Past, Present and Future - I must be in my 30s

Ever have one of those odd, non-life shattering, mid-life crisis moments when you question everything...

- Do I like my job? Really, really like my job and can I do it forever as an employee?

- Am I a decent mother, or did I just screw 3 innocent little beings by forcing them to succeed despite my efforts to not mess them up too much?

- How did I get so old so fast without noticing?

- Wait - am I actually old? NO! I'm too young to be this sedentary!!!

- Do I act too old or maybe I'm so young and naive to realize how fresh I really am?

- Oh crap! I just started worrying perhaps I can't cook as moderately ok as I think I can?

- Are my 3 kiddos growing up too fast without me noticing? Is that why I can't complete one scrapbook???

- I'm not missing a life-changing opportunity by working instead of staying home right?

- I'm not a bad mommy because I'd rather work than be a SAHM, yes?

Can't be the first time a mother has thought these... just thought I'd note them down tonight...

~ Simone

www.sportymamasays.blogspot.com

It's exhausting, this mother/wife/friend/employee thing, and frankly - I need a vacation.

Is it so bad that I'd love to ditch every one of those above responsibilities and bail for a few days?

Leaving behind gleefully:

• kids 
• husband
• dogs
• housework
• emails
• text messages
• phone calls
• paperwork
• employees
• cars
• clocks
• paved roads

Because I'd do it, in a HEARTBEAT, if I could only get the time to scrape aside $900. Seriously.

It's been such a pre-season, session-cramming, busy 2010 that everyday I sit at my desk and longingly flirt with a gift certificate of $125 to a day spa that I received  in May. IN MAY, folks. That was nearly four months ago.

And to top it off, life got soooooooo busy that I couldn't even find the fire to blog-slash-whine about it! How crazy is that, I ask you???

So adieu, dear readers, for now. I'm going to go stow away a few bucks to start saving for vacation. I'm also gonna dig up my famous/favorite recipe for Blue Cheese Flan (prepare to die in the essence of blue cheese!) to share with ya'll soon.

In case anyone is worried, please don't fret. It's one of those exhausting days that melts away with sleep and all of the fluffy love and sweet dispositions of mommy-hood return with the rise of the sun.

~ Simone

The Latino Wins again! Get 'em, Roberto!

Is he hot or is he hot?

He's hot.... seriously. Roberto, on the right, is the official dork who got a wife from a TV show winner.

What this means is I've been watching the Bachelorette tonight.

Hi guys. Sporty Mama Says here and I'm a closet Bachelorette watcher. It's official.
 
Aren't I clever, waiting until now, the night of the finale, to admit my  dirty secret?

And yet, it also means that I am one of those silly hopeless romantics. I love watching and feeling those OMG-I-really-like-this-person moments, fireworks, butterflies. I love rooting for the good guy, and I sure was okay with being irritated with Frank (the mean guy who broke Bachelorette's - and MY - heart).

Thus I say, to Frank: You Suck. To Roberto: don't let me down, you dark and handsome boy. To Chris (runner up): Spot #2 really does suck and you are a good, good man.

Phew. Glad I got that outta my system. I sure hope my cheesy, hopeless romantic DNA is in my kids too. There's a sweet hopefulness, a gentle innocence, in those qualities that is worth passing on.

The Bachelorette? OK, maybe not. Our future generation deserves more than a dorky TV show.

Kids + Curry = YUMMY?

Those who've been reading my blog know that we've welcomed our newest addition to our family this month!

Ladies, gents, and children, please welcome back, Our New Grill.

As crazy as it sounds, I am SO tired of grilled food. We've grilled steaks, dogs, burgers, tenderloins, mushrooms, asparagus, cabbage, sausages, corn, carrots, heck - I even grilled apricots for dessert one night.

 So tonight I will make curry. I will make a curry the ENTIRE family will love! Don't believe the kids will love it? Can't imagine what I will do to make this possible? Here's how!

Photo credit: Gulfnews

What you will need:

~ Red Curry Paste (super small jar - you only use a touch)
~ Fish sauce (easy to find, gross to think about)
~ Brown Sugar
~ 1-2 cans of coconut milk
~ Your choice of veggies (I use green beans, tiny shitake mushrooms, celery, carrots, garlic, green/red peppers, 1-2 parboiled potatoes, broccoli, white or yellow onion)
~ Meat (chicken, tofu or pork go extra well!)


