DC Metro Moms

Silicon Valley Moms Group Acquired By Technorati Media

2010-11-15T17:01:26-08:00

Reports of our demise, as the saying goes, were premature. The Silicon Valley Moms Group of sister sites is taking up residence in a new location. Look for that great timely, opinionated, poignant, and sometimes just plain funny parenting content you're used to seeing on this site over at The Women's Channel at Technorati. After 6 great years of blogging here, we've moved to a new home.

Fondly,

Jill Asher, Beth Blecherman & Tekla Nee

Co-Founders, Silicon Valley Moms Group

A Promise Is A Promise

2010-07-05T15:15:52-07:00

The "blogosphere" is a strange world to enter. There are no real guidebooks or maps. Your starting point may be your first, "hello, is anyone out there?" post, but you have no real idea what the final destination is or what the milestones along the way are (oh, sure, you may THINK you know what they are, but you don't REALLY know what they are). And while there are certainly a lot of statistics (How many readers? How many uniques? How many subscribers? How many return visitors? How many Twitter followers? Blah, blah, blah.), there isn't really a great way to measure your journey through the blogosphere.

So I consider it pure coincidence and happenstance that I ran into a bunch of great bloggers at the beginning of my blogging journey, actually pre-Caffeine And A Prayer and learned about the Silicon Valley Moms Blog Group and the DC Metro Moms Blog. Back then I only had a private, for-the-family-only blog, but I knew I was going to launch a public blog soon. And I decided when I did, I wanted to be able to be a writer for DC Metro Moms.

Of my checklist of things to accomplish with my fledgling blog, receiving SV Moms Blog founder Jill Asher's call was one of my most thrilling.

What I didn't realize was that this goal meant far more than exposure and driving more traffic to my own blog. It meant meeting a fantastic group of women. Truly fantastic -- not just because they have great blogs -- but because they have an incredible sense of community and are funny and supportive and are somehow both an incredibly eclectic yet harmonious group of women. Put these women in a room and there will be fun. Put these women in room with food and wine and there will be a party. Put these women in a room with food, wine, and a problem to solve and there will not only be a solution, but a lot of laughter along the way. I have had the pleasure of attending multiple events with the DC Metro Moms and not once have I come home wishing I hadn't gone. In fact, I've come home every time craving another gathering soon.

In a little over a year, these women have taught me so much about blogging, about writing, about networking, about friendship, about women.

Therefore, it was with a heavy heart that I took the news about the Silicon Valley Moms group dissolving. I've enjoyed the discipline writing here twice a month has enforced upon me. I was fearful that our local camaraderie would disappear along with the collaboration on this site.

How could I have been so distrustful?

For it was DC Metro Moms who brought us together, but the bonds formed were real. Soon, you will see these writers working together again, under different circumstances.

So it seems only fitting to fulfill my promise to DC Metro Moms, to write a post every couple of weeks, to send my last post on the blog's last day, to say thank you for the opportunities, for the events, but more importantly, for the friendships I have made with local bloggers. The blogosphere may not have any official tourguides, but you provided an invaluable "hyper-local" (as our editors were fond of saying) way station for this blogger during her journey.

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This is an original DC Metro Moms Post. J.J. Newby blogs as JavaMom at Caffeine And A Prayer.

Safety Gates on the Internet?

2010-06-30T09:48:46-07:00

As a young mom I safety proofed my house, used car safety seats until the kids were 8 years old, held hands when we crossed a parking lot, and cut their food in to teeny tiny pieces. You might think that I would be relieved to remove the last door knob cover, but safety proofing doesn’t end when your child can open a door. Now that my children are no longer babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, why would I let down my guard?

When my oldest first asked to go online she was about 5 or 6. She had heard a commercial. She desperately wanted to go to Nickjr.com to play Blues Clues. I sat with her as she clicked around in the games. l taught her to stay on the Nick website. Her Nick days faded when a friend told her about Club Penguin. Club Penguin was pushed aside when Webkinz hit Hallmark stores and everywhere. Webkinz were the Silly Bandz of 2008.

The pull of Webkinz faded for my daughter when she was about 10. She desperately wanted her own e-mail. She needed to start a web page. She wanted to play games that were for bigger kids. Had she heard about Facebook she would have wanted an account. I was not ready for all these new endeavors.

As a 5th grader she started a website before I started blogging. How funny is that? The kid is a trailblazer! She created a class newspaper online by recruiting her friends as correspondents. She even had a "Dear Abby" column. Sadly we had to close the comments on her website as several classmates posted rude and inappropriate comments. So sad that a few bad apples spoiled it for the rest of her class.

I let her have an e-mail in 6th grade...with a great deal of monitoring and hand wringing on my part. But, Facebook was a no go. She begged. She pleaded. Apparently every 6th and then 7th grade friend was on Facebook. Many kids on Facebook lied about their ages and the schools they attended -- if in elementary or middle school, the kids would list our local high school as their school. I held firm.

I discovered Yoursphere.com over a year ago. Yoursphere is a social network site for kids, tweens, and teens that is for kids only. No adults. Parents can sign up their kids for Yoursphere, but must go through an online security program.

Yoursphere was an alternative to Facebook. My daughter got to play on a site that wasn’t babyish, while I had the reassurance that she was in a safe environment online. A win for both of us.

Moms of kids, preteens, and teens may want to know that Yoursphere is now FREE.

Jill blogs about #onlinesafety #kids #tweens #teens and #notatechie at Musings from Me. She was a Yoursphere Test Drive Mom for Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. She received a free lifetime Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts, and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate her review.

Holding Firm...or Not

2010-06-30T09:00:00-07:00

My husband and I do not see eye to eye on all parenting issues. Sometimes I am the heavy in the argument. The one who pushes my agenda down his throat. Occasionally he is the one who is insistent on an issue. There is one issue that we agree on. One issue that we both declared was a topic not up for discussion or consideration. Contact sports.

As a young couple -- we met when I was just-21 and he was almost 20 -- we quickly moved from getting-to-know-you conversations to deep discussions. I was a senior in college, while he was a junior. We weren't engaged. Nor had we dated long. It sounds strange to think about now, but we did talk about marriage, kids, and even death.

We talked about what we would name our due in the distant future kids. We tut-tutted at the way a couple at our health club brought their young kids to late night wallyball game. (Wallyball? I am dating myself now...big time. Wallyball was played in a racquetball court.) Sports was a big topic of conversation for us.

