Ohio Moms Blog

Silicon Valley Moms Group Acquired By Technorati Media

Reports of our demise, as the saying goes, were premature. The Silicon Valley Moms Group of sister sites is taking up residence in a new location. Look for that great timely, opinionated, poignant, and sometimes just plain funny parenting content you're used to seeing on this site over at The Women's Channel at Technorati. After 6 great years of blogging here, we've moved to a new home.

Fondly,

Jill Asher, Beth Blecherman & Tekla Nee

Co-Founders, Silicon Valley Moms Group

What me, crunchy?

The other day while my kids planted the vegetables we had grown from organic, heirloom seeds, and I nursed my home birthed, cloth diapered baby, I had the thought, “Am I a crunchy mama?”

My first thought was, “Nah, no way, not me! I shave my armpits (in the summer, anyway) for crying out loud. And I bathe regularly (albeit with local, handmade soap). And I don’t have white girl dreadlocks, just curly tangles tucked in my college alumni baseball cap.”

I took a sip of my home brewed sun tea, wondering if I had taken my daily encapsulated placenta pill or not. The cloth diapers were drying on the clothesline and I technically wasn’t wearing a bra (disclaimer: I had on a tank top with one of those built in bra deals and hey, it was a Saturday.).

Crimeny Jane…Could I be crunchy? What is the definition of crunchy? If I am crunchy, is that so bad?

Do you need a hero?

With all the celebrity scandal in the news, it’s tempting to not even turn the channel from Nick Jr. I come from a golfing family, so there has been much discussion of Tiger Woods even before he made the leap from the golf channel to the gossip shows. My mom loves him - she says he is the reason she got back into golf. My grandparents aren’t that fond of him, and the recent turn of events did nothing to warm their hearts. My grandma played in the first NCAA golf championship, representing Miami University. She still plays and recently had a tournament named after her. She has an amazing scrapbook full of newspaper articles, and my mom recently copied the scrapbook to show to the ladies in “The Marty” tournament. A friend asked if she could make an extra copy for her daughter and my mom was happy to comply. Her daughter is in high school and plays on the golf team. She had been a big Tiger fan, and as many teens do, she had covered her room with pictures, articles and posters of her golf idol. After receiving a copy of my grandma’s scrapbook, she replaced the pictures on her wall with a real role model - both on the course and off.

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok: A SV Moms Group Book Club

Transplanted from Hong Kong to New York City as a (very poor) young girl with her mother, Ah-Kim or Kimberley, struggled to make things better for her family, to learn English, to walk the line between traditional Chinese duties and the Americanized teenager she grew into. Join us today as we discuss the book Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok.

Here are what the SV Moms Group contributors ave to say today, all inspired by the book Girl in Translation:

• Marinka from Motherhood in NYC tells her immigration story in America, Baby
• Pamela from 2 Much Testosterone felt empowered
• Emily from Mama Sick has hope for her son
• Sharon from Channeling Ricky recognizes her own childhood embarrassment
• Vanessa from Chefdruck Musings goes for a taste of America
• April from It's All About Balance is a girl in gratitude
• Emily Paster from West of the Loop examines secrets below the surface
• Melanie from tales from the crib just wanted to fit in
• Elena from Cara Mamma reflects on dreaming big
• Lisa H. from Hannemaniacs has aunts just like Aunt Paula
• Alma from Marketing Mommy had culture shock
• Kristine from Mommy Needs Therapy or a Bottle of Wine was moved by the reality of immigrants who come to the U.S. for a "better" life
• Rox from Rox and Roll has thoughts about honor
• Julie from Just Precious opens her eyes in her own neighborhood
• Jen B from Anybody Want A Peanut? tries to translate autism

Silicon Valley Moms Blog is hosting the book club discussion this month. Please leave a comment here to join in the discussion.