What you will do:
Get Your Children Into The Kitchen!!! Call them in! Have them peel the carrots, carefully fill the pot of water for below, snap the beans' ends, open cans of coconut milk, anything! Just get them involved. Their perspective will make this dish the best it can be! And remember - they are your #1 taste testers!


Heat a pot of water separately from anything else. Boil your boneless chicken or pork for 8-12 min. until cooked. Drain and set aside. Sounds odd, but this will help your meat retain it's supple texture and thus will be more apt to absorbing the yummy curry flavors! ALSO - make a small pot of rice, but DON'T FORGET ABOUT IT! You don't want burnt rice. Yuck.
In a large pan, saute your veggies starting with your hardest veggies first. For me the order was broccoli, carrots, potatoes, celery, green peppers, onion, garlic and so forth. TIP: I often, and it's normally encouraged, to saute the onion and garlic first. But here I want these flavors to pop, so I am waiting until the end. Saute all veggies until soft.
Carefully pull your veggies out of the pan and set aside. In the same veggie pan, turn heat to low-medium. Add 1 1/2 tsp of curry sauce to 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 full can of coconut milk. Wisk well until fully mixed. Now, some like it sweeter, some saltier... I prefer creamier, so I generally add the coagulated part of an additional can of coconut milk.
Play around, see what you like! For sweeter, more brown sugar, for saltier, a little more fish sauce. But taste, taste, taste, because they all balance each other out, so consider this a chemistry experiment and get mixing! Don't forget to add your veggies and meat back into your curry sauce and let simmer for 5-12 minutes with a lid on...
This is a great time to prepare your plates with rice and a small salad. Top with your Curry and you are set to go! Bon Apetit!

How Can A 5yr Old Rule The World?

Yeah, I don't know either.

Daughter is absolutely in control. And she's very good at it, too. A five yr old with an incredible sense of dominance and management, she blows away Son.

Do note, I have always managed some business or another, despite being a full-time mom to two or three. So I get the idea of organization and a position of authority. I reallllly do. But at five years young? REALLY?

And to top it off, she could care less whether we find her amusingly irritating, pushy, flat out rude, or otherwise. She could care less whether the strange 12yr olds at the park found her abrasive when she told them how to play in the sand under the slide. Daughter doesn't care how Son feels when she orders him around to clean her room for her. She's amazing! Pure confidence, not a sway of uncertainty.

Trouble with that story I just rambled on about is that all I can do is ramble on about it. This girl is on a mission. How on Earth will I survive this one? I have been asking myself that a lot lately. It's like, I gave birth to some extra strong broad from Jersey and now she's preparing to move to a new planet where life is really hard and she needs to thicken her skin to survive. It's insane!

Don't get the wrong idea, this gal can be so adoring and gentle and sweet. She loves to cuddle, sing, draw, and dance. And she's a kitten around her baby sister!!!

And then she turns on ya! Ever have one of those cats that love to be pet only to, for no good reason, turn on you and scratch the crap outta you? Me too. She was sent to Australia to live a happy life with my sister.

So I shrug in resignation. She rocks, and I'm sure someday she'll be president, or ruler, or goddess. I don't worry her constitution is too fragile for the real world, and I have no fear she will do just fine with men when she's older. I just hope I live through it all to see it come full circle!

How To Send Your Kids To Camp This Summer

How to Send Your Kid to Camp… Rules of Engagement

Sending your kid to camp is no easy task. In fact, I approach it each year just like the last - as if I'm leaving to accomplish something so big, so great, that only the most stoic standing person can succeed at this challenge. By the time I'm done, they'll have a statue erected with my face on it. OK, not really, but still. It's hard! Here's some lessons I've learned in the last decade re: camp:

1. Pick a camp you are both comfortable with – the worst thing you can do is pick a camp you are nervous about sending your kid to. Is the context of the camp acceptable and worthy of your child’s attention? Does your kid seem excited to go and learn more about [insert something interesting here]? Is the camp organization reputable and do you have any local references to rely your opinion on?