My husband is a sports nut. Nowadays he plays sports, watches games, coaches our children, and plays video games. As a kid, he played very few sports due probably to the long hours his dad worked and his mother's health. I have never played a team sport, except for P.E. classes. We both agreed that our children would play sports. My husband was excited to coach the kids in ANY sport. I wanted my children to have something that I missed out on -- the experience of being part of a team. We liked the idea of our future offspring being a part of a team.

In our musings about our future sports stars, we were adamant about one thing. No child would play a contact sport. For my husband, it came down to safety. For me, football is an aggressive game. I'm from England, the land where soccer stars in the 80s regularly stepped on the field with perms, highlights, and gold medallions. It was not unusual for a professional soccer play to get knocked down, writhe around in agony, then hop up a moment later. No kid of mine would play a contact sport.

After watching two little girls, play soccer, basketball, tball, and now volleyball, we assumed our son would take the same path replacing t-ball with baseball. He played soccer for two seasons, but didn't love it. Basketball was not his thing, Neither was t-ball. What would his sport be I wondered?

This past winter during our snowbound quarantine, he and his dad watched lots of football. He talked about playing football many times over the winter. I said but you're playing soccer in the fall...you're too little for football... To be fair he is very tall for his age. At 7, he is as tall as many 9 year olds.

Football -- in England we call it "American football" as soccer is called football -- is an aggressive, full body contact type of sport. Injuries. Concussions. Broken bones. You name it, I worry about it.

My son would not agree to play soccer. We compromised by signing him up for flag football. Only we had one small teeny tiny problem. He is too old for flag football. What to do, what to do?

After many discussions. e-mails back and forth to moms and dads of tackle football players. Much hand wringing we agreed -- reluctantly -- to sign him up for tackle football. He's 7 and tall for his age, but the decision is still a weighty one to make.

Jill blogs at Musings from Me on sporty kids, preteens, teens, and even husbands, which is funny because she is not sporty at all.

Original post to DC Metro Moms.

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok: A SV Moms Group Book Club

2010-06-23T01:00:00-07:00

Transplanted from Hong Kong to New York City as a (very poor) young girl with her mother, Ah-Kim or Kimberley, struggled to make things better for her family, to learn English, to walk the line between traditional Chinese duties and the Americanized teenager she grew into. Join us today as we discuss the book Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok.

Here are what the SV Moms Group contributors ave to say today, all inspired by the book Girl in Translation:

Marinka from Motherhood in NYC tells her immigration story in America, Baby
Pamela from 2 Much Testosterone felt empowered
Emily from Mama Sick has hope for her son
Sharon from Channeling Ricky recognizes her own childhood embarrassment
Vanessa from Chefdruck Musings goes for a taste of America
April from It's All About Balance is a girl in gratitude
Emily Paster from West of the Loop examines secrets below the surface
Melanie from tales from the crib just wanted to fit in
Elena from Cara Mamma reflects on dreaming big
Lisa H. from Hannemaniacs has aunts just like Aunt Paula
Alma from Marketing Mommy had culture shock
Kristine from Mommy Needs Therapy or a Bottle of Wine was moved by the reality of immigrants who come to the U.S. for a "better" life
Rox from Rox and Roll has thoughts about honor
Julie from Just Precious opens her eyes in her own neighborhood
Jen B from Anybody Want A Peanut? tries to translate autism

Silicon Valley Moms Blog is hosting the book club discussion this month. Please leave a comment here to join in the discussion.

Past SV Moms Group Book Clubs have included:

I am Nujood, Aged 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali
The Body Scoop for Girls by Dr. Jennifer Ashton
Just Let Me Lie Down by Kristin van Ogtrop, Editor of REAL SIMPLE magazine
National Geographic's Green Guide Families by Catherine Zandonella
Top 100 Finger Foods and Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel
The Possibility of Everything by Hope Edelman
The Mominatrix's Guide to Sex by Kristen Chase
Coco Chanel & Igr Stravinsky by Chris Greenhalgh
See Mom Run by Beth Feldman
Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind by Phillip Done
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Topper
Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer
Birth Day by Mark Sloan, M.D.
What Happened to the Girl I Married? by Michael Miller
Testimony by Anita Shreve
Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
Much to Your Chagrin by Suzanne Guilette
It Started with Pop-Tarts by Lori Hanson
Who By Fire by Diana Spechler
The White Trash Moms Handbook by Michelle Lamar
Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert W. Sears
The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross

Click here to read all about the SV Moms Group Book Club.

He Has a Point About Father's Day

2010-06-18T12:43:24-07:00

I asked my husband what he wanted to do for Father's Day this year and he stated with a smirk, "A hike." I looked at him oddly and asked why he said it so sarcastically. He explained, "Every year we go on a hike. Every Father's Day it is all about being out as a family. It's always the same."

Huh.

Except last we went to a nearby Potomac Nationals game. He went on a bit more and said, "Mother's Day is all about rest and relaxation. There are spa treatments, Mom doesn't cook. She's pampered and left alone. Father's Day is all about being up in Dad's face." OK, I might have paraphrased a bit in that last line, but it's precisely what he meant. He doesn't go off alone to play golf, hang with other Dad's who just want to sip a good pinot noir and watch the sunset or get a massage.

He has a point too. Traditionally and historically speaking Dad's have been a bit off to the side when it comes to childcare and household duties. It has only been in the last few decades that men have taken on more of the tasks at home and with the kids. We have welcomed it with huge smiles and open arms. Yet, how we celebrate Father's Day hasn't really changed. At least it hasn't changed in terms of gift guides and suggestions that roll out this time of year. Year after year it is the same ideas. Ties are boring, power tools are better. Get Dad sporting goods. Wait! Skinny ties are in, get him one of those. Doesn't Dad want a giant steak to go with that new riding lawn mower? How about a fishing pole or a new television? Last Sunday's paper was chocked full of these ideas, which is what spurred this conversation initially.

While he still hasn't decided on what he wants to do with his Father's Day, it is getting closer to how we celebrate Mother's Day. He wants to sleep in and has picked a special dinner and dessert. The girls and I have decided on a gift and to be safe a power tool might be thrown in as well. Just no ties. Next year maybe we'll send him to a spa.

Original DC Metro Moms post. Victoria blogs daily atThe Mummy Chronicles and Mummy's Product Reviews.

Remembering That Ch-Ch-Ch-Change is the Only Constant

2010-06-18T02:13:00-07:00

My daughter came home from Kindergarten last Thursday acting out of sorts, blue, and really, really down.

I asked her what was going on and what happened that made her feel that way.

