After a summer of moving and letting the light box run for way too long so I could make food or unpack something or wait on hold on my cellphone trying to get our phone and internet connected, I was really hoping to cut the cord to the TV once school started. For crying out…
D.C. Metro
In another mom’s shoes: vaccine injury really happens
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on October 2, 2009 In another mom’s shoes: vaccine injury really happens Imagine your 14-year-old daughter going from a competitive cheerleader with a 4.0 average to someone who has daily seizures, partial paralysis and a drug regiment of 33 pills a day. I’ve been attending the National…
Birthdays — the key part is the “happy”
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on August 31, 2009 Birthdays — the key part is the “happy” My mom and I used to get giddy about our almost-shared birthdays, which are two days apart in early March. But in 1987, nine days before my 14th birthday — a week before my mother’s…
Let patients get the full picture
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on August 19, 2009 Let patients get the full picture “This is why health care costs are so high,” hissed my endocrinologist when she looked at the results of the labwork my holistic physician had ordered. To her, the additional blood tests were a waste of time…
Shopping cart etiquette
This post originally appeared on August 5, 2009 on DC Metro Moms Shopping cart etiquette I hope I didn’t just shame my friend at IKEA. It was a rainy Sunday morning, getting busier by the minute. Long gone was the relative quiet we enjoyed within minutes of our 10:15 a.m. arrival. The sight of so…
Life without internet
This post originally appeared on July 18, 2009 on DC Metro Moms Life without internet I’m stealing bandwidth from a neighbor’s unsecured wireless network to write this because my phone company has told me I have to wait twelve days — twelve days! — before they can come figure out why I have a dial…
When regular life looks scary
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on June 24, 2009 When regular life looks scary: the DC Metro crash I’ll never forget the first time I was in the car with a mommy friend alone, sans kids. Ahead of us, a Metro train was slowing into a station, and I instinctively called out,…
TV Blues
Last month PBS Kids hosted a lovely event for us DC Metro Mom bloggers. I ought to have posted something about it, but it was kind of culture shock for me, and I didn’t want to write and sound ungrateful. Before the event, I didn’t know anything about Super Why or any shows for preschoolers….
The thrill is gone — from messy to neat and back again
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on June 11, 2009 The thrill is gone — from messy to neat and back again For the first week we were trying to sell our house, it was kind of a game to keep it clean. How fast can I wipe up that spill? Neatness was that…
Whose kid will be the next Adam Lambert in 20 years? (Or Susan Boyle in 40?)
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on May 16, 2009 Whose kid will be the next Adam Lambert in 20 years? (Or Susan Boyle in 40?) My husband and I “aww”-ed in unison when watching a preschooler at Adam Lambert‘s old community theater ask the American Idol finalist how he got so good at…
Moving targets — when your kid can’t count on you
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on April 28, 2009 Moving targets — when your kid can’t count on you “Leave, Mommy,” said my son when I walked over to where he was enjoying a friend’s toys. And upon leaving another playmate’s house, he protested: “No, I want to stay here. I don’t…
A bra costs WHAT?
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on April 7, 2009 A bra costs WHAT? I feel like Sleeping Boobie. In 2006, I had a baby. Three years later, he weans and I find out that a nice bra costs as much as a good massage. I’m sure you can get a decent bra…
Surviving the unexpected guest
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on March 19, 2009 Surviving the unexpected guest I’ve never been much for spontaneity. Or hospitality. I’m not proud of being a crappy hostess or an anxious mess when things don’t go according to plan, but I can accept that it’s okay because there are other things…
When toddlers bring up race
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on March 3, 2009 When toddlers bring up race Looking at the drawing in the book My Freight Train of two hands mimicking couplers holding trains together, my son announced, “There’s one brown hand and one regular hand.” My heart sank. “Regular.” My son sees peach-colored skin…
Toddlers aren’t the only ones who whine
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on February 5, 2009. The original comments follow below. It’s been two months since my husband took our son, almost three, to the Scottish Walk in Old Town Alexandria and, despite all the dogs and bagpipes, the memory the boy shares of that day is “Daddy and…
My-my-my-my Obama
This post originally appeared on January 20, 2009 on DC Metro Moms My-my-my-my Obama The next time I see my son, there will be a new President. And if things go as I think they miraculously might, thanks to the generosity of a friend, I will get to say that I was actually there, within…
Mama Wants to Run
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on January 7, 2009 Mama Wants to Run It was going to be a glorious new beginning: turning a corner in parenting, relationships, and commitment to health. I’d registered with a friend to run the Labor Day Virginia Beach Rock & Roll Half-Marathon. Our husbands would watch…
Train them young to be stay-at-home dads
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on December 27, 2008 Train them young to be stay-at-home dads I know that it’s ridiculous in this economy to say that I didn’t want my husband to find another job right away, but it’s true. He’s been a consultant working on a contract basis for a…
Reduce = Relief
This post originally appeared on December 10, 2008 on DC Metro Moms Reduce = Relief One sister wants socks. The other wants to just to re-gift or to do a white elephant. The brother is always gunning for t-shirts. This year, the name of the game is one item under $10. Two years ago, when…
Teacher, can you please make that mean mommy shut up?
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms Blog on December 7, 2008. Original comments follow below. She called her daughter rotten. I think the girl is 18 months old. After several weeks of cringing in mommy & toddler Spanish class listening to Mean Mommy shout “No!” and “Don’t make me come get you” in…