The Committee...Part 2

If you read my blog entry last week, you know that I am now officially on two committees at my kids’ schools. Given that both monthly committee meetings are falling in the same week, I’m already committeed out. I’m interested in what we’re meeting about. I wanted to get more involved. I even like the other people on the committee. But last night we played an extended game of hide-and-seek after dinner. Then we tucked the kids in and watched “Mad Men.” I’m ready for a rematch tonight, and I’ve got “Brothers and Sisters” waiting on my DVR. I want to go home, put on my sweats, and hang out. I’ve been in meetings all day. Enough is enough, no? Apparently not. I know the right answer; I get how important it is to be involved in our kids’ schools and activities. But after a long day at work, playing with the kids followed by lounging on the couch seems pretty irresistible. What’s the right balance? And where can we find another 3 hours to tack on to the day?

- Modern Mom

How to Make Tie Dye Shirts…with kids

OK, I’m sure you’ve noticed that Tie Dye is back and it’s everywhere. The soccer fields are full of kids with tie dye socks. The shirts were in every beach souvenir shop this summer. So of course, we had to make them.


We actually bought two different kits and I won’t tell you what the bad one was but the good one was made by Jacquard and I totally recommend it. I had contemplated doing it old school and buying the Rit dye and doing the separate buckets of color but then I realized it was way cheaper to just buy the kit. What I didn’t know was how much easier the kit would make it. The squirt bottles were perfect for the kids. Even my two-year-old got into it with ease – a little too much at times.

Here’s what I learned:

• One or two shirts per kid is plenty. We had a stack of white shirts that had stains on them – making them perfect for tie dye - and it got to be too much. So keep it simple and try to encourage the kids to take their time on a couple of items.
• Do it outside and don’t wear anything you care about. We just laid our shirts right on the driveway. Grass would work just as well because you need to wash the clothes after anyhow. 
• Follow the directions on the box. We did and the colors came out beautifully. 
• We did the first few shirts the way you may remember doing them when you were younger, with the elastics, etc. and if you want to make one for yourself, go ahead and do that. But I found that the kids liked the instant gratification of seeing how the shirts looked while they were making them. So if you’re not looking to make a fashion statement, I recommend just skipping the elastics, laying out the shirt and letting them squirt the dye where they want – draw hearts, swirls, etc. Just remember when enough is enough because too much dye looks yucky and it gets “muddy.”  
• Definitely do some socks. They are so fun and an inconspicuous way for even the most conservative mom to get in on the action.  
• Save the gloves for when you have to put the stuff in the wash.

--Crafty Mom

Crib Note: iPhones for Preschoolers?

Curious about whether your preschooler should play with your iPhone? Check out this article (and cute video) by Neil Swidey in the Boston Globe Magazine.

Rise to the Occasion: Easiest and Best French Bread

I’ve been cooking for many years and have always enjoyed discovering new recipes and techniques. Until recently, there was one staple food I have artfully avoided testing in my kitchen – fresh bread. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made my share of breads – pumpkin bread, banana bread, and other “quick” (ahem – baking soda) breads. My experience with yeast pretty much started and ended with pizza dough. I don’t know what about the elusive yeast frightened me off. I think I revered bread-making as a craft that only true artisans and grandmothers made.

Feeling confident one morning, I pulled out my “go to” cookbook – How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. This cookbook is hands down the most useful gift I’ve ever received (thanks Jen!). This is what I love about the book -- when I page to the fresh bread recipe it reads:

Easiest and Best French Bread
Time: At least 3 hours, largely unattended

Sounds perfect for a newbie! And it was true to its description…easy, delicious, and largely hands-off.

Easiest and Best French Bread

YOU NEED
3 ½ cups bread or all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
Scant 1½ cups water

MAKE IT
Note: The cookbook gives a variety of methods, additions, and shapes for making the bread. To follow is how I made my French bread round loaf.