Our Word Wall is down. The walls in our classroom are getting empty, and we took everything out of our cubbies today. It's not my same class, and it just. . . makes me feel funny.

Ahhhh, the ole "a new change is-a-comin' syndrome"--the same one that I still suffer from with the change of seasons, change of schedule, change of just about anything.

My daughter's teacher is retiring this year, and I'm sure that after close to 30 years teaching in the same county, she's more than ready to head out come June 16th. And I couldn't be more happy for her--I remember feeling like I wanted to start breaking down my own classroom on June 1st so that I, too, could walk out the doors the minute my high schoolers finished their last exam. I was free as a bird but with a belly full of butterflies until my new summer schedule kicked in. I can only imagine how my daughter's teacher must feel, walking into retirement in the next week. I wondered if my little one felt the same way, moving out of Kindergarten and into a school-free summer.

I tried to explain to my 6-year old that change is sometimes hard and that it's strange to watch something you're really familiar with move in a different direction.

I wanted to tell her that for some, change is hard. Really hard. I wanted to tell her how, whether it's a cleaned-out cubby or a blank Word Wall, the move from Kindergarten to grade one, school year to summer, it can take some getting used to. But we all move through it. We have to.

I thought about letting her know that in life, change is really the only constant, the only thing you can count on. I wanted to explain that there are very few things--people, situations, feelings, or events--that will remain unmoved and that just when you get really settled, something will usually come along to switch up your normal.

Big changes--from high school to college, single life to married life, a family of two to a family of three, good health to illness, and the loss of loved ones--are understandably difficult and painful for many. It could be the change from one baby two to (or three!), the addition of a pet or the move to a new house. Or the changing seasons of friends, of relationships, of co-workers, it never mattered. They were all difficult for me. And usually these changes brought melancholy and moodiness until I got settled and appreciated its "newness".

I have tried to keep my kids fresh in their openness to try new things and embrace change on a frequent basis. I have introduced something "new for us" each week, and we celebrate steps of change when we can. We are active in our community, and we do what we can to be a part of something larger than ourselves so that we can keep things in perspective when change does come upon us suddenly.

But sometimes it's just hard. And sometimes, no matter how minimal the change may be, we need a little time to mourn our loss before we are able to embrace what the future holds.

So as we made our way home from school last Thursday, our last Thursday of school of the year, the last Thursday I'd ever walk with my oldest child as a Kindergartner, we did talk about how changes are sometimes hard and that it takes a while to adjust to something new.

And then we celebrated a sunny Thursday and summer and the upcoming weekend, and we clinked our ice-pops together in a sweet cheers to the adventures that lie ahead.

This is an original DC Metro Moms post.

Amy M. is trying her best to embrace the many changes that lie ahead for her family, her summer, and for the SV Moms Group at large. She's using what she can as learning opportunities for her little ones--and herself--and she's sharing the skinny over at teach mama and we teach.

DC Metro Moms Blog - Brand/Blogger Symposium Event at The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City

2010-06-18T01:00:00-07:00

On Sunday, June 6, 2010, SV Moms Group and BitDefender brought together 50 local DC Metro Moms Blog bloggers and 20 sponsoring companies to our fifth Brand-Blogger Meet-up. This time we convened at the lovely Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City. The intent of our meet-ups is to connect brands targeted to women with influential mom bloggers and to build community.

A huge thank you to our fantastic Co-Host sponsor, BitDefender who hosted a lovely brunch and private feedback discussion! And also to our Platinum sponsor K12.

Also attending as sponsors were: Bosch Appliances, TLC, Stonyfield, Cinnabon, iGo, Army of Women, Cultural Care Au Pair, Lawry's, Lice Happens, 23andMe, Yoplait Kids, Dorel Juvenille Group, Eden Fantasys, and Easy Print Design. Thank you so much for participating and making this event possible.

Check out photos from the event at the Flickr stream.

A brunch hosted by our Co-Host sponsor, BitDefender, opened the day, after which an open and honest two-hour discussion was held, led by SV Moms Group advisor Samantha Fein and editor Vanessa Druckman, about how brands and bloggers are working together.

Following the two hour round-table discussion, the brands and bloggers moved into the ballroom for drinks, food, and one-on-one networking. Here is what a few of our attendees had to share about their experiences meeting with brands, networking and catching up (IN REAL LIFE) with fellow SV Mom Group Bloggers in Washington, DC.

Stimey from Stimeyland had her socks knocked off
Thien-Kim from I'm Not the Nanny hangs with people who understand her twitter addiction
Cara Mamma from Cara Mamma is playing with the big boys
Amanda from Parenting by Dummies provides a profile of a power mom blogger
Minky from Dial M for Minky dials M for Minky, Motherhood and Mimosas
Kimberley from Petroville parties like a blog star
Rebekah from Mom in a Million has a weekend adventure in blogging
Elaine from Connor and Helen Grow Up engages in cupcake wars
Claire Jess from Crunchy Chewey Mama wheels away with goodies and gets lucky
Jill from Musings From Me discusses the big event and the litl webbook she won: @litl: Works for Web-Surfy Family of #mom #dad #kid #tween #teen and @litl and cloud computing
Leticia from Tech Savvy Mama reveals lessons learned about relationships from brands and bloggers
Amy from Teach Mama gets life lessons: babies, bloggers and brands
JJ from Caffeine and a Prayer sucks less (power) with the iGo charger and writes about social media: the new power of women

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Check out the recaps from the Silicon Valley, Los Angeles/Orange County and Chicago Moms Blog and New York City Moms Blog Brand-Blogger Meet-ups too.

(Car) Size Matters

2010-06-17T02:00:00-07:00

I haven’t had an unobstructed view of the road since 1998.

Before you go calling the cops to report some crazy lady driving around with seriously screwed up vision or something, let me explain. I drive a Honda Civic. It’s small, it’s efficient, I can park it anywhere, and it perfectly suited my needs as a single girl in her 20s. It’s not quite as perfect in my current mode as 30-something suburban mother, but it’s fine. The car seat fits in the back, the stroller fits in the trunk along with a few grocery bags, and the gas mileage is still good. Plus I don’t have the money for a new car and this one is paid off. So, until the day it dies and I have no choice, the Civic is my mode of transportation. And I like it. It’s a fun little red car and driving around in it with the sunroof open and the music playing still makes me really, really happy.

But, boy, does it sit low to the ground. Especially compared to the fleet of minvans and SUVs that have taken over the roads since I bought my Civic 13 years ago.

