Category Archives: children

A Blast from the Past

Posted on by
41

My son at age four and half at our riverfront property in Washington State that my grandfather bought for a few dollars during the Great Depression.

I am facing a chore I’ve put off for years. I have stacks of photo albums with many of the same photos and duplicates from my high school years through raising kids — before digital photos became a thing. We had a photo developer a few blocks from our house in Palm Springs called Double Photo. Yes, you got two photos for the price of one for every roll of film you brought in. I’d walk to the store, pushing a double stroller with kids plus rolls of film treating them like treasure. Hence my abundance of photos and closet full of photo albums. I’d mail the double photos to Mom, but after she passed, they were all returned to me.

I’m finally addressing the elephant in my closet by tackling one album a day. I take out the photos I want to keep and put them in a photo box. The album with remaining photos gets tossed.

Here are a few photos I found this week that bring back memories:

Here I am at our property with both kids, my daughter aged 18 months, throwing a punch?

My son before little sis was born, bathing in the kitchen sink.

Baby Kat at our park for the Fireman’s annual egg hunt.

My son eating steamer clams we dug together in Washington at my mom’s house. Funny, he’s allergic to all seafood now.

My husband and I took a rewards trip to Hong Kong thanks to the company he worked for. This is the parking lot of the Peninsula Hotel. I couldn’t believe their fleet of cars. Or the flowers for a wedding.

Wow! I’ve never seen a wedding with so many flowers before. I guess it goes along with the cars.

Then in typical China fashion, this was a side of pork at a local open air market. Such a contrast between the haves and have nots.

A picture of me in Hong Kong. We were all turned around time wise and I tripped on the curb outside our hotel — my first steps outside — and sprained my ankle. We have lots of photos of me sitting on that trip wearing an ace bandage. Kind of foreshadowed our trip to the lake in Eastern Arizona last month!

What do you do with photos from the past vs. digital photos?

Remembering Swim Mom

Posted on by
24

This photo was from my daughter’s last PAC 12 championship swim meet in Federal Way, Wash. It’s a ball pit in the lobby of the Natatorium for photo ops. Every year, they had something different to pose with. I’m sitting at the top right, not in the ball pit, because I’m wearing a brace after wrecking my knee skiing. This group of women were my compadres at the University of Utah — all proud swim moms of Utes.

Last week I was surprised to see an email with the subject line: “Swim Mom Advice.”

That brought me back to the roller coaster days of being a swim mom. Both my kids began swimming with our local club team at an early age. My son swam through high school, my daughter all four years of college.

A woman was emailing me for advice about her daughter who was a swimmer in college. No, I didn’t recognize the name. I have never met her. Nor, do I know who her daughter is or where she goes to college.

So why was she emailing me?

I used to write a weekly swim parenting advice column for SwimSwam, the world’s most read swim site. You can look at my stories HERE. I have a page for them on my blog.

For my column, I read sports parenting books and websites from “real” sports parenting experts. I also listened to podcasts. Although I used first-hand stories, I actually did homework and didn’t just write things off the cuff.

After a couple years, I started getting emails from swim moms sharing specifics about their children, coaches or teams. They wanted my advice. I turned this into a feature called “Ask Swim Mom” which I rotated into my weekly column. One thing about writing for SwimSwam, I got a lot of comments — some good, some downright vicious. For my “Ask Swim Mom” column a common comment was to stop making up stupid questions. That wasn’t true. I was flattered people emailed me.

I started writing for SwimSwam after interviewing for a managing editor job. The job turned out to be weekends and evenings — covering big swim meets — and not for that point in my life. But I did submit a story I wrote about being a swim mom. The founder and CEO of SwimSwam called me. He told me that if SwimSwam were a movie, they had a cast of characters, but no one to play the role of “Swim Mom.” He was casting me!

What was the email about?

There are lots of changes in collegiate swimming. I think it’s due to trickle down of NIL from football and other big money sports. Swimming loses money. It takes a lot of money to fund a pool. Consequently, rosters of swimmers are being cut at many teams. This swim mom said that swimmers were being cut, but not her daughter. Some of her daughter’s roommates and best friends were out. People including moms weren’t speaking to each other. I can only imagine how hard that would be for all the parents and swimmers — those who are staying have survival guilt. Those who were cut are devastated.

In any case, it felt good to be a swim mom again for a day. I replied to her email and asked my daughter for her advice and included it, too.

In the end, my daughter transitioned from swimmer to swammer and became a working adult. Of course, COVID shut downs had a lot to do with it not being easy. My swim mom days were over and I thought to myself, “Who would want my advice anyway?” Hence the end of “Ask Swim Mom” and my weekly column for SwimSwam.

