Two Plus Two Makes For...

Twilight Turtle

2011-05-26T07:06:00.001-07:00

We were taking the twins on vacation and I was franticly making lists, organizing items, and wondering how I could best recreate their near-to-perfect nighttime routine so far away from home. For at home, we were blessed with an easy and tear-free bedtime, at the same time, seven-thirty every night.

For our (Ok, my own) survival the first years, I constructed a veritable fortress of routines, schedules, familiar items, playlists, flavors, aromas and sceneries. Their lives were choreographed like a Disney sponsored Broadway play, and even in that script, storms raged and meltdowns ensued. But I had a scaffold of sameness that I held us up with and leaned on when times got tough. Sameness was a shelter, a shell that kept us humming happily down to nod at the end of every day.

Still in cribs, but destined to stay in big beds on this trip, their crib toys had one by one gone the way of burned out motors. I’d utilized them to create a sense of familiarity when we stayed at my mothers, the only other place they had spent a night. I searched the internet for something similar, something fun that would last as they got a little older, and there it was, Twilight Turtle.

Turtles seem protected to me, self-sufficient, and calm. Perhaps that is why I have always been drawn to them, a totem of my youth, constantly telling myself to “slow down” while I carried a satchel filled with whatever I would need if I became lost to my home, adrift in the world on some grand adventure.

This little guy (I haven’t asked my kids what gender it is, so I will just defer to the masculine since he seems like a “little guy” to me), casts a starry night sky with eight constellations onto the ceiling, in a choice of three colors: orange, blue or green. He shuts off after 45 minutes, and he makes three AAA batteries feel like it’s the good old days when batteries actually lasted, or perhaps I was just young then and time seemed like it lasted a lot longer.

The first night we had him, we asked what color they wanted the stars to be. Favorite colors are a big deal when you are two, so we negotiated orange for him one night, green for her the next. We made it through the vacation, granted we ate dinner listening to them howl on a baby monitor before rushing back down to get them settled again. But eventually Star Turtle, as he came to be named, settled in to a constant shade of green. So much so that we started a game of asking, “orange?” to screams of “NO!!!”, “blue?” again the “NOOOO!” and always laughing back to green and a good night, sleep tight, and we promised to stop saying anything about those nasty bedbugs, love you g’night.

Strangely, it only occurred to me as I sat down to write this, that when asked what my favorite color was by my children, I decided on green. Mommy’s favorite color from then on has been green; green playing pieces in games, green cups if there is a selection, and my daughter is usually the one who makes certain I have my color. She is specific like that. Personally, I like all of the colors, but when you are dealing with the concrete minds of children, sometimes it’s easier to just pick a lane.

Last night my daughter told her Daddy that she’s older now and she doesn’t really need the stars anymore, but brother likes them so they can stay for awhile. They have a divided room with a wall that doesn’t go all the way up to the ceiling, so we balance the Star turtle on the dividing wall and they can both see the stars at night. He has a scratched shell, the casing around the green button has fallen into the body and rattles around and you have to really poke your finger in there to turn him on. But for four years he has given us our own night sky, dependable, familiar, and green. And I will probably save him and turn the stars on long after my children have grown.

My new site: www.mothervoices.com

2011-05-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

My local writing group has formed a new literary website. Six mothers, all writers, sharing their take on a weekly theme. I expect some excellent writing exploring motherhood and creativity. Please check us out on (m)other voices
Happy day after Mother's Day!
- Jen

Creative prompts

2011-02-18T06:42:00.000-08:00

I feel like I am a living example of what parenting can do to creative output!

Fortunately, The Word Cellar is offering 30 days of writing prompts starting this Monday. My writing group and I are giving it a go, in the hopes that a daily exercises will lead to better writing habits and a more artistically fertile end to Winter.

If you feel like you could use a creative nudge, please join us!

Adventure Aquarium Cabin Fever

2011-02-13T16:05:00.000-08:00

February 19 and 20, online tickets can be purchased for admission to Adventure Aquarium for only $15, and can be used through April 10th.
Good deal!

ZUMBA

2010-12-29T17:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, I first discovered Zumba at Gold's Gym when it was in marchwood. And I LOVED it. My husband asked if I would wear the funny pants, and I asked him how he knew about the pants? He was referring to the chef's pants popularized in the, what was it, the 90's?

Anyway, I admit, I bore easily. Sculpt classes find me watching the clock. But I really need to be active, it helps my mind as much as my body. And now that I have broached the mid life marker of forty (gasp), I saw that the slope to a larger pant size was getting slippery.

So after a fall of trying to save money and work out on my own (HA!), I did a search and realized that my favorite Zumba instructor has her own studio on 113 in Chester SPrings, pretty close to where I live.

Love 2 Be Fit

I dropped in for a class and the magic was back. It is the best workout I know of, and so much fun. I always get a feeling of complete acceptance and empowerment, even when I am flailing around, missing steps and just keeping up with a new routine. And the endorphins are absolutely the best. I came home, my husband went out, and I still rode cheerfully through two Kindergarten post holiday melt downs and settled everyone in enough for a reading of When We Were Six.

They have 6pm classes most weeknights, and are adding more morning classes as well. Seriously - it is worth a try. Here's to a fun and healthier 2011!!

Tumblebooks

2010-12-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

Have you checked out the Tumblebooks page on the Chester County Library site? Interactive books and games for kids, free and easy!

Fa la la la la

2010-12-05T14:10:00.000-08:00

This week we're heading up to Koziar's Christmas Village. I have never been, but five-year-olds love lights.

Last week we went to Hershey Park's Christmas Village - that was really nice, we caught a not-to-cold day... still, all kiddie rides are open, as well as the skylift and monorail where you can check out their wonderful light displays... and who can resist Santa's REAL reindeer?

Yesterday, my Mom and I took the kids up to NYC, my daughter checked out the American Girl Doll Store and then it was off to Top of the Rock, Lego land and lunch at Mars 2112... a space themed eatery on Broadway... however, be warned, the ambiance is Kindergarten fabulous but the food is pretty awful! We finally found the only Mac n' cheese my son refuses to eat.

It was tough being in New York, being a food lover, and having to dine on unpalettable overpriced fare, but my kids loved it, and it was their first trip to the big apple.

Parenting, right? I never knew I'd do the things I do!

Funny...

2010-10-28T12:18:00.001-07:00

Rants from Mommyland

Saturday happs

2010-09-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

This Saturday - Springton Manor Farm family fun day 11am - 3pm, only $5 a car to park.

Also the St. Matthews Children's consignment sale in Chester Springs on route 401, from 8am-12pm, it is always a good one!

Comment with more if you like!

Tuesdays for a dollar at DE Museum of Natural History

2010-08-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

Tuesdays are only $1.00 this month at the Delaware Museum of Natural History!

Summer daze

2010-07-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

Posting? Me? Why has it been so long? I suspect it has something to do with sharing my life online now that my kids are older, 5 1/2, and aware not only of what I do but of what people think about it. That said, I am getting over that hurdle.

Summer, a time to go into scheduling hyper-drive for anyone home with children. School's out and the hours lay there, wide open, to explore, savor and, yes, fill. Last summer sort of took me by surprise. I hadn't really planned much, and suddenly my kids were staring at me for another craft project or story read or idea os any sort that would make their day... and let's remember a day in their life stretches so much infinately longer than a day in ours... fun.

So this year, we had a beach trip, summer camp at the Y, a month of gymnastics class, free movies at the cinema, now a few days of karate camp. It has been much smoother. But hey, they are older. I can let them go out into the yard without staring at them the entire time... they have bikes to learn to ride, butterflies to try and catch. And we did get a couple of chickens. No eggs so far but they eat almost anything, so chicken feeding is now a cherished activity.

Tomorrow we're attending the last free children's program at the Brandywine River Museum (apologies for not posting about it sooner). They do an excellent job and I highly recommend you jot it down on your to do list for next summer.

OK, I need to get on that what's for dinner train. Chat soon!

My new FB friend

2010-05-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

Simply Sienna Blog

This blog has moved

2010-03-26T06:13:00.001-07:00

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Jelly Belly Shop - Superfruit Mix - 5.9 oz bag

2010-03-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

Jelly Belly Shop - Superfruit Mix - 5.9 oz bag

Throwing streamers

2010-03-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

I really outdid myself with the twin's fifth birthday party. I felt like Kate from that train wreck of a show on TLC.

After postponing Disney indefinately, we decided that we'd have pony rides at the party, and I invited the entire preschool class. The weather was perfect, I think most everyone had a good time. But as my husband and I raced around that morning, blowing up more balloons and revisiting the rules of 'balloon stomp' and 'pin the tail' games, (we still forgot the blind folds), he looked over at me and said, "let's never do this again".

And I felt the same way. It was so much work, and the kids, I think they had a great time, but they were so overstimulated that there were a few less than pretty moments. And I was so busy hosting, I barely got two photos and didn't get to see my own kids ride the ponies. I felt like I was trying to make time stand still by throwing streamers at it.

The gift opening, despite my best efforts, still turned into a free for all where cards, carefully selected and decorated, got thrown aside as they ripped into wrapping paper, and I frantically tried to write down who gave who what.

I do it at Christmas too. I work so hard, trying to make 'perfect' memories (yes, I realize how ridiculous that is). And ultimately, I end up stressed and exhausted, and they get overwhelmed and overindulged. And I know, as I am doing it, that it is my own fear of missing something. Or some attempt to make up for the times I yelled at them or had to be the big downer voice of reason.

But is it better to stop trying? I guess we'll just do what we do and deal with any mistakes later on when we are called out on them. Parenthood is, well, you know, it's challenging, on levels that haven't been challenged before. You can't hand it in all typed up like a term paper and get a grade. You can't follow a recipe, as the ingredients keep changing.

At five, life is easier in a lot of ways. But I am seeing how it evolves, into something much more complex and dynamic that it was when food and sleep were the main issues.

And as I type this, I know, I'll keep trying. I'll try to remain calm, try to keep things flowing and expectations low, but I am too hands on not to plan and execute. I guess I'll hear all about it when they turn 15. Until then, pass the streamers.

Huge clothing sale March 13th

2010-03-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

Chester County Mothers of Multiples
Semi--Annual Sale
Saturday, March 13, 2010
9 a.m. til Noon
The School at Church Farm (CFS)
1001 East Lincoln Highway
Exton, P.A.
Check out our selection of gently used items, including:
clothes
toys
books
nursery Items
outdoor play equipment
car seats
strollers
maternity clothing
and much, much more!
We accept Cash and Personal Checks for purchases.
We do not accept Credit Cards.
For additional information and directions, please visit our website at

and click on “Clothing Sale.”

S'no fun

2010-02-26T09:15:00.001-08:00

Another snow day? Are you kidding me? And this snow isn't even fun to play in... it's blown on high winds over hard, dirt encrusted old snow sprinkled throughout with dog poop land mines.

And as we all struggle to remain entertained and active on yet another cancelled day of school, I find myself staring longingly at the kindergarten registration papers.

Days like this are filled with highs and lows. When I get us all sculpting with clay I feel like a success, and then when two almost-five-year-olds melt down in tears and a cacophony of whining because they cannot perfectly render the visions they had in mind for their artistic creations, I end up leaving the room to calm myself down.

I do not think perfectionists are setting themselves up for a happy life. Nothing is perfect, and to believe it can be is to be ultimately disappointed, philosophically, right? However, I want them to want to achieve great things. Where is the line? How do you teach flexibility? Yoga classes? Are there workbooks for this?

Anyway, I have them settled for the moment on a Leappad and a Vtech art desk and am appeasing the guilt I feel for not posting more often. I want to, but day to day seems to leave less and less time for a simple email or phone call. Time is flying by and I can barely keep on top of the basics, like groceries and laundry.

I remember processing patents for high tech companies, and while I felt pressured and at times overwhelmed, I never had this degree of combined stress, overwork and an underlying sense of failing a little at everything. I know, I know, the woes of the stay at home mom, but seriously... I never thought it'd be this hard, mentally.

Could it be that this sense of failure is my own perfectionist streak rearing it's ugly head? The apple doesn't fall far, as they say. So, I suppose the lesson here is to be easier on myself, and through example, teach my kids to be more lighthearted in their own lives.

So, who cares that my bedroom looks like the fallout zone from a recent civilian uprising, or that my husband and I have eaten so many chicken nuggets in the last four years that we both have to battle high cholesterol? It's a snow day, the light in the winters of children throughout the western world... and damnit, I am sure there is more fun to be had. And my son just called in to me from the other room. He said, "Mommy?"
"What?" I answered, distractedly.
"I love you."

Brandywine Museums FREE day

2010-01-23T06:42:00.000-08:00

Seven participating attractions of the Brandywine Museums & Gardens Alliance offer FREE admission this Sat., Jan. 23:

· Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, PA
· Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
· Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, Wilmington
· Delaware History Museum, Wilmington
· Hagley Museum & Library, Wilmington
· Rockwood Museum, Wilmington, and
· Winterthur Museum & County Estate, Winterthur, DE.

In addition to Free Museum Day, you can enjoy free admission to the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover, DE every day, and the Delaware Art Museum waives admission fees every Sunday.

Prince and the Princess

2009-12-01T06:05:00.000-08:00

Two four-year-olds, brother and sister, a morning to play dress up.

The game is Prince and the Princess... a slight spin from Mom and Dad, because in Mom and Dad they take care of animals and go on trips. In P&P, the Prince tries to fight off dragons and monsters while the Princess attempts to set up a wedding ceremony in her plastic high heels, yelling at the Prince to stop swinging his sword around.
Hhhmmmm.
Perhaps I have overdosed them on Disney?
Time will tell.

I read an interesting book called The Sixties, in which the author reminisced about starting up an alternative school in London, and of how they believed in free form education. They were rebelling against the soul crushing uniforms and endless memorization of the straight schools.

And then she said that in her sixties now, looking back after raising her own child, she can see that the mind develops over time, and that a small child cannot get through all of the conceptual layers at once. So it is actually preferable to have them memorize. She sees that it is really, more helpful in the long run to just get the rules of grammar and mathematics down, as tools to use later, because they have the rest of their lives to ponder the deeper meanings of things.

And the days get shorter

2009-10-28T08:08:00.000-07:00

“Mommy, are their skeletons in that graveyard?”

“Yep.”

“Will they get up and walk around?”

“No, no – that only happens in stories.”

“So they are just bones?”

