Repost: Dreaming of being an Olympics parent

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Aug. 1, 2012

Although I don't generally watch much TV, like many people, I'm glued to my set these days so I can catch the Olympics. The stories and accomplishments of the athletes are absolutely fascinating. When I was younger, I used to tell myself that I still had time to get good enough at a sport to make it to the Olympics. Sadly, that ship has sailed.

These days, I'm eyeing my daughter to figure out whether there's any possibility that she'll make my athletic dreams come true.

My husband and I, mindful of her long legs and love of tumbling, have already enrolled her in gymnastics, but we're a bit wary of allowing her to continue with it long term (we worry about whether the sport will be dangerous to her development). So that's out.

I'm a former soccer player, so I certainly wouldn't mind if she took that up, but I'd prefer for her to be in a one-person sport. To that end, I'd love to see her in a graceful, dramatic activity such as fencing. My husband, however, counting on her to inherit height from his tall family instead of from my family of hobbit-sized folk, thinks she could be a champion swimmer.

We'll see. At some point, of course, we have to let her decide what activity interests her most. And then we have to support her, even if she chooses a sport that we don't like.

But for now, it's fun to dream and speculate.

Do you fantasize about being the parent of an Olympian?

In which I reflect on how I am too old to enjoy Kanye West's 'Yeezus'

So, yeah, I think I'm too old to get into Kanye West's 'Yeezus' album. I didn't enjoy it. Like, at all.


When I was in my early 20s, I swore I'd never become one of those people so wrapped up in whatever is middle-aged life that I would find myself disconnected from whatever was hot or new or challenging in music.


Now, in my late 30s, 'Yeezus' proves something I hadn't really understood or articulated about myself: I have become that person I once so disdained. And you know what? That's fine.


I've just finished listening to 'Yeezus' on RDIO, and there's just nothing about it that appeals to me.


I should say that I'm not a hip-hop hater. Although I would identify most as a Prince fan, for a significant portion of my life, it wouldn't have been inaccurate to describe me as a hip-hop head. My bonafides include dancing on stage with Tupac, stanning for Rakim and Wu-Tang Clan, a music collection fairly redolent with '80s, '90s and early '00s hip-hop -- and, of course, multiple concerts by multiple rap artists. I'm not even a reflexive Yeezy hater, trust. I enjoyed 'College Dropout' and 'Late Registration' and there were even some moments on 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' that I liked.


But this album? This one, which is apparently the top seller in the country right now, might just be the thing to drive home the larger notion that I no longer care about new music in the way I once did. During the past few years, when I've heard new music, I've usually been able to figure out what about that music was special or important, even if I didn't like all of it personally.


This one was different. From a level of misogyny in the lyrics that troubles even my long-inured-to-hip-hop's-flaws-on-that-front sensibilities to the actual sounds of the tracks themselves to what seems like art-school pretentiousness flowing through the whole project, 'Yeezus' is designed to turn off people in my age range. I'm OK with that.


No, really, I am.


It's OK. I give up. I'm happy to listen to opera, instrumental classical and the hip-hop and R&B I know.


I certainly recognize that Kanye is influential. I'm guessing that there will be many albums that pick up bits and pieces of what he's done here. I just...don't care to hear them.


If this is where hip-hop is going to go, I honestly don't feel like I'm missing out.


Fin.

Repost: Taking a vacation from parenting

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


July 25, 2012

I thought I needed a little holiday from parenting, but it turns out that I'm a little puzzled about what to do with myself when I'm not Mom.

For the past several days, my daughter has been vacationing 70 miles away from home, on a week-long visit with my mother.

My husband and I had big plans for this time. We were going to spend tons of childfree time together. We'd hit the movies, go to a restaurant or two, and generally just revel in a less stressed, fully grownup life for six glorious days.

That's not what's actually happened.

Oh, kiddo's having all the fun we imagined for her: lots of play, trips to parks, grandparent-sponsored treats I'd never buy and the joy of being endlessly fascinating to somebody other than Mommy and Daddy for a change.

