Mama Drama

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The latest 10 entries, with the newest at the top. This weekend we didn t go to see Elmo at the Erwin Center, to Ruta Maya for the cool Sunday kid show, to the marathon to cheer on the runners, to the Austin Children s Museum or to the Austin Zoo. There are so many great things for kids to do in Austin on the weekends.

How does a parent choose?
I did feel guilty as we passed the Erwin Center on Friday evening watching the parents carrying their kids inside to see Elmo. JP loves Elmo.

Those types of shows scared me silly when I was his age. When the big characters came near, I would cry and cry. As I got older, I enjoyed them.

So perhaps that was my logic for not going this year. Selfish mommy.
We did play in the horse trailer, ride the toy car on the front porch, play with trains, kick the soccer ball around the yard, read stories, blow bubbles and go for a walk.

There are great things to do at home, too. I hate to sound like a crab, but when I am home for the weekend, I want to be HOME for the weekend. We can find fun creative free things to do.

Chores are even fun for a toddler. He always want to help me weed. Sure it takes much longer, but we are having active fun together.

We did go into town for the Chinese New Year celebration after dropping daddy off at the airport. We missed the dragons and the drums but had fun at the MT Thanh Supermarket looking at fish. The music in the big tent made JP pretty happy, too.

I know they grow up fast. I just hope we have time for all the fun to be had in Austin.
All moms need to unite on this one, whether married or single, this is a direct attack bill, criminalizing mothers, fining them $500, this is crazy.

Some people are put in jails, prisons, for misdemeanors, this is serious, just setting moms up, steps away You re right. There s got to be another way to address the parent/teacher conference and I don t believe a fine of this magnitude is the way to solve the problem of parent s not attending.
As you stated in so many words, My 2-year-old son has a shirt that says, I have decided to put myself in charge.

The funny thing is, when he wears it, you d think he DID put himself in charge. He puts it on and boom, he s a handful!
Hi there, I am not a mother in distress but I m getting close to experiencing a sort of papa drama.

My wife and I are moving to Austin with two infants, we are possibly sending our children to AUSTIN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (for its announced french I love Thursdays for The New York Times House Home section. Today I pulled it out, studied the huge photo on the front of a mother mopping her floor with her toddler son helping. They are laughing in a spotless white kitchen and the floor is a gleaming white linoleum.

Then I saw them the high-heeled platform sandals mom is wearing under her jeans. I love glam moms and applaud women who wear great shoes out and about. But the last time I wore platform sandals to mop the floor?

uh, never.
As a photo editor, I understand that probably what happened was the photographer was told they need something more than a portrait of this family, get a photo of her mopping the floor with her natural products. The photographer shows up and she is dressed to the nines, kids spotless, house spotless.

Perhaps she suggests she demonstrate how she mops, or perhaps the photographer suggests it (I hope not).
At any rate, I am sitting here at my desk laughing with co-worker moms about the impracticality of mopping in high heels. Not to mention dangerous.

Maybe they do it differently in Utah.
Nothing makes me more angry than an unrestrained child in a car. When I was a photographer in New York, I had to photograph an accident in which no one in the minivan was wearing seat belts or in car seats.

Mom and Dad were killed after being thrown out of the front windshield and run over on the highway, and the children roughly ages 3-6 were tossed around the van and had to be extracted by rescue workers. I saw the emergency crews working on them in the median. I was crying so hard, a sheriff asked me if I was okay.

I was so angry that the girls had lost their parents but angrier still that the parents had not buckled the children in to protect them.
So, according to a press release, this Tuesday and and Wednesday, Texas Child Passenger Safety Advocates will visit legislators to advocate for Senate Bill 60, sponsored by Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo), and House Bill 118, sponsored by Rep.

Fred Brown (R-Bryan). The identical bills amend the current Texas law to require booster seats for children younger than 8 years of age, unless the child is taller than 4 feet, 9 inches. Senate Bill 60 was unanimously recommended by the Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security on Feb.

