Mom in DCity

Diary of a Tantrum: I Got the Maxx

June 28, 2012 by momindcity 7 Comments

Once upon a time, a little girl had a big tantrum. Her mom put her in time out, she learned her lesson, and it never happened again. The end.

Bahahahaha isn’t that a hilarious story?!

Anyone who has a child has seen a tantrum, and if you have a “spirited” child you’ve seen more than a few. They cry, they scream, they fling themselves on the ground– sometimes banging their head on a nearby table. Their eyes become wild, and you wonder when the devil took over your child’s body, and what kind of exorcism it will take to get sweet little Sally back.

Let me tell you about my latest episode. It started with a quick shopping trip that may have started around bedtime (don’t judge). We had just left DSW, where a 5- minute look in the Clearance section ended with me losing Zana. I found her on a ledge hiding behind the summer handbags. Next on the roster, a quick stop at TJMaxx. Since I wasn’t born yesterday, I knew not to go shopping alone with Zana and had my friend Caroline with me for backup.

When we got inside, I strapped little Z into a shopping cart. “Let’s go for a little ride!” She was excited for a total of 30 seconds, when she realized her plan to hide in the racks of clothing had been foiled. She started to get frustrated, reaching out of the cart to try and grab anything she could get her hands on, struggling unsuccessfully to undo the seat belt, raising her voice in protest. Here’s what happened next…

tantrum — A: she ripped off her own shirt…

I started to respond, “Zana…” Oh, forget it. I talked myself down and reminded myself that she wants me to get upset and that I’m the adult in this scenario. Then…

tantrum 2 — B: She reached a blouse and used it to pull closer to the racks

I remained calm– and also started snapping pictures because, let’s be honest, it’s very entertaining. Well, that just made her angry…

At this point, she’s screaming her head off. I know I could have easily walked out of the store, which is what I would have done with my first child (when I cared what people thought), but I needed a new hair straightener and decided to complete the shopping trip despite all of the looks. You know the looks, right? Everyone has an opinion and nobody is afraid to show it. [Read more…]

50% Pregnant Girls Weekend In Raleigh

June 24, 2012 by momindcity 10 Comments

Thank gawd for Wi-Fi. I’m on the Megabus heading back to DC from a girls weekend in Raleigh, and am so grateful for the entertainment. The trip down on Amtrak took 9 hours– it should have taken 5, but the train broke down outside of Richmond, so we were stuck in the heat while they repaired it. Lesson learned: do not take Amtrak ever again. Ever.

While I listen to the guy next to me attempt to hit on the girl sitting behind us, I am reminded (once again) that I am not 18 anymore. The evidence was mounting all weekend:

Exhibit A: 50% of the girls at Girls Weekend are Pregnant
The pregnancy factor has been present for a while. There was a pregnant chick on our Vegas trip a couple of years ago and we’ve gotten together for baby showers– but this is the first time we’ve met the 50% mark. Our conversations were about things like finding the best stroller, the size of the epidural needle and how long it’ll take before your baby sleeps through the night.

Exhibit B: Your main activity of the weekend is eating, not drinking.
Don’t get me wrong, eating has always been paramount to a good weekend, but that’s literally all we did. Ok, that’s an exaggeration. We ate, walked around the shopping center where we ate, then ate again and walked around that shopping center. The food was the highlight of the weekend… especially Gonza Tacos y Tequila.

Exhibit C: You’re staying in a beautiful home that one of your friends owns.
We’ve all had real-people jobs for a while, but now my friends are getting grown up homes. Second homes– as in, upgrades from their first. And beach houses where they go on the weekend. Long gone are the days when we’d pile into someone’s one-bedroom apartment and share a couch, unless the friend lives in New York– we all still pile into a one bedroom if the friend lives there.

Exhibit D: Nobody did anything stupid.
We may be doing stupid things in our individual lives and discussing them all weekend, but nobody made any poor decisions during the weekend itself. No one drank too much, forgot to check in with their families, or spent their rent money on shoes. The wildest thing we did was stay up until 3:30 in the morning talking. We also got spur-of-the-moment-pedicures. That was pretty wild, too.