We, while delighted to have more uninterrupted time with each other, have found that parenting consumes our thoughts even when there's no child in the house. I get out of bed in the morning and have to stop myself from bounding to kiddo's room to wake her for school. My husband doesn't know what to do with himself during the time we usually devote to her bedtime. Earlier this week, I left work at the end of the day and drove nearly to her school as if to pick her up before remembering that she wasn't there. We made it to a movie theater, but more of our time has been spent at home -- and an embarrassing amount of that time has revolved around discussions about how much we miss her.

As hectic as our lives are when we're operating normally, we'll be so delighted to retrieve her at the end of this week.

Our lives just don't feel right without her here.

Repost: I don't want to throw my kid a birthday party

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


July 18, 2012

I don't want to throw my kid a birthday party.

There, I said it.

My daughter's third birthday is coming up in a couple of months, and family members, friends and other parents all seem to be assuming that I am planning to throw her a birthday party. The small family gatherings we've had in the past were cute, they seem to be saying, but this time she deserves a real big-girl party.

I know all the great things about parties: watching the kids get icing all over themselves, smiles, laughter, the opportunity for parents to say "just this little bit" so they give themselves the excuse to pick up the sugary treats they've been denying themselves all week (or is that just me?). Even my husband has started saying that he'd love for us to throw a party for our daughter because he'd like other parents to buy things for our kid the way we bought things for theirs.

Still, I'm not buying it. This will just be her third birthday, and I'm betting she won't remember it. Also, we've attended a few 3-year-old birthday parties, and it seems as though most of the kids are just barely of an age when they can play together. They sometimes wander off, leaving ostensible playmates behind, and don't always seem to understand the concept of a birthday party.

And, of course, I absolutely hate the idea of having to decide which kids we can invite based on what will be a limited budget. Ideally, we'd invite kiddo's whole school, but that's just not going to happen.

Plus, I like our small family parties. Generally speaking, when it comes to a choice between blowout event and lowkey gathering, I'll always choose the latter. That's in part because I'm at my best in small groups. It's also because I like to minimize chaos in my life -- and there are few things more chaotic than a gaggle of small children.

Oh, and the gift bags. It's a kid's party, not a wedding! I don't recall getting presents for going to other people's parties when I was a kid, but we've walked away from all the kid parties we've attended with gift bags in tow. I have to invite other kids to my daughter's party, get them hopped up on sugar and then send them off with a parting gift? Who came up with this idea?

I continue to resist efforts to begin planning a party, but as the date gets closer, I wouldn't be surprised if the pressure gets stronger. I'll try to stay strong.

Did you throw birthday parties for your small children? What was the experience like?

Repost: Working moms, are you tired of hearing that you "can't have it all"?

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.
This post is from exactly a year ago today.


June 27, 2012

Oh, look, it's another article about how working moms "can't have it all."

Are we tired of this yet? This time, it's from The Atlantic magazine, and it's an article in which Anne-Marie Slaughter, a formerly high-ranking State Department official, goes on at length -- and I do mean At Length -- about how guilty she felt when she quit her job to spend more time with her family. Slaughter said she felt as though she was letting down her family when she was working and wasn't as committed to her career when she was putting as much energy as possible into her family.

She has several prescriptions for women of the generations behind her that she worries might eventually feel as she does. Here's one (I encourage you to read the rest at the link):

Along the way, women should think about the climb to leadership not in terms of a straight upward slope, but as irregular stair steps, with periodic plateaus (and even dips) when they turn down promotions to remain in a job that works for their family situation; when they leave high-powered jobs and spend a year or two at home on a reduced schedule; or when they step off a conventional professional track to take a consulting position or project-based work for a number of years.

Well, yes.

Here's the thing: Most women don't have time to worry about this stuff, because what Slaughter's talking about are the kinds of calculations that women who don't work in careers as high-powered as hers have to perform all the time. When you have kids and need or want to work, you have to constantly prioritize. Moms today understand, implicitly, that it's just a fact that it's really difficult have a high-ranking, highly-paid career and be a helicopter parent -- and we know that this is a challenge for moms and dads. There simply aren't enough hours in the day, and our society doesn't have the institutional support system to allow parents to do that.

