The Mom Crowd

What does your hair look like?

Have you changed it much after having kids?

Do you ever feel like cutting it all off to make life a little bit easier?

You may recall the decision that Shelby made in Steel Magnolias – to cut off that beautiful mane because of her “need to make things as simple as possible.”  You may have, like me, envied young Julia Roberts’ perfect hair all throughout the film only to gasp at the mom cut she is saddled with near the end.

She goes from this:

to this:

If you recall, she’s brought to tears by the shock.  (As was I.)  You’ll notice that she hardly ever dons hair this short in any film after that.  Look how long and flowy and pretty it is in Erin Brockovich.  Notting Hill.  Mona Lisa Smile.  My Best Friend’s Wedding.  The Pelican Brief.  Runaway Bride (my favorite look). 

So, every time I’m set to have my hair cut, my hubby always says, “Don’t come home with a mom cut.”  And he’s only half-joking.  He’s picturing this.  I always laugh and say, “I won’t!”  I’ve generally had long hair my entire life.  And as a full-figured momma, this suits me best.  But it had never been as long as this before!

Yep, that’s me.  3 weeks ago.

It was kinda taking over the world.  I wash it, pull it back wet, and ignore it.  Which kinda told me that no matter how I cut my hair, it wouldn’t really matter, ’cause I’d never style it anyway!  And how impractical!  My one year old is always pulling it, just two or three strands at a time on accident, which is way more painful than pulling all of it, ya know?  Plus, the heavier it got, the less clean it looked. 

Before:

After:

I ended up taking 3 inches off, which is hardly noticeable to anyone.  It looks cleaner.  It’s less heavy.  Overall, it is a conservative, practical cut.  But I have a confession: I miss those inches.

I want my length back.

Because when I did fix it up, I felt as glamorous as Julia.  

Now it’s your turn.  Tell me your mom hair stories.  If you can’t lose the long hair either, tell me.  If you have an amazing short ’do that gives new meaning to the phrase ”mom cut”, show us!  Link us to pictures.  I love this one, but I’d never do it.  What about you?

As I get ready for my daughter’s first day back to preschool tomorrow, I’ve been reflecting on our summer. Living in South Texas means we have not spent the entire summer outdoors soaking up the sun. It means we’ve been inside… A LOT! It’s way too hot here to spend much time outdoors.  Neither one of my children are big on sprinklers or the baby pool, so I’ve had to think outside the box a little to fit in their much needed physical activity.

Here’s some ideas for those of you who are looking for indoor alternatives to the backyard jungle gym when it’s too hot, too cold, or too rainy to go outside and play:

Create an indoor obstacle course

• Put masking tape on the floor to create a balance beam, set up cones for your child to kick a ball around, have them circle the table once, and climb through a tunnel. Throw the couch cushions on the floor and tell your child that the floor is a lava pit, so they have to jump from couch cushion to couch cushion to stay out of the hot lava!

Let your child ride their bike inside!

• Well, maybe not your 7 year old’s two wheeler bike, but bring the tricycles, cozy coupes, and other ride on toys (with gentle tires) out. We do not have carpet downstairs and I haven’t seen one scratch on our floors from the ride-on toys.

Indoor Trampoline

• Like this one! We haven’t added this to our family of toys. I lost the “rock, paper, scissors” match with my husband over this. I think my kids would totally love it and it would be awesome for Darah’s gross motor delay. I’m a tad bitter about it and don’t want to talk about it any more. Maybe I can secretly tell Grandma to buy them one for Christmas…

Push Toy Racing

• You know the grocery cart, baby stroller, radio flyer push wagon, and other random push toys you have all around. Create a start and finish line and let the races begin!

Indoor play gym

• Nobody said those backyard play gyms had to go in the backyard. I know plenty of moms who have them inside their playrooms, and they probably get more use out of them than if they were in the backyard!

Little Tikes Slide

• We don’t have enough room for the big playgym, but we do have enough room for a toddler sized slide. My kids LOVE this slide and it stores easily in closets when you want to put it up.

