Sugaring My Way to Spring

This winter is getting me down a bit. All this Arctic cold and ice makes me and the kids a tad stir crazy being stuck inside. I looked at the 10 day forecast and this weekend we are supposed to have daytime highs that are above freezing (slightly), and nighttime temps below freezing (no surprise there!). That got me dreaming about maple sugaring season. 

tapping trees

This will be our fourth sugaring season. We typically start in mid-February. I hope that will be the case this year despite all the Arctic vortexes we have experienced. 

Sugaring makes me feel very Vermonty. The memories of last season make me feel better about this long, hard winter too. Memories of flowing sap and warmer winter days where we can go out and play without being overly concerned about frost bite on little cheeks, toes and fingers. When sugaring starts you know the worst of the winter is over.

dripping sap

And even more so, after sugaring season is over it will be spring! Crocuses, daffodils, tulips ....ahhhh. 

crocuses last March (mid-month)

SOTU Haikus

President Obama gave his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Here are some haikus about his climate and energy points and my thoughts / reactions / wishes.

Climate change is fact

Already feel its effects

Through droughts, super storms.

"All of the above"

Policy Obama likes

But why Mr. O?

Fracking and methane

It's dirty and polluting

Not a good "bridge fuel"

Executive acts

We'll do it for our children

Reduce CO2

Get on Board, Congress

Carbon fee and dividend*

is what we need now

Polluters will pay

Normal people get rewards

Clean, green transition

*http://citizensclimatelobby.org/about-us/faq/

"'Splode the School": Preschool Deliquents

Big Bro started preschool last fall. He is always reluctant to go. "Is today a school day?" he asks. If the answer is no he shouts "Yay!" If the answer is yes he cries "Nooo!" and flops to the floor and whines. He alternates between saying he doesn't like school, and saying he had an awesome dream about school and now he does like it.

All the reports from his teachers are that he has a good time while he is there. He participates and he has a best friend he talks about. We even went to her house for a playdate.

The social part is the hardest part for him and that's why I want him to go to preschool both when he is 3 and again next year when he is 4. He will benefit from having more time to work on the social piece. He can be rather shy. He likes staying home. He thinks the school day is long. He misses me while he is there. He likes playing with adults who will play how he wants them to play, rather than having to deal with other kids with their own ideas about how to play.

Lately he has been talking about more of his classmates, which seemed like a good sign. However, yesterday he talked about a boy named "John."  "John" told Big Bro that he "wishes he had something to 'splode the school and make the teacher sick."

Big Bro told me the story of what "John" said and sounded very excited by it. I replied by telling him it's not a nice thing to say, we don't talk like that, and we like his teachers (because he does!).

Then Nini came to visit that afternoon and he told her the same story. She reinforced the same message I had told him. Then Grandma visited and he repeated it yet again. Once again the message that we don't talk that way was reinforced.

How does a preschool aged boy even know such malicious thoughts? Why is he saying this in school?

Why is my son so attracted to this preschool delinquent?


Big Bro told me that he wants to play at "John's" house sometime. I told him no because I don't like the way "John" talks.

I am pretty sure that "John" is 4 so will be moving on to kindergarten next year, whereas Big Bro will have a another year of preschool. I know for a fact that "John" will be going to kindergarten in a neighboring town. Thank goodness. I will be glad to be done with him.

I know I can't shelter my son from bad behaviors and influences forever. All I can do is instill him with good values and trust that he will be able to use them and resist falling in with the "Johns" of the world.

The Baby Pepper Attachment

Lil Sis has suddenly adopted a best friend or snugly. It's a little black stuffed dog named "Baby Pepper" after our real dog, Pepper. Pepper the real dog is now known as "Big Pepper" so we can keep them straight.

Lil Sis, Big Pepper, & Baby Pepper

We have had "Baby Pepper" for a long time, so I'm not sure what brought on the sudden attachment. Lil Sis has not let Baby Pepper leave her side for several days now. She accompanies us to the grocery store, playgroup, music class, all around the house, and of course bed. 

