DC Metro Moms

My First Black Friday Shopping Trip!

Well, I finally did it.  I went against years of eye rolling and head shaking... and I joined the shoppers in the early morning on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

I had previously sworn off Christmas shopping even on weekends- due to crowds.  I had always shopped strictly on weekdays, when parking is easy and crowds are... nonexistent.

But the deals that were being advertised got me, and the desire to surprise my parents with a laptop computer this Christmas...

So there I was, dropped off on the sidewalk in front of Staples... at 7:45am.
(Please; I wouldn't forgo regular sleep for shopping; 7:45 was early enough.)

I walked in.  People were shopping, but it wasn't crazy.  I was told there was a 'laptop area', approached it, and within a few minutes I was being helped.

Every employee was really well informed, and helpful.  The assistant manager who helped me with the laptop, also helped me find the 50%-off shredder I had seen in the paper (my gift to myself- I've always wanted a paper shredder for some reason AND I got it in 'sapphire'- gotta love Christmas shopping.)

Will Technology Make Our Children Kinder?

It’s a different world now, from the world I grew up in.  There are computers, cell phones and text messaging.  There is Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.  

People always wear seatbelts, kids don’t ride in the ‘way back’ of station wagons anymore; SUVs exist now, and phones only have cords- if you did what I did and bought a stainless steel retro-looking one to match your kitchen appliances.

And people are REALLY connected now.  

In some ways our children are safer.  Parents can keep track of their children more easily...  Children have cell phones now; this beats the- ‘I’m going to be at Mary’s’ any day.

But, we have to monitor our children's online activities now…

Frogs And Snails And Puppy Dog Tails...

My son knows every car make and model.  We regularly stop in parking lots for him to admire unusual, tricked-out, shiny, as well as mundane, wait for it… hubcaps.  He loves steering wheels too.  Did I mention trucks yet?  Forgetaboutit! 

We discuss traffic in the car, or he’ll use one of his gazillion or so steering wheels (made from paper plates) to pretend-drive in his booster seat.  We even keep spare ‘steering wheels’ in the car- to offer to friends that are riding with us… well, why not?

The other day we went to Toys R Us for some birthday presents and I told him he could pick out a Hot Wheels or Matchbox car.  I don’t see any difference, but he sure does. 

So there I was, watching my son as he studied the various little cars- to pick out ‘just the right one’.  As he spouted out the advantages and disadvantages of all the small, 99-Cent, car models, a little girl, about the same age caught my eye.  She was on the other side of the big main aisle, doing the same thing- only she was looking at dolls… 

How does this happen?  When exactly does this happen?

Good Effort!

I am constantly reminded, thankfully, that motherhood is an evolution.  It's a constant learning process.  Just when I think I have it mastered, a.k.a., 'I know my child', I am in a situation that surprises me, or he surprises me...  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I sometimes foolishly, on a particularly fantastic day, think that I have it all goin' on. 

And then I don't.  I have read so many parenting books, blogs, internet articles and parenting magazines that I sometimes, again foolishly, think there can't be a parenting technique or philosophy, I don't know about.

And then, Kindergarten began...

I Don't Have Time For Bangs

Remember when chunky bangs were in style?  I think they still are for models, but for the rest of us- who has the time? 

I did the ‘big bang cut’ over a year ago, and the long layering.  I thought I’d love it, but I didn’t.  It looked great when I really took the time to style my hair, but I don’t really take the time to ‘style’ my hair every, single, day.  Plus, every day, at some point, my hair goes up in a clip, in an ‘up-do’, as it were.  And layers don’t really work with an ‘up-do’.

I actually love bangs, I’m a ‘bang girl’, but I don’t have the time anymore.  They’re not practical.  I know, this is one of those burning issues that we all think about and mull over…

But this whole ‘bang-thing’ is really an analogy for my life as a mother, wife, blogger, writer and mompreneur…  

What's In A Name?

I could talk about names all day. I’m fascinated with names and why people choose certain names.  