Classic Indoor Games

• You can be conventional in your attempt at facilitating physical activity for your child while staying inside. Games like ring-around-the-rosey, indoor soccer and tag are easy and great exercise for both you and your child! These conventional activities will also be great bonding time for you and your child.

Field Trips to Indoor Play Gyms

• The new thing in our city is indoor play gyms. Right now, they are really hot spots for play dates. Basically, they are giant areas filled with toys, moon bounces, rock walls, etc… for children. I have one near me that is only for children under the age of 5 and the toys are all geared toward smaller children. Check your area for one. They can be pricey, but I have always felt satisfied with my purchase during afternoon nap time. My kids nap extra hard on days we visit these play gyms! Another alternative is heading to your neighborhood Chick-Fil-A!

How have you incorporated physical activity in your child’s day while staying indoors?

I know, I know I am writing another post on morning sickness. It is seriously consuming my life right now and that is what I am thinking about almost 90% of the day. Here are a few things I have learned since I have been sick.

Only time really helps morning sickness pass. It wasn’t until I was 20 weeks pregnant with my first that I continually felt good and I was not going to throw up or be sick to my stomach. So now I a counting down the days until I feel better. It will be the last week in October when I am 20 weeks with my second. I can’t wait.

Playdates and friends help pass the time. I usually feel okay in the afternoon. I have been scheduling my afternoons with friends so they can help me watch Ace. I think she enjoys leaving the house and I enjoy the company. Although, I am not much company to my friends as I lay like a lump on their couch.

I have learned to appreciate the work I did around the house. Since I have been out of commission Daniel has had to take up almost every chore around the house. I really did not realize that I did so much. I can be hard on myself and I never thought I did enough. Just making sure Ace had clothes to wear and taking care of her meals.  Also, taking care of the laundry and going grocery shopping. I picked up the house when I could. Some of the house hasn’t been cleaned in a while, but it is okay.

Putting first things first. It is one of the old Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, but it is true. Since I have limited energy and time and I have had to let some things go. That isn’t easy for me to do. I am usually a suck-it-up-and-do-it-anyway kind of person, but not now. Blogs have gone unread, toys aren’t picked up, and phones aren’t answered. Really all I can do is make sure I am feeling alright and help take care of Ace.

Chloraseptic Sore Throat Spray is awesome after throwing up. I hate it when you get done throwing up and it still feels like you got a chunk in your throat, but really it is your uvula feeling beat up. I have drank something cold to calm my throat, but then I just throw that up too. Then in my one moment of genius I remembered my Chloraseptic Sore Throat Spray. I used it and it numbed my throat for a few minutes and it helped to take some of the throw up taste out of my mouth. I keep it handy now.

So that is what I have learned so far. I also really appreciate my husband a lot. I hate that I can’t help him more. I know he is tired, but this is just the way it has to be for now. Okay, I am going to go back to my couch now and get some rest while Ace is napping. I hope all you have a good week! Today is the first day of school in our school district. Hopefully some of you will be getting reprieves as some of your kids go back to school soon!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been playing the album “No!” by They Might Be Giants during mealtimes.  Most lunches, in particular, I’m home alone with the kids, and musical stimulation is necessary for me to not go crazy with boredom.  (The kids are cute & all, but not exactly great conversationalists.)  I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. 

This album came out in 2002 – well before my kid-making days – which explains why I’m late in discovering it.  But what a fun discovery!  There are 17 tracks, but I’ve chosen a few favorites and why we like them.  Scroll down a little further to hear the songs instantly as you read about them!  They are all very short.

“In the Middle” – A cute little ditty that doubles as a public service announcement to tykes who want to cross the street. 

Don’t cross the street in the middle of the block
Use your eyes to look up
Use your ears to hear
Walk up to the corner when the coast is clear, and wait, and wait
Until you see the light turn green

I find myself doing a choreographed jig to this one when I’m making the grilled cheese.  (Yes, I think I can dance.) 

“I Am Not Your Broom” – The most TMBG-like.  In other words, totally random and silly, and not so musical.  Sure to get everyone’s attention.  Last week, it actually came on while I was sweeping.  Lucy stood there processing it all.  It was so funny.

