ReadySetMom

Mock gingerbread house: all the fun, less cost and waste

I recently nominated our preschool teacher to sainthood, and would like to add a great stay-at-home mom named Kelly to the sainthood nominations. Unlike me, Kelly arranges playdates. Thankfully, my daughter gets invited. Not only does she arrange them. She organizes wonderful, creative, messy activities. Case in point: the graham cracker gingerbread house:
We did one of those genuine gingerbread house kits one year, and despite the kids having really enjoyed it, I don't think I could purchase one again. I've toyed with the idea of making one from scratch, then popped the top off a beer and reminded myself "Just WHO do you think you're kidding?!"

This mock gingerbread house was made with graham crackers, formed over a small lunch-size milk carton (let's hear it for reuse!) and I have a sneaking suspicion some older, past its prime Halloween or party candy was used for decor. And frosting, of course. Now, while its unlikely I'll go out and get some graham crackers and start organizing playdates, I do think this would be do-able for most families if your kids have a burning desire to make a gingerbread house. Brilliant!

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?

Good day sunshine

I just finished folding some laundry that I washed, oh, a few days ago. In my pile were a long-sleeved pink fleece sweatshirt, long-sleeved layering t-shirt, jeans and a few pairs of socks.

I have never been so happy to fold laundry, knowing that I wasn't going to wear anything in my stack anytime soon.

I hope you're enjoying the sun.

Momspiration: paying it forward

Our readers come from far and wide. Some lurk, some comment, some email. Most are moms (not surprising for a site called ReadySetMom), but we also have a few dads and the occasional "none of the above" who just clicked with what we were writing one day.

But this one is for the moms.... You know who you are. Toiling day in, day out. Working in the home, and out. Around the clock 24/7. The shopping, the cleaning, the laundry, the cooking, the wiping of boogery noses, the diaper changes, the shuttling to soccer and swim and dance and karate... We know what us moms are worth, and that it is more than we'll ever make. Regardless, we toil on. We love our children even after they throw up on our best pair of suede shoes. We love them and resist yelling even if we catch them in the act of cutting their own hair. We love them if they step in dog poop and proceed to walk all over the rug, gleefully making "pretend paw-prints."

A few weeks ago I started taking yoga classes from a mom who teaches in the school library one night a week. It's wonderful. One thing she said to our class recently really stuck with me: give to the world what you have to give in abundance, and take what you need. Isn't that lovely? It's given me reason to stop and really pay attention to what I have to give, and what I really need to take. I've found that I have more to give than I think: in time, in care, in patience and in empathy. And if there's one thing a writer like me has, it's words...

So I've been making an effort to tell people I run into something I've noticed or appreciated about them in the hope that I lift their spirit a bit, or give them some validation for the hard work or choices they make and some energy to keep on doing what they do. A few examples:

• I ran into my neighbor Regan the other day. I admire Regan so much. She and her husband both work and they both share childcare of their two boys. And 9 times out of 10 when you see her or her husband, they are walking/strolling around the neighborhood with their kids, and sometimes their dog. I love that! Lately I've been working on this goal in our family: walking instead of driving. So I told her how much I admire that, and I hope my words gave her a little lift.
• I was at the store shopping when I saw Michelle, who's a friend of my friend Elaine. I don't know Michelle terribly well, but she had a CSA at the same farm stand as us last summer. One thing she taught me has made such a huge difference. When you pick up your CSA produce, figure out what you will eat that week, then chop and prep the rest, throw into a freezer container, and voila! You will have tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc. easily at hand out of season. I just threw some such tomatoes into a soup I made for dinner last night. I never would have figured this out on my own. So I told Michelle that, and I hope my words made her day.

It's really the little things that make a difference, isn't it? I could go on. But let me turn it over to you. You know how great it feels to get an unexpected compliment. Is there any mom you'd like to "pay it forward" to in the ol' Momspiration department? You can acknowledge her here, send her an email or give her a call. But I'm tellin' ya, I'll bet you will brighten her day if you do... Have fun with some Momspiration, and let's pay it forward!

Mommies need mommies, example #139

My daughter and I went to kindergarten roundup last week. For days before, she asked me when the roundup would take place, what she would do there, whether she would she see any of her friends. We were both excited about meeting the teachers and getting a teeny taste of what being in kindergarten will be like.

