Saturday, January 12, 2013
After some serious surgery, Montco Mommy wants to share her stories for more reasons than one.
That’s right. I’m back in the saddle again. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m happy to announce the return of Montco Mommy. During the summer of 2012, I decided to take a break to enjoy more time with my children. They were off. We had many planned trips to the beach, to see family, camping. It was a whirlwind of a summer. It was a smart decision. My time is spread so thinly and the column seemed to be something I did largely for my own enjoyment. It hadn’t occurred to me that it would be missed. I, of course, aim to help other parents by venting my frustrations, offering my two cents and minimally showing you that nobody’s perfect and crazy things do happen all the time, to all parents! As the children went back to school (pre-K and …
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Montco Mommy tests the waters of an at-home 15-foot pool before taking the plunge for a bigger option.
With the temperatures climbing last week, our family has already started seeking relief. With traditional Irish skin tones, we sometimes have a limited list of sunny-day activities. We can’t bask in the glorious sun all day long, even if we’d like to, as we only have two main skin tones: albino and burnt. Despite the needs for frequent shade, we are test “swimming” a new idea this summer. Our kids have been begging for a pool since, well since they could beg. Both have had swim lessons and can minimally swim enough not to lose their lives if they fell in. To be honest, we’d probably have to take a third mortgage out to afford one, but I wouldn’t put it past us if it made us all happy. However, before we made a final decision, we thought it…
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Montco Mommy's 6-year-old son set his sight on wedding rings for himself and his girlfriend and is planning to propose, marry and start a family.
I knew the day would come. I’m not looking forward to it, and I love my children so much I hate to see them go. But, let’s face it. It is fairly likely someday they will move out. My son said this weekend he is ready for that day. He is going to propose to his girlfriend. They have been boyfriend and girlfriend for almost a year now, so he says it is time. May I remind you, he is now 6 years old. On his day off this holiday weekend, I took him for a special trip to Aronld’s Family Fun Center in Oaks. We had a great time playing laser tag, driving go-karts and playing arcade games. Afterward, we took our ticket winnings to the prize center, as usual. After scouring racks of toys, candy and games, his eyes finally fixed on what he wanted to …
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Montco Mommy and her 4-year-old daughter take on the nail salon.
My daughter is a diva. That isn’t news to anyone that knows her. At age 4, she is already far more “girly” than her mother. Somehow, this tomboy of a Montco Mommy birthed princess of a little girl. As we often do, last week my husband and I decided to split the two kids up for a little bit of one-on-one time. The boys decided they wanted to go see The Avengers. The two, comic- and video-game loving boys headed off to enjoy dinner and the flick. We two girls were left to our own devices. I flat out asked what my little chick wanted to do for Girls’ Night Out, and she picked. In a completely stereotypical “girl” selection, she decided on a few things. The two of us were destined for the nail salon for a bit of pampering. My baby girl then …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Montco Mommy shares her 6-year-old's thoughts of why she's the best.
What do your children think of you? I don’t often think of what kind of “legacy” I’m leaving, but one of the most important things I know I leave behind in this world someday when I’m gone is what kind of people my children are. While I may not dwell on it daily, it is likely a motivating factor for much of the way I parent. What life skills do they need to have forever? What ways can I best benefit them? When I’m long gone, what will they remember me for? At ages 4 and 6, that is sometimes hard to gauge. But, I have a fairly vocal and thoughtful son, so I know what he thinks most of the time as he thinks it. I’m not sure my daughter is old enough to think of it at all, but this past weekend, on Mother’s Day, I was given a great …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Montco Mommy enjoys an anniversary date with her husband ... but sleeping in was the favorite part of their getaway.
It has been half a decade. It doesn’t sound long, but it’s a wide variety of peaks and valleys. This past week, I celebrated my fifth wedding anniversary with my husband. When you have two young children, getting a date in at all is pretty tough. We aspire to get out at least every other week, but that ends up being more like once a month, at best. Between nailing down a babysitter, timing our work schedules and the cost of going out, we seldom take the time to do it. But, relationships take a lot of work. We try to remember, though it isn’t always easy, that time together can be the best way to “work” on it. Thankfully, we have my college-aged sister in town for a few more days, so we took advantage of a free Aunt to get away for an …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The rising expense of children's photos is breaking Montco Mommy.
Don’t get me wrong. I love capturing the rare moments of my children’s childhood on film. Er, should I say, on digital cards and Web sites. Regardless of the format, I realize that these young years are fleeting, and pretty soon my husband and I will be sitting here with an empty nest wondering where all the good times have gone. And, while you’ve already heard my rants over the challenges of having professional portraits of your children taken, I have one more unique bit of photography frustration to vent about here. The quantity of photos a parent is bombarded with in the span of one school year is pretty shocking. I grew up with school pictures. Who didn’t? And, as much as we’d like to forget most of them, they chronicled our awkward, …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Montco Mommy shelves the canned and boxed variety to try her hand at made-from-scratch sauce and meatballs.
I confess. I can’t cook. I keep my family alive, sure, but 99 percent of the time, it isn’t what I would call “cooking.“ Opening a box, can or jar doesn’t really “count” to me. Again, it keeps dinner on the table, but not per se a skill set I have. Ironically, I love watching cooking shows. I’m addicted to Food Network. I also love learning from others. If I can watch someone else do it, have them explain it to me or ideally write down step-by-step instructions, I can generally at least give it a try. When it comes to family holidays, my aunt still does all the work. She is a great cook, and makes amazing food. As she (and OK the rest of us in the family too) get older, I feel responsible to carry on our traditions. I love the foods she …
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Montco Mommy looks to balance summer activities with her job.
I feel like there are two extreme mommy views on summer. On the one hand, you have moms that are dreading the kids being off. They are worried about childcare costs and schedules. They fret them being home for long (read “boring”) hours, with no set goals, homework or routines. On the other hand, I know moms that have been planning their summers for months. They have each minute excitedly planned out for the full season. They cannot wait for that bus to come on the last day of school, and joyfully anticipate spending warm, quality time with their children. I guess between those extremes somewhere is me. I am glad my son will be home. This was, in first-grade, his first time being out of the house all day long. This September, those six to …
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Montco Mommy is trying (unsuccessfully) to break her 4-year-old daughter of her annoying whining habit.
Somewhere around my daughter’s second birthday, her voice changed. No, it wasn’t a super early puberty. It was the addition of “the whine.” Since age 2, it has barely changed. Instead of speaking to her father or me in her typical toddler voice, she began to ask for everything in a droning, ultra-sad, pleading whine. I suppose you could say we are allowing it to go on too long, but really we don’t. “Mooommmmmmyyyyyy,” she whines. “I wannnnnttt a juuuuuuiiiice.” I hear it. I’ve heard it most of the day. I make her fix it. She has to request things again in a normal tone of voice in order to get what she wants or needs. We try not to ever succumb to the whine. But, then of course, you go see grandparents for a weekend, and she is super …
Steven Long
4:30 pm on Thursday, May 31, 2012
STUPID! This is something you hear from a friendly neighbor ... not a journalist! more ›