Tag Archives: mommy
The Playroom…Review
PLACE: The Playroom
ADDRESS: 14392 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
WEBSITE: www.theplayroomvalley.com
TYPE OF PLACE: Indoor play space and party venue.
AGE RANGE: From crawlers to 3 years old is probably the best age.
STAFF DEMEANOR: The staff is always nice and cleaning equipment.
COST: $9 visit or buy a play pass and receive a big discount. If you are looking for party costs, go here
SPECIAL EVENTS: There are various special events that do happen here, you just have to check the website or go play and look on the chalkboard wall for upcoming events.
BIRTHDAY PARTIES: This is a great venue for toddler birthday parties. The space is big enough for all of the kids to play safely, there is a separate area with tables set up for food and drinks. I think this is a good alternative to having the birthday party in the home. Especially since entertaining young toddlers and then cleaning up is no easy task.
COMMENTS: The Playroom is one of our favorite indoor play spaces. For toddlers it is a great enclosed space and a safe environment. Great for crawlers, beginning walkers, walkers and small kids.
I’m being watched…
Have you ever had the feeling something was watching you? You know that eerie feeling in the pit of your stomach, that constraining feeling of not being able to breathe and then the hair stands up on the back of your neck. Well, I’m living in fear right now. Every time I leave my house, I’m scouting for the predator that is watching me. I wish I was kidding, but I walk to my car with Maggie and I’m positive every move I make is being recorded. I leave the house to walk Gilmore and I’m sure we are going to be blindsided. I’ve even taken precautions on how to defend myself. I’ve searched out places to hide and was able to get a couple of good pictures of my stalker. Meet my friend…Ira,the spider.
I threw a 12 inch stick into his web and he walked over and took it out. Pretty much told me that I was an idiot and he was smarter than me.
Luckily if I’m attacked, it won’t be deadly, unless I have a heart attack.
Here are some helpful websites that helped me figure out if my spider was harmful. If you are squeamish, then you might not want to click the links. Some of the spiders are pretty creepy.
For Standard California spiders click here.
For general bug identification click here.
For spider bites click here.
Hopefully you won’t get the same kind of stalker I did.
Storytime in NYC, etc
I’m a big fan of Storytime. I think the first thing I would recommend to any new parent is take your baby to a storytime as soon as you can. Maggie has been going to various storytimes around LA since she was 5 months old. The first couple of times she was more interested in the babies around her, but now at 10 months old, Maggie loves to hear the stories as well.
My friend Rachel told me as a child she loved sitting on her bed and reading more than watching TV and I hope Maggie ends up the same way. Not married to Rachel’s husband Dan, but the passion to read. In a way, I take Maggie to Storytime, so she will be inspired and grow up to read, just like Frauntie Rachel.
While we were in NYC, Maggie and I jumped around the city on a daily basis trying to visit as many Storytimes as possible. After 3 weeks in the city, I can tell you which Storytime was mine and Maggie’s favorite. It is definitely the Scholastic Book Store’s Storytime. This was great for so many reasons. First of all, the Scholastic Store is extremely well done. A child’s imagination can be inspired by just walking in the store. The displays were big and the characters were plenty. Secondly, their Storytime is held three times a week, so its easy to schedule into your trip. Lastly, the reader was fantastic. The young man that read the stories was animated and also interacted with the kids. Maggie had the best time.
This was also the store with the nicest mommies, I mean nannies. Funny enough, I was the only mommy at each of the Storytimes, the rest were nannies. This isn’t a problem for me, but apparently confusing for some of them. I had one Jamacaian nanny ask me if I was the swedish nanny. So clearly, not many mommies go to Storytime in NYC. This made me think…”Does everyone in NYC think I’m Maggie’s Swedish Nanny?” If so, I think its time to ask my employer for a raise!
Why is she so angry?
I was shopping at Trader Joe’s picking up the few groceries that we weren’t able to buy at The Farmer’s Market. I pass by a beautiful woman, probably in her mid 40s and her two daughters. As I pass her I’m thinking to myself, ” I hope I look that good when I’m in my 40s. Then all of a sudden, I’m jolted out of my lovely thought of this woman. She grabs a package of meat and places it in her cart, her teenage daughter nicely mentions, “mom,don’t forget I’m a vegetarian”. This woman snaps at her daughter ” You can just eat rice for dinner.” I gasped at her reaction, I’m sure she heard me. I didn’t mean to but WHAT?!
