I survived Sleepover 2010

My 6-year-old daughter came home from school one day and told me she wanted to have a sleepover.

Sure, I said, you can have one or two of her friends over for a night.

Well, the Monday after that discussion brought about a rude awakening: I went in to read with her classmates, which I do every Monday, and the whole class was asking me about the sleepover. The whole class — all 22 of them.

Yikes.

So that night, Mallory and I had a long talk about how we were going to pull this off.

I suppose I could have just said this wasn’t going to happen, but I’m usually game for a good adventure and this certainly sounded like one. I once babysat for 14 kids when I was younger, although I’ll admit in that case I ended up calling some friends...

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You want to make what?

My aversion to cooking is well known to anyone who has the slightest bit of knowledge about me.

Oh, I keep thinking I’ll get better at it. I collect recipes and cookbooks like they are going out of style, and every Christmas my significant other fulfills my wishes and buys me the latest in kitchen gadgets.

The problem? I end up being forced to dust them all for lack of use.

I’m just not a natural at it, and I never will be. My failures in the kitchen were amplified when I worked at the Akron Beacon Journal because I sat alongside this wonderful reporter named Lisa Abraham, who covered county government at the time but was an unabashed foodie. (In a fitting sidebar, Lisa has since moved to the food writer’s job there, and just won honors from the...

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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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Today show wants to hear from Elyrians

Hey readers, we need your help. Or rather, the Today show needs your help.

The show is putting together a package about communities across the country that are cutting fireworks to balance budgets.

The story organizer, Barbara Lowe (who I’ve talked to and can vouch that she’s legit) is interested in talking in families who generally attended the Elyria fireworks and now have to go elsewhere or skip them altogether.

Interested in sharing your opinion with Ms. Lowe? Email her at barbaralowe@ameritech.net.

Here’s the catch: You need to write ASAP. She’s putting this story together in the next couple days, and she really wants to hear some Elyria voices. So write her, and her write her quickly!

–Julie Wallace...

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Time management at 5: It’s important

Maybe it’s because I only have a single child to focus on, but there are so many times that my daughter just cracks me up.

Take last night, for example.

As usual,  I got home pretty late from work. We worked on her words (she’s learning to read) and thankfully, Daddy had taken care of dinner for her. So all we had left was a bath, which I simply didn’t have the energy to give her.

So I suggested a morning bath, which generally works well in our house because it prompts her to jump out of bed and fly into the tub. Don’t know why, I just know it works.

Well, she said, will I still get to watch Little Mermaid? Probably not, I answered. It comes on at 7:30 a.m., and ends at 8 a.m., exactly when she needs to start getting ready for...

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A tragedy plants fear in a parent

Last night, my daughter and I had a little talk about a topic that just isn’t something I care to discuss with a 5-year-old: guns.

After reading the horrific story of the 10-year-old boy who shot his 8-year-old sister in Elyria on Sunday — the little girl died this morning — I wanted to make it very clear to my little girl what she needs to do if she’s ever around someone with a gun.

I told her, repeatedly, that she’s never to touch guns, and I shared the tragedy of what happen between the brother and the sister. I felt bad having to do that, but I figured I needed to hammer home the point that guns aren’t toys, and if she ever encounters one, she’s not to touch it and she’s to go and get an adult ASAP.

The thing about...

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It’s sad when a friend grows old

Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll tell you I’ve never really been a dog person. I’ve had cats, cats and more cats in my life.

That is, until I met Lew and his dog.

Yep — my significant other is a dog person. So now in our home, we have Montecito the Boxer, Serena the mutt of a cat and a goldfish (Thank you, Elyria Apple Fest) appropriately named Goldie by my 5-year-old daughter.

Now trust me, there are plenty of days when Monte gets on my nerves. He’s a great dog until Lew walks out the door and he assumes the role of protector. He barks at every sound, at every car driving by on the street, at everything, really. And that’s at 6 a.m.

Monte also bum rushes the door anytime anyone knocks — generally trampling or...

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A prayer for school uniforms

I hate mornings.

Never a morning person myself, the early hours of the day have grown worse as my daughter has gotten older. As a baby and toddler, I could simply dress her as I saw fit. But she’s a 5-year-old now, and she’s a 5-year-old with a lot of opinions.

And her opinion of clothing — any clothing, mind you — is that nothing is right.

There is not a pair of panties in the world (trust me, I’m pretty darn certain I’ve purchased at least a couple hundred pairs in a dismal effort to find the perfect ones) that fit properly, not a shirt that doesn’t need stretching, pulling or adjusted or a skirt or dress inside of which the seams inside don’t touch her in all the wrong places.

In my daughter’s world,...

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