MichMoms Blog

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Category: Alcohol and drug abuse

If you found drugs, would you turn in your kid?

A Troy father called the cops on his teen daughter, who he discovered was growing a marijuna plant in her bedroom closet. Talk about tough love!

The story is a 16-year-old girl had a lock on her closet because she said her siblings were taking her clothes. But when her dad forced the lock open he got a surprise: a little pot garden, complete with plant food, grow lights and a fan, according to police.

So he called the cops, who came, photographed, collected the evidence and are now investigating charges.

So I tried to put myself in the dad's shoes. Would I call the cops on my teen boys? It depends.

We don't know what was going on leading up to this discovery. Was she "a good girl" who never gave her folks a reason to worry or someone who had been in trouble, lying, sneaky? I don't think I'd involved anyone official if this was a first offense, but I sure as heck would take it very seriously. However, if we'd had trouble before, I might.

It's a tough call. This guy made it. Let's see what happens.

Would you do it? Comment bly clicking "comment" below or vote in a poll here.

Category: Relationships

Despite illness, grandmother offers special gift on special day

There she sat, tears welling in her eyes and a big smile on her face. I looked at her, thankful she could be part of my daughter's special day.

My mother, Aline's grandmother, was diagnosed with acute leukemia almost three months ago. The initial prognosis was grim, to say the least. Amazingly, at 76 years old, she has beaten the odds, survived two rounds of chemotherapy and felt strong enough to attend her only grandchild's christening Sunday.

My mother and I share a special bond; it's a relationship that I hope my daughter and I will have as well. She raised me on her own. As a single mother, she survived many obstacles, yet never once lost sight of her ultimate goal: giving me the future and life she felt I deserved.

Her strength and determination carried her through this painful phase of her life and, even during the most trying times of her cancer treatment, she wanted to make sure I was taking care of myself and her granddaughter's wardrobe was well stocked.

My mother purchased Aline's christening gown while she was in the hospital. She had me take my laptop there so she could shop for dresses online. When she saw the one she liked, she ordered me to get it right away. She went over the christening menu with me and made sure there would be plenty of food for everyone.

Despite being weak, my mother asked to go shopping for a hat to cover her now bald head and have her nails done so she could look presentable Sunday. And she did. Despite sporting a PICC line for her medication on her left arm, and a black wool hat on her head, she was still the same person I've loved and respected all my life.

Thursday, she goes back to the hospital for a third round of chemotherapy. She knows the drill by now and is aware the two weeks that will follow will be challenging. Yet the only question she asked her doctor last week was, "When all this is done, will I able to baby-sit my granddaughter again?"

As I looked at my mom Sunday, that was my wish as well. I want my daughter to learn from and be around this powerful force who has been my guiding angel throughout my life.

Category: Sports

Are you a sports mom, too?

Have I told you I'm a skating mom? Or, Motherskater. (Yes, like a similar word, "Motherskater" has many practical applications, and I usually find myself mumbling it under my breath as I write yet another check to keep my daughter active in this sport).

I mention this for two reasons: one is because I've realized I've actually been a Stage Mom longer than I thought. There is nothing more Stage Mom-like than the mother of a figure skater Two, well, I'm taking advantage of National Novel Writing Month to write a book about being a Motherskater and I'm already slacking off, so I could use someone to hold me accountable.

Why a book? I've done some looking around and there are lots of books with great advice for parents who have athletic children and books about how we, as a nation, are becoming obsessed with turning our children into the next Tiger Woods ("101 Ways to Be a Terrific Sports Parent: Making Athletics a Positive Experience for Your Child" by Joel Fish and Susan Magee, "Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children" by Tom Farrey), but there is nothing for the parent who gets sucked in, caught up in the machine, then forced to stay because her kid loves it so much. You could say it's a cautionary tale.

Is it hypocritical of me to be working on this book while ordering costume pieces off the Internet and ramping up my daughter's coaching so she has every advantage at the Ice Show audition later this month? Absolutely. That hypocrisy will be addressed in Chapter Four.

I'd love to hear your sports mom stories! Comment here.

Category: New baby

Baby fills busy weekend with love

I survived our busy weekend and it was wonderful. It was two days of pure excitement featuring my superstar daughter, Aline. The weekend was hers and she owned every minute of it.

The marathon started Saturday with Halloween. With all the preparations under way for her Christening on Sunday, I was not sure we were going to have the time to take her out trick or treating on Saturday, but we did.

Aline was a ladybug for Halloween. The costume I found online turned out to be very cute as well as comfortable on her - so much so that she tolerated it for close to two hours and it fit in the car seat.

We started the tour with a stop at Aline's godmother's house. After a lot of pictures, tons of kisses and a special hello from Cello the dog, we repeated this scene at auntie No. 2's house. From there we stopped at Grandma's house for even more hugs and kisses. Then it was a quick stop at a friend's house and back home where an exhausted Aline drank her bottle and fell quickly to sleep.

