Recently, the movie I Don’t Know How She Does It came into theaters. The movie is a based on a book with the main character being a working mom trying to keep it all together. I know I read the book several years ago, but compliments of my "mommy haze" at the time, I have little recollection of the actual plot.  I do remember hoping to get some handy tips on “how to do it” because at that time and in the present, I’m not doing such a bang up job (see any of my columns as evidence). Sadly, the only real tip I got from the book was how to make a store-bought pie look like a homemade pie with a …

When a family friend recently went off to her first year of college, she asked me for my advice on this new adventure. I started with the obvious stuff that came to mind, such as don't post drunken pictures on Facebook and if the homework calls for reading, the professor is not bluffing.  But then I got serious. My best piece of advice to her: "Take the first step." She looked at me puzzled. I explained. There are many choices we can make in life. If you want something accomplished, it is you who has to take the first step. Things don't happen because you want them to, they happen because you…

Fall in New England not only brings brightly colored leaves and crisp weather, but also the rumblings of yellow school buses. For many children, taking the school bus is a right of passage. For their parents, it can be a cause of great worry. Thankfully, according to national and state statistics, school bus transportation is extremely safe. In Massachusetts, during the 2000-01 school year, 8,500 school buses were on the road, moving more than 633,000 students. During that year, and many others, there were no fatalities. However, to prevent crashes or other problems, many parents should …

The chaos of 'Back to School' seems minor this week compared to the local tragedy that has transpired. I think it fair to say that just about everyone in this town felt sorrow at the needless death of a young life in Milford. Combine this with a rare East Coast earthquake and the pending Hurricane Irene, and you have a whole lot of family discussions going on. The earthquake (albeit minor to most who are from the West Coast), was another stark reminder that we are not immune to this particular wrath of Mother Nature. Fortunately, there were no major injuries or deaths associated with this …

As I was getting out of my car one morning this week, to head in to work, I noticed a few employees standing outside the office. Then I heard the noise. Apparently the fire alarm was going off. It seems that only half the office felt the need to actually evacuate the building. While there was no evidence of smoke or fire, common sense says to leave. But yet, half did not. This was very puzzling to me. Since we have been children, we have been trained to calmly and quietly leave the premises if a fire/smoke alarm is going off regardless of the reason why.  What has changed between now and then…

A report produced this week by MSNBC.com shared the little secrets that moms have: the good, bad, and sometimes downright ugly. It was based on a survey completed a few weeks ago. [Among other things, in the survey of 25,000 moms by Today.com and Parenting.com: one-in-five admitted to medicating their child to get through something like a plane flight. Half said they had knowingly sent a sick child to daycare or school. And one-in-three have used work as an excuse to avoid taking care of the kids.] What I found most disturbing wasn't the confessions of exhausted and depressed mothers (this …

When I was in college, I had the privilege of working with fourth graders. My assignment that term was to teach them about "greater than" and "less than." At first, I thought this was going to be way too easy and was almost annoyed by the sheer simplicity of it. After spending hours upon hours on the assignment, I quickly learned I was painfully wrong. While I understood the concepts of greater than and less than without much effort, for a child seeing the concept for the first time proved more complicated. It essentially required me to put aside all prior knowledge of the subject and look at…

It's that time of year again! Nope, not back to school, but back to vacation! Planning the Thanksgiving vacation to be exact. For the past five years, our family has decided it best to leave the state, and yes, sometimes the country to enjoy this all-American holiday. The reason for that is another article in itself, but does relate to family. I'll leave it at that.  At first I thought it would be difficult. The fall is my favorite time of year, when the leaves have changed, there is a cool, earthy smell in the air, and the idea of cooking savory food is tremendously satisfying. How could I …

A few years ago, I wrote an article on school bus safety for a local parenting magazine. The beginning of the article detailed my imaginary version of a horrible bus accident as this is what was going through my mind when my sons first stepped on to the big yellow beast. I wanted to grab them off the bus and pull them close, but I knew they had to get on it. The funny thing was, they were blissfully excited about the whole experience, oblivious to any harm that could possibly occur. Fast forward several years later, my oldest son asked for a Facebook account. I really struggled with this one …

Recently, I have found three reasons why I am starting to feel like a really, really old parent:  1. TelevisionWhen sitting down to watch a little TV the other night with my kids, I asked what they would like to watch. “River monsters!” said one.“Whale wars!” said another.“What about 'When Animals Attack'?”“No” screams the other. “I think 'Finding Bigfoot' is on.”“Lets see what’s on one of the other 300 channels we have first!”  suggests the other.“Huh?” I thought.  I remember when watching TV meant choosing between three main channels and two UHF (if you actually wanted to take the time to …

