Baby, It’s Cold Outside

I grew up in Maryland so you would think I’d be used to a little cold weather.  You would think I MISSED cold weather since I now live in Jacksonville, Florida.  I did miss it a tiny little bit when we first moved down here five years ago.  But now I’m so used to living in a warm climate that the cold weather completely throws me for a loop.  Sure, even in Florida, we should expect a small stretch of cold days in December and January, but usually it’s never terribly cold here.  But the past couple of days (and nights!) have been really cold.  Well, really cold meaning low 30′s. And really cold meaning fleece jackets and (gasp!) hats and mittens.

The kids have been having fun with it.  They don’t mind it that much.  I just wish it was accompanied by snow. It’s hard knowing my kids will never experience a true snowfall. (Aside from the fun soapy one at the local Winter Wonderland.) They will never run out to build a snowman or zoom down a hill on a sled.  I know I can take them on a fancy vacation to a ski resort, but it’s not the same.  It’s not how I remember it.  I remember putting bread bags over my socks before I slid on my boots.  I remember making dozens of snow angels all in a row on our front lawn.  I remember catching snowflakes on my tongue.  I remember the sweet moment when the guy on the radio said school was canceled and I could turn over and go back to sleep.

But, then again, I also remember waiting at the bus stop in zero degree weather with tears running down my cheeks from the wind chill.  I remember slumber parties or basketball games getting canceled because the roads were too icy.  I remember shoveling the driveway only to do it all again the next day because more snow fell while we slept.  I remember the METRO being delayed while I stood on the platform jogging in place willing my body to warm up.  So, no, I don’t miss the cold northern weather anymore.  And I can always take the kids up north in the winter to experience it all for themselves.  In the meantime, we’ll be here complaining about today’s high of 60 and making plans to hit the beach NEXT week.

 

 

Pop Sponge

I go to Target every other week to get all my cleaning supplies.  (I try to avoid all the cute clothes and the stuff in the dollar bins…but that never happens.)

Well, two weeks ago I needed sponges and I threw these in my cart:

I love the O-Cel-O brand and I use them all the time.  But then I opened up the package at home and saw this:

I gave it a second, and a third, look.  These were DIFFERENT.  These were COOL.  I felt a little hipper washing my dishes and my toilets with some funky model faces and a little leopard print.  I was wondering about the new design.

Later that night I was watching a “Reality Rules” special on ABC’s 20/20. (Of course I was.)  Christian Siriano, winner of Bravo’s Project Runway, was featured.  He was being interviewed about his fashion fame and then, all of a sudden, they mentioned that he designed…SPONGES!

Yes.  I have Christian Siriano sponges.  How much more Pop Mommy can I get?  SO fierce.

Fire

It was 2:00 AM and we woke up to this.

There was a brush fire in the preserve area behind our house.   This is one of the driest years that Florida has seen in a long time. Last night it was really windy too.  The flames reached 30 feet high and came within 6 feet of our neighbor’s back patio. We are blessed the wind did not blow the fire in the direction of our wooden play set and, of course, the back of our house.

Our neighbor’s dog, Abigail, was barking up a storm at 2:00 AM.  So our dog, Steve, decided to bark back.  I was completely annoyed. Steve finally calmed down and then we heard a large truck drive down the street.  It sounded like a giant moving van and I could not believe the bad luck we were having.  I desperately wanted to go back to sleep!  Hubbie and I looked out our bedroom window and saw two firetrucks in front of our house.  That still did not make me think “fire.” Weird, I know, but they were quiet.  No sirens.  No firemen running in panic.  They just started calmly taking out their hoses and walking to the back of our houses.

Hubbie went to look outside and that’s when I heard him say  ”OMG! FIRE!” We panicked and ran to grab the kids.  They were so confused.  We waited by the front of the house while Hubbie ran out again to find a fireman.  The fireman said we didn’t need to come outside and that they had it under control.  So we watched from the safety of our living room while the fire grew smaller and smaller and finally turned into smoke.  It took about an hour.  And then another hour to get everyone back to bed.

