Urban Mama

Type-A Mom 2011 Highlights

• Amy aka Teach Mama and Joanne aka Pundit Mom are not only fabulous traveling companions and drivers, they're brilliant writers with so much to say. To quote my eloquent friend Stimey, Joanne's new book, "Mothers of Intention: How Women & Social Media Are Revolutionizing Politics in America", " "highlights the ways that women and mothers are relevant, smart, and important. Highly recommended!" The best part of the book is that it's incredibly balanced -- liberal, conservative, moderate -- all voices are represented... And Amy, well, she makes me a better mother. Just today, I had to stop myself from saying "You know this!" to my daughter when she was reading because of Teach Mama's latest tips. She's the kind of mother I strive to be!
• Asheville has an artsy, foodie-friendly downtown, with scrumptious chocolate, coffee, crepe, and tapas places. I owe a special shout out to the Green Sage Cafe, which earns an honorary Pillow Cafe award for being an awesome neighborhood coffee shop where a wireless-less girl could grab a mocha and sit for three hours to work.
• Tissues are in order when Susan aka WhyMommy takes the stage. Her powerful acceptance speech at the Bloganthropy Awards blew the audience away and honored her 19 collaborators at Mothers With Cancer.
• Stacey aka Justice Fergie and I roomed together for the first time and realized we have So. Much. In. Common. Well, except her husband was a former college football player, and mine is a former college newspaper editor, but still! We even wore the exact same style of nightwear: a T-shirt (hers was of her business, mine of my kids' preschool) and print pajama pants.
• It's apparently unanimous: water polo players are beautiful creatures. Sheila and Fiona gave me the scoop, which was necessary for something I'm writing. Thanks, ladies. And also thanks to Amy and Joanne for humoring my obsessive research on the subject.
• My good friend Leticia aka Tech Savvy Mama looks amazing in colors, instead of her traditionally black wardrobe, thanks to her new Fresh Produce ensembles.
• Sometimes just having one amazing conversation a day is worth the price of going to a conference.
• Corolle Dolls and Mamanista graciously donated a huge bag full of mini dolls, so I can give them to A Wider Circle's Well Mother, Well Baby campaign.
• I'm a little bit crazed about lice awareness, so I might have frightened Child's Play Communications' account executive for Fairy Tales Haircare with my intensity on the subject.
• Some women are truly kindred spirits, and I wish I lived closer to them instead of seeing them twice a year at blogging conferences.
• Lastly, I am blessed with THE best regional group of fellow bloggers in the world. I'm not exaggerating. My DC Moms crew is fiercely loyal, supportive and kind. I wish I'd had more time to spend with Lolli and Jill (next time!). It was inspiring to be with Amy, Elena, Leticia, Joanne and Stacey throughout the conference. Whether we were eating delicious bacon and trout-filled meals or just brainstorming for our upcoming venture, you made this a memorable trip. (Ellen and Christina, you were great honorary DCists!)

School's Out! Summer Reading Challenge

School's officially out in these parts, and now I face an entire summer of making sure my kids continue to read and learn and don't get sucked into the dreaded "summer slide." To help parents and kids this summer -- particularly as so many county libraries lack the funds to run their own summer-reading programs -- Scholastic, iVillage and PBS Kids have teamed up for the iVillage Summer Reading Community Challenge. If you sign up, you get daily assignments to keep you and your kids motivated all summer long.

I hosted a Book Party to let my kindergartener's school mates and some of our neighbors know about the program, and they had so much fun filling out a giant Mad-Lib story, talking about their favorite books, and of course, trying on the Dr. Seuss hat and Arthur glasses. While the kids were playing, the adults played "literary celebrity." Each parent had a famous author's name attached to their backs and had to guess who they were based on yes and no questions. Some parents got theirs right away (J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, whereas others couldn't figure out which writer they were, like E.B. White and Virginia Woolf). But everyone got to participate, even if they weren't a natural at "Celebrity."

I also asked the several moms who attended to share their favorite children's book authors and some tips on how to keep their kids motivated to read during the summer. Here's what my friends had to say:

Suggested reading (or read-aloud):

"The Magic Treehouse" series by Mary Pope Osborne

"Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

"Harry Potter" books by J.K. Rowling

"The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis

"Ivy and Bean" books by Annie Barrows

"Mercy Watson" books by Kate DiCamillo

"Rainbow Fairies" books by Daisy Meadows

"Ramona Quimby" books by Beverly Cleary

"Black Stallion" series by Walter Farley

"The Indian in the Cupboard" books by Lynne Reid Banks

"Big Nate" books by Lincoln Peirce

"Bone" graphic novels by Jeff Smith

Favorite authors:

• Lloyd Alexander
• Margaret Wise Brown
• Dr. Seuss
• Shel Silverstein
• Cynthia Ryland
• EB White
• Beverly Cleary
• JK Rowling
• Mo Willems
• Judy Blume

Tips for raising readers:

• Let them see you reading as often as possible, so they know it's part of your life
• Read aloud at night, even if your kids can read by themselves
• Reward finishing a book with a brand-new (or newly checked-out) book
• Have a book club-like discussion about books you and your children have read together
• Put all the new summer books in a special basket for each kid to go through
• Regular trips to the library
• Let kids read anywhere -- bed, potty, breakfast counter, car
• Put some books in a bag and carry it around
• Hesitant reader? Let them read comics, graphic novels

 

Thank you, iVillage, PBS Kids and Scholastic for sending me the party kit. I was not compensated to host, but all of my guests received two Martha Speaks books courtesy of PBS Kids.

