Exhibit A: I got mooned
Exhibit B: Washed out lighting and semi-comatose children
Exhibit C: What might have been a cute sibling moment, eclipsed by our strolling pal Milesy
Saturday, October 20, 2012
No picture mojo
My photography mojo has been seriously lacking lately. It seems to come and go, and it's especially unfortunate when it leaves me on a day when I have serious cuteness at hand. Witness the results of an attempted photo of the kids at the Pumpkin Patch Express last weekend. We rode the train at our local science museum out into the woods, disembarked to pick out pumpkins, do fall crafts, and generally enjoy all things orange and pumpkin-y. Perfect setting for photos. But without my mojo, everything I shot just seemed off. Like really off. But, I suppose, kind of amusing.
The Mommy Wars: The Birthday Party Installment
Probably because I have about a million more important things to do, I have spent hours the last few evenings on a terribly low priority activity: making plans for Dash's second birthday party. Which for those of you keeping track, yes, is not for another two months, approximately three lifetimes away in parenting terms.
But I had the idea recently to have a construction-themed party for him because his love of all things digger, backhoe, and crane is so strong and so adorable. I think he would love it, and I am clearly not the first mom with this brainstorm since I have found endless Pinterest boards to browse on the subject. I have giddily been planning the homemade construction site cake I want to make, the adorable invitations, and the digger-related activities we can do (filling up giant bins of sand and pushing trucks around in them on the deck in December is totally reasonable, right?).
Then yesterday I was at a birthday party for one of Ella's classmates and I somehow found myself in the middle of a conversation with two other moms about a child's birthday party they had attended the day before. These two moms were pretty much mocking the mother who hosted the party for all of the DIY projects she had done. Hand-painted signs on the door? How dare she! A homemade cake! Where did she find the time? A homemade pinata? Blasphemy! Seriously, these two moms went on about the pinata for a good five minutes. Apparently the idea of paper-mache was just too much for them to handle. I will acknowledge that the two mothers disparaging this poor woman's party are both busy physicians and I have always found them to be generally nice women, so maybe they were just directing some of their own feelings of unease about their busy schedules at this poor other mom. And maybe this other party was in-fact completely over-the-top and ridiculous and done for the sake of impressing other parents rather than the kids' enjoyment (I wasn't there to judge). But maybe this hostess-mom just likes having parties and actually, gasp, enjoyed making her homemade pinata!
At least one of the women I was talking to is the mom to one of Dash's classmates and thus a likely invitee to Dash's upcoming construction bash. Am I supposed to reign in my fun so I don't get mocked by this mom? I understand that a two-year old's birthday party hardly needs to be fancy. We went to an hour-long birthday party last weekend for a two-year old with a half hour of playtime in the yard, cupcakes, and then done, and it was perfectly lovely and appropriate. But if I want to have a bigger party, with more elaborate crafts and decorations and invitations, aren't I the only one who is affected by all that work (OK, Josh might have something to say about it, too)?
These are the Mommy Wars in action, my friends, and they aren't pretty. Here's to store-bought cupcakes if that's your thing, or a three-day-in-the-making-construction-site-cake if that's how you roll, and genuine support for your party style either way.
Now back to those Pinterest boards...
But I had the idea recently to have a construction-themed party for him because his love of all things digger, backhoe, and crane is so strong and so adorable. I think he would love it, and I am clearly not the first mom with this brainstorm since I have found endless Pinterest boards to browse on the subject. I have giddily been planning the homemade construction site cake I want to make, the adorable invitations, and the digger-related activities we can do (filling up giant bins of sand and pushing trucks around in them on the deck in December is totally reasonable, right?).
Then yesterday I was at a birthday party for one of Ella's classmates and I somehow found myself in the middle of a conversation with two other moms about a child's birthday party they had attended the day before. These two moms were pretty much mocking the mother who hosted the party for all of the DIY projects she had done. Hand-painted signs on the door? How dare she! A homemade cake! Where did she find the time? A homemade pinata? Blasphemy! Seriously, these two moms went on about the pinata for a good five minutes. Apparently the idea of paper-mache was just too much for them to handle. I will acknowledge that the two mothers disparaging this poor woman's party are both busy physicians and I have always found them to be generally nice women, so maybe they were just directing some of their own feelings of unease about their busy schedules at this poor other mom. And maybe this other party was in-fact completely over-the-top and ridiculous and done for the sake of impressing other parents rather than the kids' enjoyment (I wasn't there to judge). But maybe this hostess-mom just likes having parties and actually, gasp, enjoyed making her homemade pinata!
At least one of the women I was talking to is the mom to one of Dash's classmates and thus a likely invitee to Dash's upcoming construction bash. Am I supposed to reign in my fun so I don't get mocked by this mom? I understand that a two-year old's birthday party hardly needs to be fancy. We went to an hour-long birthday party last weekend for a two-year old with a half hour of playtime in the yard, cupcakes, and then done, and it was perfectly lovely and appropriate. But if I want to have a bigger party, with more elaborate crafts and decorations and invitations, aren't I the only one who is affected by all that work (OK, Josh might have something to say about it, too)?
These are the Mommy Wars in action, my friends, and they aren't pretty. Here's to store-bought cupcakes if that's your thing, or a three-day-in-the-making-construction-site-cake if that's how you roll, and genuine support for your party style either way.
Now back to those Pinterest boards...
Plank
Over dinner recently, our family had a heated discussion about how hard (or not) it is to hold a pilates plank for a minute. Mimi demonstrated the proper form for us and Dash got down on the floor to help. Does it count as a plank if his belly touches the ground even when he pushes his arms off the ground?
Monday, October 15, 2012
I love you
Best sentence Dash has uttered to date? "I love you, mama." Precious.
There is a close runner-up, though. He ran over to me recently and said "Mama mama!" then leaned in close to my ear and whispered very gravely "Cow named Max!" He really loves those barnyard animals at the local science museum, especially the cow who is in fact named Max.
There is a close runner-up, though. He ran over to me recently and said "Mama mama!" then leaned in close to my ear and whispered very gravely "Cow named Max!" He really loves those barnyard animals at the local science museum, especially the cow who is in fact named Max.
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