How Was Your Mother's Day?

(Look people. We know you are lurking. We can see how many of you stop by on our stats. WE SEE YOU! But lo and behold, we only have two people brave enough to discuss their Mother's Day? Are you kidding us? C'mon! Jump in, tell us what's going on with you! We wouldn't ask if we really didn't want to know! Would you change anything about Mother's Day for next year? Leave it the same? What???)


We've had technical difficulties. For some unknown reason signing into "Blogger" became impossible for a number of days. Short of calling Oliver Stone, we couldn't figure out the problem or if it was indeed a conspiracy. But right when we were going to look up Ollie, suddenly the Internets opened up and we were able to sign into "Blogger." So now comes the catching up. How was Mother's Day?

We're going to say it, we're not big fans of Mother's Day. We know, it sounds so "unmotherly" to admit we'd rather skip it than observe it. We're not convinced that Mother's Day is useful to anyone else other than the gift card companies. We feel more like moms when we celebrate the birthdays of our children. Because isn't that the real day we all became mothers? However your child came to you,if they were never born, you would not be a mom. But we know there are those who consider having a day where motherhood is acknowledged and celebrated. Where are you on the idea of it? Did you like it more when you were the child honoring your mom or do you enjoy being the one now feted?

How did Mother's Day go for you and yours? Did you find yourself feeling...

Appreciated? Guilty? Annoyed? Happy? Let down? Something else?

Edited to add:
Dads, chime in!

Find Us Over On BabyCenter

A few weeks ago we were interviewed by Evonne Lack. The article is "The Top 7 Mommy Guilt Trips--And How To Handle Them" which is now posted on BabyCenter. We're also happy to give a shout out to our Blogmiga Tela from Working Moms Against Guilt who is also included in the article.

If that article gets you in the mood to read blog posts about parenting and guilt, go check out the recap of Parenting Guilt Day from Silicon Valley Moms Group. You'll find writers from DC, NJ, NY, SV and 50-Somethings all coping, ditching, ignoring and laughing as they retell their experiences.

Brother (or mother, father, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, neighbor, business partner) can you spare a dime? Actually, it's $1.31 per year.

Have you seen this article from Parade Magazine asking for a vote regarding funding for PBS programming? Unlike the elections, there are only two possible candidates, "Yes" or "No." I've already voted. My vote is "Yes!" If there was an "Oh hell yes!" button, I would have clicked it.

I for one do not want public television or radio to go under and I am very willing to pay $1.31 cents per year to make sure PBS stays afloat. Not only am I willing to fork over that money because I enjoy PBS and have done work for them, I am willing to pay up because I am standing up against the ridiculous argument PBS programming can be replaced by cable television programming. Pardon me while I rant for a moment about assumptions that bother me.

Newsflash: Death and taxes are a certainty in life, cable television service isn't. Hello? There are actually people who cannot afford to have cable television. And you know what else? There are people who do not want cable television. Yes, they walk among us! I have even been in their homes on more than one occasion, and you know what? Not all of them could be described as dope head democratic, republican, libertarian vegan crack dealers addicted to Wii who neglect their kids and are anti-establishment fundamental Christian Marxists who unschool their children. Not that anything is wrong with that. If any of those folks support PBS programming, I want their vote. But the ones I am speaking about mainly, are in fact run of the mill families who may not have the cash to shell out, may not believe having hundreds of channels meets their need or just, big shock, enjoy PBS programs.

PUBLIC, PUBLIC, PUBLIC Television. IT IS FOR... THE PUBLIC. YOU.ME. EVERYBODY!
Do I sound like a lunatic? I know I do and it's because the very idea that cable television programming could replace an American Icon makes me lose my shit.

Now is the time when I modify a quote from Sprockets in order to express myself: This disturbs me to the point of insanity. There. I am insane now.Obviously I have cable. I believe cable is a priveledge, not a right. PBS, to me, is a right. I want us to fight for our right to have it.

