Blog: October 2007
DATE NIGHT AT A KID FRIENDLY RESTAURANT
So last night was date night and usually, I aim to select restaurants that don't have kids as patrons - not because I'm a snob or something - I am a parent myself - but when we've got a babysitter who's on the clock, the last thing we want to do is hit a restaurant with out of control kids. We can stay home for that one.
Getting back to our evening. Everything was going just fine, appetizers were delish, wine devine, main course arrived and then there was a shriek from another table. This couple, sitting with their daughter who looked to be about nine or ten started to yell really loudly because she dropped her small fork on the floor and she demanded that her parents get her another fork or else she was going to cause a scene.
Okay -now if this child has issues, I am incredibly sorry for even mentioning what transpired - but if she is just a bratty kid who can't control herself when she drops her fork, which I think she was, I think she needs to take a lesson from the Emily Post school of dining at a restaurant with your parents when it's supposed to be date night.
Rule number one - never scream loudly when you drop a utensil. Politely ask the waitress for another fork - no one has to hear you ranting and raving over your silly blunder.
Rule number two - stuffed animals do not belong on the table. Do I honestly need to be reminded that I left my two kids at home while you plop your furry pig right in front of me? If there's an extra seat, put your toys on the chair - not where everyone is eating.
Rule number three - if you're still at a restaurant with your child and if it's after 9:30pm and a drinking crowd has started to assemble near the bar, call your waitress over and get the check - after a certain time of night, there is no such thing as kid friendly dining at a bar.
Rule number four - even if your kid insists they join you on date night, push back, get a sitter or plan a sleepover for your ten year old at a friend's house.
Rule number five - Don't feel guilty. Date night is important for couples - and the more you get your child used to you going out on their own, the more independent he or she will be in the end.
To return to Role Mommy, Click Here. Or, to read the review of the fabulous singer who performed last night -and managed to take our mind off the screaming girl, then Click Here instead!
--------
Posted in: Blog, Undercover Mom on 10/28/2007
Overheard in the Bathroom...
"Mommy, why do I have to go the ladies room if I'm a boy?"
"Because I don't go to the men's room," that's why.
"But what about when I'm eight, can I go to the boy's room by myself?"
"Maybe."
"What about when I'm twenty? Can I got to the bathroom by myself then?"
"Yes and I probably won't be with you to take you to the bathroom when you're that age."
"Well, what about when I'm your age mommy? Will you take me to the bathroom then?"
"By the time your my age, you'll be taking me to the bathroom."
--------
Posted in: Blog, Kiddy Commentary on 10/28/2007
Carpool Confidential by Jessica Benson
Sometimes when you start reading a book your sensibilities can instantly click with the author's. And the moment I dove into Carpool Confidential, by Jessica Benson that's exactly what happened to me. This hysterical new novel which is hot off the presses, tells the tale of Cassie Martin, a former writer turned stay at home mom living in a tony section of Brooklyn Heights overlooking the Manhattan skyline. Cassie's life seems picture perfect, that is until her investment banker hubby throws her world into a tailspin when he decides to chuck his career for Barry Manilow. No, it's not what you think. He realizes his calling is to produce a retrospective on the man who writes the songs, and his wife is left holding the bag and figuring out how she's going to explain to her kids, her parents and her friends that her husband has skipped town so he can "Try to Get the Feeling Again." As a Barry Manilow fan (yes, I am proud to admit it) and a lover of chick-lit - Carpool Confidential is the perfect companion for anyone craving a book that'll keep you engaged and entertained the moment you crack it open. Plus - when the publicist for the book sent it to me, she cleverly packaged it with the essential Barry Manilow two CD collection - in my book, that move was truly a stroke of genius - so if you're in the mood for a fun read, pick up Carpool Confidential - this one's a total winner.
--------
Posted in: Blog, Book Club on 10/28/2007
DATE NIGHT...AN AMAZING NEW SINGER
I know that we normally recommend items that are terrific for kids and families, but any true Role Mommy knows that date night is imperative to a balanced life and sometimes, even on date night, you can discover something really awesome. Well last night, my husband and I went to a really cool restaurant in Northern Westchester (for those of you living near us, it's called Opus and it's in Armonk). As we sat back and savored some great wine and caught up on some much needed conversation, the band started playing and we were instantly hooked. The lead singer, whose name is Johanna, had this unbelievable voice - so incredible and different that in my opinion, she's destined for stardom. After dinner, we even left our table and sat at the bar to listen to some of their original songs and then we bought her CD and listened to it on the ride home.
