This past Monday I decided to head over to the Dunwoody City Council meeting. It had been a while since I had a free Monday night to attend but there were a few things on the agenda that will impact the future of our city and our kids so I thought I should attend. The biggest thing on the table was the vote regarding the parks bonds. Initially the city council was considering putting one bond referendum on the ballot in November to buy land for parks and to build out our park land based on the recently adopted parks plan. The city separated the bonds into two “up to” $33 million bonds. …
Ian had Vacation Bible School this week. Or VBS as the cool kids say. He was there last year as well but this year was a big difference. He is now old enough to participate in everything and the crafts he brought home look a lot better too. His skills are improving. The theme this year was ‘Pandamania.' Panda’s everywhere, bamboo everywhere and lots of tie-ins everywhere as well. This was a good break from the first two weeks of running errands and swimming at the pool in the morning and crashing for a nap in the afternoon. Our involvement actually started last week. Amanda and I drove around…
Watching the season finale of one of the family comedy series came up with the gem “We've got the whole summer in front of us." They sounded thrilled. After the first week, it doesn’t seem so thrilling to me. Actually, it’s really not that bad. I was told by some of the summer vacation expert moms that always give me free advice; the transition week is always the worst. One thing on the show that was similar to here was the characters were still wearing jackets the last week of school. Same here last week. We started out in the 40s and now here we are in true summer heat. But just wait, we …
Last week I joked about falling into a coma as soon as Amanda came home. It didn’t work out that way. I was totally beat after a week alone with the boys but I still had a few things to finish from my honey do list. I got Amanda to help with one, finished the other two, cleaned up and we all headed out to dinner. It was as soon as we got home that the coma hit. We were putting the kids to bed; I got Nate down so while Amanda was putting Ian down I decided to lay down myself for just a few minutes. I woke up the next day. In fact, I was fast asleep long before the boys were. Sometime over the …
What a week so far. Amanda has been out of town all week in a training seminar. This has been an eye opening experience for me. Back when I was a road warrior I’d be out of town for a day or so every other week. During the busy part of the quarter it could be a couple of days each week. A few times a year I would head out of town for an entire week for sales meetings, seminars or some other total waste of time. At first when it was just the two of us it wasn’t so bad. But after Ian was born it was hard to be on the road knowing he was back home getting bigger and saying new words that I …
As I sat down Wednesday night to write this week’s column I quickly decided to go in a different direction. I’m writing this in the basement with the TV on watching the storm heading our way. As Amanda went to bed I told her I’d keep an eye on things and get the family up and into the basement if we were in danger. We all remember the tornados in 1998 that left the Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and Norcross areas devastated. I was living in Alpharetta at the time. I remember taking shelter in the Elvis Room, the safest room in the house. It was my downstairs bathroom. It was quickly named the Elvis…
This Thursday was the biggest day of the year for the lottery. The most valuable jackpot all year was awarded. A coveted seat in the Georgia Pre-K class of 2011-2012. Amanda and I have gone back and forth on this for a while now. Leave Ian in his current school or move him over to the local elementary school for Pre-K. Since ‘you have to be in it to win it’, we decided to roll the dice and play. We determined the game plan. The divide and conquer approach won out again. I dropped the kids off as usual but Amanda would work from the house in the afternoon and pick the kids up so I could be at …
We did our big vacation in February so we are staying home for Spring Break. So that leaves me home with the kids, by myself. All day. Ian and Nate both go to a half day programs at local churches. Ian 5 days, Nate most days. No faking it now. But then again, this is just practice for the summer. No secret to people who know me, I’m not the best at planning for things like this. It’s funny some things I way over plan but things like this I don’t plan much at all. I just kind of let things happen. Lucky for us this worked out. So the first Saturday of Spring Break started out a little crazy…
It seems like as soon as we celebrate New Years, the clock starts counting down to the much-anticipated week of fun known as "Spring Break". Now that this week of vacation is upon us, what do we do?! How do you keep your child entertained during spring break? What activities do you plan to do as a family? What are your favorite nearby family trips or activities? Moms, dads, grandparents and the diverse families who make up our community have a new resource for the countless questions that arise while raising children and a place to drop in for a talk about the latest parenting hot topic. So …
Weekday mornings can be rough. There are a lot of activities packed into a small time period, when you also happen to be sleep-deprived, still yawning and just starting your first cup of coffee. How do you make your morning routine run smoothly before school? What issues arise that cause your mornings to be hectic? What tips can you share to get the kids up, fed and ready to go-- with as little drama as possible? Moms, dads, grandparents and the diverse families who make up our community have a new resource for the countless questions that arise while raising children and a place to drop in …
The death of a loved one is hard to understand - at all ages- but how do you explain death to your children? Still reeling from the death of his mother and his mother-in-law, Billy Light wrote a book for his two children, then 7 and 4, called "Grandmas Never Leave Us". Read the full article about their family's story here. Billy found that writing a book was his way of helping his children through the death of their two beloved grandmothers. How do you help your children through grief? How do you explain the death of a loved one? What resources have you found helpful? Each week in Moms Talk…
Ian, like most kids is ahead in some areas, and behind in others. One area where he is woefully behind is his bed. He’s 3 ½ and still sleeps in a crib. Until this week. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a good thing, most of the time. Ian really likes his crib. He seems relaxed in there. In fact, he seems to feel ‘safe’ in the crib. During nap time he stays in the crib. He may not sleep, but at least he stays in one place. Eventually he will remain quiet, either asleep or just nice quiet time. Unfortunately all good things come to an end. Time for Ian and his parents to move on and grow up. The …
With such a nice weather this last weeknd and the recent changing of the clocks, spring is coming and summer is not far behind. How do you keep your child entertained during spring & summer break? What camps & activities do you recommend? What about "staycations"- family trips or activities that are nearby? Each week in Moms Talk, our Council of smart moms will start the discussion, take your questions, give advice and share solutions. Moms, dads, grandparents and the diverse families who make up our community have a new resource for the countless questions that arise while raising children …
So it’s that time of year again. After we put the kids in bed we clear off the kitchen table for the night’s work. We stack up the various forms, schedules, statements, etc. and contemplate the task at hand. Reviewing the forms we have to arrange everything into stacks that make sense. Arrange things by date, by location by amount. One to work on now, one for a little later when we get a break from the first batch. Things become color coded, items get moved around sorted, re-sorted and finally start to fall into place. Taxes? We wish. Worse. Summer Camp applications. I used to laugh at my …
From "keeping up with the Joneses'" to "How come he gets to watch PG13 & R rated movies and I don't?"... How do you help your child deal with elementary age peer pressure? Each week in Moms Talk, our Council of smart moms will start the discussion, take your questions, give advice and share solutions. Moms, dads, grandparents and the diverse families who make up our community have a new resource for the countless questions that arise while raising children and a place to drop in for a talk about the latest parenting hot topic. So grab a cup of coffee, settle in and add your comments as we …
Each week, we’ll tell you about one great idea to give you a much deserved break, and make your life a little easier, maybe a whole lot easier. Though running errands and chasing your kids definitely burns calories, take some time specifically for you to burn off stress and gain energy. Don't have a lot of time? Don’t have a lot of money? Not to worry. An easy way to get started is to sign up for a free trial at your local gym. Fortunately, Dunwoody has three great options. CurvesRequest a free trial week.Location: 1424 Dunwoody Village PkwyPhone: 770-522-9721Website: www.curvesatlanta.com…