“That’s right.”

(2 hours later)

“Mama, do you go to school?”

“Oh, I did, but I am finished now.”

“Our school?”

“No, I lived in a different town, so I went to a school out there.”

“You lived with Mommom?”

“Yes.”

“In her house?”

“No, we lived in a different house back then.”

(2 hours later)

“Are we moving mama?”

“No sweetie, we don’t have any plans to right now. Why?”

“I don’t want to move. You moved as a little girl, right? (pause) I want to keep our dog.”

“Honey, if we moved, we would take her with us.”

“How?”

“In a truck, we would pack everything up and take it all with us.”

“Who would live here? New people?”

“That’s right.”

“And we would go live in their house?”

“Well, we wouldn’t swap… we’d probably be in a different house.”

(4 hours later – bedtime)

“Mommy!!” (sobbing)

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to grow up!!”

“What? Oh, honey, why?”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

“You don’t have to leave me. You can stay as long as you like.”

“But you left Mommom.”

“That was my choice. Maybe you might change your mind when you get older. You can do anything you want to do sweetie.”

“I don’t want to grow up! How do I stop it?”

“Well, you can’t. But it takes a long, long time… just go slowly and enjoy where you are now.”

H1N1, not in my house

2009-10-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

Shots.
My kids hate them.

Last year, at four, I thought we were over the screaming agony, but I was very, very wrong. They recovered by the time we got home, but their absolute wailing and screams of terror flooded the first floor of Paoli Hospital with echoing gloom.

So, here I admit that I really was going to blow off the flu shot this year. Why go through all of that, since they are big enough now that the flu, while unpleasant, would probably not be life threatening?

I was generally ignoring the whole H1N1 thing - especially since no one had the vaccination anyway. My reservations ranged from an aversion to medication in general when not completely necessary, and a mistrust of media hype surrounding things we are 'supposed to be afraid of'.

However, as more and more cases cropped up in Downingtown, not Mexico, not New York, but right here in my hometown, I did my homework:

Guillain Barre syndrome, it turns out, can also be caused by contracting the flu, so I ticked that off of my list of concerns, along with the one in a million chance of it happening anyway.

All reports verify that the mercury levels are as safe as eating a big helping of fish.

...And my pediatrician called to say that they have the nasal spray available. So when they asked if we would like to come in next Friday for dose one, I stared down at the letter from our preschool reporting that they have one case verified (and would we all please keep any possibly ill children at home?),
I said absolutely.

Sticking it to you

2009-09-28T13:37:00.000-07:00

Isn't there some joke about certain people enjoying any food served on a stick? Well, apparently it applies to my children. Grandma turned them on to corn dogs (ick!), so after school in a panic to make people happy, I skewered a couple of hot dogs onto bamboo skewers and voila! happy four year olds! We then moved on to rolls on a stick, PBnJ sandwich squares on a stick.... I think I am on to something here. Next - broccoli on a stick!

So, a lot of parents I know are freaking out about the date change for kindergarten enrollment. it used to be 5 by 9/30, now it is 5 by 9/1... what did my friend at preschool say today? FOUR years of preschool seems a bit much, doesn't it? Her son has a 9/9 Bday date and she just got the news.

I am lucky that way, we are March Bdays here, so no gray area. But what to do for the rest? Further consideration had me leaning toward two or three days of preschool, and then, hey, take advantage of the time to offer your child karate lessons, or swim lessons or a combination of skill building things they would otherwise be too busy for. Granted, there's the financial issue, but do what you can do, right?

Sticky situations abound... and I know, preschool and K are now considered the blocks upon which educations are built. But I am of the opinion that life lessons can come from anywhere, a preschool teacher may have some, but there are always other avenues to be explored.

Trade in old baby gear for toy coupons

2009-08-26T05:17:00.000-07:00

Toys R Us trade in on baby gear

I just saw this on Good Day Philly... Goodwill doesn't take strollers, so it is a nice alternative.

A relevant review I wrote went live today on Feminist Review.org

2009-08-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

Just Like Family: Inside the Lives of Nannies, the Parents They Work for, and the Children They Love

By Tasha Blaine

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Like Tasha Blaine, I once took a job working as a nanny. Also like the author, I thought it would be a relatively easy gig that would allow me the freedom to write while working in a nice, supportive environment. We both quickly realized that working as a nanny is one of the most intense, draining, undervalued, and emotionally taxing jobs in our modern society.

In Just Like Family, Blaine combines her personal insights, her MFA, and several years of research to closely follow the lives of three different nannies in three different cities over the course of one year. The portraits she paints read more like a novel than the sociological study they really are, and that makes her book as entertaining as it is informative. There is Claudia, a young mother who came to New York City from Dominica and still dreams of a career in nursing; Vivian, a college educated career nanny in Massachusetts running for nanny of the year; and Kim, a nanny with twenty years of experience who accepted a live-in position in Texas on the eve of her second divorce.

It is the intimacy of these stories that make the book so compelling. That level of absorption allows a unique opportunity for Blaine to educate readers about how complicated it is to work in such an emotionally intense environment. A nanny is not only charged with raising young children, but must navigate the complexities of another family from the inside, all the while enduring the stresses and hardships of a primary care giver in a society that still holds childcare near the bottom rung of the economic food chain.

Whether or not to have children, and then how to go about raising them, will be a central issue of feminism as long as a feminist movement is necessary. Childcare is simply not very highly valued here in the United States. It is not monetarily valued, and it is not socially valued. The author Ann Crittendon said that someone once asked of her, “Didn’t you used to be Ann Crittendon?” when she was home with her first child. I know how she felt.

When I decided to stay home with my twins, I found that even those closest to me suddenly treated me as though I’d died and been mysteriously replaced by a cardboard mommy cutout. Having no idea how completely consuming it is taking care of small children, they assumed my sudden loss of interest in pop culture (and personal hygiene) must have had more to do with my giving up on life than with not having time to spare for it.

There is a widespread cultural bias against the work of childcare that completely ignores how much time and energy it takes to raise a child. And in a culture where human resource and intellect is fast becoming the most important currency, it is astonishing that childcare is dismissed as something less than absolutely crucial to our survival. If I could afford a nanny, believe me I’d have one, but I’d be a much better employer for having read this book.

Review by Jen Wilson Lloyd

Farewell not oft-used enough treehouses

2009-07-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

I finally got the nerve up to drop my kids at the Giant grocery store 'Kid's Treehouse' play area a few weeks ago.

It was an entirely new experience shopping without the constant back and forth dialogue we usually have about who is hitting who and what snack items we can and cannot purchase and why we won't go to the aisle with the princess stuff.

Well, today I rolled in, jubilant that I had convinced my kids to play there again, and a sign was posted announcing the closure of (almost) all of the treehouse locations as of July 30th. I think Morgantown and one other (too far to justify a drive for us) will remain open.

Too little, too late for me I am afraid.

Campus Outreach Services

2009-06-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have not been very prolific here of late... but I have a great reason. I found some contract employment! Very, very part time work-from-home writing assignments, but still - in this climate, I am fortunate. And not only in just having projects to work on, but even more fortunate in how I feel about the employer.

Campus Outreach Services is an organization that you may or may not have heard of. If you have a senior in high school, they probably had Katie Koestner speak to their class this year. Ask them. If they did not, find out why their school is not offering these presentations.

Before taking on some assignments for COS, I went and heard Katie speak to Downingtown West's seniors. Unlike the students, I had an idea of what they were about to witness... but like them, I was astounded at the relevance, the poignancy and the power of the live presentation.

I am sure I will be blogging a bit more about this in the future, but for now, I just wanted to share what has kept me so busy and why I am so excited to be involved with it.

summertime stuff

2009-05-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

Here is my local list for the free kid movies this summer... Downingtown Stadium 16 100 Quarry Road Downingtown ,PA 19335-3062 610-518-3404
06/23/2009-06/24/2009	Curious George (G)
	Kung Fu Panda (PG)
06/30/2009-07/01/2009	Mr. Bean's Holiday (G)
	Spiderwick Chronicles (PG)
07/07/2009-07/08/2009	Wallace And Gromit (G)
	Evan Almighty (PG)
07/14/2009-07/15/2009	Clifford (G)
	Barnyard (PG)
07/21/2009-07/22/2009	Charlotte's Web (G)
	Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG)
07/28/2009-07/29/2009	Horton Hears A Who (G)
	Inkheart (PG)
08/04/2009-08/05/2009	Space Chimps (G)
	Surf's Up (PG)
08/11/2009-08/12/2009	Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G)
	Star Wars: Clone Wars (PG)
08/18/2009-08/19/2009	The Tale Of Despereaux (G)
	Water Horse: Legend Of The Deep (PG) Also, I just found out that the YMCA offers summer only memberships, WOW!

Confessions of a mother about Mother's Day

2009-05-07T07:32:00.001-07:00

It's almost Mother's Day again... and once again I admit, sheepishly, that what I'd really like for Mother's Day is a day off. Horrible right?

And then I realize that I can't exactly tell my kids that I don't want to have Mother's Day dinner with them as they give me their little hand made cards and say "Happy Mother's Day" in their best party-time voices (well, that may be wishful thinking, but you know what I mean).

I love my kids. I mean I practically worship them, seriously, I miss them when they are at preschool for 2 hours, I really do. But as the seven days a week, twenty four hours a day go by week after week, month after month, I am slowly coming to terms with the enormity of it all.

I am realizing that it will never end, it will only change. I will never, in any way, return to the person I used to be, because they will always be in my mind and heart, wherever they are, no matter what happens from here on out.

People used to tell me that four was the magic number. "Oh yes, those terrible twos are difficult, but when they turn four they will transform into compliant, delightful creatures, just wait!"

It is great.

But they are hardly compliant.
Delightful, yes, but the challenges become more complex. Now it is more than "no", now it is the "why not?", and "but last time you said...", and " Well if I can't have it then I'm moving to grandma's".

I remember when the twins were small(er), telling mothers of older children how hard it was, and seeing in their eyes sympathy, but also something more, something I didn't understand at the time. (And yes, I was a bit of a whiner)

Well I get it now.
What I saw there was a silent "just wait".

They heard what I was saying, but they also knew it wasn't going to get easier, and in fact the dynamics of motherhood get trickier as your children grow up. Sure, it is frustrating to negotiate snack time with a four year old, but I can only imagine negotiating the social life of a teenager, or trying to find the proper amount of space to keep from an adult child, or for that matter, a daughter-in-law.

So this Mother's Day I will be with my family, making sure that they are as happy as they can be. Because this Mother's Day, at four, my children really do want to be with me.
I'll take it while I can.
Enjoy!

Chester County Moms blog

2009-04-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

Chester County Moms - is a good local blog, (more frequently updated than mine! Sorry!) and their calendar is awesome - check it out for spring break activity ideas for your little ones.

Bouncing 'round the room

2009-03-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I took the kids to West Chester’s campus to see a children’s concert offered by the Kennett Symphony Orchestra. Admission was free, so we got there about thirty minutes early.

I wasn’t sure how the twins would do, but at nearly four, I want to expose them to more forms of art and music. The promise of dancers in costume seemed reason enough to brave the journey.

Even walking the campus was an eye opening experience, as they marveled over the architecture and sculptures on the grounds. I have to say that I have lived in quite a few places, and West Chester really is a charming town. The campus has details I had not noticed before, slate roofs and stonework that make for a nice Sunday stroll with the family.

Realizing that it might be a challenge for the kids to sit still for the show, I allowed each of them to bring a toy. My daughter packed a small game in her backpack, and my son wanted to carry a transparent, bouncy rubber ball. Sure, why not? He promises to keep it with him.

We are in a phase of “favorite toys”. At this age, everything is over the top, high drama. Whatever toy they latch onto that day is their “favorite toy EVER”, even if it is a paper clip or an empty camera case. The favorites change from day to day, but for some reason continually get lost or left in pockets or stores or toilet bowls.

Before the concert began, we sat there: Grand mom, the kids and I, reading the program aloud, trying to entertain them and avoiding a mutiny. Then it happened.

“Mommy, my ball!!!”

I felt my stomach sink as I looked under the seats, then up over rows ahead of us. My mom and I got up and searched, a valiant effort, I thought, for such a minor object. But it was the focus object of the day so we persisted. Finally, I had to tell him that it was lost. And I could not help myself… I reminded him that he had promised to hold onto it.

He started to tear up… and just then someone four rows down and ten seats over held up the ball and said, “did anyone lose this?” Eureka!

I thanked her profusely, so happy that the concert hadn’t started yet, and gave it back to him. (you see my mistake, don’t you?) We settled in, expecting the show to start any moment, when I heard it again. “Mommy, my ball!!!”

“Are you kidding me?!” I said, out loud.

I wanted to leave it. I told him it was gone. I wasn’t looking for it again, the show was going to start any moment. He started crying. I started looking. Not my proudest parenting moment, but then I saw it… only a few rows ahead at the foot of a Daddy who was busily texting on his iphone while his son nodded at me that he saw it too. I interrupted the text and had him pass me the ball….

Elated, my son balked when I informed him that if he was going to hold onto it any longer he had to put it in his pocket and keep it there. And yes, I was being generous. But he did it, and I only caught it out of pocket once, to which he hurriedly returned it to its enclosure on threat of confiscation.

The concert was really wonderful… beautiful music, informative, and the dancers did an excellent job.

But we would have had better luck not arriving so early. By the end they were both asking if it was over yet, and loudly whispering, “can we go now?” But I know they’ll remember it, and maybe next year we’ll pack drawing pads instead of bouncy balls.

And then I heard them announce that a musical petting zoo was available up front for everyone to enjoy after the show. That is a petting zoo of musical instruments you can touch, not actual animals as I had glanced at the flyer and told my kids earlier that day trying to psyche them up.

“I thought you said REAL animals?!” My daughter shouted, stomping her foot.

Huge clothing sale March 14th

2009-02-24T14:51:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars... the CCMOMC semi annual clothing and equipment sale will be at the Church Farm School on route 30 in Exton this year -

Saturday, March 14th, from 9am-noon.

Items encompass everything from Maternity Clothing to Outdoor Play Equipment. If a Baby, Toddler, Child or Expectant Mother needs it, wears it or wants it.....WE HAVE IT!

The perfect Valentine's gift

2009-02-20T08:41:00.000-08:00

Can you guess?
For Valentine's Day my wonderful hubby watched the kids so that I could go up to Brooklyn and spend a deliciously decadent evening with my BFF.