But I didn't get this passionate about PBS overnight. This has been years in the making. My parents were/are PBS Junkies. In fact my mother's ringtone when she calls me is the theme from MasterPiece Theatre because if you haven't figured it out, my mama has a penchant for drama. When I was in pre-school and needed to be in the land of make believe Mister Rogers had my back. There were other times in my life when Mister Rogers was there for me. You too? I knew I heard an "AMEN!" Maybe a true story from my own childhood will bring up some memories for you as well and in turn and make you think about what we will lose if PBS goes under.

The scene is 1976. A living room in Apt. 7B, Brooklyn Heights, NY.

Twas the days before television remote controls, the days when getting up off the sofa was required for changing a channel and I was doing just that. As I started to turn the knob on our Zenith to another station my mother instructed "Leave it be please, PBS has a show on we need to watch together." I shrugged my shoulders as if to say "Okay fine." and then asked "What show?" My mother answers, "The Underground Movement." I consult the TV Schedule and tell my mother, "NOVA is coming on next so it's probably some kind of show about moles." My mother gets fired up and proceeds to lecture me about how I am incorrect. That this show is about the Underground Resistance Movement. She insists it is my obligation "to learn about the struggle of the Jewish people" and informs me "You must watch this show as we are Jews! It is our history!" To which I reply "Are we descendants of Jewish moles? Because I'm pretty sure that if NOVA is having a show about 'The Underground' it's gonna be about animals living under the earth!" To which my mother snaps, "NO! It is about the Jewish underground resistance movement and you are going to sit right here with me and watch it so you will understand how much our ancestors had to struggle against oppression! This is my history, your history and the history you will one day share with your own children!" So throw myself down onto the sofa. I am in a full-body sulk. I am glaring. This is what 9 year olds do when they know they are right and their parent is undeniably wrong.

The voice-over for NOVA begins and goes something like "Tonight on NOVA we explore life underground, from foxes and badgers, moles..." I triumphantly turn to my mother and demand "Tell me, which one of those mammals is our ancestor who fought oppression? Maybe we have a cousin who fought an opossum. Oh wait, you did say oppression, right?"

Silence. Had my mother been capable of shooting lasers from her eyes, I believe she would have done it. It also would have cleared things up fast had the New York Times television guide published this description of the show:

Underground Movement (The)
NOVA explores life underground, from foxes and badgers through moles and worms down to the myriad of micro-organisms that make soil the most complex substrate for life on earth. Included in the film is extraordinary footage of a mole burrowing and of roots growing.
Original broadcast date: 04/18/76
Topic: animal biology/behavior

What's your PBS story? Is it from your own childhood or that of your own children?

Whatever your story may be,I bet it's worth at least $1.31 a year.

A Day In A Life of Devra or How I know when I've got too much going on...

I don't know about you, but when I've got too much going on, there are signs and I have learned to heed them. Like yesterday for example. Having parked my car at a meter, I ducked into a store to get change for a dollar. After being given 4 quarters, I dutifully went back to the meter. Fortunately it only took one quarter before I realized I was feeding the wrong meter. So if you were parked on Connecticut Avenue yesterday at 12:00 Noon and you got an extra half hour on your meter know it was on me, Devra Renner, the woman who has been doing too much this week.


Next I took me and my overtaxed brain up the elevator to a monthly meeting where I am a rep for MomsRising. I'm not the only rep, the other one was going to be there too, but a big tadoo over at The Momocrats was happening, so she bailed on me. But do not hate on her. Do not! Look if I had Barack O'boyfriend answering questions on my blog, I'd be bailing on me too. We were just talking about something weren't we? What were we talking about before I became distracted? Oh right, my inability to keep myself out of embarrassment when I have too much going on causing my brain to misfire.