Baby Pepper is the first thing Lil Sis requests in the morning, the last thing she mentions at bedtime, and several times during the day. She even woke up suddenly one night crying not for mommy, but--you guessed it--Baby Pepper!

Big Bro was never this attached to his stuffed animals so it's a new experience for us. It's sweet and cute, but mildly terrifying too. Last night Baby Pepper went missing so we all were searching frantically for her to avoid causing Lil Sis too much anguish. She was no where to be found. I started envisioning a miserable night with cries for the beloved friend. Then Big Bro pulled Baby Pepper out of his own secret hiding spot. Sneaky bugger. He knows the power of Baby Pepper.

I also don't have any backups of Baby Pepper. If she gets lost that's it. Maybe I should buy her a leash and a GPS tracking device.

So happy together. Lil Sis & Baby Pepper

Work/Family Balance

I am a stay at home mom. That is established. I stay home with the kids while my husband goes to the office for work. Between the hours of 8am and 6pm I am a playmate, a teacher, an entertainer, a disciplinarian, a cook, a server, a nurse, a maid, a chauffeur.

Once the kids are in bed I am a blogger for this personal blog, and the BVT Moms Blog. I get to have a voice on motherhood and environmental issues. I get to have a voice in the world outside my home.

As of this January I am also a co-founder of a Vermont chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby (VT CCL). Now I am an organizer and a leader. Someone with a clear stake in starting an organization and making sure it succeeds. It's thrilling and energizing to be part of a "start up" on an issue I'm passionate about. It's outside the mommy box entirely, which is refreshing.

The blogging and the organization start up have to occur after the kids are in bed. Their bedtime has crept back later and later, therefore my prime blogging and organizing hours are often between 9pm and midnight.

It's late, and sometimes when I'm done, I'm buzzing with excitement and it's hard to go straight to bed. After working extra on a particular post or after an exciting conference call about the VT CCL I can be awake until 1am or later trying to settle enough to sleep. The kids always get up at 7 and sometimes earlier than that, which makes for awfully short nights.

What's my work/family balance? I often burn the candle at both ends and sacrifice sleep, as lots of mother/parents do I'm sure. Of course there are nights I crash early or fall asleep as as I wait for my kids to nod off. 

For now, it works. In a year and a half Big Bro will be off to kindergarten and Lil Sis will be entering preschool. That will mean 3.5 hours, 3 days a week to myself when they are both at school. I anticipate that it will feel like a luxury to write and organize during the day.

      

 

Lay Chicky Lay

Late in the fall our 4 chickens stopped laying. Was it because of fewer daylight hours? We knew it was normal for them to lay less in winter but we didn't think they would stop entirely. Last winter they still layed eggs, just at a slower pace.

Then they began molting--a very unfortunate occurrence in January during "the Polar Vortex." Maybe that was the only issue that made them stop laying.

Someone told me her chickens stopped laying all together at age 2.5, which made me worry. That's how old Alpha, Frieda, LBJ and Sienna are. Say it ain't so! 

I had to buy eggs at the store for the first time in two years. It was very disappointing. I came home with a broken egg or two because I FORGOT you have to check store bought eggs for such things.

Then, last week we found a solitary egg. A day or two later we found four. The eggs have been rolling in ever since. The ladies are back in business and I couldn't be happier.

No Phone Zone Fail

Just before Christmas, I saw an article called "Our Unplugging Challenge: Seven Days Without Our Devices." That night during the kids' bathtime I mentioned it to my husband and suggested maybe we could try it over Christmas vacation. He sort of laughed, so I amended my request to having a "no phone zone" while the kids are awake. That's a good idea, he agreed while looking up from his smartphone. We didn't end up doing it though. Our kids like to play a couple games on our phones, and they like to watch Sesame Street songs on YouTube too.