What time in your life do you look back on and miss — or not miss? And why?

Happy Birthday!

Posted on by
32

Today is my son’s birthday. This is a photo from a summer in Laguna Beach of my son, daughter and Angus, the best dog ever. We adopted Angus from Guide Dogs of the Desert after his hips were found to be “FAIR” and not “EXCELLENT.”

In honor of my son’s and Angus’s March 26 birthdays (RIP Angus), I’m posting a story I wrote that was published in the Los Angeles Times Kids’ Reading Room. It’s based on my son’s birthday in the second grade when he wanted to invite 50 kids to his birthday party.

A Birthday for the Dogs

“MOM, I’m inviting 50 kids to my party.”

“What, Robert?” Mom said. “That’s too many. Do you know 50 kids?”

I sat in the back seat while Mom drove home after school. My eighth birthday was in two weeks. 

“There’s my class, plus Cub Scouts, and playgroup.”

“I can’t afford to take 50 kids skating or bowling. And I don’t want 50 kids in my house. What about the city pool? It’s heated, open year-round, and it’s only 50¢ a kid,” Mom said.

“A swim party, that’s cool!” I said.

“I’ll say yes to the party, but no to presents. Fifty presents is too much for one 8-year-old. It’s decadent.”

“What’s decadent?” I asked. Mom used words I didn’t know.

“Self-indulgent, corrupt.”

I sat silently and thought I’d be sad with no presents. Then I remembered Angus. Mom got him for me as an early birthday present. We were on a waiting list for two years with Guide Dogs of the Desert. He was being trained as a companion dog for people who couldn’t see. We got him because he had poor hips and couldn’t be a working dog. Angus was big, yellow, and I loved him. We shared the same birthday.

“I have a great idea!”

“What?” Mom asked, glancing at me in her rearview mirror.

“I’ll ask for money for Guide Dogs of the Desert.”

“Ah?” Mom made a weird swalloing noise.

“It’s Angus’s birthday, too.”

In the rearview mirror I watched Mom dab at the corner of her eyes with a tissue, and nod her head in agreement.

Two weeks later, I had a great birthday. Fifty kids came with bathing suits, towels and money. Instead of opening presents after cake, we counted dollars they had stuffed into a large jar decorated with photos of Angus. 

Together, we raised more than $1,600 for Guide Dogs. Mom called me a “philanthropist” – whatever that is.

What special birthday memories do you have?

What’s in Your Closet?

Posted on by
46

This is my office which has been taken over with stuff from our closets. The painting is of our Palm Springs backyard.

Yesterday, we were getting new carpet installed in our guest room and casita. We went through Costco because a neighbor recommended them. First, you have Costco’s backing if you aren’t satisfied or something goes wrong. Second, you get a percentage back from Costco on a gift card.

We had a salesperson come to the house with samples. We selected what we wanted, signed a contract and paid. The salesperson did measurements with an electronic device. He said I needed to empty out the closets and remove little things, but they would do the heavy lifting of beds and dressers.

We decided to replace the carpets after Christmas. My son is very allergic to cats and even though I raked the carpets to get rid of Olive’s hair (yes, there is such a thing as a pet rake) and I had the carpets professionally cleaned, my son couldn’t breathe. His doctor told him to leave or go to the ER. Not a great Christmas memory.

I’m sad to lose Olive and I miss her every day. She loved to hibernate in the daytime under the beds in the casita and guest room. Hence the cat dander.

We have a friend who is a retired pulmonary physician. He said cat dander can last in carpet up to three years. There’s no getting rid of it.

We had no carpet in our Palm Springs home. We replaced the carpet in our kids’ bedrooms with hardwood floors because of the allergy issue.

I can’t believe how much STUFF I had crammed into two closets. Now that it’s all out in public view in my office, I think it’s the perfect opportunity to go through it all. We are having guests for a week starting Sunday. What a great time to empty out the closets and have new carpet.

In those closets I had Christmas ornaments, gift wrap, and giant jugs to purify water from our pool in case of an emergency. Also, a sewing machine and fabric. And lots and lots of photo albums. Where will I put these things now? That’s the question.

What oddball things do you have stored in a spare closet?

No Experience Necessary

Posted on by
56

Red hanging out with the pink flamingo.

Have you heard about this trend? You don’t have to be a writer. You don’t have to be an artist or an illustrator. You don’t need technical skills. But you can make money self-publishing children’s books on Amazon!

It’s called a side hustle. I talked to my kids about it and they said it’s a “thing” right now. They said there are numerous books, seminars, podcasts and youtubes that tell you how to make passive income with AI generated children’s books on Amazon. They’re unaware if anyone is making money selling children’s books, or if it’s the people pitching the “how to” deals who are increasing their monthly incomes.

