Pledge to get off of your butt and play (it’s just that easy)
Apr 26, 2012 Paid/Sponsored Post
[The following post was written as part of my paid ambassadorship with Let’s Play, a part of the Dr Pepper/Snapple Group]
I had such a great time last year writing for Let’s Play, a fantastic initiative by Dr Pepper/Snapple to get families moving. I’m back again as an ambassador, and my job today – the one-year anniversary of Let’s Play – is to get you to take the Let’s Play Pledge over on their facebook page. Why? Because moving more is healthy. And burns calories. And is fun. And you signing the pledge can help me look better to my bosses. And, sometimes getting something down on paper (OK, it’s not paper, but you know what I mean) makes it more real.
So all you have to do is pledge to participate in an extra hour of active play each week with your kids. That’s it, sixty minutes! That’s just ten minutes a day, with a day off! Or, you could do it all in one big, fun, hour-long chunk. Here are some of my favorite ideas to get moving with your kids:
continue reading: Pledge to get off of your... Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Kids, Let's Play
Jake & Fiona & Kathie Lee & Billy Ray
Apr 7, 2012 Around NYC
My kids got to be on The Today Show earlier this week, which was really fun for all of us. And, since it was for the later part of the show, we didn’t even have to get up insanely early like we have for other appearances.
We were picked up by a giant SUV and driven to 30 Rock. Actually, The Today Show broadcasts from 10 Rockefeller Plaza, but when I casually say “30 Rock” I feel like I’m that much closer to someday knowing Tina Fey.
When we got there and opened the car door, flashbulbs immediately started popping – tourists knew exactly where the guests were being dropped off and the crowd started taking pictures before they could even see who was in the car. This delighted my children to no end and made them feel like celebs!
I tweeted that we were on our way to tape something, but that I didn’t know which day it would air. See, I didn’t know there was a fourth hour of The Today Show. I though Kathie Lee and Hoda did the third hour, and that was it. And I didn’t realize that the kids would be on live until shortly before we left the greenroom. Oops. I did manage to warn a few people, but none of the grandparents.
Greenrooms always surprise me by how disappointing they are. There’s never enough room for everyone (the greenroom for a show such as The Today Show is like Grand Central Station) and all of their stuff. Carnie Wilson had to step over me to get her bag. Had I known it was hers sitting there I would’ve been rifling through it while she was singing live on the show with Wilson Phillips. Total missed opportunity. I could’ve been chewing on her breath mints right now.
continue reading: Jake & Fiona & Kathie Lee... Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: indoor fun, Kids, Today Show
Don’t like the ice cream truck? Here’s what you can do
Apr 6, 2012 Around NYC
Every single spring, on some listserv or moms group or forum I’m on, somebody complains about the reappearance of the ice cream trucks and slushie carts in Brooklyn. This year, since it happened on the much-maligned Park Slope Parents listserv, it’s getting a lot of attention. Everyone from the San Francisco Chronicle to my friend Marinka (writing on Babble’s MomCrunch) to some Park Slope Parents members themselves (with a hilarious parody clarification) have been writing about this latest bit of whining from parents who blame the rest of the world because they have trouble saying “no” effectively to their kids.
The specific complaint that started the brouhaha involved carts entering the actual playground, and personally, I think that sucks. I get aggravated when anybody comes into the playground to sell anything. Most days in good weather we get pestered to buy slushies, cold water, balloons, stuffed animals, and cotton candy. My problem with this is that those people simply aren’t allowed in NYC playgrounds. If you’re not there with a kid, you’re there illegally. I’m sure you’re breaking other rules about vending inside the playground as well, but I just care about the rule that keeps creepy loners in trench coats out. So anybody who wants to ban selling anything within the wrought-iron-fenced confines of the actual city playgrounds, you’ve got my support.
continue reading: Don’t like the ice cream truck?... Read the rest of this entry »
NYC gets a cool new taxi, but misses some big opportunities
Apr 4, 2012 Around NYC
The new Nissan NV200 (photo courtesy of Nissan)
Last night I went to a press conference introducing New York City’s latest taxi, the Nissan NV200. NYC taxis are always an adventure. You never know if you’re going to get a taxi with a flooded floor, one that smells like feet, a driver who has no clue where he’s going and gets both of you hopelessly lost, or who talks for half an hour about why he wears a tinfoil hat at home (all things that have happened to me since moving to NYC). This new taxi could have a positive impact on three of those situations.
The taxi itself is beautiful, and big. While it won’t seat more people than current cabs, those passengers will be a lot more comfortable. The rear compartment has these features:
continue reading: NYC gets a cool new taxi,... Read the rest of this entry »
If you go public, I get to judge you, guilt free
Mar 29, 2012 Parenting
I’m in Fort Lauderdale at the moment for the She Streams conference. I’m not just attending, I’m also doing my very first solo session – nobody else on the dais with me to look to for answers. Eek!