We were exhausted in the morning.  We heard that it could have been started by a cigarette butt or even an ember from a charcoal grill.  Thank goodness we have a gas grill.  Our backyard looks fine and the preserve area between our houses actually looks nice now that it’s been cleared out.  It was just a lot of tall trees and brush.  That’s the positive.  The negative is that it smells a little smokey and I’ll probably worry about it happening again.  But there’s awareness now and we need it to rain!

I must thank our trusty neighbor, Abigail.  She LOVES to bark and this time it was a GOOD thing.

Also, Bean is obsessed with firemen now. That’s also a good thing.

The Giving Tree

We just got back from a week long road trip to visit my family in Maryland and North Carolina.

We make this trip ALOT.

But there was something very different when I pulled into my parents’ driveway this time.

The tree in the front yard was gone.

The tree was getting old and my parents were worried about the super large branches actually falling on the roof of the house so they had it removed.   Well, everything except the stump.

That’s getting picked up and taken away next week.

It reminded me of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein which, IRONICALLY, Daniel got from his godmother as an early birthday gift.

I love that book.

I love trees.  I think it has to do with my love for old things and shade.  I love a big, old shady tree.

I’m not overly obsessive.  I wouldn’t protest and live in a tree.  But I MIGHT hug one.

My kids know how much I love trees.  We’ll be driving in the car and Daniel will point to trees all the time and say, “Mama, you like that one?  You like that tree?  You love trees, right Mama?”

I do love trees.

My dream is to have a birch tree in my front yard.  They are just so pretty.  I have the “Silver Birch Forest” screen saver photo on my laptop computer.

It makes me happy.

So it’s a little sad that the big old tree in the front yard of my childhood home is gone.  

But it makes sense.  It was a giving tree. 

It gave me and my brother and my sister some great memories.

And now it just gave one to my son.

Thanks, Tree.

Feel The Heat

It’s HOT. 

The high was 100 degrees today.  And yesterday.  I KNOW that I live in Florida, but the heat just sneaks up on me every summer.  I feel like Spring is five seconds long and then we just zoom into four months of sticky, uncomfortable heat and humidity.  I know all my family and friends up north are laughing at me because I don’t like the cold either.  But the EXTREME summer heat is what gets me. 

It’s also a challenge with the kiddies.  It’s now too hot for our morning park play dates. It’s two hot for long bike rides. It’s too hot for strolling around the outdoor town center.  And when we ARE outdoors, I just chase them around with big hats, SPF 50, and bottles of water.

Thank goodness for our neighborhood pool, cold smoothies, our backyard baby pool, and slip ‘n slides.

Somer Thompson

Everyone here is talking about the horrific death of 7-year-old Somer Thompson.  She was walking home from school Monday afteroon when she vanished.  She was with her twin brother and her older sister.  Today, her body was found in a landfill.

Everyone here is talking about it because it happened HERE.  It happened 20 minutes away from where I live.

What do I do with this information?

Do I become an overprotective parent?  I mean, I already AM an overprotective parent.  I’m a helicopter. I hover.  I am constantly holding my kids’ hands and they know there is a “time out” in their future if they run away from me for a second when we are out in public. 

I guess I never really thought about someone taking them away from me.  Until now.

After Somer’s disappearance, my husband and I started researching GPS tracking devices for children.  There are a bunch on the market.  Most are expensive, but all of them do the job.  They let you monitor your kid’s EVERY MOVE.  Everywhere they go.  Has it come to this?

A woman called into my husband’s radio show this morning with an awesome point.  She said that you can’t sit and think about someone snatching your kid or something bad happening  to them ALL THE TIME.  That would drive us all crazy and create an awful environment of fear for our children.

While the local news was updating us about Somer’s body possibly being found in a landfill, I was on two scheduled preschool tours for Bean.  It was just weird timing.  I’m about to send my little boy out into the world without me.  I really like the school that has locked and coded entrances.

Then, last night I watched Oprah on TIVO and the show was about the happiest people on earth and where they live.  Oprah interviewed families in Copenhagen, Denmark.  One Copenhagen couple felt so happy and safe, they actually left their babies to nap unattended in their backyard. They said crimes, and especially sexual crimes and kidnapping, were basically nonexistent.   Should I move to Copenhagen?