What possibly could have happened for this woman to be so upset at her daughter, that she would force her to just eat rice. Why is she so angry? My mind is racing trying to figure this out. Is she upset that her daughter is a vegetarian? Or does her daughter change her diet weekly and the mom is fed up? Maybe religious or cultural issues? I don’t know, but I did see the teen’s face and it was heartbreaking. She couldn’t even respond. My motherly instincts kicked in and I wanted to bring this young girl home with me. I’m sure AJ would not have been happy about adopting a teenager, but he did let me adopt Gilmore, so you never know. I wanted to tell the mom, there is nothing wrong with being a vegetarian. But alas, I’m sure they will work it out. Of course, now the mom just looks old and grumpy….NOT pretty.
In a weird way I can relate to the teenager. I became a vegetarian in college and remember my Texan dad commenting at a BBQ, “I guess you can have lettuce.”. My mom quickly intervened and made me a wonderful salad. Difference is, my dad was half kidding but mostly confused by my choice. I grew up in TX eating meat, all of the time. Throughout the years I’ve gone back and forth from being a vegetarian and I’m sure that is confusing for my family. But one thing is for sure, my mom would never let me eat just rice and I definitely wouldn’t do that to Maggie in defiance.
If Maggie wants to be a vegetarian, a vegan or even a lesbian. I vow, I’ll fully support her. Especially if she is a lesbian. Right? Maybe we can skip those 10 years of boy problems from age 15-25. I’m kidding…kinda.
Disclaimer: My dad has supported all of my decisions in life, including being a vegetarian. Funny, I think he had a harder time with me living in California and being liberal. 
Gilmore was adopted too.
Self awareness
The past few years I’ve really been working on self awareness. I’ve realized its the little things that we do to each other and to ourselves that make a difference. The other day, I had a busy morning. I had my work out class (Stroller Strides) at 9am and then my Mommy group was meeting at 10am, luckily at the same park. Of course, I thought this was great. I could do both and everything would be great. Wrong!
Instead my day turned out stressful. Starting off I didn’t have a cute workout outfit that I could war to Stroller Strides and then to the Mommy group. I know this seems silly, but sometimes girl needs to look cute and stylish. Seriously, the other moms were going to be wearing cute everyday street clothes. I didn’t want to be the mom that looks gross and out of place. So I spent the few extra moments I had in the morning trying on different workout outfits and then decidding on a tank top and shorts. Since nothing I found would translate for both occasions, I would change into a fun dress. This decision taught me a lot about myself.
First of all, why did I feel the need to pack my schedule? I’m working out 5-6 days a week, I should have taken the day off and just enjoyed the park. Secondly, why did I think a cute black summer dress would cover up the fact that I had just worked out. Instead I appeared to be the mom who profusely sweats for no reason. I had to explain that I had just worked out and threw on the dress. Lastly, clothes won’t cover up an internal dilemna.
I’ve realized losing the pregnancy weight can sometimes hinder my rational thinking and keep me from enjoying the little moments with Maggie. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a ton of little moments with her, I’m with her from 6:30AM-7:30PM everyday. I just don’t want to look back at this year with her and think “What did we do together?” and my answer turn out to be: ”Lose weight”. So no more obsessing about losing the rest of the pregnancy weight and more obsessing about what adventure Maggie and I are going to do next.
So far this is what I have planned
LA Zoo
San Diego Zoo
Santa Barbara Zoo (recommended because of its small size)
Long Beach Aquarium
More hiking of nature trails
Petting farm
Bike riding at the beach
Natural History Museum (she might be too young)
If you have any other ideas, I’m up for suggestions.
Respect the elderly…
Last night we went to Passover dinner with AJ’s family. We were very excited to go, Maggie was going to meet Gigi. Gigi is Aj’s grandmother and was married to Marty (AJ’s grandpa). Maggie was named after Marty because he passed away this past year. Gigi arrived at the dinner and everyone was happy. She met Maggie, we took pictures and AJ was content. It was a beautiful moment.
I love Gigi, I’ve had some great conversations with her. She has schooled me in many things…jewish. I love it. Last year we had a long discussion about the Yiddish language. I took notes and when we parted ways, I was sad. This year’s conversation was a little different.
Gigi: Yen (my sister n law) looks gorgeous, don’t you think?
Me: Yes, Gigi. She is beautiful and I love her dress.
Gigi: You’ve put on weight.
Me: What? …um
AJ: Gigi?!
Gigi: She has.
AJ: She just had a baby.
Gigi: No that’s not it.
Me: Don’t worry I’m working on losing the weight.
AJ: You just had a baby. Don’t stress about it.
Gigi: That’s not baby weight.
Me: …sigh…
AJ: Yes it is. (to me) Babe you look beautiful.
