A Mom's Life

Years ago, when I started running, it was no walk in the park. Evolutionarily speaking, I didn't think my body was built for endurance exercise. I started by running one lap around my college track. I remember it clear as day. It was spring of my senior year and my friend and former roommate (a runner) encouraged me to get rid of the freshman fifteen by taking a few laps with her. That first quarter of a mile was the longest jog of my life. I felt like I'd never make it around the circle. And, what a pain! When I got to where I started, she told me to do it again! As a compromise, I walked a lap and then ran a lap. All in all that day I may have clocked about a mile but it was a start. As I continued to run (or really jog), I continued to have the same sensation: that every step was like trying to pull myself through quick sand. But I set some goals, like walk a lap, run a lap, walk a minute, run 10 minutes, etc. and after a summer, I managed to run five miles without stopping....

If you give a todller a sippy cup, she will throw it on the floor. When you give her back the cup, she'll shake it upside down on her tray. Then she'll throw it back on the floor. You'll have to tell her "all done." She'll start to tear up, ball her fists and cry "NOOOOO!" She'll point at it with her finger. You'll give in and hand it to her. When she's all done eating she'll want to get out of her chair to play. Except she'll see an old piece of macaroni in the chair. When she's all done eating it, she'll want another piece. She'll ask you for more. Then you'll heat her more mac and she'll see the strawberries in the fridge. Seeing the strawberries will make her crave fruit. She'll rock her chair, bounce up and down and say, "berry, berry." You'll cut up some fruit. Once she has the fruit, she'll squish it between her fingers. You'll get her a wet paper towel. She'll probably put ...

Last week my office hosted a dining etiquette seminar for our students. Our guest speaker for the evening, Robert Shutt from R.A Solutions, is dynamic and knowledgeable and the students always benefit from the presentation. As I sat through this year's session, like most of the students at my table, I giggled nervously as I sipped my soup and fumbled with the napkin on my lap. A few students at the table told me that their parents enforced dining decorum each evening at the family dinner table and it made me think about meals in my home. While I've participated in similar dining events for nearly a decade and have put the rules into practice at several work-related meals, I realized that I completely check professional dining etiquette at the door step of our house. As a matter of fact, not only do we not practice anything remotely like what Robert recommends, we have established our very own rules at the Marietta table- it's what I like to call Mariettaquette. So that you ...