Sydney Cole, Super Mama

Summer Jam

super-mama — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:09:00 -0700

What a lovely way to spend a Saturday. First, we went berry picking with friends. Clara ate her weight in strawberries while the rest of us filled our buckets.

Then we canned strawberry jam. What in the world is better than homemade strawberry jam that you helped make yourself?

If you haven't ever tried canning, I recommend starting with jam. It's the easiest canning project, with the least steps to mess up. And you hardly need any tools - in fact, you could gather up everything just from things you have in your kitchen except for the jars themselves, and the pectin (which costs about $1). All you need is a lazy afternoon! And if you are married, you'll also need a spouse who will forgive you for the disaster you make out of your kitchen.

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Cross-posted from singlesupermama.com

Cluck Cluck

super-mama — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:14:00 -0700

About two months ago, Joy and I were chatting about chickens on a Saturday morning. And somehow, by that very afternoon, we had 4 baby chicks living in our kitchen. I'm not really known for my skills in thinking things through. I'm more of a fun-loving... fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of a girl. Which is really fun at parties! But a little trickier when it comes to say, getting married, having babies, or raising chickens. But whatever, it always ends well.

The chicks are almost 2 months old now. The good news is that they are no longer living in my kitchen. Because even though they're super cute when they're little puff-ball chicks, they stink to high heaven. And good lord they're high maintenance. Poop. Food. Water. In the coop. Out of the coop.

On the weekends and in the evenings, we let them roam around the yard. But before bed time, Joy and I have to herd them back into the coop. And I'd swear the neighbors are eating popcorn and watching out their windows in leiu of prime time TV. Joy chases the chicks toward the coop, while I try to catch them and put them into the coop. But the coop door is too big to close while you're catching the other chicks - so even if I get one into the coop, it might fly back out as I'm catching the others. And repeat the whole process from the beginning.

Someday, though, they're going to start laying a lot of eggs. And when that starts happening, well... I'm going to start cooking a lot more egg recipes. Any suggestions?

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Cross-posted from singlesupermama.com

Solar Twilight

super-mama — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:57:00 -0700

It's Sunday evening already and the weekend zoomed by. For some reason, I feel like a mass of anxiety - thinking about all the laundry that didn't get put away and the floors that didn't get swept - instead of all the clothes that were washed and dried, the grass that was mowed, the plants that were watered, the dishes that were washed and put away, the food that was cooked, the homework that was done, the kids that were loved.

A couple of weeks ago, I hung two Japanese-style paper lights in my yard. They're solar powered, so they soak up sun all day and then shine all night long. Although they've been hanging now for almost two weeks, I keep forgetting to peek at them after dark. Even last night, I was actually outside staining my deck until it was too dark to paint, and I still forgot to look at them.

Tonight, I am planning to do a little bit more work, and then follow treemama's lead. I'm going to actually enjoy the yard I've been working so hard on. I'm going to pour myself a glass of wine, haul out a book (a fun one - not a javascript or financial book), put my feet up on my 60% stained deck and read for awhile.

Happy twilight to you, I hope you're enjoying yours, too!

Little Sisters

super-mama — Fri, 22 May 2009 07:45:00 -0700

Tonight, Joy (who is 8 years old) was having a pre-preteen snit fit. About something. I can’t even remember what anymore. And she kept saying over and over again, “It’s not funny. It’s not. FUNNY!”

Clara, who just turned two on Sunday, copies everything Joy does. So she kept saying, “Funny! Funny!” And laughing like a maniac. Which, of course, completely infuriated Joy to no end.

Someday I am going to have two teenaged girls. And I am going to have to start drinking something stronger than coffee.

Mother's Day Card

super-mama — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:02:00 -0700

I’m pretty darned sure this is the best card I’ve ever received in my life (Joy made it for me at school). Also, I think she might have inherited my sweet tooth, but I’m not sure.

Dear Mom
You are as sweet as a cookie!
You are as marvelous as chocolate!
You are as sparkling as a sparkle!
You are as luckie as love
You are as wonderful as a lemon drop
Happy Mothers Day
Love, Joy

Mother's Day

super-mama — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:05:00 -0700

"Motherhood is not for the fainthearted. Frogs, skinned knees, and the insults of teenage girls are not meant for the wimpy."