So if you can tear yourself away from Radio Disney or the soundtrack to High School Musical, visit Johanna's website at http://www.johannamusic.net/ or to listen to her music, click here. Get the inside track on a performer who I'm convinced will be joining the ranks of Cheryl Crow and Natalie Merchant in no time flat. You heard it here first at Role Mommy, and we usually are on the cutting edge on what's cool for great moms.
Posted in: Blog, Role Mommy Recommends on 10/28/2007
THE ROAD TO THE PRESIDENCY
I've decided that if presidential candidates had to follow the rules set by my son's kindergarten teacher, then George Bush would have never been elected to office. You see, Mrs. Horlacher - the most wonderful kindergarten teacher on the entire planet (not that I'm biased or anything) has this ingenious method of selecting class presidents. It's not by popular vote - because who wants to start a popularity contest that early in life, but her selection process is much more rigid. If she picks your name out of a hat, you must answer a very important question relating to your personal life and if you get it right, you become the Kindergarten Commander in Chief. If you get it wrong, you lose the eleection and have to memorize your answer so you can come back again the next day to try again.
My son experienced the anguish of losing his first bid for class president this past week when he couldn't answer an extremely important question lobbed at him by Mrs. Horlacher. Spell your last name. I have to admit, spelling Feldman when you're a five year old is not an easy feat, so when my little man came home depressed that he couldn't answer the question correctly, we did what any candidate would do in that situation. Practice, practice, pratice. We must have worked on spelling Feldman at least two dozen times so by the following morning, Dylan was all set to earn his stripes.
When he came home at the end of the day, proudly holding his sign announcing that he was Class Kindergarten President, Dylan was grinning from ear to ear. The real nail biter will be when he's up for re-election and has to recite his home address.
So getting back to George Bush - if his presidential bid had hinged on spelling and pronunciation, things could have been very different this last decade. As for the upcoming election - I think rather than debate the issues, let's subject the candidates to an elementary school spelling bee and geography quiz. Last I checked both Hillary, Obama and Rudy should probably be able to ace those subjects. But Fred Thompson on the other hand, has been having quite a tough time with his mastery of countries so I say, he's out of the running. I think my son's teacher is on to something.
--------
Posted in: Blog, Role Mommy Confessions on 10/26/2007
Find Out the Calories in Your Kids' Fast Food Meals with Calorie King
Now here's a website I could totally use when I'm just about to place my order at the McDonald's drive thru window. Before you order that chicken nugget happy meal, consider the calories. Of course, out of sight out of mind - if you don't know how many calories those nuggets have then it technically doesn't count. Well, think again. Now fast food chains such as McDonald?s, Wendy?s and Taco Bell can also be HEALTHY with CalorieKing?s new ? and FREE ? CalorieKing Mobile. A quick search on CalorieKing Mobile, http://mobile.calorieking.com/, displays over 50,000 meals, fast food and chain restaurants items, all from any Internet-enabled mobile phone or smartphone.
Here is an example of two different meals your hungry kid or teen could order at Wendy?s:
Meal 1
Roasted Turkey & Swiss Frescata sandwich ? 470 cal, 20 fat g.
Baked Potato, Sour Cream & Chives ? 320 cal, 4 fat g.
Medium Coca-Cola soft drink ? 213 cal, 0 fat g.
Calories- 1,003 Fat- 24 grams
Meal 2
5-piece Chicken Nuggets ? 230 cal, 15 fat g.
Chili ? 220 cal, 6 fat g.
Medium Minute Maid Lemonade soft drink ? 11 cal, 0 fat g.
Calories- 461 Fat- 21 grams
So visit Calorie King today before you order that quarter pounder with fries and a diet coke of course - that jolt of reality will probably have you changing your order to a salad with fat free Newman's dressing in no time flat.
--------
Posted in: Blog, Role Mommy Recommends on 10/24/2007
The Book Signing Blues
Promoting our book has been quite a wild ride. The most fun I've had spreading the word about Peeing in Peace has been when I'm connecting with fellow moms in cyberspace who get the title the moment they read it or when I receive a random email from a stranger who has read our book and can relate to what it's like to balance work and family and still keep their sense of humor intact.
What I haven't enjoyed on the long and winding promotional trail are book signings. You see, if I were JK Rowling, or even JJ from "Good Times," if I had a book signing planned, the line would be out the door (okay, maybe not for JJ but certainly for JK). But when you are a relatively unknown writer, no matter how hard you try to convince people to show up to buy your book, unless they're your relative, a good friend or your husband, they just don't come. And there you are, left sitting at a table with 12 empty chairs in front of you. Maybe I should sign up for jury duty - at least if I did a book signing at a courthouse, I'd know I'd be playing to a packed crowd.