A couple years ago, a study showed that using our smart phones lights up the same areas of our brain that love does. We literally love our phones. "Some psychologists suggest that using our iPhones and BlackBerrys may tap into the same associative learning pathways in the brain that make other compulsive behaviors — like gambling — so addictive."

That's kind of sad.

I'm guilty. I check my phone a lot. It's just so easy. It just takes a minute here and there. The kids are entertaining themselves for a minute? Great! I'll check the latest updates on Facebook! But do I really need to read and like the gazillion climate news stories in my feed? Or the latest cute kid picture? Do I need to read yet another parenting blog?

The other day I was parked by the lake as my daughter slept in the car, and it wasn't yet time to collect my son from preschool. It was a cold day and the ice fisherman were out. I should have sat in the car staring at the lake and the ice and the horizon for 10 minutes. I did look for a bit, but then, almost without thinking about it, I pulled out my smart phone.

Whoops.

I kind of miss the days before cell phones. Days when I went out without caring that maybe no one could reach me for a while. Days when I took trips to see friends in neighboring states with nothing but printed out directions. Days before Facebook existed, before Words With Friends existed. There was a certain kind of freedom.

Now that I have a smart phone (since late 2010) it's hard to give it up. It's annoying not being able to look up something whenever I want, or snap a photo whenever I want, take my turn in a game, or check status updates. I honestly don't think it's a problem how much I use my phone, but it would be good to use it less.

Maybe I will do that 7 Day Challenge afterall. Maybe.

image found at:sunny-cookie.blogspot.com

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

This is a format for a post that has been circulating around the blogging world so I thought it might be fun to jump on the bandwagon and try.

Yesterday I:

• Enjoyed pancakes and eggs for breakfast that my husband made at my son's request
• Went for a walk with the whole family since it was sunny, gorgeous and the temperature was above freezing. As we walked my husband went door to door collecting signatures so he can run for our local school board.
• My in-laws took the kids for a couple hours which was fantastic.
• We went to some friends' house for dinner. The kids had their own little kids table, it was adorable and such a treat to focus on a grown up conversation.
• Worked on some VT Citizens Climate Lobby stuff in the evening.

Today I:

• Got to sleep in a bit courtesy of my husband because my daughter kept me up a lot last night
• Came downstairs to fresh made scones, my husband's specialty
• Made pizza with my son using the fresh mozarella and whey I made earlier in the week
• Wrote a BVT Moms Blog post with the pizza making as part of the inspiration
• Had free time while husband took the kids to his parents to watch the football game. I did laundry and vegged. 
• Had pizza again for dinner at my in-laws. Whoops. It was a decadent weekend food-wise, and me-time-wise.

 Tomorrow I will:

• Take Big Bro with us to Lil Sis' music class since it is the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday and preschool is closed.
• Maybe do a little grocery shopping if the kids are up for it after music class.
• The usual playing, reading children's stories, washing dishes, more laundry, cooking meals, etc.

Imagining The Ultimate My Little Pony

When I was little in the 1980s, I would dream about the perfect My Little Pony. It was a pony that combined all the best features of all the ponies. It would be a unicorn pony, with the fuzzy/velvety body, a jewel in its eye, and the wings that could actually flap up and down. I'm sure there were more features from the many ponies being made that I wanted to include, but those are the features I remember best. In my 8 year old daydream, all these features would be combined into one glorious pony.

Now, many years later, I don't daydream about the ultimate My Little Pony anymore. But sometimes I do daydream about things that, if adopted, could go far in protecting the earth. I haven't vetted how possible these are or what the ramifications would be, but here is a taste of my daydreams:

• A ban on making disposal tissue products (toilet paper, napkins, paper towels) from anything but recycled fibers
• As long as we're talking about disposal paper products, let's require all toilet paper and paper towel companies to make them without the cardboard roll in the center like Scott Naturals
• Ban the use of carcinogenic compounds in consumer products. Are they really necessary?
• Ban sprinkler systems for lawns (green lawns in the desert? Terrible idea. I'm looking at you, American Southwest and anywhere that a green lawn, even in a drought, is a status symbol)
• Ban fertilizers and pesticides for lawns
• Ban plastic bags
• Ban sky lamps and balloon releases (these products aren't biodegradable despite what they say and cause a lot of harm and litter)
• Ban cheap crap made in China (or elsewhere) that breaks after one use. Heck, ban "planned obsolescence" altogether)
• Ban plastic water bottles