The highlight of the evening was the stop at a friend's house who has an 11-week old beautiful little girl. The two babies could not stop starring at each other, which made me wonder: What do babies think about when they see each other? Is it like, "Hello, I am finally glad to see someone my size?" Or, "Hey, aren't you tired of all the hugs and kisses?" Or, "Can you believe this ridiculous costume?"

Aline knew something was up Sunday. She was very clingy all morning and demanded our full attention every minute leading up to the christening ceremony, which made getting ready a bit more difficult than usual. I tried my best to time her feedings and bathroom outings, so as to avoid any possible meltdowns later; well, at least I tried.

I could not have scripted a better start to the ceremony. The church looked beautiful, the sun shone outside, all the guests arrived on time, cameras were flashing. Aline was in a great mood, looking everywhere, even reaching out to touch the deacon's colorful robes. Everything was perfect -until the time came to take her clothes off for the infamous dunk in the baptismal fountain.

That's when her godmother and I discovered my daughter had soiled her diaper. Seeing both of our horrified looks, Aline burst into tears and that was the end of the perfect ceremony. She screamed for the rest of the service and only calmed down when she got ahold of the ribbons on her new white dress.

As we posed for pictures at the end, I could felt only utter joy not only at seeing my baby girl glowing in her white dress, but also at seeing the people gathered around her and feeling, that no matter what her future holds, she will always be loved.

Category: Music

Me then is them now

Once upon a time, like back in the 1980s, so not that very long ago, there lived a girl in a house with a family. Totally normal, like for sure. This girl loved music and ballet - and hot boys, but this is about the music that girl loved. Ballet and boys can be another "once upon a time" story.

This girl could sit in her room for hours just listening to music on the radio and tapes on her boom box. Remember the days of the boom box /ghetto blaster? This girl wanted one so badly that she worked her butt off in school, got good grades and earned this lovely silver-colored piece of stereo equipment.

She could sit for hours blasting her stereo, ignoring her mother's and father's pleads to turn it down - until they entered her shrine to Duran Duran of a bedroom and told her if she didn't turn down the music, they would turn it down permanently. Thank goodness for Sony Walkman gizmos.

This girl would memorize the words of all the songs she loved. She memorized the names of all the bands and the songs they sang. You could not stump this girl on any '80s music that had to do with top 40 or New Music, not to mention some big hair bands. This girl was an '80s music aficionado.

She got a job in a record store (back when there were still records) and people from far and wide came to her for advice on what album, cassette and, later, CD to buy. Music, she loved it.

Then this girl grew up.

The ghetto blaster was replaced by a Sony stereo system. Radio stations stopped playing the music she had spent her youth memorizing. Now only the oldies stations play her wonderful music.

This girl now has kids of her own. She thinks it's funny because they are like she was, once upon a time, back in the '80s. They know all the music and bands and words to all the songs. They blast their iPod docks. They download songs all day from iTunes. They memorize the words to all their songs thanks to Google.

And this girl is how her mom was, once upon a time, back in the '80s.

Clueless.

Category: Events

Scary weekend for a new mommy

I am a new mom - a 37-year-old mom to a 5 1/2-month-old beautiful (yes, I am bragging) baby girl.

She is pure joy; she's pure fun; she's nosy and an absolute ham. This weekend, she will decide if her mommy is truly worthy of her adorable smiles, cute babbles and endless hugs.

You see, this weekend marks two major milestones in the life of my baby girl: Halloween on Saturday and her Christening on Sunday. Don't judge me yet, I have no idea how those two very important events came to be in the same weekend.

Let's start with Halloween, which is slowly creeping up on Mommy and causing her to be a bit more jittery than usual.

First of all, it took me more than a month to choose the "perfect" costume for my girl. After a lot of research (that's what older mommies do), I think I found the one. It is flame retardant, soft with enough room to breathe, no overbearing headpiece - and it won't fit in the car seat. But, hey, it's cute.

Then there is the preview outfit. Yes, you need one of those, too. A month ago I bought her a "My first Halloween onesie" and cute socks. This morning, the socks fit, the onesie didn't; too late to do something about it, oh, well!

Now, the real challenge: What do you do with an infant on Halloween night, especially one who likes to go to bed at 7 p.m.? Do you stay home and wait for trick-or-treaters? Take her around to family and friends' homes? Put the costume on, take a couple of photos and go to bed? Or, take her to the subdivision's party complete with hot dogs, donuts and cider and a costume parade?