2. Pick a camp that has a timeframe you both can handle – One serious mistake is to send your kid to a week-long overnight camp when he’s never spent the night anywhere else in his sweet little life. Camp is not the time to ‘try something new’ and hope they work it out. I guarantee you’ll get that call from a camp counselor and find yourself traipsing through the campground looking for your kiddo who’s shyly sitting in some corner wishing they were as brave as the other kids, not realizing it’s a matter of exposure, not confidence.

3. Have the ‘talk’ about mutual respect and group dynamics – turns out, much of what we intuitively know about group dynamics as adults came from experiences that worked (and didn’t work) as kids. Seems like a no-brainer, but as a parent I’m realizing that sometimes it’s those little nuances in an experience that my son misses until I point them out. At 34, I still miss those sometimes, too. But hey – no one’s perfect, right? So jot down some important messages you want to convey and have the talk with your kid before they go to camp. Some of my trusted favorites include, but are not limited to:

1. Just because your friend does it doesn’t mean you have to. This includes practical jokes, sneaking out of tents, catching poisonous snakes, jumping off of cliffs, kissing behind trees and other adolescent things that come up at camp. And I don’t care if he’s your new best friend.
2. Attending camp does not suddenly make you a teenager. Seriously. It simply makes you a kid who went to camp one summer, so NO, you cannot stay up until midnight and NO you cannot now watch rated-R movies. To be clear, getting older makes you a teenager. Then and only then do you get teenager privileges.
3. Yes, camp counselors count as guardians even when they aren’t related to you.  Bottom line is, they are wearing the camp counselor shirt, name tag, and other paraphernalia, so do what they say. Please.

4. Let go. Easier said than done, right? I know. Just remember – kids are like horses, bees, etc. They can sense fear. Once that happens, you’ll find yourself sending freshly baked cookies every day, writing (yes, writing) letters to mail to them, and more. Just let them go. It’s a great experience for the both of you and someday you’ll be sending them off to college, so start practicing now.

For more tips on how to send your kids to camp, click HERE!

World Cup + Kids = Fun?

Sure! Why not? What kid wouldn't love a living room piled with adults shouting and screaming all the while eating and drinking? Sounds fun to me!

On a selfish drive to satisfy today's blog + keep the kids happy in 120 mins or so, I found us all a few websites that may help.

Got any better ideas? Pile them on here too so we can all watch, shout, and drink in peace!  

Websites to plunder through NOW:

World Cup For Kids
How to Share World Cup Soccer With Your Kids 

Enjoy the game today everyone! May the best team win!

My Back versus Life, Part I

$5000! That's what we've raised to go to State and I say, WOOOO HOOOO!

Now, go find me some kid, any kid, to play on our team with a chiropractor parent so I can score a little chiropractic work. Just kidding.

Although at this point it's been happening for so long that I am sure you can find it in grade school textbooks everywhere, there's been this war going on between me and my back. Until recently the score had been : BACK: 5, ME: 0. Now, after review of the scoreboard, I was actually up by three months of pain free livin'. That is, until yesterday's dreadful arrival.

I'll be damned. My sciatica is back and hittin' harder than the damn thunderstorm that is now rocking the Valley here at home. Crap.

So hobble I will, both to and fro.
Hobble I will, off to State he will go.
Hobble I will, up hill both ways, also in the snow.
Hobble, I will, and man does this blow.

Ok, on to other important news. It's nearly August, and you know what that means!!!

PRESEASON NFL FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

I love my life!

A cheesy break from the insanity

Wanna hear about a cool way to house that salad you want your kid to eat?

Check it out!



It all begins with Parmesan Cheese. For those who don't know, Parmesan cheese is made from cow's milk that has been combined with the whole milk from the morning milk plus the naturally skimmed milk from the previous evening.

This recipe is so easy, and so yummy to make, you'll wanna make it all the time!

