crazedparent

Summer of Springfield...

A few weeks ago I attended my first Rick Springfield concert since 2004 when I had the blissful opportunity of meeting him. And it officially kicked off my Summer of Springfield. Because I will see him not once. Not twice. But THREE TIMES over the course of the summer.

Why, you ask, would I see Rick Springfield three times in one summer? I'll answer this question with my own question for you, Internet. Why wouldn't you see an artist who puts on a rocking show, is adorable and makes you swoon like a teenager? 

Next Friday I have a hot date with the Nolster - I'm taking him to his first rock concert. Yup. Rick Springfield. And he is so excited that his eyes light up when I tell him that he'll get to hear his favorite song, "Rock of Life," live, in person.

In the spirit of my Summer of Springfield, I'll be featuring other crazedparent Rick Springfield fans with a version of the crazedparent five. Check back next Friday.

What musician do you see in concert every time he or she visits your town, no matter what?

Teen girl "meets" future husband online...sigh.

I just read about a 17-year-old girl who plans to marry a 20-year-old man she met on MySpace. I know you're going to ask the question so I'll just tell you: they've never met "in real life." She lives in Michigan, he lives in...care to guess? Israel.

Here's the crazy-making stuff: she took off from home to meet him but was caught in Jordan by "U.S. authorities" who took her passport and shipped her home to her parents.

More crazy-making tidbits in the form of a quote from her dad:

"Our initial reaction was to isolate her, to lock her up and just keep her safe here in America," said her father, Terry Lester. "But that's unrealistic because you can see the love they have for each other."

Um, dad - since they've never met how can you see the love they have for each other? And dad, YOU haven't met him either. Oh, and one more thing, dad - she ran away from home to try to meet him. Lock her up dad!

U.S. authorities think she's a runaway. Mom and Dad believe she's in love. The future husband is Muslim, she's Christian - he says she'll convert. She won't comment on that lil' morsel.

Crazy. Just crazy.

Clearly she has issues. Clearly the guy could be sweet as pie. But I'm guessing something is amiss and if the two get married we'll be seeing a Lifetime movie about the sordid mess.

But just in case you need to brush up on how to protect your daughter from older men in far away countries who want to marry her...here are some resources:

-Safekids.com
-Safeteens.com
-Staysafe.org

The birth of baby clutter...

Got baby clutter? Check out my latest story in the Home & Garden section of today's SF Chronicle to learn how to clean up shop. And check out the cute babe in a mound of toys.

How bad is your baby clutter? And what are your tips to get rid of it?

Boogie on reggae baby...

So yes, I do read other newspapers besides the SF Chronicle. But despite it's circulation troubles, the paper has some brilliant writers and columnists, and a knack for finding some seriously good stories. And...I wish the PR people for Baby Loves Disco had contacted me for a story - I would have loved to write it and man alive, my boys would have been digging on dancing to disco at the Ruby Skye in San Francisco.

Check out this story about a traveling baby dance party for toddlers to the older kid set (um, maybe 10ish). The lead is brilliant:

"They were fighting in the lobby, peeing in the hallway and nodding off on the dance floor....It wasn't the kind of behavior the burly bouncers standing watch over the velvet rope at Ruby Skye, a sleek nightclub in downtown San Francisco, usually tolerate. On Saturday, however, they were simply outnumbered."

Visit Baby Loves Disco to see when it hits your town. I'll be there in July or August, maybe both times, when it comes back the City.

Have you attended a baby dance party? Would you go?

Happy father's day, homey

"Public eavesdropping" from the SF Chronicle's column by Leah Garchik:

"I'm not your homey. I'm your father.''

-Man to boy outside Baskin-Robbins in Emeryville, overheard by David Wallace.

One time I mistakenly called my dad "dude" to which he replied, "I'm not a dude, I'm your DAD." I wrote a tribute to my dad last fall called "Always a Contractor's Daughter." I loved following him around at work, pretending I was a "builder." And now I have even more fun watching my oldest son do the same thing with his Grandpa.

My husband also has some copycats following him around. Nol is a little parrot, mimicking his pops every word. Q. likes to replicate the silly faces and sounds. And one day, they will both call Dad "homey," "dude," "man," or whatever the hip phrase of their time exists. And I'll get to hear the hubs say with extreme annoyance and exasperation, "I'm not a XX, I'm your Dad." I love it.

