77kids Do Good Day

The awesome Boston 77kids Do Good Day team didn't let the threat of rain hamper their Do Good efforts on July 14. And what exactly was Do Good Day? 77kids by american eagle sponsored 77 bloggers in 11 cities across the country to do "pay-it-forward" good deeds in their community, organized by The Motherhood.



The Boston 77kids Do Good Day team from left to right: Niri, Jennifer, me, Audrey, Christine, Christy, LZ and Jodi.

We assembled outside of the New England Aquarium to distribute Do Good Dollars and Silly Bandz to keep and share.



Look at that pile of Silly Bandz that we packaged up!  Good thing my daughter wasn't there or she would've tried to grab them all.  But in fact, all the Do Good kids present all had an extremely generous spirit.



The Do Good Dollars listed 7 good deeds to do with a dollar and 7 good deeds to do for free. 



Check them out:

7 Good things to do with a dollar:

1. Buy from a lemonade stand, a bake sale or another fundraiser.
2. Leave a dollar in a vending machine for someone else to find.
3. Pay the toll for the car behind you.
4. Buy a sheet of stickers and hand them out to kids.
5. Put four quarters in parking meters.
6. Tip a street musician.
7. Send a thank you card to someone who made a difference in your life.

7 Good things to do for free:

1. Open the door for someone, offer up a seat, let them go in front of you.
2. Sweep off (rake, shovel) the whole sidewalk.
3. Smile at people you pass by.
4. Offer a free car wash to your neighbor.
5. Leave a note of support or appreciation for someone who could use it.
6. Visit with someone you know who is in a nursing home.
7. Tell the people closest to you (especially your kids!) why you love them.

It was wonderful to put smiles on kids and adults alike.  Here are my Do Good kids in their cool 77kids duds.



Yes, Adam's hair is totally RAD.

Thanks to 77kids for sponsoring Do Good Day.

Leaving the Innocence of Family Love

This post originally appeared on BlogHer in February 2009.  Thankfully, Dova has outgrown the Disney princess cult since then.

When my daughter was born, my then three-year-old son assumed that he was going to marry her.  It was a sweet notion, which someday we would have to dispel.  As my daughter grew and started talking, she also claimed that she was going to marry her brother.  My husband and I were extremely grateful that they got along so well and didn't take the route of fighting and squabbling.  But when do we break this bubble for them?

I remember talking about life in general with my son when he was five.  I told him that he would probably go away for college and then move away from home and have his own family some day.  The thought of leaving home disturbed him greatly.  His sense of security comes from knowing that his family will always be there for him.  As a parent, I desperately want to hold on to these days when our children still need us and adore us.  I know only too well that the inevitable teenage years will be here before we know it.  Where parents suddenly don't know anything, don't understand them, and are totally not cool to hang around with.

I finally had the conversation with my son about not being able to marry his sister when he was seven.  I took the scientific tack of the maintaining genetic variation as he tends to be very factual.  Being a total boy, he was fascinated with the types of birth defects that could occur.  After steering the conversation back to not marrying his sister, he took it in stride and said, "That's OK, I have lots of other girlfriends."  As he has no secrets from his sister, he broke the news to her that if they got married and had babies, the babies would have no arms, or eyeballs, or anything else that would get a laugh out of her.

But now that he someday has to search for love outside of our family, what will I tell him about relationships and marriage?  At this point, the best thing I can do is to show him what a good marriage is.  That a good marriage is built on not just love, but honesty, trust and respect.  We always remind our kids that even though we sometimes get mad at them, we always love them.  The same goes for our marriage.  Just because we sometimes argue, we still love each other.

Our now five-year-old daughter is completely caught up in the Disney princess cult and is always staging weddings for herself as well as her dolls and stuffed animals.  This is OK to a point, but Ladyblog explores when the princess fantasy goes too far.  It will be much harder to bring her down to the reality of relationships after this foray into princess fantasy land.  The Disney movies have gotten better at portraying strong women, but they always end with the happily ever after wedding.  She'll have to learn that the wedding is only the beginning of the journey.

Most importantly, we hope that providing the safety and sanctuary of family love will give them a strong foundation for future relationships.  Sure, our family isn't perfect, but neither is any relationship.  Hopefully, they will learn that relationships, like families, are all different but can be full of love, fulfillment, laughter and fun.