7, and the House Transportation Committee will vote on the issue Feb. 13. Advocates will take booster seats with them as they visit each Texas Legislator to ask for support of these bills.

The press release states that Car crashes are a leading killer of children ages 3-14. According to current law, children are only required to use a car seat if they are both under 5 years of age and under 36 inches tall. When children use an adult seat belt too soon, they are at serious risk for brain, spine and internal organ injuries.

A booster seat adds artificial height to the child so that the seat belt rests on the strongest parts of their body. For children between the ages of 4 and 8, booster seats reduce the risk of car crash injuries by 59 percent.
I am all for this.

Some cars are even manufacturing built-in booster seats.
I witnessed my husband and child get T-boned at an intersection. I watched in horror as the car spun.

I ran to the car to make sure everyone was okay. JP had been asleep but was secure in his car seat. It had not moved or come undone.

My husband s glasses ended up between the passenger door and the seat.
I believe in car seats and child restraints in cars.
Sometimes your child does something that is so sweet and unselfish that it makes motherhood seem like the best job in the world.

On Saturday, after leaving his basketball game at the YMCA, my 6-year-old son passed a homeless man waiting on the bench outside. He turned to me, asked me about him and then asked if he could give his snack to him.
So he quietly approached the man, gave him his Teddy Grahams without saying a word and walked back to me.

Wow!
Have your kids ever done something like that?
So awhile ago I wrote about how creepy I thought the Baby Rock CD of Pink Floyd done in glockenspiel was.

Since then we ve tried out the Eagles CD from Rockabye Baby. JP loves it; I mean LOVES IT. He would rather have that than his Baby Einstein Nature Sounds, Breakfast with Bach or Simon and Garfunkel s Greatest Hits.

Last night on the way home from the grocery store, JP was getting a bit crabby. I looked down and saw the Pink Floyd. I pulled it out and the cute little piggy on the cover captures JP s attention.

I want dis one, he stated firmly.
Oooh- kay. I put it in.

The familiar tones of Pink Floyd echoed through the truck. Somehow it did not bother me this time as much as last time. JP liked it.

In fact he was asleep by the end of the second song. He remained in a deep sleep the rest of the way home. I was amazed.

So much in fact that the CD came inside and now lives in his bedroom.
Sorry, Rockabye Baby, I was wrong. You didn t make the music for me, you made it for JP and little ones everywhere.

It IS funny to hear Eagles Witchy Woman and Desperado done in the soothing sounds of the glockenspiel, vibraphone, mellotron and other instruments
I may look into getting the U2 or Led Zeppelin, but I am curious about Bjork. Hmmmmmm
State Rep. Wayne Smith, R-Baytown, has a proposal: Parents of public school students who miss a scheduled teacher-parent conference could be fined $500 and charged with a misdemeanor.

Give me a break. Working parents sometimes aren t able to drive to their kid s school, have a meeting and drive back all in a lunch hour. I m lucky that my job gives me some flexibility to be able to do that, but not everyone is so lucky.

I think there are ways around this especially today. I use e-mail frequently to check in with my son s teacher and she uses it to check in with me. I write her notes and send it in my son s daily folder.

I even call her during her planning period.
And yes, when the Feb. 26 parent-teacher conference comes around, I will make an appointment and I will show up, but if an emergency happened and I can t attend, don t anybody be coming after me.

That s just wrong.
Isn t there another way to foster parent involvement than fines and misdemeanors?
This morning I set the alarm for 5a.

m. ready to spring into action so I could make it to work by 7 a.m.

to be an extra in a movie they are filming partially in Austin. Lucky for me day care opens at 6:30 a.m.

Luckier still JP woke up at 5:15 on his own so there was no guilt about getting him out of bed too early.
I packed the truck the night before so I would not forget anything. We all know about that.

I forgot my cell phone and ID badge. Of course.
As we left the house JP asked if it was still night.

He had a point, the moon was shining brightly and it was dark. He was so confused. Poor thing this didn t end in the car.

At day care they keep the kids in his old classroom until more kids and teachers come in. He sat there warily, as if he was not going to be allowed to be in that room. Mommy must have made a mistake!