Being that I had a half hour before the meeting was to begin, I figured it was as good a time as any to visit the loo. I asked the receptionist for the key, she pointed to a basket sitting on the counter. I grabbed one of the many keys. Got to the door, put the key in. Hmm, doesn't work. Think to myself, "What's that all about?" Suddenly the cloak of darkness is removed from my head, the fog lifts, angels sing and I realize I've got the key to the men's room. Niiiiice. Back to the receptionist, where I explain the key mix up as well as the meter experience that preceded the key debacle. Like she even cares. I know. Shut up. (But know I still heart you, even if I used the S word. It's in jest.)

Finally I make it to the conference room to hear staffers from Pete Stark and George Miller's offices discuss the "Family Leave Insurance Act of 2008" On the one hand, it was affirming to hear the staffers discuss the bill and bring up their own struggles with figuring out the life/family/work dynamic. But at the same time it was frustrating because it's difficult to determine how seriously the higher ups on The Hill consider this type of legislation because it's up against economic policy, foreign policy and a whole menu of other items which often are taken far more seriously by our nation's leaders. However, like a wild ride, another upward turn is this is the second FMLA inspired bill to be introduced in a very short period of time (we're on Federal Government Time, this means anything less decade) with the other being the "Family Leave Insurance Act of 2007" This is more congressional action we have seen in the 15 years since our country gave birth to FMLA on February 5th, 1993!

Call your elected officials, let em know you want more legislation supporting care-work in our country. It only takes a minute to say, "Please help my family and many more. Thank you." Do it. I'll wait right here for you to come back and tell me all about your call and what you said, and what they said.

I'll also wait right here because I need to slow the hell down!

Cross-posted on DC Metro Moms Blog

A Plumm Good Family Movie

As Devra told you, I have been insanely busy with my way too fun production of British Invasion at the Rialto Theatre in Loveland these past few weeks. I finally got some down time with my family on Sunday evening after an incredible opening weekend and we all snuggled up on the couch to watch a new movie sent to me called A Plumm Summer. It is a wonderful family film about growing up in small town America in the late 1960's. The people are average, simple, regular folks with all the quirks most of us still have in our families today. The movie handled teenage crushes, "weird" kids, ridiculous FBI agents, and family alcoholism all with the same unobtrusive and gentle touch.

My husband and I watched with my 13 year old daughter and 7 year old son and we didn't experience any of those awkward, squirming, "should we all be watching this together" moments. When our 15 year old daughter called during the movie to see what was up, our son piped in with, "We're only watching the best movie ever!" I don't want to give anything away but suffice it to say your tooth fairy believing young ones and your finding first crush teens will enjoy the film as much as you will. Besides, it's got Henry Winkler, William Baldwin, and Chris Kelly (a guy for every generation) along with the adorable Owen Pearce.

Go see it. You'll be glad you did!

A little Q & A

Hope you are all still out there somewhere. We've had technological difficulties and our webmaster was off bettin' on the ponies. We'll catch up next week but in the meantime I will answer some questions people think we must be able to answer because they visit our site after searching:

What does schmuck mean? It means "penis" in Yiddish, but is commonly used to describe someone who is acting foolish or moronic.

What is the article in Newsweek titled "Girls gone bad"about? Spoiled girls. Duh.

Will soon to be ex-husband ever return? If his name is Charlie and you dropped him off in Boston, it's doubtful.

Friend's daughter has nits, do I tell her? Yes. Whether it is your friend or her daughter, either way you should mention it. You can work it into casual conversation like, "Oh hey, I need to run by the pharmacy and pick up some toothpaste. Want to go with me and pick up some Rid for you or your daughter? I'll drive."

How is Aviva? She's been busy with rehearsals for the Loveland Choral Society's spring show. If you ever had a reason to visit Loveland, this is it.

What is a pack n play? It is a portable crib made by Graco. We highly recommend them, particularly if you are a family that travels. Hotel cribs sometimes don't meet current safety guidelines. Also, if you are staying with friends or relatives, they may not have children or if they do,their kid might be using the only crib or has outgrown it so they don't have one at all.

