High Maintenance Mom

I have never blogged before but after reading some mommy blogs recently thought I would give it a try. So this is the first East Coast Mom Blog! I hope you enjoy them and can benefit from my mistakes, triumphs and turmoils. I will try to write daily but will not post each entry on the front page. Click on the Blogs subject line to read the entries as I write them....

I'm working a night shift on the big island of Hawaii watching the Halema`uma`u vent and data feeds. My 16 days of working 8pm to 4am are almost over and while I love being here, I miss my family. I have to admit that not being able to talk to the kids because of my hours has been really hard. I've been sending pictures by email and writing postcards but it's not the same. If ever do it again, I will spend more time setting up video calls with our computers for the weekends.

Knowing the night shift was going to be hard, I brought several comfort items from home.

Summer Reading Programs are an excellent way to introduce kids to the joys of libraries and reading. Many libraries now have Listening and Parent programs too so everyone can participate. Reading to your kids is one of the best ways to prepare them for school and help them develop lifelong reading skills (Reading is Fundamental). Last year was B's first year in the Reading program instead of the Listening program and it was very exciting. We still read to him but we also had him read a little bit almost every night. Reading the same books over an over really helped as did finding a very simple series that he found interesting. Each child learns to read at a different rate and making the process enjoyable is very important. N and I snuggle with books in the evening. I let him finish the words at the end of rhyming sentences he knows and I occasionally point out words so he starts to learn more about how I read. Check out Read*Write*Now! for more information on reading to kids from birth until the 6th grade.

One of B's favorite days at school was 100's day (on the 100th day of school). B loved counting the school days in his classroom and was very excited for the celebration. In addition to counting out 100 snacks, decorating a crown with 100 stickers, and stringing 100 pieces of cereal into a necklace, the kids also got to search for 100 Hershey kisses. Each of the kisses had a sticker on the bottom with a number written on it. The kids had to match the numbers on the candy to numbers on a large paper Hershey kiss. It was fun to watch the smiling kids try to match the numbers and I wanted to see if N would enjoy a similar activity at home...

We've been having trouble accomplishing our basic morning chores - get up, come to the table, eat breakfast, clear your plate, get dressed, etc. It's not really new trouble, just the realization that most mornings are a struggle. After reading Positive Discipline and particularly Positive Discipline A-Z: 1001 Solutions to Everyday Parenting Problems , which I highly recommend because it condenses the first book into 30 pages and then gives specific advice for numerous issues through the teenage years, I decided to try a family meeting. This was not our first family meeting. I've tried them several times while reading the books but I tend to want to try everything at once so it wasn't surprising they didn't work the first time. Somehow, this meeting was a success. Maybe the kids needed to adjust to the idea or maybe we were all in the perfect mood but somehow it worked...

I hope you are having a great Mother's Day. My special alone time this morning included an exercise class at the gym where I heard the following comments from friends. "This class is the highlight of my day. The rest of the day will include the usual errands, cleaning, and cooking." "My child made me a flower pot in Kinder but on Friday all I received was a note from her friend apologizing for breaking it." "My children like to tell me I can clean tomorrow instead." I hope you have the opportunity to do something you really enjoy today!

The first night of Passover is this Saturday night and we are once again thinking about how our celebration will change each year as the kids get older. We often start reading the stories to the kids the week before. Our kids love the (Sammy Spider Passover books (story, fun book, and haggadah). I also make copies of items from the fun book for the kids to do during the seder. We try to have them help us clean the house and we talk a lot about the food. Both kids really like matzah so it's an exciting time for them. Last year we used the My Very Own Haggadah, which is basically a coloring book, for our seder. Because it was a school night, we skipped some of the story so we could eat earlier. Then when the kids had finished eating, they watched The Seder on Planet Matzah Ball while we finished eating. It was a huge success...

I recently attended a talk by Madeline Levine, author of The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids. It was a fabulous talk and I recommend the book. Levine talked about how we give birth twice, once to our fantasy child and the later to the real child. I feel as though I'm working on our fourth as I struggle to see our second child as his own person, not his brother, not my first version of a perfect child, and not my now modified version of what he could be...

My husband and I recently decided to enroll in his companies Flexible Spending Account (FSA) program. I knew about it from my days working for Blue Cross Blue Shield. After reviewing how the program works I started using the debit card they sent us at doctor's offices, pharmacies and drug stores. It all seems very logical....you allocate a certain amount of pre tax dollars towards the account and you use your debit card for eligible purchases.

Easter comes early this year, March 23rd, so I am thinking ahead about how I will spend it with my husband, 2 year old daughter and 4 month old son. I have decided that instead of an Easter basket full of chocolate (since I will be the only one eating it all) I will fill it with books. My daughter can not seem to get enough books in her hands and she does need a few new "big girl books" as I call them.