One Secret to Success for a Working Mom, Expand Your Village (Jack and Jill of America)

Jack and Jill of America member and her daughter Recently, I have become keenly aware that good kids are created by accident. They become good because someone made a concerted effort to pour positive things into them--things like, honor, discipline and respect for others. These qualities are taught through lessons and by observation. For that reason, I have been actively considering how to give my children more examples of people who embody those qualities.  Indeed, raising my children to become good people is my most important job.

Wordless Wednesday (not really): What Dinner Looked Like Tonight


I saw on Facebook that a high school friend (Jennifer Balonek VanRy) made Cold Sesame Noodles for dinner. I made chili. Jennifer's dish was inspired by a New York Times video. Mine was inspired by necessity and a little guilt.


The Liberty Bridge is Closed and My World Has Been Rocked


We got home late tonight after driving an hour and a half to make a 20 minute trip in sweltering heat. The baby an I made this trip to pick up his sister only after taking a tour around the city of Pittsburgh, in search of a street where the traffic was actually moving and would take us to the South Side. The Liberty Bridge is closed, which is apparently clogging many of the traffic arteries, especially those going South. We owe the bridge closure and traffic jams to a debacle involving fire, delinquent behavior and an inadequate response by the City.  

Let me be heard, when you have three rivers running through your city and a bridge is closed that transport 55,000 people a day, you owe it to your citizens to do whatever it takes to keep the traffic moving, lest the children will be forced to eat canned chili for dinner.  The horror!!!

When You Foul Up, It's OK to Bribe Your Kids


Our daughter requested Wendy's Chili for dinner as her consolation prize for being the last child picked up at her school's post-care program. Yeah, I was that mom today. And because the dinner gods had no mercy, Wendy's was out of chili. Yeah really. When asked when they'd have more chili, the cashier responded, "More chili? Um, I don't know. Not today. And I don't work tomorrow. So, it don't really matter to me." The Universe wasn't giving me any breaks today!

Without the leverage of chili tomorrow, I wound up buying a Wendy's Frosty and making canned chili. Glad I got over this hump. Bring on Thursday!

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