It’s a HUGE responsibility giving someone a name, and I don’t think you realize this until you’re pregnant. Or, at least I didn’t.

Just agreeing on a name can be tough. I know everyone has said,

“Yeah, I knew a real jerk named Bob*, we’re not going with Bob*.” 

(* Fill in any possible name in the world) 

Family names are cool.  And old-fashioned names are making a comeback.  But they always are, aren’t they?  We have a neighbor named Harriet, and her granddaughter is Harriet too, they call her ‘Haddy’.  Neighbors down the street gave their 2 kids the same monogram.  We have another little neighbor named Jasper (it’s old-fashioned AND a family name, it turns out). 

Don’t believe me about old-fashioned names? Check out the Social Security Website!  Yes, that Social Security.  The Social Security Administration has a part of their website devoted solely to the popularity of names!!!

 

Toys, Toys, Everywhere... Will It Ever End?

It is great to be organized; but what do you do when you cannot fit another ‘organizer’ in your living room? 

I have 8, yes, 8 toy baskets in my living room, all in various shades of green.  And no, I’m not proud of this.

It started out innocently enough-

I’m pretty neat and tidy.  I don’t want toys just lying around everywhere.  I want structure, not chaos…

'Let’s get some toy baskets!  Perfect!  We can just throw toys in them, and things will be ‘put away’…'

And then I just kept getting more baskets…

To put toys, and toys, and toys in. 

And I swear I de-clutter on a pretty regular basis! 

But I have baskets everywhere now-

I have baskets for Legos, cars, trucks, marble games, Tinker Toys, more cars, more trucks, and I even have a little basket for the 4 remotes we have (don't even get me started on that one).  

I like a house to be lived-in, and use every room, but this is getting ridiculous! 

Will there ever be a day that I don’t have hundreds of matchbox cars and  hotwheels cars in rooms all over the house?  

When will I stop finding little lego pieces in the couch?  

Will there ever be a time that I don’t see a Dr. Seuss book in a corner?...

The Tao of Scrapbooking

Tao: a way, path, route, doctrine, principle, philosophy

 

I’ve never… scrapbooked.  There, I said it.

I have lots of photo albums filled with pictures of my son.  I even have them organized into ‘just my son’s life’ albums and general family photo albums…

So now I’m going to further document my son’s life with scrapbooks- 

nursery school programs, a little artwork, the lock of hair from his first haircut, leftover pictures that I have in a box… 

and then it hit me as I was going through all this stuff- 

My Scrapbook is a Book of Scrap… or it will be-  because I haven’t done it yet…

Or will it?

The Wonderful World of Ketchup

It’s red, it’s gloopy, it tends to get on everything from kids’ faces to clothing, but I have gone from a ketchup hater... to lover. 

The smell of ketchup made me sick when I was pregnant- literally.  And even now, if I was ever captured by terrorists and locked in a cell, all they would have to do is put a big blob of ketchup very close to my nose for an extended amount of time and I would ‘sing like a canary’, not that I know any State secrets.

But now, I have come to love ketchup, and have it in my home at-all-times-

Why, you may ask…? 

Because my son will eat almost anything… if he can dip it in ketchup.

Why I Love Women

I love women… 

The other day I found myself in the rare situation of being childless, husbandless, and in the unfamiliar territory of being pretty-much-caught-up-with-stuff… baring laundry, coming up with a new kid craft, cleaning out my car…

And in my possession: a $25 gift card to a new favorite store of mine… 

So what to do?  Why, go shopping of course! 

I embarked on my shopping journey and found 2 pairs of summer crop pants, and $25 off- perfect!  I was leaving the store, when out of the corner of my left eye- a red sign caught my attention… 25% Off. 

And it was in front of another favorite store of mine… I timidly walked over to check it out, and then hesitantly, walked into the store.  I’d already dared to spend money on myself, let alone the time I’d spent ‘frivolously’, instead of cleaning, washing, cooking, or setting up playdates, don’t push it, I thought…

And then an older woman approached me, “Do you have the 20% card?”