Mom in DCity

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Hop On The Bus, Gus… Along With My 5 Year Old

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You know that Paul Simon song, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover“?

Hop on the bus, Gus… no need to discuss much!

My parents used to sing it to me when I was little, growing up in Texas. I started riding the bus to school in second grade. And even before that, I rode the bus every summer to YMCA camp. There was a lot of bus riding going on, and that seemed to be a good theme song. Well, that and Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,” but we’re talking about buses so that doesn’t apply.

Here in DC, where public transportation seems to be the norm for most adults– the thought of putting your kid on a school bus is a big deal for many parents.

Lira has been riding the bus to summer camp in McLean, Virginia for three weeks now. It’s a 30 minute ride each way.

A few Capitol Hill moms asked, at the end of the school year, what Lira would be doing this summer. And their responses were almost always the same– the camp sounded cool but McLean is too far to drive. And a bus??? Well, that was out of the question.

  • “You’re putting her on a bus? Across town?”
  • “Wow. More power too you. I don’t think I could put my kid on a bus.”
  • “Are you sure it’s safe?”

Dave’s mom was the worst, though:

  • “I just pray to God that bus doesn’t get into a wreck. Or get caught in traffic in the 100 degree heat.”

Um, yeah. Thanks, Nana. Is riding the bus really any worse then me driving her somewhere? Especially with my morning vodka habit (I should probably tell you I’m kidding). The scary part, for me, wasn’t so much safety; it was the thought of her being grown up enough to ride a bus without me. When did that happen?! [Read more…]

You Can Never Have Enough Sunscreen

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We’ve been hitting record highs in DC all week, and I have the beginnings of a tan to prove it.

You may have heard of the debate about whether sunscreen is good or bad for you. It protects you from the sun. It’s made up of too many harsh chemicals.  Blah, blah, blah…

I haven’t really thought hard enough about this to have an opinion, but apparently Zana has:

Slathering it on

Zana votes yes to sunscreen. Lots of it. Applied all at once. She’s going to have an awesome farmers tan on her left leg, and I’m going to go broke buying sunscreen.

School Uniform Debate, a.k.a. You Have Too Much Free Time

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As I was catching up on email this morning, something caught my eye– several emails on the elementary school list serve discussing school uniforms.

Let’s start with my overall stance on school uniforms. Here it is: who cares?!

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get into the email. Lira goes to a DC Public Elementary School, where school uniforms are mandated by the District. Apparently, there was a survey earlier in the year (which I ignored) asking parents at her school how they felt about adding extra color options for the uniform shirts. Right now they’re white; the survey asked parents if they’d like the option of dressing their kids in navy or light blue as well. Now parents are asking about the results of the survey.

Last day of school

This is clearly an important issue because… well, because… yeahhhhh. Why are we even talking about this???

Is the issue up for a vote? Nope.

Will the results of this survey change things once way or another? Nope.

The only people I can think of who actually should care about any of this are Wal-Mart and Target, so they can stock up.

But as usual, my gauge of what’s important to parents on the Hill is way off. Apparently, there are some very strong opinions on both sides of this issue. [Read more…]

Baltimore: Why Do People Piss On Such a Charming City?

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You may wonder if all I do is leave my family and party with my friends (since I just did that last weekend and am doing it again this weekend), but I actually think I did a pretty good job of balancing it out this time.

After picking up the girls after work and dropping them off at Nana’s house, I hopped on a MARC train to Baltimore. This is a very unimportant part of the story except for 2 points:

  1. My experience on MARC was about 100 times better than my ride on Amtrak last weekend–the one that turned into a sweaty, 9-hour ordeal.
  2. A stranger gave me $5, because I didn’t know I needed cash to ride the train, and told me not to worry about paying her back. Did you know that kind of thing still happened?! I didn’t.
I was in Baltimore to meet an old friend from college and go to Kaskade’s Freaks of Nature show. Don’t worry if you don’t know who Kaskade is. Most of my readers aren’t 18 wearing neon bootie shorts and half shirts, so you’re really not in the right demographic.
1. Don’t know this girl
2. Check out the half shirt behind us
Angela and I grabbed a quick bite at Alewife Public House (truffle mac ‘n cheese? yes, please!) and proceeded to 1st Mariner Marina for the show.
Pre-concert festivities
After a 3 hour techno trance, that left us covered in other people’s sweat and beer, we headed back to the hotel, forgot we were in our 30s, and decided that we needed to go out.
In a trance at Kaskade
We took a cab to Fells Point and ended up at a sketchy club called The Get Down (‘nuf said). We weren’t there long because it was late, but I managed to learn some important things before going to sleep:
  • cab drivers in Baltimore come up with their prices based on how they’re feeling that moment
  • regardless of how classy B-more is starting to look, it’s still very sketchy in most areas (thus the nicknames Bodymore and Murderland)
  • bathrooms aren’t really all that necessary when  you have alleys and trees (I’ve never witnessed so many people urinating in public in my life)
  • my hair does not look good after sweating, getting rained on, and then sweating again (who knew?!) [Read more…]

Red Card(!) For Not Shutting Up About Soccer

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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.

Our Children Are Brainwashed

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.

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?