-Danielle Steel, from The Gift of Motherhood

Happy Mother's Day!

kidz bop

super-mama — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:43:00 -0700

It is the end of the world as we know it.

For Joy's entire 8 years of life, she has known what real music is. As soon as she could speak in complete sentences, she could sing every verse of Mercedes Benz by Janice Joplin, including Janice's signature drunken laugh at the end. She knows the story of the Beatles, and is familiar with most of their White Album. She has a dance routine to Joy to the World by Three Dog Night. This business is important to me.

And that is why this week is a sad week in our household. This week, Joy got a brand new music CD of her very own from a McDonald's happy meal. And she wants to listen to this CD all the time. The CD is called "Kidz Bop 5." It has a handful of pop songs on it, sung by kids. They're songs that are so new, and so terrible, that I don't even recognize them to begin with. And to make matters worse, they are sung off-key, by a gaggle of KIDS. I can't even begin to tell you how hideous they are. They make me want to poke my eyes out with a stick.

I almost can't wait until she starts listening to rap. Or heavy metal. Or whatever terrible thing comes next. As long as it's not sung by a roomful of kids who can't sing. Please, someone, save me.

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You can read more about Syd's adventures as a single mom at singlesupermama.com

Rockin The Chucks

super-mama — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:29:00 -0700

Modern Single Momma wrote a cute post today that got me to thinking. It was a poetry poll... are you a Comfy Chuck or a Black Patent Stiletto - or comfortable in both? I wish I was the kind of girl who was comfortable in both... but alas. I am a Comfy Chuck through and through. I can't walk in heels to save my life, I look like an idiot.

My advice to you is... be who you are. Be good at it. Be proud of it.

As for me? I will rock the chucks.

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Cross-posted from singlesupermama.com

The Hitchhiker

super-mama — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:36:00 -0700

Normally, I limit our fast food intake to no more than one night per week. But on Tuesday night, I had to go grocery shopping after work. Which leaves us all starving and crabby.

Clara and I were heading home from the Wendy's drive thru, when a young girl flagged me down. I thought I might have earphones dragging 5 feet behind my car, or a flat tire (I've been flagged down twice this year for this reason)... so now I stop for all crazy people who are waving at me from the side of the road.

"Oh!" She said warily once I pulled over and she got a look into my car, "I was going to see if you could drive me a short way... but... I see that your car is full." (By which she actually meant there is so much crap there is no actual space for human beings to sit down). She eyed the front seat area, which was stacked with lunch boxes, grocery bags, my purse and a couple of open fast food bags. "There's room in the back," I told her - and I grabbed Joy's empty booster seat from the back seat and tossed it on top of the pile of crap in the front.

She made small talk as I started to drive. "What's your name?" she asked me. "Hi, cutie," she oogled at Clara, "you smell like fast food." Clara responded by saying "heeeiiih" and half of her chewed chicken nugget fell onto her lap.

My new friend was a student at the local university. I told her I graduated from there too!, and that I used to live in the apartments near where I was dropping her off. I have a feeling that I know what she was thinking as she insisted that really! she could just get out right here! on the corner! you don't even have to come to a complete stop! ... In just a few years, she too could be picking up a hitchhiker on her way home from work and picking up the kids from daycare and grocery shopping and grabbing fast food on the run. I'm pretty sure I make it look good.

Science Center

super-mama — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:51:00 -0700

I spend my weekends preparing for the coming week. I plan the meals and then drag the girls to the grocery store (I bribe them with the free cookie). While they're napping, I clean the house. I stick them in front of movies while I catch up on dishes and fold and put away all the laundry. And if I really get caught up - I might even get some food together for the coming week while they play outside, out of my hair... but none of this involves us doing fun things together.

So today, I decided to just let it all go and drove us down to the Seattle Science Center. Joy's had a fascination with insects for a couple of years now (she currently has a couple of beetles in a jar on our porch which were "connected by their butts" when she caught them, good lord) - and the science center not only has a whole insect exhibit, but they even have a tropical butterfly house.

This morning, we started our day at 5am, like always. It took us awhile to all get dressed (Joy wanted to dress up for the occasion - which means a glitter everywhere and lip gloss on her lips and cheeks), and to gather diapers and snacks and Joy's paper, pencils and insect notes, everyone's dolls, etc. We finally got on the road around 10am.

