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…
Getting it all down in pixels
“I’m using Yahoo Calendar!” I chirped to my husband who’d suggested it when I asked about Outlook. I’ve been a paper calendar girl this whole time — never entering the 21st century. I don’t have a Blackberry and honestly have a hard time even justifying my regular cell phone bill if I didn’t have the…
Choose the right ingredient
This is what coconut flour waffles (with a little almond meal and flax meal) should look like: This is what they will look like if you accidentally put in 2 T of xanthan gum instead of arrowroot (which we use instead of corn starch in this recipe, and we use coconut milk and almond milk)
Little Mouth Speaks – a lot! A letter to my loquacious toddler
Today was the first day I’d had any childcare in two weeks. There was snow, then a fever, then my boy’s dad got sick and needed tending. Today’s four hours of babysitting went fast, but when they were over, I had a supremely lovely time with my son. It was a chilly rainy day, and…
Gluten-Free Rolls (low-sugar muffins with nut flour)
At our Waldorf school’s Parent-Child class, the daily snack kids make is whole wheat rolls, which are eaten with freshly churned (shaken in a jar with marbles) butter. When the rolls come out of the oven and we sit down to give “blessings on the meal,” fresh organic apples are cut as well. The teacher…
When Round Two is with Baby #1
this post originally appeared on February 19, 2009 on DC Metro Moms When Round Two is with Baby #1 Haven’t I been here before? Nursing all day long on the couch, my arm falling asleep as I try to hold a book underneath a head and sleeping body. My breasts aching for a break. My…
Bye Bye, Book World
The Washington Post is going to stop printing its Sunday Book World insert. I know a lot of extra expense items are going by the wayside these days. I also understand that there are a lot of other publications out there that fit this bill, and I should be reading those. But this was my…
Dropping some silver on supplements
I just spent $132 at the Vitamin Shoppe. Wow. My husband has an eardrum that has been ruptured for over 48 hours and still hurts a lot. I bought some tea, colloidal silver supplement and nasal spray, grapefruit seed extract ear drops and nasal spray, some probiotic (on sale), calendula tincture (seemed like a good…
The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had – a novel for middle school aged readers
A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend Hooray for Books‘ book release party for The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had, a novel for middle grade readers by first-time novelist Kristin Levine. I did, however have with me my son (just a month younger than the author’s daughter), and keeping him from…
Mama likes to read
Nursing a sick kid sure does give you time to read. Come to think of it, having a kid who calms down more (and sometimes even falls asleep) when you read while he’s nursing than while you do anything else has also helped. I’d forgotten how enjoyable it is to get lost in a full…
Gluten-Free (Low)Sugar Cookies
My camera battery died before the cookies came out of the oven, but here are a few of our successful baking experience making cookies to take to our Waldorf school tomorrow, where the class will be be baking Valentine cookies with whole wheat. We always bring our own gluten-free alternative to our Parent-Child class. I…
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…
“Feed me” said the Fever
I’ve always intended to learn more about both homeopathy and herbalism, but I don’t get serious about either until an illness prompts me to drag out some books and to poke around online. When my son woke the other night before 9:30, we could tell something was off. He’d had a small cough and looked…
Back to Basics
I was AWOL for a while for a decent reason, working on a big project. But then I got stymied by snow (fun, but missed childcare) and now, a child’s fever has put everything on pause. It’s eerie how quiet the house is when your toddler is sleeping the day away or staring glassy-eyed into…
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…
Taking a Fall
Two weeks ago, I fell taking a step onto a neighbor’s basement stairs. My foot just slipped on the carpet and I was about to bounce down the stairs on my bottom. Having sprained my ankle in September 2007 two weeks before I was going to run a half-marathon, I was determined not to let…
Molting
A recent inquiry to the Family Matters advice column in the Washington Post asked for help with a three-year-old who was going through some growing pains. There was a reference made – in either the question or the answer – to molting – shedding the skin, growing out of a confining structure and sloughing off…
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…
When needs diverge
I am being pulled in opposing directions. Now, my wanting to do several things at once is not a new thing, I freely admit. However, I was starting to feel good about the idea of going to bed early in order to get up early and do yoga or work out and write before my…
Glimpsing history — getting close (or not) to January 20
Today a friend in my writing group sent a link to a contest for essays about “what this inauguration means to you.” I don’t know if I can come up with anything intelligent-sounding by midnight January 8, but I will say that I had a lump in my throat today when we saw part of…