DC Metro Moms

Discussing Same-Sex Marriage With Kids, At Breakfast Of Course

Why are those two guys in the paper, Mommy?  Why are they holding those babies?   How come the babies are so fancy?

Read about these guys.  Read the story.  Would you please read this one, Mommy?

The questions and requests were simple, and although the answers should be just as easy to share with my 6, 4, and 3 year-olds, they weren’t.   Usually, our newspaper reading is a little less exciting, but today, it really got us thinking.

I realized in the brief moment between putting Cheerios on the table and pouring my coffee, that I had never really talked to my kids about same-sex relationships.  It’s not something that I’ve tried to hide from them, but before now, the opportunity to discuss same-sex marriage has never arisen.

I remember in my early 20’s, pining for a Carson Kressley to enter my life.  I envisioned marathon shopping trips topped with unlimited and unsolicited fashion advice.  I wanted a pal and confidant to guide me in all the ways we straight women--for some strange reason --believe that gay men would if we had one as our best friend.   It’s silly, ridiculous, and I’m embarrassed to even write it.

Still now, I--we--don’t have gay friends.  We really don't.  We don’t know many people—okay, anyone—in a same-sex relationship.  It’s 2010.  What on earth is wrong with us?  We’re a liberal, forward-thinking, open-minded, educated couple in the very diverse mid-east.  Where are our gay friends?

What is the "Face" of Your Work/Family Conflict?

Work/life balance.  It's a phrase that gets bandied about by the media and by various experts.  We lament.  We juggle.  We all try to figure out how we can keep things running in our lives -- maybe not always smoothly, but at least without too many bumps.

There are those who like to remind us of the saying -- you can have it all, just not all at the same time.  And maybe that's true to a certain extent, but I hate when people use it to suggest that women shouldn't expect to be able to work full-time and have our employers understand that the realities of families today are a whole lot different than when our parents were raising families.

Except they should.  We all should.  Not because we want a favor, but because the face of working in America is radically different today than when the current workplace structure became the norm back in the 1950s.  I don't know anyone whose family resembles the Cleavers, yet the workplace, for the most part, is still designed to deal only with that model -- where there is only one working parent and the other stays home to deal with after-school activities, sick children, and aging parents.  That just ain't the way things are anymore, yet we're all expected to work that way and are often penalized when real life intrudes.

My Ears are Ringing

My phone has been ringing off of the hook.

Do I know some really sweet gossip? Did I do something astounding? Did my team win the Super Bowl?

No. I've been insanely out of touch, only if you count quitting my old job as something astounding and none of the teams I root for are above .500.

My phone is ringing like crazy with pre-recorded calls asking me to vote for Creigh Deeds or Bob McDonnell or some guy for school board.

This is driving me crazy. I sit down to dinner with my family. *ring* I hop in the shower. *ring* I have just tucked my kids into bed. *ring* *ring*

Honestly, if it weren't already annoying enough to answer the phone and have it be a recording now I have to answer the phone six or seven times a day to a recording.

And don't even get me started on volunteers who call my house after 8:30 at night when my kids are asleep.

Post 9/11 GI Bill--Send it Back to School

I am not going to pretend to be an expert on the subject of the Post 9/11 GI bill; I am not a veteran myself, nor am I married to one. If I make mistakes here; forgive me.  I'm learning as I go and am trying my best to understand what appears to be a muddied, confusing mess involving education, lots of people's lives and dreams, and tons of money.

One of my most favorite people in the world served five years in the Navy, enlisting in 2000, after graduating from high school.  He’s my sister’s high school sweetheart, now her husband, the love of my children’s lives, and he seriously has been dealt a raw deal with the Post 9/11 GI Bill. 

I couldn’t be more ticked. 

Brian, like all of the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of our country, does not deserve the mess--the chaos--that has become of a bill designed to better their lives.   What began as a light at the end of the tunnel--a fully-funded education, complete with money for books and supplies and a stipend for housing, has turned into a black hole of debt for my sister and her husband. And thousands of other undeserving veterans.

Maybe Cory and Conan will fight over me

I don't recall how it happened, whether I followed him first or he found me.  All I know is we shared our love. Yes, it's true. I shared love with a man other than my husband. A man I met over the internet. We Tweeted  expressed it openly and  DM'd it in private.  I told this man, I wanted to visit him and we could continue what we had started online and bring it into our real lives. I even made a video about the love we both share. I know, I know. I'm married. I have two kids. I live in a completely different state.  And yet I told this man I would meet him at a diner in New Jersey so we could both get us some...

Coffee.

