To Erin: On Your 6th Birthday

Dear Erin,

You’re six! A few months ago, you couldn’t sound out the word six, but guess what? Now you can! That’s just one of the many new things you’ve learned in the last year. You’ve also learned how to ride a bike, ski, speak a little bit of Spanish, and build creative Lego sets.

That’s pretty impressive my dear, pretty impressive, and I’m not just saying that because I’m your Mom. O.K., maybe I am saying all this because I’m your mom, but what kind of mom would I be if I didn’t brag about my kid?

As much as you’ve learned, you’ve remained our little girl with the wicked sense of humor, infectious laugh, and mega-watt smile.

You know exactly what you like and what you don’t, and are quite aware that you’re not a “girly girl.” You are one of the most unique and special kids I’ve ever met, and I wouldn’t want you any other way. How could I not love a kindergartener who likes to watch “60 Minutes?”  Yes, if given the choice between “Scooby Doo,” “House of Anubis,” or “60 Minutes,” you’ll turn to the first two, but it does this TV news producer’s heart good to see her daughter watching (mostly) quality journalism.

Unlike your Mom (and Dad for that matter), you’ve got some killer break dancing moves, and you show them off to anyone who comes to our house to visit.

You eat with enthusiasm, gobbling up brussels sprouts with gusto,

just as easily as you dig into a birthday cinnamon roll. 

As crazy as you are at home, imagine my surprise when your kindergarten teacher told me you’re quiet and shy in class. I guess you save your big personality for your family and friends. Lucky us!

You’ve come a long way in six years kiddo, and you continue to amaze me in big and little ways every single day. It is my privilege to be your Mom and watch you grow and learn. I can’t wait to see what surprises you have in store for us this year.

I love you Nutter!

Mom

 

Frank Talk About Anne Frank

Just a couple of weeks ago, Olivia was reading the Rainbow Magic Fairy series. For those who don’t know what this is, you’re not missing much. It’s written by Daisy Meadows, which is actually a pseudonym for several writers who churn out dozens of books about fairies. Olivia can churn through one of these books in a day, and is thankfully outgrowing them.

I couldn’t wait for to her to broaden her reading horizons, but I didn’t expect she would go from asking for Rainbow Magic books to the Diary of Anne Frank.

But yep, that’s my oldest kid. When she asked if she could read Anne Frank, I was conflicted. Of course I want her to read it, but I don’t know if I want her to read it when she’s eight. I decided she could first read a biography of Anne Frank, while I re-read The Diary of Anne Frank. Thanks to the biography, Olivia already knows the basic concept of the book. For the last two days, she has been regaling me with facts about Anne Frank. As interested as she is in this amazing young girl, I’m ready to give her the OK, and let her read the book. Who am I to ban it from her? Well yes, I am her mother, and really I can say no, but I won’t. Sure it’s a difficult book with a lot of difficult themes, but it’s also one of the most important books I’ve ever read.

I’m sure she won’t understand quite a bit of the book, but I’m going to do my best to have a frank and honest discussion about what happened to this 13-year old Jewish girl during World War II. I’m also quite certain this won’t be the last time she reads The Diary of Anne Frank. And I can’t wait until she does have a better understanding of it.

Skiing Without Snow

Lake Tahoe is a beautiful place with or without snow, but in mid-January, I want snow, and lots of it. Unfortunately, this was my view from the top of one of the runs at Kirkwood Ski Resort.

Yes, there’s snow right in front of me, but it’s the man-made version which comes from huge snow making machines that run all night long. And even with the snow making machines working overtime, only about 30% of Kirkwood was open. That meant crappy skiing conditions for me, but the new, young, skiers didn’t seem to mind the less than stellar conditions.

Last Minute Instructions

In Line for the Chairlift

We traveled to Tahoe with family friends, and we signed-up the four older kids for lessons with two pretty awesome teachers. Before this trip, Erin had only been on a chairlift once with me, and Olivia had a very remedial knowledge of how to ski. Three days later, they were rockin’ down the slopes!

Here She Comes!