The good news is that most working moms (and dads) manage to perform this kind of triage in our daily family and work lives without as much angst as Slaughter. We live our lives day by day, and we know that some days will be better than others. We do the best we can, and many times our best still puts us above and beyond what our families and employers expect from us. On balance, most of us are getting this parenting thing right.

Let's stop putting so much pressure on ourselves.

Repost: Give me serenity to accept that my kid is a picky eater

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


June 13, 2012

Until now, I've been able to deal with my daughter's recent forays into the land of picky eating with equanimity, but I'm now throwing my hands up.

A few days ago, I got the bright idea to make a one-pot meal for my family, and decided to go with something I've made before that we enjoy, an adapted chicken paella recipe..

What could possibly go wrong, right? The paella combines several foods we love in one dish.

Of course something would go wrong -- and of course that would involve my kid.

Kiddo, almost 3, has suddenly decided that she no longer likes rice. Rice is, as she told my husband, "Ewwww."

What? Who doesn't like rice?

Repost: How far would you go to protect your child?

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


June 6, 2012

Like a lot of first-time parents, I wasn't prepared for the depth, fierceness and fullness of the love I felt for my child.

I expected to love her a whole heck of a lot, but I didn't know that love would be so profound that it would sometimes stop me in my tracks. My love is such that there are a lot of things I do for her that I really don't want to do and probably wouldn't do for anyone else, such as attending a Fresh Beat Band concert and singing Bob Marley's 'Three Little Birds' repeatedly.

The love is not, however, so great that I can imagine helping her get away with literal murder.

An Atlanta-area mom who doesn't have my scruples is now set to serve six years in prison for destroying evidence that linked her son to a killing. When Deena Davis, 45, learned that her 17-year-old son and a friend had been involved in the robbery and death of a cabdriver in 2009, she tried to concoct an alibi for him and helped with the destruction of the clothes he had been wearing when he committed the crime. Davis' repeated lies to law-enforcement officers delayed the arrest of her son, Quantavious Harris, by a couple of months, police said. He's since been sentenced to life plus ten years in prison, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

I don't even know where to begin with this. In her place, I think I'd be so horrified that I'd have to turn my kid in to the authorities. I'd call a good defense attorney first, but I'd definitely turn her in.

What makes the story even sadder is that Davis has at least one younger son who has now lost both his older brother and mom to the prison system. I hope there are people in his life who have better decision-making skills and can be the stability he needs. What would you do if your child came to you and said she or he had committed a serious crime? Would you lie for your kid or head straight for the police?

Repost: The best way to wake up a kid

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


May 30, 2012

My kid never wakes up in as awesome a fashion as this little boy.

Repost: Report: Intervention services needed for babies with developmental delays

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


May 23, 2012 If you're worried that your infant doesn't seem to be developing properly but your doctor dismisses your concerns, there's a possibility that you could be right to seek out another opinion.

One out of three babies that does poorly on routine developmental tests does not receive necessary follow-up care, according to a Reuters report.

Extra care, or intervention services, can mean a lot to make a difference for kids who may trail their peers in physical or intellectual development according to the report, which is based on a Stanford University School of Medicine study involving more than 5,000 California children.

"I think it was really shocking to see that... a significant proportion of them weren't getting referrals," Dr. Brian Tang, lead author of the study, said to Reuters.

Children who spent time in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are especially at risk for such delays, the study reported.

Repost: Three cheers for great dads

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


May 16, 2012 Let's hear it for involved dads!

I'm sure you know men who are more involved in their children's lives than their own fathers would ever have dreamed of being -- and the statistics show that those devoted dads are growing in number.

A U.S. Census Bureau report shows that about 32 percent of dads with children younger than 15 are regularly involved in childcare responsibilities, according to the Wall Street Journal.

I know, I know. That's less than a third. Given that barely a quarter of dads could say the same thing ten years ago, though, I think that's a statistic worth praising. As the trend picks up steam, maybe the percentage of dads with routine childcare responsibilities will be up to half by 2022.