What does your house look like? We try to make sure they aren't sticky or stinky, but other than that, we don't worry about it too much. The house can be spotless when the kids leave for college. Until then we'll just keep it surface clean as opposed to ready for royalty.

Does Britney Spears have a daughter? No.

How do you tell your family you don't wear underwear? All it really takes is putting your dress over your head. Just once.

What would The Fonz say? If The Fonz guest posted on Parentopia, we'd want him to share this quote with our readers:
Cool is knowing the difference between right and wrong and doing what is right with guts.

Parentopia May-nia

Wow. Just wow. All of a sudden we have so much to tell you. Our online and offline lives have surged and we're both whirling dervishes. We have so much to blog about, and we will get to all of it. But since things are so insane right now, it's going to be in bits and pieces and it also may be out of context too. But knowing most of you reading our blog are parents, it's not like you've never been interrupted or had to catch up on something later. And this is why we heart you all so very much!

Let's skip ahead to May and then we'll work our way back to April. For the first time in our lives we can say we are cover girls! In words, not in pictures, but who cares? We are on the cover of the May issue of Parenting Magazine! Parenting Magazine's very own Julie Tilsner also interviewed these two bloggers for "Kiss Mommy Guilt Goodbye!" and we didn't even know it at the time. Then we read the article and thought, "That is so cool!"

Love it when our paths cross like this! The Internet is so very large, yet so very small all at the same time. True that.


Two other May events are coming up fast and furious. We hope you will join us!

The first is "The Working Mothers Summit" being held in the Metro DC area on May 10th.

The second is Mamapalooza in New York City on May 17th.

Johnson and Johnson, GM, and Nintendo, Oh My!

The weather was, well... dark when I headed out to DIA at 3:00 in the morning on April 2nd. I was off to New Brunswick, NJ to be a part of Johnson & Johnson's Camp Baby! Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was the folks at J&J were hosting an all expense paid trip to hear about their programs and products in exhange for some viral marketing and consumer feedback via the mommy bloggers of the blogoshpere. In addition, Devra and I had been invited to join them as influential parenting experts in their networking family. Sounded fair enough and, besides, it meant three days of leaving my clothes on the floor, not cooking or cleaning anything, hanging out with a some old friends and meeting a few new ones.

Upon my arrival in Newark, I was greeted at the airport by a lovely gal named Ava (her name is almost as cool as mine). She brought a group of us to our driver who whisked (OK, not really whisked but got us there) us off to the lovely Heldrich Hotel in the Chevy Malibu (I'm pretty sure) provided by GM.

OK, I will do my best to NOT have the rest of this read like a bad commercial.

The first night was an incredible evening of fun with Ted Allen. I'll be honest with ya' - before this, I wouldn't have known this guy if I plowed him down in the lobby on the way to the food. By the end of an evening of wine tasting with him though, we were gabbing away. I mean, any guy who starts a wine tasting by telling us we can't eat the little plates of food we have at our spots yet because they're like your plates at the Passover table, I am definitely going to have a good time partying with.

The next day was filled with informative talks from various people involved with J&J. My personal favorite was learning about InfantSee with Dr. Scott Jens. This is a program supported by J&J which provides a free eye exam for all infants. Since my brother struggled horribly in school until they realized he was near sighted in one eye and far sighted in the other and simply couldn't see what was going on in the world, I think this opportunity is something all parents should take advantage of! As a matter of fact, I have already made arrangements with Dr. Jens to get information about InfantSee into my community. I also loved hearing Bridgette Heller tell us about the many things J&J Baby Care division is involved with and how they strive to implement good health all around the world. One funny thing - about 30 minutes after Dr. Charles Gerba spoke with us about germs, you couldn't find a drop of hot water in the hotel. I think we used it all up frantically trying to remove germs we had gathered from any fomites in the room.