That’s Erin making her way down the hill holding a hula hoop. It’s not some aerobic skiing fusion, but a way to introduce kids to poles. From what little I saw, it works. Olivia used it on her second day of lessons, and by day three she was using poles.

She also took a couple of runs with me and her dad.

Dad and Daughter Ready for their Ski Date

I can’t tell you how immensely fulfilling it was to be able to ski with my oldest daughter. She surpassed all my expectations, and best of all, every day she was excited about skiing.

Even though I didn’t get a chance to ski with Erin, from what her teacher said, she grew by leaps and bounds. She was tired and exhausted every day, but kudos to her for stepping into the clunky uncomfortable ski boots and getting back on the hill for three straight days. We were going to let her off the hook on the final day, but she changed her mind on her own. That change of heart also meant she got to ski with her dad at the end of the day. I don’t know who was happier about it, Erin or Dad.

We did put Carrie in ski school the first day. At 3 3/4, the most I wanted her to get out of it, was getting used to wearing ski boots and all the rest of the gear.

Happy Skier

Well, you can see she succeeded.

This was our third winter Tahoe trip with the kids, but our first time going to Kirkwood. It’s one of our friends’ favorite places, and now we know why. Although the weather conditions sucked, you can’t really beat how close everything is at Kirkwood. We stayed in a condo within walking distance to the lifts. With six young kids between the two families, that was huge. It’s also a little closer than South Lake Tahoe or North Lake Tahoe, and anytime you can shorten a road trip the better.

Unfortunately, this trip also included a visit to the ER. Even though there was no snow, there was a little patch of ice, and Olivia slipped and fell hard on her elbow. I didn’t see it, but I heard it. She screamed bloody murder, and it swelled up. Based on past experience with broken bones, we decided not to take any chances and I drove her to the ER 30 miles away. Luckily, we beat the rush, and an X-Ray showed no broken elbow. The doctor thought it was a bad bruise, and gave her the OK to ski if she felt up to it. The pictures show how quickly she recovers, and we hardly heard any complaints about said elbow after the initial accident.

This is not the first time we’ve had medical issues while in Tahoe. The first time, it involved Carrie. She was sick, miserable, and smelled. Yes, smelled. We couldn’t figure out where the smell was coming from. A trip to a Tahoe urgent care didn’t solve the problem, and only when we got home did we figure out what was causing the god awful stench. Actually, our pediatrician figured it out in about two seconds.

The Smelly Offender

Inside that specimen jar is a fuzzy ball. Carrie apparently stuck it up her nose BEFORE we left for Tahoe and after marinating for several days up there, it smelled like something died. No wonder she looked so happy in the after photo. I would have been miserable too with that stuck up my nose.

After our third skiing trip with three kids, we’ve realized a few things. It’s hard and no kid ever wants to carry his or her own ski gear. Ever. It’s expensive (Very expensive). It’s worth (almost) every penny and parental frustration.

The Layover in San Francisco

He’s been all over the world, and now in his new show The Layover, Anthony Bourdain returns to my turf, San Francisco. If you haven’t seen the show, which I highly recommend, Bourdain spends about 30 hours drinking his way through a city. I didn’t particularly like the first few episodes because it felt like a cheap off label version of Bourdain’s original series No Reservations. Yeah, I’ll watch it if nothing else is on, but if I want the good stuff, I’ll save up for it. Well I was low on TV options so I decided to catch up on a couple of  The Layover episodes, and I have to say, they’ve gotten better.

Maybe I’m biased because I love San Francisco, or maybe it’s because he was inebriated for 29 out of the 30 hours he spent in SF, but it was funny. Damn funny. Any show that starts off in the Tonga Room at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel is bound to spark a fair amount of hilarity, and this episode of  The Layover did not disappoint. It was like watching a progressive pub crawl in fast forward and skipping the right to the slurred words and stumbling in the street scenes. I lost count of the amount of drinks Bourdain consumed. He had at least three potent drinks served with fancy umbrellas in huge lava or skull themed glasses. I’ve been to the Tonga Room a couple of times, even used it as a backdrop for a news special I produced, but never, ever did I try even a fraction of the drinks Bourdain enjoyed.