On my flight down today a couple of notable things happened. The first was that the plane hit a pothole. I know we didn’t actually hit a pothole – we were in the air at the time – but that’s exactly what it felt like. Like when you’re driving fast and the crater comes out of nowhere and a couple days later the guy at the tire place is explaining that the pothole actually bent your rim you hit it so hard, and you have to replace the entire wheel, not just the tire (that’s happened to me three times, and it’s about $500 a pop, by the way).
I sat up straight and exclaimed something, I don’t remember what. The entire plane kind-of gasped, actually. A minute later the pilot came on the PA system and said that we had hit the wake of the very big plane in front of us. Lovely. I immediately thought of the plane that crashed into a house in Queens in 2001 – that plane had run into something similar (although obviously much worse) after taking off behind a much bigger plane.
So that was a little scary.
The other notable thing was that I caught Catherine Connors on CNN talking about Alicia Silverstone pre-chewing her son’s food. You’ve heard of helicopter parenting? This is Cuisinart parenting. And for the record, I think it’s disgusting, dangerous, and unnecessary.
continue reading: If you go public, I get... Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: celebrities, Kids, Parenting, publicity
Goodbye, Selma
Mar 27, 2012 What's Going On
So, our cat is dead. For real this time, not like a few weeks ago when I prematurely announced her impending demise. If you follow me on twitter, that told the story pretty well.
Just gave my old kitty a nice long snuggle. She's really slowing down. Still purrs when I pet her though. :-)
@SelfishMom
SelfishMom
Not even asking the workers 2 close back door anymore. My old kitty can barely lift her head off the floor today, she's not running away. :(
@SelfishMom
SelfishMom
Pretty sure my cat is in renal failure. Has all the signs. Trying to decide whether to put her to sleep or let nature take its course.
@SelfishMom
SelfishMom
I just told Jake I'm having Selma put to sleep tomorrow. He cried, but took it well. Then he took a picture of her. :-)
@SelfishMom
SelfishMom
Jake & I told Fiona about putting Selma 2 sleep 45 min ago & she's still begging. If I'm ever on death row I want her in charge of my appeal
@SelfishMom
SelfishMom
continue reading: Goodbye, Selma Read the rest of this entry »
The not quite dead yet cat
Mar 5, 2012 What's Going On
So over the weekend I announced the impending demise of our seventeen-year-old cat, Selma. She had already outlasted her sister Patty by a year, so while I was really sad, I wasn’t surprised.
Relieved that my cat is still holding on, but I'm pretty sure this will be her last day w/us. She's breathing heavy & didn't eat her treat.
@SelfishMom
SelfishMom
The Ass and I got Patty and Selma when they were ten weeks old, and had them for ten years. Everything was great until I started having kids. Patty did not react well to our new additions, and one day I was on the phone with my mother in Buffalo, sobbing that I had two kids in diapers and a cat who wouldn’t use the litter box. I was losing it. My mom came to the rescue, and even though she didn’t want cats, she took mine. That’s just the way she is.
Selma’s the darker fluffball
They lived with her for six years, until Patty died. In the meantime we’d bought a brownstone ruled by mice, and had toyed with the idea of bringing Selma back. Patty was the one my mom really liked anyway, while Selma just annoyed her. But we decided we couldn’t separate them – except for one night when Selma was in the hospital, they’d been together their entire lives.
continue reading: The not quite dead yet cat Read the rest of this entry »
The wheat bagel that almost made me pass out
Feb 21, 2012 Kids
I’ve read that the number one thing couples fight about is money. That was probably true for the first three-quarter of my relationship with The Ass. But around the time our son Jake started pre-school and started getting super picky with food, a new argument emerged: how to tackle the food issue.
It didn’t help – actually, it hurt quite a lot – that I’ve got enough food-related baggage to fill a luggage cart at JFK. And since Jake has the exact same hang-ups and tastes that I had as a kid, I can’t separate his issues from mine. My husband is a great guy, but he’s never understood my relationship with food. And if I even start to suggest that my history gives me more insight into Jake’s issues, my dear sweet husband flips out (which, incidentally, sends me for the potato chips, but that’s another post).
After years of arguing about how to tackle this, and watching Jake’s food choices get narrower and more frustrating, we finally came to an agreement on a game plan about four months ago. I can’t claim that we’ve succeeded – this is the kind of thing that takes years to test out – but I can see small steps in the right direction.
Like today, when Jake ate a wheat bagel without a fight.
And liked it.
I almost fainted.
Forget the fact that wheat bagels really aren’t all that wheaty, and that most of us are trying to eat fewer bagels, and that the last thing Jake needs is more carbs. The important thing is that he knew it was wheat, and he gave it a shot anyway, and liked it. That was huge.
The main traits we’re working against with Jake are the same ones I have:
- He eats more than he needs to based on a fear that it will be gone. This is why I actually do better surrounded by lots of chocolate and potato chips: if there’s so much there that I couldn’t possibly eat it, I’m content with a small amount.