Me: Whatever…So how are you doing Gigi?
Gigi: I’m fine. I always put a smile on when I leave the house. No need in letting everyone know your business.
Me: I get it.
I love Gigi. She calls it like it is. She’s right I’ve put on weight. Of course, it is baby weight.
Sleep scheduling confusion
Let’s start with, I don’t want to be the obsessive mom about making sure my baby is on a set schedule. Or at least I didn’t think I wanted to be that person. Problem is that it seems as if I need to start obsessing.
A few weeks ago, we were ecstatic that Maggie was on her way to sleeping through the night. Instead of waking up every few hours, she would sleep from 5-7 hours and then another 4-6 hours depending on the night. It was amazing, I was feeling rested and started to feel as if I was getting a normal life back. I had plans to start spinning (a tad ambitious) at 7 am everyday before she got up. It was beautifully planned out, sleep, exercise and then a fun day with her everyday. Nope.
Its cliche to say, every time you think you know what is going on, the baby will change it for you. People tell me that all the time and I find it infuriating. I love getting advice but when someone says that, I want to punch them in the face. I’ll blame it on hormones…. I probably feel so strongly about this because, as I’m learning, it’s true.
Well we thought everything was working out. Maggie was sleeping, we weren’t tied to a schedule, everything was just happening. YAY! We were the laid back, fun parents that we were wanting to be. HAHA! Of course, this was not meant to be.
What we have figured out is everyone needs a schedule. AJ need to set his schedule to get his work done (whatever it is that he does). I need to set a schedule to get everything in my days done (whatever it is that I do). And it looks like a baby is no different. Maggie is now going to be working on a schedule, at least until we get her sleeping through the night.
Up until today we were letting her dictate our schedule. Since she gets up at 7:30 or so, she’s ready for a nap at 9:30 – We try to put her to bed for the night around 7:30. Other than that, the in between hours were kind of hodge podge of who knows what will happen.
Today, we enact the following plan:
7:30 – Wakes
9:30 – 1st nap
12:00 – Wake from 1st nap
3:00 – 2nd nap
4:30 – Wake from 2nd nap
7:00 – Start bedtime ritual – bathe, read a book, feed
8:00 – Sleep
8:01pm – 7:29am – Hope she doesn’t wake up.
7:30am – Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
Obviously, I’d love to hear any tips that have helped you. Just don’t tell me its going to get worse. I might have to blame my hormones for any ill will I feel towards you.
Baby bath time
Maggie is growing up so fast. At 3 months old it is already time to change our bathing ritual. We’ve been using the PUJ tub and love it. She loves bath time in the PUJ, but she is outgrowing it. I’m really bummed, for several reasons. First, I have a researching addiction and know that I’ll be spending hours upon hours deciding which tub to use next. Secondly, I’m worried she won’t like my tub decision. Lastly, I can’t believe she is growing so fast.
I’d love any suggestions on tubs. Did you have a favorite? Did you use the bath seat or a tub?
Make me pretty ritual
We all have morning rituals that we have come to rely on. When you are a teenager, you are discovering yourself. When you are in your 20s you experiement with different looks. When you are in your 30s you know what works for you. Throw in a baby and all of a sudden, the ritual has changed.
Admittedly, I usually take around an hour to get ready. I take a shower, put on my favorite lotions (daily SPF), condition my hair, blow out my hair and put on my makeup. I have now been thrown for a loop. My hour long,”Make me pretty ritual” has been shortened. So far it varies from 5 minutes to 15 minutes and if I’m lucky 30 minutes. This is tough, especially for a girl who has to blow dry her hair. I have what I like to call “White trash” hair. If I don’t blow it out, my bangs lay flat on my forehead, my hair has no body and looks greasy and has a 1980s perm wave that hasn’t been kept up. You know the look. White trash. If you put me in a trailer park, I’d blend in perfectly.
As an actress I always believed I’d get an Oscar for some dramatic character that lives in a trailer park with her boyfriend and 7 kids. Mainly because my hair is “Method”. (Without powder, I have solidified my Oscar nomination) My skin is rosy and uneven. I know I’m painting a beautiful picture of my self, but its true.
So on days like today, when all I have time to do is brush my teeth and put my hair in a ponytail and throw on some powder and lip gloss. I long for a nanny and a stylist to wake up to everyday.
I guess what I’m saying is… I dream of the days that I will be a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills. I mean seriously, they don’t do anything. Okay, I haven’t watched the show yet, but I’ve heard. Is it okay that I loathe them and want to be them at the same time?