There are so many things to love about the summer: hot sun, cool pools, barbecues and relaxing. There are, however, evils which I dread. The corner lemonade stands and the ice cream truck are the two that top my list. Since the sun first started to shine on a regular basis a few weeks ago, I have learned to bring money in my car. Not for the luscious extra ice coffee or an occasional parking meter, but for a summer time toll: the corner lemonade stand. I don’t know if it is parental guilt that makes me stop at each and every corner in the neighborhood to buy that sticky, sweet lemonade or if …

When my youngest was a toddler he adored Doritos. I tried to keep them hidden, but he could spot that shiny red bag from another room. At one of his yearly check-ups, the doctor asked how his eating habit were. I vowed to tell the truth and told him of the Doritos addiction. His response: “Didn’t know he did the grocery shopping…” Well, didn’t I feel dumb. And so began the somewhat forced purging of the really, really bad stuff from the house (although the good stuff can sound just as scary … see last week's column.) Since that time I have tried my best to provide healthy meals and snacks, …

While making a cup of coffee at work recently, I was poking through the cabinets and found a box of tea. On it, it stated: "… contains flavonoid antioxidents. This is important because it helps protect against free radicals …" While unhealthy foods contain ingredients I can barely pronounce, like monosodium glutamate, sodium alginate and propyl gallate, healthy foods are now sounding like science fiction novels. I can see the back of the book now. "Alaina Johnson, newly elected president of the alien Flavonoid nation, is struggling to bring her people together in the face of a pending civil …

While I know my column is about being a mom, today's column is all about dads. Father's Day is right around the corner. This one always seems to sneak up on me each year and I always feel so woefully unprepared. It's not that I don't know my husband would just love some paintball gear or power tools, it's that these things just don't seem adequate for how much he means to our family.    Let's face it; lots of us have "Daddy Issues." I do. Growing up, my dad was not very involved, especially after my parents divorced when I was 7. There were the two-hour weekly visits that eventually waned as …

This Sunday, I had the honor of attending the Milford High School commencement to witness a family friend receive her diploma. It had been many, many years since I had been to a high school graduation - 1987 to be exact, and it was my own. As the graduate during that ceremony, I recall being tremendously excited and filled with pride to have my family in attendance. (I was living in Germany on an Army base at the time and having family there was an exceptional honor.) Sunday's event allowed me to be a spectator, something I have not done before.    As a parent, my kids are still many years …

Any parent will tell you that being a mom or dad takes lots and lots of patience, energy, and caffeine.  Even with the sometimes endless nights of no sleep, grocery store tantrums and sibling duels, there are really lots of amazing advantages to having children. Besides the first smiles, the unlimited amounts of hugs, and silliness that goes along with little ones, there is the not-so-talked-about perk where you get to be a kid again yourself. Since the birth of my two boys, I have come to realize how wonderful childhood can really be. Here are my top five favorite things I get to do now that…

Exercise has NEVER been something I did on a regular basis. It's not that I don't want to..its…its…OKAY, I really don't want to. Just like that ad, I have at least 100 excuses tucked away in the event that exercise even comes close to happening. As a working mom, time just seems to get away from me and with the little time I do seem to have, my couch and Kindle win every time. I really have tried in the past ("A" for effort anyone?)  I did yoga both on my own and at a studio. Absolutely loved how it made me feel once I accepted the fact that I may never touch my toes in this lifetime. But it …

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country." -- President John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1961 A Milford Patch article posted last week caught my attention. The topic of the article was a heroin bust that occurred in Milford. While the article itself was well written and showed our police force at work, it was the comments section that made me pause. There were only a few comments made, but two in particular struck a nerve. One referred to Milford as a "royal dump" while another deemed Milford inferior compared …

I have come to realize that I no longer need an actual alarm clock in my bedroom. I have animals to graciously wake me up at 5:30 a.m. with their barks, meows, whines, and general attention-getting behavior, like paws to the face. Between a friend of mine and me, we could probably open up our own Milford petting zoo. I don't know what it is about cute and cuddly creatures that speak so clearly to my heart, but douse my brain with a foggy haze of stupidity. Once I see them, I want to take them home, love them, care for them, and make them happy. Our current set of pets include a gentle, …

With mother's day nearing, all sorts of ads, contests, and shows defining what the meaning of "being a mother is" are coming out of the woodwork.  Often, moms are asked to best describe what it means to be a mother. I can easily sum it up in a word: worry. From the day I found out I was pregnant, I worried about losing the baby early on (which had happened once before). Once I hit four months and saw a strong heartbeat on the ultrasound monitor, I felt relief that lasted about 10 minutes. I then began to worry about birth defects from not eating enough vegetables, and other congenital …