From the monthly archives:

November 2010

Bribing My Kids

November 29, 2010

Remember before you had kids, there were all sorts of things you would “never” do?  I tried my best not to stack those expectations too high and we even treated our first child as if he were our second to avoid the whole pacifier sterilization rigmarole and went with the 5 second rule. Bribery, or swearing to [...]

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The New Face of Garbage

November 26, 2010

Remember that time when we didn’t have blue bins outside next to our trash cans? Remember when we never thought twice about throwing out the newspaper, the plastic bottles, and everything else we were done using? Then we were given little plastic bins and told to look carefully for the recycling symbols on the bottom [...]

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Still Learning

November 24, 2010

I work out at my local YMCA. I like it better than the other gyms I’ve belonged to in the past: Gold’s Gym (too many gym rats), 24 Hour Fitness (too much of a meat market), Curves (too boring). Club One was too expensive to even try. The Apple gym was the right price while [...]

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How to Thank our Coach

November 22, 2010

My twins’ last AYSO soccer game was this Saturday.  After ten weeks of bonding, we team parents are kind of sad that our boys won’t be getting together for games any more, but we’re looking forward to the after-game party we’ve planned.  It’s going to be a fun event with pizza (for the kids), beer [...]

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Single in the ‘Burbs

November 19, 2010

I am going through a divorce. It is all the things you think it might be….trying, sad, freeing, horrible, etc. The list could go on forever really. I thought it might be time to put myself out there and test the dating waters. I haven’t been on a date in 16 years. I was in [...]

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Kids, TSA Airport Screenings and the Wrong Message

November 17, 2010

Tickets for our next family flight haven’t been purchased, but I’m already concerned. We talk to our kids about safety and about not letting people touch or see your private parts, but as all parents know, actions speak louder than words, and our safety message will be quashed when we walk through airport security before [...]

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Sony Dash Giveaway: Last Chance to Enter!

November 15, 2010

Our Sony Dash giveaway ends tonight, which leaves only a few hours to enter, but why not just go ahead and do it right now? The Sony Dash is no alarm clock. Technically it could be used as an alarm clock, but that’s such a waste. Why not pop the little Dash into the kitchen, [...]

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Lock Your Doors

November 12, 2010

As I arrived at our weekly Music Together class, I immediately knew something was wrong. Our beloved teacher was outside on the phone, clearly upset. As it turns out, she had just discovered that her Santa Cruz apartment had been broken into. Although we finished class, she was clearly rattled. We offered words of support and [...]

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Figuring Out How to Break the Guilt Cycle

November 10, 2010

I grew up in a largely Italian Catholic family, which means I am very familiar with guilt. I was immersed in it from birth. I’ve heard such things as “I thought I raised you better than that” or “How do you think that makes me feel?” used thousands of times, and almost always over small [...]

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The Art of Learning to Say Thank You

November 8, 2010

We celebrated by daughter’s eighth birthday this weekend, which means it’s now time for thank you notes. Thank you notes are important to me. I don’t care if it is a long note or a quick scribble by a child, it’s the personal acknowledgment that time and generally money were spent to do something nice [...]

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