Got Mommy Guilt? Let's chat LIVE! TONIGHT! 9PM EST!

Come join us over at The Motherhood tonight at 9PM EST! We are thrilled to have been invited by Emily and Cooper to facilitate the down and dirty about being a mom and what role guilt plays in the parenting experience.

Got guilt? Bring it with you!
Don't feel guilty? We're not going to guilt you into feeling it.

This is a conversation not a lecture, so we're counting on you to interact, share your stories and or just hang out. We'll answer questions, we'll talk about whatever it is you want to talk about. Nothing is off limits, nothing is too serious or too outrageous. Whatever is on your mind, we'll tackle together.

So come on over to The Motherhood tonight, we'll be there waiting for you!

Go! Mom (and Dad) Go!

Parentopia: The Return

Re-entering the day to day of our lives after spending almost a month engaging with our online community of colleagues and friends is the reason why Aviva and I have been on hiatus. Later this month we'll be posting more about what we've been up to. Why promise this week when we know better? Life is way too hectic right now to promise that! We will write a recap of our summer of (cyber)Love. Not that kind of cyber love, not the kind you need to chase the children out of the room to read online. We'll be posting about the people we met on the road as well as those we connected with, and in many cases reconnected with, at BlogHer. We may have a few posts about it, now that I start thinking about all of the stuff we need to recap.

When I think about blogging about all of it, I start to feel the same kind of angst surfacing whenver I get an invite to one of those photo scrapbooking parties. I know I have a ton of photos, deteriorating because I am not keeping my family heirlooms in some sort of acid free container which could withstand nuclear fall out. And I know they are not alphabetized nor in chronological order and I've even written on the back of the photos using a...wait for it...magic marker and/or ball point pen.

When I get that kind of invite, it feels like I am boarding a handbasket waiting to be sent South at any moment. And I'm not talking a trip to New Orleans either. I'm not in any way dissing those who partake in the "S" word as my friend Lisa calls it when she is around me. I just can't seem to get over my sense of being overwhelmed with so many pictures to organize. It just seems like I might never be able to get it all done. Most assuredly if you are a person who scrapbooks, my sample page I made once at a party would drive you to drink.

BUT...

I did get some valuable advice from one of the "S" word consultants who felt my pain. She told me, "Instead of concentrating on the oldest stuff, begin with the most recent and work your way back. You'll build confidence that way and won't feel as overwhelmed." As hokey as it might sound, that advice has stuck with me. Sure, I never have applied it to organizing family photos, but I have applied it to other areas of my life and it's been very helpful.

With this in mind, I'm going to begin catching up with blogging, by beginning with the most recent goings on:

Our blogmiga Michelle Lamar's book "The White Trash Mom Handbook" hit the shelves yesterday. We've been reading her blog White Trash Mom for what seems like forever. It's interesting to read some of the posts about the title of her book, even Michelle feels conflicted about it too, because there is a contingent of people who think the term "White Trash" is tantamount to a racial slur of a particular group of people. What do you think? Is it tongue-in-cheek humor or is it now no longer PC? The book is filed under "Humor" BTW and we like it because it offers up more reasons for parents to enjoy parenting than feel tormented by it. Whether or not you think the name of the book is offensive, open the book and read it. It's chock full of reassurance that parenthood is not perfectionhood!

I posted about my plane trip back to The DC. If you want to read what it was like for me to sit next to the founding member of the New Mile High Club, head on over to DC Metro Moms and read "Airport Security: The Coke you drink? Don't even think about it. The Coke you snort? No problem."

While at BlogHer, I moderated a session called,"The Commercialization of the Momosphere; Ethics, Policy and Outreach." iMedia has an article about it; "It's a bloggers world" written by Nanette Marcus. Twas my first time moderating any kind of panel discussion and I'll do a power wash of it later this month. Keep in mind that Aviva will tell you I am my own toughest critic, so much so that almost any interview we do together Aviva refuses to let me watch more than once because I tend to be hyper critical of myself. I always see room for improving, room to grow, but admittedly Aviva is right to protect me from myself. We all need friends like her to keep us in check from time to time.

