Professor Mom

Aliki
Chronicles the life of a mom, teacher, and writer trying to stay sane amid the chaos of daily life.

archives

December 31, 2010
New Year, new-ish me
Back when I first became a vegetarian, some 15 years ago, people used to quiz me all the time about things they thought I might miss. "What about fried chicken?" They would ask. "Or bacon on a weekend morning?" "How about pepperoni pizza?" "Or turkey on Thanksgiving!" "What about a good, juicy burger on the 4th of July?" I didn't miss any of those things, really (except I did kind of miss chicken tenders dipped in honey for a bit, the first time I tried to go vegetarian), and it was funny to me that people kept asking me about all the...
Baking, Cooking, Family, Greece, Parenting, Tradition, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarianism
December 30, 2010
Questions and answers
On the advice of L.'s doctor, L. is getting a series of re-evaluations and educational testing done--mainly to get a better sense of where he is now academically and emotionally, so we can make the best choices possible for him as we transition to middle school. The last time he had testing and evaluations done he was 6 years old, and 6 year olds and ten year olds are VERY different. Maybe we grownups don't change so much in four years, but four years can make a huge difference in a child's development.  Anyway, L. has been less-than-thrilled about it all--as he is with...
Children, Parenting, School Daze, Social & Emotional Issues, Special Needs
December 29, 2010
Ghosts of Christmas past
My brother called on Monday night, to check up on our trip back and on a skating-related injury I sustained on Sunday (more on that later) and we both agreed that it had been particularly relaxing, low-maintenance Christmas holiday this year, as far as keeping all the kids happy and peaceful together. My kids and their two cousins get along very well but, as is the case whenever you put a group of children together in a chaotic environment featuring lots of presents, expectations, and sugary foods, meltdowns happen and kids get unhappy and things can rapidly fall apart in that special way...
Children, Christmas, Cousins, Family, Family Travel, Memories, Parenting, Siblings
December 27, 2010
Postcard from the road
It's always strange to go back to the little college town where I grew up. It's even stranger that I went to college in the same college town. When I walk to the little shopping center near my parents' house I feel like time slips away--off to the side like a sheet suddenly whipped away to reveal something hidden, and I have to consciously remind myself--my god, I'm 41, not 18, or 22 or even 30. The college students around me look just like the my contemporaries from twenty-two years ago--they haven't changed one bit, I don't think. They might be carrying around smart...
Children, Christmas, Family Travel, Holidays, Memory, Parenting
December 24, 2010
Christmas every day
When the kids tumbled out of the van and into my parents' house, with the usual chaos and excitement and pent-up energy after 6 + hours in the van, they converged around the Christmas tree, as they do every year, soaking up the look of it, and plopping down on their stomachs to watch the Christmas train chugging around the base of the tree, just as it does every year. I love watching my kids rediscover all the things they savor about Christmas at my parents' house--this is the best part of the trip for me. L. especially appreciates the now-routine rhythms of the holiday around here--...
Books, Christmas, Family, Family Activities, Holidays, Parenting, Traditions, Travel
December 22, 2010
Trimmings
A few weeks ago a friend of mine posted on her Facebook page that her little son had somehow tipped the entire Christmas tree over onto himself. He wasn't hurt, thank goodness, but several ornaments were, and when I read that I winced inside for my friend. When you set up a tree year after year, and you have kids and loved ones who make or give you ornaments each holiday, inevitably there are going to be quite a few that you keep close to your heart. Luckily for us, many of the most special ornaments on our tree are of the handmade/paper variety, and they are pretty hardy as far as...
Activities with Children, Children, Family, Holidays, Parenting, Traditions
December 21, 2010
White space
A friend and neighbor called on Sunday in a slight panic mode. She was trying to burn some CDs for her sister's little boy as a Christmas gift but their family computer picked that inopportune time to stop working. I invited her to come by and use my laptop and she rushed right over, a pile of CDs in hand. As I looked at the list of titles (The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Beethoven's Wig, and my personal favorite, Sandra Boynton's Rhinoceros Tap) I remembered that years ago, when L. was just two, a family friend gave him one of the best gifts ever: a cute bag...
Children, Family, Holidays, Juggling, Moms, Motherhood, Parenting, Social & Emotional Issues
December 20, 2010
Connections
This past weekend we hosted the annual family Christmas gathering for Scott's side of the family, and we were lucky enough to have Scott's grandmother come from Texas to share in the festivities. She and Scott's mom arrived late on Friday night, long after the kids had gone to bed. The next morning, I was in the kitchen brewing coffee and chatting with Scott's Nana when L. came downstairs, still in his pajamas, excited to see her. He went straight to where she was seated at the kitchen table and gave her the sweetest, most sincere hug in the world--a body melting hug, not the...