No. I love my country and I would never want to live anywhere else.  But today, I did look over my shoulder a little more when I was out with my kids.  I did give them lots of extra kissies. I maybe hugged them a little longer. 

And I also said prayers for our new angel Somer and for her Mama who’s arms will always ache for the daughter she has just lost.

A Suburban Life

When did living in a nice house in the suburbs with two kids, a dog, and a minivan (and MAYBE a white picket fence) become something people DIDN’T want?

The hubbie and I rented Revolutionary Road on Netflix last weekend.  Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet’s performances were really amazing and heart-wrenching.  Kate Winslet is one of my favorite actors. I definitely give the movie an “A” for being a very well done dramatic film.  But what was up with the message?  Since when did living in suburbia equal a death sentence?  By moving to the suburbs and starting a family, you are essentially giving up all your dreams of adventure and success and now must resign yourself to the fact that you will live a dull and ordinary life and never be “special.” Seriously?

My husband, who is a morning radio host, was talking to his co-workers this week about a fun topic to discuss on his radio show: Should we buy a minivan. We have been talking about it more and more lately, especially after all our long family road trips. I’ve always wanted a top of the line decked out minivan. But, maybe we should stick with a large SUV?  Well, the singletons in his office just GASPED at the mere thought of us purchasing a minivan. 

 ”A minivan?”  “NOOOO!  Don’t do it!!”  Their reaction made me think that buying a minivan would automatically make us “uncool.” Really?

Well, let me just say that I LIKE living in the suburbs.  It really is a dream come true, not something I felt resigned to do.  I was excited to get married, have kids, and live in an amazing suburban neighborhood.  I want the sidewalks and the green grass and the trees and the playground down the street.  I want to wave to my neighbors while they mow their lawn.  Or invite the mom next door over for coffee.  I want to help carpool.  I WANT a minivan. 

Hi, my name is Pam and I want to be a soccer mom. And I’m proud of it.

Hot, Hot, Hot…

…and getting HOTTER.

The months of June, July, and August are BRUTAL in Florida.  We are all relegated to our lovely air conditioned homes.  (Although today, I was desperately pleading with my AC unit to PLEASE move down below 79.  PRETTY please??)  I equate this weather we are experiencing to a northern snow storm.  I’m just forced to be creative with indoor activities.   “Creative” is not my strong suit, so I usually just end up spreading bins of toys into different play areas in the house.   I can give Daniel and Annabel the “illusion” that we are in some super cool indoor play zone.  This usually doesn’t last very long, so I’m so thankful for the following: Our public library, Gymboree, the indoor shopping mall, Barnes & Noble and its train table, and the POOL.  The only time we can all hang outdoors is if we are immersed in some sort of water and slathered with SPF 50 (if there was an SPF 100, I would use it.)  It’s even too hot to hang in the shade.  We bought the kids a water table, but that lasted five minutes.

At least “Beez” uses it.

Sunday night

It’s Sunday night. I still get that weird Sunday night ”feeling.”  It’s the same Sunday night feeling from high school when I realized the fun weekend was over. My parents would tell me to get off the phone and I would be sitting in my bedroom all alone doing homework. It’s the same Sunday night feeling from college when I would be in my dorm room waiting for my roommate to get back from a weekend visiting her boyfriend.  The dining hall was closed so I would be eating Ooodles of Noodles from a Styrofoam cup trying to study.  It’s the same Sunday night feeling from my days working in an office.  I would lay in the bed with my hubbie watching TV or reading a magazine, just wishing we had ONE MORE DAY to hang out.  It’s a mix of anxiety, sadness, and anticipation of the week ahead.  I always thought it was a school thing.  Then I thought it was a work thing.  But it’s a stay-at-home mom thing too.  It’s the feeling that I’m not prepared for another busy week of scheduled activities and unknown toddler occurrences.  It’s that weird “calm before the storm” feeling.  It’s Sunday night.