Results tagged “kids” from Momtourage: Blogger Knows Best
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These days I'm running on the life treadmill and I can't seem to turn the damn thing off, or even slow it to a comfortable pace. I'm racing from one thing to the next - work, appointments, school actitivities, after school activities, chores... the list goes on. I try to keep it all together but there are so many things that lie scattered on the road behind me, unfinished. I stay up too late, get up too early and still, another day is done before I turn around.
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BlogHer
Yep, that's me.
Jim and I came to the conclusion within the last couple months that I need to return to work full-time. I have been fortunate enough these last two years to only have to work two nights a week, and I am so grateful for the time I had home with my babies. BUT, if we ever want to be able to buy a house in this market it is something that needs to happen.
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BlogHer
My dad often asks me if I'm taking on too much. You know--working full time, being a foster parent to an infant, volunteering at a community theater, taking on extra assignments at work, and now starting grad school. Many times I think to myself, "Girlfriend, slow down. Just sit back and relax a while. Lay in that hammock you bought two months ago, but haven't used yet. Catch up on some movies in your Netflix queue. Savor these precious moments with little Pumpkin. They'll pass quickly."
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momtourage.net
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BlogHer
Last night, around 10:00 p.m., I heard a little voice call out from the room next to me.
"Mom....mommy??"
It was my son, wide awake and kicking around in his bed, bored as hell. I felt bad for the little guy but there was little I could do. It was WAY past bedtime and both of us needed sleep. And soon.
"Yes, son."
"When the alarm goes off, I come into your bed, right?"
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BlogHer
What's the purpose of taking young children to funerals? The Michael Jackson funeral (event? celebration?) brings up all kinds of questions about what is and isn't appropriate, but my worry is that children at a funeral are exposed to indelible images that may later prove hard to deal with.
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Blogger Knows Best Guest
photo: c. somodevilla/getty images
Yes, our favorite July Fourth birthday girl this year, of course, is the United States of America. (She's turning 233 and looks great for her age.) But running a very close second is President Barack Obama's eldest daughter Malia. She turns 11 on July 4, which is only fitting for the daughter of an American president. The White House is (of course) mum on any plans for Malia's birthday, but when her younger sister Sasha turned 8 back in June, the first fam celebrated by seeing The Lion King in London and visiting the studio where the latest Harry Potter movie is filming. Now that's a memorable birthday for a kid. (We can think of a few adults who would have enjoyed it, too.)
Here's a small sampling of some other high-profile July 4 milestones:
President Calvin Coolidge, composer Stephen Foster ("Oh, Susanna"), author Nathaniel Hawthorne, and playwright Neil Simon all share July 4 birthdays. On a more morbid, but strangely fitting note, Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe all died on July 4. Adams and Jefferson, in fact, died on the same day--July 4, 1826.
Get more on the Fourth of July:
- Presidential Kids Match Game
- Make a Patriotic Flag Ice Cream Cake
- Fun Food Finds for July 4
- Host a Summer Party for Less
--Laura Motta
Producer, Momtourage
BlogHer
I've heard a lot of arguments against paying kids an allowance in exchange for chores. Some say the children have to do chores just because they're part of the family. (Yes.) Others say it teaches children to help out just for a reward and not for the joy of helping. (Yes.) I think those things are all true. And I'll still be paying my kid an allowance to do her chores (as long as my husband agrees--it may be interesting to see his reaction this post).
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BlogHer
My five-year-old just got her last round of vaccinations until she's an adolescent. It was not pretty. This was the first year she remembered before we hit the doctor's office that there were shots involved. She also remembered how much shots hurt, how much she loathes them. I found myself explaining, for the first time, why she actually has to have them.
At least to her.
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BlogHer
Between the vibrating cell phone calls, the urgent email messages on your Blackberry, the constant bills, the ignored, yet loved DVR, the non-stop solicitations via phone and mail...life not only gets complicated, but also very overwhelming. We're pushed and pulled in a
million directions on a daily basis.