The problem for these active dads is that they're now realizing that they have to work at the same things that have concerned their wives all these years: How do you remain a go-getter at work while giving enough time to your kids, maintaining your own health and making sure that your marriage stays fresh? It's never been easy for working moms, and working dads are now finding that the juggle takes more of their time and energy too.

You know what? I'm OK with that. I'm confident that just as women have found ways to rise to that challenge, men will do the same.

Good luck, dads!

Repost: Oh, it's time for the Mommy Wars again?

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


April 18, 2012

If you stay at home with your kids, great. If you do double duty by working outside your home and then do the stuff that keeps your household going in your off-hours, that's great, too.

I could kick Democratic TV pundit and political consultant Hilary Rosen, who single-handedly revived the so-called "Mommy Wars" several days ago when she said Ann Romney, the stay-at-home wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, had "never worked a day in her life."

Ann Romney took umbrage, and the controversy-starved national political media decided to play up this she-said/she-said issue, to the annoyance of those of us who want them to do a better job of reporting tangible, day-to-day news that affects us and our families.

Repost: Teen pregnancies highest in Mississippi

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


April 11, 2012

If you have daughters under 18 in Mississippi and one of them has been pregnant, watch out.

Your other daughters are statistically likely to become pregnant as teens, too.

Mississippi has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the U.S., according to Reuters. And since we already know that teen pregnancy is "contagious" in families, that's why Mississippi parents probably have to worry about these issues more than, say, parents in New Hampshire, where the teen birth rate is lowest.

The Reuters report also explains that U.S. teen birth rates are highest in the South and Southwestern parts of the nation. Although national teen pregnancy rates are actually falling, the U.S. teen birth rate is one of the highest among the world's developed countries.

Repost: Report: Moms who ingest caffeine won't cause infant sleep problems

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


April 4, 2012

This news will be greeted with cheers and whoops of joy by some moms: Researchers have determined that pregnant and nursing moms who ingest caffeine aren't doing any damage to their kids' sleep cycles, according to a Medscape report.

The research comes from a Brazilian study of 885 babies born in 2004. The difference in nighttime wakeups between the babies whose moms ingested caffeine -- even in large amounts -- and the babies whose moms had none was small enough that doctors could chalk it up to chance.

Babies whose moms ingest large amounts of caffeine, which the study quantified as the equivalent of more than three or four cups of coffee daily, may actually develop a tolerance to it.

Repost: Parents in the news: Reminders that you're not so bad

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


March 28, 2012

Sometimes, when I'm feeling overwhelmed or questioning how I'm doing as a parent, I search for news stories about people who are obviously doing much worse as parents than I am.

Call me shallow, but it makes me feel better. Maybe some of these stories will do the same for you, and will be just the thing to let you know today that you're doing OK:

• An Easter egg hunt in Colorado has been canceled because organizers say parents were too pushy at the event last year
• A mom who put her overweight 7-year-old daughter on a diet so restrictive that the mom actually made scenes in public about food and drinks meant for her child has won a book deal to talk about how she did it
• An Illinois couple are accused of forcing their 12-year-old son to do hundreds of pushups and eat screws as punishment
• While playing in a tennis match, Australian professional tennis player Bernard Tomic got so annoyed with his father that he asked an umpire to remove his dad from the stands
• Moms who participated in the Lifetime television network relative show 'Dance Moms' actually permitted their daughters to perform a simulated nude fan dance on camera

Yep, I'm feeling better about myself already!

Repost: On Trayvon Martin and a mom's worst fear

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


March 21, 2012

Although I have obsessively read and re-read news stories about Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old Miami boy shot dead last month by a self-proclaimed neighborhood-watch captain in a Sanford community, I haven't been able to watch any television coverage of his mother speaking about her boy.

That's because Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon's mom, is living one of the things I fear most.

When I learned I was pregnant in early 2009, I told anyone who asked that it didn't matter whether I had a girl or boy. All I wanted, I said, was a healthy child. It wasn't until a sonogram showed the girlchild in my womb that I exhaled a long breath and was able to acknowledge what I'd hardly wanted to admit to myself: I didn't want a boy. I was actually terrified about the prospect of raising a black boy in America.

