Baby It’s Cold Outside

Welcome back!

This morning we received a literal truckload of snow. I love it! Made my husband a cup of coffee, put on my Christmas music and gazed out our bay window while the mister shoveled the driveway.

My kids are loving it too and are praying for a snow day tomorrow. For those with kids too young for school or who haven’t had the pleasure of a school snow day – this means no school and you better find something for your kids to do.

I had to shake my head. I’m sure we use to get much more snow back when I was a kid and there were no “snow days.” I know I’m sounding like everyone’s grandparent talking about how rough things were in the good ‘ol days, but what’s with this mass hysteria the minute we get some snow?

Yes it makes driving a little treacherous, so you take your time. Basically if you live in the northern part of our continent, that’s just life at this time of year (unless we’re having one of our heat waves that are due to global warming).

This morning I tried to watch my regular Sunday morning network news show and it was preempted so that we could stare at the Boston local station’s no-name news crew repeat no less than 450 times that it was snowing outside. Totally annoying!

Well one good thing about days like this is it puts us in the mood to do all kinds of “seasonal” things that we often only talk about, like:

• Arranging to meet with friends we haven’t seen in a while
• Baking cookies for those friends and families that will be coming over
• Sitting inside, TOGETHER, with family over hot drinks and good CONVERSATION, and
• Thinking over the past year and making plans for business and personal goals for the new year

The Gift of the Present

Lately I’ve been having very long days between work, kids’ commitments after school, family visits and then again more work. It seems I’m out at the crack of dawn and back well after the sun has set.

We put so much effort into getting our home all comfy and welcoming for Christmas, but we’re hardly enjoying it ourselves.

When things get like this I develop such a yearning to just hunker down at home with my favorite people and things.

I’d like to end one of my work schedules early one day, call everyone home, put a tray of my favorite shortbread cookies in the oven, make a cup of hot chocolate with nutmeg, put on some beautiful Christmas music, and relax with family.

Sometimes we’re so busy getting ready for the holidays and laboring at projects so that we can enjoy the holidays, that we “busy” our way right THROUGH the season.

So here’s a friendly reminder…extend your holiday enjoyment by taking time, as soon as you can, to enjoy and appreciate the blessings that are present before you: your family, friends, home…and a good merlot!

Win a Color Printer

This comes under the heading: better late than never.

If you’re the kind of person who likes contests and could use a new Kodak Easy Share All-in-One Color printer read on.

The ladies over at Two Moms in a Blog are sponsoring a contest to win this great printer. Most of the activities took place in November but there are still a few activities still open so enter now to improve your chances of winning.

Moms and tots…and teens

The moment I delivered my first child was fantastic, blissful, etc. But the moment I got control of my hips back and mastered the use of the convertible stroller, I was truly a happy mama.

I took her to places I liked to visit in the city…the lakefront, lunches with friends, her dad’s office, her grandfather’s office, the post office. We strolled everywhere and she loved it!

I found it interesting to read that an entrepreneurial mom in New York has made the cultural interests of moms with babes her business. Former Manhattan investment banker, Molly Snyder has traveled across the country promoting her now popular “Metropolitan Moms.” MM serves as a sort of event planning outfit coordinating all kinds of neat activities for moms with babies.

The thinking is that there are so few opportunities for women to maintain their interests while caring for newborns. According to Philly.com, these groups offer city activities like gallery tours, ghost-themed architecture tours and behind-the-scenes tastings at several chocolate shops. Mmmm!

The only drawback I see is the cost. Some of these events are pricey. For instance, I see the group offers a series of 4 weekly cooking classes for $220!

Of course there are so many more affordable ways that you can do something that is appropriate for a baby but still appealing to your adult tastes.

Do your own tour of the sites in your town (museum, gardens, local farms, etc.). Now that the holiday’s are here, there are special displays and markets, craft shows and any number mom networking groups at community centers and places of worship.  I know many moms still take their babes to book clubs they attended pre-baby.  Talk it over with the intended group.

I have teens now, but I still include my kids in my interests. I drag them take them to conferences that I’m interested in and I am always so overjoyed at how thrilled they are to take a day off school join their dear old mom at these events.

