Please don't send me one more email about getting ready for
the holidays.  The
"holidays?"  It's September,
school just started, and we're still getting into the swing of homework,
lunches, the morning routine, not to mention learning how to spell all the
teachers' names.  We signed up for
varsity basketball, league soccer, tap, jazz, no hot lunches.  Tutoring and girl scouts have already begun -
got to keep the second grader busy and out of trouble!  Having worked in higher education for 20+
years, I've always loved the beginning of a new school year.  It's fraught with possibility and
excitement.  What will we learn this
year? There may be a scraped knee, a fragile friendship, a new interest in
boys.  It's not winter yet, it's not
Daylight Savings Time, it's not even October! 
Please give me time to enjoy this new beginning.  There's still Halloween and Thanksgiving
before the "holidays."  In
every store,  as soon as the school supplies
are marked down to half price, the Halloween merchandise appears.  And was there always so much Thanksgiving
stuff, or have I forgotten since last year?  Do I really need Thanksgiving tea towels for
one day a year?  Halloween and
Thanksgiving aren't what they used to be. 
Halloween, the most benevolent of holidays when children go door to door
in their neighborhoods and strangers give them candy has become taboo or worse
yet, dangerous.  Thanksgiving has become
tarnished by the inconvenient truth that more often than not, rather than share
a meal with our Native American brethren, we slaughtered them.  Still, I want to linger in the change of
seasons, for even here in southern California there is a noticeable chill in
the air most evenings, along with Santa Ana winds and the inevitable brush fire
warnings that accompany this time of year. 

What's the rush?  All
these reminders and great advice to pre-plan for the holidays so as to minimize
my stress have stressed me out!  We rush
through our everyday lives, it seems.  The
pressure to plan, schedule, organize, bolstered by the ever-present iPhone, has
made us a nation of futurists.  What if,
what's next, and when?   We are always
planning or at the very least, thinking about, the next big event.  We've been counseled to plan our outfits,
school lunches, and dinners in advance. 
Get out your calendars, add all the year's events, plan your vacation
early, buy now for summer 2013!  Full
disclosure: I've been unemployed for a couple of months.  I have the luxury of time and the leisure to
plan day by day.  Add to that, the fact
that my father has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.  As all too many people know, there's nothing
like a little cancer to make you slow down and re-evaluate your life, its
meaning, its worth.  In many ways,

however, this time has been a gift.  As
each day goes by, I appreciate the time that I have to attend to things that I
had long since forgotten or avoided. 
Last week I worked up  sweat while
cleaning out the garage.  I must have
been 'in the zone' because before I knew it, three hours had passed.  There is value  - and pride - in taking care of the little
things, most of which were put on the back burner as I valiantly juggled
working motherhood for years.  I may even
enroll in a mosaic class, something that I've always wanted to do, but darn
it-  the classes were always offered on
weekday mornings.

The past few months have taught me that to cherish time, for
it is precious, cliché as that may be. 
And yet, I yearn to go back to work. 
The solution? A sabbatical for working parents.  Wouldn't it be great if every seven years
every working parent had a few months off with job protection to do everything
or nothing at all?!  Like much needed
vacation time - and employers recognize the value of a vacation time - it would
serve to renew people's energies and commitment to their work.  Sometimes we need to step away from the
computer in order to gain a fresh perspective. 
Imagine what a few months could do!

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So I can wait for the holidays; please don't stress me out
by telling me how I can avoid stress three months in advance. For now, all I
want to do is make sure we have the correct, color coded notebooks for 8th
grade and buy a few new decorations for Halloween.  Even my teenage daughter won't commit to
having a Halloween party just yet - maybe just pizza on the pumpkin plates that
I bought on sale last year in my plan-ahead, be-prepared working mother mode. 

The idea of a sabbatical for working parents may be a pipe
dream.  Still, the notion of a 'time out'
or simply having the mental space to think about all the things that we neglect
or never make time for - there's value in it. 
Life is short.  It's high time we
made time for our families, ourselves, the long-suffering back of the garage.  And if you find the perfect pumpkin pie
recipe, please wait until after Halloween to email it to me. 

 

 

"No adults allowed," read the signs at NYC playgrounds, "unless accompanied  by a child."  Seeing these notices, I'm always struck by the thought that playgrounds aren't the only wonderful places children bring the  grown-ups who love them:  Your infant curls into your shoulder, breath soft on your neck. Your two-year-old picks up a golden maple leaf and clutches it for the rest of the day. Your four-year-old dawdles and stares at the homeless man on the sidewalk as you speed up your pace.  Children invite parents into a different world.

Craving chocolate? I found an easy, healthful substitute to a decandent chocolate truffle.

I sampled this wonderfully scrumptious dessert today, at a yoga studio of all places. If it comes from a yoga place, it's gotta be good for you, right? When I asked the yogi for the recipe, she told me that it was easier than doing the Downward Facing Dog.

If you're anything like me, some of your best ideas come while in some interesting places. For me, driving and running are two activities that allow me to clear my mind {be glad you don't commute with me!}. I think the reason being is that we are alone with our thoughts sans distractions from family, to do lists, and technology.  

I was guilty of overscheduling this summer – not lessons or camps, but vacations.  Is that even possible?  We all seem to overschedule our kids and lives, especially during the school year.

Have you ever thought what can I do to really excite my kids about a “Family” Vacation?  While younger ones can be enticed with just about anything sometimes, those a little older will only think of family vacations as a downer.  Their thoughts of course are how uncool it is to be on vacation with their parents! Let’s chat about how to refresh the “family vacation”!

 

I’m not being facetious. That was Lexi’s battle cry last week. Despite my efforts to have her “chill” and watch television or engage in something non-school related, she was determined to finish her homework and upon completing it, she asked me for more.

Back-to-school season is about to kick in, and parents everywhere will be breathing a collective sigh of relief as their kids return to a more structured learning and activity-filled environment. Reading, writing, rhythm and rules – my kids are already itching to get back to school to meet their amazing new teachers and discover what's in store for them.

Summertime Confession - There are those very rare and glorious summer days, when things are falling perfectly into place. I’ve completed all my projects. Deadlines are met. All FedEx packages have been dropped off.  It’s Friday morning, the weather is perfect and I’ve had a conversation with my employer regarding the status of my projects.