Children, Family, Holidays, Memory, Parenting, Special Needs
December 17, 2010
Gifted education 2010
We were surprised by a snow day yesterday! The kids' two-hour delay turned into a school cancellation, which was  a bit mysterious to us grown-ups but the kids were thrilled. Unfortunately the snow was of the icy variety, and so the kids couldn't even spend the day playing in it or sledding. We did get them geared up and outside for a little while but L. ended up completely frustrated that he couldn't form a decent snowball to throw at his sister, so he retreated back into the house and the predictable comforts of the computer. Then we spent the rest of the day trying to get...
Children, Gifts, Holidays, Parenting, School Daze, Teachers
December 16, 2010
Mean girls
Most parenting advice books and websites and even pediatricians push the importance of eating dinner together as a family, at least a few times a week. If we flub other areas of this parenting business, we have always--always--taken family meals very seriously. Even when the kids were in highchairs we would pull the chair up to the dining room table and eat together for as long as they would let us, and let baby L. or baby T. watch this strange daily ritual unfolding. I can't emphasize enough how important family mealtime has been for us, and how important I think it is for every family....
Children, Daughters, Friendship, Girls, Parenting, School Daze, Social & Emotional Issues
December 15, 2010
Vegan Kourabiedes
Can you stand one more cookie recipe in one week? When my parents visited last weekend, I had the chance to do some cooking and baking--a pot of my vegetarian chili, some amazing vegan cornbread (I have to thank my dad for making it, although he was skeptical about the 'vegan' part of it), and I also made a batch of vegan kourabiedes. My mother makes these Greek cookies (not the exact recipe, though) at Christmas every year and they are my favorites and Scott's, too--little round balls of sweetness, filled with crunchy nuts and covered in powdered sugar. The one thing I'...
Baking, Cooking, Food for Thought, Parenting, Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
December 14, 2010
Windows
I held a 6-month old baby this past weekend--only for about 20 minutes, while the baby's mother had the chance to fix herself a plate of food. We were at a birthday party for a friend.  Before I got my hands on that little guy, he had been rolling around on the floor, cooing and gurgling and I was transfixed, because he reminded me so much of L. when he was that age. It was strange to have that small window back into the past unexpectedly opened, and strange and fun to hold a baby that age again. He was a little fussy and I took him over to the window and was surprised, again, to...
Babies, Children, Juggling, Motherhood, Mothers, Parenting, Social & Emotional Issues
December 13, 2010
Ginger madness
Most people probably know the old folktale about the gingerbread man--especially if you're a parent. T.'s class did a fun project early last week. Her teacher brought in gingerbread dough and the kids all made their own gingerbread cookies. Then, when the teacher went to the cafeteria to bake the cookies in the school's oven, those cookies upped and scampered off as fast as they could. The kids were incredulous when the teacher came back and reported the misadventure. They ran to the classroom windows to peer out, just in case they happened to catch sight of any of those little...
Activities for Chlidren, Baking, Children, Cooking, Family Activities, Holidays, Parenting
December 10, 2010
Surviving the season
I looked at the calendar the other day and realized we have 1.5 child-free days left to do Christmas shopping. 1.5 weekday, child-free days and, as many parents know, child-free, weekday holiday shopping is the way to go. I'm a little stressed out by this because, while we've completed some of our shopping, we certainly haven't completed all of it. And then there will be the baking and the wrapping and the organizing the getting-ready-to-leave-town for Christmas on the 22nd, as we do every year. We have to work hard to keep the the holiday upheaval as low-key as we can around...
Bag of Tricks, Children, Holidays, Parenting, Special Needs
December 9, 2010
Bits and pieces
Yesterday's post was sparked by a woman I saw waiting in the grocery store checkout line earlier in the week. She was young and had two small children with her--one about 15 months old. She was paying for her groceries with a WIC check and when I saw that, the memories came flooding back. Her baby also was missing one shoe. I pointed this out to her and she sighed in frustration. Her baby, she told me, keeps taking off his shoes and socks and they've lost so many of them. I smiled, because T. used to do the exact same thing. Sometimes we'd be all the way in the minivan before I...
Babies, Character Sketches, Children, Motherhood, Mothers, Nursing, Parenting
December 9, 2010
Bits and pieces
Yesterday's post was sparked by a woman I saw waiting in the grocery store checkout line earlier in the week. She was young and had two small children with her--one about 15 months old. She was paying for her groceries with a WIC check and when I saw that, the memories came flooding back. Her baby also was missing one shoe. I pointed this out to her and she sighed in frustration. Her baby, she told me, keeps taking off his shoes and socks and they've lost so many of them. I smiled, because T. used to do the exact same thing. Sometimes we'd be all the way in the minivan before I...
