Hip to be Mom» Mom’s thoughts

Parenting, sieved and seasoned to taste

Clairity — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:00:22 +0000

I think I’ve probably read all of 2 parenting books in all of the years after my babies were born. As you can imagine, with my kids being teens and megateens now, it’s been a while since I put Dr Spock back on the shelf. So you’ll excuse me for not having heard of attachment parenting… until this past week, or tiger mommying or detachment parenting for that matter.

I have to say I did glean some useful pointers from Dr Spock and company and I’m grateful for the free and plentiful advice handed down from older relatives. I value their wisdom and experience which, if you think about it, comes from years of having been there, done that. There’s so much we can learn from them without having to make those mistakes ourselves. I’m all for short cuts.

But still, me being me, I run it through my giant sieve for good measure and filter out the ones that fit in with our situation and beliefs. And throw in a few of my own. And that’s basically my randomly put together, sieved and seasoned to taste parenting style. What’s yours?

Weekly Schmooze #5 and Happy Mother’s Day

Clairity — Sun, 13 May 2012 03:30:42 +0000

1. Quick tip: If you tend to procrastinate on running a certain errand, it actually helps to sandwich it between those that are a little less of a drag.

2. I don’t know what the big deal is about Zuckerberg wearing his hoodie to a meeting with prospective investors. At least it’s not indecent. Just look at the skirts our young women wear to work which barely cover their another-word-for-donkeys.

3. In “The Avengers” movie, the Black Widow says Loki has killed n number of people in n days and Thor replies, “He’s adopted” and people are upset and take it to mean it’s being directed at those who are adopted? I don’t get it. (1) It’s just a movie, it’s not real. (2) He’s referring to Loki. Are all adopted people named Loki? (3) Stop taking everything personally. Where’s your sense of humor? ’nuff said.

4. I love and value your comments, y’all know that. But if you’re going to use a name like “Grizzly Bear Holidays” instead of your name (or your grizzly bear’s if he insists, personally I wouldn’t argue with a bear), then your comment just won’t get approved.

5. Oh, that’s right, it’s Mother’s Day. How will I be celebrating? Good question, I’m not sure if I will be. I liked it when it was a little less commercialized. I’m not sure, we’ll see. Anyhoo, here’s wishing Happy Mother’s Day to moms, MILs, grandmothers, aunts and let’s not forget, any woman who’s ever played the role of mother to a child who’s needed one.

6. Picture of the week: Kiehl’s has a guy handing out free candyfloss and Skye got handed one. We each took a teeny bit of it and the rest went into the trash bin. We feel really guilty about throwing away food but sorry, Candyfloss, you’re just too sweet!

Too big

Clairity — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:13:33 +0000

The other day, I was rummaging through my closet full of old business suits looking for something that Raine could wear to her public speaking class. Back when I was a slave at Corporate Tower, I used to be 1.5 times the size that I am now.

My work days revolved mostly around meetings. I was juggling multiple projects and sitting on multiple steering committees, all of which involved long meetings and sometimes even web conferencing from ActConferencing.com with business associates in other parts of the world.

Oftentimes, our meetings would spill into lunch. Big heavy lunches at classy restaurants. At least they gave us something to look forward to after hours of being holed up in the conference room. Having a boss with a taste for fine cuisine is great but not for my waistline.

I never exercised because there just weren’t enough hours in a day. Weekends and those few precious hours after work were totally dedicated to my 3 kids. As a result, my suit sizes went up, up and away. I don’t think I was ever fat, just flabby in all the wrong places.

Well, I tried on some of my old business suits the other day and they’re all too big for me now. And that, I believe, is a good thing.

In the presence of beauty

Clairity — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:33:25 +0000

So there we were, the girls and I, waiting for our lunch to be served when who should strut in with a wisp of a 10-year-old girl but the beauty queen herself? I say strut, not walk because that’s simply the grace with which beauty queens stride. They don’t walk, like us minions. They strut. Head held high, shoulders back, tummy in and they make sure everyone in the room is watching them.