Past SV Moms Group Book Clubs have included:

• I am Nujood, Aged 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali
• The Body Scoop for Girls by Dr. Jennifer Ashton
• Just Let Me Lie Down by Kristin van Ogtrop, Editor of REAL SIMPLE magazine
• National Geographic's Green Guide Families by Catherine Zandonella
• Top 100 Finger Foods and Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel
• The Possibility of Everything by Hope Edelman
• The Mominatrix's Guide to Sex by Kristen Chase
• Coco Chanel & Igr Stravinsky by Chris Greenhalgh
• See Mom Run by Beth Feldman
• Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind by Phillip Done
• This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Topper
• Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer
• Birth Day by Mark Sloan, M.D.
• What Happened to the Girl I Married? by Michael Miller
• Testimony by Anita Shreve
  
• Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
• Much to Your Chagrin by Suzanne Guilette
  
• It Started with Pop-Tarts by Lori Hanson
• Who By Fire by Diana Spechler
• The White Trash Moms Handbook by Michelle Lamar
• Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
• The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert W. Sears
• The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross

Click here to read all about the SV Moms Group Book Club.

Forget a Hybrid: I Need a Bubble Car

It's been a rough two weeks for central and south-eastern Ohioans on the roads. More over, it's been a rough time for those who are our children on our roads.

On June 2, a Kindergartener was killed in a bus crash in Dresden. On June 8, an 18 year old was killed on his motorcycle as he was involved in a head on collision with a van in Cambridge. He was wearing a helmet. On June 9, a family of five, including a three and seven year old, were all killed in an accident on I-70 just west of Zanesville. On June 10, a 12-year-old boy was hit while on his bike by a car driven by a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old was injured in a hit-and-run accident. Both of the accidents on the 10th were non-fatal and occurred in Zanesville.

These are just the stories that I know of specifically.

Empty Lunch Boxes

Tomorrow is the last day of school for my older two; technically, it's their last three hours or so of school since they'll only be there for a half-day.

Tonight, after getting everyone to bed, I came downstairs and started my usual get-ready-get-set-go! routine for the next morning.

Coffee maker?

Check.

Cereal and bowls? 

Check.

Lunches packed?

Nope.

Why is "poopy" so popular?

I’ll be the first to admit that poopy is a funny word. It is a fun word to say, and I am certain I have said it more than I can count on my fingers and toes. There are websites dedicated to poopy humor and just about everyone I know giggles if the word poopy is used as an adjective, a verb, a noun, or as an expletive. Poopy has also become my 4 year old’s favorite word. Noone is safe from poopy in my house.

 My daughter has a terrific vocabulary for a 4 year old. She uses words such as octagon, obnoxious, fantastic, and now - poopy. Seems as if my son has a poopy foot, I have poopy hair, and my daughter’s dresses are now poopy dresses. What does that even mean? Whatever it means it is certainly funny, because every time my girl uses the word she giggles as if I am tickling her with a thousand feathers. She makes up songs with poopy too. The latest is sung to the melody of Mary Had Little Lamb and goes a little like this: “Loki (our dog) has a poopy butt, poopy butt, poopy butt. Loki has a poopy butt and it needs a diaper.” Proceeded by rolling on the floor with laughter. Her little brother was enlightened to the fact that there are not only cars on the road, but poopy cars. Again, what does that even mean?

Bicycle Traffic Guidelines - Did They Cost a Young Teacher Her Life?

On June 1st, a Cleveland area elementary school teacher was life-flighted in critical condition after a head-on collision caused by an oncoming driver swerving to avoid a bicyclist in the right lane.  

After a week long battle, she passed away yesterday.  

Not only is her family in mourning, but so is the family of the oncoming driver while, according to the Ohio Bicycle Federation, the bicyclist should have a clear conscious.

A True Hero for Ohio's Greatest Athletes

Every once in awhile my job lets me meet really great Ohioans. I had such an encounter recently and felt the need to share his story with you. His name is James "Spudd" Sasak and he's a character with bright blue eyes and a great personality.