Dinner at a French bistro, drinks at a hip hang out, window shopping at boutiques I could never afford but still enjoy browsing through. (Ah the feel of really, really fine fabrics).

Never say romance is dead!

How to open a juice box without even spilling

2009-02-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

Pull those two side "flaps" up and out at the top of the juice box, give it "wings" and it won't spill when a child grabs it!

Back home, and happy

2009-02-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

The night before we flew to Miami, my daughter threw up all over her room. Her father stepped in a puddle of it and had a hard time not joining the party himself. She amazes me, though. A few hours later, she said she had to use the potty, and as I sat with her I watched her throw up into her closed mouth, hold her hand over it, wide-eyed, and then she gulped it back down with so much effort her shoulders rolled forward and then back. It was totally unecessary, excrutiating to watch, and yet still absolutely heroic in a reality television sort of way. I did have a sudden pang of guilt about whether I had made her believe that the bathroom floor was so incredibly important that such measures needed to be taken to keep it clean, but you can only do what you can do, some decisions they make for themselves.

By Friday morning, she felt so sick that she barely said goodbye as we left her and her brother with their grandparents for their first ever sleep over. It broke my heart. She had been SO excited... and now she just listlessly waved goodbye.

When our flight landed it began to rain. I realized than that the warm water snorkeling I had been dreaming of might not become reality. But we made the best of it. The Bahamas were a little chilly. Mid sixties until the sun warmed the beach. But hey, it was January - and I guess that would explain all of the sales!

Honestly, we had a grand time anyway. And when you have a blast despite most plans being changed (or cancelled like the entire day at a private beach), you know you can have a blast anywhere.

We were only gone for close to four days, and by Monday morning I was so ready to come back and see the kids that I had a nightmare that we had missed our flight. Funny, but I used to travel for weeks at a time and get depressed when I got home, and now, well, a weekend was plenty. And I did enjoy myself and kick back and I didn't stress about them. I just honestly missed them, puke and all.

Cruisin' for a boozin'

2009-01-27T13:18:00.000-08:00

About a week before Christmas, I was sitting at the Exton mall playground sort of mulling life over when I saw a sign advertising a 3 night cruise to the Bahamas for $149. One hundred and forty-nine dollars??!!! Even I can afford THAT.

I had been considering planning a trip, a weekend away. I never thought of myself as a "Cruise" person, whatever that is (visualizing Love Boat meets The Golden Girls with spring break undertones). I began researching 'all inclusives', airfare to Jamaica, I mean I used to be a mosquito net, backpack kind of traveller, so I figured I could get us "away" on the cheap without resorting to a cruise.
Well.... I couldn't, not for that price and not getting away with only being away for a weekend and having meals and N/A beverages included. Anywhere else the airfare either tripled the cost or the time en route made it almost not worth going.

So, I booked a cruise. I had an elaborate scheme to have a different person stay overnight with the kids each night so they could stay in their own beds, while they spent days with my in laws... but when I called my MIL she said she wanted them to stay there for the weekend. After making certain she was absolutely SURE, I agreed.

I then had a series of panic attacks about the house burning down and them falling out of bed and cracking heads open. These were shortly followed by more anxiety regarding my husband and my ability to get along for a weekend alone.

We have spent so much time being there for the kids, working as a child raising team, that it suddenly seemed alien, the thought of us waking to days of quality time together. Would we have much to say? Would we even LIKE each other without the foil of children constantly there? And after all of that, I began to get really, really excited. So we are leaving for our first weekend away from the kids on Friday.

I thought the Bahamas would be a good tropical location. I have been sorting tank tops and making swim suits a goal for a month now. Well, I just checked the weather, and it will be rainy and in the 60's the whole weekend. I almost cried. I would have if I hadn't had a three year old at my leg asking me to play.

But then I remembered that it will still be our first weekend away. We will be kid free, unencumbered by routine, and able to do anything we want (except maybe sunbathe). I am set on snorkeling no matter what the temp, as the water will be the same, but I realize it might be folly.

So if we do have a good time, then cruising will have proved the ultimate in travel advantage for the fiscally and temporally challenged.

...I'll let you know.

Check out local summer camps this Sunday...

2009-01-14T05:39:00.000-08:00

There will be a Summer Camp Fair at Westtown this Sunday, with camps for ages 2-19. Plan ahead!

Oprah is offering Suze Orman's book as a free download

2009-01-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Get a financial kick in the butt for the New Year... offer expires Jan. 15th.

Suze Orman, 2009 Action Plan

A New Year of Birthdays... Ideas

2009-01-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Preschool has started up again, so my winter “break” is over and I have a few moments to myself to blog again. Someone asked me how my vacation was, and I felt like saying, “my vacation starts today!” Anyway, we had an exciting, cough-and mucus-filled few weeks of revelry and gift giving, and now life can pick up a semi-normal rhythm again. I installed a digital clock in the kid’s room as we begin to learn to tell time and to know what ‘number’ means that they can wake up and get up out of bed. And no, that number is not four!!

On Sunday we went to a wonderful birthday party held out in Lancaster at a place called Willow Valley. It is a conference center with an indoor pool and Starfish Cove, where you can have a water park adventure birthday party any time of year! It was fun, and from what I understand not too expensive for what you get. My kids have a birthday in March, but I am already exploring options. To be honest, we will probably be a bit restrained by budgetary considerations this year, but some of these look like great fun!
Ponies! - www.sleepyhollowponies.com
Water park- http://www.willowvalley.com/pool-parties.asp
Philly zoo - http://www2.philadelphiazoo.org/go/Hold-Your-Event-Here/Birthday-Parties.htm
Natural Science - http://www.ansp.org/activities/birthday.php
Fire house - http://www.firstwestchester.org/Home.htm
Zoo comes to you - http://www.safariparties.net/
My Gym - http://www.my-gym.com/03.asp?page=5&gymid=182
Please Touch - http://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/planning_your_visit/birthday_parties/
Hands on House - http://www.handsonhouse.org/birthday.asp
Elmwood Zoo - http://www.elmwoodparkzoo.org/visit/groupevents/birthday.html
Bounce! - http://www.monkeyjoes.com/parties19465.aspx

Norristown Mom

2008-12-18T10:07:00.001-08:00

Another great local site for info... Norristown Mom

satan santa dog god

2008-12-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned that my son is a little frightened of Santa. Now, not to completely absolve us of any responsibility here, but he really has always felt that way: about Santa, Chuck E Cheese and pretty much every costumed character (I mean real live giant magical creature) we meet. So I tell myself that the fact that in our house Santa has now become a sort of ‘god’ isn’t entirely to blame for his seeming terror.

We do not attend any sort of religious services, yet. As a former student of comparative religion, I have this great plan to take them to services and meetings, meditations and prayer groups at all sorts of religious centers when they are a little older, and to teach them about all of the different ways and things people believe and have faith in. I think faith is essential to a happy life, but I also think it can be a personal thing… what you have faith IN… but I digress.

Now putting all of that idealist cynicism aside for a moment, I have noticed that Christmas, which our relatives avidly celebrate, and Santa in particular, have become monumental in my three year olds minds. Lists have been in the making for months, and the first time DH warned them that Santa was watching, I was at first ready to scold him, and then… held my tongue in amazement at the sudden turn- around of their inappropriate or otherwise negative behavior.

It worked… like a charm.

So alongside the greed, comes the ever present and watchful god who can reward good behavior and punish the bad doings. Suddenly my children are in a world filled with consequences larger than just their parent’s disappointment, which I admit was losing its power at a distressingly rapid rate.

Is it wrong? It feels sort of wrong… sort of like it feels when I can stop a tantrum or end a sibling wrestling match just by switching on SpongeBob the hypnotic.

But as a friend of mine with older children pointed out, it won’t last very long, so you might as well take advantage of it while it works.

Santa's where?

2008-12-08T10:55:00.001-08:00

OK - so Santa is pretty much everywhere these days. My son is afraid of him... as in, 'let's not go to the mall if Santa is there'. That's fine - who needs to go to the mall in December anyway? No really. But if you have kids who WANT to spend some qt with the big red guy, the Pixie Cowboy is having a Santa Storytime this weekend (Sunday the 14th at 1pm and 2pm, call for details 610-458-3409) with craft and a portrait sessions, and I really like the store at it's new location so I am all for a plug! It's a great place to pick up fabulous holiday outfits at a fraction of the price as well.

Just do it

2008-11-24T18:13:00.000-08:00

Now that the kids require more mental guidance than physical, I noticed, as autumn set in, my clothes starting to become a little tighter. Add some Halloween candy and a small bit of starting preschool blues, and I decided to get off of my duff and join a gym.

The sales associate at Gold’s Gym in Exton gave me a free pass to bring the kids in and see how they liked it (I already knew that I would, but they have the final say, don’t they?).
So we went in – I spent an exercycle work out in a darkened “cinema” work-out room watching 27 Dresses, then moved to the women’s work-out area where I could not only do the elliptical, but simultaneously spy on them via a live monitor, and afterward I enjoyed the first sauna I have had in years.

They looked pretty happy on the mute monitor, but the test came when I picked them up and they told me they had a GREAT time. When they both wanted to go back I felt like I had won the lottery… I mean, convincing them to go to the grocery store requires bribes and cajoling, yet here, the thing I really want to do, they actually LIKE!!

Several visits later, I feel like a new person. I cannot emphasize enough how important endorphins are, especially to sequestered SAHMs who rarely get to do for themselves. It is worth it.
Just do it.

Bargain Blog

2008-11-16T05:47:00.000-08:00

Check out a new local Mom's bargain hunter site - http://littlemissmoffett.blogspot.com/!

Play Dough saves a chilly day

2008-11-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

Play Dough

3 C flour
1 ½ C salt
2 Tb cream of tartar
- MIX -
Add 3 C water
3 Tb cooking oil
Food coloring
mint extract (optional)
Mix with beater until smooth
Cook over medium heat until thick and pulls away from pan
Keep in airtight container (zip lock bag)

Peanut Butter Play Dough

1 c peanut butter
1 c dry milk powder
1 c honey
Mix and have fun.

Tootsie Roll Play Dough

4 T butter
1/2 c corn syrup
6 T cocoa
1 t vanilla
3 c powdered sugar
3/4 c dry milk powder
Mix
(don't forget to taste it too)

Pitch, Phillies, and bats

2008-10-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

I ran out to the store a couple of days ago and when I got back my husband had taught the kids to ask, "Mommy, can we stay up and watch the Phillies please?"
I said no.
Three year olds who the day before asked me if the bats they use in baseball say "squeak, squeak" and live in caves, do not need to stay up until midnight for a game they really wouldn't follow.

I grew up here, but was not really raised in a sporting family. I was ten when the Phils won the series in 1980, I remember classmates who were so into it they wore their T shirts every day. I knew names, heard about it in school... but I was more book worm than baseball fan back then.

My hubbie is, was and always has been a fan. Not a watch every game guy - but certainly a watch the series guy. So we pulled the couch up closer to the TV, turned off all of the lights except the orange ones I strung over the mantle for the season, and I watched with him. I watched as the rain got heavier and heavier and the red painted man in back of home plate got funnier and funnier to check in on. I asked him who everyone was, and started to get a feel for what the team was up to and what they could do.

I could see, novice that I am, that the team has chops. I did watch Ichiro and the Mariners when I lived in Seattle, after they built the new stadium. I do understand how a game can become more than just a game when so many people get involved and the energy builds around an event. And the Phillies were solid. I could tell they deserved to win, and so I was actually disappointed when the game was called. I found myself again disappointed when it was delayed through the next day.

Last night, both suffering from bad colds, we again put the kids to bed without much fuss, and then watched the red faced man take his spot behind home plate. Pitch lay at our feet, wagged her tail from time to time. Only got up for the fireworks that went off in our neighborhood around 10:15. I was on the edge of my seat by the end. It was enough to make any mother proud... enough to make the place really feel like home.

Trick or treat

2008-10-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

We brought our rescue dog to our vet and got some terrible news. She has heartworm, among many other treatable parasites. That explains her subdued energy levels.

So this morning she went in for the treatment - an injection today and another tomorrow to kill the worms in her heart, followed by a month of restricted activity while her body breaks down the dead worms and clears them from her heart chambers. Once this is over, she will be put on a preventative and hopefully be in good shape. We were upset that the rescue didn't tell us how ill she was, but they only go as far as the SPCA guidelines and apparently did not do anything wrong in not having her tested. I have learned that dogs coming up from the South often have heartworms though, as they are transmitted by mosquitoes and people don't tend to use preventative as often. I also learned that in PA, dogs are still considered an agricultural 'product' and so the regulation and enforcement of laws protecting them seem fairly pretty few. But the dogs were rescued from a high kill shelter and now have chances at good lives - so I suppose it is just a buyer beware issue when adopting a rescue. Fingers crossed she'll be OK.

Her name was listed as CoCo on the petfinder ad, but we saw it listed as Pitch on the NC papers, so we went with that (since she is black, not brown!). I like it - pitch black, pitch pipe, pitch a baseball - it is timely and poetic.

In keeping with the approach of Halloween, we had our annual pumpkin carving party yesterday. It is a great kid friendly get together with hay bales, food and fun. So on Thursday I stopped by the spooktacularly scary Walmart in Exton for a few party items. As I was leaving to let the dog out, I felt the bump, bump, of my bumper against another car. CRAP!!!
I get out, still shaking (I am a vehicular trauma wimp), and see, to my horror, a NUN getting out of her compact car, with a CANE.

The damage was minimal, she said she thought she ran over a rock. I figure we were both doing about 5mph.

So I have had several pre-Halloween scares already.
Way to get into the spirit huh?

And doggie makes...

2008-10-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

So... when we met, I had a yellow lab who was about 14 years old, and my husband had a springer spaniel.

Both avowed dog people, we bonded over our respective admiration and adoration of our pups.

As it turned out, his springer had a bit of a rage issue that made her unfit for infant company (she subsequently went to live with a friend on a large child free farm) and my lab had only another year or so to live before arthritis and minor strokes brought us to a meeting at the local vet hospital.

