ReadySetMom

New favorite game: Democratic National Convention

Right now I can hear my kids playing Democratic National Convention downstairs:

Daughter: What we need right now is Energy! Energy, and we need Exercise! These are both very good for our country.

Son: Hillary! Hillary!

Daughter: Let's have Michelle Obama come on up. She's done such a great job.

Son: What about John McCain?

Daughter: No! I'm sorry, but John McCain is bad news. He just doesn't get it. He will not be speaking.

Son: He's going to be really mad.

Daughter: Presidents can't be mad.

My husband and I have spent the past four evenings glued to the convention, and the kids have tuned in to all of the big speeches. They know it's important to us, and in-between shushing them, we've tried to explain why in the simplest of terms. But basically they are mostly aware of the cast of characters and which ones we support. Chances are they will spend their youth thinking they are Democrats, just as I considered myself a Republican growing up (though we almost never spoke of politics in our house unless we were getting a lecture from my very conservative grandfather). That's OK, because by the time they are old enough to vote they will hopefully be smart enough to make up their own minds (which better lean to the left if they want to stay in the will). Ha! Kidding! We have no will.

What excites me about the kids being so aware of the election and watching the convention is that they are watching men and women, black and white, old and young, speaking with passion and authority about our future. These are leaders. Important people. They are being praised and cheered by thousands of people. It's opening the door for us to talk to our kids about race and gender equality and to show that people of any color or sex can achieve great things. They will grow up knowing this, expecting this.

So play on, kiddos! Lead your stuffed animals into a better playdate. Stand at the easel and outline your plans for a smarter game of hide and seek. Extol the virtues of energy and exercise to your parents (they need it). You are our future! And our future caregivers! Thank you, and God Bless America!

(And on another note, the pastor who gave the benediction immediately following Obama's speech was my pastor back home in Indiana -- Dr. Joel (J.C.) Hunter. He's at a church in Florida now. While I don't agree with many of his beliefs, I still think he is an amazing, inspirational man. See his video here.)

Get out and play! Aug 29-Sept 1

Portland Riverfest, Aug 28 - Sept 7. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could actually swim in the Willamette one day without worrying about what lies beneath? Celebrate, experience and learn about the Willamette River (and what they are doing to clean it up) during this week-long festival. Check out Saturday's parade of Willamette species, a people-powered performance, from 12:30-4pm along the waterfront and Eastside Esplanade. Sunday will feature a boat parade between the Steel and Marquam bridges from 1-3pm. 

Portland Pie-Off, Aug 30 @ 3pm. Mmmm. Pie. There is no way we will miss this one. Enter a pie or just come to taste the pies (my specialty). The more pies that are entered, the more for me to enjoy, so get busy. Washington Park picnic site near the play structure.

Oregon State Fair in Salem, through Sept. 1. Yee-haw!

Art in the Pearl, Aug 30-Sept 1. My family has attended this event many times and occasionally come home with some art! Best to hit it early because the crowds are thick, which is tough with kids. The music and entertainment are good, and the education pavilion offers art activities for the kiddos. Sat & Sun, 10am-6pm; Mon 10am-5pm. FREE. North Park Blocks in the Pearl District, between Burnside & NW Glisan at 8th.

OBT Exposed, through Aug 31. The lovely, lithe dancers of the Oregon Ballet Theatre perform and practice on an outdoor stage for all to enjoy. Your 4-6 year olds can take a FREE ballet class on Saturday from 2-3pm. Behind the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in the South Park Blocks.

OMSI Reptile & Amphibian Show, Aug 30-Sept 1. Check out 200 animals that slither, creep and crawl. FREE with regular admission to OMSI.

Kids Night Out, Portland Children's Museum, Aug 30. Your kids need a break from you. Really. Let them loose at the Children's Museum for an evening of chaperoned fun. 5:30-9:30pm. Cost is $25 per child, $16 for each additional sibling. Call 503-471-9911 to register.

Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, Aug 29-31 at the Rose Quarter. Tickets $16-$82.

Portland Corn Maize, Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island, opens Aug 30. It can't be corn maze time already. Corn maze means Halloween, and Halloween means cold and rain. I'm just not there yet. My tomatoes are still ripening! Woe to the seasons. The Pumpkin Patch opens its maze this weekend. Tickets $5-$7, children under 5 FREE.

What does your get-ready-for-school morning look like?

I know some boys who go to sleep in the shirts they'll wear to school the next day.

Another family sets out bowls, cereal and spoons at night. In the morning, they just add milk and breakfast is served.

