January 6th, 2009
©Lisa Barker
This week I did something I haven’t been able to do in eleven years. As the only parent in the house I took a shower. And I washed my hair. And I shaved my legs. All in just one shower! For eleven years this has been a three-part process broken up by moments of answering the door dripping wet in my bathrobe while Jehovah’s Witnesses return my runaway preschool-aged son, of having to stop and referee fights over who controls the television, of answering a phone thrust at me while I have soap running in my eyes.
But now, all the little urchins are in school. I can lather rinse and repeat! My legs once again know what lotion is! My mouth zings from mouthwash not just a quick brush and spit while I fly down the hall to save a child from toppling off the makeshift ladder designed to ferret out my hiding places for cookies and other sweets.
I can now sit down and eat my breakfast and lunch.
For kicks, I mopped the floor. Mopped it! No little ones tromped through my hard work making little muddy shoe prints. I made my bed and picked up my own room because I knew that there was no little busy body dragging a shovel through the house on the way to dig up my roses looking for buried treasure while I was out of site.
I planned a month of meals and the corresponding grocery lists. I dusted. I vacuumed. I caught up on the laundry.
I started ripping up the old carpet in the boys’ room so I could lay down vinyl tile. I started making plans to repaint the hall and touch up the common rooms. Did the bathroom really look good painted pale green or should I liven it up? And what about those bushes I planted? Maybe they’d look better on the other side of the yard.
Finally the kids came home!
“How was your day?”
“Uh.”
“Did you have fun?”
“Uh.”
“Want a snack?”
“Uh-yeah.”
I was dying to ask them if they missed me. I hung on their every word. Suddenly ‘uh’ meant a million things, but nothing I could decipher unless it was: “Mom, you need to get a life.”
My sister said this would happen. The first few days would be absolute bliss and then what? All that time for myself was starting to feel suffocating. Now I’m inviting the neighbor kids over for cupcakes when my kids get home just so I can make up for the deficit of chaos and noise while they’re gone during the day.
Man, I can’t wait for grandkids.
LISA BARKER of Greenfield, California is a syndicated humor columnist and mom of five. Her “Jelly Mom” column appears on over fifty websites. Barker’s latest book is “Before I Had Kids I Was A Size 9.” See www.JellyMom.com for more information.
Posted in Mommy'sCompany | No Comments »
Last Minute Green gifts
December 15th, 2008
If you haven’t finished your holiday shopping and you need an inexpensive gift for the tree hugger:
Modella Jr. Fitted Weekender is a 10×6 little treasure for all of your hygeine goodies while traveling. Its black and sleek and can work for both the male or female. It has two bottles for pouring your favorite personal care items into. A bath loofah and plenty of zippered clear pockets to store your goodies for that trip to the parents home for the holidays.
Best yet, it’s made of recycled plastic bottles and only $8.92
Go grab yours at Wal-Mart and know you are saving the planet!
Cheers,
Laura
Posted in Mommy'sCompany | No Comments »
Global Wonders: A wonderful world of cultural discoveries
December 15th, 2008
As we live in a world of multi-cultural pepperings, we often don’t see an introduction of our colorful world and it’s makeup in children’s media. Now that’s changing.
No matter where you live in the world, exposing your child to different cultures has never been more important than now. The world has changed. It is increasingly multi-cultural and more globally connected than ever before. To succeed today, and thrive tomorrow, our children must build an early foundation of understanding and an appreciation of the various cultures around them and around the world. As parents, raising “Global Citizens” should be something that we all strive for, and this is the mission of Rashmi Turner’s company Global Wonders.
Designed for children ages 2-7 years, the DVDs engage youngsters with stories of fun-filled playdates where the characters discover and learn about other cultures from their friends and families. Sampling foods, playing games, learning culturally specific vocabulary words, and experiencing holidays and traditions are some of the themes explored in each title.