1. Place the flour in a food processor. Add salt and yeast and process for 5 seconds.
2. With the machine running, pour most of the water through the feed tube. Process about 30 seconds. The dough should be in a defined and shaggy ball, still sticky and not something you’d want to knead by hand.
3. Dump the dough into a large bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a towel. Let it sit for 2-3 hours at room temperature.
4. Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto your workspace and shape the dough into a ball sprinkling more flour as needed. Shape the dough into a “boule” or round loaf by working around the ball, continually tucking the dough toward the center of the bottom, stretching the top slightly and creating surface tension. Pinch together the seam created at the bottom of the dough.
5. Place a clean kitchen towel in a colander or round basket. Sprinkle it with flour. Place the dough ball, seam up, in the towel and sprinkle with more flour. Fold the towel over the dough and let rise for 2-6 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 450°F. When you are ready to bake, turn the ball onto a baking sheet or pizza stone. Slash the top of the ball a few times with a razor blade. Spray the inside of the oven with water to create steam. Place the dough in the oven.
7. Spray oven 2-3 times during the first 10 minutes of baking. After 20 minutes, lower the heat to 350°F. Bake a total of 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

--Cooking Mom

To Vaccinate or Not To Vaccinate, That is the Question

I couldn’t decide whether or not I wanted to vaccinate my 2 year old against the seasonal flu or H1N1. I’d heard rumblings in the media and blogosphere that the H1N1 vaccine was unsafe…people were suffering side effects…it’s too new. I started thinking about all the people that put their child on a delayed vaccination schedule to avoid them getting too much medicine pumped into their system at once and wondered if they were doing the right thing. I wondered if the flu vaccine was really necessary. It made me consider not having my son receive either flu vaccine.


Then I started hearing how H1N1 is hitting children particularly hard and that many of the people dying from this strain of flu have pre-existing medical conditions. My son has a heart defect among other things, so I was scared not to vaccinate him, but I was also scared to vaccinate him. I consulted with coworkers, the Internet, and a friend that works at the CDC and oddly enough Facebook helped me decide.

A Facebook friend asked if anybody was getting their children vaccinated. All of the responders said no, but one naysayer also made a good point. The flu vaccine is new every year. Every year doctors have to anticipate which strain of flu will hit and create the vaccine around that. The only reason H1N1 wasn’t included in the seasonal flu vaccine this year was because it presented too late. A work colleague pointed out that until someone could provide a story of a child suffering from horrific side effects from the vaccine that would compare to that of a child going from having the sniffles to being on life support; she was going to lean toward vaccination.

In the end, because of a well-timed e-mail from our pediatrician’s office saying they were giving out the H1N1 vaccine at their next flu clinic, we decided giving the vaccine was less dangerous for our child than not. He and my husband waited in line for one and a half hours at the end of a five-hour flu shot clinic. (They got there at the very beginning and the line was already very long. People were parking a mile away.) Two injections in the leg and a Band-Aid later, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we made the right choice.

--Green Mom

Crib Notes: Safe Halloween

A safe Halloween acrostic for you. Enjoy and have a happy and safe Halloween.

She’ll VBAC

I was floored by this article about a woman from Page, Arizona who has to move 300 miles from home in her last month of pregnancy in order to deliver at a hospital where they’ll allow her to deliver her baby vaginally. Her husband, who will have to stay home to care for their three young sons, won’t be able to be there, and she won’t be able to have her familiar comfort and support systems nearby. The reason? Her local hospital, where she delivered all three of her other children, will no longer allow VBACs (Vaginal Birth After Caesarean section). But the story gets even crazier. This woman, who had to have an emergency c-section with the birth of her second child, has already delivered successfully via VBAC at the very same hospital that now refuses to allow her to avoid surgery. I was even more flabbergasted to read that nearly half of all hospitals refuse to do VBACs because of their “higher than usual risk for complications” even though the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists says that risk is less than 1%. It seems that liability insurance is getting in the way not only of good medical practice (not to mention a good practice that actually drives DOWN the cost of care), but also the most basic, longstanding human event in history. I didn’t have a c-section with the birth of my daughter, but I wouldn’t hesitate to if my doctor recommended I needed it. And I’m not the home birthing type, though I applaud my friends who are. And, hey, when push comes to shove, who really wants to have any type of medical care at a place or with a person who doesn’t want to do it. But still and all, this just seems so wrong.

--News Mom

Ladybug Girl

My daughter’s bedtime routine consists of 3 books, a short snuggle, and a back rub for three songs. Most nights, she chooses at least one or two of the same books we read the night before, and the night before that, and the night before that…you get the idea.

So, I’m always happy when she fixates on a book I enjoy, too. Our current favorite is Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy. 

Amazon product description:
At the playground, Lulu asks her friend Sam if he wants to play with her. Sam likes Diggers, while Lulu thinks Monkeys is the best game. Sam suggests playing under the castle, but Lulu knows that the top is the most fun. They just can’t agree! And then Lulu asks, “Have you ever played Ladybug Girl?” As Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy, Lulu and Sam save the playground from hairy monsters and big mean robots, and have their very own parade on the bouncy dinosaurs. They figure out that when they work together, they can create fun games that they both like to play.