That night we had a fabulous dinner at The Frog and the Peach sponsored by none other than Nintendo - because nothing says fine dining like video games right? We arrived to drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and, of course, Wii. Now, being a Wii virgin, I was quite excited and a bit nervous. The folks from Nintendo were very kind though. They taught me to scuba dive and bowl without laughing at me and we even got to check out a new step game that isn't available to the public yet! Once we worked up our appetites, it was time to eat. The dinner roles were amazing (remember, I live in Colorado) and I joked with the restaurant manager about needing to bring some home. Wouldn't you know it, not 10 minutes later the waitress showed up at my table with a couple of boxes of rolls for me! Now that's service. After dinner, we went back to the hotel (courtesy of GM, of course) and gathered for a virtual camp fire evening.

The next morning we packed up (how sad) and headed to the lobby for a field trip to the J&J campus. The administrative building was quite beautiful and the campus has an on site day care facility as well. While there, we learned some J&J history and gave them some tips for heading into the future.

Then it was time to go home. The J&J folks loaded us up with plenty of goodies to take home and even had sack lunches for us to bring to the airport. They thought of everything!

Overall, I must say it was a wonderful trip and now, more than ever, I believe J&J lives up to its credo and truly is a company full of "good citizens [who] support good works and charities."

Thank you Johnson & Johnson, GM and Nintendo for a wonderful 3 days and for everything you do!

We pity the fool who doesn't have April Fool fun with the family

Son One set our clocks an hour ahead. If you are like me-need java in the morning before you are even remotely able to formulate a sentence-then you know I am a total suckah. I woke up, took a look at the clock and puzzled as to why my kids let me sleep in on a weekday.

I walked into Son One's room. No one there.

I went to Son Two's room and there on the bed was a note written by Son One:

"Dear Mom, Son Two and I have walked to school. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine. It's not a long walk, just a couple of miles. Maybe a stranger will pick us up and give us a ride. Love, Son One and Son Two"

Now that part I realized was a joke. When I walked downstairs I had two children leaping up at me from behind chairs yelling, "Happy April Fools Day!"

Did you prank your kids? Did they prank you? Did someone else get you?

Disney called, they want their mistake back

Guess what? Phil won't be the only new face at the Parentopia Passover Seder this year. Craig Dezern from Disney has also scored himself an invite. Craig, who oversees PR for the Disney Parks, responded to an email we sent to Disney regarding the blogger event scheduled on Passover.

Craig did exactly what we would expect from a stand-up guy working with a company that understands a terrible and unfortunate mistake was made. Craig offered a no-excuse apology from Disney for their failure to check the date and realize they had planned an event on Passover. He said it was wrong, he said it was accidental and he said he was very sorry. We accept his apology, we accept Disney's apology.


PR folks, we understand screw ups happen. We're all human. But when the mistakes happen take responsibility, apologize wherever necessary, educate yourself or those responsible for the error so it hopefully will not be repeated, perform an act of contrition if warranted, and then move on.

This is exactly what Craig is doing at Disney. Craig will be meeting with his PR team and reinforcing with them calenders must be checked and there is no excuse not to check a calender. It is a simple, and obvious, thing to do when planning an event. Period. Craig also told Devra apologies will also be extended to those bloggers whom had been invited to the event and had to decline due to the event being scheduled on Passover. It is our understanding those bloggers will be invited to a future Disney event.

Learn from Craig and the way he handled the situation, notice he did not offer even one excuse, not one backpedal applied. Not even and inkling of, "We're sorry, but..." He kept it simple; An apology and a promise to do better next time.

And that,to quote a former Mouseketeer,is exactly "What a girl wants, what a girl needs..." and makes us happy.

How I Didn't Pass Over Easter

Last night we were driving home from our Spring Break break. The Huz and I were discussing the entire Disney Debacle, as it is known in our household. Son Two was fast asleep, but Son One (our 12 year old) was listening in on our discussion and occasionally interjecting his own ideas/comments. During the course of our car-based convo about Easter and Passover observances, The Huz, responding to Son One's question "Do Jews ever do anything for Easter?" answered, "Yes, your mother was once the Easter Bunny!" Naturally this newly discovered tidbit about mom surprised Son One.

