Growth

This has been 'that' year, the one where you have to have the 'talk' with your first child. It's always a crapshoot as to how your child will react to the discussion of puberty. Since Divine is our first, I took on that responsibility.

I combed through books on the subject, looking for one that struck the right note. The right note meaning that becoming a woman was something to celebrate, not something to dread or feel weird about. After we talked, I presented her with the book so she would have her own resource, to cover anything I might miss or she could review on her own terms. She loved the book, and I reminded her that she could always come to me with questions or concerns, and she has. I'm very proud of her, and is very excited by the prospect of growing up.

Yesterday we went shopping, and Divine asked me to buy her first bra. I remember shopping for my first bra (what girl doesn't?)...I HATED it. I remember being completely embarrassed, although in retrospect I had nothing to be so self conscious about. Here Divine was ASKING, even though her little sister was with us. She made a beeline to the intimates section and held a fuschia D cup to her chest. "Whaddaya think, Mommy?" Little T grabbed a giraffe print (YES, freaking GIRAFFE PRINT) from the rack. "What about this one???" As I attempted to corral them into the grow-bra section, Hubby and Little Man came by to see how we're doing. (Could this get any worse? Oh, you bet it can!) Little Man son snags a lacy white bra, puts one of the cups on his head and tells Hubby "Look Dad, I'm Amish!" "So who's the other one for?" "My evil twin!" Little Man cracks himself up holding over the cart. My kids know no shame.

We eventually find the section that caters to younger girls. Divine is delighted with the cute prints and selects one with peace signs on it. Little T begs me for one too, even though she's far from ready, with little stars on it. Today they donned them proudly, showing off their 'boobers' (umm...padding).

Goodbye Summer

This is the last week before school starts on Monday. I love summer because it's the only time of the year when I don't really have to 'pay' for staying up late to do things like read blogs, or actually write in peace. Since my children attend a cyber school, lately we've been receiving their books and supplies in the mail. It's almost like Christmas for my kids, and in a way I'm thankful that they're excited to rip open the boxes in anticipation for the new school year. Perhaps I'm doing something right in that my children are excited to learn again, something they lost in the local school district. Next week we'll be back on a schedule, early bedtimes and homework duty.

But for the next few days, I'll cherish the 'me' time I have left before the insanity begins again.

Roughing It

Divine left for camp this morning. She'll be going to a Girl Scout camp with platform tents and hopefully flush toilets. Last year their version of the girls 'showering' was dousing them with dish soap and sending them down the slip n' slide a few times. It was one of Divine's favorite things about it last year; I just made a mental note to have her take a real shower when she gets home.

The past two days were spent scrambling to find all the stuff people only use when going to camp, like mess kits, dunk bags, and bug spray. We had to find another flashlight when we realized that if Divine accidentally dropped Hubby's mag-lite, someone might get their toes crushed. Anyway, the camp had a list of things the girls should and should not bring. Everything on the NOT list were all things Divine was sure she needed. Like a cell phone. Because despite her ferocious independence, she needs mommy and daddy to say goodnight or her day is not complete. And her fashion sense certainly didn't allow her to wear t-shirts, she needed the tank tops that were in the 'no' column. Any why can't she wear her pretty sandals instead of boring sneakers?!?! SOCKS?!?! And why only ONE stuffed animal?!?! I assured her that it was only three days, and she would survive.

After all of the appropriate items were packed, we brought her bag by the door as to be ready. Something told me to check it last night. Divine had an ARMY of stuffed animals, toys, her iPod, and various other items from the 'no' list. We just took them out and decided not to say anything. Then we locked the bags in the car.

This morning at the drop off, one of the other mothers, a friend of ours, asked if Divine had grown a tail. Sure enough, she attempted to hide yet another stuffed animal in her skort.

Maybe my little girl will never be the kind who will enjoy 'roughing it'.

Low T

Little T is 6. She bursts into our bedroom where my husband was studying.

Little T: "Daddy I know what your problem is, YOU HAVE LOW T!!!"

She jumps on the bed clamors on top of him.

Little T: "Look, now you have HIGH T!"

Somebody really needs to get a handle on when these types of commercials air. Seriously.

BlogHer'10 - The Mature Edition

BlogHer '10 was an amazing experience. I was able to spend time with my best friend and sister by choice, Kristin from Dragondreamer's Lair. We haven't seen each other in a few years, and it was wonderful to hang out on our schedule, instead of our kids'! The fabulous women we met along the way were amazing. Creativity, possibility and writing are exciting, and to witness so much of it under one roof in so many facets was just thrilling.