Verdict: Guilty!
Throw the book at me for thinking this was a perfect weekend, despite the lack of things that used to excite me. Farewell, younger years. I’m back in DC feeling refreshed, and not like someone ran me over with a truck. I’m in my 30s now (mid-30s? nah, I’m not ready for that), that’s ok.

I’m going to hold off on the mid-life crisis for now. I saw one in action this weekend, and it wasn’t pretty.

Red Card(!) For Not Shutting Up About Soccer

June 21, 2012 by momindcity 10 Comments

There was an article in the BBC today called “How Much Football Can You Talk About to a Non-Fan.”

It’s one of the first articles Dave has ever sent that I actually decided to read. I have my ideas about the answer to that question (2 minutes or until they fall asleep, whichever comes first), but I was curious to hear from the experts.

I already know Dave’s opinion on the subject: talk about soccer as much as possible to as many people as possible, regardless of whether or not that care, despite the fact that they’re sleeping, cursing or no longer in the room. It’s his personal mission in life to convince all non soccer-lovers that they are mistaken.

If this sounds like an exaggeration, check out this convo we had tonight:

Me: Dave, come here for a sec.

Dave: What?

Me: It’s about soccer.

Dave: Yeeeeesssssssss? (how did he get in here so fast? it was like a bolt of lightening.)

Me: Is it ok to talk soccer to people who aren’t interested?

Dave: I think it’s fine to talk to non-fans as much as I want, because if they don’t know what’s going on- they should. How else are they going to learn?

Me: Ok fine, but when should you stop talking?

Dave: I guess when they roll their eyes and zone out I know they’re not interested. But you’re a special case. It’s going to take years to wear you down, but you’ll like it eventually. It’s already working! Remember how much fun you had at the last DC United game?

Me: No, I don’t remember.

Dave: Remember when I took you to see Beckham? That was pretty cool, wasn’t it?

Me: I guess. Can you go away and stop talking to me about soccer now?

Dave: You’re the one who called me over here!

According to the BBC article, there’s an assumption (in Britain) that people who don’t care about “football” are a bunch of unpatriotic “ninnies.” Obviously soccer is a much bigger deal overseas than in the U.S. but, even in England, a new poll shows that less than half the population is interested in the sport. But never fear, soccer lovers— Dave is, single-handedly making up for that on this side of the pond.

He strategically found our current home just 5 blocks from DC United’s stadium, he’s been a front-row season ticket holder for years, doesn’t miss a game, subscribes to Fox Soccer channel so he can record and re-watch games, writes letters to the MLS commissioner about mistakes he thinks are being made in the league, has bought every one in our family (not just the immediate one) a soccer jersey, and… well, you get the picture. Sometimes I feel like Drew Barrymore in movie, Fever Pitch… which I just found out was actually a remake of a British film about how a fan’s obsession with Arsenal got in the way of his relationship.

soccer fans — Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon

I have tried for years to curb the soccer talk at our house. I mean, what is there to discuss when you’ve just had a 90 minute conversation with the television? But he is persistent… even learning random tidbits about players’ wives, hoping to peak my interest in any way possible.

“Dave, I’m not listening. Dave, I stopped caring 5 minutes ago. Dave, that’s enough!” Nothing works.

The BBC article quotes an etiquette expert who says it’s rude to discuss “football” with people who don’t want to hear about it… but then it quotes football fans who don’t care whether it’s rude or not. They say they can’t help themselves, and the rest of us should just get on board. So what’s a girl like me to do? Whether it’s American football, baseball, or golf (yuck), a man’s love affair with his sport-of-choice is here to stay. In the meantime, I’m trying to come up with a topic that’s as uninteresting to him as soccer is to me… so that I can torture him with it, of course. Any ideas?

Back From Our Trip and (not) Ready to Go Again!

June 20, 2012 by momindcity Leave a Comment

After spending more than 24 hours in the car this past weekend, I had plenty of time to be annoyed, impressed, frustrated, and amused by my kids. There was also plenty of time to be annoyed, frustrated and annoyed (did I already say annoyed?) with my husband– but hey, we’re still here! And that’s an accomplishment.