She was my classmate from the day we first tripped into school, bags heavier than us. Unlike me, she’s come a lo-oong way from tripping. Apparently descended from a line of beauty queens, she has, since those early school days, been groomed to become one herself! I completely understand, of course. Beautiful genes are passed on like heirlooms. Some have ‘em, others don’t and there’s no use crying over it. We can’t all claim to be Samantha Bricks now, can we?

Yes, my old school friend became a beauty queen. I can’t really call her a friend though because I was far from being in her league and she never saw the need to befriend someone like me. So our paths ~~never~~ hardly ever crossed. All I know is that she is tall and lithe with long hair and a brain the size of a pea. But so what, when you have genes like hers!

Fast forward to the present and there she was, ordering sushi for herself and her ~~almost anorexic~~ daughter whom she’s grooming to be the next supermodel or beauty queen, no doubt. If you ask me, her daughter’s a tad too skinny for a growing child. But maybe there are sacrifices to be made if you want to make it in the world of beauty, I don’t know.

Sitting in the same room as Beauty herself, it struck me that true beauties are often oblivious to their own good looks and seldom see the need to be validated by the world at large. That’s my theory anyhow. I’m not in awe of beauty, are you? We shouldn’t be, simply because beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. And to put it (loosely) in the words of our guy Shakespeare, some were born beautiful, some had a little help, and if all else fails, there’s always Botox, Spanx and Photoshop. Just sayin’.

Saturday Snippets #1

Clairity — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:06:29 +0000

The days go by in a flash most weeks. So many things happen that can quickly be summarized into short snippets. They’re just little things or fleeting thoughts running through my head. I’ve done these lists before and I like how easy they are to put together into a short post. So I’m considering making a series out of them.

1. Rushing around like a wild woman this week. Seems like I accomplish more under pressure. Anyone else?

2. So why am I standing there holding the elevator open as 4 strapping college men file in past me, one by one? And not one has the courtesy to say thank you!

3. Ramped up my workouts this week. Time to get out of my comfort zone. Now I’m sore in muscles I didn’t know I have. No pain, no gain, right?

4. Good to know that there’s one mom out there who is standing her ground and going, who cares what the herd is doing or saying, I’ll do what’s best for MY kid.

5. 41-year-old teacher quits his job, leaves his wife and 3 kids, and moves in with his 18-year-old student who is a friend of his eldest daughter’s aged 17. Following their hearts, oh gimme a break! She just needs a father figure and he’s going through a midlife crisis. My ~~2-second psychoanalysis~~ 2 cents. Mom (hers) is going after Teacher. Good for Mom!

The best Oscars 2012 gowns, or worst depending on how you look at it

Clairity — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:42:05 +0000

As usual, I just scroll through the Red Carpet gowns to see what anybody who is anybody is wearing to the Oscars this year. I don’t have the patience to sit through the entire show. Earlier, I tweeted “Looking very hard but not seeing any gowns to rave about. How about you?” and someone tweeted back that she “loved Gwyneth Paltrow’s”.

So let’s start with Gwyneth’s gown… I love it too except it would look a lot less like what Darth Vader might wear to his wedding if she would just drop that cape! The gown is pretty enough on its own, and with a body like that, she sure as heck don’t need a cape.

So what’s up with Angelina Jolie’s leg? It looks ~~broken~~ totally weird and out of place here, and in a few other pictures. Could it be a case of trying too hard to flaunt a knobbly knee, you think ?

And if Sandra Bullock’s dress is somewhat oversized, …

… then surely J Lo’s dress is so tight it sorta got ripped at the neckline and sleeves. Heard she had an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction ala Janet Jackson. Nice concept of a Cleopatra-ish dress but… if you would just zip it up a little, then maybe things won’t fall out, ya know?

So we’re left with Cameron Diaz who, we-ell, looks reasonably good in her Gucci.

So where have all the good gowns gone?