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I Blinked - And You Turned 10

I've been lamenting of late that my children are growing too fast.  My eldest just turned ten a few Friday's back.  It all seems to be slipping away...

I wrote about it today on The Mid.  Bring tissues.

Image Credit (Edited): Photostock / freedigitalphotos.net

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The Grandmother Diaries - A Chance Encounter

I've been flipping through Gran's diary - and I came across an interesting entry on Saturday March 21, 1987:

Sunny - warm.  Lazy - did puzzle (escaping).  Must go for a walk.

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• Disclaimer
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Crawl-A-Thon Doping Controversy

I'm trying to expand my writing - today MockMom has hosted my first satire piece - pop over and have a look!

image credit:  imagerymajestic / freedigitalphotos.net

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The Diaper Continuum - From Clean to Why Did I Reproduce?

I'm excited to be over at Sammiches and Psych Meds with my piece "The Diaper Continuum" - click the link and have a look!!

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The Grandmother Diaries: I Opened the Box

I finally jumped into Pandora’s box.  I pulled out a handful of Gran’s journals today.  I’m starting with 1987 – as it seems to be the earliest I found.   Just the first page brings back memories.  It's yellow, curled a little and smells faintly of cigarettes.  She lists the times of her favorite  TV shows – Jack Benny, Hollywood Squares, Barney Miller, Lucy.  I remember watching them with her, she on her green fuzzy swivel chair with the table and lamp beside it.  A half chewed pencil, a crossword book and an overfilled ashtray.  I sat on the brown shag carpet, watching with her and sniggering as she shouted her version of explosives at the screen during the game shows. (Her version because she was a lady. And ladies don't use bad language.)

She would have been retired for a few years by this point - spending her days doing crosswords, having lunch with her lady friends, watching TV and going bowling with the league.  We spent a bit of time with her - we were older by this point and likely able to spend time on our own at home, but for the longer periods Gran's was where we went.

Guest Post: Update - I Still Hate My Job

If you're a regular reader, you've probably been wondering what happened to my anonymous blogging friend who was having job issues.  Thanks to you all for being supportive.  She's provided an update today.

Image Credit (edited):  stockimages / freedigitalphotos.net

#1000Speak - Accepting and Moving On

If you haven't read about #1000Speak before, check out these posts...

• Be compassion. Feel compassion. Live compassion. 
• Compassion for the Bully
• #1000Speak for Charleston, Ferguson and Paris...
• Re-connecting with Yourself
• Compassion for the Earth

If you have, then you may know that this month's topic is acceptance.  

This morning, I delved into my Gran's diaries.  More on that to come next Monday.  But for today, I think digging through a couple of them has actually given me a bit of perspective.  It's shown me that I was not compassionate - and perhaps I needed to be.

Germ Warfare: Daycare is Contagious and There Is No Vaccine

From the outside daycare looks like a smiling happy group of children who spend the day playing and learning, holding hands and singing songs. Those of us who have spent time in the trenches know the real, seedy truth:  daycare is a germ-infested environment that would horrify even hazmat-suit-wearing CDC staff. 

I'm excited to have my first piece featured at ScaryMommy today!

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Building Strong Children

I love those little revalations that come with spending time with family.  I'm just back from a week's holiday in Canada - my mother, her dog, and my niece joined us.  My mom reminded me of a number of things that happened when I was a child.  And one little comment sent me spinning.  She suggested I had to feel a bit sorry for my father, because after his father died, he was the one who had to deal with his mother's anxieties and quirks.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I have my own little anxieties and quirks.  But I was struck by the fact that my father had had to deal with his mother in that way, then I had to deal with his anxieites.  And when he was out of my life, I sought someone who had an even more complicated set of anxieties.  And I tried to fix them, because I couldn't fix my father - any more than he could fix his mother.  And somehow, any more than he could prevent himself from passing some from of those anxieties on to me.

A Divorced Mothers Worry: Do My Children Need Therapy?

It's a commonly held belief that all children of divorce need some psychological help. It's not always true - but as a divorced mom, it is something that I've thought about.

Read more - see my article at DivorcedMoms.com. 

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Bad Relationships and Rose Colored Glasses

Years and experiences have taught me that if someone is wearing rose-colored glasses, they're completely unaware of it.  It's like one night while they were sleeping, someone slipped them on and they didn't realize it when they woke up.  They just continued on with their life, not realizing that if they took off the glasses, not everything looks rosy any more.  No one can tell them that they're wearing the glasses.  They have to realize they have them on and make a conscious decision to take them off.  It's like Bruce Willis in the Sixth Sense.  The glasses show them only the world they're willing to accept.

40 Pieces of Advice for My Children on the Eve of My Fortieth Birthday

I’m turning forty this week. I've decided that I’d like to give my children forty pieces of advice that I've absorbed in the past 14,610 days (thank you WolframAlpha).

Come over to Sammiches and Psych Meds to see my advice.

Ryan McGuire / imcreator.com

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The Slippery Slope

We finally go the car back after five and a half weeks - a week ago.  I think I'd been handling it pretty well up to that point - I was driving again, not having too much as far as driving anxiety goes.

Hubs was very well meaning when he brought me in the bill for the repairs - which was all covered by insurance.  As it turns out, if our new car had been two years older, the insurance company likely would have called it a total loss instead of fixing it.

#1000Speak for Charleston, Ferguson and Paris...

The theme for this month’s #1000Speak for Compassion post is simply that “compassion”.  I feel like it should be a simple thing.  Compassion. It should be something that we all inherently have as a part of us when we’re born. Something that we feel towards others.  That we don’t have to nurture.  That just exists.

The sad truth is – the world doesn’t work that way. Compassion isn’t automatic.  Although we’re all human, we don’t all have empathy towards our fellow humans. The news, the internet, even just going for a walk outside – you can see people everywhere who seem to lack empathy for others.

Value the Air You Breathe

Sometimes I just feel like America is doing it wrong.

Don't get me wrong - I am proud to live here - and I'm happy for all of the freedoms that we have.  I just feel like I've seen other countries that have some things more...figured out.

Look at the things we do to our environment - the way we continue to expend, consume and waste.  The packaging.  The bottles.  The garbage that we create.  I wonder what kind of planet we'll be leaving our children.

#AAF with This Momma's Ramblings

I have to admit to you guys...I've been really busy at work and my blogging is suffering.  I did just write a fantastic post, that I'm really hoping one of the bigger sites will pick up - but that will take a few weeks.  I didn't even have a glimmer of a regular Thursday post ready at 2 o'clock on Friday morning when I spied a #BuddyRequest for #AskAwayFriday. A little over 15 hours later, and this is the result!

But first, in case you've been living under a rock...let me tell you about...

A Movie Addict's Guide to New York City

While in New York, I realized that in addition to my favorite Doctor Who episodes, just how many of my favorite movies had been filmed there.

The first movie I can ever remember seeing about NYC was The Muppet Take Manhattan.  Hubs and I had an odd conversation wherein I explained I was worried about muggers while we were in Central Park - because some idiot had mugged Miss Piggy there.  Of course, I'm sure that he's reformed if he lived through the experience...and it was probably about 30 years ago...but still.

Live Your Life and Forget Your Age

I was admonished by my seven year old the other day for laughing out loud at the movies.  A little too loud in her opinion.

Mom...everyone is looking...

Act your age.

I've been told my whole life.

Act your age Liv.