Let Your Light Shine

I never grow tired of looking at homes all decked out for the holidays. Conservation is important but you have to admit homes lit up with lights are a boost to the spirit!

Perhaps some of the blinking “Vegas type” homes are a bit much and may be missing the point of all of this, but you can’t fault folks for stepping out of the ordinary to celebrate just a little with their community.

Homes decorated with holiday trimmings are like a warm public greeting to people who pass by. Regardless of your religious affiliation or non-affiliation, the pure human desire to share good wishes, kindness and joy with each other at this time of year is a welcome change. I’m certain this all serves a good purpose that lasts long into the new year.

And just when we begin to forget the feeling we’ve generated, we get to repeat it all over again.

The Season for Dressing Up and Going Out

Are you taking advantage of the wonderful evening events in your town new urban mom?

After we had kids our evening social life took a serious dive. We’d make the odd feeble attempt to go out on the town but between arranging for baby sitters and me slowly growing out of my slinky evening clothes, “stepping out” became “staying in.”

During the last few years we’ve re-awakened our glamour puss selves and made the effort to dress up for a night out.

During the holidays there are even more wonderful opportunities to make it a dressy family night out. Before you start frowning just think about it…

First there’s the Nutcracker Ballet. Don’t worry about falling asleep…there are outstanding productions out there to be seen and if you haven’t gone out much you’ll be so busy looking at all the new fashions and improvements they’ve made in theatre chairs that you should be able to survive the performance without napping.

I did a quick scan of some of the other neat Holiday activities going on in cities across the country that may give you more ideas. [Read more]

The Gift of IDEAS…

I start every holiday season with the best of intentions and they begin with the promise that all gifts will be purchased before December 1 so that I can ENJOY the holiday season.

You know what they say about best laid plans. Well this year I zeroed in on the problem.

When it comes down to actually buying gifts for certain people like my mom, my best friend, and my teen daughter I freeze somewhere between entering the store and the checkout. The reason for my immobility is rooted in one of three things:

1. The gift the person really wants is too expensive and my wallet won’t let me purchase it.

2. The gift the person really wants is no longer available and I can’t figure out what else to purchase.

3. I really don’t have a clue as to what this person might like at this time/age/period in their life.

Just as I was resigning myself to the fact that I would yet again disappoint some dear friend or relative with a gift they’d sooner return, I got an early “gift” from a friend whose business it is to know about all things retail.

Chele Neisler, a leading shopping guru for moms shared with me her 2007 Holiday Gift Ideas report. This is an excellent document filled with ideas for practical and affordable gifts that would appeal to a lot of people on your list. In this quick to read report Chele shares her gift idea tips and vendor preferences with all of us just in time for the holidays.

You don’t have to wait or fill in any forms to get this guide. Just click below to claim your guide right away!

Holiday Gift Ideas 2007

What I’m Thankful For

Like many people, I don’t spend enough time acknowledging the good people in my family and in my communities that make life meaningful for me. Good thing this Thanksgiving holiday slows us all down for a short while to focus on these very things.

This year has been a special one for me. I celebrated 20 years of marriage and my eldest child entered her senior year of High School. I can’t believe how the years have zoomed by! It is definitely time to take a breath to think about all I’m thankful for.

First my parents. Without their guidance and wanted and unwanted advice, I wouldn’t be who I am…heck I wouldn’t be here! I’m so happy they’re around to shower their love and attention on my children and that I am around to lend a hand as needed to these two very special, independent and unbelievably loving people.

Next my husband…I felt like I’d been waiting all my life for him when we met 20 years ago. Together we’ve created the dream I’ve nurtured since I was a little girl – my own loving family and home. He’s a good father to our kids and my rock solid best friend and confidant – the only person I can comfortably wake up at 3:00 a.m. to share an idea or goofy question!

Most importantly I’m thankful for the two children that I’ve been blessed with. They can push my buttons on a regular basis, but they also have brought me the most joy in my life. I’m proud of the teens they’ve become. They never cease to amaze me with their gentleness, kindness and desire to step out of their comfort zone to assist someone who needs it. Again, I have to thank my parents and my late in-laws for their lasting influence on my children.