Fresh Homemade Mozarella

Who knew that making fresh mozzarella cheese at home could be so easy! The same friend who has taught me how can food just taught me how to make fresh, homemade mozzarella cheese. It only took about 30 minutes and tasted delicious.

We used a kit that she bought years ago. It provides ingredients to make 30 batches of mozarella so can last a long time. I brought a gallon of whole milk to contribute to the project.

First we dissolved vegetable rennet in unchlorinated water.

Then we dissolved citric acid in a separate container with some of the unchlorinated water.

Next we poured the citric acid into the milk that was waiting in a big pot on the stove. Then we heated the mixture to 90 degrees.

Then we removed the pot from the heat and slowly stirred in the rennet.

After it rested for 5 minutes we uncovered the pot to reveal nicely separated curds (on top) and whey (underneath the floating curds). With a long knife my friend cut the curds into cubes, being sure the knife cut the whole way through.

Then we stirred the curds slowly and reheated them to 105 degrees.

Then the curds were separated from the whey with a slotted spoon.

Next we heated the curds in the microwave to a specific temperature, 135? I forget now exactly. Oops. See the giant bowl of whey behind the cheese curd?

Then comes the fun part... stretching the curd until it gets shiny. Magically it became mozarella cheese.

My friend rolled it into a large delicious ball and we and our kids enjoyed pulling off pieces to eat. My kids couldn't get enough...you'd think I never feed them!

It tasted great on our sandwiches at lunch too.

We split the cheese and the whey. Next I will attempt to make pizza dough with the whey. The kit offered many other recipes including instructions on how to make your own cheese sticks. I think it will be fun to make this with my kids when they are older. It's like a little chemistry project with all the measuring and heating.

And, it's yet another thing to add to my list of homesteading/domestic accomplishments with thanks to my friend, without whom probably none of it would have happened.

When Moms Tire of Play

"Play with me, Mommy!" is a constant refrain in my house. And play I do. But sometimes I admit, I get really bored of playing. How many ways are there to play "Doggie" and what fun is playing when you, the mom, say "Let's make up a story, you start." and your child responds, "No, I want you to do it. I want you to do the whole thing." This isn't play. This is purely wanting to be entertained.

Don't get me wrong, I play with my kids a lot. But it's a long day between 8am when Daddy leaves for work, and 6:00pm when he returns. My kids no longer nap either (not reliably) so it's hard to get a break. Sometimes I clean the kitchen because it's always a mess, and because I know it will give me a little space and time to myself. At least for a short time. Even when I say, "I can't play now, I'm doing dishes." it can quickly devolve into Lil Sis pulling all the dirty dishes out of the washer and Big Bro still saying, "Mommy, let's play!"

This is something that adults and kids have dealt with forever. The episode of Sesame Street that we watched yesterday was all about Big Bird feeling sad because Gordon, Maria, and Alan (the adults on Sesame Street) couldn't play with him. Another episode featured Ernie feeling sad that he has no one to play with. It's a ubiquitous theme in children's shows, and in my life lately. I met a lady in a chiropractor's waiting room recently who told me her 9 year old just started being willing to entertain himself for 30 minutes. 9 years old??? 30 minutes??? Say it's not true!

