Today was one of those days when I was extra tired. My feet felt heavier, my arms hung lower and my eyelids downright drooped. Luckily the sunshine made the driving to and from Riverdale easier. We went to bed extraordinarily late last night. We pretended that we didn’t have a baby that will wake us at 6:00am and we pretended that I wouldn’t have to … Continue reading Today Was One of Those Days
French toast is one of my specialties, so when my sister said she was coming for brunch on Saturday, it was a no-brainer. I make my French Toast ONLY out of challah bread. Usually, though, I buy the bread. This time, when I realized that the Fresh Direct challah rolls were going to cost me $10 worth of bread, I thought, can’t I just make … Continue reading Making Challah
I went backwards in life with my money making. Now that I’m in my 30’s, I live very much hand-to-mouth, relying on the man in my life for much financial support. This was not so in my 20’s, when I was making a steady paycheck and spending whatever I wanted on almost anything I wanted (within reason, of course). I don’t buy for myself now … Continue reading Having Faith in Life
Mackenzie turned 8 months old today and to celebrate, she got up an hour early – but compensated with a late nap. After returning from my drive to pick up Jake at school in Riverdale I found the girl still sleeping at 5pm. Strange for someone who goes to bed around 6:30pm. I was excited at the prospect at dinner out with the whole family. … Continue reading Celebrating 8 Months with Pizza (Is There a Better Way?)
I’m a girl whose raising a boy. He’s six now; I’m 34. How can I control the programming for a gender for which I hold no code? I want to sculpt him into a good man. I want to make him tough enough to take the punches and emotional enough to cry when they hurt. I want him to be aware of his happiness first … Continue reading A Girl Raising a Boy: What I Want for My Son
This morning, my two kiddos decided to have a pillow fight. OK, one of them decided and truthfully it was kind of one-sided. In fact, baby’s dad wasn’t really on her side, as you can see in the video below. This lasted for over 10 minutes, but I figure these 40-seconds were enough to get a smile on anyone’s face. The best part is that … Continue reading Super Bowl Sunday Pillow Fight
I will remember this January as the one with all the snowstorms that didn’t really affect me much. (I had to drive in it once – but somehow didn’t mind; I grabbed my camera and got some good photos on the way.) I felt terrible for the rest of the country, but got annoyed at all the Facebook weather updates and the photos of the … Continue reading I Will Remember this January
Two years ago in February 2009, I participated in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) where I made a blog post everyday. Since then, they send me monthly emails suggesting I try it again. I did it successfully once before (although I was one child fewer last time around) – and have been tempted to try it again. I figured a non-leap-year February is a … Continue reading Taking the NaBloPoMo Pledge – One More Time
This past summer, my new 4-person-family went on a road-trip through New Hampshire and Maine. We spent 5 days in Bar Harbor, home to Acadia National Park. It was beautiful (although not as amazing as Yellowstone National Park, a road trip we did two summers ago and I still haven’t posted pictures.) Nonetheless, the cottage we rented was adorable and it didn’t have a … Continue reading Remembering 29-36
We threw a surprise party for my sister this weekend. It was the second time we were able to do this; the last time being 18 years ago. My goal, on her 30th birthday, was to make sure she realized she was not # 2. She has gone through life doing everything after me – and with a big mouth, a matching personality, and a … Continue reading My Sister’s Surprise Party & The Year of the Family
I’m not one of those bloggers that publishes stream of consciousness writing. You know what I mean … more like journal writing or ranting. Not much for sentence structure or even direction. Just trying to type fast enough to keep up with the words my brain is spitting out. In theory, it could go something like this: I woke up this morning and my eyelids … Continue reading Stream of Consciousness Blogging: Can I Do It?
