My New “Parent Trap” Stealth-Literacy Plan
So, it’s spring break out here in LA, as well as Passover and Easter, and this year I did something I have never done before and DIDN’T enroll my kids in any sort of Spring Camp, reasoning that a) it wouldn’t be the worst thing to NOT spend that money and b) this is a very cool town and there was no reason I couldn’t entertain my kids just fine on my own.
This was a mostly okay plan. We’ve taken family trips to The Hollywood Farmer’s Market and a couple of garden centers (MrBigIdeas is obsessed with our urban farm); Descanso Gardens; LACMA; and checked out the Endeavor at the LA Science Center, which was pretty awesome. We’ve been swimming, and the girls are getting better on their bikes … around the time of their Bat Mitzvahs they might even be able to take off their training wheels.
The first of MANY MANY garden center stops MrBigIdeas has dragged us on this vacation.
Descanso Gardens: It would have been a bit too much to ask for all four kids to smile.
The only real staycation disaster we’ve had was the hellish three days I was killing myself cooking for Passover. Continue reading “My New “Parent Trap” Stealth-Literacy Plan” »
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9 Ways to Lose the Baby Weight
33+5 weeks, 175 pounds. Thanks, boys …
Apologies for the radio-silence around here (do people really say that anymore, in the age of webcasts and podcasts and satellite? Hmm). In case you hadn’t noticed, the holiday-ramp up has kinda kicked my ass. Immediately following Gaga’s 4th birthday we started planning for Thanksgiving (we hosted 31!) and certain sacrifices were made. This blog was the first thing to go … but I’m back!
And I’m here to tell you:
While I was busy eating and cooking and eating some more – as opposed to sitting my ass down in chair and WRITING – Continue reading “9 Ways to Lose the Baby Weight” »
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My Love / Hate Relationship With American Girl Dolls
I am COMPLETELY pro Tom Petty, however.
(image via http://data6.blog.de)
Diddy is one girly-girly-girly-girl. Despite my best efforts to dress her in neutrals and blues and green, from the moment she could point/scream, she has been all pink, pink, pink.
Sequins, too.
(OK: so she’s a girly-girl with a dash of drag queen fabulous thrown in.)
And she likes to amass THINGS. She gets this from her Grandmere Checklist, who got it from HER mom. Those THINGS have to be part of a COLLECTION, which is an attitude she gets from MrBigIdeas. (No, I am not shitting on our collections, honey. I love our collections. I’m just pointing out that this is slightly more you, than me.)
Anyway:
My girly consumerist collector is EXACTLY the sort of child that the marketers at American Girl dream about. Given her druthers, she would own every single American Girl item available for sale.
Unfortunately for her, Continue reading “My Love / Hate Relationship With American Girl Dolls” »
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Coolest. Calendar-ing. Ever.
Diddy Young Dancer
So, I read this post from Unclutterer.com at 530 this morning before heading out on my daily run (yes, I’m still running! woo-hoo!), which inspired me to totally automate my weekly schedule today.
Life around here since school started up again has been totally chaotic, mostly because Continue reading “Coolest. Calendar-ing. Ever.” »
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Diddy’s First Day of Kindergarten / ChecklistMommy’s New! Morning Routine
Diddy charging up the stairs towards her Kindergarten classroom. So much for nerves!
Today was Diddy’s first day of Kindergarten, probably distinguished most by the fact that she had me all to herself for breakfast at 6 am.
I rarely eat breakfast with my kids, as I can’t stand all the screaming and yelling and the fact that Mr. Big(ideas) thinks that they can eat fruit straight off the table sans plates. So for many years I have let him referee breakfast while I went off to walk the dog, and I’ve waited until the kids were out of the house / in the babysitter’s care before I sat down to eat in quiet, solitary bliss.
However:
Kindergarten starts a full hour earlier than pre-school did – 8 am! Jeesh! — so we’re shaking up the morning routine a bit. Here’s how we’re trying to get out the door on time these days. Continue reading “Diddy’s First Day of Kindergarten / ChecklistMommy’s New! Morning Routine” »