Dog free for the first time, we have concentrated on our kids, and haggled about when/if another canine would join the family. As primary caretaker, up until now, I have felt very overburdened, and not willing to take on another creature who needs attention. But after preschool, and successful potty training, it was either now or next spring. I am the one who found the post on petfinder.com and to be honest with myself, if I had no interest in getting another dog, what was I doing weekly trolling petfinder? I was so crushed after losing my own dog, I couldn't imagine having another, and I was also as shocked when I realized how much work babies are - I mean - there just is no explaining it beforehand is there? So I have done a lot of foot dragging, stalling and complaining... and yet, Saturday we went out to meet a dog - a 2 year old - my own pick, to avoid house training....

The morning before we went to meet her, I lay in bed imagining how every aspect of what was going on would change with a dog... I envisioned the kids getting their toys chewed, fighting for space on our bed, the cat fleeing in horror...
well.. we met this dog, a rescue up from NC, and she is so CHILL.... I mean, I had a lab, and she was a doozy of a lab - chewed everything, jumped up - the whole 9 - but this dog - so far she is housetrained, crate trained, super calm, great with the kids, doesn't go for their toys and listens to what I tell her, eager to please and has these sad eyes that you just want to get a spark back into. I am a worrier by nature - but I think I love her. It's a new challenge, convincing a new creature taht this place can be her home, that we can be her pack - different from just having a puppy who believes from the start - but it's a good challenge, it forces me to back my own play, to acknowledge the home I have made here and to see it in a new and a very welcoming light.

Camping anyone?

2008-10-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

Prior to becoming parents, my husband and I both liked to camp, hike, and generally escape to the great outdoors. With twins, however, just escaping out the front door became a great adventure. When a friend of his invited us all to join them camping in mid October, we both shrugged and thought ‘well, why not?’ I know, I had about one hundred reasons why not… but it sounded like fun to get away. I mean, worst case scenario we end up driving home in the middle of the night, right? And that may have made for a funny story, but I am happy to say that didn’t happen!

At three, I think it would have ended in a very long, late night drive… but three and a half, apparently, is just old enough to comprehend that just because something is mildly uncomfortable or out of the ordinary, it can still be fun if you think of it as an adventure. And what kid doesn’t want to have unfettered time with a campfire and a forest full of sticks?

We went up to Ricketts Glen State Park, past Wilkes-Barr. There were bathroom facilities, showers, a nearby store, and even a fireworks vendor just across the road from our campground. There was a time when that would have offended every sensibility I had, but with kids, hey, I say, "Yay sparklers!"

The drive up last weekend with the trees turning was worth it alone – I had forgotten how absolutely gorgeous that is, and it is at this moment in full autumnal glory.

Now, the filled-to-capacity campground was certainly a far cry from hiking into Pacific NW wilderness, but when you have a few preschoolers in tow, suddenly the creature comforts outweigh the population density. Kind of like how having grandparents nearby can outweigh having a cool hipster lifestyle in the big city.

Anyway, I did bring along a potty seat and made a little bathroom near our tent for the three-year-olds. My daughter isn’t too keen on pooping while leaning back as I hold her arms, and she certainly wasn’t going to agree to use the spider filled outhouse. She smiled for what may be our greatest blackmail photo yet a she sat there in the morning sunlight, grinning up from the potty seat holding her Polly Pocket dolls.

The most difficult part of the trip was when the kids woke up at 6am, (after a 4am wake up that we talked them out of), when it was still dark out, and declared that they were done sleeping. We were surrounded by other campers, who I am sure had no intention of getting up before dawn. I read Winnie the Pooh by flashlight until the sun came up to join us.

We came home with that brilliant combination of exhaustion and invigoration. And we will definitely be going camping again next spring… especially if the economy keeps lagging!

Mornings at the Steamed Cow

2008-10-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

So my plan for the delicious 5 (or so) hours a week I have freed up by pre-school was to take my laptop to the Steamed Cow Cafe in Downingtown.

The Chester County Writer's Meet Up meets there but I hadn't yet been in. Let me just plug it here as one of my new favorite places in Chester County. It has a completely urban up-and-coming neighborhood feel, and it is family owned. They have great coffee, lattes, espresso, fruit smoothies, chai, herbal teas, and a solid menu with more offerings than I expected, all combined with free WiFi, overstuffed couches and chairs, bistro tables, AND welcoming children's accountrements (not that I am using that but it gets points in my book!) including toys and a play area.

If you haven't been there, GO!

So far, a lot of my time there has been taken up with a networking meeting, some catch up on review work, and then prep for my writer's critique group... but today... oh today, I had my first real taste of a morning spent writing again. And this time I remembered my ipod... forgotten the last few occasions. This is a critical element for the completely self-indulgent experience.

As a parent, you cannot just lose yourself in something if your kids are around requiring supervision. You always have one ear extended, ready to intervene in a fight, assist to a request, or answer a random question. And it doesn't have an off button, unfortunately. You become trained to this. That makes the ipod a necessity for enjoying child free time... otherwise I'd have half an ear on every nearby conversation and cell phone call. And considering my kids pretend they are cats for about 70% of the day, that might even extend to outbursts by neighborhood cats or dogs!

Warning about Splenda

2008-10-01T05:46:00.000-07:00

Yahoo news article on Splenda - (needs volume)

This Saturday - Family Day at Springton Manor

2008-09-22T07:32:00.001-07:00

Before I forget, this Saturday is Family Day at Springton Manor.
We went last year and it was a blast. See you there!

Monkey Joes

2008-09-22T07:23:00.001-07:00

I was recently telling a friend about this place, and realized I'd neglected to post about Monkey Joes in this blog.

Located in Pottstown, but the southernmost portion up route 100, this bouncy place has moon bounces, slides and mazes for kids, plus a toddler toy area, and a special toddler bounce only for two and under. They provide a parent's lounge, with massage chairs, big screen TV, magazines, lounge chairs, free internet stations, and have a full service snack bar. Their calendar shows story times, parent's nights out, and more fun stuff. I found this spot one Saturday when DH was working overtime, and it was super humid out, and I avoid malls on Saturdays for obvious reasons. We spent a glorious three hours there and all came home happy and sated.

So as fall comes home and kids spend more time inside and have less ways to vent all of that extra energy, consider taking them for a bounce - it is in my best interest to make this place successful - I love it.

Preschool!

2008-09-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

I already have folders of art from preschool. So far my kids love it. A few of their classmates have been in tears as they get dropped off, but mine have actually told me to ‘go now’. That smarted, but when I pick them up, I get squeals of “mommy!” and big, big hugs.

This morning they both hugged their teacher hello. What affirmation that I selected the right spot for them. What a relief.

On day three, my daughter said, “you mean we go to school three times?”

Uhm, well, honey you go to school for a lot of years from here on out. Hopefully it will continue to be as exciting!

Check out Pancake Mountain!

2008-09-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

Pancake Mountain - a friend just turned me on to this one -finally something fun for the WHOLE family!

Spelling be

2008-09-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I have become a fairly imprecise speller. I just glanced at the last blog entry and thought I’d give myself a shout out – that I attribute this decline to the combination of a new laptop with flat keys that befuddle my fingers every time they meet, and the fact that most of my posts are written standing at the kitchen counter while my kids question me about this, that, and the other thing.

Sometimes it comes down to a choice between hitting ‘publish’ and having your words read, or of putting it aside, having your files stack up and living mute and with a sense of futility for not having enough time to produce.

I choose production over perfection, mainly because I do not believe in perfection. Things can come close, but if it were attainable, it would no longer serve it’s purpose as a goal and therefor no longer be perfect. Like a robot child, who does everything the ‘right’ way, or a life lived strictly by the rules… such a waste of so much potential.

School supplies

2008-09-04T09:19:00.001-07:00

I love fall. I even have an odd fetish for school supplies. My kids are starting preschool, and although I can hardly believe it, we are all ready for the change.

And my brother just moved back from Los Angeles to attend grad school Philly, and I am so giddy at having him nearby now that the kids are old enough to get to know who he is. They still get my two brothers confused... but hey, they haven't seen them that often and when you are three, a week is like a month to our flying by 'old people' time.

I envy him, but I am still eyeball swamped in this mommytrip, so school for me is just the other lawn of grass shining green and beckoning. Yes, I have always secretly yearned for an MFA, but with zero desire to teach, it wouldn't pay back enough to warrant the investment.

We really had to scrimp just to start up preschool this year. Open house is tomorrow!!! I am so nervous for them to begin the learning process of teacher student relationships and of dealing with the social norms of a classroom full of kids, instead of our suburban homebound insular universe that they know and often take advantage of. Yes, there are days when I have to take a stand against being spoken to like an indentured servant who misehaved.

They take turns being more extroverted and shy, so I can't even guess how they will be with the other kids when I leave them there. And as for me, I can't even guess how I'll feel, having a few hours to myself again after so long.

BREAKING NEWS>>>

This just in - my son just pooped in the potty for the third consecutive time. We may be fully on board the potty train. WOO HOOO! Now we're off to the store to buy him the sword I promised. (Yes, I bribe)

portraiture

2008-08-28T12:07:00.001-07:00

I am sitting in the courtyard of the Smithsonian after just perusing the National Portrait Gallery. In what, my friend derisively commented, is a need to justify any time away from my children - I offered to drive her to DC for a job interview.

Now granted, she is in town from Seattle and only had a few days to visit with us, so the drive time is, in itself, some BFF QT.

I thought a half day off, a few hours to wander alone in DC, might be a welcomed respite from my normal daily bubble of burgeoning three year olds… and it is. Just the act of finding something to wear that was a step up from playground, a step back to how I used to dress… was an adventure. Driving without reaching behind me to fulfill snack requests, offered an intellectual freedom I don’t often enjoy.

We had lunch when we got here and I walked her to the Hotel Monaco for her meeting. Then, I just started walking. I walked around blocks, up to the sculpture garden, the mall, over past the spy museum… I just took in the pace of an adult walking alone on a city sidewalk, so light, so carelessly relaxing.

Shall I stop in for a cup of coffee? Settle down at a table and read for awhile? And here is the living reminder of what you cannot ever entirely explain to someone who is not a parent, without being somehow misunderstood. It may sound as though you resent the imposition of parenthood, if you luxuriate in momentary unrestraint. But even as I sit, so in the now, so loose and easy and all grown up, I miss them. I wonder what they are doing; I envy the people who are with them at this moment. The fact that I just wrote this, sitting alone and uninterrupted, is such an unusual leap out of my day to day.

And the taste of it reminds me that I will have more and more time, to myself, as they grow older and become more independent, and the pangs I feel when I think of the hours I am missing this evening whisper of how short it all is, and of how quickly it goes by, as repetitive as that is to say here, there is truth in the platitude.

Gathering Wool

2008-08-15T17:03:00.001-07:00

I haven’t blogged in a long time have I? DH has been working very long hours and watching him has prioritized the financial for me in such a way that I am trying to focus on somehow making my full-time at-home presence count in some materially concrete way. I do think it is nice for my kids to have me there, but honestly, my staying home has more to do with the double bill of daycare held up against the modest income I command as an undiscovered novelist / underpaid and unmotivated secretary/ and very tired and haggard waitress.

Yes, it bothers me that I am not bringing in actual currency. I got my first job at the age of 14, paid under the table at the Paoli Pancake House… anyone remember that place? Subsequent jobs like movie theater concessions, real estate weekend office help, waitress times 10, etc. etc. followed. At last count I have held over 35 jobs. And it wasn’t so much that I needed the money, it was more a sense of pride, a desire to make my own way, to control my own life on a material front.

Now, after a few freelance gigs dried up, I started selling things on Ebay. It is addictive, actually. Like gambling – watching the watchers, waiting for an auction to end and the email notifications in the morning that let me know I have items to ship and an increase in my Paypal account balance. My kids are sick of my constant email checking, of going to the post office (they now beg to be allowed to stay in the car – too bad for them this isn’t the seventies!). But it has relieved a mild depression that set in as DH worked harder and I felt more and more useless to help us climb out of the debt that naturally occurs when suddenly one person’s income is supporting four. And I buy as well as sell. I have already outfitted the twins with snow pants, footwear, one winter coat and rain boots via a few pretty fabulous Ebay deals that everyone else missed because it’s hard to get excited about snow in August. If you had told me how much time and energy I would be spending planning wardrobes a few years back I would have laughed it off as pure absurdity. But it is the hunter gatherer instinct in our day and age. I am providing, scouting and foraging for items we will need so that we can save in the long run.

I have great visions of preschool starting, and of spending those four hours a week (laughable isn’t it?) typing away at another book… one that will be marketable and engaging to more than ten other people… and then, THEN I will be able to take on some of the responsibility for the worldly half of our venture. So there you have it … an inside look at the mind of a stay at home mom revealed.

Gathering Wool

2008-08-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

Huge Clothing and Equipment Sale

2008-08-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

CCMOMC used clothing, toy and baby equipment SALE at the United Sports Training Center will be on September 12th & 13th, 2008
9am-Noon

BRU Sale

2008-07-31T15:21:00.001-07:00

http://www9.toysrus.com/images/our/bru/prom/SuperFriday/SuperBnr.pdf

Linvilla Orchards

2008-07-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

Linvilla Orchards

Saturday, August 9, 20089 am - 5 pm
(Rain Date August 10, 2008)
Bring your whole family for a fun-filled day!!
Continuous Music, Children’s Games & Contests
Special Guest appearances by:
11:30 Bob the Builder
1:00 Dora the Explorer & Diego
2:30 Spongebob Squarepants

Hayrides, pony rides, face painting, children's entertainment, costumed characters, games and contests, music, ice cream sundaes, Special Peaches n’ Cream Cake, Linvilla Grill, recipes, peach treats & Pick-Your-Own Peaches.

More things to do with your kids ...

2008-07-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

Kimberton Fair this week:
http://www.kimbertonfair.org/

The Goshen Country Fair is July 28 - Aug 2
http://www.goshencountryfair.org/

Today we went to the Railroad Museum , LOTS of fun stuff to play with, indoors, and kids under 6 are free. Once they get done racing through the large railroad car exhibit, there is a small room with movies, and another room with Lego train tables, wooden train tables, Geotrax train tables.. .you name it. We only left due to hunger!

Hands on House - we have visited twice since spring - and it is a great way to spend some hours with kids - indoor (AC) and outdoor activities abound.

Also, I recently learned that with a zoo membership to Elmwood or Philly, you can get into Wilmington's Brandywine Zoo for FREE.