A Day at the Beach

I've always loved the beach.  The sun, the salt water, the waves.  But I could do without the traffic and hoards of people.  I grew up on Long Island, where we had pebbly beaches on the north shore and sandy beaches on the south shore but with fierce waves.  In Massachusetts, I have enjoyed Horseneck beach in Westport for many years, but it is a 2+ hour drive from where I live near the New Hampshire border.  We've also gone to the beaches in York, Maine while visiting my in-laws.  The water is always freezing cold and there is the dreaded Hampton toll to get through (although now with the high speed EZ-Pass lanes, traffic has been much better this year).

A couple years ago, I went on a quest with Dova to find a closer beach with less traffic and crowds.  I headed north on 495 and got off as soon as I saw a sign for "Beaches".  I ended up on Rt. 286 and turned right when I hit the shore.  I discovered beach heaven.


View Larger Map

The beach is in Salisbury MA, but further north from the official beach.  I've always been able to find a parking spot along the road, near a public beach access walkway.  There are no lifeguards or facilities, but miles of pristine sand, clear waters and perfect-sized waves.  The water is so clear that I've often seen schools of shiny green minnows swim around my feet when I'm waist deep (the one thing that I've never been able to successfully photograph).  Most of all, the kids love it.  We've had many beach fiasco days, but never when we go to this beach.  Here are photos from the Fourth of July, a perfect holiday activity.

$100 BlogHer Question of the Day - Would You Swap Places with Your Partner?

I'm honored to be the $100 BlogHer Question of the Day. If you haven't checked it out yet, just hop over the BlogHer, answer the question (there's a new one every day), you'll be entered to win $100 in cool cash.

My question was, "Have you ever thought about how your life would be if you swapped places with your spouse or significant other?"

The answers are quite interesting so far. I would say that 95% of people say "No way!" and there is a small segment that would love to swap places or try for a day.  Some responses hinge upon roles and responsibilities and some hinge on gender.  Here are some great responses that made me laugh out loud.

Hubby and I actually work together doing the same job, so switching there wouldn't be so hard. However, he has to put up with ME and I could never tolerate that.

...see what it is like to live like a man with all that testosterone.

And this response was so touching.

My final partner I met late in life and he was the soul mate I waited so long for, he was an award winning writer and I would not have traded places with him because I loved being his partner and being awed by his intellect, his compassion for others, his empathy with the world's underprivaleged which stemmed from his own poor childhood from which he worked himself up to a DLitt. He died suddenly and way to soon but I am so happy to have had him for the 4 years we were together and would wish every woman could have had such an experience.

I'm so glad this question brought out this response.  What a beautiful relationship.

Here's my response.  I would definitely like to swap temporarily for a week or a month.  In the small crowd of yes comments, many of them had stay-at-home husbands which is the situation we fall into.  I've never had the chance to be with my kids full time outside of maternity leave.  I'm sure the situation would fall apart quickly because I'm way too much of a control freak.  But I love the thought of planning fun-filled summer days with them and six hours of quiet to myself while they are in school.  My hubby is currently looking to get back to work, but it would have to be his kind of work and not mine.  He would be flummoxed with my software code!  When I wrote the question, I was mainly thinking about roles and responsibilities.  But after reading the comments about gender, I definitely would want to try swapping so I could be male.  I have had dreams that I've been a male and it was very interesting... (don't get me wrong, these dreams have been very rare!).

For your chance to win, head over the BlogHer to answer the question of the day.

WW - Peace Child

I lent Dova my new peace symbol necklace to go with her new peace symbol shirt. Wearing tie dye shirts recently made me hanker for a nice peace symbol necklace from the seventies.  Luckily, eBay is always available to quickly satisfy those cheap whims.  So what's peace child to do?  Commune with nature of course.



Here is my love child picking raspberries from our yard.



And eat them straight from the vine.  Since we do nothing for pest control or even fertilizer, they are completely organic is every way.  I've taken to call her moon child (and sometimes Moon Unit) every time she wears this shirt.  It fits her perfectly.

Visit by Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom or 7 Clown Circus (wordful) for more participants.