What would normally be an hour-and-a-half trip took us almost 4 hours but we FINALLY made it to the Science Center. And we were happy to be there! Joy dutifully took notes during our time there, which you can see below. We played in the water area (which Clara calls "wati" - we heard this repeatedly because it was Clara's favorite part). We played on the big chess board. It was really big. Joy made some scientific sketches of the butterflies up close, in the butterfly house. And we went to the bathroom 3 times.

It was a long trip. And I'm going to be catching up on laundry and cleaning until late at night, all week long. But it was totally worth it.

What I Do For Fun

super-mama — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:38:00 -0700

I had the privilege of chatting recently with a smart, amazing and successful businesswoman, who finds herself on the precipice of having children with her husband. During our conversation, she asked me a few questions about what it's like to be a working mom. She asked me a question that you would think would be simple to answer.

"What do you do for fun?"

I looked at her blankly, for what seemed like a very long time. I couldn't come up with anything. And I've been thinking about it ever since. I thought, maybe it's different for me because I'm a single mom - she'll have the support of her husband, so she'll be able to go out with her girlfriends to the movies, or take her whole family on vacations, or, or, or... but after a day or two, it all clicked for me. I'm thinking of it all backwards. I do have fun. I have fun every day.

I have fun with my kids.

I watch them learn about the world. Clara is learning how to make the sounds of the English language, which is amazing to me! She's learning the order of our numbers. And how we interact socially. And how we love one another in our family. Joy is learning how to read and teach herself new things. She's learning about multiplication and money. And I get to watch this all unfold!

Plus, we do fun things together all the time. We eat take-out on Friday nights and have picnics on the living room floor. We go to the park and run around after each other. Joy and I laugh about how funny it is when Clara says "UP" to get down from the chair.

I don't know how these things escaped me when I was asked what I do to have fun. All I know is that I have more fun gardening in the back yard while Joy and Clara play in the dirt and feed the birds than I did when I had the freedom to go to a beach resort all alone, footloose and fancyfree for the weekend. And I suppose that says it all about being a parent for me.

Super Bowl

super-mama — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 10:06:00 -0700

Every Super Bowl needs a cheerleader, am I right? From what I hear, it's not one of the right teams, but... well. You've got to start somewhere.

Surviving the Morning

super-mama — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:10:00 -0700

This is Clara after she dumped over the whole box of crackers. After she woke up at 4:30 (when I'd been up sick until 1am). And after she refused to get dressed. But before she colored on the kitchen wall with ballpoint pen.

This is Clara after she fell asleep in the car on the way to daycare. After I pulled over in the Rite Aid parking lot. And before I fell asleep in said parking lot for an hour, and made us late to daycare and work.

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You can read more about Syd’s adventures as a single mom at singlesupermama.com

The Dads

super-mama — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:36:00 -0700

We’ve had an epic snow season here in Bellingham, and we’re still in the midst of it. The temperature hasn’t been this cold since the early 1990’s… and don’t I know it. My car hasn’t left the driveway for over a week.

The very first day it snowed, a week and a half ago, I got two phone calls first thing in the morning. Both of the girls’ dads called to see if we needed rides, groceries, or other help. And for the last week and a half, they’ve been driving us around, taking us the grocery store, helping me thaw my frozen pipes (!), charging my car battery and even coming to pick up the girls to take them sledding.

It’s just another reminder that I may not be great at relationships. But I really did great in the dad department. I know Thanksgiving has come and gone, but this holiday season, I am thankful for the dads.

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You can read more about Syd’s adventures as a single mom at singlesupermama.com

Undressing herself

super-mama — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:17:00 -0700

Darnit, now Clara is un-dressing herself. So here's how our morning went this morning.

Dress Clara.
Make Breakfast. Clara undresses herself.
... Dress Clara. Again.
Make Lunches. Clara undresses herself.
... Dress Clara. Again.
Help Joy get teeth and hair brushed. Clara undresses herself.
... Dress Clara. Again.
Take my shower. Clara undresses herself.
... Dress Clara. Again. I think you get the idea.

At least she's cute. Little stinker.