What you'll need:

350 degree oven
baking sheet
cooking spray
one wedge of Parmesan cheese (grated)
small cups that would fit 1/2 cup of salad fixins'

What you'll do:

• Spray the cooking sheet with the Cooking Spray liberally.
• Spread the grated Parmesan into evenly spread piles of Parmesan. Remember, you are building the bottom and sides for your cup, so be liberal!
• Create as many as you need and will comfortably fit on your baking sheet. This will spread a touch!
• Slip into the oven, making sure to keep a close eye on them!
• Once they've begun to bubble and brown to your liking, pull them out quick!
• Spatula the suckers off of the sheet and immediately place the bottom of an upside down cup.
• REMEMBER!!! These little piles of melted Parmesan cool quickly, so you will have to act fast. You can let the cups form naturally around the glass itself of guide them with the help of your hands!
• Let cool for a few minutes and ENJOY!
  
  
• TIPS:
  You can also use the stove top and a frying pan with a touch of extra-virgin olive oil.
  Try adding some dried herbs to your grated Parmesan before cooking.
  These cups are great for breakfast dishes and more, so get creative!
  

Just remember:
"A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds."
- Francis Bacon

Going to State and confused as all get out? Me too.

Look, I get it! I'm extraordinarily proud of my son. His 9-10 yr old All-Star team made it to State this year! Lord, I didn't even get the chance to go to state until I was a Freshman in High School, so I get how impressively cool this is.

But when did it become a cleverly hidden "Keepin' Up with the Jones" scenario? Good God, I think we heading towards disaster. In case you aren't up to speed, our team is aiming to raise nearly $13,000 (OMG) for this 6-day tournament. WHAT THE HECK? WHY? Ah - it's to pay for 13 families to spend a week in Portland. Hmmm... 13 Families? We HAVE 13 families who can sporadically spend a week in Portland on vacay? Wowza!

Now I get that everyone wants to be there. I want to be there too. But the truth is, and listen closely because this is important, WE AREN'T PLAYING BALL, our kids are! We should be approaching this like it's a high-school event, causing enough ruckus to earn money to send the kids, not their families too.

It's as if I'm officially on the set of 'Days of Our Lives' and everyone just pretends they have a job. To be clear, our lives all stopped for a week (last week) when we traveled for five days back and forth 1.5 hrs each way for the District All-Star tournament. Now we get to travel 5 hrs North for six days?

I say, two hotel rooms crammed with kids and a crap-ton of pizzas should do the trick. Any parents who want to come up on their own are just that, on their own! And yet, most parents are going to make the journey, thus making the tiny few who HAVE to work look like jerks. Kids are already asking parents WHY they can't go, and if they are, WHY they are staying at the Best Western and NOT at the hotel with the 2-room suites like the other kids. My son's baseball team has just become a class-distinguishing activity.

I say forgetta 'bout it. We'll be up there for at most two days, hopefully catch one game, and - NO, thank you - but I'm not going to fly my husband home for $100 and keep my baby and 5 yr old in a big city by myself. I can't pretend we can do that and I'm just not that cool anyways. Crazy people!

And don't even get me started how a $13,000 tab warps a good-natured fund drive. In addition to water bottle sales and 50/50 raffles, we're also asking sponsors for $500-$1000/head. Ambitious, folks! Ambitious.

I'm gonna explain calmly and evenly to my son that life is occurring right along with this tournament and that I will be at home cheering my little guts out for him, getting updated text messages the whole while from others. He'll understand that I am beyond words proud of him and hopefully realize that how much time you can get off of work and spend on hotels is not an expression of how much you love your children.

He will understand, won't he? Yes, yes he will.

For info on how to negotiate rates at hotels, check out this abrasive yet easy-to-do article from VIA Magazine.

Sporty Mama says Say It With Pride!

It's true. I'm officially blogging about my experiences I have had when participating in my son's sporting events. Why? do you ask? WHY relive each moment with pride?

Truth is, I'm pretty sure that parent-driven sports for the youth could be one of the most amazing psychological experiments ever. And I intend on exposing each experience in hopes of shedding light for some of the mothers out there who just don't get "it."

"It" is when you cock your head in mass confusion over dad's going insane in the bleachers over a bad call. "It" is when coaches near heart-attack status red-in-the-face from kids not trying hard enough. "It" is when you see moms inch dangerously close to cat fights demanding a wrestling tub filled with Jello all because their son had their feelings hurt for some so-called secret reason by an ump.

This blog will hopefully not bore you and if all else fails, perhaps it will entertain. But let's use this as a forum for discussion in the wild world of SPORTY MAMAS and figure It out!