- He’s a carboholic. Take away my carbs, and I’m a bitch. Take away my carbs, and I can’t think about anything else. I could give up cheese or chocolate and it wouldn’t have one-tenth of the impact that giving up carbs would have on my mood.
- He’s afraid of trying new foods. New foods were forced on him too many times in the past – offered up as a trade for something else he wanted, or he was just flat-out required to take a bite – that he gets really tense around new foods, and assumes he’ll be forced to eat them. I was the same way all the way through my mid-to-late twenties. My husband would probably argue that I’m still pretty bad, but I’m way better than I used to be.
- He’s a couch potato. There’s an ass-print on the couch in the shape of my ass too, so no doubt where he gets that from. Although, being a kid, it takes less to get him up and moving than it takes for me, so he’s got that going for him.
- He has sensitive taste buds. If he eats a mint or mint gum, he visibly shivers and shakes until the taste is weakened a bit. One time when his breath smelled I made him take one of those dissolvable breath strips, and for a few seconds I though he was actually going to throw up. I think he actually tastes things stronger than other people. I totally sympathize, because I’ll taste something that will send me running for water while my husband complains that it’s bland.
So, mealtimes were a struggle. For years. Between me and Jake, me and my husband, my husband and Jake. I would make pasta or sandwiches for the kids, something else for myself, and my husband would come home and make something for himself. Even on those rare times when he did get home in time to eat with us, my husband often chose to wait until after the kids went to bed.
But, after a lot of research, we finally agreed on some rules we could both live with, and they’re starting to bear fruit. Our main goal is to take the stress out of food, so that the rest can follow.
- I get up and make the kids breakfast every day. This was a big change for me on weekdays. My kids are pretty self-sufficient, and for a couple of years I’d been taking total advantage of that. I’d stay up until 2am, then stumble out of bed in time to shove them out the door for school. They’d usually make whatever could be toasted or eaten cold: waffles, bagels, cinnamon bread, cold cereal. Now, I make sure they get a big, good breakfast. Eggs or pancakes, fruit, etc. And this routine has made me get my sleeping habits under better control.
- My husband tries to be home for dinner at least four times a week. In order to accommodate this, we’ve moved dinner to 7:30. This is late for the kids, since they start getting ready for bed at 9, but it’s what we have to do to eat as a family.
- We cut off all food two hours before dinner. Anybody would be more likely to try something new if he were hungry. That’s the only reason I tried guacamole when I was twenty-five, a food I thought looked disgusting, but I was desperate. So, the kids know that at 5:30, snacking stops.
- I no longer cook different dinners for different family members. However, and this is key, I make sure that there’s at least one thing that Jake likes at each meal. If we’re having lasagna and green beans and rolls, and he just eats rolls, we stay quiet. We make sure to offer him some of everything, but there’s no pressure to try anything. He fills his own plate. We just want him to see us enjoying a variety of foods. This took a while for him to get used to. Each time he saw a new food on the dinner table he tensed up. But now he realizes that he won’t be forced to eat anything, and he’s becoming more willing to try new things. Even if he doesn’t like them, each unforced taste is a victory.
- After dinner, the only foods allowed are fruits and veggies. We didn’t want to get into a situation where Jake was claiming to be full at dinner, then asking for crackers or popcorn an hour later. So, if they’re still hungry, the kids can eat all the fruits and veggies in the house. This has produced a boy who now frequently snacks on apples, bananas and grapes. I doubt he’d choose them over potato chips, but then again, neither would I. The point is, after complaining about it for the first few weeks, it’s now routine. He even asks for apples sometimes when it’s not fruit-only time, and my heart skips a beat.
- They get a serving of dessert every day, no questions asked. This, actually, isn’t new. It’s something we started years ago, when we found ourselves bargaining with Jake at dinner in order to get him to eat some veggies. It was setting things up for a good food/bad food battle that would’ve been with him for the rest of his life. We still have not completely undemonized vegetables, but he no longer sees them as the evil things standing between him and chocolate.
- I exercise with him. I can’t expect him to get off the couch if I’m still there. I’ve started taking him on jogs with me. It feels good. And you know what? He’s a great jogging partner! I’m so slow, he alternates between walking and wind sprints as I plod along at my thirteen-minute-mile pace. We have a good time.
So, that’s our plan. Several of these rules were taken from a really good article I found on BabyCenter, 7 New Strategies for Feeding a Picky Eater.
You may notice I really didn’t talk about Fiona. Her natural eating instincts are to eat lots of fruit and veggies, stop eating when she’s full, try new things gleefully, and exercise for fun. She follows all of the same rules as Jake, but it’s all so much easier for her. I’m afraid to do anything but back away slowly, lest I should upset the course she’s on.
The bottom line is, I don’t care what Jake eats now if it helps him to eat better in the future. Blueberries, avocados, wheat bread, brown rice, asparagus, and edamame are all foods that I wouldn’t even try until well into adulthood, and now I love them all. I don’t want Jake to wait that long. And I really feel like we’re on the right track.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