I know. I know. You NEED your minivan or SUV because it’s the only thing that fits three cars seats, or half the soccer team, or the piles of art supplies, or an entire Costco run plus both kids. I know. And it’s fine. Drive your big cars. It’s a free country and you can drive whatever vehicle suits you.

I do feel entitled to complain about how unsafe they make me feel on the road or in parking lots, though.

At first, it wasn’t so bad when the cars got higher and higher off the ground. Sure, I’d be behind an SUV and have to crane my neck upwards a bit to see through it so I’d know where the stoplights were up ahead and what color they were. But then car-makers decided to make all windows the approximate shade and opacity of mascara. Do you know what an SUV with tinted window looks like to a person driving behind it? A giant, SUV-shaped block of lead. I can’t see over, around, or through it. I am totally reliant on the SUV driver’s reflexes and reactions because I can’t make my own judgments about the road ahead if I can’t see it. I get stuck in traffic behind a black-windowed SUV and wonder not when I’ll be able to move, but why I can’t. Is there an accident ahead? Someone parked in a driving lane? A school bus? I have no idea. The only information I can get from looking ahead in those situations is the dealership that sold the SUV and where the owner’s kids are honor students. The road is not part of my field of vision. At all.

Parking lots are also scary. It’s not unusual for my little Civic to be sandwiched between two SUVs or minivans since the locations I frequent are popular with the mom set. And backing out when the cars on either side of me are a third again as long as my car, two feet taller than my car, and offer no transparent surfaces for me to peek through makes pulling out of a parking spot feel a little like hurtling backward out of a blind chute.

And don’t get me started on how freakin’ angry I get when I find a coveted row of “Compact Only “ parking spaces and see that some SUV is wedged into one of the slots. SUVS ARE NOT COMPACT!!!!!! Those spots are physically smaller than regular spots and they are often the only haven of safe backing-out for us little car people. Please, please, please, stay out of them if you drive a car larger than a four-door sedan. You don’t belong there.

But at least in parking lots people are going pretty slow. When one of these vision-blocking cars parks on a street corner and I’m trying to make a turn around it, I’m playing a blind game of chicken because I can’t see oncoming traffic.

Yeah, there’s a lot of SUV drivers out there who may have done it out of an “If you can't beat them, join them philosophy. That is particularly seductive when you realize that in an SUV v. compact car collision, the SUV will win. But, like I said, I can’t afford a new car so I’m just driving as safely as I can in my little car. And I’m going to ask the big car drivers out there to take a few minutes to think when they’re driving. Think about the car you’re pulling in front of when you change lanes. Will the driver lose their view of the road when you get in front of them? If so, please wait and change lanes in front of a car that you won’t obstruct. When you’re parking, pick a spot next to another big car, not a little one who won’t be able to see around you to get out of the space. And stay the heck out of spots labeled for compact cares. Finally, if you have to park on the street, try to do it mid-block so everyone has a shot at seeing oncoming traffic when they need to turn, rather than parking right on the corner.

We little car people will thank you and maybe you’ll help prevent an accident.

This is an original DC Metro Moms post

Rebekah drives her little car around Montgomery County and blogs at Mom-in-a-Million.

Aging at the speed of time

2010-06-16T02:06:00-07:00

"She's growing too fast." "I wish he would stay this way forever." "I can't believe how big she's getting!"

Do you ever think any of those things about your kids?

I never think those things.

I have a relative who always drops those cliches on my kids' heads. "They grow too fast," she always says. I always reply, "no they don't."

They grow just right. They grow a little every day. I've never understood the sentiment that wants to freeze them in time. It's selfish, isn't it? To preserve them in amber so that I can admire their dimpled elbows and funny pronunciations? I want them growing every day, because if they aren't, what horrible disease has befallen them?

I feel similarly about my own age. I'm 33 years old. I don't regret the numbers as they ascend. I don't romanticize my youth or demonize my aging. I believe I'm only as old as I feel, and I feel tired, but I don't feel old. I look forward to my birthdays. I enjoy celebrating them, even as I acknowledge another year gone by.

And yet, I still manage to forget I'm an adult. Maybe it's because the voice inside my head stopped aging around 19, but I received two pieces of news this week that stopped me in my thought-tracks: don't these things happen to my parents' friends? Surely these are older people's problems. Surely I am not that old.

A woman I know is undergoing brain surgery this week to explore and ideally remove an entwined brain tumor. She has a family. She has kids my kids' ages. She's not old. And we learned this weekend that a couple we know has decided to separate. Their boys are exactly my girls' ages. We haven't watched a divorce within our own peer group yet. Maybe, just once in a while, it isn't so bad to wish for time to be frozen in the past.

I think that, but just for a minute. I wish both of those families painless journeys. I'm keeping them close in my heart. Their news was hard to hear but I think of the beauty in time marching ever forward. I think of my own happy almost-nine-year marriage, of the lung tumor whose removal my husband overcame, of his clean bill of health. I think of my four-year-old who asked me last week, "how do you say you're starving but for thirsty instead of hungry?" and after I answered her, approached her teacher with "could I have some water? I'm parched." I think of my two-year-old who this past weekend pronounced the "r" in "orange" for the first time ever, and who sounded like such a big girl in doing so that my heart momentarily forgot to beat. I think of my four-month-old who almost figured out rolling over, but gets stuck on his belly because he doesn't know how to pull his arm out from under himself.

I can't wish for time to stand still because I can't deny him the chance to figure that out and tumble across the floor. But tacitly defending the march of time is so much easier in the context of a baby's milestones than a family's heartbreak. I have to remind myself that part of aging is facing our fears and our sorrows, lending our support, and firmly believing in stories with happy endings.

(Photo credit: Niffty..)

This is an original DC Metro Moms Blog post. Robin blogs at The Not-Ever-Still Life and tweets @noteverstill, and in both places she'd tell you that she'd prefer to think that cancer and divorce happen to much older people.

The iPhone Is Breaking Up Our Family (Plan)!

2010-06-15T05:00:00-07:00

Apple's iPhone has caused quite a bit of discord in our family. Debate over it has caused many phone calls, trips to the mall, conversations with friends and family members, and ultimately, a divorce. A cell phone plan divorce, that is.

Yes, we're going splitsville. Our family plan is headed to Divorce Court and the final decision is who gets custody of my mother -- who uses maybe 10 minutes a month and has minimal requirements of a phone.