West Chester Dish

2008-07-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

West Chester Foodie Site

My Gym in Lionville - parent's night out

2008-07-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

A movie... A romantic dinner...
Parents! Here's your opportunity to go out and leave your children with an experienced and caring staff in a fun and clean gym.
Children have a blast as they participate in tons of games and activities.
AND... don't worry about food;dinner is also provided.
Ages:
2 - 9 years
Date:
Saturday, July 19th, 2008
Time:
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Cost (per child):
$30 ($35 non-members)
Add'l Siblings (each):
$10 (2nd child), $5 (each add'l child)
*cash payment preferred* 24-hour cancellation policy
Space is limited... reserve your spot today!
My Gym Lionville
138 Eagleview Blvd.
Lionville, PA 19353
mygym@verizon.net
(610) 363-6090

Big kids now

2008-07-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

Potty training is in session. My daughter says we are all "on board the potty train", and she is absolutely correct, for the most part. She still prefers a pull up for her daily constitutional in our playroom which can take 45 minutes and cannot be interupted or spied upon without indignant screams. But she can stay dry all day, and even all night on occasion. Today she told me she had to go to teh bathroom, in the middle of her first feature film in a theater (Clifford), so we all paraded to the ladies room and watched as she sat on the wobbly travel seat I had in my bag. She peed in the potty and I was so PROUD!!!
My son cheers her on, (oh those boys), but he refuses. Today I paid him an M&M to sit on the potty chair. Just to sit. His sticker chart has two gimmees on it - the last of a poop I caught him in the act of taht made it to the pot... while his sisters is running out of space. SO next week I am stepping us up to underpants - no more optional pull up to catch it all neatly and make it seem more my problem than theirs.

Here is a good site with some helpful tips for those of you in this position or approaching it. As a first timer at this, I put it off out of sheer intimidation and now I know why. It tests all of your powers of negotiation, rationalization and zen mastery.
http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/

This bed is juuust right

2008-07-02T06:47:00.000-07:00

We finally made the move to "big beds".
At the beach last month I had the twins in beds with guard rails and they loved it. They loved it so much that they didn't want to come home unless they could bring them along. I guess that is the bonus of waiting until well after three to make the transition. All of the advice I got was to keep them in cribs for as long as possible, just to make life easier. And we did.

We picked the beds up on Monday afternoon, from a friend who is seven months pregnant. They were hand made by her husband's father, and are sturdy and perfect for children. She asked if we were having any more babies, and we both shook our heads no. It is a question we get fairly often, but for now the decision is to make the next addition canine.

She complained about how big she was, but to me she looked beautiful. I loved being pregnant. For all of the nausea, bloating, heartburn, forgetfulness and general discomfort, I really enjoyed it, and perhaps that was with the knowledge that there probably would not be another experience like it.

Sweating, banking on the strength I'd built up keeping up with the kids, we moved the solid wood beds downstairs and out to the truck and then moved them again inside our own house. A total rearrangement of the room had to be rapidly accomplished, and the cribs dismantled and put into temporary storage. I ran rags over the dusty floors where furniture has been since before they were born. A hand made table with a fish pond painted on it didn't make the cut and was removed. But the hardest part was when we actually took the bedding out of the cribs, took the screws out of the sides, and brought the assembly downstairs.

Grandma brought the kids over just as we finished setting their stuffed animals on their beds and arranging the pillows. My daughter actually screamed with delight, and my son jumped onto his bed and rolled around like a puppy. They were thrilled.

After storytime, I looked at my husband, and he had a faraway gloom about him. He told me that just that morning he had held a 10 month old baby, and now our kids were in big beds, learning to use the potty and telling us about their imaginary friend, a tiny man they call their "sweetie".

And as I cleaned up the dishes, after the excitement of the first hour calmed and the kids fell finally to sleep, I wondered about that sadness, almost grief, of seeing them get older, and of it seeming to go so quickly. Is it the loss of having that to look forward to? Is it our own mortality setting in to stare us down for the last half of the game? Or it is just that holding a new baby, one that you will know from that point on, is possibly the greatest feeling a person can experience, and despite the work that comes with it, we still gleefully, almost blindly repeat it again and again.

More things to do this summer (courtesy of the CCMOMC message board)

2008-06-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

The Delaware Museum of Natural History has $1 admission on Tuesdays in August, and the Hagley Museum has $1 admission on Saturdays in July.

The Phoenixville Library is hosting different events at the Colonial Theater every Thursday. Admission is a donation or nonperishable food item for the food bank.
http://www.phoenixvillelibrary.org/events/children%20events/calendar.pdf

Tyler Arboretum Treehouses

2008-06-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

Last week, on a cool but sunny day, I took the kids to the Tyler Arboretum to see the "Totally Terrific Treehouse" exhibit that is up this summer. There are 17 exhibits, all designed by local artists and architects.

I felt so organized when my kids put on long pants and rain boots... I mean forests are always cooler than open spaces by several degrees and the recent rain had left the ground muddy and sodden. My daughter didn't want to wear socks... but I let it slide. Her boots were a little big anyway and felt pretty soft inside. We are almost through with strollers, but when we go to the zoo or a boardwalk I still bring one. This day, I decided we'd venture out on foot, explorers in the forest, a merry band of travelers.

After the first couple of treehouses, my son decided he wanted to leave the beaten path and explore the perimeter of the arboretum. We were in no hurry, I thought, so I let him lead us into the wilderness. By the time we were back to the first loop (that I later read is meant to take about 40 minutes on its own) we had already added about twenty minutes of walking. We ate a picnic lunch by the pond. My favorite part of the arboretum was in this area - a replica of Thoreau's cabin. You can read the list of materials he used to build it and the prices he paid at the time... quite fascinating. Anyway - after lunch we continued on, and a little past "hanging out" an exhibit made of multitudes of multi tiered hammocks draped between several very grand old trees, my son said he was tired. Just as he said this, my daughter told me her feet hurt. Uh oh.

I took off a rain boot to find blisters on the insides of her ankles. So much for exploring on foot! I picked her up, and told my son he had to walk with us back to the parking lot. I knew it was unfair, it had been my mistake not bringing our wagon, but I couldn't carry both of them. He cried, yelled and dragged my pant leg all the way back to our van as I carried his sister. It was a wonderful place - a perfect day - and a crucial tactical error I shall never forget.

However - on August 9th, they are having "Storybook Trees", with costumed characters, storytellers, Makin' Music, and a fairy tea party, so we may be back (with a wagon this time).

www.tylerarboretum.org

Regal theatre - free family film festival schedule

2008-06-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine just reminded me that there are free, kid friendly movies all summer! So here is the schedule and we may see you there:

Selected G & PG movies start at 10AM each Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. First-come, first-served seating is limited to theatre capacity. The Free Family Film Festival is safe, lots of fun and a great way for kids to spend a weekday morning in the summer. Downingtown Stadium 16 100 Quarry Road Downingtown ,PA 19335-3062 610-518-3404
06/17/2008-06/18/2008	Polar Express (G)
	Shrek The Third (PG)
06/24/2008-06/25/2008	March Of The Penguins (G)
	Madagascar (PG)
07/01/2008-07/02/2008	Running Free (G)
	Hairspray (PG)
07/08/2008-07/09/2008	Clifford's Really Big Movie (G)
	RV (PG)
07/15/2008-07/16/2008	Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (G)
	Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)
07/22/2008-07/23/2008	Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - Veggie Tales (G)
	Bee Movie (PG)
07/29/2008-07/30/2008	Charlotte's Web (G)
	Racing Stripes (PG)
08/05/2008-08/06/2008	Babe: Pig In The City (G)
	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (PG)
08/12/2008-08/13/2008	Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
	The Last Mimzy (PG)
Check for regular Movies and Showtimes
Northhampton 14 3720 Easton-Nazareth Highway Easton ,PA 18045 610-559-8200
06/17/2008-06/18/2008	Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
	The Last Mimzy (PG)
06/24/2008-06/25/2008	Mr. Bean's Holiday (G)
	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (PG)
07/01/2008-07/02/2008	March Of The Penguins (G)
	Madagascar (PG)
07/08/2008-07/09/2008	Running Free (G)
	Hairspray (PG)
07/15/2008-07/16/2008	Clifford's Really Big Movie (G)
	RV (PG)
07/22/2008-07/23/2008	Polar Express (G)
	Shrek The Third (PG)
07/29/2008-07/30/2008	Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - Veggie Tales (G)
	Bee Movie (PG)
08/05/2008-08/06/2008	Charlotte's Web (G)
	Racing Stripes (PG)
08/12/2008-08/13/2008	Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (G)
	Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)
Check for regular Movies and Showtimes
East Whiteland Stadium 9 593 W. Lancaster Avenue Frazer ,PA 19355 610-251-5207
06/17/2008-06/18/2008	Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
	The Last Mimzy (PG)
06/24/2008-06/25/2008	Babe: Pig In The City (G)
	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (PG)
07/01/2008-07/02/2008	Polar Express (G)
	Shrek The Third (PG)
07/08/2008-07/09/2008	March Of The Penguins (G)
	Madagascar (PG)
07/15/2008-07/16/2008	Running Free (G)
	Hairspray (PG)
07/22/2008-07/23/2008	Clifford's Really Big Movie (G)
	RV (PG)
07/29/2008-07/30/2008	Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (G)
	Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)
08/05/2008-08/06/2008	Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - Veggie Tales (G)
	Bee Movie (PG)
08/12/2008-08/13/2008	Charlotte's Web (G)
	Racing Stripes (PG)

New favorite site for cool gifts

2008-06-17T15:30:00.001-07:00

Etsy

Beach bums

2008-05-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was gorgeous in Bethany Beach, DE… I hear it was also a nice one here in Chester County. We had so much fun we’re returning this weekend to enjoy the miles of sand they had pumped onto the beaches, now making them seem more like Santa Monica than the Delmarva shore.

I know there was a recent top ten list of beaches, but I have to plug my personal favorite here and say that Bethany is really a great place for families. OK, so having a relative with a house there doesn't hurt; but the miles of tide pools the new sand project has created are ideal for young children, and the fenced playground right in town makes even cloudy days fun.

And this is the first year I can actually sit in a beach chair and sort of relax while my kids play. Last year they ran away a lot and the year before my daughter was so offended by stray sand that she instead on wearing shoes to the beach! Three is a good age, tantrums and testing aside, the imaginations blossom and everything becomes more enjoyable.

A few tricks for the beach goers with children – baby powder is great for getting sand off of skin quickly, a good shovel is worth ten more intricate sand toys, and always bring plenty of drinks and snacks!

Instant gratification

2008-05-18T18:41:00.000-07:00

I worked at Mayfest this morning selling tickets... and had a wonderful time. I think the best part was doing a job that has immediate satisfaction and for which people thank you repeatedly (unlike being a mommy).

I am taking the kids to the beach (Bethany) for half of the weekend while DH installs our new tankless water heater. Hopefully I will have great things to say about it in posts to come. The weekend doesn't look too promising as far as weather, but we have family to visit with, and friends to see, so I'm just looking at it like the kick start to a more active season.

Mayfest is at the Goshen Fairgrounds this year - great activities for kids!

2008-05-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

25th Annual May Festival

Presented by

May 15-18, 2008

Goshen Fairgrounds

1320 Park Avenue, West Chester

Thursday, May 15: 5 pm - 10 pm

Amusements and Select Food Booths

Friday, May 16: 5 pm - 11 pm

5 - 11 pm
Amusements and Select Food Booths

May Festival Friday Night Gala

Saturday, May 17: 9 am - 11 pm

Free Ride Period - Sponsored
by Daily Local News: 9 am - 10 am

Appearance by
Kathy O'Connell
of WXPN's Kid's Corner

Sunday, May 18: 9 am - 7 pm

Free Ride Period - Sponsored by Daily Local News: 9 am - 10 am

Dash for Diabetes

Chester County Challenge for Cancer

Other Festival activities and features include:
Pony Ride Hours: Sat. 11-7 and Sun. 10-5
Great Carnival Food Selection
Plant Booth - stock up for the summer!
Community Wellness Area
Free Blood Pressure Screenings

Call the events hotline for information at 610.430.2906.

Like pulling teeth should be

2008-05-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

I have vague memories of actually enjoying trips to the dentist as a kid. Before fillings, back before it was intrusive enough to be painful… when sitting in the big chair made me feel special and being told to spit somehow felt like a thrill.
Today my son had his first dentist appointment. We saw Dr. Melini at Chester County Dentistry for Children in Lionville, and (in case you were wondering) everyone there was wonderful. On a rare trip away from his twin, we ventured out for his check up. In the waiting room, he played alone, watched the other kids but didn’t mingle. When we went in to meet our dentist, my three year old shook his hand, he sat up in the chair, and opened up his mouth, he enthusiastically selected bubble gum flavored tooth paste even though I am certain he has never had bubble gum before and when he received a red Pooh Bear toothbrush he exclaimed that it was “beautiful!”.
My heart was in my throat when the hygienist scraped his tiny half grown in teeth with her instruments and he sat so still and compliant, even offering her a swallowed “yes” when she asked if he was OK, while her hand was still in his mouth. And when he had to sit, biting a piece of gauze after having fluoride applied, I knew he didn’t like it, I could see his discomfort, but he still told her he was ‘great’ after she had cleaned his mouth of spit and praised him for being so good.
Granted I took him alone. I envisioned a double visit with one running wildly around the office flinging picks and floss while their sibling wailed, strapped down in a chair. But the reality was so much better, it made me feel like we are getting somewhere on our journey to somewhat (I mean they are mine after all) civilized beings. In two days I take my daughter. Hopefully, she also finds the whole experience more fascinating than foreboding.

Super something

2008-05-06T17:07:00.001-07:00

I finally ordered prints of kid photos that have been collecting in my hard drive since last fall. It amazes me that I seem to have less time now that my kids are three than I did when they were infants. The talk and the questions are hugely entertaining, and yet draining in a different way than simple feeding and care of babies can be. I do think it gets better and better though.

My daughter has a pair of plastic high heels she loves to wear, click-clacking around our home; she defies everything I thought about in the nineties when I really believed high heels would vanish from fashion forever.

My son, on the other hand, is at this very moment wearing a superman cape my Mom made for my brother in the seventies. He wears it for at least an hour a day. And I am pretty certain he has never seen a superhero cartoon, so it astonished me the first time he put it on and pretended to fly. Is it possible that cellular memory really does collect data from generation to generation?