I was afraid, you see, of what happened to Trayvon. While it's not entirely clear that the man who killed Trayvon was animated by the boy's race, the news reports certainly made me wonder. Trayvon's death at the hands of a man who had reported him to authorities as "suspicious" reminded me of my worry that any educational, social or financial advantages my husband and I could give a hypothetical son might mean nothing in the face of someone who decided our son was a threat.

Repost: Is there something wrong with being a mama's boy?

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Feb. 29, 2012

What's wrong with moms and their sons having close relationships?

I don't have a son, so maybe this is a subject I don't understand, but it seems to me that children and their parents should be closely bonded, so when I hear boys disparaged as "mama's boys," it rubs me the wrong way.

A few days ago, The Wall Street Journal touched on the subject with a story about mothers and sons who get along well and are close. Those boys are none the worse for wear, according to the story:

A study of more than 400 middle school boys revealed that sons who were close to their mothers were less likely to define masculinity as being physically tough, stoic and self-reliant. They not only remained more emotionally open, forming stronger friendships, but they also were less depressed and anxious than their more macho classmates. And they were getting better grades.

Does that sound like good stuff to you? It does to me.

Repost: Are the French better parents?

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Feb. 1, 2012 Have you heard the latest? Apparently Americans are bad parents.

But, wait! Just as they did when they helpfully showed us how not to get fat (despite France's own rising obesity rate), the French apparently have just the right ideas to save us and our children from the silly notions we have about how to live our lives.

The Gallic gallantry comes in the form of Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting, by Pamela Druckerman.

How do the French do it differently, according to Druckerman's 304-page book?

Hold on to your seats. It's mostly by...not spoiling their kids.

Tell me more, French parents!

Seriously, though, parenting is not something that can be taught by manual. It's both more and less complicated than that. Surely what works for one French kid won't work for another, just as what works for one American child or Chinese child or Senegalese child or Canadian child or Peruvian child won't necessarily work for other children in those countries.

Moms and dads, we're on our own. We have to figure out what works for us and our families by trial and error -- and no $17 book can really help us with that process.

[h/t Philadelphia Inquirer]

Jeff Galloway's running program is awesome, and better than I expected

I'm doing Jeff Galloway's running program this session in a bid to (finally!) get myself to a marathon.

One of the people who is also doing the Galloway program summarized a bit of Galloway's inspirational message to all the enrollees last week.

Check out the summary at The Girl's Got Sole.

Top 10 songs about great dads

Today's Moms At Work post is in honor of Father's Day, which is two days away.

Sadly, it's pretty easy to find songs about terrible dads (those songs are practically a genre in and of themselves). Good dads, though? Not so easy, but I found some.

A sample of my post:

We know, dads.

You think there aren't as many songs honoring you as there are songs honoring moms.

You're right -- but there are quite a few.

Read the rest when you can.

Repost: Model walks runway while pregnant

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Jan. 25, 2012

Did you look great during your pregnancy?

I didn't. I was not one of those women for whom pregnancy provided an almost supernatural glow that enhanced my looks. In fact, in the first couple of months of my pregnancy, before I revealed that I was expecting, several people -- strangers and co-workers alike -- told me I didn't look well and asked whether I was ill. Photos taken throughout my pregnancy also reveal that I didn't look good during that time.

I am, as you can imagine, amazed by women who look good while pregnant, so I was fascinated by the pictures of model Alessandra Ambrosio walking the runway in Brazil while five months pregnant.

It even turns out that Ambrosio, who is best known for modeling for Victoria's Secret, walked the runway for the lingerie retailer's famous televised show at the beginning of her second trimester.

Were you at your best during pregnancy, or were you surprised by how it affected your looks?

Repost: Suddenly, my kid has a lot to say

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Jan. 18, 2012

About two years ago, not long after my daughter was born, I told my husband that I couldn't wait until she could talk, so she'd be able to tell us everything she wanted or needed.

