Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - 11:55
I know, the turkey leftovers have just been polished off, but I'm already feeling the holiday stress (must do the family card this weekend), mostly because I've begun the annual battle with my husband over putting up the outdoor Christmas lights. Is there a man alive who doesn't groan, whine, procrastinate, and curse about this task? Read Full Post
Thursday, July 8, 2010 - 13:21
Do you know where your kids will be at 9 pm tonight? I know mine will be glued to ESPN for the "The Decision" according to King James. Now if you don't know what I'm talking about, you've had your head buried in an air conditioner. The biggest news this past week, with the exception of the heat wave, has been which team NBA free agent and superstar LeBron James will choose now that his contract is up with his beloved home team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The world has watched as grown business men and celebrities from major basketball empires (New York, Miami, Chicago to name a few) have traveled to Cleveland and practically knelt at his feet, begging him to come to their home courts for countless millions (earned by them and him). He will announce which team he has chosen during a prime time special tonight and speculation is rampant: Will it be New York (because he's making the announcement in close-by Greenwich, CT)? Will it be Miami (because two of his big name basketball buddies have already committed to forming this dream team with designs on a championship ring)? Or will he stay in Cleveland (where his roots and his friends are)? Read Full Post
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 - 14:09
My son sent me this text message at 9:17 a.m. yesterday: "We just had a code red."
"A real one?" I wrote back.
"Yup. A kid ran outside with a gun and was like tryin 2 hijack a car. I saw it all out the window."
Gulp. Someone with a gun was on the loose in my child's middle school. But thanks to that cell phone, by 9:22, I knew exactly who the kid with the gun was, that he'd been taken into police custody, no one had been hurt, and a SWAT team was scouring the school making sure there were no accomplices. And in the end, the gun was a pellet gun, not a real one.
Say what you will about kids being addicted to cell phones and texting, and whether they should be allowed at school or not, but I sure was glad my son had his. This was the second time in a year something like this happened in my oh-so-normal suburban school district. Last June, a disgruntled parent barged into the district superintendant's office and threatened him with a real live loaded gun. Thanks to our quick thinking and brave superintendant (who's now a local hero), the dad was disarmed and is now behind bars.
In both cases, I've known the families involved, parents and kids. Were there issues? In retrospect, yes, but nothing that could have predicted such a violent turn of events.
Thankfully, my school district has an excellent emergency response plan which is practiced on a regular basis. The teacher who saw the gun immediately notified the principal who had a panic button in her office (installed after the first incident) to alert the local police. The school went into immediate lockdown—no one could come or go until the SWAT team confirmed there was no other threat. By 11 a.m. the kids were back in class and a crisis team was on hand to talk with students, parents, and staff who needed counseling.
It's heartbreaking that we have to fear for our children's safety at school, but that's the case today no matter where you live. Does your school have a good security plan in place for such threats? Read Full Post
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 - 11:09
You know the old adage, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em? That's what I decided when my two older kids decided they wanted to learn to ski. I'd reluctantly tried skiing a few times pre-parenthood and managed to survive the experience, but let's just say that, unlike Lindsey Vonn, I am not fond of barreling down frigid mountainsides on snow and ice at speeds much past 5 miles per hour. Still, I knew it would be good for my kids to learn (before they were old enough to realize their mortality like me!), and an activity we could all do together as a family.
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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - 14:23
If you've got one, you know it ain't pretty. You can smell them and their stinky socks/underarms/breath coming down the hall. All the Lysol in existence can't make their bedrooms inhabitable by other life forms.
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 14:51
We know, we love 'em, too, and like most everything else in life, they're fine in moderation. But one new study of more than 3,200 parents found that the number one vegetable in the typical tot diet is French Fries (yep, potatoes count as a veggie). And 30 percent of preschoolers don't eat a single vegetable on a given day. Read Full Post
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 15:29
Ever see one of those little boys with the endless eyelashes and think, "Cute, but what does a future man need with those fabulous lashes?" Pass ‘em over here, kid. My daughter's lashes enter a room a few seconds before she does. Well, here’s something that brought me much closer to those little kid lashes I envy.
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Wednesday, December 9, 2009 - 13:31
I just swam to work today and felt a wave of dread, because the rainy and cold weather season has just begun and already I’ve spent one weekend day baking cupcakes and another baking cookies with my kids, my in-case-of-extreme-boredom bad weather indoor activity.
Those are my fall-backs. It’s only December 9. And I can’t afford the calories. Read Full Post
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