He was content, yet on edge, that his bliss at being in the old classroom was going to end. I left as he was chomping on his banana.
Upsetting the routine for the promise of $50 and for the smallest chance of being able to see my arm for half a second in a movie.

Wouldn t you have done the same?
No, I am not inviting everyone to one but I do want to discuss this. A couple of days ago the Today show on NBC did a segment on these women in California who have Happy Hour Play Dates.

Moms have a glass of wine, while watching kids romp in the yard. The New York Times also ran a story about this in their Thursday Style section some months ago. At the office we were laughing about the photo of a mom holding a squirming toddler and a glass of wine.

Who would she put down first, was our comment.
I am sure moms and dads have been having a drink while the kids play longer than anyone would care to admit. It is a touchy subject.

For those who have alcoholics in the family and have seen the damage it can to children, this is a scary thing. I have friends who see it from that angle. I do also use moderation and self control as a practice, but not everyone else does.

We have gone to open yard play days at a neighbor s house where moms and dads crack open a beer and watch the kids play. There is no intoxication, no ugliness just a relaxing afternoon getting together with friends. We also walk there and back to work off the calories in the beer.

Under average circumstances (no medication or illness) one beer or glass of wine is not going to impair judgment when consumed over a hour or two. Kids can see mommy and daddy have a beer or glass of wine without getting wasted. They can learn moderation, too.

Critics point out that a child could get hurt while the parents are drinking. Some years ago I was watching my nephew at a playground and he fell and split his lip. I was not drinking.

Kids get hurt no matter what.
Who would take a child to the hospital if everyone has been drinking? There are many solutions to this from having the hostess be the designated driver or asking a dad (if it is a mommy Happy Hour) to be on guard.

It is all about choice and responsibility. I don t mean to get on a soap box but if you know you and your gal pals are big partiers, get a baby sitter, get a driver and go have fun without the kids. Me?

I like to have a glass of wine, mommy s yucky juice, as I have taught my son to call it. Now if I could only find the time to go to a Happy Hour Play Date ..

Do mommies deserve an alcoholic treat during a playdate? What do you think?
I was having a conversation with a colleague the other day about how totally boring parents are because all we talk about is our kids.

Just because my son said he needed to use the potty (for the first time) is not cause for an all points bulletin. But other parents understand my excitement.
This being said, BabyUniverse is starting MyBabyTV.

They are touting it as the You-Tube for parents. I will admit I have seen some really funny baby stuff, like the kid who found his mother s panty liners or the laughing quadruplets. Users will be able to upload videos of their little angels (or devils, which would probably be funnier).

In a press release BabyUniverse Chairman and CEO John Textor says user generated content and uploading capability brings BabyTV.com one step closer to becoming a comprehensive social Networking community completely dedicated to new parents BabyTV offers parents an outlet to share and view family and parenting-oriented video content without the risks of an unregulated uploading environment.
The site also will feature information and entertainment in partnership with Oxygen, Alpha-mom and HarperCollins.

I had not noticed much family friendly programming on The O lately, more like Snapped (about women who lose it and kill someone), Girls behaving Badly, and The Janice Dickenson Modeling Agency (I would not my child within an mile of her, YIKES). Alpha-Mom seems much more friendly and helpful. HarperCollins is the publisher of Babyproofing Your Marriage (more on that in the Thursday Life Style).

Today I made chicken soup at my desk for two co-workers who are having surgery on Monday. How did I accomplish such a feat? I brought my slow cooker filled with raw chicken, broth, carrots, celery, uncooked rice, spices and corn and plugged it into my cubicle.

Six hours later, my two co-workers have soup to take home with them. The downside: The rest of my co-workers had to smell it all day.
Why can t I do this at home?

Well, I was going to, but last night was crazy, what with having to find a baby sitter at the last minute for a weekend event at my temple, my daughter wanting to have a picnic in front of the TV that needed my participation, my son needing supervision on the computer and the laundry needing to be done.
What s the craziest non-work-related thing you ve done while working?