“Bed, Bed Bed” – Its percussion beat had all three of us pounding on the table and dancing in our chairs.  Pull out the pots & pans and watch the family drumline fall into place!

“John Lee Supertaster” – Starts off with a funny spoken intro, and launches into a cool tune that sounds right out of the Ocean’s 11 soundtrack.  It’s perfect for a puppet act, which I’m trying to get my husband (a puppeteer) to put together.  Motown-style background singers and a superhero for a character?  What’s not to love?

“I Am a Grocery Bag” – Like it’s straight off a Beck album.  Ask the kids to list how many items they can recognize in the song.

In the special “Grooves for Mom” category:

“Sleepwalkers” & “Lazyhead &  Sleepybones”

“Where Do They Make Balloons?” (Eli, my 1-year old, busts a move to this one; evidently he likes the mellow stuff.)

And my personal favorite:

“Clap Your Hands” – it’s SO incredibly funky and fun, I dare you not to dance!!  This one has Lucy begging, “Again??!!” over & over.  I feel like I’m in 1960s motown when I hear it.  Air organ playing!!

Listen for yourself!

SeeqPod – Playable Search

Other albums my kids enjoy:

Lisa Loeb & Elizabeth Mitchell – “Catch the Moon”

Rockabye Baby - “Lullaby Renditions of U2″

Do you have these albums?  What other pop favorites of yours have made kids’ albums worth hearing? 

Music is a big deal at our house. We enjoy dancing together as a family and just letting it loose. At times however, it has been a little tricky to find music that we can all agree on. When my second child, Isaac, was 15 months old, I discovered Johnny Cash and listened to him non-stop for months. It rubbed off on Isaac because by the time he was 17 months old he would ask for “Cash” every time we got in the car. Or “Bob”, for Veggie Tales music. And if you didn’t play either “Bob” or “Cash” he would throw a fit. We probably erred on giving in too many times to his fits–mainly because we thought it was cute that he was so particular about his musical choices. Eventually he opened up to John Mayer, “Jesus” music, and when he was 2 he got on an Elvis kick. He still requests Elvis frequently, but now that he is almost 4 he is much more willing to try new music. Thank goodness! We often joke that he will grow up and be a music critic.

Earlier this summer, I was preparing for some long car trips and since we have made it somewhat of a tradition to listen to some new fun music, we asked friends for some suggestions. We got lots of great ones. My sister-in-law sent us some Sandra Boynton books that have cds to play along with them. Isaac also loves books so getting music that has books to go along with it is right up his alley.

The Sandra Boynton books, Philadelphia Chickens and Dog Train, are a collection of several different genres of music–swing, rock, folk, lullaby, jazz, chorus, country etc. The songs are performed by a slew of celebrities and musicians–Spin Doctors, Kevin Bacon and his brother, Blues Traveler, Meryl Streep, Laura Linney, Kevin Kline, Kate Winslet and so on. Sandra Boynton somehow captures the heart of children as well as their behavior and puts it to music in such a way that kids and adults like it.

My favorite song from Dog Train is Tantrum by the Spin Doctors. The beginning of the song:

No No No, I don’t want to, I don’t want to

No No No I don’t want to, No No (repeat)

Leave me alone, leave me alone

LEAVE ME ALONE (long pause)

Don’t leave me alone, don’t leave me alone, DON’T leave me alone

Anyone who has kids knows this scenario all too well!

The great thing about these books/cds is that the music is good, quality music that is fun to sing along to AND the stories in the songs will make your heart smile. My kids love the song about a guy who has 15 animals all named Bob–except for his turtle named Simon James Alexander Ragsdale III. And they crack up when they listen to (Don’t Give Me That) Broccoli. They think it is funny that whole song is about a kid who doesn’t want to eat his broccoli and then actually tries it at the end of the song and likes it!

There are two other books (Blue Moo and Rhinoceros Tap) that come with cds we haven’t listened to yet, but I bet they are as good as Philadelphia Chickens and Dog Train. If your kids like books, music and funny stories I think they will get a kick out of these creative songs. And you will enjoy them too.