9 to 5 to 9: 4 is the magic number

He went to bed one night a callow youth of 3, excited about his birthday the next day but not quite understanding that if he’d just go to sleep it would be here before he knew it.

He awoke the following morning a mature lad of 4, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Or at least get to school under his own locomotion, something we’d been trying for a few weeks with varying degrees of success and myriad decibel levels of protest.

“I can do it, and I won’t get tired,” Boots said. “I’m 4 now!”

There must be something magical about being 4. It was about that age that it clicked with Big Guy, too, that he can control his own actions, that he’s not just a victim of what the...

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Another milestone, another headache

My daughter can read: the end of my life as I know it.

It’s over. My kid can now read. Okay, not Tolstoy or even Nancy Drew but “I just saw your profile and you seem really nice” or “I need to up my meds,” yeah, that, THAT she’s all over.

Now you’d think I’d be thrilled my little baby can read and if it were to help me to somehow make my life as a mother easier, I would say, “Yay, great” but my emails? I’m starting to think I should have let her repeat another year of pre-school. I wear my heart on my sleeve and the filter on my mouth got lost somewhere in the birth canal, so the way I’ve dealt with it since my child was born, was to write and spell everything.

Staycation not so successful so far

It was supposed to be the week of my children’s dreams.

They would have Mommy all to themselves for seven straight days and enjoy nothing but fun, games and sunshine. No work, no school and definitely, no daycare. And, bedtimes would be negotiable.

Well, let me be the first one to say this staycation has not been a dream come true. I won’t go as far as to say it is a nightmare, but pretty close.

First, Monday’s trip to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo was canceled after my 3-year-old lost my car/house keys in the apartment and it took all of two hours to find them hidden under a pile of clean clothes I had days earlier told my 10-year-old to hang up. I was so ticked off, I told them ‘no, monkeys...

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My shirt was inside out? Sheesh….

My daughter had a great year at her pre-school, and watching her and her pint-sized friends sing for us last week at the end-of-year ceremony, I got misty-eyed. It made me reflect on the whole year, which seems like it just zoomed by.

I was feeling pretty good about things until we got home that night and I realized I’d worn my shirt to the party INSIDE OUT.

Nice one.

I guess no one really noticed because it was one of those gauzy Indian shirts, but still — God. Was I the same person who that very morning had promised myself that for once — for once! — I was gonna take some time to put myself together before I left the house?

This would have meant actually blowing my...

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Church memories from one generation to the next

For someone like me for whom family traditions, holidays and birthdays are of paramount im-portance, having my kids attend Vacation Bible School in the same church I grew up in last week was a little extra special.
I have very fond memories of that church and of attending Vacation Bible School myself. My mother taught several times when I was little so my mother, brother, sister and I were all together. As I got older, I volunteered to help out with the younger classes.
Before we moved back to the Cleveland area, I was pretty involved in our church in Marietta where I taught Sunday School for several years and headed up one of the church’s committees. We haven’t been as involved since relocating, so I was doubly thrilled all three of my kids were able to spend the week...

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Two new bloggers join us; others are welcome

Did anyone happen to notice that we’ve had some new and interesting voices on Lorain County Moms?

Welcome to Melissa Linebrink and domesticextraordinaire, two moms who’ll provide some welcome change to our regular lineup.

So keep reading, and if you are game for some interaction with other moms, start writing, too. We’d love to have more moms join us. (There’s a welcome to blogging link on the site, but it has proven a bit difficult. E-mail me at jwallace@chroniclet.com  if you want to blog and run into troubles.)

–Julie Wallace...

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Family Meals Matter: Doing more with less

From MealsMatter.org

These days many families are trying to do more with less. Whether it’s money or time that’s in short supply, this week’s recipes prove that convenience doesn’t always come at a cost.

This week’s family meal only takes about 30 minutes to prepare — in fact the most time consuming item is dessert. Tantalize your family’s taste buds with Baked Dijon Chicken, Barley, Bean and Corn salad and watermelon sorbet and you’ll fill them with foods from all of the food groups. Just be sure to start the sorbet a couple of hours before dinner so there is enough time in the freezer.

The rest of this week’s recipes are fast, healthy and...

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This bike helmet’s a cinch to use

Finally: a bike helmet that doesn’t require endless fiddling to ensure a proper fit. The True Fit Helmet lives up to its name by offering an elasticized, self-adjusting band with built-in reflectors and — hold onto your handlebars! — just one adjustment strap. Simply click and go. Available in three kid sizes as well as adult.

Ages 3 and up Bell, $17 to $26.

—By Sam Mead, FamilyFun magazine...

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Cheap wedding attire turns into anything but

Cheap wedding attire turns into anything but

Ah, the joys of summer: backyard BBQ’s, kids splashing in the pool and of course, weddings.

I used to love weddings as a child. I’d wear a fancy dress and nice shoes, and that was pretty much the extent of it for me. To me, a wedding was all about the reception and dancing!

This weekend, the...

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Herding Squirrels: Listening to my gut

I was a vegetarian for about 5 years, vegan for 3 of those. I did such a terrible job making sure I got necessary amounts of iron and B12 and really any other vitamin besides nicotine and alcohol, that when I got pregnant, I reversed course: No nicotine, no alcohol, no caffeine, and I craved meat like a (enter crass meat-craving double entendre here). So ended my highly-political reasons for vegetarianism.

Fast forward 16 years.

I’d rarely eat beef, replacing it with poultry when cooking for the family — when suddenly I developed a severe aversion to poultry. My ardent love of chicken had been replaced with an inborn need to turn my head, hand over my mouth. What was happening to me?

I tried...

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