We both love the book (and the original, Ladybug Girl) so much that her ladybug Halloween costume is just like Lulu’s!

--Commuter Mom

One More Reason to Be Stressed…as If We Need Another

Illustration by Chris Gash for The Boston Globe

For the first couple of years of my son’s public school experience, I flew under the radar screen. Not only did I have my son’s bumpy transition to keep me busy, I was also mom to a newly adopted little boy and a developmentally disabled daughter. And I have a demanding career, too. So I figured I was off the hook. But then the president of the PTO moved into the house next door. And guess what? She owns her own successful international business. She has two kids and a bazillion other responsibilities, too. If she could be president, couldn’t I at least attend a meeting?


So I went to the first PTO meeting this year and signed up to be on a newly forming committee. At our first get-together, responsibilities were assigned. I was asked to help with a bunch of research that includes making calls to local agencies with whom our committee might partner. I promptly started breaking out in hives. At that point I shared with the group that I couldn’t do that…I told them I had three kids and a busy job. What they didn’t ask, but had every right to, is “then why are you here?” Apparently I’m not the only one who is stressed out over volunteering, as this article makes quite clear.

Any ideas about how to make volunteering work without upsetting an apple cart that’s already teetering?

--Modern Mom

Crib Notes: Start a Snack Revolution

Is your family always on the go? Are you constantly on the lookout for wholesome “on the go” snacks? You may want to check out Revolution Foods. Their line of organic, balanced nutrition snacks include: Jammy & Grammy Sammy, Pop Alongs, Mashups, and more. A glance at the nutritional label of the Mashups, described as squeezable fruit, reveals that it’s just that…mashed fruit in packaging that makes it easy for children to eat anywhere.


The company’s claim that their foods are “simple for parents to pack, simple for kids to eat, and a simple way to maintain a healthy diet at school or home” makes it a simple choice for me.

Crayon Crafts

We made our foliage “stained glass” and it adds so much color to our windows. We get the best light in our kitchen and we just tape the finished products right to the window. I have been making these since I was a kid and honestly it is such a fun, easy thing to do. And I love anything that gets us outside to prepare for a craft.

1. Collect your leaves.
2. Shave some crayons. We used a lemon zester this year and it was great. My six-year-old was able to do all the work.
3. Arrange leaves on a piece of wax paper.
4. Sprinkle crayon shavings around.
5. Lay another piece of wax paper over it.
6. Iron them together.

In the past I have put a towel over the wax paper but this year, I put the setting on medium and just ironed right on the wax paper. We didn’t have any issues. But definitely test it out – especially if you have a Rowenta iron, like the one I want so badly. I did put a towel on my ironing board because sometimes the crayons can bleed through and to be safe, make sure you wipe your iron off after you’re done.

And then, we had some leftover crayon shavings and a lot of little crayon pieces so we made crayons discs. We put all the little crayon pieces in a non-stick mini-muffin pan and put them in the oven on 225.

15 minutes or so later and we had these and the girls colored some pictures with their funky new crayons. If you make these, just let them cool completely and they pop right out of the tray. It’s a great way to recycle broken crayons.

--Crafty Mom

Cold Mountain Couscous

I was recently leafing through my husband’s Backpacker magazine fondly remembering the days when we had time to spend an entire Saturday hiking our favorite White Mountain trails. Interrupting my daydream was a section called, On the Menu. Always on the look-out for new recipes, I scanned through the eclectic variety of meals one could make over a fire or 4” burner. I figure if backcountry hikers could make a delicious meal packed with enough energy to spend the day scaling mountains, I could easily make one of these recipes to boost up dinner or lunch. Below is one that sounds good to me. I think I’ll give it a try this weekend.

Cold Mountain Couscous


YOU NEED
16-ouch pouch (or can) of cooked chicken
½ cup instant couscous
2/3 cup water
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small zucchini
1/2 red pepper (I added this ingredient!)
1 teaspoon fresh basil
¼ cup chopped pine nuts (optional)
¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

MAKE IT

1. Chop the zucchini and pepper.
2. Sauté the zucchini, pepper, chicken and pine nuts in a pan until veggies are softened and chicken is heated through. Set aside
3. Bring the water, salt and olive oil to a boil. Stir in couscous. Remove from heat.
4. Add chicken and vegetable mix. Stir. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
5. Stir in the chopped basil.