I'll take responsibility for being the plan-wrecker. I'm the one with the wandering eye. Sure, my Verizon enV2 was good enough for me when I got it not quite two years ago. But then my iPod Touch entered my life -- I just happened to win it in an online contest. Suddenly I was lurking at iTunes at all hours of the night, using gift cards to update my music collection, and one thing led to another, and there I was, at the App Store. No one warned me the iPod Touch was the gateway drug to the iPhone, but it is. Because once you start downloading apps, you want them all the time, but stray away from home and you realize that sadly, you can't have your apps at your beck and call, because you don't have your wireless access everywhere. What's a girl to do?

Start coveting an iPhone.

"Come here," I'd say coyly to my groom. "Let me show you... this really cool APP!" He is, after all, a computer geek! Being a Linux guy, he has his issues with the iPhone, closed architecture blah, blah, blah, but even he found apps he found intriguing -- I'd catch him playing with my iPod Touch from time to time. But darned if he didn't stand resolute in his stance that he didn't want to switch over to the iPhone. He'd come up with one excuse after another. "They are coming out with another one." (Yeah, and it's even cooler!) "They might come out with one for Verizon this summer, let's wait for the big announcement." (Didn't happen). "They are changing their data plan." (So what.) "It will cost a lot more to switch plans." (Actually, it doesn't, I finally dragged him out to the mall to check.) Then the real answer came out: he wants a Droid "Incredible."

We finally had to admit it. Irreconcilable differences. It was time to split up the family (plan). I'm ordering the iPhone and moving over to AT&T. He and Mom are going to stay on Verizon. And since my best friend is on AT&T, the savings of talking to her on the same plan actually makes up the difference in cost of us splitting up (he actually analyzed the bills to figure this out.) I promised him he'll be in my "A List" of out-of-network friends. Mom, too.

This is an original DC Metro Moms Post. J.J. Newby aka JavaMom hopes she will soon be tweeting about her posts at DCMM and her own blog Caffeine And A Prayer from a really cool phone by the end of the month.

Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, iTunes, Verizon, and Droid Incredible are trademarked or registered trademarked names of their respective companies. Image of the iPhone4 provided to the media by Apple.

Graco and DC Metro Moms Donate 3 Car Seats to Fallen Officer's Widow Expecting Triplets

2010-06-15T05:00:00-07:00

It was my pleasure, on behalf of Graco and DC Metro Moms, to give the Montgomery County Police 3 brand new Graco car seats for Melissa Ayala, widow of Officer Hector Ayala, who died in the line of duty in April.

A Police Officer, who was also a dear friend of Hector Ayala, came to my home to pick them up and he also gave me some information to tell everyone in our community and beyond.

Melissa is doing as well as can be expected, and will most likely give birth this week. She and the babies are healthy, although she is in pain and discomfort (but we all know as mothers, that being pregnant with triplets cannot be easy).

I also learned that the gender of the babies is unknown, it’s been too hard to tell…

Yeah, I know. I swallowed hard learning that. Not only is this woman giving birth to triplets IMMINENTLY- without her husband- she doesn’t know any of their genders…

The Officer added that she is receiving baby stuff right now, but he worries,

“When they’re 6 months…”

“When they’re 1…”

“When they’re 2…”

Okay. So this is tough…

THIS IS WHAT WE CAN DO RIGHT NOW.

Melissa already has a 14-month old-son, so she does have some boy stuff. SHE HAS NO GIRL STUFF OR CLOTHES. We’ll know this week if she needs any girl stuff. I’ll let you know.

If you have any baby or toddler toys, accessories, clothes, etc. that you were planning to give away, please consider putting them away for now, and giving them to the Ayala family.

Please leave a comment below if you want to be informed and/or involved in helping with donations to Mrs. Ayala and her triplets, and her son. I will save everyone’s email and periodically ask for specific things that she needs. The Montgomery County Police are contacting me when she has a need for something.

Also, if you have any contacts or relationships with companies that may be willing to donate their products to the triplets, please leave a comment and let me know.

Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers for the triplets, it is a great comfort that the brand new car seats are ready for them. They will be safe when they are taken home from the hospital.

*This all came to pass basically through tweets; our online community is strong. Let’s use our community to continue to help this mother.*

Thank You for your kindness.

Original DC Metro Moms Post

Nicole also blogs at BananaBlueberry, where she likes to concentrate on the good stuff, and gives out helpful hints at her HouseHold Tips Blog. She tweets at @BanBlueberry.

Hey AAP: Ready to Reverse Course on Male Circumcision, Too?

2010-06-14T05:00:00-07:00

I run in a pretty “crunchy” crowd. Or rather, I used to run in an ultra-crunchy crowd. You know - the kind that grows vegetables in the backyard, argues about the conservative media bias, and generally considers Birkenstocks to be perfectly acceptable for the office. I never seriously considered a hospital birth because I knew from the start I wanted my babies born at home if at all possible. But I knew when I was a new mom I needed to flap my social wings a bit. I found myself socializing with other mamas, if only for the reassurance that my son’s (remarkably poor) eating and (remarkably poor) sleeping was normal. (It was). Imagine my surprise, then, as I sat with a group of moms at a Friday jazz program at the National Gallery of Art when the conversation turned to circumcision.

One of the moms of a girl asked the group (which formed from a lunchtime gathering at the Breastfeeding Center of Greater Washington) about whether folks had their sons circumcised and at the point when I was about to say “of course not, I’m friends with the author of the MGM bill, and he has convinced me the procedure is unnecessary and potentially harmful”, I was interrupted and another woman answered (and I do not think I will ever forget this) “Of course I did! I don’t want my son to be a freak! I want girls to like him!”, and then the next woman spoke up about her son’s bris, and a third chimed in about how her son didn’t even blink during the procedure which clearly showed it wasn’t painful (though others would argue her son might have been in shock). At this point, I looked down at my glass of wine, blinked back a tear, and took it as one more sign that life as I knew it before a baby was gone. If I wanted to have some mommy friends, which I desperately did, I was going to have to take a step to the right and bite my tongue. Or at least bite my tongue.

I was reminded of this conversation a few weeks ago when the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) put out a position statement —which they subsequently reversed—regarding female circumcision, or female genital cutting (FGC). After a loud public outcry, the AAP has reaffirmed their opposition to all forms of FGC, noting that it is forbidden by federal law in the United States.

But I wonder, what will the AAP say in the revised policy on male circumcision that is due out later this year? Currently, the AAP’s policy indicates that circumcision is not essential to a child’s health and furthermore, scientific benefits of the procedure are not sufficient for the AAP to recommend that all infant boys be circumcised. Yet, at least in this country (though few other Western countries), circumcision remains the norm (though that majority is getting slim). Contrast this with Canada, where fewer than one-third of infant males are circumcised. And that’s true of many European countries as well.