He's currently biking around Ohio, stopping at local courthouses and generally being awesome all for a great cause: Ohio's Special Olympics. I met him in front of our local courthouse on the evening of Friday, June 4th as the sky blackened and lightning flashed. I sent my kids up under the cover of the courthouse roof where they pretended to be super heroes while I conversed with someone who seems to be quite the super hero himself.

I'm Never Going to Stop Becoming

I was delighted this year that, even at 11 years old, my youngest son still wanted to buy a caterpillar from the conservatory in our city to house as it transformed into a butterfly.

I was even more delighted that the caterpillar survived being in the little plastic vial it came in, entered its chrysalis stage and then emerged as a gorgeous painted lady butterfly.

There's something moving and inspiring to me about watching this metamorphosis and becoming-- it never gets old.

It makes me think about human metamorphosis and becoming.

I remember when I was a little girl and, with my friends, dreamed with my about what I would become when I grew up. For me, there were many aspirations-- singer, actor, politician, political activist, academic...

And then I grew up and I also became a mom.

I Reserve My Strength to Protect My Own

I stumbled upon a conviction update on the physical and sexual abuse of 5-month-old "Baby Brianna" by her parents and uncle.  I will not post any links because you can search for articles and blog posts yourself if you wish to but please be forewarned that the abuse is described in detail and will be very probably very difficult to shake off so do consider not putting yourself through that misery.  I can attest - for days, I felt weak around my shoulders and found myself drifting to thoughts of why, why, why? with each quiet mental moment.  In addition, the reality that this is just one discovered case and the potential number of children whose abuse and abusers are never reported. 

Much Ado About Nothing

On Saturday my family plans to pile into our already mostly packed minivan and head out on the road. We’re traveling from NE Ohio to Glacier National Park in Montana, camping all along the way at various state and national parks and returning in 21 days. This will be the second vacation of this type I’ve taken with my husband, the first since we’ve had our son. Did I mention I’m five months pregnant and we’re taking my 13-year-old niece along with us?

It has become clear that this trip, while hopefully as full of adventure and amazing experiences, will not be like the first one. In our first trip, we slept in the minivan with a tent attachment on it to let in air. This time we got a six-person tent, because two adults, a teenager and a toddler should never ever sleep that close if they have a choice. I’m sure the teenager in question appreciates this perspective, though the time my husband and I got stuck in the snow for over 20 hours before flagging down help makes all of that extra body heat sound good.

Family Time

 A couple of months ago, my family was at another couple's house for dinner.  While my friend and I talking and sipped our beers, our husbands and children disappeared to the basement.

They emerged hours later, with bleary eyes and smiles across their faces.  My daughter exclaimed, "Mom!  We just played the best game!  Dad says we're going to go buy it tomorrow!"

And, we did.

When I was a kid, my family would gather together and play Monopoly for hours, work on jigsaw puzzles, or go outside for a rousing game of kickball.  We played cards, backgammon and checkers.  We enjoyed these things because we enjoyed each other.  We didn't play games in silence.  We actually had conversations.

The Power of Silence

Words can cut you to the quick, but sometimes the silence hurts more. With dealing with bullying situations, standing by is almost as bad as participating. Standing by, and not speaking up, is giving tacit approval, and giving the aggressor what she wants: power. It perpetuates the behavior and can even cause it to escalate.

Giving voice to your concerns or speaking up about bullying behavior is not easy. There is the possibility (or the fear of it) that you will become the next victim. It is also hard to stop something when it seems that everyone is involved, but chances are there are others that are also uncomfortable with the situation. Voicing your concern can help others do the same--and perhaps shut down the behavior entirely.

In a previous post, I mentioned how I had been bullied a few years ago. It was seriously the most painful time of my life--even worse than teenage years because I was an adult! This should not be happening to me! This stuff is for kids!