It's not a deep dark secret. It's true, during the Gulf War, I was in fact the Easter Bunny.

It's one of those "Before we had kids..." stories. (Which, by the way, most kids really enjoy hearing because it gives them perspective that their parents have other roles in addition to being mom and/or dad.) I wish I had the picture to post, but it would take me until next Passover to dig up the photo since it isn't a digital one. So you'll just have to make due with the retelling of the tale (tail?!) as I told Son One last night:

During the Gulf War, Daddy and I lived in Louisiana. Daddy was assigned to an Air Refueling Squadon at Barksdale Air Force Base. You weren't born yet. During our first year of marriage, Daddy was deployed 11 of those twelve months. One day while Daddy was away, I picked up the ringing phone and on the other end was the wife of Daddy's squadron commander, Ann.

"Hi Devra, all is okay, Pete is fine, I'm calling to ask for a favor." You see, back then, we all prefaced our calls to one another with "all is okay, husband/wife is fine" because sadly, a call from the Base always made our hearts skip a beat because it could mean the difference between knowing your loved one is coming home and life as it were continuing, or knowing your dreams of the future were ending because your loved one has been wounded or killed. That is the reality of war. Your dad and I lived that reality every day during the Gulf War and during Kosovo you lived it too when Daddy was deployed for all those months.

Do you remember sitting in our backyard in Kansas and looking up in the sky as we both heard a KC-135 fly overhead and you pointed upward? Do you remember what you called those planes as they flew over our house? Son One answered, "I called it a Sky Daddy." Yup, that's it alright. So you see, this a lot like the reality many families are currently facing with the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a chilling reality our family understands too. We've talked about it a lot, so you know what empathy means; understanding we're all in this together. (cue the High school Musical soundtrack gentlemen!)

On other end of the line Ann is saying, "Devra, we are having an Easter Egg Hunt for the children in our squadron. Devra, would you please be our Easter Bunny?" I was quiet for a minute. Did I hear her right? I was being asked to be the squadron's Easter Bunny! Going thru my mind was,"Hello? I'm Jewish. I don't observe Easter", but maybe Ann had forgotten since The Huz is not Jewish? I gently reminded,"Ann you know I am Jewish, right?"

Ann responded that yes, she knew, and was asking me anyway. Huh?She then explained how when she was growing up she had once worked in a synagogue and everyone at that synagogue made her feel included, even though she was very openly Catholic. No one was trying to make her be Jewish, she understood that, they only wanted her to feel welcome too. Not feel excluded.

Ann went on to tell me she how she did briefly consider whether asking me to be the Easter Bunny would be offensive, but felt it more important to include me in a squadron event, than risk me feeling excluded from the event because I don't observe Easter. Ann told me it was more offensive to her not to ask. She explained her reasoning, "This is a time when we all need to be around one another. I know we're not all Catholic like me, we're not all Jewish like you, but I also know are all people who care about each other deeply. I don't want anyone isolated or excluded for any reason. If I need to figure out a way to include everyone, I am going to make it happen. I hope you will be our bunny." (and if you are reading this and tears are falling? Me too.)

Ann then told me she thought I would be "such a wonderful bunny", sharing how she had observed me with the squadron children at Hail and Farewells, and felt "your personality is perfect to be the Easter Bunny, we need someone to be upbeat and someone who could really play with the kids and get them to participate. Distract us all from the worry for a while." Something,she said, our squadron really needed as much as possible, given the stress the war is putting on everyone's family. The kids were indeed having a hard time. War is, after all, hell.

Ann wasn't at all surprised by my answer, "Ann, of course I will be the Easter Bunny. What time do you need me to be there?" After I hung up the phone, I went digging in our closet for Daddy's size 14 White Nike Hi Top's which I knew would make the perfect rabbit feet.