How did I make the decision? I thought about a few things. My son could only reasonably expect to be able to reverse my decision to not circumcise. A choice to have him circumcised would be a lifelong one. My husband and I thought this decision ought to be his. As a mom that often looked like a deer in headlights, I often go back to the mantra “first, do no harm” – and this pointed me in the direction of not having him circumcised. I dismissed the argument that my son wouldn’t “match” his peers the same way my mom dismissed me when I used this logic as a girl “If Suzy jumped off a bridge would you follow her?”. But most of all, it just never made sense to me. The routine removal of a body part wasn’t something my husband or I could justify. And so we didn’t. I'm crossing my fingers that when the AAP's new policy statement on male circumcision comes out, they agree with me.

This is an original DCMetroMoms post. Elaine writes about less controversial topics at Connor and Helen!

It's Not Summer Yet For Me

2010-06-13T05:00:00-07:00

All of my friends are talking about the beginning of summer. And I'm reading blog post after blog post about graduations. Preschool, kindergarten, middle school, high school, and college. We are talking about Father's day. July 4th merchandise is arriving in stores. Pools are open. After-school classes are ending.

But it is not summer for my family. My son's preschool runs on an 11 month calendar. So he doesn't end until JULY. His preschool graduation is not until July. So when people ask me if I have decided about kindergarten yet, and I say no, it is because I still have not had my end of the year conference. School isn't over for us yet.

In some ways, it is a really nice schedule. As a working mom, I only have to struggle with summer care for a month. And the school runs a camp, and only closes for 3 days for turnover, so it is almost a year round schedule.

I see the benefit of year round school. Less daycare struggle for working parents. And lets be honest, for a lot of parents, school is their daycare plan. And kids don't lose as much knowledge without a long summer break.

But on the other hand I am exhausted by the hustle and bustle of school. I'm ready for the lazy hazy days of summer. I want to have pictures to post of my own son's preschool graduation. (Although his school does a "stepping up" ceremony.) And if I'm exhausted by it I can't even imagine how he must feel. I'm not even sure he will notice a difference between school and camp. It is in the same building and practically the same thing. I call it preschool with a bathing suit.

So here we are, the third week of June and still in school. Although he has a professional day this week and I'm taking off of work. I am thinking of taking him to the movies in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. Why not, right? It is the summer.

Original DC Metro Moms post. Jodi blogs at Jodifur about being a wife, mother, attorney, and everything in between. You can also follow Jodi on twitter.

Tween Boys Targeting Tween Girls at Landon School

2010-06-11T21:13:35-07:00

I do not know where to begin. . . I read with horror in this morning's Washington Post about a group of incoming freshman at Landon School in Bethesda who had planned a fantasy league targeting freshman girls - the idea behind this league is that the boys identified certain girls and planned to earn points (not unlike a fantasy sports league) for various sex acts with the girls.

The boys rated the girls on height, weight, bra size and likelihood to perform sex acts. The boys had planned a "opening day" party - complete with t-shirts - and had invited the girls. Points were to be tallied during the party for sexual encounters, and there was a cash prize for the boy with the most points. As far as I can tell, the girls had no knowledge of the league or the purpose of the party.

The girls were divided into teams - one such team was titled "Southside Slampigs", and some girls on that team were described as "willing to get down and dirty" or "fun to play with sexually". The league was set-up on a website (the site has since been removed) and discovered when a mother of one of the targeted girls found the site.

This "incident" took place last summer, and the fantasy league was shut down before school began. Three incoming freshman boys were given "in-school suspensions", whatever that means.

Well, actually, I want to know what that means. This wasn't misguided cyber-bullying - this was outright sexual predatory behavior. Names were named, reputations damaged, and a culture of misogyny is being perpetuated (one of Landon's graduates, George Huguely V, has been accused of murdering his girlfriend, Yeardley Love, at the University of Virginia only weeks ago).

Parents of the targeted girls feel that not enough was done in response to this incident. One parent spoke of the betrayal felt by his daughter who had thought these boys were her friends. N.Y. Times columnist Maureen Dowd has written an excellent piece on this story.

Well, readers, what do you think? Does the punishment match the crime?

This is an original DC Metro Moms Blog post. When she has a break from her three tween daughters, Ms. Twixt blogs at www.MsTwixt.com and tweets as www.twitter.com/MsTwixt

Teaching Children About Big-Toothed-Rats (aka Beavers)

2010-06-11T09:10:00-07:00

My 82-year-old grandmother got a letter a few years back from her alma mater, Beaver College in Philadelphia. Apparently, the university wanted to change its name for many reasons, one of which was that high schools seniors searching the internet with the term “beaver” were often taken to websites that contained material both unrelated to both schools and furry woodland creatures.

My grandmother, who attended the school in the 1940’s and majored in typing, couldn’t fathom that this problem with the so-called “internet” was as bad as this letter was making it out to be. Not a consumer of Google and its awesome search power, she was confused and appalled that the college was so quick to change its name in an effort to protect children from a seemingly harmless word. “If the kids haven’t figured out the difference between beaver and ‘beaver’ by now,” she asserted, “they probably aren’t ready for college.”

I recently had the opportunity to meet with a handful of smart women as part of an SV Moms Group event, where we joined together and shared our opinions about family security on the Internet. Some of us (me included!) were a bit more naïve about the dangers for kids on the Internet, while others took a more proactive attitude. But in the end the question in some minds remained. When it comes to protecting your family on the Internet, how far is too far?

Because really, at some point, the number of euphemisms for sexual positions and body parts will exceed the number of actual words in the English language. A simple web search for “chicks” (as in the baby chicken) will bring up any number of dirty videos. Sue Sylvester, on a recent episode of my favorite TV show Glee, told her nemesis that she was going to punch her “square in the taco,” which I imagine sent a whole slew of middle school children to the computer to figure out why she would be punching her in the delicious and wholesome Mexican dinner item.

And don’t even get me started on the unfortunate naming of everyone’s favorite sporting goods store (p.s. I did learn that dicks-dot-com does not take you to their homepage).

As humans, we all have our own set of morals and values that we hold dear. And as parents, it is our duty to educate our children about those morals and values that we want them to embrace, so that they are better equipped to deal with the kinds of personal security issues that I spent a whole Sunday talking about. Because isn’t parenting about preparing our children to become independent consumers of life, whether that be on the Internet or elsewhere?