Springton Manor Farm

2008-04-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

There is a sheep shearing event at Springton Manor Farm tomorrow (Saturday, April 26th) from 10am to 4pm... price is a $5 parking fee... usually it's free but this looks like it will be worth the price if it doesn't pour down rain.

I took the kids over there for a picnic today and watched them set up the tents. The newborn lambs are out and are, of course, as cute as can be.

Springton Manor is on our rotation of great places to take the kids... usually it's free, and they have lots of animals and a working farm, a great barn and tractors kids can climb on. It's a little early in the season yet, but the butterfly house is a lot of fun as well. We took a picnic lunch and watched the turtles dive into the fishing pond.

From Downingtown it's a short drive up 322 north, and over by Ludwig's Corner you can cut through to 282 and it is only a few minute's drive.

Earth Day

2008-04-22T11:23:00.001-07:00

With record turn outs in the PA primary election, Earth Day really does seem appropriate, doesn't it?

Personally, I was shocked and awed by GW's two term reign of environmental terror, and I am almost afraid to actually feel hope.

They say cynicism is the last refuge of the idealist, and so I feel today, as I cast my vote, a wellspring of cynicism, and yet I am still thrilled to be a part of today's events. Thrilled at the possibility that we can turn this awful spiral our nation has taken around, and maybe even join together with the rest of the world to try and provide a safe, healthy, future Earth for our children to inhabit.

Hope is a lot to ask these days.
Hope is hard, fear is easy.

Peeling

2008-04-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

We all sat down to dinner the other night, in good spirits with the coming of warmer weather. I had mentioned the possibility of cucumber salad earlier, and then promptly forgotten about it. But as we ate, my son piped up that he really, really wanted cucumber salad.

Now, I have recently ended my career as a short order cook, and these days what is for dinner is for dinner, and I don't bounce around the room making additional entrees for the picky eaters I serve. But when a three year old requests a green vegetable, I hop on it before the inclination passes. I left my meal half-eaten, and took a cucumber and a peeler to the sink and started peeling away. And that is how I lost the better part of my thumbnail.

I am now looking into current band aid fashions, as it looks as though I will be sporting them for several months and Dora and Elmo are already feeling old. I'll let you know what I find!

Oh, and by the way, happy 80 degree weather - I already got my first sunburn of the season.

Baby gifts - dos and don'ts

2008-04-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

I went to a baby shower yesterday. It was beautiful and the mother-to-be looked radiant. It reminded me of my own baby shower before the twins were born, and of how little I knew about what I needed or of what to expect.

I thought I'd list some items I found most useful with newborns, and some, not so much, and why...

Moses basket. I didn't even know what these were until we got them as a gift - and I would not have been as happy a mommy to twins if I had not had them. Putting a baby in a bassinet is one thing, but a bassinet you can then carry around the house in is quite another!

Diaper Genie. I still could not live in my house without this. But get one that works with regular trash bags or you will be spending entirely too much time in Babies R Us.

Boppy. It's just WAY easier than propping pillows!
Pack n play
Carbon Monoxide detector
Onsies. Obviously.
Changing table with pad and cover.
I like the nightgowns with the open elastic bottoms so changes do not require snaps.
Cloth diapers. For burp clothes, clean up rags, whatever!
A CD with some classic children's songs... unless you actually remember any of them (I did not)
A digital baby monitor (better signal that reaches a further distance)
A bathtub thermometer so you do not have to try to "feel" whether the temp is OK. Yes, you may be able to now, but once you are sleep deprived and struggling to juggle five tasks it isn't quite so easy.
A kit with baby nail clippers, diaper rash ointment, thermometer, nasal suction thingy.
Humidifier.
Night lights (for your room, hallways, etc)
Oh, and they now have clock radios that project the time onto the ceiling... I wish we'd had one when the kids were small - I always was stretching around in bed to check the time.

At least one crib toy or mobile (preferably with sounds and lights and white noise option)
A copy of "What to Expect the First Year", "Happiest Baby on the Block" is also great.
A baby book (unless you are a scrapbook person), for recording 'firsts'
Graco snugride car seat and base
Stroller.. I have been through many, so don't get too crazy on your first pick
A doorway jumper. This is clutch from about 5 months to a year.
A gym mat for tummy time, the more toys and mirrors the better.
Gate(s) for doorways and stairs
electric outlet plug covers
Stick on shade for the car window
A bjorn or similar carrier (all of them are good, even for $15 at Target!)
A diaper bag with at least one pocket that keeps a bottle at temp, or a cool sippy cool.
An exersaucer
A bouncy seat
hooded bath towel(s)
We love twilight turtle. It projects stars onto the ceiling and shuts off after 45 minutes.
Gift certificates for nearby restaurants with take out.
A gift certificate for a housecleaning after the baby comes home!

Not so much:

Bottles. You can get all of the advice and recommendations you like, but I tried four different brands of bottles before landing the one I liked best and that worked for both of my babies. If you register for bottles, make it a small starter pack, not the entire Dr. Brown's collection.

Pacifiers. Same gripe here, it is impossible to predict what brand or style your baby will like, if any.

Diapers. To be honest, you can start with a pack, but you may go through a few brands before deciding on the one you like. Some are wider, some hold more, it depends on how your baby is built.

Breast pump. Really, you don't know until you get there.

Bottle warmer. The only reason your baby likes warm milk is because it's closer to breast milk, but when we went into summer and mine were about three months, I just gave them room temp and it was fine.

Wipe warmer. Never had one, never missed it.

Pride and Prejudice

2008-04-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

I used to love book stores. In Seattle there were three second hand bookstores within walking distance of my home and on a Saturday morning I would get a cup of coffee and wander through each of them for hours.

The other day I took the twins to Barnes and Noble. It was early on a weekday, not crowded at all and pretty quiet as bookstores tend to be. In the children’s section, I had a bit of trouble locating a particular bit by Richard Scary, and so my son took advantage of the inattentive mom and kicked off his rain boots and started running back and forth through the board book aisle.

His sister came yelling to tell me he had taken his boots off and as I caught up with him I received a very nonchalant shrug in response to my question about where his boots were. And then a nice woman working there handed them to me. The tops of his rain boots are shredded up from being the training items for “do it myself” shoe accessorizing. She’d found them strewn about on the floor over by the train table. Humbled by my inability to keep us composed even in the children’s area, I then upped the anti and asked them to join me in looking for another item out beyond the gates of the children’s section.

We made a game of it, marching, marching, over to the escalator. Now, our escalator experience is somewhat limited. A two seat stroller doesn’t really work out on them, as I found out one day at the mall when we almost lost a front wheel… and I almost had a heart attack as the escalator chugged away at my little parade stuck and thump, thumping against each step as it ground by our jammed up bit of equipment. But now we are more grown up, and we shop together without the aid of straps and strollers.

So we took hands and stepped onto the metal contraption. “Do it yourself” took only moments to kick in and one was taking steps ahead and yelling that she would not hold my hand and the other sat down on a step behind me. Despite the mild panic I felt at the approaching end to our escalator, we managed it in three healthy pieces and proceeded on to the next destination category.

I couldn’t find what I wanted, and I was convinced they had it, so I kept looking. A gift for a friend, something specific. As soon as my mind began reading the titles and noting authors both kids disappeared in a frenzy of giggles and boot stomping. I took a pause to call to them – I told them to stay with me – I hissed at my son to stop climbing on books. They came nearer and nodded and I looked back at the stacks. More giggling, louder, the sound of a book toppling from a shelf. This continued for awhile, until it got rowdier, faster, more excited, and finally I ducked around a stack and caught my son by an arm as he whizzed past me.
“OUCH!!!!!” he screamed. Oh you have got to be kidding me, I thought, but what I said was, “You need to stop that.”
The woman in metaphysics scowled at me. I wanted to address her. I wanted to ask her what exactly she recommended I do in a case like that? Pray for him to stop?

Perhaps avoiding bookstores for a few more months is the ticket, but once you are in you are in, and when all else fails, you gotta take the bull by the horns as they say.

I marched, marched, them to the checkout. My daughter was smiling the smile she gets when her brother gets in trouble, and he had quickly forgotten our incident and was busy singing a song about marching. At the counter, another woman pointedly told me that they were such 'sweet children', and I felt my mouth hang open. I know she heard the "Ouch" yell, I am sure metaphysics was not the only one thinking I was just awful, but it is what it is. I cannot imagine the look I gave her, but I know it was something between amazement and horror.

When I turned around to gather my brood, my son looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I am so very proud of you.”
"Well I am very proud of you too," I said.
And I meant it. I always do.

Happy birthday two you

2008-04-02T16:15:00.000-07:00

So my kids turned three.
They talk, a lot, all day in fact. They sing, they pretend, they have pretend friends and make believe worlds they tell me about. Three years, and I am just barely catching up. I still have projects I assumed I'd do while home with them, in all of my spare time, sitting, untouched.
With the combination of Easter and the birthday extravaganzy this has felt much like December, and I am looking forward to a stretch of holiday free time.

Last year, for their big 2, we invited everyone we knew, and it was fun but a little overwhelming for the actual birthday boy and girl. So this year the guest list was scaled back but the planning stepped up. We had a pirate party, complete with an outdoor treasure hunt, scrolls with little dittys telling them where to go next. My DH dressed up in a puffy shirt and acted out the pirate adventure for 6 squealing two to four year olds.

I made the cake myself - half vanilla half chocolate - decorated as an ocean scene with a pirate ship, sails reading 'Happy Birthday!' An icing dolphin and mermaid swam in the FDC blue number 4 sea. We all had our plain pizza, and then blew up a moonbounce so that the sugar could be more effiently burned off, and amazingly no one threw up in it. It was as good as a three year old birthday could be, I think, and it was exhausting.

Clean slate

2008-03-27T18:42:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a phone date with an old friend of mine. It’s my answer to being a Mom, staying safe, saving money and still feeling like I have some sort of life beyond sippy cups and Sesame Street. She’s on the west coast, so I have to prepare to be a bit tired the next day, but it is always worth it.

I picked up a box of Hardy’s shiraz yesterday afternoon and remembered to charge up my cell phone.
For those of you who knew me when, this boxed wine revelation may come as a shock. But Hardy’s is a pretty decent Australian vintner who just happened to put their wine into this magic box that holds the equivalent of four bottles and never gets exposed to air, so remains stable after opening (if you are the sort who lets their wine sit around very long). So for about $14, my red wine therapy bill is covered.

This morning the kids woke up chatting about giant dogs in the closet. Tired but happy, I got them up and then curled up in bed while my husband got ready for work and they sat eating their bananas and drinking their milk with Curious George.
After he left, we made our way downstairs where breakfast was continued with raisin bread toast and drink refills, and I had some coffee and checked email. As I was responding to an email, I heard a suspiciously familiar sound from the kitchen. It was the sound of a marker making large glorious loops on a flat surface.

When I ran into the kitchen, my son stood there in front of white walls now serving as canvases for bright red marker drawings. I knew it would happen one day. We had even discussed repainting and decided to hold off until this sort of behavior was past its prime. I did not know for certain whether or not he knew it was against the rules. And the marker was supposed to be up on a shelf, not just hanging around free for anyone’s use. So I did not yell, but I gravely told him that we don’t draw on our walls like that and that we need to treat our house with respect and keep it clean. As his eyes welled with tears, I realized that if he had known it was off limits, he had forgotten that information when the muse struck.

I handed him a paper towel and the two of us tried to wipe it off (dry erase markers, it might have worked?) and then I tried some cleanser. It came off of the woodwork and the stove, but not the walls. And as he, and now his sister, realized it was on there for good his tears got larger and she started scolding him, telling him he ‘wrecked our house’.

Calmed by my more-tired-than-usual state, I asked her to please refrain from yelling at her brother and sat him down on the naughty bench simply in hopes that it would help remind him next time. He really started crying then and I felt terribly, especially because I may have been partially to blame for the marker being left out. But it is part of the job. What else is a naughty bench for if not to punish stuff like coloring on walls or stealing candy bars (haven’t gotten there yet, but I bet it’s in our future).

Three minutes later (one minute for each year of age) the timer went off and we hugged and were snuggling on the couch as I thought about what to do next. It was a rainy day, so I decided to paint one of the walls. The other, I had wanted to spray with that chalkboard spray anyway, so this took the guesswork out of that decision.

A dance party and three coloring books later and I got down an old baby gate and set the kids up with lunch where they could watch me.

As I worked, I heard them behind me playing. At first it was laughter and some chasing around the living room. But then I heard Campbell yelling at Ev not to shoot her. HUH? I looked over my shoulder and he had a Batman toy we’d picked up at a garage sale. It was with some other Batman things and I hadn’t realized when we got it that it shoots these orange discs.
I don’t give my kids toy guns, mainly because it freaks me out. The fact that I am married to an avid waterfowler would seemingly make toy guns a non-issue, but I happen to be anti-gun myself and would prefer our laws to resemble the UKs. But I digress…

I sternly told him not to shoot his sister with anything, and a minute later I heard the thing spit its orange disc, and then I heard her scream. She wasn’t screaming in pain, the disc is light and the weapon pretty benign, but she was howling at the fact that he shot her.

Now, I was rather proud of how I handled the coloring incident so calmly, so proud in fact that this total defiance at this juncture pushes me into a completely indignant anger. I leapt over the baby gate, took the Batman toy away as he starts to cry (over losing the toy not over my anger) and I use my super mojo don’t mess with me mommy voice, a voice I reserve for special occasions, as I explain to him that I am working to fix the mornings mistake and that he had better behave himself for the rest of the day or we are going to have big problems.

When I return to my work, I look back and he is sitting on the couch, looking at his toes, I hope reflecting on his error, but I know deep down he is probably wondering why his one sock is slightly more scrunched up than the other.

Four coats later we all got to look at a freshly painted white wall in the kitchen.
Clean slate.
Start again tomorrow.

A lapsed celebrant gets easter'd

2008-03-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

So, tomorrow is Easter Sunday, a holiday I celebrated as a child by attending church and getting baskets and having egg hunts. It is another holiday that, for about twenty years, pretty much skipped off of my radar.

I studied comparative religion, fully realized my own agnosticism, moved west, and had no family around to have dinner with or any reason to participate in celebrating something I didn’t much care about.
But now the kids are here.

This year, nearly three years after their arrival, is really the first time this sort of thing has caused me some pause… like in December… do we do Santa? Do we do a church or a synagogue or a meeting of some sort? What do we tell them about god(s) and religions and why some people celebrate some holidays and others do not?