For me, my morning timesaver is to have lunches made the night before. I don't care how dragged-out tired I am, I will fill the lunch containers, write the notes and line up the lunch bags before I go to sleep.

Also, backpacks have to be grab-and-go ready the night before. I will not tolerate (hear my fist banging on the kitchen counter?) hunting for homework assignments or show-and-tell items in the morning.

School is starting for many of us next week. We all could appreciate tips on getting our morning routines on track. How do you keep things rolling smoothly in the morning? What's your secret weapon for getting your kids to eat breakfast, brush their teeth and get dressed in time for school?

Food Front opens tomorrow (most likely) and other Hillsdale news

UPDATE: Food Front did not open today. They say they will open on Sunday, August 31.

I didn't realize how much I depended on the Hillsdale Wild Oats for my groceries until they closed last year. News that the Food Front Cooperative was moving in was cause for a happy dance (involving moves that would make Elaine Benes blanch). I just called the front office and learned that tomorrow, Friday, August 29, Food Front will be open -- hopefully -- by noon. There is an inspection taking place in the morning, and barring any unforeseen obstacles, they will open for business by noon. Woo hoo!!

A few more interesting businesses have just opened or are getting set to open in Hillsdale. In the space where Dava Bead used to be, we've got OmBase Yoga Studio, specializing in 'organic, free-range yoga.' Next door will be a new wine shop called Corkage. Then, over in the Salvador Molly's strip, we've got a new pilates studio called Moving Moxie! They offer all the fancy machines as well as mat classes. Mat classes are $6-$10 each for a one-hour class. Not bad! A friend has said that doing pilates is the best workout she's ever had (and she looks amazing, too). Now that my yoga teacher has moved to Denmark (traitor!) I'm seriously thinking about giving pilates a try. God knows I need something to get this sorry arse in gear.

Tips, advice and secrets for expectant parents

I had the pleasure of meeting an expectant couple a few weekends ago. They wanted to know if I had any secret "power user" tips. I assume they considered me a successful parent, in that I've kept TWO CHILDREN ALIVE for several years now (one for 6.5 and one for 4). So I guess that means something. Kind of like the signs at Costco that say "93 days accident free!"

Sadly, my mind was drawing a blank. The only thing I could come up with was to not buy everything new. It's hard to resist the siren call of Babies R Us when you are a first-timer and all the cool baby bling written up about in magazines. It's overwhelming, but you start to think you need everything. And it must be absolutely germ-free and to have never touched another baby before. We were remodeling our house when we were expecting our first, so my goal was to buy everything second-hand as cheaply as I could get it. Of course, I checked for recalls/safety issues. But the garage sales and hand-me-downs from friends, family and neighbors were my saving grace. By the time our second came along, we were power craigslist users. But that's all I could think of. Maybe I've just blocked out the rest of that whole baby-hood period??

What are your favorite tips and secrets to share with first-time expectant parents? It can be about stuff. It can be about parenting. Please, share away...

Bridgetown book drive benefits three local school libraries

To a dyed-in-the-wool bookworm such as me, there's nothing sadder than an understocked library. The Bridgetown Book Drive aims to bump up the stacks at three local school libraries -- Clark Elementary, Kelly Elementary and Mooberry Elementary.

Interested in helping? Drop off books at local Hollywood video stores through the end of August. For every five books donated, you can get a free movie rental.

Mama and her 286-pound baby seem to be doing fine

My maternal instincts have been in high gear since last weekend's birth of an elephant at the Oregon Zoo.

Mama elephant Rose-Tu gave birth on Saturday after 30-plus hours in labor and, unfortunately, her first reaction was to violent kick the newborn. Zoo officials think she reacted this way out of confusion and ignorance, because most likely she had never witnessed a birth before. Can you imagine growing huge and feeling weird for two years, then seeing this 286-pound wrinkly thing painfully emerge from your body and not knowing that you were supposed to love and cuddle this squishy thing?

Since the birth, mama and son have had supervised visits and are apparently bonding and behaving more naturally. The baby is nursing. The mama is cuddling.

And for the moment, I'm putting aside any criticism of zoos as unnatural places for wild animals and feeling grateful to the animal experts who are helping the new mother and baby develop as "naturally" as they can.

All mamas need a little help sometimes.

In my next career, I'd like to be ...

Here's a conversation I had with my daughter the other day:

Daughter: "Mommy, are you old enough to work in a doctor's office now?"

Me: "Yes, I'm old enough, but doctors have to go to special schools to learn how to be doctors. I went to school, but I didn't learn how to be a doctor."