Now I'm wondering whether I should have been more specific about my hopes for her verbal abilities.

Now that she's talking (in full sentences, even!) she does almost nothing but tell us what she wants. In theory, I should've known she'd be a talker since my husband and I are chatty people. We're incredibly grateful that she's progressing so well and we get a kick out of having actual conversations with her. We really had no idea it would be like this, though.

One morning last week, she talked nonstop from the moment I woke her up until I dropped her off at school. She lectured our dog about where he could sit down, discussed how much she liked Cheerios, told me I looked nice and talked about shoes, ducks, chickens, bears, cats, trains and trucks. It was exhausting. She did the same that afternoon, chatting nonstop from the time her daddy picked her up from school. She even continued talking to herself for a few minutes until she fell asleep after we turned out the light in her room that night. My husband and I sat in complete stunned silence for several minutes after that just so we could regain our bearings.

I have been reliably informed that she is not actually the chattiest toddler ever to walk the face of the earth, but she must be in the top five.

Repost: Breaking news: Small kids need naps

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Jan. 11, 2012

Every now and then, academia sets out to confirm something so obvious that it almost makes me wonder why researchers spend time and money working on the subject.

It's happened again, this time at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where researchers in the integrative physiology department have proved that toddlers need naps.

Yes, really.

According to Science Daily, a team led by Prof. Monique LeBourgeois found that toddlers who don't get enough sleep are more anxious and respond to frustrations more negatively than kids of the same age who get their naps.

"Just like good nutrition, adequate sleep is a basic need that gives children the best chance of getting what is most important from the people and things they experience each day," LeBourgeois said, according to the report.

Can you imagine what science will confirm for us next? I'm looking forward to the study proving that having kids can be tiring and the one showing that children enjoy playing with toys.

Repost: Even kids complain about too much pink

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Jan. 4, 2012 A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned how upsetting I find it when nearly everything marketed for little girls is pink, pinker and pinkest.

Well, it turns out that even kids find that development upsetting.

Below, see a video of a little girl named Riley complaining about this very matter. Her contention is that both boys and girls like pink and superheroes.

Hear, hear, Riley.

Repost: Shopping for girls is no fun if you're trying to avoid pink

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Dec. 21, 2011

I've just about had it with pink.

If you've done any shopping for any young girls this holiday season, you've noticed that the color pink has vomited all over the girls' aisles in various stores.

Although we generally have very low-key holiday celebrations in our household (our annual Christmas dinner at our favorite restaurant is much more important to us than the handful of presents under the tree), I did shop around for a couple of small items for my daughter.

I hate to shop, but I got over myself for a few minutes earlier this week and popped into a store with the hope of finding a nice squeezable dolly and a couple of outfits to add to her collection. Within seconds of entering the girls section, I nearly overdosed on pink.

I know, I know: this isn't new. Still, it was enough to make me actually walk out of the store that time. Believe it or not, I generally liked pink as a color until I became the mother of a girl. Now I feel as though I'm being force-fed something I once enjoyed.

The saturation of pink is so extreme that when I buy dark-colored, non-gender-specific clothes or toys, I have been known to second- and third-guess myself about whether I'm doing something wrong and will cause her some sort of irreparable psychological damage.

Luckily, I usually snap out of it. Usually.

Is there anything that annoys you about items targeted toward your child's gender or age group?

Repost: More holiday recipes -- a twist on banana bread and a yummy lasagna

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Dec. 7, 2011

Still trying to come up with what to serve for holiday dinners? Like my co-blogger Lisa Cianci, who posted a recipe for a white garlic lasagna I plan to try next week, I also have some suggestions.

I hope you enjoy banana-cranberry-bourbon bread and butternut sage lasagna as much as my family does.

Sometime in late 2009, a woman I'd started following on Twitter posted a link to a banana-cranberry-bourbon bread recipe on her website that she'd adapted, tried and found to be delicious. I baked it that night, and it has since become a holiday-season staple in my household.