While the rest of the country was shoveling or digging, we were quite warm on our cozy rug. We did an impromptu mini photo shoot to commemorate the happy moment. Then we made a photobook on Shutterfly. Voila. (You don’t need to be a member of Shutterfly to view this; you can just click View photo book on the bottom left.) http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/flashslideshowphotobook/slideshow_pb.swf Click here to … Continue reading Snow Day Photo Shoot, Hold the Snow
As long as he’s been able to speak, my 8-year-old has been philosophizing, rationalizing and challenging me. He’s not just precocious – he’s insightful, kind and caring. I knew it was just a matter of time before he said something that completely paralyzed my normally loquacious tongue. We were passively watching David Turtera’s “My Fair Wedding,” and the boy asks me, “If you had a … Continue reading One Order of Happily Ever After, Hold the Marriage
On a recent morning as I was driving my 8-year-old to school, I noted that the usually congested West Side Highway was rather empty. “Look how good the traffic is today,” I said excitedly. Without missing a beat, he comes back with, “Hey, don’t jinx it!” I noticed this had become a trend and I wondered if I was partially to blame. How often … Continue reading Don’t Jinx It:Russian Style
“You’ll remember this day forever and yet he’ll forget it right away,” the pediatrician told me right before she stabbed my two-month old’s beautiful chubby thighs with the dagger – three times! A mother never forgets her baby’s first set of shots. But this was 8 years later. I felt more ready; I had done my mental preparation exercises. So we get there for her … Continue reading A Piece of Plastic Makes Injections Easier & Less Painful
The boyfriend is sick with the stomach virus and sleeping in bed. The baby naps in a room down the hall. The older boy is at his father’s house. The house is still and eerily dark. It could be the middle of the night, but it is just shy of 2pm. It is silent except for my nails clicking of the keyboard and the white … Continue reading On the Edge of 2011
The last blizzard of 2010. New York Stock Exchange on Broad Street. NYC. Jake in the snow in front of our building. Stomping through the evenly plowed masses of snow near the stock exchange; Wall Street kept the streets clear for business. In front of the New York Stock Exchange with the Christmas Tree. Pretty crazy that this is our neighborhood. Jake is playing dead … Continue reading The Last Blizzard of 2010: The Wall Street Perspective
I wrote this over 6 weeks ago and rereading it, so much has changed – especially the ROCKING, which is gone, gone, GONE! Sleep training is a tremendous gift parents can give their children and themselves. I cannot say enough about it – and because it’s such a personal issue, I won’t. I’ll just say that it has revolutionized our baby-centered lives. I am preempting … Continue reading And So the Days Go By …
“It’s a Bailey’s with three ice cubes,” she tells me as she inserts a red plastic swivel stick into the short glass and whisks it away on a small silvery drink tray. “Three ice cubes,” I reiterate, a strain on the three. She gives me a look back as if to say, “You think this request is something? You have no idea!” My immediate instinct … Continue reading Watching My Sister at the Restaurant
To my daddy – on his birthday. I don’t remember every day and neither do you, but between the two of us, we have 36 years of moments. We have memories, anecdotes, stories. I’ve enjoyed the ride of life with a dad who did his share of driving me around when I needed it – and now is happy to sit in the car next … Continue reading Happy Birthday Daddy
From Hearts Everywhere Week 2 was easier since we were based in one place (Bar Harbor cottage). I highly recommend staying in a rental rather than a hotel when traveling with children. A separate bedroom for parents and children and a kitchen go a long way towards maintaining sanity and recreating any semblance of the much-needed routine they crave. Reading back on my notes in … Continue reading Summer Vacation: Week 2 – MAINE
So it took me two weeks of detox to finally go through pictures and find the strength to post notes from our vacation. [Note – that if 2 weeks seems long, I still have not posted notes or photos from last year’s 10-state in 10-day road trip. That trip was sans children and had 5 times the amount of photos. I still haven’t given up … Continue reading Summer Vacation – Week 1: NEW HAMPSHIRE
Here’s what the cart looked like when we unloaded the car. (Car seat and baby not included.) I have notes on our whole trip (and lots of photos to sort through). Will post details of the trip here shortly. Today is devoted to trying to unpack and laundry, laundry, laundry. Overall – no major injuries and we all survived and made lifetime memories. Love my … Continue reading We’re Back
So it’s my birthday and we spent the day packing for our two-week road trip through New Hampshire and Maine. It will be mommy, daddy, 8-year-old boy and 2-month-old baby girl. On the road. Together. 2 weeks. I feel brave, excited, nervous and slightly crazy all in one. Here’s the plan – and what will happen is yet to be determined: Rent car in Jersey … Continue reading Getting Ready for the 2-Week Road Trip