When I asked a fellow preschool mom whether we'd see her at the roundup, about 10 different emotions flickered across her face and I was a little surprised that they weren't the same ones I was feeling. She confided in me that she was "a nervous wreck" about it. Holding her chest and practically holding back tears, she confided that she didn't feel ready for her daughter to trot off to school five days a week. In addition, she felt intimidated by all the moms who would be there and probably know so much more about everything. Her daughter also was feeling some anxiety about going to big-kid school.

Her anxieties made me realize just how much we moms need each other. Not just for carpools, playdates and dinner ideas, but to put yourself in another mommy's Uggs for a minute and help her slog through a rough patch.

I could definitely empathize with her fears of feeling intimidated and shared my situation. We started at our school when my son was in third grade, years after bonds began forming between friends and parents who started off in the tender kindergarten, or sometimes preschool, years. There definitely have been times when I've felt out of the loop, but those instances are also definitely lessening.

I reminded her that between preschool, dance class and neighbors, she would know lots and lots of other moms at school. I reassured her that her daughter would see familiar faces (my daughter's among them) and that the kindergarten teachers at our school are great at easing kids in. I hope that with all my reassuring I didn't sound like I was discounting her feelings.

She told me after the roundup that things went great for her and her soon-to-be-kindergartner and she was feeling much better about kindergarten after taking that first step. She would have gotten to that point without my reassurance, but I'm happy I was there to listen when she needed to talk.

Winter Rose poinsettia is a sight to behold

I went looking for a bouquet of flowers today and much to my surprise, I came home with a poinsettia. Not your ordinary poinsettia, but a Winter Rose poinsettia. It is so beautiful, with dark red blooms that look more like something we'd find in the Rose Garden in June, not at the mall in December.

Having never liked poinsettias much and having never seen one like this, I of course had to look it up on the internet. Who knew that this was the plant for me? The Winter Rose poinsettia can look beautiful for months after ordinary ones get leggy and lose their color. It also requires less watering than regular poinsettias. So for less than I would have paid for a bouquet of cut flowers ($6.99 at Trader Joe's), I gave our house an immediate shot of holiday color that will (hopefully) last for months instead of days.

By the way, the red part of the plant is not actually a flower, it's a bract or modified leaf. The actual bloom is at the center of the colorful bract. Interesting stuff, I know, but all you need to know is that the Winter Rose poinsettia is gorgeous.

A little help from my kid was eggs-actly what I needed

I couldn't make an omelet to save my life -- until this morning, that is.

My son requested a cheese omelet for breakfast. I reminded him how bad I am making omelets. Horrible, in fact. I've watched the cooking shows. I've studied the cookbooks. I bought the perfect pan. But every attempt at an omelet became, well, scrambled eggs with cheese.

"I'll help you," my 8-year-old said. And he did. I showed him how to beat the eggs and milk and pour it into the pan. We gently stirred the center and loosened up the edges. He put on the shredded cheese and (this is the part I always mess up) I carefully folded it all in half. Voila!  A perfect omelet.

We looked at each other's smiling faces. He gave me a hug and said "we did it!" He wolfed down his "yumlet" and then helped me make one for his sister. Somehow, in teaching my son how to make an omelet I learned how to do it myself. Maybe because I had slowed down the pace. Maybe because I was sharing the experience with someone else, thus sharing the blame if it didn't turn out. Maybe he's just a better omelet maker than I am.

Next time you want to do something you think you're not good at, try asking your kid for help. I think we'll try a souffle next Sunday!

Go read this, but come right back

I'm also sending you away from ReadySetMom, but just long enough to read more of this:

The Invisible Woman

I'm invisible. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more.
Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please."

Read more.

Looking for things to do? Watch "Portland at Play" DVD

I recently has the pleasure of meeting Robyn Barbon and viewing her wonderful DVD Portland at Play. The timing couldn't have been better. After a hyper-overscheduled April and May, life has grinded to a screeching halt now that preschool is done, we aren't in any camps yet, and Heather is on vacation for a whole week!

Portland at Play may have just saved my bacon! Although I've lived in Portland for 7 years now, watching the Portland at Play video gave me a bunch of ideas of things to do in and around Portland with the kids. I think this video would be the perfect gift for someone who is new to town, or planning a family vacation here. But even for those of us who've been around the block already, it's got some great ideas, shares neat bits of trivia and taught me new things.

A little background on Robyn - she moved to Portland from Atlanta with her family and was looking for just such a video to acclimate to life in the Rose City. When they realized there was no such video available, she and her husband -- who are video professionals by day -- produced their own. She's a mom to two delightful daughters, and a clearly a "momspiration" for her video savvy and initiative! Thank you Robyn for creating this helpful video resource!!