Extraordinarily Ordinary: Parenting

I recently had a conversation with a friend about going out to eat and how many parents stop doing that most blissful of activities when it becomes less about great food and more about getting out before you get charged for the damage. We don’t go out to dinner all that much because my husband works in the evenings but we have found a few places we like and can rely on. I’ll share mine if you share yours! AJ Bombers – on Water Street in Milwaukee is nearly as famous for their innovative use of social media as they…

We have just returned from my son’s school where tonight was the Black History Month celebration. The children sang sweet songs by an African American educator and folksinger, then charged around the school to look at different Black History Month projects, and wound up the evening with some African dancing and drumming. It was an exciting night for the littlest students since it was one of their first-ever school performances, the projects the students worked on were impressive and the dancing by the older students and the professionals was spectacular. Like a lot of schools in the MPS system, our…

This is the first in what I hope is a series of posts featuring parents who are doing really incredible things for, inspired by or with, their children. I want to start with Linda Mulholland, owner of Cocina DeLeon in Brookfield. Linda is a wife, mother, writer and phenomenal cook who, when faced with potentially dire circumstances, rolled up her sleeves, and a lot of tortillas, to create a clever business and a long-term solution for her family. Linda’s inspiration was Cocina DeLeon, now a store in Brookfield selling freshly made, locally sourced enchiladas that are frozen so you can…

Tonight, I got hugged, kissed, petted, patted, poked, “I love you”d and more general happiness just because I existed than I think I may have ever experienced in my entire life. At least, the most since I was born, I’m guessing. I just got off a plane from caring for a family member recovering from a serious illness. It wasn’t possible to take my boys because of the situation and they have been home for a week with their Daddy and a very loving and incredibly responsible babysitter. Today’s technology means I could Skype with them throughout each day I…

This year, I am heeding the advice of experts and not really resolving to do anything. Actually, I almost always do that. Why? Because I am a procrastinator and an over-planner, two qualities that go together beautifully if you’re really into anxiety and personal flogging. Making New Year’s resolutions is a sure-fire way for me to cause myself great disappointment. Plus, if the resolutions are really specific, then I will keep thinking I have ALL YEAR to accomplish them and then suddenly, I’m 92 and still hoping to clean out the basement. So, my non-resolution for this year is just…

The holidays are stressful for pretty much everyone and years when there are extenuating circumstances can make it all much, much worse. This year, for me, Christmas morning was practically an afterthought because of all the other things going on. That’s a horrible thing to say, I know, but I was so frantic, Christmas itself was the “break” from all the other craziness that was going on. I did manage to hide my husband’s present so well that I forgot it in Baltimore. That was not cool at all but thankfully, he seems to have forgiven me. Meanwhile, our children’s…

On this Thanksgiving Eve, I have many more things to worry about than posting to a blog but I feel compelled to write something down. My family is experiencing our first major health crisis ever. For the last 60 hours, we have been on the phone almost constantly sharing information and coordinating plans. We have cried, freaked out, breathed sighs of relief and then started the process all over again. As we do all of this, the offers of help and advice have come in nearly as fast and furious as all the rest of information. Neighbors have offered to…

I don’t think you have to be a parent to be sickened by the news coming out of Happy Valley over the last 10 days. If you are not familiar with the ongoing scandal, I’m going to give a brief outline. Be prepared: it’s not a nice story and it involves allegations of the sexual abuse of children. If you do not want to know about it, please do not continue to read. Here goes: A Pennsylvania grand jury has charged former assistant Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky with 40 counts of sexually abusing eight boys. The grand jury…

I’m seeing a lot of discussion today on Facebook and some other sites about Halloween and its horrible messages. Some people say it’s all wrong that we celebrate the dead and undead, the ghosts and goblins, the violence and gore and all the rest of what Halloween entails. Lots of them are Christians who say celebrating Halloween is akin to celebrating the devil and the devilish. Others don’t identify themselves religiously but say they don’t like how we glorify such nasty symbols or engage in such conspicuous consumption this time of year. I have to say I think the people…

I cannot claim to write a blog about parenting in Milwaukee without addressing the fact that another child has died after co-sleeping with an adult in this community. Last Thursday, a 4 month-old girl went to sleep for a nap in her mother’s bed. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s story, she was placed on her stomach to sleep. An hour later, her mother joined her. When the mother woke up about 3 hours after that, the baby was dead, wedged between the bed and a wall. Milwaukee has a serious problem with co-sleeping deaths. Search “co-sleeping” on the Milwaukee…