Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

"Stop it!"  "No!" "Don't do that!"  "Will you be quiet?!!"  "Go upstairs to your room!" "Well he started it!" "Why can't I get to watch the TV show that I want?" "Mom, he's bothering me" "Take turns I said!" "Liam! Stop it! You'll hurt brother!" "Lucas! Stop it! You'll hurt brother!" Why am I the only adult on the playscape? Hmmm. And why am I the only adult squeezing through this tiny tube in the bouncy castle?  Hmmmm. It's not even the summer vacation.  By the time the kids move out of the house, I'll have the patience of Job. As with all parent-child relationships, sometimes things go well, and then other times, well not so much. Right now, our current hurdle is being respectful.  In choice of words, tone and listening. It's an uphill battle, and not only because I have a sinking feeling that my child must be getting this fr...

I overheard a mom telling her, maybe 4-year old, not to watch T.V - this was on the way to dropping him off at the gym childcare.  You'd be pleased to know that I restrained both my voice and my eyebrows in response to this obviously ludicrous suggestion: That a 4-year old would be able to restrain himself if the television is on and his mother wasn't there and That the childcare staff would actually care I wasn't however able to restrain myself at a recent birthday party where a father sat his maybe 18-month son on the edge of a sandbox and told the poor tyke "You can play but you are not to go in."  I told the dad that he was evil, but I don't think I helped. Aside from those observations, it did get me thinking about the parenting style that says, "The kids have to learn the word 'No' " and the style that says, "I don't want to have to keep saying 'No' all the time, so I'll just not expose them to thin...

Today is Earth Day, so what am I doing about it? Well, now that it is getting warmer and sunnier here in Austin, I decided I needed to get me a clothes line. I now have that, but the forecast is rain for the next few days and not really any good clothes-drying weather.  But anyway, it got me to thinking about all the hype about the ability of an individual to effect change. I got seriously afraid that this whole effort is akin to how my husband views our budget: "Honey, it's not the $15 we spent on McDonalds that's the problem - it's the big things."  Ok, I may have ahem...underestimated the spending on those particular food items, but the point is the same.  Can I, as a person, really make a change in the overall prognosis for Earth? Are the small changes I am making good and beneficial, but at the end of the day not significant enough, because it is the bigger fish (whole industries, companies, governments), that would truly make an impact? I was listeni...

Usually shopping with Liam consists of following behind him and putting back whatever he picks up, or taking things out of his hands. Sometimes, it is entertaining, as long as I don't plan on getting any shopping done.  Like a recent trip to get towels.   I take a quick look at Liam and there he is trying to figure out how to put on a yellow and black, polka-dot halter-top bikini. Hmmm.. we're not in the main aisle, so noone can really see him. I'll just let him play for a bit, so I can look around. I look back.  Oh my, he's got the neck under one arm and one of the cups on his shoulder.  That's funny! I look at the bottoms that go with the tunic top I've been looking at.  Oh good grief! Pull-on, elastic-waist pants?! I need to get a life! We move on to towels after he gets tired playing around with the bikini top. " You have to come down from there." "Why?" "Well this isn't a playground. These shelves aren't f...

Some time ago I had blogged about the headache of what to do with roadside beggars.  Do I give something to them or not? ( children-makes-my-head-hurt ) In the end we found something that works for us. A friend of ours is involved in charity work and suggested we prepare some gallon bags of stuff that might be useful for a homeless person and then give those out in lieu of money.  It worked great! I got my little helpers involved and got quite a few bags ready, so my husband and I each  have a couple of bags in the car that we can hand out at anytime.  The items have to have a long shelf life and should be able to withstand the temperatures of your environment. Here's what we put: 2 nutrigrain or granola bars 2 bags of cookies 2 bags of Chips 2 juice boxes 1 pair of socks You can change it up and put raisins, individual boxed cereals, pop tarts, crispy treats, etc. Some folks also include a small gift card redeemable only at the grocery (<$10). ...

I go to a chain shop to get my hair cut  - when I stop wearing my hair in a pony-tail or up in a clip, I'll graduate to a "salon".  But anyway, I overheard one of the hairdressers saying to a customer, "I am showing you these products because I have to."  Apparently, they are required to display and sell different hair care products to their customers, including their own brand. By contrast, the guy who was trimming my hair had a bit more finesse. "You have beautiful hair."  For my age? Because is still mostly on my head?  Because I know my hair is not particularly lustrous. "What kind of shampoo do you use?" "Pantene" "That's a good product,"   Smart, he didn't want to suggest that I made a poor choice in my existing shampoo. "..but it is not a salon brand." Ahhh...the implication was clear. "Your hair is a little dry, but if you want to upgrade, you should try one of ours."  Up...

Most recently, it is because they boxed me in where I was parked at the Science Center in Austin. So there were cars all around me and just enough space for my car to squeeze through the space between the 2 cars parked to my right, facing each other, provided I had another driver to watch me come out because it was so close. Did I mention it was lunch time, and I had the 2 kids and we'd already spent almost 2 hours at the Science Center?  I'll let you think about that a moment.  My blood pressure went up when I saw what had happened.  It goes without saying that I wanted to cry.  Why would I think women drivers were involved? Well...I think only a woman would not notice that I would be boxed in and then park right in front of me so I couldn't get out.  Oblivious is what I call it. In addition, they get on their cell phones as they are backing out of a parking lot. Me - I am terrified I hit something or worse, someone's child, so a parking lot is the one pl...