So sometimes, when this mom is tired of play, and the kids won't do anything by themselves or with each other I started coming up with jobs for Big Bro to do. It's harder to incorporate Lil Sis, but she's easier to please these days anyway. Big Bro feeds our dog Pepper every day, and recently he sorted the clean silverware into the drawer for the first time. Sometimes I give him a spray bottle and cloth to clean the windows on some doors, or he sweeps the floor. The funny thing is he seems to think it's fun! For him it's doing something new while being with Mommy. For me it's doing something a little more adult (not that cleaning is super fun for adults) while still making space for my kids to be near me and participating. I think it's a good compromise, and my son is learning important skills/responsibilities in an age-appropriate way. The house gets cleaner too.

Cabin Fever Creativity

For weeks it's been cold and icy thanks to an ice storm, more freezing rain, and the "Polar Vortex" or "Arctic Bomb." Even with the recent thaw we have been enjoying it's still icy out, and soggy, so we have gotten creative with entertainment options for my kiddos. Here are some of my favorite activities to beat back the winter blues.

1. Dragons in the Forest
This was an activity that evolved after my son was getting rambunctious with his story books. I swapped out the paperback ones he was abusing for the board books. Set the books up like tents, tell the kids they are dragons in a forest knocking down the trees, and voila!


2. The Obstacle Course
This was my husband's idea. So simple and totally awesome. The kids did such a good job with it. They are running around the rain barrel I got for Christmas in case you were wondering.



3. Composing Original Songs (or at least original lyrics)
My son got a ukelele for Christmas. He has become quite the little song writer. His biggest influences are Sesame Street songs performed by celebrities.

What do you do to pass the time with your kids when the weather outside is inhospitable?

Momentum

A while back I posted about creating a Dumbledore's Army, of sorts, to fight climate change--aka a Vermont branch of the Citizens Climate Lobby. 

 

I hadn't made much headway with the holiday season coming up. My big plan was (is) to do my climate presentations for the Climate Reality Project and tack on a piece about my wish to start a VT CCL in order to recruit members who are looking for the next step to more actively fight climate change. How does CCL do this? By talking to politicians and other people in power about the importance of the issue and advocating for a revenue-neutral carbon tax as the fastest, easiest solution to quickly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Then a week ago I received an email from one of the official Citizens Climate Lobby people addressed to a local guy named Rick and cc'ed a bunch of other people (myself included), all of whom had expressed interest in starting a Vermont CCL. 

 

I immediately responded to all and said "Great! I've been wanting to do this! What is our first step?" Since then Rick and I have been getting organized. With him as the main leader of the "core group" of organizers for this "start up" (of which I seem to be second in command) I think we are really getting this going!

It's exciting, and will be a big learning curve to start our own chapter of a nonprofit climate advocacy group. I hope you will join me if you are a Vermonter, and if you are reading this from another state find a local CCL chapter to join. I will keep you posted on the Vermont chapter's progress!

Money CAN Buy You Happiness!

Well, in an indirect sort of way...

My husband, who I now dub "Dada of Ma'at," is a member of Toastmaster's, a club that helps members learn how to be effective public speakers. He participates through his work during lunch once a month. He prepared a speech inspired by the book "Happy Money" by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton. It's about the science of happiness derived by spending money on things vs. experiences.

 

He was practicing his speech in front of me and I liked it so much that I asked him to record it as a guest video blogger on Mama of Ma'at. Please excuse the low budget recording. If you are reading/watching this around noon on Thursday (1/9) know that you are hearing his presentation at the same time that he is giving it live at his Toastmaster's meeting.

Please welcome Dada of Ma'at, and enjoy!

The Reluctant Napper

Since my daughter turned 18 months she has become an extremely reluctant napper. She used to lie down with me and fall asleep within minutes. Now that she is becoming a big kid and is very aware that her brother does not nap, she has decided that she doesn't need naps either. 

She is giving up naps a full year before her brother did. This is not fun for me as her mother, nor is it really fun for her. She breaks down over silly things because she is exhausted. She falls asleep at the dinner table because she just. can't. quite. make. it. until. bedtime.

If I try to put her down for a nap I bring her to her room and ask her if she wants to sleep in her bed or her brother's bed. She always picks big brother's bed. We read a story, I turn on the lullabies, I snuggle with her a bit. Still, she fights it. She cries and tantrums. It's not good for anyone.

