Deep South Moms

Hope Floats In Nashville

The flood waters have receded in Nashville, but the muddy brown line marring trees, fences, and homes serves as a reminder of what our community has been through.

Driving to work this week I passed house after house with piles of drywall, furniture, and carpet on the front lawns, the sign of a home that has been flooded. My house is just two blocks away from total devastation but amazingly we had no water damage. Trucks filled with volunteer workers form a continuous stream into our neighborhoods. Helicopters fly overhead. Welcome to the new normal. It is a surreal state of life must go on punctuated with stories of devastation and rebuilding.

Two of my neighbors organized a communitiy picnic Saturday night for flood relief workers and volunteers, as well as those who lost their homes. We had an amazing turnout. Local musicians played live bluegrass, area restaurants donated food, and kids ran and played on the playground. I heard story after story about people who lost everything. But still, they are hopeful.

A River Runs Through It

I've lived in Middle Tennessee my entire life and I've never seen flooding the likes of which our area has experienced since this weekend. The Harpeth River meanders through my community and it has always been a beautiful source of nature. But record rains began falling Saturday and after 13 inches of rain in just two days our normally very languid, sleepy river spilled over its banks and flooded entire neighborhoods.

On Sunday afternoon my husband and I headed out to survey the damage in our West Nashville neighborhood. Just around the bend from our home and down a hill there were homes literally under water. Cars parked in driveways and on the side of the road were nearly submerged. Boats bobbed eerily in the brown river that was once a busy side street.

My oldest daughter's elementary school is safe and dry but the usual morning route to school is still flooded. Metro Davidson County schools have been closed two days now and I can't imagine they will be open tomorrow. Our home has no water or flood damage, amazingly, but we have no phone service, Internet, or cable TV. Still I can hardly begin to complain about minor inconveniences such as this when so many in our city have lost their homes.

The Cumberland River spilled over its banks on Monday, cresting 12 feet above flood stage. Many landmarks and major tourist attractions in our beautiful downtown area are flooded, from the Country Music Hall of Fame to Schermerhorn Symphony Center to LP Field, where the Tennessee Titans play.

Our city has rallied together and as the sun emerged Monday so did the volunteers. We will recover, but it will take time.

An original post to Deep South Moms.

Jamie is a 40-year-old mother of two little girls and native Middle Tennessean who can be found writing at BlondeMomBlog.com, where she's been pontificating about poop and pinot noir since 2005. She also writes product reviews and posts giveaways at SavvyHousewife.com.

Bad Drivers: Don’t Make Me Go All Blogger Vigilante On Your Ass

Last night we had beautiful spring like weather. Rain was in the forecast so I took advantage of the warm temperature to work on our sorely neglected front flower beds. We live one house down from a four-way stop. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been working inside and have watched drivers drive through intersection without stopping over the years.

My girls were playing soccer in the front yard with my husband as the sun started to dip and dusk was settling in. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I spotted an older gray sedan turning left and on to our street. "Girls…car!" I yelled.

What Matters Most

The other day I had a mental meltdown. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I sat inside working on my laptop. I was on deadline for a work article and my editor sent me an e-mail about another project that I realized I had let slip through the cracks. I was going through my blog e-mail account and realized that I had several legitimate e-mails in my SPAM folder. I had also promised my 7-year-old I'd eat lunch at school with her in a little less than two hours. I glanced around my kitchen and every fingerprint marred nook and cranny screamed CLEAN ME. The sink was filled with dirty dishes. I had not yet taken a shower. I just couldn't handle one more thing.

I wanted to cry, or even better, run away to a tropical island and come back to a spotless home with organized files, a freezer packed with meals, and a personal trainer at my beck and call. Instead I felt overwhelmed with paperwork, a neglected home, and an endless daunting list of tasks. I was angry at myself for not being one of "those" mothers: women who are impeccably polished with spotless homes and seamless multitasking abilities and room mother credentials and children who looked like they'd just stepped out of a Kelly's Kids catalog. I could NOT do it all.

Goodbye Saturdays, Hello Soccer

Soccer is huge in our community. On Saturdays most parents can be found heading down to our large soccer complex, the fields dotted with children wearing brightly colored jerseys. The parents get their own workout lugging camping chairs, water bottles, soccer balls, and snacks. My oldest daughter, now 7, has been playing since she was 4 but until now her little sister has been content to sit on the sidelines. Until now...

