My son was absolutely a cartoon character in a past life. He spent Inauguration Day playing dress-up in a Captain America costume complete with mask and shield. How patriotic, don't you think?
Mike really wanted to take him to Inauguration. Although it was an incredibly historic day, I just couldn't fathom my "likes to book it on his own" baby in the throngs of Inauguration fans. So instead we watched it on TV. I think ultimately that was the best route. Had we attended, he would not have really seen Barry. But in our living room, he saw him up close. "Barack Obana!" Nope, not a typo; we can't get him to say Obama.
He clapped and cheered for his President! He marched around the living room and cheered some more!
His exuberance was contagious and so intense to make you think he really understood the significance of the two-terms of the nation's first Black president. In 2008, Barack's first election, I was pregnant with Myki. I celebrated not only the election, but the reality that my son would be born under a President who looked like him. Our role models, our leaders, provide context for what we think we can be. My son knows he can be the POTUS, Captain America or anything else!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Hoping for a Snow Day!
The Weather Channel, the news and the Federal government were in cahoots last Thursday to orchestrate a snow day. Unfortunately, Mother Nature got the best of them all, and me, by dropping not one once of precipitation in Alexandria, VA! Oh how I had been waiting for that snow!
Myki hasn't seen snow since he was around 18 months; a visit to my mom's in NJ. He thought it was pretty cool and we slid around her driveway for a bit. Never having been exposed to gloves, he initially refused to wear them. After plunging both his bare hands into the snow and ice, he thought better of that decision. Nothing Mami could say was as persuasive as that!
While we left behind some incredible weather in Florida, there is absolutely winter fun to be had in VA! Every morning since Thursday, I've awoken hopefully, peaked out the window and been disappointed by the sea of green grass. C'mon Mother Nature, work with me! We have 3 winters of sledding, snowmen and maybe even some skiing to make up for!
Maybe this week it will come!
Myki hasn't seen snow since he was around 18 months; a visit to my mom's in NJ. He thought it was pretty cool and we slid around her driveway for a bit. Never having been exposed to gloves, he initially refused to wear them. After plunging both his bare hands into the snow and ice, he thought better of that decision. Nothing Mami could say was as persuasive as that!
While we left behind some incredible weather in Florida, there is absolutely winter fun to be had in VA! Every morning since Thursday, I've awoken hopefully, peaked out the window and been disappointed by the sea of green grass. C'mon Mother Nature, work with me! We have 3 winters of sledding, snowmen and maybe even some skiing to make up for!
Maybe this week it will come!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
What Working Moms Should Have
It's really a travesty that the average working mom doesn't have access to the finer things in life. I received a $150 gift certificate to SpaFinder for Christmas and just used it on my first ever facial! When I first recieved the gift, I thought I'd be able to get at least three treatments out of it (treatment, that's spa lingo for service) - a massage, a facial, mani/pedi...maybe even a wax. My research taught me that that was far from reality. $150 got me one standard facial, just one.
It was so very nice. Usually, when I'm taking the highly recommended "me" time that all moms try to sneak in, my mind is racing with all that I am not doing. But an honest to God spa experience really can clear your mind - the lights, the warmth, no pants, the music, a faux fur blanket - Red Door really knows how to treat a lady.
Moms should have that! When I left I thought, I need to do that once a month. But $150 a month feels....selfish. It's just to much to work in without considering the alternatives - paying down debt, adding to a retirement or college fund, even just taking a day trip with the family.
But, I repeat, moms should have that!
It was so very nice. Usually, when I'm taking the highly recommended "me" time that all moms try to sneak in, my mind is racing with all that I am not doing. But an honest to God spa experience really can clear your mind - the lights, the warmth, no pants, the music, a faux fur blanket - Red Door really knows how to treat a lady.
Moms should have that! When I left I thought, I need to do that once a month. But $150 a month feels....selfish. It's just to much to work in without considering the alternatives - paying down debt, adding to a retirement or college fund, even just taking a day trip with the family.
But, I repeat, moms should have that!
Rebuilding Us
My family and I have lived in Alexandria just over eight months. The transition, like any change, has had highs and lows. Change is hard and it is human nature to resist it. Change is especially challenging for children, who thrive with stability, in stability.
When I accepted my current position, I had been unemployed for nine months and relocation was not covered. So I came to Alexandria alone, living on my dear friend's couch for almost two months. Mike and Myki stayed behind with his parents until I could set everything up for us. My little one and I were apart for the first time ever. Hard does not capture how that felt for either of us. I was overwhelmed by guilt and doubt; was this really the only way? Myki went from missing me to worried about me to scared for me. He just knew something wasn't right.
Our reunion was bittersweet. While he was happy and relieved to see me, it was also evident I'd betrayed him; his confidence in me had been shaken. We've spent the last nine months working through that, and all the other challenges of growing from almost 3 to almost 4 years old. I've been frustrated by how difficult it's been. Myki has always been so easy and our interaction was easy. I could calm him, make him laugh and ensure we enjoyed each other!