Happy Father's Day.

 

Daddy*drama gets swanky...

My man Daddy*drama is getting all swank on me...he just posted his first product giveaway. I'm not talkin' a Bratz CD or book about getting your baby to sleep in two seconds without shedding a single tear. Daddy*drama has gone high end folks. He's giving away an Oliebollen Dante Beatrix - Metallic Tote Style Diaper Bag.

Now, I've already admitted that I have a thing for hipster diaper bags, although it's getting easier for me to leave the house with something small and simple. But if you're in need of a swankity-swank-swank bag, I have to say this Dante Beatrix bag is stylin'.

What i dig about being a slash/mom...

The thing about being a slash/mom is that when you're in the stay-at-home-mom mode, isolation occurs. I'm not a huge fan of filling my day with playdates and errands and what-not because I'm okay with being just with my boys much of the time (I kinda' dig it, actually). But as a writer, I need white nose. I need a buzz in the background. Even with headphones and the music of a muse trickling into my ears, I like being around people when I write. Many a late night are spent at the kitchen table across from the hubs tapping away at the keyboard. Oddly enough, we play the same modern game as my book editing partner and his lovely wife.

So back to the topic at hand...What do I dig about being a slash/mom?

The ability to have the grandparents babysit for a few hours so I can hide at my local cafe (I've managed to show my face -- but not my bra -- again) and get some work done. To write. To complete a work of art. All while sipping an Italian soda and listening to three older gentlemen strum their acoustic guitars at the able next to me. It just doesn't get any better. (Well, unless one of the older gentlemen were a certain musician that I also dig.)

What's on your list of favorites as a slash/mom? And what's your perfect writing space?

On diaper pails and stink bombs...

While I'd occassionaly get into a nasty online tête-à-tête with Blogging Baby readers and grew to dislike dealing with ridiculous commentors who liked to leave statements that had absolutely nothing to do with the posts, I do, in fact, love hearing from folks who read crazedparent and my writings elsewhere.

My favorite comments from this week come from two ladies who read my contribution to the Keeping House column in the SF Chronicle. I knew the moment I wrote about one, using disposable diapers and two, tossing 'em in the trash that someone would get all up in my grill. But these two comments, near identical, made me crack. up.

-"...Apparently Charlene Prince doesn't know that solid waste (even from disposable diapers) belongs in the toilet. Flushing diaper contents is healthy for the environment, and great for minimizing odors."

-"As a mother of two small children, I sympathize with Charlene Prince's quest for an odor-free diaper changing area. Although she gave up on the the more environmentally friendly choice of cloth diapers, the best way to dispose of the so-called "stink bombs" is not to place them in the outside garbage. While this eliminates the odor from the house, it puts human waste into our landfills and can thereby contaminate groundwater. This is the main problem with disposable diapers. Flushing the solid waste into the toilet is not only the recommendation of the diaper manufacturers and environmentalists, it is also an easier way to deal with the smell. The trip to the bathroom is sure to be quicker and shorter. A win-win solution."

Picture this...

Change stink bomb. Take stink bomb to bathroom while baby crawls after you in the the bathroom. Find something to scrape crap into diaper while simultaneously stopping baby from sticking hands in crap or toilet water. OR baby screams bloody murder while mom or dad saves the landfills from his poop. Wrap up diaper, put it in plastic bag, dump in garbage. Because his urine is perfectly fine for groundwater.

Obviously everyone in entitled to an opinion and sure, shit in landfills is not a good thing. I can respect these ladies for their heart and passion to keep our water clean. But I do my part to help protect the environment in other ways, so I draw the line and scraping crap from a diaper into the toilet. I won't even apologize for it.

What's our job as moms and dads just trying to catch a parenting break? To stay sane.

Scraping crap off diapers into toilets? Not so much.

 

Kid b-day parties galore...

I was interviewed earlier this week by MSN for a story on extravagant children's birthday parties, which appears to be the latest hot button. The WSJ just did a piece (via Blogging Baby), and Lisa Kothari over at Peppers and Pollywogs sent out some info that the ladies of Manic Moms have a podcast available - "Birthdays, parties and smiling kids." If you're in need of ideas or like me, trying to avoid obese birthday parties for my kids, check it out.