The sessions were very interesting. I attended Dear Abby 2.o -Advice on the internet hosted by Becky Sherrick Harks and the ladies from The Mouthy Housewives. They were hysterical!
I also attended "Grief, Loss, Tragedy and Community on the Internet" hosted by Cecily Kellogg, Loralee Choate, Kim Trimble and Anissa and Peter Mayhew. A very touching and eye opening discussion. Cecily was a fantastic moderator and the tears welled in my eyes several times. Anissa stated "Those who think blogging isn't important can kiss my ass." I couldn't agree more.

The parties were a blast. On Thursday we went to The People's Party, which was quite lively and met lots of great people. We were honored to make tutus for the 5K race Tutus for Tanner. Later was Queerosphere, which had a quiet, intimate atmosphere. Given it has been such a busy day, it was the perfect ending. Sparklecorn was brilliant! By far the best t-shirts of the conference that read "Judy Blume never prepared me for this." We made glo-stick jewelry, took pictures next to fun standees, and ate white cake with peanut butter and jelly filling...until CheeseBurgHer! I'm still hopeful I won the hat contest...

There was a LOT of swag. Now admittedly I love free stuff. I'm glad I brought the enormous bag with the expandable zipper, because I barely got it closed. My kids loved it, and the flash drives and little mice (for laptops) are very useful. It brought the conference home to my family to a degree.

The most touching was the Keynote of the International Activist Scholarship Winners for this year. These are women who risk much just to express their voice and bring it to the public. Imagine being silenced, or someone constantly trying to silence you. They have immense courage to stand up in their societies. Please check out Humanity Ashore, Mideast Youth, Mujeres Libres and The Afghan Women's Writing Project.

On a personal note, BlogHer was the first time I allowed my picture to be taken in public. This may sound trivial to you, but having my picture taken makes me extremely uncomfortable. Inter-personally I'm pretty outgoing, but break out a camera and I'm out of there. I'm still not brave enough to go in front of a video camera, but just getting in front of the camera is progress.

Good Morning Sunshine!

I came home last night from BlogHer '10. We met a sea of incredible bloggers; I came home with a stack of business cards from them! Some have requested that I don't put photos of them online, therefore I will respect their privacy and requests. There is LOTS to talk about, but this is more of a light post from the perspective of what my kids were dying to know about BlogHer.


Divine, Little Man & T were thrilled to see me and hear all about NYC adventures. They were thrilled to see the pics as I shamelessly name dropped who I got to meet. First up of course, is The Sun from the Jimmy Dean commercials. After the sun rose, we had breakfast.

Bruce Jenner was representing Tropicana. Admittedly the only person who was mildly impressed was Little T, because she drinks orange juice everyday. So I had to explain that he was an Olympic track & field star, because my children are blissfully ignorant of the Kardashians and I didn't want to have to get into that. They understand the Olympics.

After breakfast we watched some morning TV.

Who can resist Elmo? Well, T is partial to Dora...

Then it was time for lunch.You're darn right that's me pressing his belly! Then we decided on some video games:

They also had a stage set up for people to play Just Dance. I applaud anyone who had the cojones to get up there and shake it. When I dance it looks like a marionette with somebody else yanking on the strings, which Kristin forced me to display at one of the parties we attended in the evening. Speaking of parties, my kids were MOST jealous of CheeseburgHer, because it's in their wildest dreams to be in a party filled with tables of McDs food. I assured them that I did my best in the paper hat contest (making the best hat possible from a McD's bag), because that's like a week's worth of happy meals paid for.
The swag item my kids were most impressed by? Play-Doh perfume. They're a strange bunch.

My bags are packed!

I leave in the morning for Blogher! I can't tell you how excited I am; the idea of spending a few days away is SWEET! If you're going, I'll be the one hobbling around. I sprained my ankle the other day AGAIN. Yes, again. Like the 15th time in 5 years. This time wasn't as bad as others, so I'm pretty thankful. It's still a bit stiff, and to tell you the truth I'm not looking forward the extensive walking in NYC. But I've brought some meds to cope with that, and it's obviously not stopping me!

Little T isn't taking the news too well that Mommy is going away for a few days. She's been mopey now that it's drawing near. Divine just says "Mom, bring me swag." In typical boy fashion, Little Man hasn't said a word. As long as he isn't separated from his Wii, all is right in his world. Besides, this isn't the first time I've gone away for a few days, despite Little T's reaction.

I'll be posting pics as I can!