So when a quick Google search reveals the true meaning of a dirty word overheard at school, we as parents have an opportunity to educate our kids the way we would like, whether that be the avoidance route (“yes, I realize that you love your new kitten, Pussy, but perhaps we should call her Kitty instead”) or the staunch morals route (“that is a word meaning something so inappropriate that if you ever say in this house again, you may never see your 12^th birthday”).

I do condone parental controls for children too young to really understand the implications of their actions. But, with older children, if we don’t use these special, often embarrassing, opportunities to have an open dialog with our children about what is right and what is wrong AND how to deal with what is wrong, then I believe we are doing a disservice to our children and ourselves.

In the end, my grandmother’s college changed its name to Arcadia University. Hundreds of high school seniors will now be spared the embarrassment of “naughty girl” websites when trying to locate a decent liberal arts school in eastern PA. And hopefully, when my son is old enough to do a science report on beavers, we will be calling them big-toothed-rats, a totally appropriate search term.

Photo Credit: Samantha Fein

An Original DC Metro Moms Post

Travel Mommy blogs about how she is totally corrupting her son with searches on the Internet at The Travel Mommy and on Twitter (@TravelMommy).

The Joy of a Birthday

2010-06-11T09:00:00-07:00

June 12^th is my 12^th birthday. Well, not really. This year, June 12^th marks the 12^th anniversary of my bone marrow transplant at Georgetown Hospital. Thinking about this anniversary led me to thinking about birthdays in general and then about my daughter’s 6^th birthday this fall. Children’s birthday parties are hard to plan. You need to consider the season, the weather, the temperament of the children, and of course, the type of cake. I love children, but the idea inviting a handful of five & six year olds to my house to run around and do crafts (aka make a mess)? No, not so much.

Last year my daughter did not have a “party.” We took a few girls to see The Princess and the Frog and then went for ice cream. We struck a deal with my daughter that every other year, she could have a party. On the off years, the celebration would be smaller. I digress, back to this being the party year.

In the midst of all this thinking (yes, I am aware that it is a bit early to be planning a November birthday), I came across the Pepsi Refresh Project- where Pepsi gives away funding for local community based ventures based on the results of an on-line vote. This led me to “Brightening Birthdays.” Brightening Birthdays was developed by a Georgetown University business student, Marcy Humphrey to make it possible for children and teens to have birthday parties while in the hospital. I was struck by the simplicity of this project, and the far-reaching impact that a birthday celebration could have on a child that is hospital bound on their big day.

I spent a lot of time in the hospital in 1998: about two weeks at Virginia Hospital Center and then several more at Georgetown Hospital just a few months later. I am not a picky person (mostly), but food is a big deal to me. I won't lie, I like good food- really good food. Hospital food, though not horrible, is just NOT gourmet. Friends brought me Frappucino’s and frozen dinners because I refused to eat the hospital food. (I think it is funny that frozen dinners were more appealing than fresh food!). My family and friends did everything they could to make my stay more “bearable” making my stay, not so bad.

Having my own daughter, the idea of her spending prolonged time in the hospital is scary. But it happens. It happens to children of all ages. Some families are able to turn the hospital room into a home away from home. Others cannot. But when it is your child’s birthday? Sometimes the energy it takes to get party materials together is just too much for a family dealing with a sick child.

As much energy as it takes, every child deserves to celebrate their special day. It may not be a decadent party, it may be limited to just a few people, but celebrating the life and hope that each child brings to this world: that is a must. It is a must especially when hope and optimism are hard to muster. The truth is that our children are often the inspiration for hope. The light in their eyes or the joy in their smiles makes everything else brighter.

Hospital stays after all, are not vacations. Even under the best of circumstances, there is fear. There is uncertainty. And so, the thought of bringing joy to children on their special day- directly into their hospital room? Talk about perspective when trying to plan my daughter’s birthday.

This is an original DC Metro Moms post

When not voting for Brightening Birthdays or planning parties, Elena is documenting her daughter’s joyful adventures at A Day in the Life.

Stroller instructions stump lucky winning mama

2010-06-11T02:00:00-07:00

Leave it to me to win a $500 stroller and not be able to get the damn thing into my car.

It was a lovely afternoon at the DC Metro Moms Brand/Blogger event at the Pentagon City Ritz-Carlton. I got lots of wonderful freebies and coupons for fancy stuff (more details here), and I got to talk to other DC Metro Moms bloggers plus learn about working with brands, something I've been too lazy to pursue.

Then, I was lucky enough to be a raffle item winner, and I walked away with a snazzy Quinny Buzz stroller. I should really say that I glided away, because this piece of equipment is like the Fred Astaire of strollers; it gives a mama grace. As I walked out with sister blogger Elaine, she shared that folks who live in real cities like New York all have fabbo strollers like this. Me, I carried my son in a Hotsling and then an Ergo forever; he hated the stroller until he was close to a year old, so I made do with a cruddy little umbrella number and used Baby Jogger for more athletic outings.

As a local who frequently parks in Pentagon City mall if I'm headed onto the Metro, I had just parked in the regular mall lot for the blogger event.

Elaine had accidentally first gone to the downtown DC Ritz but then was smart enough to park not at the mall but at the hotel, where bloggers had free parking for the day. So we parted ways, and I tooled out with my swag-loaded stroller into the now-closed mall to pay my $2 fee in the machine before entering the garage, which was now mostly deserted. But when I got to my car, I realized I had to do some engineering research and actually collapse my fancy new companion.

Despite the directions that looked fairly straightforward, I just couldn't do it. No one was around to ask, and I couldn't have fit the thing into my Honda Civic even if I'd successfully hoisted it, which was a challenge being seven months pregnant. I called my husband, almost ready to ask him to come rescue me despite the fact that our son was winding down toward bedtime -- and despite the fact that the idea that I couldn't figure this out was, well, ridiculous.

I finally spotted someone who looked to be some kind of mall employee, perhaps a security guard. After putting my event nametag back on so I didn't look like I'd just lifted a high-end stroller, I hightailed it over to him and explained my predicament. He handed me his sunglasses, didn't even give a glance to the directions I had out, and promptly collapsed the stroller, wrapping up by showing me how I could pull along the stroller like a carry-on even now that it was closed. Very cool. As I walked away, I shouted back to be sure I had his name right and that he was a Macy's employee so I could send a thankful email.

Of course, when I got back to my car, I saw that I was still holding the man's sunglasses, so I had to hoof it back to the Macy's loading dock or whatever it was and hope that the guys there would pass the glasses along to the right person.

