun.
*reaching again*
*and again*
*and again*
But I don't wanna be in my exersaucer! Noooo!! Ooh, it plays music when I jump! Cool! What does this button do? And I can chew on this part all I want? Sweet! Look Mommy - I can reach the books now!
Hey, where did the doggies go? I can go back on the floor? Nice. Let's see what changed.
*scoot-scoot-scoot*
Mommy walked by! Pick me up!! Please!
Mmmm, Mommy cuddles. This is nice. I'm sleepy now after all that exploring. Naptime!
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