“What did it feel like when she died?” Abigail Bresner’s character asks the judge character in the movie, My Sister’s Keeper. The judge, played by Joan Cusack starts to cry and I hit pause on the movie to wipe the tears out of my eyes. I am holding my 7-week-old baby girl and the thought of losing her when she was just 12 years old … Continue reading My Sister’s Keeper
The other day I got a piece of mail that had 3 addresses on it for me; two of which were printed on the yellow post office new address stickers. I was dually impressed – both with the post office for keeping up with the mail, and with myself for managing 3 addresses in one year. It led me to reflect on the year during … Continue reading 3 Addresses and the Year That Was
They said not to judge the character of the baby until much later. “She will change – just you wait.” (Winner of the most obvious comment award.) Certainly my daughter will change like we all will change – but her character, an inkling of personality, the crux of what her soul is really all about – won’t. Her character was born along side of her … Continue reading After 8 weeks …
I made it through the first 3 weeks without breaking baby # 2. This second rendition of Mommyhood is entirely different from the first installment, when I was given the title 8 years ago. Gone are the moments (OK, fewer are the moments) when you check on your perfectly angelic sleeping newborn just to see if she’s alive. Gone are the sleepless moments while she … Continue reading 3 Weeks of Mommyhood-squared
Maybe it’s being 39 weeks pregnant, but I don’t think so … this is human nature at its very core. So amazing. This is a wonderful documentary; highly recommend it – for those expecting – and for those that aren’t. It’s also fantastic to see how the core of what all babies need is food and LOVE. Kudos to mothers around the world for being … Continue reading ‘Babies’ Trailer
“I worry if I will have enough love in my heart for two,” a friend of mine recently admitted when I asked her if she ever wanted a second child. For those who have had the luxury of more than one child, it must seem like a ridiculous statement – but for those that have been the mommy of one (for 8 + years), it … Continue reading My Second Child
I’ve been a daddy’s girl for as long as I can remember. I called for papa while I was still in the crib and he would try to appease me; somehow mama never had the same calming power. Even then my dad understood me better. She would offer me a doll and I would shake it away – he came up with the idea of … Continue reading Dreaming like Daddy
I started this blog after I lost my advertising job in 2008. The pent-up writer in me found an expression for her pseudo-voice and a place to foster my insanity. By the end of the year, I got a rebound job that quickly spiraled out of control, just like any rebound relationship would. I thought when I got fired the second time, I would dive … Continue reading Back to the Blog
From http://www.hammermania.com I haven’t posted anything in over 5 months. I’ve even written posts about not posting and haven’t posted them. I have plenty written – all in back posts but never posted. Here’s why. Step 1: I got knocked up. Step 2: I had over 6 months of gruesome, disgusting, debilitating nausea that lasted most of the day and had me barfing every day. … Continue reading Me – Preggers McGreggers
This is what I got from my 7-year-old for Mother’s Day. He said everyone had to add the line about being kind; I wonder if he would have included that about me. I am most flattered that he thinks I’m funny. Continue reading From Mine on Mother’s Day
I can’t describe a mother’s love. It would be like describing a song to a deaf person – or the perfect red to someone who’s color blind. A mother’s love; it exists only in a dimension understood once you enter it. A mother’s love is uprooting her life from one side of the world and moving to another. A mother’s love is carrying a potty … Continue reading A Mother’s Love
Yesterday I spent the day in Central Park with the family and I took a million pictures of the flowers blooming in the Conservatory Garden. My sister told me that you can take the best pictures in the rain. So today, while waiting for my son at the bus, I captured nature’s droplets on the city petals. PS: Normally this weather would have me gloomy … Continue reading Raindrops on Tulips …
Sunday afternoon was a quintessential spring day in New York City. 61 degrees and the sky was as blue as the Caribbean I’m dreaming about (and will feel on my feet in 3 days). But somehow my 7-year-old son and I couldn’t motivate out of our pajamas. By 3:00pm the guilt was killing me. I had to take this boy outside. Heck, I had to … Continue reading A Modern Urban Sunday Afternoon
Today is my son’s 7th birthday. When he was born I made a pledge to write everything down – I didn’t. Next I swore I’d write him a letter every year on his birthday – I wrote two. Last year, when I lost my job and my son asked me what job I wanted, I told him I wanted to be a writer. “You’re a … Continue reading HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY JACOB!