I have two more days to make this very important decision. In the meantime, there's the christening on Sunday. So, here it goes:
* People: 50 expected, including one set of twins
* Dress: doesn't fit in the car seat either, but it's cute.
* Poster with her picture for people to sign: Didn't need that, but it's done
* Food: Still working on the menu
* Desserts: Cake ordered, but lots more to bake
* Decorations: Are you kidding?

Now, how do you guarantee your beautiful angel in this absolutely gorgeous white dress won't drool on the dress, throw up on the priest, fall asleep or, worse, cry her eyes out during the ceremony, wet her diaper or, knowing my daughter, decide to laugh or babble out loud?

I have three more days to figure out if or how to prepare my hyperactive little girl for a solemn occasion that I have a feeling will be material for several future blog posts.

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Category: Giveaways

What's for dinner? Relish this giveaway

I am one of those people who dread the question, "What's for dinner?" Ugh, I hate it. It sends me into a tizzy. The conversation always seems to go like this:

Hubs: "What's for dinner?"
Me: "I don't know, what do we have?"
Hubs: "I don't know (looks in the fridge) Not much, what do you want me to get?"
Me: "Ugh, I don't know. You decide." Hubs: "But, I don't want to get something you don't like!"
Me: "I don't care, really, just don't want to make the decision tonight."
"..."
Hubs: "Seriously, what do you want me to get?"
(sound of me smacking my forehead)

And this was every night. Until now.

For the past couple of weeks, I have been using an online meal planning service called Relish. I ran across it when I was looking for a solution to our conversations, new recipes to try, and I admit, something to make my life easier.

It's simple. For $7 a month you choose from a list of delicious dinner ideas for the week and print out the grocery list. All of the recipes take 30 minutes or less and cost less than $85 a week! You also get monthly freezer menus and other sample menus and recipes such as healthy lunches for your kids, easy and delicious desserts and seasonal recipes.

Intrigued? It gets better. I was pleasantly surprised this week when Relish contacted me to do a giveaway. If you would like to win a one-year subscription to this service, go to megsamommy.com and sign up by Sunday. Good luck!

Category: Bullying

Your kid is a bully - and I'm not putting up with it

If you have a kid who attends a school, any school, then you have dealt with this problem. Unless, of course, your kid is the problem. So, if you read this and you have no idea what I'm talking about, expect a call from me shortly.

Your kid is a bully.

I don't care if he/she is troubled/ADD/ADHD/depressed or whatever, it's up to you to get him/her whatever help he/she needs. It's up to me to make sure my kid doesn't have to come home from school every day with a story about the latest name he's been called or place he's been hit, pinched or poked.

I realize it is a public school, but you know what? When I go out in public I do so with the reasonable assumption that I will not be verbally or physically accosted on a daily basis. I expect the same for my kid. Sure, I could move him to a private school to avoid the misery that is Your Child, but then I'm going to send you the $12,000 bill.

I know my kid isn't perfect either. He has his quirks, his personality issues. However, they don't include berating and belittling other people on a daily basis. So consider yourself warned, mother and father of the bully: This is my second kid. I've seen this already and I'm not putting up with it.

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Category: Accomplishments

Ludington boy named top sports kid by Sports Illustrated

How fun! Austin McCarthy of Ludington, a small town on Lake Michigan in northern Michigan, has been named the Sports Illustrated Kids Sportskid of the Year.

Austin, a 10-year-old standout hockey player who also plays baseball and soccer, got the surprise news Monday on CBS' "Early Show." He was named a finalist after a round of online voting in September and named Sportskid of the Year after another round of voting, according to his hometown newspaper, the Ludington Daily News. Newspaper articles, radio and TV spots and a Facebook campaign encouraged local residents to support him for his achievements in sports as well as in school and his community.

Watch the video for more about Austin and his honor. Congrats Austin!

Category: Development

Baby's first words are a joy

I got the first words!

My almost 6-month-old son woke up one day last week with one word on his lips: "Mama." It wasn't just a fleeting thing either. He spent the whole day saying it over and over. We were happy he could finally say a word we can understand.

"Mama, Mama, Mama!" The sweetest words I have ever heard!

Of course, my husband is a bit disappointed he didn't get "Dada" first, but who cares? I won!

While I am thinking of first words, I can't help but tell you this story: My niece, who is 3 now, had the best first words ever. It started as "nanats." We had no idea what she was saying and we used to tell strangers she was fluent in Chinese or something. Over time, it went from "nanats" to "no nuts."

From 1 year to 2, everything was "no nuts!". What did she want for dinner? "No nuts!" What did she want to play with? "No nus!" Where did she want to go? "No nts!"

One day,as we were wrestling her out of the car on a family shopping trip, she grabbed onto her grandfather and screamed "Papa! I said no nuts!" I couldn't help but laugh as my dad nonchalantly put her into the cart and said: "Yeah, we got it. No nuts. Right."

Did your children have a funny first word or words?