From Nob Hill, he continued his San Francisco tour through a one of a kind Chinatown bar, and then headed into another bar where the dude behind the counter wore a tie. Bourdain eventually ended up at a pizza and burger joint that’s known for staying open late. The chef and foodie is in one of the top food cities in the world and he’s scarfing down a double cheeseburger. Yep, that pretty much sums up The Layover. The show highlights people, places, and drinking establishments that you’ll never read about in Fodor’s or Rick Steve’s guide books, but still make you want to visit.  Hell, I was just happy Bourdain didn’t dog San Francisco again, like he’s been known to do on No Reservations. It’s probably because he was drunk almost throughout the entire episode, but Bourdain was effusive in his love for SF. I think at one point he even said it’s the best drinking city in the world.

After watching probably a half-dozen episodes of The Layover, I’ve noticed something. The drunker Bourdain, the better the episode. In fact, I’m watching the one on Miami as I write this, and Bourdain is way more sober, and it’s nowhere near as good as the San Francisco episode. So if Bourdain were to ever ask my producing advice for his show, I’d tell him to do what he did in San Francisco. Drink early and often. It may not serve him well on the flight home, but it makes for entertaining television.

Bring on the Playdates!

Its been a long three weeks of winter vacation for the older two girls and me. Yes, three weeks. That’s the Redwood City School District’s answer to the California budget crisis. The state gives the school less money, so the district tacks on an extra week to winter break which means one week less of pay for teachers. Awesome huh?

But I digress. This post isn’t about California state lawmakers failing our school children, it’s about playdates! And when it comes to entertaining my kids when they’re out of school and I’m off work I try to schedule as many playdates as possible. I was off two days this week, so both days I made it my mission to find other kids to come over. It’s a win win for everyone.

Here, in no particular order are the reasons why I actively recruit children to come over and trash our house:

1. It’s one of the best ways to get my own kids to behave. All I have to do is to threaten to take away the playdate, and they transform from hell on wheels to perfect angelic children.
2. Other kids can entertain my own kids much better than I can.
3. My kids tend to follow the lead of their polite friends and say please and thank you without my incessant prompting.
4. Major brownie points from other parents who can unload their kids at my house for a couple of hours.
5. I actually like most of my kids’ friends. They’re sweet, funny, and tend to bring out the best in my own kids.
6. I actually like most of my kids’ friends’ parents. They too are sweet, funny, and tend to bring out the best in me. Plus, most like a good cocktail, glass of wine, or beer as much as I do.
7. I’m lazy and having kids come to my house means I don’t have to schlep my kids anywhere.

As much as I may like playdates for my kids, I am counting the minutes until we get back to school schedule. They’re driving me crazy, they’re driving each other crazy, and I’m quite certain I’m driving them crazy.

Return to P90X

I didn’t want to do it. I really didn’t want to do it, but I had no choice. Too many potato pancakes, dinners out, and not enough exercise all added up to extra post-holiday pounds. So now I’m once again dragging my much flabbier ass out of bed at an ungodly early hour to work out with Tony Horton while listening to his tired old jokes that are still just as lame as the first time that I heard it.

I’m also retreating to the low-carb, high protein diet that goes along with the P90X workout. It basically consists of an egg white omelette for breakfast, salad for lunch, and a sensible dinner. I’m also once again severely cutting back on my alcohol consumption. No wonder I’m cranky.

It’s amazing how long it takes you to get in shape, and how little time it takes to get out of it. I admit, I’ve gone totally off the rails when it comes to my diet, but I’ve still been lacing up my running shoes and hitting the road a couple of times a week so I thought I wouldn’t be back to square one with P90X. I thought wrong.

I started it bright and early Monday morning, and two days later I still can’t lift my arms above my head. I’m in pain. A lot of pain. Let’s not even talk about my abs. Ok, I changed my mind. Let’s talk about them. It hurts to laugh. It hurts to cry. It just hurts.

And still I’m determined. I have plans to get begrudgingly get back out of bed early tomorrow morning and do yoga with Tony. I may however, have to mute him.

Wish me luck!