Please join the online rally for Paid Sick Days. It's about time our nation recognized everyone should be able to take a day, or more, off in order to recover from their own illness and/or provide care to those they care about! C'mon people, let's rally!

And I'll round out this post with a shout out to our friend Laurel for her awesome post about her barfing child and the Yak Pak*, which we dedicate to another blogmiga Lindsay Lebresco from Graco. Lindsay admitted she needs a Yak Pak ,not for her offspring, for herself. Just tryin' to help a mother out, ya know.

We're gonna get crack-a-lackin' on catching up. One blog post at a time so stay tuned!

*We are not sponsored by Yak Pak or have any other kind of relationship with them other than thinking the name is hysterically clever. We actually know Lindsay and are not affiliated with Graco either. Party on...

It's two,two, two posts in one: Loser Moms and Rookie Moms

Sarah and I have decided enough is enough and we're going to take turns kicking each other in the ass so we get on a healthier track. Sarah admits she eats too much and the consumption of da beer only adds to the extra pounds she feels she is packing. For me, being left handed and somewhat dyslexic has made aerobic classes an exercise in frustration. Given I have almost no equilibrium whatsoever, any kind of unsupervised work-outs could result in a lot of "I've fallen and can't get up" type situations for me. So, this is where Vionna Jones comes in to the picture.

Vionna is a personal trainer who will be working with Sarah and Me. Our agreement is she will work with us, and we will chronicle our experiences and progress. We encourage anyone who would like to kick our collective ass, to stop by our collective blog, Loser Moms. Because as anyone knows, it's going to take the entire Internet to get Sarah to put down the beer and get me to use my elliptical.

This isn't vanity people, this is for our health. Look, our hips don't lie and neither does our BMI. So now, we're taking the plunge and doing something about it. Maybe you've been putting off the idea of taking care of yourself. Maybe it's not extra pounds that are bothering you, maybe you've stopped reading for pleasure, maybe you've stopped hanging out with other adults.

Maybe you just need some more ideas to get you out of that parent trap we fall into when we only focus on one aspect of who we are. It's not tantamount to child neglect to decide you want to keep your pre-parent interests or develop new post-parent ones. As a social worker, I can tell you I have NEVER read a report from child protection investigating parents for hiring a responsible babysitter and going to a matinee of an Indy Film with French subtitles. Nor have I read a substantiated report of child abuse because a parent chose to make bedtime an hour early freeing up some time to read a book other than Goodnight Moon.

Maybe you need some ideas for combining parenthood and adulthood. This is a perfect opportunity for me to give some love to a new book written by our blogmigas, Rookie Moms. Aviva and I have spoken of Rookie Moms on our blog, and now the gals have a book we are very excited to recommend and endorse; The Rookie Moms Handbook: 250 Activities to do with (and without) your baby.

This book isn't laden with popsicle stick crafts you and your infant can do together, this book includes activities that focus on the many facets that make up who we are as people. The book grabbed my attention because of the inclusiveness it promotes among those facets. One which resonated with me in particular is parents can benefit from continuing to hang out with their non-parent friends. I totally agree.

It's very common for people to stop seeing their non-parent friends after they have kids. I think one of the main reasons is we become parent-centric in many ways, which isn't unexpected nor unnatural, but it does make it difficult for some parents to figure out how to relate to friends who aren't parents. Non-parent friends may become bored with babytalk, which is also not unexpected nor unnatural. But while we may miss our friends, we may be too sleep deprived to think clearly about how to make a bridge that doesn't include anyone lifting up their arms, singing and walking around in circles. But help is here...

What I especially love is one idea in this book which suggests parents focus on finding a common interest with their non-parent friends, in this case it is watching movies together. The book then gives a brief paragraph on how exactly to make that movie night happen.

And while the book is being marketed with new parents in mind, I found ideas in it which are absolutely applicable to seasoned parents too.

The book is also perfect for reading in stops and starts, kind of like how I've been exercising...until recently. ;)