We reviewed Global Wonders around the World. Its filled with wonderful animation and has a plethora of key characters which your children are sure to bond with. My sons loved Lorenzo and Raj. They truly remained engaged and asked lots of questions which lead into a deeper understanding of the cultures introduced. We talked about children in their classrooms and similiar traditions/customs to the characters in the DVD. You’ll learn to sing Happy Birthday in Spanish and how to fly a chinese dragon kite to name a few of the adventures you’ll be diving into. We plan on purchasing the rest of the series and sharing them with friends and family this holiday season. Available at a Target and Toys R US near you!
Happy Holidays around the world!
Posted in Mommy'sCompany | No Comments »
Parents Critter Conga
December 15th, 2008
Put on your dancing shoes and prepare to embark on a wonder-filled musical safari with this colorful, creative and creature-filled percussion set!
My sons couldn’t wait to open this one. They have the original Parents drum set from a few years ago. Like this one, it’s hearty and takes a toll from any toddler or preschooler. My sons are 3 and 6 and they both got a kick out of this set. We love the enlongated size of the congo drum with a detachable tamborine, which my kids took turns pretending to be king of the jungle as they would put it on each others heads. There are whistles and maracas, snake drumsticks and a crocodile cabasa and clacker. They had the best time and played together with this set for a full hour! I love that the set kept them engaged and we put some music on for them with a rainforest theme and they marched around the house making up musical scores. This is worth the $30 price point and available at Costco and Costco.com (ages 18 plus).
Danny Elfman stand aside, there are new composers in town!
Posted in Mommy'sCompany | No Comments »
Nature’s Gate Organics-Fruit Blend Body Lotion-Pineapple Scent
December 9th, 2008
‘Tis Better to Give with a Cause than to ReceiveSatisfy your inner do-gooder and check someone special off your holiday gift list with the Nature’s Gate holiday gift set that gives back
The above is the first thing I read on the literature that came with the product I am reviewing currently: Nature’s Gate Organics Fruit Blend Body Lotion. How appealing is that? You can give a nice gift, and that gift automatically gives a second gift, all for one price. Everyone likes a bargain, especially in today’s tough economic times. This holiday season, these limited edition holiday gift sets will not only pamper your friends and family, but also raise awareness of the global water crisis and the partnership that Nature’s Gate has with WaterAid America (www.wateraidamerica.org), an international non-profit group which helps poor communities in Africa and Asia gain access to sustainable supplies of safe, clean water.
I received the Pineapple scented Holiday Gift Set for review. This product is attractively packaged in recyclable materials. I was very interested in trying the lotion based largely on the scent alone: Pineapple. I was not disappointed. This lusciously scented lotion smells good enough to eat! The description on the bottle states that this nourishing lotion features Organic Pineapple Extract known to soften skin, and Organic Mangosteen, a powerful antioxidant. It also contains Organic Cocoa Butter to hydrate skin and leave it irresistibly soft and supple.
I found that the lotion was not greasy and absorbed quickly. It really did make my dry skin feel moisturized without that annoying greasy residue. The pineapple scent lasts an extraordinarily long time, although this fact may not appeal to everyone.
This Organic Holiday gift set is 100% Paraben, Phthalate, Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate, Artificial Fragrance and Cruelty Free. It does not contain any animal derived ingredients. All products are Vegan. The products use all-natural herbs and have pH-balanced formulas.
Founded over 30 years ago, Nature’s Gate is dedicated to developing personal care products based upon botanical remedies. The original product created was the very first Rainwater Shampoo. They gave the shampoo away to their friends and herb shop customers and soon became a phenomenon all along Venice Beach,
This particular Pineapple scented product is sold exclusively at Whole Foods Markets for $9.99 suggested retail price and comes in a generous 12 ounce pump top bottle. Visit your local Whole Foods Market this holiday season and buy the gift that gives twice!
Other Nature’s Gate products are available at health and natural food stores across the
Jamie Pugh
Proud Mother of Three
Posted in Mommy'sCompany | No Comments »