You see, my first thought wasn't,"I can't believe they're even having an Easter egg hunt in the first place when they know not everyone celebrates." No, my first thought was, "It must be so difficult for these families-my Air Force family of friends-to be observing their special holiday without their loved ones and since this isn't my holiday, why not be their Easter bunny?" Why not let them have their holiday, after all no one was denying me Passover by including me in Easter.



I also thought that if agree to be the Easter Bunny, this means all of the families observing Easter would be able play and laugh with their children, enjoying a common tradition, as they ran around the Barksdale Visitor Center looking for eggs and giggling like crazy. While it may not have been *my* tradition, it was theirs, and I wanted to be there with them and help them have it.


And then I stopped in my bunny tracks as it hit me that I meant enough to them, they wanted me to be there too! And that,Son One, is how mommy was once the Easter Bunny.



It is also known as the story of, "How a nice Jewish girl like me, wound up in an Easter Bunny costume like that."



The take away from this? It is better to include somebunny than exclude somebunny. All it requires is a little thinking outside the bun.

Oy Vey they did it again (Update with Weber-Shandwick apology)

We are pleased to report that within hours of our post, we received this apology from Phil at Weber-Shandwick:

Dear Aviva and Devra,
I just read your response to the recipes that I sent to you yesterday. I sincerely apologize, especially if I offended you. Thank you for calling this out to me– lesson learned in paying close attention to the details. I will certainly be more conscious about the content of what I send to you in the future.
Sincerely,
Phil

We responded to Phil by accepting his apology and we also let him know that our calling him out was done in an effort to raise awareness and not to offend him either. He responded by letting us know he wasn't offended in the least, and needed to learn to do better. Phil, dawg, you have scored an invite to the Parentopia Passover Seder. Mazel Tov!

As for Disney? We are not aware of any formal apology having been extended by Disney to Jewish mommy bloggers. Hopefully they aren't Mickey Mousing around and are working on getting one out immediately. But maybe they can't do it on their own, maybe they need some more help from us. If this is the case, Devra has penned yet another brief open letter. If you want to sing along while reading, go for it:

Dear Disney PR,
Disney, let me introduce you to Phil from Weber-Shandwick. Maybe he will help you write that apology? Phil knows how to make one.
Wishing you well,
Devra

PS: School is in session over here, here and here if anyone needs to attend a couple of classes about how to market to mommy bloggers.

Oy Vey, they did it again.

We hope corporations are paying attention to the mistakes made when Social Media outreach folks either are oblivious as to how communication should be managed or don't take the time to learn about the consumers they are trying to woo. These two recent gaffes left us shaking our collective head.

Aviva received this email from Phil from Weber Shandwick,

Hi Aviva,

I thought you might be interested in these recipes to add a little variety to your Easter morning brunch from Eggland’s Best. After the egg hunts and visits from the Easter Bunny are over, gather the family around the table and enjoy these tasty meals. Also remember, EB feeds their hens all-natural, vegetarian ingredients, so they are healthier than ordinary eggs.

There are also other great brunch ideas available at http://www.egglandsbest.com/recipes/recipelist.asp?catno=1&pg=recipe.

Hope you enjoy these recipes. Feel free to share them with your readers if you like.

Happy Easter!

Phil

Well Phil - Thanks for the links and the two recipes you included in your email. Believe me, having Easter morning brunch at all would definitely "add a little variety" to our family's weekend plans. You see Phil, if you had bothered to read anything on my blog or website you would have noticed references to the fact that I am Jewish. Phil, if you didn't get the memo, Jews don't observe Easter. We observe Passover.

Phil, dawg, don't be too hard on yourself. Maybe you just need a better office calender. But you are in fine company. We recently learned of an event scheduled by Disney in April. Devra has penned a brief open letter:

Dear Disney PR Team,
While it is lovely for you to plan an event for mommy bloggers, your event is taking place April 18-20th during Passover.
Human Resources called, they want their diversity training back.
Wishing you well,
Devra

Weber Shandwick and Disney why don't you read this, this and this. Oh and bookmark this. We're all about embracing imperfection at Parentopia. Fully understand oversights occur, we know mistakes get made, despite the best of intentions. Just learn from them, okay?