A book signing on a picture perfect day paints quite a lonely picture to say the least, but that's reality in the cold harsh world of book signings in the suburbs.
The other day, when I got to interview Nicholas Sparks and he casually mentioned how he was going to be at a signing for 5-6 hours, I thought to myself about the signing we had scheduled that weekend in Ramsey, New Jersey that would probably last about five or six minutes. Would anyone show up? Would it be a disaster again like the week before when the only people who showed were the regular senior citizens who populated the coffee shop? Even worse, I never imagined that a book signing would open ourselves up to hecklers, like that eccentric older woman who expressed her total disdain for our book title and proceeded to follow us around the store so she could spew a few more nasty comments our way, when all we had hoped was that PIP would become the must-have read for new and expectant moms.
What I've come to realize is that moms don't have time for book signings. And even if they are in a bookstore with their kids, they'll even come up to you and tell you that they can relate to the title - maybe even share a story of their own about how their toddler clings to their leg while they're trying to tinkle, and then when you try to persuade them to buy the book, they'll smile and say, "Oh I'm too busy now, maybe I'll buy it some other time." Translation - Sayanora sister - I'd rather fork over some cold hard cash to buy "Eat, Pray, Love" or "Green Eggs & Ham."
While I thankfully don't have any signings scheduled for a while, what I've come to realize is that if you are an author, you better have the thickest skin on the planet. Between the hecklers, the "I'm too busy to buy your book" crowd and those damn empty seats, I only hope that one day there will be a line out the door - eagerly waiting for our autographs. But for now, there are no rainbows or pots of gold on our road to book signing success - right now, we're pretty much on a one way street that's riddled with lots of pot holes.
--------
Posted in: Blog, Role Mommy Confessions on 10/07/2007
THE CHOICE BY NICHOLAS SPARKS & AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
This week, Role Mommy got the chance to be a part of the first-ever blogger teleconference with New York Times best selling author Nicholas Sparks. Yes - the author whose books pretty much have you hanging on his every word, longing for a couple to get together only to find yourself sobbing uncontrollably when the relationship takes a tragic turn of events. Ahh - the perfect ingredients for a great read. And with The Choice, which debuted at #1 on the USA Today best seller list, Sparks has done it again.
In an interview today with a select group of bloggers, we asked Nick who he based his latest book on and he shared that the main character, Travis is loosely based on his brother - who led a carefree life as a bachelor while Nick was married and raising kids. While Nick and his own brother were a year apart, their experiences, which spanned over a decade, couldn't have been more different and that was the catalyst for his latest novel. Travis is a free wheeling bachelor who meets his match in Gabby, an independent and strong willed neighbor who eventually falls for him and the two get married. The book then takes us to another part of their lives - much like The Notebook (which is by far one of my favorite tear jerker novels of all time). As the couple confront one of the most difficult choices in their lives, Sparks once again has crafted a page turner, with readers riveted by his every word.
Most of Sparks' books have been motivated by real life events. Tragically, Sparks has experienced tremendous loss - losing his mother, father and sister while he was writing his books. As a result, he has woven many of these real life experiences into his novels but then, as the story unfolds, he says his books seem to take on a life of their own. Sparks says his fundamental goal as an author is to craft a modern day Greek tragedy and while many of us would like to see his characters in his books live happily ever after, it's the oftentimes tragic and real circumstances that they face which keeps his readers coming back for more year after year.
While on his latest book tour for The Choice, Sparks, who unfortunately was battling a bout of food poisoining while preparing for what he says was a 5-6 hour book signing (hopefully one day, our book signings will rival these marathon sessions), says he's been doing a lot of reading to keep him occupied while he's on the road. Some of his recent reads include everything from best-sellers to historical non-fiction to a book about homework - Sparks, a father of five, runs a private school and is a track coach so don't expect him to be surfing the 'net checking his Amazon rankings or vegging out on the couch watching Dancing with the Stars or Grey's Anatomy.
So what is Nicholas Sparks reading these days? Click on the links below to get a glimpse into the books he's been reading on the road:
For more about Nicholas Sparks, visit his website at http://www.nicholassparks.com/. Or, to purchase The Choice, Click Here.
--------
Posted in: Blog, Book Club on 10/04/2007
Older Entries
Role Mommy's Friends & Supporters
Enter your email address to receive our regularly e-mailed newsletter and be eligible for great prizes from our mom-loving sponsors. Don't worry, we won't spam you or sell your email to shady dudes.
Contact Us
Role Mommy, LLC
beth@rolemommy.com
(914) 516-0047
