lawmummy

It’s that time of year again. The time when I complain incessantly about the neighbors’ cats.

Let me just say, before the fur starts to fly, that I happen to like cats. I grew up with cats and had one at my house for 21 years. Yep, an old cranky Siamese that I adored. When he passed on, my whole family was devastated. So I don’t loathe cats. I loathe bad cat owners.

I live in the city. I don’t get cat owners who allow their cats to roam in the city - especially without tags and double especially without being spade or neutered.

There is a horrid black and white cat that sits on my porch when the weather begins to turn. He sprays my porch with his nasty cat stink. Nice, huh?

This morning, there he was, sunning himself on my porch. And yes, he stunk the joint up.

Any thoughts on this? I mean, besides shooting the cats which is neither humane nor legal. Plus I don’t have a gun.

I can’t take the stink. I can’t take the fur (not to mention, hubby is allergic to cats). And it freaks my dog out - my dog which I keep nicely inside or in the gated back yard.

Jeez, it’s been so long. I will make some adjustments tonight.

I am trying not to be one of THOSE parents. You know, the crazy kind that freak out about everything.

And I got Katie’s report card today.

Now, you have to understand this about me. I was a straight A student. And not a borderline A student. A top A student. Some of it was because I worked hard. Some of it was because I had some natural talent. And some of it was because of my father.

If I got a 93 on my report card, my dad always said, “Where are the other 7 points?”

He was a perfectionist and he wanted me to be perfect.

Maybe that explains some of my issues.

The thing is, the pressure worked. It did make me a better student. And I did become the first person in my family to graduate from college. And I did go to law school. Blah, blah, blah.

So, there’s something to be said about wanting your children to do their very best. Sometimes, it pays off.

But I don’t want to be one of those moms who freaks out about every little thing - especially when it’s not really that important.

Which brings me back to Katie’s report card. She is in Kindergarten. Her report card will not affect her college admissions. And yet, I still read it just about as defensively as a parent could do.

Two things that stood out?

1, Katie doesn’t know her phone number - neither do I. Or Chris. We have a land line but we don’t know the number because we never use it. The phone is really just for 9-1-1. We do have 2 cell phones but that’s a lot for a kindergartener to remember.

2, Katie doesn’t know her birthday. This one is tricky. Her birthday is in June (she knows that part). It is only 2 weeks away from her sister’s birthday. We do not make a big deal about either date because we celebrate them together - one party. We never focused on the dates. In fact, as I am typing this, I just asked Amy when her birthday is and she yelled, “JUNE!” That’s all that they know.

It’s not a learning flaw.

And the crazy perfectionist mom in me wanted to call the teacher and explain. But I didn’t.

I am trying to be more Zen. And just understanding that their lives will not be shattered by the little things like a report card that goes on her permanent record that states that she doesn’t know her phone number.

(breathe out - be Zen, be Zen)

Gosh, it’s hard.

My three year old’s favorite thing to say right now?

“Uh, Mommy? Actually, you’re wrong.”

*Squeal!*

I have an interview tomorrow that may possibly be published in The Wall Street Journal. I can’t explain my level of excitement.

The week has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me (how’s that for cliches?), so it’s nice that it has kind of turned to a high note.

On the plus side, the kids appear to be feeling better (finally) although quite exhausted. Lot of crying and yelling - and that’s just me. But I am hopeful that, with some rest, things will be getting back to normal.

We take our car in for repairs and service tomorrow. Two weeks ago, in the midst of what can only be described as a week that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, my husband was hit from behind by a construction van. The wood on the top of the van crashed through our back window. We repaired the window on the same day but there is additional work that needs to be done on the back hatch.

It should put a period at the end of a rather terrible few weeks.

From my dad, very funny:

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.”

She rolled her eyes and said, “You must be a Republican.”

“I am,” replied the man. “How did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help to me.”

The man smiled and responded, “You must be a Democrat.”

“I am,” replied the balloonist. “How did you know?”

“Well,” said the man, “you don’t know where you are or where you are going. You’ve risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You’re in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but, somehow, now it’s my fault.”

For weeks now, we’ve had nonstop whining about dinner. Even when the kids like what we’re having for dinner, they don’t like what we’re having for dinner (if you’re a parent, that will make sense).

But tonight, I finally managed to make something that they both ate.

It’s based on a recipe from foodtv.com courtesy of Padma Lakshmi. I made some kid-friendly adjustments for the sake of my sanity. It’s yummy for parents, too.

I hope you like it.

Chicken Tagine

3 T olive oil
1 1/2 pounds skinless chicken breast, diced
1 1/2 cups sliced onions
1 medium potato, diced
1 1/2 cups thickly sliced carrots
1 cup chopped mushrooms
3 T minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 bay leaves
1 14.5 oz. can chopped tomatoes
2 cups broccoli florets
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups couscous
1/8 tsp Harissa paste

Brown chicken in 1 T olive oil. With a slotted spoon transfer to a plate.

Add the remaining oil and the onions, potato, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin and bay leaves. Cook over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and broccoli, stirring, 3 minutes more. Add the stock, bring to a boil, and simmer, covered, 5 minutes, or until vegetables are just tender.

Add the chicken and couscous, and cook over moderate heat, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the Harissa paste and salt to taste, stir to combine and let stand, covered, off the heat 5 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves before serving.

The comments section on my blog has not been working properly for a bit so I am going to change themes. If the blog goes down - no worries, it will be back up and running shortly!

I slept less than 2 hours straight last night. Was it:

a) Because I was at an Oscar after-party celebrating my win for best supporting actress; or
b) Because my middle child woke up throughout the night screaming alternatively that she wanted bacon and eggs and that spiders were crawling on her.

Yeah, b.

There is a new Toddler Story Time starting at the Roxborough Library this coming Tuesday (2/26) at 10:30 a.m.

Local moms approached the staff at the library to get a regular story time started at the branch and they hope you will come. It will be short (roughly 20 minutes) and it will combine stories with songs and activities chosen with younger children in mind (i.e., kids between one and three years old). Siblings are welcome, too.

They are hoping to get enough turnout to justify an every-other-week schedule for toddler story time, so come on out!