Live and Let Di

Why Haven't You Written?

My friend Vicky just shared her new blog with me, Mom of Merrill Manor. Her decision to write, the quality of her writing and the diversity of her subject matter inspired me to get my fingers back to the keyboard, writing something more than once a week and more than 420 characters long. (That's the space limit on Facebook statuses...you can find me here for those.)

For the past 2+ years, I have been writing a weekly blog for the Raleigh News & Observer's TriangleMom2Mom page. I love it and it does give me some structure having a weekly deadline instead of this blog's "whenever I feel like it" deadline. But, I am somewhat topically limited since I have to make my posts at least remotely related to motherhood. I'm proud of my work there, love my editor and love the other bloggers. We get lots of traffic, so I know I'm being read. Plus, we just started up a Book Club and we're fiddling with it to see how it goes, who is interested, what kinds of books we should choose, etc. This month, we are reading Celia Rivenbark's We're Just Like You, Only Prettier: Confessions of a Tarnished Southern Belle. What is REALLY cool is that Celia Rivenbark is somewhat of a local here and has participated in the discussion, once referring to me as "the fabulous Di." I told my friends they could just call me TFD.

I'm hoping to use some self-imposed structure to get this old site back up and running and reconnect with some readers with whom I've lost touch. Here I can explore riveting subjects such as:

OMG...you are seriously going to be able to PAY SOMEONE your part of the lunch tab just by touching phones.

The pretend stock portfolio I am going to start with my pretend $10,000.

Why I'm going to watch Oprah today.

How Facebook may have sucked the life out of my writing.

So, tune in...and if you don't hear from me for a few days, get on me...don't let me get away with it! No excuses.

Di

Evolution of a Blogger

I forgot to mention that my weekly blog for the News & Observer's Triangle Mom2Mom site has now moved to Wednesdays. I'm excited about it because I think Wednesday probably gets a little more traffic than Saturday...because people will read it while they are goofing off at work!

Click on the fine piece of writing below to learn more about what it is to be a mother from my 3rd grade perspective.

I'm rethinking the second to last line now as I ponder how long it takes my husband to get ready to go out!

Di

Never Say Never

The theme of my TriangleMom2Mom blog this week is how your parenting "nevers" eventually turn into "whatevers."

Here's a peek:

No food anywhere but the kitchen
No food anywhere but the kitchen and TV room
No food in your bedroom
No food in your bedroom. Really. I mean it.
If we have to call an exterminator one more time, you are paying for it!

To read more, click here.

Di

In your Facebook!

Click here to read my weekly post on TriangleMom2Mom where I weigh in on teenagers, Facebook and the influx of parents with Facebook pages!

I can hardly wait for my daughter to comment!!!

Di

Karma in the Triangle

Stuff like this just blows me away. My blog from last week about the magical bookseller ran in the paper today. It happened that my editor met a woman who had read my blog and referenced it in her blog!

So, if you get a chance, read MojoMom, and especially today's post:

Be good neighbor to your local merchants this holiday

To Amy, author of MojoMom, thank you for reading and sharing with your readers. And I just added your book, Mojo Mom, to my Christmas List. I hope whoever gets it for me gets it at Market Street Books or Quail Ridge Books. Support our local bookstores.

Di

Migrant Mother

***This post is also running on the TriangleMom2Mom site where I write each week***

As I was eating breakfast with my 12 year old son the other day, I saw a story online about the famous “Migrant Mother” photo taken by Dorothy Lange in 1936, that captured the pain and hopelessness people felt during the Great Depression.

 There has been a lot of discussion in my family about gas prices, the stock market, lack of jobs and the far-reaching effects of the current state of our economy.

I showed my son the picture and told him that the subject of the picture, Florence Owens Thompson, had seven children and that she and her family had to live in tents or cars as they traveled from farm to farm in California picking cotton. I wanted him to understand how devastating that time was and, I guess, how fortunate we are today. I said, “Her kids didn’t even get to go to school. They worked in the fields with their Mom every day just to survive.”

His response, “Well, I guess that’s what she gets for putting all of her money in the stock market.” A fuller explanation of the Depression followed, an explanation that I hope he gets when he is taking American History in high school. I feel that as we get further and further away from historical events, they become defined by one particular thing and the details are lost. For many, the stock market crash equals the Depression just like “Let them eat cake” defines the French Revolution.

As we experience our current economic situation and I see the effects on us and people close to us, I hope that history doesn’t repeat itself, plunging us into the bleak times of the Depression. And most of all, I hope that we can tear ourselves away from the news channels, their constant stock market analysis, their sterile statistics on unemployment rates and their talk of multi-billion dollar bail-outs and remember that, like the Migrant Mother in the 1930s, there are individuals, families and children whose very survival is impacted by the economy today.

I hope we don’t see the percentage of unemployed without remembering that the people who comprise that percentage are struggling to put food on their tables and making decisions between purchasing their prescriptions and paying the electric bill. I hope that the economic good fortune that many of us have experienced for most of our lives, doesn’t make us view those who are in need as slackers who collect welfare and would be fine if they just got off the couch and got a job. I have heard this sentiment on several occasions from many different people. Call me a Liberal, a label I wear proudly, but this opinion is appalling to me!

The Migrant Mother in the picture was 32 years old when the picture was taken. Look at the picture again. Think about it.

Di

If I Could Save Time in a Ziploc

Pop on over to Triangle Mom2Mom for new strategy for making lunch preparation for the brown bag crowd easier and more efficient...with kudos to my friend Pilar who gave me all the ideas!!!

Di

Saturday's Blog

OK...it's a repeat of my recent blog about Comfort by Ann Hood, but with an added bonus of a photograph that I took that I am really proud of:

http://www.trianglemom2mom.com/content/grief

Baby Shower Faux Pas

Just when you thought that etiquette was making a comeback (my kids say "yes, Ma'am" and "yes Sir" and call my friends Miss [First Name]...hey...it's the South!) people who probably won't even write thank you notes began demanding gifts from their shower invitees.

Read about it in my weekly blog for the Raleigh News & Observer:

Baby Showers Bring Mad Glowers

And if you don't feel like clicking on that link and reading that brilliant post, you could just click on this one and see some really cute and unique gifts for Baby Showers:

Xtraordinary Gifts

And if you are just so incredibly uninspired to click THAT link, here are some pictures of the cute baby shower gifts (with thanks to Karen Anderson for permission to use the pictures:

I would SO much rather walk into a shower with one of these adorable gifts than a package of disposable diapers (a special "gift from the heart") to be eligible for a special drawing. Sheesh!

Special thanks to Christine at What-A-Mother for inspiring me to write about this!

Di

 

Tooth Fairy - International Woman of Mystery

Read about a new approach to the tooth fairy that has kids believing long after they've given up on Santa in my weekly N&O Mom2Mom blog:

http://www.trianglemom2mom.com/content/tooth-fairy-international-woman-mystery