working mom 24/7

  Ah Valentines Day. The fun holiday during my childhood when it meant homemade Valentines and cookie decorating. The dreaded holiday during college because I never seemed to be attached on February 14th and was either down in the dumps over a break-up or annoyed that all of my friends were with their significant others on that day. I do recall one fun "Anti-Valentines Day Party" where no couples were allowed.   After graduation I ignored the holiday which was easy since I spent my first year as a college graduate in Israel. When I returned as an "official" adult the blackness of that holiday had dissipated and I went on with my life, that is, until I met Richard.   Our first Valentines Day together was in 1998. He came up from LA to visit me for a romantic weekend. I surprised him with a night at a fancy hotel. He gave me a beautiful box shaped like a butterfly. We said "I love you" for the first time. I remember having a meal out and an annoying balloo...

   A little over a year ago I reconnected with an old friend.  I hadn't spoken to him in almost 10 years. We had a misunderstanding before both of us got married and neither of us made a sincere effort to clear it up. Facebook gave us the courage to try to find each other and his first message to me was about his mother's death that had happened three weeks prior. His mom, Linda, was a wonderful woman who had been kind to me throughout our friendship. I recall being at his house for a BBQ and her making sure I had enough to eat since I was a vegetarian. My friend's parents' home was always open to me and to all of his friends. I'd always admired not only how close my friend was to his mother, but how kindly he spoke to her and  never rolled his eyes when she tried to butt in to his life.    After reading his message I burst in to tears. How could I not have known? How could I not have been there for my friend while his mother was dying and his wife was giv...

   It had been a long day at our family's unsuccessful garage sale. I got up while it was still dark at 6:30am to get everything ready, and no one came until 8:30! I got rid of a few small items throughout the day, but basically it was a lot of work for very little money.    By early evening the kids were in front of the TV and I was walking in and out of the house putting things away as well as dragging them to the curb with a big "free" sign posted. Charlie had missed me. Richard had taken him out in the morning while Tali stayed with me, enjoying chatting with the strangers in our driveway and visiting the other sales on our block.   Charlie followed me outside for one of my last runs. He suddenly looked up and said, "Mommy, look at the sky." I looked up and saw beautiful pink and blue shades as the sun was getting ready to set. "Why does it look like that Mommy?' He asked.    "Because the sun is getting ready to go down Sweetie." The su...

   My Grandmother died in the spring of 2003 and I still miss her . I've had dreams about her and I've always felt that she visits in those dreams. I'm a big fan of shows like Medium and Ghost Whisperer and fantasize about having the ability to see people who have passed away.    The last thing my grandmother ever did was hold Tali when she was almost 6 months old. My grandfather, the love of her life for over 60 years had left us 3 years earlier and she missed him terribly and desperately wanted to be with him. The only things holding her back were meeting my nephew Elijah, who was born three months before Tali , and then meeting Tali.    It was a Wednesday afternoon and NaNa and her caregiver Sia were with Tali while I taught Religious School. Often when I came to pick her up I would linger for a few hours, spending time with NaNa and Sia, and basking in the glow of my daughter's great-grandmother holding her. NaNa called her "Dolly" because she really ...

    When Tali was eight months old we took her back east to see the relatives she hadn't met yet as well as three of her first cousins whom she'd only met once since she was born. Let's be honest: we wanted to show off the best creation we had ever made together.     In Virginia we stayed with my brother, and Tali had a blast being entertained by five of her first cousins, the three who lived there and the two others who were visiting. In Pennsylvania Tali was oohhed and ahhed over by extended members of Richard's family. Things moved at a slow pace, which was perfect for us and our baby.    The next stop was New York City where we paid a fortune to park our rental car and haul our daughter and all her necessary equipment up to my cousins' apartment on the upper west side. Once we were there however, we were treated like royalty by them and their full time housekeeper.     It was when we ventured out in to the city that the trouble be...

Recently I was filling up the tub for my son Charlie with my backside to him. He gently put a hand on the pocket of my jeans and said very sweetly, "Mommy, I like your beautiful butt." It's a good thing I was in the bathroom because I laughed so hard that I almost wet my pants, and then I hugged him. "Thank you Charlie,"  I replied. When I posted this on my Facebook status one friend wrote back that her daughter saw her in the shower and said, "Mommy, your butt is so big." She preferred Charlie's comment. Where did this comment come from? Richard and I certainly don't comment on each other's body parts (at least not when the kids can hear). Keeping in mind about how honest and uninhibited children are I decided that I guess he must really think I have a beautiful butt. After all, he wasn't trying to flatter me to get something, he knew he was about to get in the bath. Over the next few days I observed how Richard and I speak to the ...

What's bedtime like in your house? It varies for us from "hellish" to "not so bad." We are the only people we know who actually curse when our kids fall asleep spontaneously during the day because napping means we'll have to hog tie them to get them to sleep at night so that we can go to sleep! I've found something that closely resembles a solution to this problem. After dinner we go on a walk  to the park, Tali's school playground or the coveted Walgreens where we play with toys I refuse to buy and frequently purchase a bag of m&ms for  potty treats. Yes, at age four my son still refuses to make anything in the toilet that even remotely resembles the chocolate center of the candy he loves so much.  Just like dogs, children need to be taken for walks and runs to get their energy out. If we're at the park I sometimes ask them to hop on one foot all the way across the field. Their favorite thing lately is skipping so we incorporate that in...