I wish I'd taken a photo of my lone stroller waiting to be ushered into the car, but I kept worrying I'd exceed my 15-minute grace period and have to fork over another $2 to the parking gods, if I ever got out, which was looking doubtful for a while there. That would have taken my winnings down to a measly $496.

I was a little worried about promoting prenatal sibling jealousy when I got home and my four-year-old son wanted a spin in our new wheels. His legs dangled well below the footrest for the 18 seconds we let him ride in the thing. But today he offered a solution -- that I will push him in the jogging stroller and his dad will push the baby in the "Quincy." Let's hope this transition to a family of four rolls as smoothly as the stroller, and as my son's predictions.

Original to DC Metro Moms Blog

Jessica Claire/Claire Jess is almost as excited about her new blog as she is about her new stroller. All the content from her previous blogs -- on alternative health, nutrition, activism, and mama creativity -- is now part of Crunchy-Chewy Mama, where the tagline is "Living naturally, most of the time."

It's Hard to Be a Journalist Without Talking to Anyone

2010-06-10T09:00:00-07:00

When I applied to journalism school, I was drawn to the idea of immersing myself in dawn to dusk work to to cover important events and take part in history. I badly wanted to be part of the media mix. I may be the only person who was admitted to journalism graduate school by citing Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 as an inspiration.

However, it only took a few courses and a few stressful interviews for me to realize that my extreme social anxiety and inability to effectively schmooze might keep me from my goal of being a world-class journalist. Seizing on my task- and detail-oriented abilities, I veered into the world of copy editing instead. If I couldn't report on history, I could at least make sure it was spelled correctly.

After I got my master's degree in print journalism, I had a lot of jobs. Some of them had to do with print journalism, many of them had to do with dogs (a stint as a vet receptionist and a worker at a doggy day care among them). I have since returned to writing through blogging, but have shied away from interviews, as they are one of my biggest anxiety triggers.

Since I started writing about autism in my online column, Autism Unexpected in the Washington Times Communities, I've had several recent opportunities to interview people for profile pieces. There are people I want to talk to and write about, but it is difficult to do so without communicating with them. And unfortunately, most of these people want to participate in telephone interviews rather than email interviews.

The first telephone interview I conducted recently was with a neurodiversity rights activist named Jonathan Mooney. As his primary disability is dyslexia, I wasn't hopeful that he would take me up on my half-hearted suggestion of an email interview. Sure enough, I was given a phone number and escalating panic as our agreed upon call time got closer.

One of the problems with this particular interview is that Mooney intimidates the hell out of me. More than anything, I didn't want to sound like an idiot when I interviewed him. It didn't help that I was out of practice either—or that the interview was over the phone, because along with my many other neuroses, a phobia of the phone ranks high. I'm much better in person. Usually.

As the hours, minutes, and seconds before our interview slipped away, my nerves got exponentially edgier. I started to wonder if I could plead sick due to my increasing heart palpitations.

Fortunately for me, my drive to be reliable is stronger than my near-paralyzing panic. At the appointed time on the dot, I made my phone call and croaked out my introduction. Listening to my recording later, I realized that I sounded about six years old when I started.

Thankfully, I was prepared, having done my homework and written out questions ahead of time as well as having set up a call recording system so I didn't have to worry so much about taking notes. As the interview progressed, I think I started to sound less like a nervous nelly, although I really do have to work on blathering less in my questions.

In the end, the finished piece was well worth the stress that went into the process. Plus, I conducted another phone interview the following week with a substantially smaller pre-call freak out. Just this week, I was able to chat on the phone with a source while simultaneously ignoring my melting down child, who was mad because he had been sent to his room. I'm getting better.

I'm still not ready to schmooze on a regular basis, and I'll never be someone for whom interviews, particularly phone interviews, are easy, but it's kind of fun to be back doing the things at which I once hoped to kick ass.

This is an original DC Metro Moms Blog. Jean blogs at Stimeyland because she can talk and talk and talk, without actually having to TALK to anyone. She also runs an autism events website for Montgomery County, Maryland, at AutMont. You can find her babbling to the universe on Twitter as @Stimey.

Why can't the summer come sooner?

2010-06-10T02:06:00-07:00

I have four kids, three of whom are in school. What I really mean to say is that three of them are in school still. It seems that our summer doesn't start until halfway INTO the summer - at least it feels that way some days. It now is staying light until well past 8pm, our typical bedtime, so the kids are still wide awake well past then. The sun rises at the crack of dawn as well, so naps (for me and the little one) are definitely on tap as my kids get up way to early for my taste. But crazy hectic school, sports, and extra-curricular schedules generally prevent any late afternoon naps from happening. And all of those cool summer activities that I remember from childhood? Well, they've already started and we still have two full weeks of school left.

This means that we don't get to participate in some of those cool activities, like swim team. Granted, the little boys aren't quite ready, but my oldest might have been had there been a day (or four) for him to practice with the team. But ongoing school and extracurricular activities still occupy those precious after school slots, so there's no room for swim team. There are other things that I'd like to be doing as well with my days, but it seems that we are not quite done with our required 990 hours/180 days of school yet. (Yes, the really do count that way depending on the year and weather, and this year was particularly bad).

I guess the worst part about this time of year is that it feels like it should be summer break. This means that my kids are acting like it's summer break - giving up on any semblance of good behavior left in their little bodies. They did well behaving all year - followed directions, did what they were supposed to do, but their little wills to behave have finally broken. They are turning in those ugly, nasty little summer cretins - like caged animals trapped in school kid bodies. This is easily fixed with some running around, boredom, pool time, bicycles, you name it. But we can't do any of those things because we're still in school. And you know that the teachers know this too.

I'm sure it's one thing to wrap school up in May, like loads of other places do, and then deal with those end of school wigglies. But not here in Fairfax County, and we have the good Kings Dominion law to thank for that. We can't start school here until AFTER Labor Day. This means that this year, and next year, (and many other years for that matter) we start the second week of September, and run through the end of June. This law has been around since 1986 and thanks to the lovely folks at King's Dominion, some state legislators, and a bunch of people who don't have MY best interests at heart, we go to school until all 180 of those days pass. And that's late June once again this year.

So here I sit on a beautiful, albeit slightly rainy afternoon, wondering when the summer will come, or when we will all be on a year round school schedule with much more reasonable breaks.

This is an original DC Metro Moms post. When Suzie isn't mourning the loss of her favorite season, she's blogging over at Confessions of a Not So Well Behaved Woman.