--Cooking Mom

Yard Sale

After needing to do it for several years, we finally hosted a yard sale a few weekends ago. Yard sales are a great study in human nature. I’m amazed how people looked through our stuff and knew that our old drapes or tchotchkes would go perfectly in their house. We heard more than one person say that they had no idea where they were going to put something but they were going to buy it anyway. People were even buying gifts for their children or in laws. Our sale certainly brought truth to the “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” saying. My husband and I had trouble hiding our delight and shock when someone bought the meat slicer we were given as a wedding gift. (Yes, I said a meat slicer as a wedding gift.) There was also a raffle prize lamp won at a golf tournament that someone was so excited to buy and we were excited to see go. People bought linens and mugs, books and exercise equipment.

The biggest surprise was that no one even looked at the two Michael Jackson Thriller albums that we had for sale. We even placed it out front as a marketing ploy to no avail.

Our yard sale might be over, but we still have fabulous prices on a pair of roller blades, several putting mats (because for some reason we needed 3 at one time) and an electric towel warmer. Act now!

--Green Mom

Germs

I will confess, I am a bit of a germaphobe. I use a lot of hand sanitizer and wipes, we wash our hands a lot in our house, shoes do not go past the front hallway. My husband is worse than I am, but won’t admit it. And, as parents of children in group care, we all know that we are starting the season of lots of runny noses, coughs, and colds…not to mention the flu, so I’m on heightened germ alert. Great news, last week at school they focused on germs.

At circle time, they read Bear Feels Sick, Who’s Sick Today, and Germs Make Me Sick.

For Science Lab, they did 2 experiments. The first activity was to put Vaseline on their hands and then try to remove it. First, they tried rinsing it off in cold water. Then they tried warm water. When they realized that didn’t work, they tried soap, warm water, and rubbing their hands together. They all discovered that with a little soap and singing the ABCs while they rubbed their hands together, they were able to remove the Vaseline. Then, they did a “Pepper Run” experiment. They put water into bowls and sprinkled in some pepper; the pepper flakes were the germs. When they touched the water with a piece of soap they saw the germs run away. Conclusion: germs don’t like soap.

Of course, they did an art project about germs, too (that’s why I’m not a teacher – I would never be able to come up with an art project about germs!). Each child traced their hand and cut it out then drew a face on a paper plate. Then put them together with a tissue to demonstrate how you sneeze into a tissue.

And, everyone got stickers – the teacher used the Bright Horizons Staying Healthy stickers – it was hysterical when my daughter came up to me and said, “A-choos to use a tissue.”

--Commuter Mom

Mom Sends the Msg

Who ever knew I had so much in common with Maria Shriver? We’re both interested in politics, news media, and now I know we both talk on the cell phone – with our hands – in the car while driving. Maria was outed by the gossip Web site TMZ and has since apologized for breaking California’s hands-free cell phone requirement that was signed into law by her husband, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  I haven’t been outed by any celeb gossip sites, and don’t live in a state with such a law, but I still know it’s wrong. My car and my cell phone are both Bluetooth enabled, and I still use the hand set. I mean, have you ever tried talking via your Bluetooth with a very chatty 2-year-old in the back seat? Not exactly practical. I used to have a head set, but it didn’t work very well, kept falling out of my ear, and has long since been lost. But, enough excuses already. I got an e-mail from a friend of a friend promoting the Mom Sends the Msg campaign to hang up the phone and “keep your mind on the wheel.” I’m signing the petition now, and I urge you, and Maria Shriver, to do it too.

--News Mom  

Nine Questions

Talk about being stumped by your kids’ questions. The following are actual questions my 7-year-old asked me this past week.

1. “What is trans fat made of?”
2. “Which came first, the Pilgrims or Mozart?”
3. “Where is God buried?”
4. “Are there going to be any white people there?” (Asked on the way to synagogue. My son, who is of Latino descent, has dark skin.)
5. “Can I be Darth Tater Tots for Halloween?”
6. “What would happen if we mixed a Mustang with a Corvette?”
7. “Does a fly have blood?” Follow-up question: “Are flies nice?”
8. “Will I take the school bus when I go to college?”
9. “Who is the tooth fairy…really?”