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momtourage.net
by Yogamom
Up until 2 weeks ago, we had no summer plans for S. He refused camps ALL of them. He has even rejected the idea of swim lessons. What the what? Okay, so an entire post could be written about do we or don't we insist on camps we know he would enjoy...why do we allow him to have this much say in the matter...everything isn't about negotiation, etc. etc...but alas this is not about THAT. Or is it about that he has agreed to 3 clay camps at amoa, laguna gloria and a bevvy of drop off playdates - this is a jump forward 3 or so years to sleep away camp.
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Blogger Knows Best Guest
Barack Obama's daughter Sasha--the youngest kid to live in the White House since the Kennedy administration--turns 8 this week. Sasha and her older sister Malia were in the spotlight even before their Dad became president, but they've become major tween trendsetters since then. Our favorite Sasha moments? Her breathless, "Hi Daddy!" into the microphone at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, her stunning, pretty-in-pink (with a great orange belt) inauguration outfit, and her enthusiastic thumbs up for her Dad's inauguration speech.
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BlogHer
My girl is five, and I can feel her desire for sleepovers brewing. And I admit it: I'm terrified. It's not that I don't trust other parents; I currently vet the parents of every one of my daughter's close friends, and most who would invite my child into their homes are trustworthy and competent souls. It's her I'm worried about. Oh, and me.
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BlogHer
by PunditMom
We don't need any more studies, discussions or navel-gazing about whether things need to change for working parents, especially working moms, when it comes to sick leave, flex-time or child care. Parents are struggling to manage family obligations and keep their employers happy. But corporate America still seems to think that whether and how to provide options for families need more examination. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that First Lady Michelle Obama won't let them get away with it.
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BlogHer
I was reading an article about Oprah's interview with Michelle Obama and there was a line that just got me. When Oprah asked her about getting up at 4:30am (YES, AM!!!!) to workout she said "Well, I just started thinking, if I had to get up to go to work, I'd get up and go to work.
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BlogHer
This is how I measure success as a MOM.
Mom's Day is special to me--because it reminds me of the one thing I did in life that I know, without a doubt, changed the world. It was something I succeeded at. I may fail daily by not making the best dinners, skipping bath time and using the TV as a babysitter but I also know that I hold in my back pocket the ability to push a 6 lb, 13 oz baby out of me.
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BlogHer
My mother has always had a well-appointed home. At any given time in my life, from the time I was still living with my parents up to and including today, my parents' house has always been decorated beyond reproach: the couch always matched the loveseat, the art on the walls always complemented the colours of the furniture, and each room always had a theme: mid-century Scandinavian. Antique Oriental. And twenty years ago, when I moved out on my own and started building my own home, I tried very hard to emulate her style.
And then my daughter was born.
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Blogger Knows Best Guest
I had a teacher in high school who read John Gardner's Grendel aloud to us during class while wearing a foam hat in the shape of a lizard's head. I'm guessing that Gardner imagined the monster Grendel to be somewhat different than this hat--which had google eyes. But our teacher's point was clear: If you're going to tell a story, atmosphere is key.
Which brings us to the President of the United States.
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BlogHer
I have noticed that as the seasons change there is an upswing in the rhino-virus in my household. My son inevitably comes home from daycare with a running nose, coughing and sneezing--usually on me. Over the weekend the season changed from Winter to Spring and like clockwork, this morning I woke up with the telltale scratchy throat accompanied by intermittent sneezing that signals the onset of a cold. My only hope is that my husband will make it to the store so that I can load up on Zicam. In the past it has effectively decreased the length of my colds.
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BlogHer
Not a day goes by when I don't get a call from a friend, relative or neighbor with a question about kids and technology. Tech can truly be a 10-headed monster for some parents, who have either experienced an unpleasant episode with one of their kids or have heard of someone else who did.
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