But they are children, and they believe in things. I didn’t do any formal Santa education last fall, but they just picked it up… they KNEW all about who he was when he appeared in shopping malls, and their anticipation and squeals of delight when we came through with stockings and gifts Christmas morning was pretty amazing. Downright awesome actually.

So, I decided for now, we’ll celebrate the FUN – the animated mythology I remember from my own childhood. Is it overly materialistic to make it about cartoonish creatures that bring presents? I don’t think the turning of seasons is anything to scoff at… I mean, spring is here! Bunnies are coming with candy and treats to celebrate making it through another winter!!

Granted, I do have a semi-plan for their future educations in belief systems. I plan to take them to churches and synagogues and meetings and mosques and celebrations of every different religion and community I can find, and we can explore each one together. My hope is, that in this way, by openly admitting that I do not KNOW what is the absolute truth, but I respect the ways in which people find peace and joy in their lives, and the way they cope with death and evil and despair… I am hoping it will construct a moral fiber strong enough to weather them through life – and if they decide to choose one of the avenues of faith, I will certainly support it. I hope that they will remain true to what I do believe: that life is interconnected in ways we do not fully understand, and that there is purpose and meaning in everything we do each day.

So, this evening we put them to bed, and told them pretty casually that the bunny was coming. I went downstairs and filled baskets with fun stuff I hope they can enjoy and appreciate. I decided, while doing it, to take up my husband’s tradition of a basket hunt – rather than an egg hunt. Is that lazy? Ah, I am sure they will enjoy it regardless. And then I heard my son calling me. I went into their room and they both were standing up.
“Did the bunny come yet?” he asked me.
“Oh, no honey, the bunny will come after you go to sleep and maybe bring you something to find in the morning.”
“We did sleep. It is morning!” Said my daughter. (We have discussed daylight savings and the fact that it is not dark at bedtime many, many, times lately)

I tucked them back in, and came downstairs, and realized what this is, what is happening. They will remember this. Maybe not forever, but next year, they will know what happened this year, and it will build an anticipation, a sense of wonder, that, if we are lucky, will last for a few years after.
This IS their childhood.
This is THEIR spring.

Don't miss this sale - next Saturday, March 29th

2008-03-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Chester County Mothers of Multiples Clothing Sale

Join us at the United Sports Training Center on
Saturday, March 29, 2008
9am-Noon

Items encompass everything from Maternity Clothing to Outdoor Play Equipment. If a Baby, Toddler, Child or Expectant Mother needs it, wears it or wants it.....WE HAVE IT!

United Sports Training Center1426 Marshallton-Thorndale RoadDowningtown, PA 19335Phone 610-466-7100Fax 610-466-9314

What Mothers Do

2008-03-17T16:33:00.001-07:00

We went to the USTC community day egg hunt… my kids each got one egg due only to the generous spirit of other parents. It was a great event but the turn-out was vastly underestimated.
Today the kids and I went to Waterloo Gardens in Exton, and saw Teka the Macaw, and Lethal Weapon and Chester the miniature horses who live there. We also got mammoth sunflower seeds and starts for my herb garden, and a few more varietals of sunflower to go around our house. The kids helped us put the seeds in their small starter pots this afternoon in the sunshine and off we go. Spring is surely upon us.
Then I checked in with the weather channel and realized my plan for a trip to the zoo tomorrow is folly… rain and snow mixed does NOT a good time sound.
A very good friend of mine recently sent me a copy of “What Mothers Do (especially when it looks like nothing)” by Naomi Stadlen. I only wish I had received this book several years ago, but better a little late than never. Ms. Stadlen is a psychotherapist who interviewed hundreds of mothers on their experiences of motherhood, and the result is a book that actually talks about all of the things you aren’t supposed to talk about… like sleep deprived hallucinations during the first few months, loss of a sense of self, being on call 24/7 – literally, forever.
I recommend it highly and may write more about it when I am finished. But nothing has come as close (not even my own diary) to explaining how impossible it is to describe parenthood, how joyful and painful and endless and ultimate it is. I met a woman at a salon the other day who was mother to a 6 month old son, and she said, “no one ever told me how hard it was… I mean, you hear it, but I never had any idea.” My favorite quote from it so far is this:
“Having a baby – like dying- is one of the great transitions that we face for which there can be no rehearsal.”

The Eggs and I

2008-03-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Eggs have been symbols of birth and springtime since people started thinking in symbolic terms. Since becoming a mother, they have certainly taken on a new level of meaning for me. Spring also symbolizes warmer weather, better activities for young children, and an increase in smiles and joy all around.

And kids love hunting for stuff, always have, always will... so here are a few public egg hunts happening this weekend if you are itching for an activity that is free and fun for everyone:

Saturday, March 15th, 2008(with a Rain date of Sunday, March 16th, 2008)
Township of East Goshen
We’ll start off our day with breakfast with the Giant Bunny, courtesy of Chamber President, Rob Powelson. This breakfast event will begin at 9:00 AM, and be held at the Historic Building on Paoli Pike (across from the East Goshen Township Park) This event is for children ages 2 through 7 years.The Easter Bunny will be arriving on a Fire Truck at the Chester County Chamber of Commerce for the Annual Egg Hunt which will take place after the breakfast activities. There will be lively music to dance with the bunny before the greatly anticipated Easter Egg Hunts. There will also be a Bunny Magic Show & the very popular Bunny Farm where you and the Easter Bunny can visit with her little cousins to pet and look at. Bring your cameras and get ready to pose with the Bunny for photos and to do the BUNNY HOP!!! We HOP, HOP, HOP to see you there!!!!!

Calvary Bible Church of Phoenixville invites children ages 2-12 to join them for a free Community Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 15, at 11:00 a.m. There will be candy, prizes, refreshments, the first Easter story, plus lots of fun! Rain date is March 22. Calvary Bible Church is located at the corner of Whitehorse and Valley Park Roads in Phoenixville, PA. For more information, please call 610-933-6225 or visit www.calvarybiblecares.org. Admittance is free.

West Chester's "Annual Easter Egg Hunt"
Date(s):
03/15/2008 - 03/15/2008
Times:
Times: 10:00 AM
Location:
Everhart Park (100 S. Brandywine St.)

Join us for all the fun.With some help from the Easter Bunny and his friends, we'll be spilling out over 6000 plastic candy & toy filled eggs for all the youngsters of West Chester to gobble up. This event is for children ages 2-9. Please remember to bring you own basket or bag to collect the eggs. Also a reminder, they will be several helpers with large trashbags after the "Hunt" to collect all of the Easter Bunny's eggs. Please be there on time as this event will start promptly at 10am. Cost=Free

Don't miss the Exton Annual Easter Egg Hunt!
West Whiteland Township, Chester County PA will be holding two egg hunts for the kids of West Whiteland Township.
Miller Park, Exton: Saturday, March 15th, 2008; Rain/Snow date: March 22nd, 2008
Free Event: Bring your own baskets
The first will be for special needs children which it starts promptly at 9:00 AM. The second egg hunt is for all children ages 3-9 which begins at 10:00 AM.
Please arrive early and the egg hunt is fast and furious and over in about 15 minutes. Be ready to go, waiting along the walkway before the designated start time.
The 10:00 AM egg hunt will have the young children gathering eggs in the circle area in from of the gazebo. The older children 6 to 9 will gather eggs in the large field along Waterloo Boulevard and Miller Way. It's a great time for the kids and the parents. Have FUN!!
In case of inclement weather, call the Parks Office for a recorded message 610-738-7101.

Easter Egg Hunt 10:00 am Saturday, March 15, 2008
Saturday, March 31, 2007 at 10:00 a.m.
Rain Date: Sunday, April 1, 2007, at 1:00 p.m.
Location:
West Brandywine Township's New Community Park198 Lafayette RoadCoatesville, PA 19320

Sign up Form Easter Egg Hunt Sign Up

EASTER EGG HUNT
At Kimberton Park
Saturday, March 15th – 10:00 a.m.
(Raindate: March 22nd - 10:00 a.m.)
Children up to age 10 are invited to participate. Bring your own basket.

East Coventry Township Easter Egg Hunt
10 am sharp
East Coventry School – ages 1 through fifth grade
Bring your own basket
Rain date – March 21st for info call 610-469-8405

East Fallowfield Egg Hunt
2pm sharp Saturday March 15th
East Fallowfield Elementary School

Sunday, March 16th – United Sports Training Center in Downingtown is having an egg hunt as part of it’s community day from 2pm-4pm.

Snip its express

2008-03-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

We had a day with no plan, and a child with pretty rough looking hair, so I decided to try “Snip its”, the new kid friendly hair salon in the Whiteland Towne Center shopping plaza. This is a mom-born chain out of MA that gives Chuck E. Cheese a run for his money in catering to kids tastes in décor and ambiance.

Dr. Seuss-like sculptures surround brightly colored chairs with screens playing cartoons, all hyping the Snip its branded characters. I found the extreme branding a little startling, but my kids seemed happier than when we sat for 20 minutes in Great Clips waiting for our last cut. Our stylist was friendly and spoke directly to the kids, all the while heeding my numerous requests as she cleaned up my son’s hair to my liking. Even my daughter, who was not even getting a hair cut seemed entertained and happy to be there. Afterward they put some of his locks into a magic box that spouted out a toy surprise. Add a lollipop and we were happy to shell out the $15.95. I don’t know if I will fill up my punch card there but it made for a fun morning.

Afterward, we followed the other Snip its alumni down the sidewalk to the new Learning Express location. The deceptively narrow entrance doesn’t do justice to how large this toy store is. And they had all of the great stuff you can’t find at Toys R Us, plus a doll house and train table in back that kept us there for over an hour. I like stores you can really camp out in, and I found that the sheer fun of wandering through a toy store unencumbered did not leave me when I became a Mom, in fact it is even better now, seeing things from both sides.

Too clean or not to clean?

2008-03-04T05:40:00.000-08:00

Interesting article in the Washington Post this morning about changes to immune system responses in recent years... I have always suspected that something was shifting as allergies increase as our environments become more sterile...

By Rob SteinWashington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, March 4, 2008

"First, asthma cases shot up, along with hay fever and other common allergic reactions, such as eczema. Then, pediatricians started seeing more children with food allergies. Now, experts are increasingly convinced that a suspected jump in lupus, multiple sclerosis and other afflictions caused by misfiring immune systems is real.
Though the data are stronger for some diseases than others, and part of the increase may reflect better diagnoses, experts estimate that many allergies and immune-system diseases have doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in the last few decades, depending on the ailment and country. Some studies now indicate that more than half of the U.S. population has at least one allergy.
The cause remains the focus of intense debate and study, but some researchers suspect the concurrent trends all may have a common explanation rooted in aspects of modern living -- including the "hygiene hypothesis" that blames growing up in increasingly sterile homes, changes in diet, air pollution, and possibly even obesity and increasingly sedentary lifestyles."

Read More...

To the ZOO, to the ZOO!

2008-03-03T06:15:00.001-08:00

So it is supposed to reach 60 degrees today, spring is in the air perhaps? What better place to visit after being cooped up all winter than the ZOO!!

Here are some options for visiting with the local delegates of the animal kingdom, and having a great day trip with your kids…

The Elmwood Park Zoo. http://www.elmwoodparkzoo.org/

Located in surprisingly easy to get to Norristown (30 minutes from our Eagle perch in Downingtown - a straight shot up route 202), this zoo features jaguars, wolves, a prairie dog maze, alligators and an operatic parrot who can mimic your child's laughter...just to name a few. The café offers children's meals for around $4 (toy included), or you can picnic near one of the best fenced in playgrounds around.
The standard entrance fee is $9.00 per adult, and $6.50 for children 1-11 years old (infants are free), and $6.50 for anyone over 55. They offer several membership options, we went with the family membership, which at $70 gives two named adults and our children unlimited free visits and also applies to free or discounted entries to over 140 other Zoos and Aquariums through the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's reciprocal program. They offer educational programs, a spring break 'camp', even overnights on the grounds for older kids.

Philadelphia Zoo. http://www2.philadelphiazoo.org/

We got the family membership.. if you have more than one child and plan to go more than once a year, this is absolutely the way to go – as you get free parking with membership and pack a lunch and it is a great day trip for no more than the price of gas. ***Straws are prohibited inside the zoo though, so stick with sippy cups or plastic bottled beverages. From 76 the zoo is a block from the exit ramp – so getting in and out requires close to zero “city traffic” negotiation. I have taken my twins twice already this year.

The Philadelphia Zoo is open every day of the year, except Thanksgiving Day, December 24, 25 and 31, January 1, and the second Thursday in June, March 1 - November 30, 2008 - Hours - Daily 9:30AM-5:00PM

Ticket prices: Adult $17.95, Child (age 2-11) $14.95, Child (under 2) Free
Parking- Per vehicle - $10.00 (Free parking with valid membership card)

Memberships range from individual at $54, through the Contributor at $280 – but all memberships are tax deductible!

Family Plus $114
Admission for two adults.Admission for children in the household under age 18*.Admission for two guests with each visit.
Family $94
Admission for two adults.Admission for children in the household under age 18*.

All in a night's work

2008-02-29T06:23:00.000-08:00

The other night I woke from a sound sleep to my son, crying… it was a little after 3am. I went into the kid’s room and he was sitting up in his crib, in tears, asking, “Where is my dinosaur shirt?”

Huh?

“What dinosaur shirt?” I asked, already sensing it was a silly question.
Earlier that day we had received a big box of clothes, hand-me-downs all for his sister. He had asked if he could have several of the items as I held up pink flowered shirts and sparkly purple dresses… so I had started to explain that they were meant for girls and then, realizing I was careening toward gender stereotypes I didn’t want to necessarily shove onto my son at age two, I ended up saying that of course he could have some, as I put the box away.

Does he want to wear pink flowers? Perhaps… but when he refused to wear pants I did ask if he would prefer a dress and he said no. I wasn’t being sarcastic when I asked I was genuinely interested to hear his response… I saw the 20/20 episode on transgendered kids – if he feels strongly about pinks and purples he can go there, but it wasn’t about that. He just wanted to get some stuff too.

So as he sobbed over what I assume was a dream about his dinosaur shirt (which was in the washer, wet) I grabbed a sweater with dinosaurs on it and asked him if it would do. He pointed to a stegosaurus appliqué and exclaimed, “Yes, Mommy yes!!”
So I put the sweater on over his PJs and tucked him in, contented.