It doesn’t matter how many DVDs, coloring books, Barbies and snacks you bring… when you’re on a road trip from DC to Chicago, there is plenty of down time.

Here are ten things I learned about Lira and Zana over the weekend.

Lira does not back down from an argument– especially when it has to do with a Disney movie. (Want to know which is which when it comes to Flora, Fauna and Merryweather? Ask her, not Dave).
Time outs work for Lira– even when it just means no books for 10 minutes. They don’t work on Zana at all– not even when it means locking her in the trunk. Just kidding. Sort of.
Zana does like to eat after all! The problem is that we’re always trying to feed her a fruit or a vegetable. If you give her rest-stop pizza and cookies, she’ll eat all day long– even while sitting in a car seat and expending zero energy.
Accusing Lira of “tooting” makes her laugh, no matter how many times you do it– which in this case, was before every toll booth. You know those rumble strips they put in the road to make you slow down for the toll? The ones that make that… that sound? Well, all you have to do is say “Ewwwww, Lira!” and the giggles don’t stop.
The girls know all of the words to Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire. Lira even asked “if this song is in India, why do they say ‘bila bila’? That’s Spanish.”
Zana has a death grip. Every time Lira got too close, Zana would grab a chunk of hair; it took two adult hands to pry each finger off one at a time. And she’s convinced that a simple “saw-wee” makes it all ok.
There’s nothing more exciting than a tunnel.
Starbucks better watch out if Zana needs to “go.” She needs her privacy, even if that means hiding behind a display and knocking over all the glasses.

No matter how many Disney movies you bring (we brought 8), you never have the one they want to watch.
Both daughters are very patient, only asking “are we there yet?” about 10 times… which is more than I can say for myself.

As insightful as this journey may have been, I hope we don’t ever make that drive again. The girls have other ideas, though. When I arrived home from work yesterday, they both ran out to the car with bags full of toys yelling “we wanna go back to Chicago!”

Have mercy…

Quick and Sappy Roadtrip to Chicago

June 19, 2012 by momindcity 6 Comments

If someone told me a few weeks ago that I’d be driving 1,403 with two kids over a long weekend, I would have punched them in the face. Luckily for them, it was a game day decision.

My brother told us more than a year ago about his MBA graduation from Northwestern yet, in true delusional fashion, we kept telling ourselves we’d find flights for under $200 a pop. Wrong! So, after quick trip to the ER, we packed up the ol’ Prius and began our journey. Google said it was a 12 hour drive, so we figured that (with kids) meant 16.

Two Disney movies, three lattes, one Olive Garden, four rest stops and 13 hours (total) later, we arrived in Chicago. We spent a quick 6 hours in a sketchy hotel (Hotwire deal) and then headed over to meet the rest of the fam downtown.

“The rest” includes my parents, brother, sister-in-law and nephew– that’s nine of us, if you’re counting. It’s hard to do much with nine people– especially when three of them are munchkins. We hung out at our hotel a lot– the W Hotel, which was a hilarious choice for our party. We were the only people not wearing Feragamos (well, my brother was), sipping cocktails at 9am and rocking too much self-tanner. It was entertaining, though, and Zana certainly enjoyed the lobby.

All the kids enjoyed the fancy bathtubs:

And the rest of us enjoyed some quality time together. The graduation itself went on for longer than necessary. I somehow managed to cry three times during the ceremony. I always forget how sappy I am, but nobody else seems to– my dad just laughed. And that somehow made me feel better because, come on, who wants to talk about their emotions? Not me! But I do want to write about them, so here goes…

Besim, I am so very proud of you. I don’t think I told you that enough (or ever) while you were flying back and forth from Houston to Chicago every week for two years. It’s a big deal to get an MBA. An even bigger deal to get one from Kellogg School of Management. And an even bigger-est (sorry, I don’t have an MBA) deal to do that while maintaining a job and a healthy family. Hard work is inspiring, and yours has not gone unnoticed. I am so thankful that we could be there to celebrate you, and can’t wait to see what you do next.

So, MomInDCity readers, what kinds of things turn you into a sappy, weepy mess?