As a result, we have had some interesting naptime sleeping positions when she is so tired she can't fight it anymore. The car is by far her favorite and best/easiest place to nap these days. Too bad it's so cold out thanks to the "Arctic Bomb" and also just because it is winter in Vermont, otherwise I would still happily depend on car naps.

Enjoy the poses. She's so cute I could eat her up! Though I am biased being her mother and all...

June 26, 2014

July 11, 2014

October 7, 2014

The Art of Knowing the Right Cart

Pre-children, grocery shopping is easy. You get a cart, you shop, you pay, you leave. Once you have kids it gets complicated on several levels, but the first obstacle to negotiate is how to transport your child(ren) as you shop. 

When my son was a baby his carseat didn't latch on top of the cart child seat as some brands do. I couldn't put his infant carseat in the cart or I would have no room for groceries. So, I would either put my son in his stroller and use the stroller basket as my grocery basket for small shoppings, or I would carry him in an infant carrier such as a baby bjorn and fill the whole cart with food for big shoppings. With this strategy the real challenge became loading and unloading the cart with my arm length compromised by a baby strapped to my chest.

Around 18 months of age, my son graduated to the car grocery carts. Our first venture was with carts like the one below. The SUV of shopping carts if you will. These do not handle turns well, and your child is low to the ground just waiting to jump out (despite the straps provided). My son also managed to get his foot stuck between the two steering wheels on more than one occasion. You have no sight lines to see what your child is up to, which makes traveling back to the car with a full cart of groceries a little scary.

SUV-style shopping cart, good intention but still pretty poor

Next we tried the truck version of the car cart (below). It handled a little bit better on turns but still had similar problems to its predecessor above. Both carts have the problem of being extra tall too as if that will make up for the smaller basket they offer. When I was 9 months pregnant and pushing my almost 2 year old in these SUV carts, it was nearly impossible. Being petite already, it was hard to maneuver a belly to be able to reach to the bottom of the cart. Then you get in the skinny checkout aisle and can only access the basket from the position by the handlebar--forget it. I either made sure I went through the spacious handicapped aisle if it was available, or I would ask the bagger to unload my cart for me. Luckily they did it!

An attempt to improve the regular SUV-style cart, still flawed

The same problem described above continued when my daughter was born but still too little to sit in the cart herself. The SUV carts aren't much easier to maneuver with a baby strapped to your chest than they are with a big pregnant belly.

Eventually my daughter was big enough to sit up in the cart herself (what a great day that was!) I discovered the ultimate car grocery cart. The children sit up by the handle bars but face outwards. The basket has two tiers solving the tall basket-short arm problem, and was just generally easier to unload. For a while there was only one store in the area that had these cars so I always made sure we shopped there.

The ultimate cart for shopping with kids in my humble opinion

We also tried the cart with the two forward facing seats in front of the handle bars that is a separate piece from the actual cart. This cart handles much like the SUV carts (ie: not well). The seats are narrow and the straps are iffy. My daughter kept sliding. The one good thing was we were able to put her in the actual seat of the cart, while my son sat in one of the extra seats. They could face each other and entertain each other with tickles and giggles.

 

Thankfully the grocery cart thing is becoming less of an issue, which is fantastic if just for the reason that sometimes the good carts are unavailable. We went shopping today but none of the car carts were available. Our only option was a regular car with no extra kid seats. But my son is approaching age 4, he is maturing, which opens up new possibilities. 

Today our shopping trip looked like this:

 

 

and like this:

 

My son hung on to the cart like a pro and even helped pick items and put them in the cart. When he got tired he decided to lie on the rack underneath the cart.His sister relaxed in the regular child seat. It was easier to maneuver than the SUV carts.

I figured out the cart situation to fit each stage even though it wasn't always pretty. Now the problem is resolving itself. Now I can just focus on the constant requests for snacks, treats, and "Are we done yet???"