New England Mamas

Please stand by...

There are happenings and goings-on going on and happening behind the scenes for the Mamas which are, unfortunately, taking longer than expected.  Hopefully the situation will be rectified shortly, but in the meantime might we recommend checking out our archives for your necessary dose of parenting from the northeast.  You won't be disappointed.

And keep your fingers crossed all this technical-type web stuff doesn't do us in once and for all because seriously, while we're fantastic and talented, anything beyond basic HTML makes our heads hurt.  

I’m the Mom of a Catholic School kid

I attended Mass this morning at our church. I'm not sure I can technically say "our" church since the only one going on a regular basis is my daughter. But today was Family Mass Day, so I rearranged my company's entire morning schedule (no joke) to be there.

Why? Because it's Catholic School Week, and she asked me to go. And how could I explain to her that everything else in my life is more important than church right now when I'm sending her to Catholic school?

Which resurrected the nagging, internal discussion I seem to have over and over in my head - why am I sending my child to Catholic school? What am I hoping she'll achieve there that she may not achieve by attending our public school?

Puppy Love

Who doesn't love playing with puppies?  Who doesn't love finding fun things for the kids to do?  What if you could combine both of those things and tie in the fact that it's for a good cause? 

Last week a moms' group I'm in arranged an outing to a place called NEADS in Princeton, MA.  NEADS trains puppies to eventually become service dogs.  I say "eventually" because the puppies leave NEADS at 16 weeks to go live with families and have further training.   They do not actually become official service dogs until they're about 2.  Part of the training for the NEADS puppies is to become familiar with children.   They actually want the puppies  to be around kids. 

Do you get where I'm going with this?  Are you getting the same sense of excitment that I got when I saw the email announcing an outing to play and snuggle with puppies!?!?! 

They can call it Snowmageddon. We call it a good time.

The Mamas want to welcome Liz to our ranks.  Please help us make her feel at home. 

Hi. My name is Liz: long time reader, first time contributor. I am a fan of reading blogs and sites like this one, but have never written for one before. I am a SAHM of two young boys. I grew up in a mostly female household but now find myself the minority in my house full of males. It's been a bit of a learning curve, but I think I'm getting the hang of this testosterone-driven lifestyle. In fact, I might even be starting to like it.

Chocolate, Wine and a little Libido Boost

I know that whatever I get my husband for Valentine's Day, he really just wants one thing, and it's not found in a box of chocolates. 

So, this Tuesday, I'll be joining my friend, Motherhood Uncensored's/Cool Mom Picks' Kristen Chase, aka The Mominatrix, at Finale in Brookline to hang out with other local mamas for wine, chocolate and sex (talk). Hey, maybe I'll get some ideas for Valentine's Day. 

And guess what? You're invited too!

Tooth brushing in Massachusetts

If you have young children in preschool or daycare in Massachusetts chances are you've heard about the new state-wide mandate to have those children brush their teeth while in care.  How do you feel about this?  I don’t hate it.  I actually really like the idea.  However, I realize not everyone agrees with me.

Friday Family Fun Night

Some time ago I promised my children, ages 5 and 7, that my husband and I would try our best to keep Friday nights free of adult plans so we could institute Friday Family Fun Night. It would be a guaranteed night of the week when we would put down the laptops, blackberries and remote control and just do something silly or fun or creative as a FAMILY. It's crazy that we even had to pick a family night, but during the week between their school work, my husband and I working full time, and extracurricular activities that creep their way into our lives, I had to make this promise to them and to myself.

What do we do on Friday Family Fun Night? It totally varies on the weather and the mood. But here's an idea of what we've done this winter and maybe you can incorporate them into your family fun night, or use them to kick off your own weekly routine.

Safe outdoor skating rinks for the skittish mom

The Omen (II)  ruined me for ice skating on a pretty lake in the winter (no, I'm not linking to the scene; if you are too young to know it, consider yourself lucky).

Yes, that's my little guy standing on a frozen pond a couple of years ago, but it was after five days of sub-freezing weather  and seeing  250-pound ice fishermen walking on it before I could agree to let him out there.

It would figure I’d marry a guy who loves to ice skate and wants the kids to follow in his footsteps. And, while we could go to an indoor rink, I agree that there is something so quintessentially New England about skating out-of-doors. 

So instead of flashing the dreaded movie scene in my head every ten seconds, I've scouted out a few safe outdoor rinks that my kids and I can enjoy without me stopping every ten seconds to say, “did I just hear a crack?” We haven't tried them all, yet, but we will.  Feel free to add your favorites that are beyond my little corner of the world. 

How can we stomp out mean girls?

The other day, my five year old came home from preschool. As we talked about his day, he described three of his fellow classmates as "the mean girls".

"What?!", I asked him in surprise. Did I hear that right? Did he just call three girls, ages 4 and 5, the "mean girls"? 

"What do they do? And why do you call them that?"

Turns out, they are sort of a clique. They like to stick together and not really play with anyone else. 

Mind, you, this is the second clique I've heard of in his class of 20. The other is a small group of boys. 

Cliques. Mean girls. Boys who stick together like glue.

In preschool. A great preschool with caring teachers who are actively trying to do something to stop what they see happening before their eyes.

The State of Marriage Today

I came across this interesting research report from the Pew Research Center while I was fumbling through some demographic data for work (I know – research reports – yawn!). But the basics of the report got me thinking about my own marriage and our family dynamic. I started to wonder if I'm more like the rest of the married couples across the country than I had thought.

In part it read,