A few weeks ago, Robin Shirley, organizer of the amazing Take Back Your Health Conference, pointed out to me that Liz Crenshaw of NBC4’s Consumer Watch needed a group of local moms for a piece. I wrote the producer who told me Liz was doing a story on the cost of diapers. I hoped to…
Uncategorized
Confessions of a mostly natural parent
Welcome to the second edition of the “I’m a Natural Parent – BUT…” Carnival This post was written for inclusion in the carnival hosted by The Artful Mama and our feminist {play}school. During this carnival our participants have focused on how mainstream society has affected their natural parenting and how they have come to peace…
What other people tell you about your children
“She’s amazing,” my daughter’s daycare provider said, not a gushing punctuated by an exclamation point but a simple, heartfelt declaration. My heart warmed. I wasn’t looking for praise. Mostly I was relieved that little AJ must have had a good day, her first day of full-day childcare. I mean, how could someone call her amazing…
Ten things I love — and don’t — about summer
The days are getting shorter. How sad. Thank goodness. The children will be out of the house soon. How sad. Thank goodness. We will have to adhere to an imposed schedule. How sad. Thank goodness. In the spirit of being two things at the same time (see the title of this blog!), here is my…
On the road, again and again
For the last month, it’s been neglect the blog or neglect the children. Or both. Today I am at BlogHer ’12, so it’s the kids who are getting none of mama’s love. They are, however, getting thoroughly entertained and spoiled by their cousins and aunt and uncle. Really, I think my son may learn to…
Rockin’ Orioles! Tweet! Tweet!
It isn’t every day that I have the chance to give my kids the kind of memorable experience we had last week at the Baltimore Orioles game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Since my son hadn’t ever been to a professional sporting event before, I’m not sure he fully appreciated just how special this event was….
Gluten-Free Expo returns to D.C.! + Giveaway
The Celiac Disease Program at Children’s National Medical Center is all about getting and keeping kids healthy and is hosting the second-annual DC Gluten-Free Expo this afternoon and evening at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 1201 K Street NW from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. If I’d eliminated gluten from my diet as a child, my…
What’s to like about a c-section?
Welcome to the June 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Embracing Your Birth Experience This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have written about at least one part of their birth experience that they can hold up and…
What makes me feel like a parent
The first time I’d heard of a “touch truck” event was in a With the Kids article in the Washington Post Weekend section. Herndon Truck Days sounded like a blast! And the article also inspired me a year later to pitch an article about the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra’s Children’s Music Festival. It was published and…
I don’t have a village
Welcome to the May 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting With or Without Extended Family This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared how relatives help or hinder their parenting. Please read to the end to…
20 years ago today: How I Met Their Father
I met my future husband at a dorm room party on Friday, April 24, 1992. Twenty years ago today. “You were babies!” people exclaim when I tell them this. Yes and no. I was 19, he almost 21. We did, in some ways, grow up together. We’ve seen the world change together, from days of…
Investigating Ayurveda + a giveaway
Last spring, my sister-in-law advised me that the best thing I could do for my health would be to give myself a daily oil massage and to have a consistent schedule of sleeping and waking. And that would include a midday nap. Right. According to her, yoga instructor Charlotte Clews, when she advised me last…
Diary of a wimpy kid’s mom
My son is not strong. He is, as the kids say, a shrimp. On the soccer field, the kids complain when picking teams, “But he’s so small.” When one of his good friends found out he was taking a sports class after school, he told my boy, “You suck at sports.” I imagine he’s probably…
Back on the mat: $5 class special at Radiance!
When my friend and neighbor asked if I would watch her son so that she could take advantage of a $5 yoga deal, I said, “How about I offer up my babysitter instead and go with you?” I’ve been meaning to get to Old Town Alexandria’s Radiance Yoga for a while, but it’s just a…
Blooming trees and buzzing Bs
Eighty degrees in March, and nothing is at rest. The flowers are up, stretching their arms after nary a winter’s nap. The magnolia has exploded into blossom way before its time, dropping its once-precious petals onto the ground where they turn slipper and slimy like a million mini banana peels. After she sat down on…
Mediocre would be good enough
No one has to convince me not to try to be perfect. Okay, I do have perfectionist tendencies in some areas, but when I read about mothers having epiphanies that they don’t need to keep the house spotless, I feel like I am living on some other planet. One with lots of spots. My floors…
Scattered tea
It makes me sick not to write. There are so many interviews pieces I want to finish, ideas I want to share, moments I want to record. Even healthy food putrifies if it stays in you too long. To not write is intellectual constipation. It hurts. And it stinks. But I feel like I have…
Let them eat lunch, from home
Eating close to the source is something I’ve been working toward for several years, ever since I started trying to get my health on track in the face of major digestive issues, infertility, and Graves’ disease (autoimmune hyperthyroidism). I was almost embarrassed to request Barbara Kingsolver’s 2007 Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life…
The pull of escape, the pull of retreat
This time of year is always good for smacking me around. Even on a sunny day like today, when the quince and camellia are blooming and you swear it can’t be January it’s so warm, winter is in my bones. And my mom’s too. Right around this time in 1995, while I was doing my…
Now is the time for now
The instant I read the words, I regretted picking up my BlackBerry that one last time before going to bed. A well-meaning relative of mine had read my recent post about my health and my leaky gut problem and told me: “This is not the time to volunteer for things.” She intended to point out…