I've been very much in my own feelings of frustration and almost a sense of loss for how it used to be. But this weekend, I think my husband may have snapped me out of that place of self-pity! We had one of those arguments you're not supposed to talk about, the ones where you say some harsh things, throw some low blows. He essentially told me to get over myself and pull it together!
Myki and I had such a great relationship because I was committed to engaging him - experiments, adventures and excursions all the time. But the move to DC and the new job mark a shift in my thinking. I've been so focused on getting my career to the right place, I'm missing the energy to really give Myki what I used too. I'm hoping this epiphany will help us get there and look forward to the fun we can find in this new place!
PHOTOS - yesterday's dress-up session - cowboy Myki and superhero firewoman mami
When I accepted my current position, I had been unemployed for nine months and relocation was not covered. So I came to Alexandria alone, living on my dear friend's couch for almost two months. Mike and Myki stayed behind with his parents until I could set everything up for us. My little one and I were apart for the first time ever. Hard does not capture how that felt for either of us. I was overwhelmed by guilt and doubt; was this really the only way? Myki went from missing me to worried about me to scared for me. He just knew something wasn't right.
Our reunion was bittersweet. While he was happy and relieved to see me, it was also evident I'd betrayed him; his confidence in me had been shaken. We've spent the last nine months working through that, and all the other challenges of growing from almost 3 to almost 4 years old. I've been frustrated by how difficult it's been. Myki has always been so easy and our interaction was easy. I could calm him, make him laugh and ensure we enjoyed each other!
I've been very much in my own feelings of frustration and almost a sense of loss for how it used to be. But this weekend, I think my husband may have snapped me out of that place of self-pity! We had one of those arguments you're not supposed to talk about, the ones where you say some harsh things, throw some low blows. He essentially told me to get over myself and pull it together!
Myki and I had such a great relationship because I was committed to engaging him - experiments, adventures and excursions all the time. But the move to DC and the new job mark a shift in my thinking. I've been so focused on getting my career to the right place, I'm missing the energy to really give Myki what I used too. I'm hoping this epiphany will help us get there and look forward to the fun we can find in this new place!
PHOTOS - yesterday's dress-up session - cowboy Myki and superhero firewoman mami
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Writing Resolutions
I can't believe I haven't posted in over a year! The whole layout of Blogger has changed; funny how technology has a way of moving at the speed of light!
So of course my last post was in January 2012, because January is all about new beginnings and initiatives. Each January I contemplate my goals for the upcoming year and writing more is always on the list. I had this incredible third grade teacher who told me I was going to be a writer. It was all she could say about me and she told anyone who'd listen - my parents, other teachers and students, the Principal - "Pamela is going to be a writer! I can't wait to buy her book."
It was a romantic idea and something I may one day accomplish. But it never felt like a career option to me, perhaps because of where I came from. My Dad owned a shirt fabric business in the garment district and my Mom was an engineer - these were very practical and lucrative professions. Being a writer or artist of any kind was a pastime, a hobby, not a future. And so I took more practical routes.
But literacy - reading and writing - they are like a therapy to me. Anyone who knows me knows that I have opinions on everything, strong opinions. I also have an intense sense of ambition; a vision for what I want my life to look like and for what I want everything I'm connected to to be. So here I go again, attempting to rekindle something that makes me feel so good - writing.
I recently saw a TED Talk that said stating the end result of a goal gives the brain the same stimulation as actually accomplishing the goal. Consequently, stating the end result (ex: I will be 50 lbs lighter in a year.) decreases your chances of actually getting there because your brain already feels like its accomplished. So I will not state a concrete goal, but resolve to do better. I hope that if I do, you will join me on this journey and comment along the way!
So of course my last post was in January 2012, because January is all about new beginnings and initiatives. Each January I contemplate my goals for the upcoming year and writing more is always on the list. I had this incredible third grade teacher who told me I was going to be a writer. It was all she could say about me and she told anyone who'd listen - my parents, other teachers and students, the Principal - "Pamela is going to be a writer! I can't wait to buy her book."
It was a romantic idea and something I may one day accomplish. But it never felt like a career option to me, perhaps because of where I came from. My Dad owned a shirt fabric business in the garment district and my Mom was an engineer - these were very practical and lucrative professions. Being a writer or artist of any kind was a pastime, a hobby, not a future. And so I took more practical routes.
But literacy - reading and writing - they are like a therapy to me. Anyone who knows me knows that I have opinions on everything, strong opinions. I also have an intense sense of ambition; a vision for what I want my life to look like and for what I want everything I'm connected to to be. So here I go again, attempting to rekindle something that makes me feel so good - writing.
I recently saw a TED Talk that said stating the end result of a goal gives the brain the same stimulation as actually accomplishing the goal. Consequently, stating the end result (ex: I will be 50 lbs lighter in a year.) decreases your chances of actually getting there because your brain already feels like its accomplished. So I will not state a concrete goal, but resolve to do better. I hope that if I do, you will join me on this journey and comment along the way!
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