Oh what a woman would not do to get a decent cup o'Joe. Maybe it borders on criminal, maybe it borders on the inappropriate, but Cory Booker, the Mayor of Newark, became my caffienated confidant. You see, I could tell Cory about my Java use knowing he was simpatico. Yes, I know, some people would consider it akin to a platonic  affair, disclosing my gold filtered unfiltered feelings to a man other than my own husband, but I don't see it that way at all. My husband has no interest in coffee. Nay, he spurns it.   Do I sneak out of the house to fulfill my needs? No. Absolutely not! I grind at home. Right in the kitchen. In front of G-d and everyone. There is nothing tawdry going on and my 19  year marriage is still a strong brew.

He has a higher security clearance than the school bus driver. So shouldn't you be able to trust him with your kids?

Being in the the shadow of the capital, one might think every public school within 50 miles of the Beltway would be showing the speech President Obama delivered on the first day of school. A speech delivered in Arlington Virginia. Can't get much more local than that. Well, think again.

Last week my son's elementary school principal sent home a note to all of the parents informing us the president's speech to children will be shown in a couple of days. The note stated it was being sent home in response to several parental inquiries regarding the showing of President Obama's speech to school children in Arlington. It included information for parents who may wish to request an "Opt Out" for their child. The note shared that an alternate activity would be offered to those children who would not be watching the president's speech. I heard my grandmother's voice in my head, "What has gotten into these people?"

Indeed. Something is seriously amiss.

A Presidential Moment

Some family outings are just too perfect that they seem too good to be true.  After fabulous seats at a Washington Mystics WNBA game and dinner at Clyde’s, we decided to take a drive around DC.  The lighting was perfect for some pictures, weather was a good summery kind of warm without the usual August humidity, and since it was Sunday evening, parking spaces were plentiful in the District.  We parked right in front of the Willard Hotel to get out and gawk at the White House like tourists.  Our two kids went skipping towards the Treasury Building, played chase around the statues in front, and then stopped briefly to peer through the side gate of the White House.

Onwards we walked towards the money view of the presidential manse.  The kids got a foothold on the cement and clung to the fence while my husband and I stood behind and took in the grandeur of the White House.  The tourists next to use were playing count the snipers who were quite actively moving around rather than crouching in their normal positions.  I admired the First Lady’s vegetable garden towards our left and then looked back at the White House.

Barack Obama as "Cheesecake?"

It's no secret that some ladies around the country find President Barack Obama attractive, in addition to being a good politician with fresh new ideas for the country.  One of my favorite bloggers has actually dubbed him Barack O'Boyfriend!

While I wasn't initially an Obama supporter, I am a Democrat and know that President Obama has many fine qualities.  But, truth be told, while he is handsome guy, I've never thought to myself, "Hey, I'd love to see Obama's pecs!"  So, I was a little shocked to see him bare-chested on the cover of a magazine.  Who do the editors think he is, Miss California?

I'm pretty sure no one ever thought it would be a good idea to put a picture of Richard Nixon on the cover of a magazine sans polo shirt!

And Reagan? Carter? Clinton? Nope, uh-uh and not so much. Not what I'd call "cheesecake" material.  But apparently there is a demand to see President Barack Obama and his bare chest, because he's on the cover of Washingtonian Magazine, strutting his stuff for all the world to see.

Elation to Frustration...Trying for White House Easter Egg Roll Tickets

How did you spend your Thursday?  If you were like me and so many other DC Metro parents you probably spent a portion of it online trying to secure White House Easter Egg Roll tickets for your family only to experience hope, disappointment, and frustration repeatedly throughout the day.

This year the White House abandoned the old practice of waiting in line on the Ellipse the weekend before the event.  When I first heard that tickets were going to be distributed online, I thought this was a brilliant idea.  No longer would families be camping out, trading parenting shifts to secure highly coveted tickets.  Going online to reserve tickets seemed like a much more humane method of ticketing.

Or so I thought. Since the ticketing information was quite vague, there was a lot of speculation about the process for obtaining tickets.  The official website did not say what time today the online ticketing portal would open and there were also rumors of a lottery system.  Speculation abounded on my various DC mom listservs, Twitter, and through my friends on Facebook. 

When ticketing finally became available, it was clear that the Obama Administration and/or the online ticketing system powered by Front Gate Tickets did not to understand the lengths that parents will go to for White House Easter Egg Roll tickets whether waiting outside in the cold or camping out online. 

Election Fatigue

It is happening again here. There is another election coming up in our area. And after that, if one particular candidate gets elected, there will be yet another election shortly after to replace him. I am so done with elections. Even though I'm a political junkie, I have my limits. Let me break it down for you. It all started with Presidential Primary way back in February of 2008. Seems like a very short time ago, but in election years it was plenty long ago.