BANANA CRANBERRY BOURBON BREAD

3 to 4 ripe, smashed bananas

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon bourbon

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch of ground cloves

1 1/2 cup of flour

1 cup fresh cranberries

Preheat your oven to 350. Mix butter into smashed bananas and then mix in sugar and all of your wet ingredients, followed by the spices. Add flour, salt, baking soda. Stir in cranberries. Pour into greased 4"x8" loaf pan. Bake for an hour. Cool, remove from pan and serve.

Mississippi Gov. Bryant antagonizes working moms

I wrote a post for Moms At Work today about Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant's comments today in which he blamed working moms for the "mediocre" U.S. education system.


Read: Blaming working moms won't help solve education problems.

Repost: Toddlers: Put on Earth to make parents say ridiculous things

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Nov. 30, 2011

Why didn't anybody tell me that becoming a parent would mean I'd start saying completely ridiculous things?

My 2-year-old has absolutely no grasp of normal human logic, and in order to get through to her, I find myself saying things that make no sense.

Things like:

• Please don't comb the plant with your fork
• Please don't put your feet on the table
• We don't put our shoes in our mouths
• Please don't stir your water with your fork
• Don't stand on the dog (this is, unfortunately, something my husband and I say regularly)
• Why do you have rice on your forehead?
• No, I don't want to wear the pull-up. Pull-ups are not for mommies
• We don't generally celebrate birthdays for plants, so you don't have to tell the trees 'happy birthday'
• Please don't put the crackers in your pocket

One recent afternoon, I realized I hadn't said anything that would make sense to a normal person in more than two hours and wondered if I might be going stark raving mad. It might make more sense sometimes if we just read words from the dictionary at random.

What ridiculous things do you find yourself saying to your children?

Overnight oatmeal!

I was just thinking that I'd like to have oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow morning, and it occurred to me that I hadn't made overnight oats in a while.


I need to rectify that situation immediately.


Recipes:


http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/06/skinny-overnight-oats-in-jar.html


http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/overnight-oatmeal


http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal



BRB.

Repost: The tale of the mommy, the locked door and the kitchen window

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Nov. 16, 2011

Once upon a time (two days ago), in a land far, far away (my neighborhood), there lived a mommy, a daddy and a 2-year-old girl.

As the sun was setting on this particular day, the mommy remembered that she hadn't watered the plants she was growing in pots on the deck of the family's home, so she filled a pitcher with water, opened the back door and walked outside. She expected the 2-year-old girl to follow. Instead, the girl closed the door and, to the mommy's surprise, locked it. The mommy was barefoot. The daddy wasn't due home from work for another hour and the mommy's phone was inside the house. The mommy stood at the French door and tried, for nearly 15 minutes, to convince the girl to unlock the door.

At one point, as the sky grew darker and the mommy grew more panicked, the little girl walked away from the back door. About a minute later, the girl returned to the door with a family-size bag of tortilla chips the mommy had foolishly left within the girl's reach on the kitchen counter. The girl stood at the back door, munching away and watching with a quizzical expression on her face as the mommy tried to instruct her on how to unlock the door.

The mommy thought about trying to go to neighbor's house, but the little girl grew agitated when the mommy walked away from the door.

Something had to be done. The mommy walked over to the kitchen window and pulled at the screen, ripping half of it away. She then discovered that the kitchen window was not locked and made a mental note to thank the daddy for resisting her maniacal nagging about locking all the windows and doors at all times (just this once!). The mommy opened the window and climbed through it, scraping her legs and a finger and landing in the kitchen sink.

The girl was unfazed.

The mommy considered selling the girl to the circus. Instead, the mommy sat down and laughed.

The best and worst things about Florida summers

... are the afternoon storms.

Repost: How do the Duggars find time for 20 kids?

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Nov. 9, 2011

I make a general effort to avoid knowing much about the so-called stars of reality television, but since I'm not completely oblivious to pop culture, even I have heard of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar.

They're the Arkansas couple who have become famous for supporting their incredibly large family on the paychecks they receive from the TLC reality show "19 Kids and Counting." The Duggars have just announced that Michelle, 45, is pregnant with their 20th child.

Twentieth. The mind boggles. Well, my mind does.