Babies, Mothers, Parenting, Social & Emotional Issues
December 8, 2010
Stripped
When I was out walking with my neighbor last weekend we got to talking, as we sometimes do, about those early days of parenting. She has two kids, ages 3 and 4 1/2 (yikes) so one could argue that she’s still in those early days of parenting. But we were talking about the early, early days—those giddy, surreal, exhausting, anxiety-laden days when you first arrive home from the hospital, babe in arms, and you’re on your own. There are no nurses to hand your baby off to, no lactation consultant to help problem-solve latch-on difficulties (who knew?), no doctors on...
Babies, Children, Motherhood, Mothers, Nursing, Parenting, Social & Emotional Issues
December 8, 2010
Stripped
When I was out walking with my neighbor last weekend we got to talking, as we sometimes do, about those early days of parenting. She has two kids, ages 3 and 4 1/2 (yikes) so one could argue that she’s still in those early days of parenting. But we were talking about the early, early days—those giddy, surreal, exhausting, anxiety-laden days when you first arrive home from the hospital, babe in arms, and you’re on your own. There are no nurses to hand your baby off to, no lactation consultant to help problem-solve latch-on difficulties (who knew?), no doctors on hand in...
Babies, Children, infants, Moms, Motherhood, Nursing, Parenting, Social & Emotional Issues
December 7, 2010
Sign of the times
After yesterday's heavy post, I thought something more light-hearted was in order--it is the holiday season, after all, even if it doesn't quite feel like it yet.   Scott and I are both staring down the final week of the semester and with that, comes the pile of final exams, straggling projects, and the final grade calculations that really make this part of the job so painful. We've been bringing a lot of work home, too, which makes for cranky parents, and headachey, stressful weekend time. We are a good team, my husband and I, but we are so used to intuitively...
Children, Juggling, Marriage, Moms, Parenting, Work
December 7, 2010
Sign of the times
  After yesterday's heavy post, I thought something more light-hearted was in order--it is the holiday season, after all, even if it doesn't quite feel like it yet.   Scott and I are both staring down the final week of the semester and with that, comes the pile of final exams, straggling projects, and the final grade calculations that really make this part of the job so painful. We've been bringing a lot of work home, too, which makes for cranky parents, and headachey, stressful weekend time. We are a good team, my husband and I, but we are so used to...
Children, Dads, Juggling, Marriage, Moms, Parenting, Work
December 6, 2010
Forever young
The new movement du jour circulating around Facebook these past few days directs us to change our profile pictures to our favorite cartoon characters: Change your Facebook profile picture to a cartoon from your childhood & invite your friends to do the same. Until Monday (Dec. 6), there should be no human faces on Facebook, but an invasion of memories. This is for violence against children. I haven't done this yet--not because I think the cause is unimportant, but because I've spent a few days wondering how changing profile pictures to cartoon characters will accomplish anything. Why...
Children, Dads, Memories, Moms, Parenting
December 3, 2010
Keeping the magic alive
We've settled into a strange place with L. and this whole Santa business. He doesn't talk about Santa much, and we haven't revisited the conversation we had that afternoon at the craft store. We continue our traditions and L., for the most part, has been good about keeping a lid on his doubts. At the dinner table the other night we were talking about Santa, and whether or not he could fulfill Scott's unrealistic Christmas list which, at this point, consists entirely of vintage electronics with long names and strange numbers. "Santa can't make all that!" I pointed out. "It's too much work!" "...
Children, Christmas, Dads, Growing Up Is Hard to Do, Holidays, Moms, Parenting
December 2, 2010
Homestretch
It's the last week of classes before final exams next week. Finals! The word thrills me. Yesterday morning, December 1st, I was pouring hot water over my PG Tips and I heard T. exclaim from the stairs: "Happy 1st of December today!" She had spied the advent calendars propped up on the hallway bench and the sight of them filled her with glee. We almost didn't have the calendars in time, because the first of the month had slipped from my radar for much of the week--until I was standing in the checkout line with L. at that market the other day and remembered to buy them. Of course, because it's...
Food, Holidays, Juggling, Students, Teaching, Work
December 1, 2010
Snapshots
On Monday, when I walked in to pick up L., he had his nose buried in a book. While I tracked down math homework for his tutor, and made a copy of a worksheet, and tried to find his Trapper Keeper, he stayed reading, huddled in a corner in the hallway. He read across the parking lot, and once we got into the car. This is good, I thought to myself. Because if L. can focus on something like that after school he stays calmer, and relaxed, instead of being like a blown-up ballooon, untied and let loose to ricochet around a room. We drove off in silence, L. still reading. Then, "Mama, what does...
Books, Children, Parenting, School Daze, Snapshots, Special Needs