 

Father's Day Memories

Father's Day

is bittersweet.

is bitter, knowing you don't really have memories of your Papi but only flashes of what you think are memories based on what other people have told you about him. Growing up, you hated Father's Day and felt cheated every single year.

is sweet, knowing your own children have such a loving, kind, engaged father, who is always willing to... cook them a meal, tell them a story, ride bikes, pitch a tent, go exploring for cool bugs, take a hike, explain science, government, religion, and geography, and give them "kisses and cuddles."

I hope my kids are grateful of the blessing they have in their father.

Ten Things I Love About My Husband

My husband and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on June 2, 2011. As a joint gift to each other, we traveled to London and Paris sans kids for the 11 days leading up to our anniversary. Ten feels special and worthy of congratulations. Being married in double digits isn't easy, and it would be a Big Fat Lie to say that every day of those 10 years has been filled with the same level of optimism and passion as we felt on our honeymoon. Some downright awful things have happened. We've dealt with family stress. We've bickered a lot and occasionally fought. But we've also laughed so hard we hiccoughed with exhaustion and cried happy tears at the sight of each other holding our three newborn children. Through it all, I remain convinced that falling in love with and marrying my best friend was the smartest decision I ever made.

In the spirit of starting out our second decade of marriage on a blissful note, I'm going to name 10 things I love about my husband. No need to look away, siblings, these are all PG rated.

1. The man knows his way with a map. He may not have been an Eagle Scout (like my stepsister's husband), but his years of Scouting and general sense of exploration make him a natural leader wherever we go. I've never wondered "how do we get from... the Marais to the Eiffel Tower or from our campsite to the hiking trail or the mall to our parking space" because he always knows. I, on the other hand, routinely get off of elevators at familiar places and walk in the wrong direction.
2. The man can talk about anything. I'm not saying he's a Genius, and he has only beaten me at Scrabble twice in our entire marriage + courtship (15 years!), but he reads enough periodicals and nonfiction books (and half-listens to all my movies and pop-culture chatter) to talk about almost anything. He's not an expert, but he can hold his own -- and charm his way -- through a conversation with new people.
3. He complements me. Notice the "e." He's not a big complimenter, but he does pick up the Ying to my Yang. I'm observant of people but not places (hence my nonexistent sense of direction), and I read fiction and remember birthdays and know random, obscure details about everyone I've ever met. He reads historical tomes and knows how to tie knots and remembers the differences between architectural styles and can take a bicycle apart and put it together again. I can list every movie Denzel Washington has ever made, and he can list all of the Senators. We make a kick-ass team at Trivial Pursuit.
4. He's funny. Even when I protest too much and occasionally shush him, I can't deny that he's a funny, funny man, and he's always good for a laugh.
5. He doesn't take himself too seriously. I've met more ridiculously Arrogant men with over-sized Egos than I care to acknowledge, and while I wouldn't call my husband humble, he's self-confident without being a Big Jerk (to others at least; he can, I admit, be slightly condescending when talking to me!).
6. He calls me on my Crazy. It's not always pleasant, but he knows when to humor me and when to confront me if I'm being irrational or oversensitive or generally a mad woman. He could just ignore me, but he cares enough to let me know (sometimes gently, sometimes not-so-gently), that I need to take a look at how I'm acting, and I'm thankful for the checks and balances.
7. He's handy. No, he's not going to single-handedly rewire our house, but he can assemble furniture; fix electronics and appliances; and act the role of family IT consultant without too much fuss. He doesn't panic when there's a storm and the lights go out -- he just gets our emergency bag and doles out the flashlights.
8. He appreciates my "gifts." Hmmm, those quote marks look kind of naughty, but I mean my accomplishments, my talents, my work -- whether with our children or professionally. When I had my first review in the Washington Post earlier this Spring, he ran out and bought a bunch, so we could save the clip, even though it's available online. When I told him a few weeks ago that I want to write a YA novel, he didn't laugh and say "Suuuuure." He said "Do it!"
9. He gets me. We're different (what partners aren't), but he understands me and takes care of me and knows when I need a cuddle or a kind word or am grieving for my mother or fed up with the housekeeping or frustrated with the kids. I know I'm the most important person in his life, and that he's devoted to our marriage.
10. He loves musicals. "The Simpsons." "Battlestar Galactica." "Lost." U2. Bruce Springsteen. Arcade Fire. Stevie Wonder. HBO documentaries. Classical music "hits." Art museums. Mumford and Sons... etc. etc. etc. He forgives me my continued commitment to "Grey's Anatomy" and Harry Potter fanfiction, and I forgive his need to watch "How It's Made" and "MythBusters" incessantly, because we can share in so many pop-culture loves together. It seems trivial, I know, but seeing as we have faith and politics in sync, our cultural interests needed to gel as well. Thank God.

 

Picture: From our afternoon tea at the Langham Hotel's Palm Court.