When siblings handle their own rivalry. It can happen without blood and tears!

I was just over at Goon Squad Sarah's blog and this post reminded me of a battle I once witnessed between a 7 year old brother and his 14 year old sister.

Brother: You ate all the Oreos, you poopyhead.
Sister: Well, you come from a used womb. So there!

Ed & Me or How my mind is changing about General Motors

I promised last month that all would be revealed about my trip to ChiTown in a future post.

The future is now...

The email subject was "An Opportunity...the Chicago Auto Show" and I almost deleted it.

Why would I do such a thing? Well, every day Aviva and I open our email and read requests from individuals or companies asking us to mention their product, program or service on our site. They tell us "your readers want to know...." Then there are some who blatantly kiss our collective tush by calling us "influencers" and those are the ones that seem to scream "delete me!" and we often do. It's not that we discount the value of being taken seriously, it's just that the term "influencer" has become That Word.

We already understand we are recognized experts because we've worked that same collective tush off in order to become respected, trusted and Internationally recognized online and in real life, as they say it. The fact is we're not going to take that same collective tush and put it on the line for just anyone or just anything. After all, there is a big difference between being a resource and being a mouthpiece. N'est-ce pas?

What Aviva and I have together is called a "powerful platform" and ours was built not by a book publisher or a hired publicist. Our street cred is the result of dogged determination belonging to none other than Aviva and me. It's given us the power to take on the world advocating the joys of parenthood on our terms. We want to bring to you the best of what we know, see and do. Honestly, and with integrity. Period.

We use this power for good. Everyone's good, not just our own. We subscribe to the idea "Power is the ability to do good things for others." It was with this in mind I accepted the invitation from General Motors to attend the Chicago Auto Show. Was I in the mood to drink corporate Kool-aid and sell it myself? No. I actually liked the way I was approached. No expectation on GM's part that I was putting my glass out to be filled and no demand from them that I pony up some kind of positive promotion for them. No special agreements, no promises on anyone's part.

I've already blogged about the great party I attended at House of Blues. You already know I am a maniac on the dance scene when given the tiniest bit of encouragement. Nothing new there.

What you don't know about is the dinner I attended with the General Manager of Chevrolet, Ed Peper. (That's Kim and Me towering over Ed in the pic, btw.)Before you get up in my grill about selling you a car, that isn't what dinner was all about for me. Sure, the team discussed their new family crossover suv, which was certainly expected, but it was the unexpected which gave me insight GM has made changes since Roger & Me. Starting with General Manager Ed Peper and the team he had with him from Chevy.

You know what Ed told us at dinner? He's a dad with guilt. Yup, he admitted it right there at the table. In front of everyone, "I have tremendous daddy guilt." Ed travels a lot, he is dad to an infant who doesn't stop growing while dad is away on business trips. Ed feels the pull to be home, yet knows he has job responsibilities and employees to take care of as well. Fair enough to say this isn't exactly news, but I don't know all that many folks who used to be in Ed's corporate position Back In The Day who would discuss that fact at a business dinner. This was my first experience with radical transparency. And it was damn refreshing.

Not only did Ed's admission bring a new level of humanity to a business meeting, it also paved the way to discuss the difference between that which is concierge service and that which is true family benefit offered across the entire employee spectrum; from workers on the assembly line all the way up to absolving Ed of his daddy guilt. Ed was listening, his team was listening to Ed and I think everyone came away from that dinner feeling a little bit surprised, but in a really good way.

I am going to keep track and see what happens next because GM seems to be trying to figure out how to not only provide a new vehicle that will take consumer families where they need to go, but try new ways to go where their own corporation's families need them to be. I'm heading to Spring Hill TN in a couple of days to visit the plant where the Traverse will be made. Look for another post about that soon.