I guess having a degree in journalism, a career in public relations, writing for magazines, newspapers and having a weekly column and blogging isn’t necessary to become a published author. I can toss my dog-eared “Strunk & White” good-bye.

I have written children’s stories and had small successes being published in children’s magazines, the LA Times, and even included in a text book by Houghton Mifflin. I won a couple competitions for children’s stories including children’s fiction for Writer’s Digest. I got a contract from a small book publisher — and biggest mistake in my writing career — I turned it down! Oh my. If I could only turn back time.

Now I understand my years of work is all for naught. Anyone can do it. And apparently they can make a living at it. And guess what else? It only takes minutes to create a book, thanks to ChatGPT and AI.

Check it out for yourself. Google something like “Make money with AI children books on Amazon.” You’ll find too many websites and youtubes to count that will give you all the secrets of success.

I wonder how this new AI trend will effect writers’ careers and book publishing? I know many of my blogger friends are writers and have either self-published, used traditional publishers — or hybrid. With a flood of AI books on the market, how do you think it will affect writing careers? Do you think people are making money at this?

Please share your thoughts on selling AI children’s books on Amazon.

Here’s a shout out to my published author-blogging friends — in no particular order:

“Surviving Sue,” Dr. Vicki Atkinson, Victoria Ponders

“Finding My Father’s Faith,” Wynne Leon Surprised by Joy

“The Bayou Heist,” Eve Marie, cupcakecache

“Grow Damn It!” Cheryl Oreglia, Living in the Gap

Yeshiva Girl, Rachel Mankowitz, RachelMankowitz

“Cora’s Quest,” “Ever So Gently,” and others, Lauren Scott, Baydreamer

What a Coinkydink!

Posted on by
24

The Harris’s hawks have stopped by a couple days in a row. I got nervous when Red was hanging out on the fence near them. But he’s quicker than a hawk.

Whew to the end of another busy week! I had a birthday Monday. On Sunday, our Palm Springs friends, who moved one mile from us, invited us to Sunday brunch to celebrate my day. A friend and neighbor invited six women from our charity group to a French restaurant for appetizers and wine on Tuesday. Wednesday evening I had a board meeting — the last one before our annual fundraiser. Thursday morning was our coffee group and it was my turn to host. All that entails is picking a location (a local coffee shop), sending an email out to the coffee club, then calling the coffee shop with the number attending. Oh, and showing up…

All this while finishing the eight-page program for our fundraiser, writing plus photography class.

We had a good group of eight women for coffee and breakfast. The woman who hosted the French appetizer night was there. She’s the one who roped me into the charity group that helps raise funds for the Dream Center, the recovery, residential facility for sex-trafficked victims. I should say invited me to join, not roped me in. It’s just been a little too much work for me lately.

The conversation at coffee had us telling the other ladies about the charity group, our upcoming fundraiser, plus facts about the Dream Center and sex-trafficked boys, girls and women. (The Dream Center actually has a facility for young girls ages four to 12!)

A man was sitting at a booth across from our table. He approached us and said, “Forgive me, but I was eavesdropping.” Then he squatted near the end of the table and said, “I work for the largest organization in the nation that rescues and helps sex-trafficked victims.”

“What’s the name of it?” I asked.

“The Dream Center,” he said.

My neighbor and I said “Wow. We’re raising funds for you. We have a charity event next weekend.”

Like my daughter always said, “What a Coinkydink!”

I’ve written about visiting the Phoenix Dream Center HERE.

What are some coincidences you’ve had, or if you prefer coinkydink?

The Color Lallow

Posted on by
34
Easter Egg hunt
Palm Springs annual Easter Egg Hunt in Ruth Hardy Park. My kids are standing on the right with their friends.

When my kids were young, they’d mispronounce a few words. Sometimes, we’d continue to say words the way they did. Eventually those “words” were adopted into our family’s lexicon.

Take the color “lallow.” That’s how my daughter said yellow.

I pushed my son in his stroller downtown Laguna Beach before little sister was born. He said “high gone” or “Hai Gòn.” I was confused at what he was saying. We stopped in our favorite bakery/deli and I bought him a chicken drumstick. He raised it high in the air and said “high gone!” To him, it looked like a helicopter. Chicken drumsticks became “high gones” in our family.

My daughter kept asking me for chicken when she was a toddler. I’d cook baked chicken, chicken and dumplings and every type of chicken I knew how to cook. She was always upset because it was the wrong chicken.

One day I made pan fried sole. My daughter said, “That is the chicken I like.” So we called sole “that chicken.” We still do.

What words did you or your children use that were unusual?

What sayings did your family use?