Happy Thursday!
What are you reading?
I just finished Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I’m not the least bit outdoorsy, but it *almost* made me want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.
Now I’m reading This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz. His voice is so singular and memorable. He’s a fabulous writer.
What else is on your mind today? Chat away!
Happy Tuesday! Our trip ended with fellow plane passengers giving us unsolicited, effusive compliments on how well-behaved our children are. I know complete strangers’ opinions shouldn’t matter one bit, but damned if it didn’t feel good to hear it! Why is that?
What’s on your mind today? Chat away!
It’s the weekend, y’all!
Today we’re lucky enough to be in Berkeley, celebrating Elisa’s DD’s 6th birthday. We also get to meet Elisa’s newborn niece! YAY 
Tomorrow we hope to head into San Francisco for some adventures with Flat Stanley. What are you up to this weekend? Chat away!
We are getting on a plane this morning for a 4-night trip. A quick overnight in Sacramento, a full day in Santa Rosa (Charles M. Schulz Museum, here we come!) then two nights in Berkeley. Three different hotels. Two crazy kids.
Wish me luck!
What’s on your mind today?
What’s up?
In how-screwed-up-is-this news: a northern Georgia town is trying to mandate gun ownership. From the Huffington Post:
Council members in Nelson, a city of about 1,300 residents that’s located 50 miles north of Atlanta, voted unanimously to approve the Family Protection Ordinance. The measure requires every head of household to own a gun and ammunition to “provide for the emergency management of the city” and to “provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants.”
This all reminds me of the popular Facebook image following the Newtown shootings that read (paraphrased): “If your first instinct was to cry ‘gun rights’ following the shooting deaths of 20 children, then your priorities as a human being suck.” Amen.
In related news: an Idaho biology teacher is being investigated for saying the word “vagina” in his class. Oy vey.
In other health news: meat and poultry account for nearly a quarter of all foodborne illnesses, however, beef is only a sliver of that, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And whoa: More than 18 percent of babies born to teenaged mothers are baby No. 2 or 3, according to a story in NBC News.
What else is in the news? What’s up with you?
What’s on your mind today?
WEEKEND! Today kicks off DD’s 2-week spring break. We plan to enjoy the heck out of it because next year, the district is adding back instructional days and DD will get the standard 1-week break.
What are your plans during this gorgeous weekend? Today, we will host an egg hunt for two families who are dear to us. Six kids, some egg dye and a lot of candy… wish me luck!
We don’t have any plans for actual Easter Sunday. My parents are in Vegas for the weekend attending a wedding, and we’re not religious so no Easter services or anything. I am tossing around the idea of buying a Honeybaked ham and making a little dinner just for our little family, but I’m guessing the Honeybaked store will be akin to Thunderdome today.
What else is on your mind? Chat away!
Happy Tuesday!
The CDC says many infants are being fed solid foods too soon. Apparently, the American Academy of Pediatrics has revised its recommendations and now say babies should eat nothing but breast milk or formula until they’re 6 months old.
All I can say is, that seems like a long time to wait for a bit of oatmeal or mashed banana. DD started rice cereal at 3 months and gobbled it right up, like she had just been waiting for it; DS held off longer, and was closer to 5 months before he seemed ready for solids. What say you? Do you think these recommendations are realistic?
Also in the NYT is a recurring column called Making It Last, which interviews boomer couples who have been married at least 25 years about their secrets to a lasting marriage. I have enjoyed reading them.
Do you have any marriage tips to share?
What else is on your mind today? Chat away!
It’s the weekend, y’all!
What do your kids call you? What do you wish they’d call you?
We taught our kiddos to call us “Mami” and “Papi,” although DS initially called us “Mama” and “Papa” when he first started to speak. But lately, DS has taken to calling me “Mom.” I have no idea why, as he is only 3, so it couldn’t be that he thinks it’s too babyish or whatever.
I don’t know why, but I don’t like being called Mom. Maybe it’s because my own parents were always (and still are) Mami and Papi to me. Plus, I like the Spanish inflection on Mami. As hard as I tried to teach them, my kids don’t speak much Spanish, but I figured I’d at least have Mami and Papi
We shall see if this is a phase or a permanent change!
What are you up to this weekend? Chat away!
Happy Thursday!
Today I present this most excellent HuffPo column: “Can We Bring the Holidays Down a Notch?”
The author was set off by the huge fuss over St. Patrick’s Day, which has morphed from a day to wear green into building leprechaun traps and hiding gold coins:
And suddenly Pi Day is a thing? My children expect to be served pie because someone at school told them so?
And Dr. Seuss’s birthday? Sure it’s a great event for school, but my kids are now asking what we’re doing to celebrate that at home, too.
And do not even get me started on what Easter has become. When I was a kid my mom went to the store and bought us a new dress and a pre-made plastic Easter basket for $8.99. THE END. There was candy and we loved it. Maybe we would die some eggs from a kit sitting in the check-out lane at Target. They would look like crap.
Now we’ve got to leave footprints from the Easter Bunny and make artful, Pinterest-worthy eggs with stencils and ikat prints and probably some that are ombre. AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT.
I admit, I have to agree. Holidays were a much simpler affair when I was a kid. I like Pinterest as much as the next gal, but I’m not building any leprechaun traps or making Valentine’s Day and Halloween goody bags.
What say you?
And what else is on your mind? Chat away!