About an hour later, I woke to the sound of my daughter crying. I went into the room and she was holding up her hand, crying saying, “My thumb is broken.”

This one had me stuck for a moment. I looked at the thumb, asked her to move it and she wiggled it a bit, I kissed it, but still she was saying something about it not being right. She seemed so scared and upset that I squinted harder in the night light glow and tried to straighten it. It would not straighten. The top of her thumb had somehow popped out of joint!

Another minute went by as I got over my horror and realized how terrifying that must be to her. I held her hand in one hand and her thumb in my other and slowly but firmly pulled the thumb apart a bit and ‘pop’, the bone went back to its spot in the joint. She stopped crying and after inspecting it said happily, “Thank you Mommy, you fixed it!”

Playing ketchup

2008-02-25T17:49:00.001-08:00

When I was (a lot) younger than I am now… I was at my grandma’s house and my cousins were visiting. One couple had two young daughters, and I remember the two year old requesting a ketchup sandwich for dinner. After some negotiation and fussing, they did in fact give her a ketchup sandwich, and I remember being a bit offended by it. Any new college grad who is single and exploring vegetarianism could relate, I mean, that is just so gross right?

I am chagrined now to admit that I ever even judged a couple, hundreds of miles from home with two young kids just trying to make it through an evening with extended family. Now I know, whatever works and keeps them happy can be A-Okay for one night.

My own children love ketchup. And as they refuse more and more vegetables each month, I find myself thinking, ‘hey, it is made of tomatoes, it must somehow count as a vegetable’.

A recent article in the New York Times cited a few critical items to go organic on when forced to choose. Ketchup was, I think, number one. The author said, simply, when you have young children who want to really pour it on, spend the bit extra for organic and let them – it will make everyone happier and healthier.

Here’s to you then, as I squirt the fourth helping of organic ketchup onto my child’s plate. We didn’t get a nap today and we only have an hour to bedtime.
Dinner is served!

Baby needs a new pair of shoes

2008-02-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Well, my kids finally got to wear their 2007/2008 snow pants today… and they are almost outgrown. We got some sledding in though, and while my daughter is no speed demon, they both had a great time - followed of course, by hot chocolate.
Another month and the pants probably would not have fit at all. However, as I only paid $3 for each pair, I don’t feel badly about the lack of wear. You can’t tell by looking, and they are just as warm as the new ones people spent $60 for off the rack.

You see, some people do have the means to purchase whatever they desire for their bundles of joy. However, the rest of us, especially the SAHs, have to muster most of our organizational mojo to dress our sweethearts in a style most becoming our favorite fashions. If you have never looked on Ebay for kids clothing or toys, I suggest you take a gander… you can get just about anything there, and it’s fun to see what’s around.
Books and videos go in lots – boxes representing some family’s entire outgrown collection for $10. People also sell children’s clothing in lots by Size… sometimes you can get a few choice items you’d have paid the total price for anyway, and along with it a year’s supply of extra play clothes.

Planning ahead isn’t always easy when it comes to kids who can change sizes virtually overnight, but I think if you can get it all at a bargain, then even if you have to go out and get a few things to make it through the end of a season you still come out way ahead- and most importantly you get to really enjoy what they wear.

So, as winter marches on, the Spring and Summer clothing sales begin to line up. I already went through the closets and boxes to get an estimate of what items are on my must have list… then, I combine sales, thrift stores and Ebay to get everything we need for the coming season. You should have a good grasp of designers, to know whether you are paying those two dollars for a $50 outfit or for an $8 one, but most of all you need to keep an eye out for what you love, and grab it before anyone else does!

Here are some sales to mark on your calendars:
(…and if you happen to know of others, please comment with them!)

Spring Chicken Kids Consignment Sale
Friday, Feb. 29 from Noon - 7pm and
Sat. Mar 1 from 8am - 2pm at the Armenian Matryrs Congregational Church
100 N. Edmonds Ave, Havertown.

Plymouth Meeting Friends School annual Gently Used Kids' Clothing Sale Everything $1-$5 Saturday 3/1/08 9:00-1:00 2150 Butler Pike (Corner of Butler and Germantown Pikes)

Not really a budget event but there is a Moms and Moms-2-Be expo on March 1st at the Goshen Fire Company in West Chester from 10:00-1:00, local vendors will have products and services for Moms and Moms-2-Be.

Main Line Mothers of Multiples Club Clothing Exchange
Saturday, March 1, 2008NOTE: In the event of inclement weather on Saturday, February 23rd, we must move our sale to March 8th.
Time: 10AM - 1PM for the General Public
Location: Russell Elementary School2201 Sproul Road (Rt. 320) in Broomall, PA

HUGE COZY TOTS KIDS CONSIGNMENT SALE
Spring - Summer SALE: Saturday March 8, 2008 8am - 2pm Sunday, March 9, 2008 11am - 2pm (Sunday is 50% off sale day) CASH ONLY - RAIN OR SHINE - FREE ADMISSION - FREE PARKING at The Bryn Athyn Church Elementary School 600 Tomlinson Road, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009

(My Favorite!)
Chester County Mothers of Multiples Clothing and equipment sale
Saturday, March 29, 2008
9:00am til Noon
Located at: United Sports Training Center
1426 Marshallton – Thorndale Road, Downingtown, PA
www.ccmomc.org

Kool Kids Sale
March 29th and 30th, 2008 Located in Tullytown, PA Visit our web site at http://www.KoolKidsSale.com

GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH - L’il Angels Consignment Sale313 Main Street, Hulmeville, PA 19047 (Bensalem Twp)
Friday, April 4th: 9 AM - 8 PM (Open to the public) Saturday, April 5th: 9 AM - 12 PM (Open to the public; Select items are 1/2 price)
TREASURED TWICE CONSIGNMENT SHOPPE ONE DAY EVENT - SATURDAY, APRIL 5th--9:30AM - 2:00PM CHURCH ON THE MALL, PLYMOUTH MEETING MALL Visit www.freewebs.com/treasuredtwice for more information and money saving coupons

Kids Kloset Swap Spring 2008 Sale
Saturday March 29th 8am-1pmSunday March 30th 8am-noon (Half Price)Central Bucks Senior Citizens Center700 N. Shady Retreat RoadDoylestown

A Few Of My Favorite Things

2008-02-19T06:05:00.000-08:00

Today is grocery shopping day. I put it off as long as I could; last night’s meal was concocted from things found in the freezer and a can of soup, and I even made banana bread so we would have something new for breakfast. This banana bread recipe, by the way, is really pretty tasty and not all bad for you:
½ C. butter
½ C. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
¾ tsp. baking Soda
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ C. mashed bananas (about 3)
¼ C. honey
2 large eggs
2 C. whole wheat flour
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, pour batter in 9 X 5 greased pan, rest at room temp for 10 minutes after pouring, then bake for 50 minutes uncovered, cover with foil and bake 10 more minutes.

When I was in the last month of pregnancy with the twins, I could barely drive a car, or walk more than a few feet at a time, so I started having groceries delivered by Acme. I continued with them until the kids were about four months old and I highly recommend this service. Even to give you a break during a particularly hectic week, the $9 service charge is easily justified as it balances out against the items you get on impulse when actually in the store.

A few months ago after a double child melt down in the cereal aisle and an abandoned shopping cart half full of groceries, I resumed Acme delivery until we had gotten over that particular stint of terrible two-ness. Now, (when I say now, I mean the last two trips… it can turn on a dime) my kids are more eager to please, and so I let them ‘help’ me by fetching an orange, or carrying a shopping bag.

A word about shopping bags: I bought six reusable bags at Giant last fall and I cannot recommend them highly enough. Every store has them now, usually for sale at the checkout, and they are the greatest thing next to home grocery delivery. I cannot describe the dread I used to feel watching the bagger place one item into each plastic bag, filling my cart with about 50 individual bags or more that I was somehow supposed to carry into my house along with two small children. I started begging for paper/plastic combos, but still I had a lot of trips and several broken bags to contend with in the driveway while my children sat either unattended inside or screaming in their car seats.

The reusable bags hold three times what a combo bag does, and they don’t break. They have handles and they stand upright in the van. Not only are they environmentally friendly, they are far and above a better way to go.

I know groceries are way up in price… and I have tried to cut back on things like extra chips or non-essentials in order to keep us somewhere in range of budget. But there are a few things I won’t give up. Like what I promise as a reward now for a successful trip to the store is what I call ‘squishy fruit’. It is organic smooshed fruit by FruitaBu (http://www.stretchislandfruit.com/about.html). We like strawberry, and it is just pureed fruit in a packet that they can suck out – making it both a snack and an activity. They LOVE them. For myself, an essential luxury includes soup and noodle bowls from Annie Chun’s – her pad thai is excellent, the udon a refreshing break from left over PB&J - and each take only 2 minutes to make. That's clutch.
So as soon as I can convince my son to wear pants, we'll be off to shop.

Wish us luck!

Break the cabin fever!

2008-02-16T17:34:00.000-08:00

So, the weather is less than temperate but we haven’t had a decent sledding snow day yet this winter. What do you do with kids who have had it with puzzles and DVDs?

Here are a few local places where they can really unleash some energy, while you can still remain warm and dry…

Swingsets Direct - There is one located in Downingtown in the shopping center off of Quarry Road. They offer a giant back indoor bouncy castle and moon bounce area for $5 a person for 2 hours.. . also includes ride on toys and picnic benches to seat parents while kids get their ya yas out. http://www.buyswingsetsdirect.com/stores.html

Bounce U - $ 8.50 a head. http://www.bounceu.com/cities/exton/open-bounce.htm

Bette’s Family Fun center, West Chester, $7 a child, (closed on Tuesdays). http://www.bettesfuncenter.com/direct.htm

Moonbounce Adventures, West Chester, http://www.moonbounceadventures.com/

Oasis Family Fun Center - http://www.oasisfamilyfun.com/ (a little further south)

The Jumping Monkey, in West Chester

Iceline - http://www.rinktime.com/skating_rinks/pa/ice_line_skating_rink_arena_west_chester_pa.cfm, remember how much fun ice skating is?

Palace Bowling – Take them bowling! http://www.palacebowling.com/

And here is a great list of sites and activities you can plan on in months ahead:
http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/browse/neighborhood.jsp?area=15758

Times Like These

2008-02-12T21:10:00.000-08:00

In an effort to teach my two almost three year olds the concept of time and its current organizational construct, I drew up a calendar on the white board of our art easel. In each square day, I try to draw a symbol or write the name of a friend we will see, and as we mark off days, then we discuss how last Tuesday we saw our friend so-and-so, and then the day after that we went over to grandma’s house. I am hoping that a better grasp of the concept will avoid conversations like this one:
Mom: “Hey guess what? Tomorrow we are going to go play with grandma, won’t that be fun?”
Kids: (running for coat rack) “Yay! Let’s go!”
Mom: “Uhm, no, wait a sec guys… that’s tomorrow. First we have to have dinner and a bath and put PJs on and then go to sleep, then we wake up and THEN we can go to grandma’s.”
Kids: “NO! I don’t want to go to sleep! I want to go to grandma’s!”
Mom: “No… it’s not bedtime yet…we’re going tomorrow…oh man… uhm… anyone want a fruit bar?”

So Thursday is marked with a big red heart. This morning in my email I received a little meme poll asking me to choose what my favorite thing is about Valentine’s Day. I was a bit taken aback when my top pick answer was “could care less”. Well, that and “chocolate”. Now, that isn’t true, IS IT? I thought to myself, cancelling out of participating at all as it might incriminate me as having lost all romantic sensibilities. I love my husband, we haven’t lost the spark… we just function on a lower voltage after a long day with job and kids. Is that so wrong?

Last year on Valentine’s Day, I think it snowed… so my husband and I mutually decided to cancel our reservation at Gilmore’s and we got some crab legs from the Acme. We had a nice candle lit dinner at home after the kids were in bed. But this year, I have to admit, I am conflicted. Getting seafood means clean-up afterward. Kids in bed at seven… dinner… clean up… will we be done in time for Survivor? It IS Thursday after all… the one and only evening of the week that we actually want to watch the same shows on TV. Would it be terribly uncouth to drink bubbly while listening to the recap of how Johnny Fairplay got sent home? And as I think this, part of me, the part who has had pretty fabulous Valentine’s in the past, the part who spent years not watching TV at all, shudders…who IS this Mommy who would rather watch the budget and the boob tube than dress up and drive somewhere and show off her boobs?

But the thing is, about Valentine’s Day; it feels like I am supposed to WANT something. And the toughest part of staying at home with these small children is that you can’t think that way. If you spend too much time thinking about what you want, personally, you can get terribly depressed… or perhaps that’s just me? But I know when we all watch Finding Nemo, again, I have to admit that I really would rather be watching the Travel Channel or Iron Chef. And when we are sitting in the McDonald’s playland, I can think of several other lunches I would prefer to be gnoshing on.
But it isn’t a big deal.
That’s the thing.
Time marches on. And I don’t think it is unreasonably optimistic to think that there will be plenty of Valentine’s Days to come, and plenty of time to go out once the budget is more stable, and the kids are more portable and more easily babysat. And when my son comes over to me and says, “Mommy, you are my best friend,” I think maybe it is me who needs to relearn her conceptions of time, and simply enjoy this before it is over.

Home again, home again

2008-02-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

When I turned thirty, I was living in Seattle with a man who never wanted children, and until then, I was OK with that. We had an exciting life filled with travel and new restaurants, live music and good friends. When we split up, I realized that the yearning I felt for a family also included the one I had left behind here in Pennsylvania. I packed it all up and moved back to be near my parents and to start a new life hopefully with deeper roots and more home cooked meals. Today I live in Downingtown and am the mother to a boy and a girl, twins who are about to turn three, and my life has transformed in more ways than I ever believed possible.

As newsletter editor for the Chester County Mothers of Multiples Club, I have access to a wonderful network of people who are raising children in Chester County, PA. And when you have multiple, same-aged children, it becomes crucial that you know everything you can about how to entertain them without breaking the bank, what you can feed them that they will agree to eat, and how to save a few bucks in the meantime. Here I will try to share some of this information and offer a little companionship to those going through the too often mind-boggling experience of being a parent. Welcome, and I hope you will continue to join me.