--Modern Mom

Fall Manifesto

Can you believe October is here? This month I resolve to continue some of my most beloved fall traditions and create a few new ones. I plan to:

• Sneak in one more fair or harvest festival before the season is over
• Make these adorable necklaces
• Make these corn husk dolls  that remind me of my Nana
• And make these little apples which are just too cute 
• Take the girls to a Friday night football game at our local high school  
• Have a “pumpkin day” like the one featured in this book where we will eat pumpkin pancakes, pick out our pumpkins, make pumpkin muffins and roast pumpkin seeds
• Go on as many hikes (loosely speaking) as we can before the foliage disappears
• Collect the brightest fallen leaves to bring home and press between wax paper with crayon bits
• Let the kids decorate the house for Halloween however they want
• Visit every craft fair I can so that I can support handmade products and give unique gifts this holiday season
• Rake the biggest leaf pile possible…strictly for playing
• And finally, finish the Halloween costumes with time to spare.

--Crafty Mom

Great Pumpkin Pancakes

Growing up, I was a big Peanuts fan and I waited patiently each year for It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!  to come on TV.  My daughter is already a budding Snoopy fan like her mom and recently received the Halloween classic book from a family friend.  Now, I’m looking forward to watching the TV special with my daughter and I think we’ll have “pancakes for dinner” night. Good thing we already have a family-favorite recipe for the occasion.

Great Pumpkin Pancakes


YOU NEED
2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
1 ¾ cup milk (or as needed)
½ cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon oil
Cooking spray

MAKE IT

1. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the eggs, milk, pumpkin puree, sugar, and oil until well combined.
3. Pour the “wet” over the “dry” ingredients. Stir until just mixed together. Lumps are okay.
4. Carefully heat a griddle or frying pan on medium heat. Grease with cooking spray or a pat of butter.
5. Ladle some of the pancake batter onto the pan to form 2-3” disks. For fun, spoon a little batter at the top of the circle to make a stem so the pancake resembles a pumpkin.
6. When the bubbles start to pop on top and the bottom is slightly brown, flip with a spatula. Remove from pan when under side is browned.

--Cooking Mom

Tubes: Part 2

Thank you to everyone that left comments regarding ear tubes. My son’s surgery was a success, and aside from a long wait for anesthesia, a relatively smooth day. He was a bit crabby when coming out of anesthesia but after being treated to 2 huge cups of apple juice, which he’d never had before; he was back to his old self. Here’s to a winter free of ear infections and doctor visits.

--Green Mom

Magazines’ Demise

It’s a sad day for foodies, newsies and families alike – and those are all my passions in one basket. Conde Nast announced they are shuttering the nearly 70-year-old Gourmet magazine as well as the newer and hipper Cookie magazine for families.

In related but decidedly less traumatic news, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride have also been chopped from the Conde Nast block. I am in mourning.

-- News Mom

Child Care, Babysitting, Favors: What’s the difference?

By now you must be aware of the case of Lisa Snyder, the Michigan woman who has been called on the carpet by Michigan’s Department of Human Services for running an unlicensed child care because she has been watching three of her neighbors’ children, helping them get on the school bus so that those children’s parents can go to work. Absurd? Well, I saw a TV interview with Lisa Snyder last night, and personally, I have my doubts that she was not accepting money from these neighbors. She just didn’t quite seem credible to me on that point. Of course, she couldn’t admit that she was taking money, because if that were the case, she’d be in double trouble, as she is undoubtedly not reporting the income. In my mind, once you and others are paying someone to regularly care for your children, that’s fair game for the licensing department to look into. But let’s suspend my skepticism for a moment and believe that there was no financial arrangement involved. Where do we draw the line?

Surely states need to protect the best interests of children, but surely they also need to let communities be communities. I don’t think “it takes a village to raise a child” anticipated a major bureaucracy to manage the process. I just look out my window in the morning, and I see parents taking turns walking a group of neighborhood children to the elementary school down the road. I don’t think any of us expect child services to keep an eye on that. And what if it’s the same parent walking those children to school every day because she is a SAHM or WAHM and her neighbors return the favor in other ways – maybe one shovels all the sidewalks when it snows and another organizes the biannual block party? What about the woman who, as a favor and out of the goodness of her heart, regularly watches her friend’s child after school while the mom goes through prolonged medical treatment, or is trying to figure out life as a newly single parent, or is caring for her aging parents? Surely reasonable people can support good strong licensing rules for child care centers and at the same time keep it out of our personal relationships.

-- News Mom