Daughter: "Oh yea, because you learned how be a mommy."

Now, Renee, Heather and I could fill this blog with the oh-so-cute things that our kids say. But we want you to keep reading us each and every day, so we don't.

I'm telling you about this conversation only because it seems all my friends are having that talk again. You know, the one about our "next careers."

For many of us, our last-born or only children are heading off to kindergarten. My 5-year-old (and youngest) starts next week. Ostensibly, we'll have more hours during the day when we're not physically taking care of/entertaining/shuttling a child. Do we head back to the workforce? Do we tackle long-ignored projects? If we're able to swing it financially, do we enjoy this "free" time for a while?

Most of my friends are not considering a return to their former careers. Been there, done that. Don't need the full-time grind. I put myself - a newspaper journalist in a previous life - in that group. We still want to be at-home moms when our kids are at home, so that means doing something part-time and flexible, yet meaningful. It wouldn't hurt if it were lucrative, too. And didn't involve wearing high heels. Or commuting.

We're not particular, we just know what we want.

What are you going to be when you grow up?

Get out and play: family fun weekend of Aug 22-24

Yes, we are in the final weeks of August. Some call them dog days. Some of you, whom I suspect might be Stepford wives, are actually enjoying quality time with your children and dreading the start of school/fall. Others of us are counting the days, minutes, seconds until school starts. If you're in the second set, take a deep breath with me. The weekend is so close I can taste it...

Friday, August 22, 2008

Festa Italiana kicked off last night at Pioneer Courthouse Square, but fun for the kiddies starts today. Grape stomping competition at noon! Kids' pizza toss and face-painting. 11am to 11pm today and Saturday. 11am to 7:30pm Sunday. Free!

Dive-in Movie features The Bee Movie. Sellwood Pool at dark today. Doors open at 8pm. $5 for adults, $3 for kids. Bring your wetsuits -- it'll probably be chilly! Saturday: same deal at Wilson Pool. Sunday at Grant Pool.

Got gas to burn? Truck on down to Salem for the Oregon State Fair. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! No wait. Make that goats, and chickens and cows, oh my! 10am to 10pm Sunday through Thursday. Open until 11pm Fridays and Saturdays. $10 adults, $5 kids 6-12. 5 and under (and parking!) are free.

Ditto on gas to burn? Mt. Hood Huckleberry Fest. Includes watermelon launch! 8am to 10pm Friday and Saturday. 8am to 5pm Sunday. Mt Hood Village (65000 E Hwy 26). Free.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Bug Fest features spiders (that's arachnids to you and me). Tualatin Hills Nature Park (15655 SW Millikan Blvd. in Beaverton). Noon to 4pm. Get this: it's BYOB -- bring your own bug (now that's hardcore) -- if you want help with identification. Free.

Needing a little culture? The Oregon Symphony plays in Mt. Scott Park. 2pm afternoon festival. 7pm concert. Family friendly and free.

PPS Community Care Day 2008. Find a public school near you, put on some grubby clothes and put your back into it. Times are tough. We all need to pitch in where we can.

See Friday for info on Festa Italiana, Dive-in Movies,  Mt Hood Huck Fest and Oregon State Fair

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Salsa en la Calle PDX. Spice up your weekend! Dancing, kid art! 11am to 6pm, and music until 9pm. Free. Eastbank Festival Plaza (SE Main & Water).

See Friday for info on Festa Italiana, Dive-in Movies,  Mt Hood Huck Fest and Oregon State Fair

What's on your family-fun radar for this weekend?

Here comes the circus, here come the protests

Just last week, my daughter said she'd like to see a circus someday.

Coincidentally, the Ringling Bros. circus is coming to town next week.

We took my son to the circus in the Bay Area when he was about 4. I remember it being long, fairly entertaining and a little smelly. There were still three rings of entertainment and funny clowns, but circus productions are much more slick and choreographed than the ones of my childhood. Think techno music, fancy lighting systems and a ringmaster who looks like he stepped out of GQ magazine.

And then there are the animals. The tigers, the lions -- and especially the elephants. From our seats, we see these wild creatures perform amazing tricks and feats. It's what might be occurring behind the scenes -- painful abuse and strict confinement, perhaps -- that's troubling.

We don't want to be entertained if it means animals that have been taken out of their natural environment are suffering abuse and mistreatment. But is this very different from the zoo, where animals that have been taken out of their natural environment are put in confined quarters? Whom do we believe, the circus owners, who say their animals are treated humanely, or animals rights protesters, who say they are not?

Will you be taking your kids to the circus?