Motherhood

literary legos

Posted on Mar 21, 2012 in Motherhood, Writing

This week, my big girl’s class is discussing classic nursery rhymes and fairy tales. She came home from school today and asked me to get out a candlestick so that she could “jump over it like Jack.” Then, when we were playing Legos, she came up with this:

Can you guess what it is?

“The Princess and the Pea”

Kind of genius, I think. And hilarious.

i just love this

Posted on Mar 12, 2012 in Motherhood

from the adorable Joanna Goddard

language lessons

Posted on Jan 20, 2012 in Motherhood

a couple of years ago, I interviewed harvey karp, the author of those wildly popular “happiest baby/toddler on the block” books, for a story I wrote for a parenting magazine. one of the greatest tips that he gave me, which I’ve never forgotten but have only actually acted upon once or twice, is to remember to record my kids’ voices while they’re little. photos and videos are essential, obviously, but their voices…when they lose that squeaky, chirpy sound, it will be a very sad day.

and then there’s the way in which they say things. my big girl says “wit” instead of “with” (as in, “will you color wit me?”). like her mother, she really likes to “lax,” as in, “mommy, i’m going to sit on the couch and lax with my books.” the other night, as I was headed out the door for margaritas with a couple of girlfriends, she hugged me goodnight and told me that she “loved me really much.” and then there’s “last year yesterday,” which is what she says when referring to anything in the past: “remember last year yesterday, when we went to see my cousins at the beach?”

last week, we were chatting during bedtime, and I tried to explain the concept of telling each other the best and worst parts of our day–the “rose” and the “thorn.” The next day in the car, she asked me and my husband to tell her our “roses and horns.” I haven’t corrected her yet.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend–high on the roses, low on the horns.

read and learn

Posted on Jan 10, 2012 in Magazines, Motherhood

So that’s my 17-month-old in the cast she got right before Christmas when she fell off of her sister’s bed and fractured her wrist. The cast, mercifully, came off a week ago. Not that she hardly noticed, aside from discovering that she could make really cool noises by banging her cast against the wall.

She didn’t seem to be in any pain when the accident happened–in fact, she got up and walked into the playroom just like nothing had happened–and my husband and I spent several minutes deciding whether to even take her to the doctor.

The “should we see a doc?” question can be so hard with kids, particularly with wee ones who can’t verbalize their symptoms. For advice on what to do when your little one is sick, check out “12 Symptoms You Should Never Ignore,” my article in this month’s Parents magazine.

quotable

Posted on Dec 5, 2011 in Motherhood, Quotables

“There’s a lot more to being a woman than being a mother, but there’s a hell of a lot more to being a mother than most people suspect.” –Roseanne Barr