This Saturday my 4-year-old, who turns 5 in a few weeks, will put on her sister's old pink and white soccer cleats for her first official soccer practice. The spring season kicks off the first weekend in March in all its muddy, grass-stained glory.

As a parent I've long given up the dreamy notion of sleeping in on Saturdays but becoming a soccer mom has been worth the hours spent at practices and cheering from the sidelines. You see, soccer has been a great confidence builder for my older daughter. She's made good friends through her team, learned the importance of teamwork, and with games and weekly practices she gets a ton of outdoor physical activity. Plus there's that one mom who brings all the really great catalogs to practice so I get to partake in a little retail window shopping therapy. I never played sports as a child so this is all new to me.

Mother Nature, You Fickle Girl

Dressing my children for school in the winter is always a game of chance. Will it be 50 degrees and sunny? 34 with a mixed bag of precipitation? Windy and 60? You never know.

For the most part the 7-year-old has it easy. Metro Davidson County schools here in Nashville enforced Standard School Attire in 2007 when she started kindergarten. I know some parents groused about it, especially parents of teens, but I was all "praise the Lord and pass the khakis and polo shirts." The dress code makes outfit selection easy. Accessorizing, however, is a whole 'notha story. Which pair of knee socks, which sparkly headband? Decisions, decisions.

Dressing Room Hell

My daughters each both received two Target gift cards for Christmas that they couldn't spend fast enough. They were thrilled when I told them I'd take them shopping recently even though I told them one gift card from my husband's parents was specifically earmarked for shoes and clothes. I was thrilled because hello lover Target how are you...you look SMASHING. It's been far too long. Do you care if I just move in? I mean I know this relationship is moving fast, but dahling!

I helped them pick out a couple of pairs of jeans in various sizes because they are both at the inbetween sizes stage, along with several tops that were on sale and one particularly adorable Hello Kitty peasant top dress with leggings for my 4-year-old that I secretly wished I could wear if only that wouldn't be totally weird on a 40-year-old woman (unless you are Lady Gaga or Betsy Johnson.)

Summoning My Inner Glue Gun Goddess

I don't consider myself especially crafty. I've never owned a glue gun, I don't knit, and the last traditional scrapbook I put together was more than 10 years ago. But when you have kids you dust off the Elmer's glue and start looking at household objects like paper plates and coffee filters and toilet paper rolls with new eyes.

My 7-year-old's big school fundraiser was last week and each class was commissioned to create their own scarecrow. I walked my daughter in one morning and her teacher cornered me about making the official sign for Sallie Mae, the scarecrow. Before I knew it, I was agreeing to make a sign and my heart started racing. Would I fail Crafty Elementary School Mom Basics 101? Would my daughter hide her head in shame when her classmates asked what kind of crummy sign-making woman excuse for a mother she had? NO! I would not disappoint. I would summon my inner crafty girl out of dormancy. She would rise from the ashes wielding glitter glue and pipe cleaners!

Facebook Friends: Step Away From The Scanner

I was hesitant to join Facebook last year but because I have many high school and college friends on board, not to mention my mother-in-law, my hairdresser, and my next door neighbor, it seemed like a great way to reconnect. I live less than an hour from my hometown, though, so I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to play Mafia Wars or plant a seedling or find out my 80s metal band knowledge quotient…or did I?

I opened a Facebook account and it’s been fun reuniting with friends (although I still don’t play Mafia Wars.) It's been all fun, really, until last week when I checked my e-mail on my iPhone and noticed I’d been tagged in a series photos uploaded from a friend I haven't seen since college. Cue the freak out music. I couldn’t log on to Facebook fast enough.

Dear ABC: Throbbing Manhood My A**!

My 7-year-old daughter loves to watch ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover on Sunday nights. She tends to watch a lot of kid-centric channels, so it’s nice to have a TV show on primetime television that we can all sit down and watch together as a family. Plus the show has such a great positive message about community and the power of working together behind one cause.

This past Sunday all four of us, myself, my daughter, my husband, and our 4-year-old daughter, were in the den enjoying the latest Extreme Home Makeover and there was a quick commercial break for the new ABC sitcom, The Middle. The show looks funny enough, and I have to admit, unfortunately, I can relate to the harried suburban mom bit just a bit. The commercial shows the mom, played by Patricia Heaton, in the kitchen and dismissing her young son who is complaining that he’s read every book in the house. She orders him to read one of her books. As the commercial comes to a close her little boy comes walking up to her with a romance novel and asks, "Mom! Which part of me is my throbbing manhood?"