I’m so grateful for my family and the ability I have to work and live in communities that strengthen and nourish me. That includes my physical “new urbanism” community that I talk endlessly about in this blog and in the virtual community of friends that I enjoy through a chance meeting online with Kelly McCausey of Mom Masterminds .

Through this network I’ve met some very inspiring women, mothers and entrepreneurs that include:

Nell at Casual Friday Every Day

Lynn Terry – Click Newz

Carrie Lauth – Natural Moms Talk Radio

Lynette Chandler – Tech Based Marketing

Tiffany at Nature Moms Blog

Aurelia Williams – Parenting My Teen

Alyssa Avant – Life From My Lap Top

Chele Neisler – Moms Love Shopping

Tishia Lee – Virtual Assistant

Annette Yen – Noah’s Ark Workshop

Alice Seba – Internet Marketing Sweetie

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

High Quality “School Communities” – Finally…21st Century thinking

How many of you chose a neighborhood because of the quality of the local schools there? I bet quite a few of made your decision that way but I bet you’re also concerned about the general trend of public schools in our country.  The problems in our worst schools become a problem for the nation.  More specifically they affect our communities.  Good schools attract families who care about education.  Bad schools are populated with many families who have no choice in the matter. The problem is EVERY public school should be a good school. No child in our country should be disadvantaged because of the quality of their school.

I just read an article on the Urban Planning Institute’s website by an educator who is also engaged in the development aspects of schools. David Ethan Greenberg makes some very interesting observations about the incentives and good solid thinking that is needed to encourage developers and school districts to access and build the resources needed to sustain quality education in our neighborhoods.

“Public schools indisputably influence real estate values.’ Given that the United States is widely perceived as falling behind in generating educated students able to compete in the global marketplace, and given the increasing anxiety of parents about the need for their children to become competitive by attending four-year colleges and beyond, good public schools could become the ultimate amenity for master-planned developments.”

Aha…new urbanist communities fit the bill! Here we have a community trend that is tailor made for the kind of creative thinking and cooperation that is suggested by Mr. Greenberg. Developers don’t get involved in school development and usually leave that to the school district. But school districts barely have enough to address deteriorating facilities and other issues in their existing schools. We end up with a situation where new developments are often without adequate schools or have insufficient space in their schools for the growing community. Mr. Greenberg gives an example of the following best practice to deal with this problem:

“Create an independent entity to advocate for school quality. Sophisticated developers are creating and funding nonprofit foundations, such as the Stapleton Foundation and the Foundation for Educational Excellence, to assume responsibility for ensuring that publicly funded schools are providing high-quality instruction. These foundations, often funded by development or transfer fees, bring in educational experts to help keep school district leaders current on “best practices,” to provide supplemental programs for schools, to underwrite design competitions for new school facilities, to pay for recruiting school leaders, to help in grant writing, and to take advantage of other opportunities as they come along.”

Not only is this a good idea for new developments, but I think struggling inner city schools could also benefit from similar strategies (re: setting up non-profit foundations).

We all value high-quality schools in our neighborhoods and we need to encourage more creative and progressive thinking between developers, city planners and our city politicians to ensure that sustainable solutions can be put in place to support quality public schools in every community throughout our country.

Buy Local – My Local Farmer’s Market

I’ve posted before about the joy and benefit of buying local (see more under the “Green Living” tab). This Saturday morning my husband and I took a short trip to our local farmers’ market.

Our suburb is surrounded by farms to the north of us (those that haven’t been gobbled up by developers). It is a real treat to be able to purchase food and products from local farmers and other businesses. The food travels less, so we pollute less and there are less preservatives…best of all we’re supporting our local economy.

Between the two of us we enjoyed a freshly made peameal bacon sandwich, an omelette, and sweet cinnamon bun (deliciously made by the folks at “Buncha Farmers” Country Store – that’s Paul from Buncha Farmers at the right). Live music was playing and we enjoyed the company of our community neighbors. It was a wonderful Saturday Morning.

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