A friend of mine tagged me in a note on Facebook. She conducted an interview with her 7-year-old son and suggested I do the same. I did – but my experiment evolved… My sister was hanging out with us when I was conducting the interview with my son — and she wanted to give her answers. So I documented those. Then I thought it would … Continue reading Who’s Mommy? By: Son, Sister Boyfriend
My six-year-old wrote this in school (in perfect handwriting, no less!) Yes, he has a blog. No, I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Social Networking: Kids.1.0 Tear. Smile. Love. What makes my world wonderful? I will tell you …Although I’m allergic to dogs, I still love them. School makes me smart every single day. Playing with Legos makes … Continue reading What Makes His World Wonderful…
Just this evening I made a discovery: my sister has a cleft chin. She’s 28 years old. It’s not obvious, but when she’s laughing, a cute dimple appears in her chin. Peek-a-cleft. My sister hates it and now has deemed that I have scarred her for life. She calls it a chin-butt; I call it a dimple-chin. But this was not my first cleft chin … Continue reading I Found a Cleft Chin When I Wasn’t Even Looking
My son, my artist boyfriend and me – the girl with a doodling compulsion made some art on Monday would be Sunday. Continue reading We Painted
I used to think I was special because I made waffles rather than defrost them. Then my boyfriend got me a waffle maker that even made my waffles feel special (see proof below). This morning, I made waffle batter from scratch. Presto deliciousness. The waffles were so pretty, they served as perfect models for an impromptu photo shoot. Then the Lego crew decided that they … Continue reading Monday Like a Sunday … A Day in Photos
My six-year-old and I get in our daily morning debates before school. This rainy Monday in late Fall was no exception. I tell him to wear the raincoat. “Zipper it,” I say. “I don’t want your t-shirt to get wet.” “I can’t,” he whines and I get on my knees to attempt the zipper. The silver zipper puller thingy falls off. “Ooh – can I … Continue reading Mommy Versus Nanny
I put off writing the ABOUT ME section of my blog for a long time. Partly because the Me changes so often. Partly because I don’t know how to stop once I start writing (especially about Moi). I tried to write a bio-type blurb and 5 pages of narcissistic crap came out. So I started a memoir. In the meantime I feel like I owe … Continue reading ABOUT ME
“How old are you mommy,” my six-year-old asked me recently. I’ve told him before but it must have been in another context. He’s asking for another reason. I’m not sure why.“34,” I answer.“That’s old,” he says. Later that night on the goodnight phone call to his dad, I overhear him ask the same question. This time he adds a follow up: “How old will you … Continue reading How Old is Old?
I was born with two grandmothers but only one grandfather. In nature’s rules of familial supply and demand, my Deda (Russian for grandpa) is a priceless asset; a family value very much treasured. While my relationship with Deda has spanned the course of three decades, our one-on-one interaction has always been slightly superficial. It seems that in retrospect most of our bonding has been when … Continue reading You Say Grandpa, I Say Deda
Starring Reena in a self-induced flavor exploration experiment. If it’s good enough for the squirrels, it’s good enough for the Russians. Supporting characters include my father, my son and my half brother. Continue reading My sister tastes a raw acorn in Central Park
I’ve always struggled with getting a song stuck in your head. When you have a six-year-old, sometimes the songs that bounce around the noggin aren’t always what you would have picked. Here is what’s plaguing my head right now: http://media.imeem.com/m/PJgsjQHLyb/aus=false/ http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://mike.s.duffy.googlepages.com/mp3player.xml&up_songURL=http%3A%2F%2Fboxstr.com%2Ffiles%2F3630169_fte6x%2F01%2520Imagination%2520Movers%2520Theme%2520Song.mp3&synd=open&w=320&h=50&title=MP3+Player&border=%23ffffff%7C3px%2C1px+solid+%23999999&output=js http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://mike.s.duffy.googlepages.com/mp3player.xml&up_songURL=http%3A%2F%2Fboxstr.com%2Ffiles%2F3630203_k3yfs%2FMickey%2520Mouse%2520Club%2520House%2520Hot%2520Dog%2520Song.mp3&synd=open&w=320&h=50&title=MP3+Player&border=%23ffffff%7C3px%2C1px+solid+%23999999&output=js Continue reading I Can’t Get Them Out of My Head …
The last day of summer and we hung out in the tree in the park. Continue reading Spiderman. In the Tree. In the Park.
HeartsEverywhere 