Parent Talk Today

Just Call Me The Tetris Queen

I'd love to have one of those homes you see pictured in those "12 Ways to Get Organized" articles in the women's mags. (Confession: I write those articles for the women's mags and I don't have that kind of home... Just because I can interview experts on all this stuff doesn't mean our spare bedroom doesn't look darned scary. Anybody need an ancient computer, a Valentine's Day wooden yard decoration and a pile of old extension cords?)

But there's one place where I can take care of my gotta-have-everything-neat-and-orderly jones: Tetris. It's the only video game in the house that I can win. The Sena men sometimes get the upper hand, but I always come charging back. (Want to get a little more respect from a 12-year-old boy? Beat him at a VIDEO GAME.)

And it feels so good: Lining up all those little shapes just so and filling in all the empty spaces. Ahhhh! It's like having a professional organizer come and do her magic on my brain for a little while. And hey, I concentrate like crazy when I play — so don't I get some sort of warding-off-dementia points for this?

What's With All the Swearing Mommy Bloggers?

What gives? Is the blogosphere some sort of 5th-grade playground where we need to impress each other with how cool we can be by throwing in the F-word every few paragraphs?

As a journalist for magazines and newspapers for the past 14 years, I've always enjoyed the challenge of coming up with (or at least trying to come up with) just the right word to describe something in an article. And for the publications I work with, profanity isn't an option.

But now that I've been blogging on Parent Talk Today for a year, I've had a chance to check out a LOT of so-called mommy blogs. (I hate the term, but that's what everyone seems to want to call them.) Many are creative, fun, informative and even addictive. But a surprising number of them are written by women who apparently find the need to swear like sailors.

I recently attended the BlogHer conference in San Francisco, and in a final "community keynote," 20 or so women bloggers (and one guy) got up on stage, in front of about a thousand people in a huge ballroom, and read their favorite blog post. (The posts were chosen by a committee in advance. And these weren't all mommy bloggers on stage, but many were.)

Sure enough, a few of the posts contained some pretty raw language. And in looking around the room, I saw mixed reactions. Personally, I was just sad that these otherwise truly talented writers had settled for cheap shock value.

In so many blogs that I've read lately, it just seems as if the writers are taking the lazy way out. But, using the currently popular acronym, WTF do I know?

Yes, yes, yes. Free speech. Freedom of expression. The ability to share our true feelings in our blogs and to tell it like it is. It's all important. But why the potty mouth? Is it necessary?

Hey, sometimes I let loose with a swear word or two in my daily life. (Lately, they seem to be reserved for people who run stop signs.) I'm not advocating that we all become Pollyanna here. But when it comes to writing articles and this blog, I have too much respect for my audience to go there.

So please tell me, if you're a mommy blogger who likes to turn the blogesphere blue fairly frequently: What's the attraction in including the F word (and, in some cases, much more) in your posts?

Earthquake!

About 30 minutes ago, we here in the Los Angeles area experienced a 5.8 earthquake. We're all fine here, after spending a minute or so hanging onto a door frame and feeling the house rolling back and forth a bit. No damage that we can see (although the dog is a bit perplexed). We're hoping everyone else in Southern California, especially near the epicenter in the Diamond Bar area, is OK.

This seems like a great time to remind everyone about the Red Cross recommendations for what to do following an earthquake:

• Check yourself for injuries. Often people tend to others without checking their own injuries. You will be better able to care for others if you are not injured or if you have received first aid for your injuries.

• Protect yourself from further danger by putting on long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, sturdy shoes, and work gloves. This will protect your from further injury by broken objects.

• After you have taken care of yourself, help injured or trapped persons. If you have it in your area, call 9-1-1, then give first aid when appropriate. Don't try to move seriously injured people unless they are in immediate danger of further injury.

• Look for and extinguish small fires. Eliminate fire hazards. Putting out small fires quickly, using available resources, will prevent them from spreading. Fire is the most common hazard following earthquakes. Fires followed the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 for three days, creating more damage than the earthquake.

• Leave the gas on at the main valve, unless you smell gas or think it's leaking. It may be weeks or months before professionals can turn gas back on using the correct procedures. Explosions have caused injury and death when homeowners have improperly turned their gas back on by themselves.

• Clean up spilled medicines, bleaches, gasoline, or other flammable liquids immediately. Avoid the hazard of a chemical emergency.

• Open closet and cabinet doors cautiously. Contents may have shifted during the shaking of an earthquake and could fall, creating further damage or injury.

• Inspect your home for damage. Get everyone out if your home is unsafe. Aftershocks following earthquakes can cause further damage to unstable buildings. If your home has experienced damage, get out before aftershocks happen.

• Help neighbors who may require special assistance. Elderly people and people with disabilities may require additional assistance. People who care for them or who have large families may need additional assistance in emergency situations.

• Listen to a portable, battery-operated radio (or television) for updated emergency information and instructions. If the electricity is out, this may be your main source of information. Local radio and local officials provide the most appropriate advice for your particular situation.

• Expect aftershocks. Each time you feel one, drop, cover, and hold on! Aftershocks frequently occur minutes, days, weeks, and even months following an earthquake.

• Watch out for fallen power lines or broken gas lines, and stay out of damaged areas. Hazards caused by earthquakes are often difficult to see, and you could be easily injured.

• Stay out of damaged buildings. If you are away from home, return only when authorities say it is safe. Damaged buildings may be destroyed by aftershocks following the main quake.

• Use battery-powered lanterns or flashlights to inspect your home. Kerosene lanterns, torches, candles, and matches may tip over or ignite flammables inside.

• Inspect the entire length of chimneys carefully for damage. Unnoticed damage could lead to fire or injury from falling debris during an aftershock. Cracks in chimneys can be the cause of a fire years later.

• Take pictures of the damage, both to the house and its contents, for insurance claims.

• Avoid smoking inside buildings. Smoking in confined areas can cause fires.

• When entering buildings, use extreme caution. Building damage may have occurred where you least expect it. Carefully watch every step you take.

  • Examine walls, floor, doors, staircases, and windows to make sure that the building is not in danger of collapsing.

  • Check for gas leaks. If you smell gas or hear a blowing or hissing noise, open a window and quickly leave the building. Turn off the gas, using the outside main valve if you can, and call the gas company from a neighbor's home. If you turn off the gas for any reason, it must be turned back on by a professional.

  • Look for electrical system damage. If you see sparks or broken or frayed wires, or if you smell burning insulation, turn off the electricity at the main fuse box or circuit breaker. If you have to step in water to get to the fuse box or circuit breaker, call an electrician first for advice.

  • Check for sewage and water line damage. If you suspect sewage lines are damaged, avoid using the toilets and call a plumber. If water pipes are damaged, contact the water company and avoid using water from the tap. You can obtain safe water from undamaged water heaters or by melting ice cubes.

  • Watch for loose plaster, drywall, and ceilings that could fall.

• Use the telephone only to report life-threatening emergencies. Telephone lines are frequently overwhelmed in disaster situations. They need to be clear for emergency calls to get through.

• Watch animals closely. Leash dogs and place them in a fenced yard. The behavior of pets may change dramatically after an earthquake. Normally quiet and friendly cats and dogs may become aggressive or defensive.

Need a (Flexible) Job? Beyondmotherhood.com Can Help

Shannon Davis, the founder of  Beyondmotherhood.com is all about thinking big, and creatively, when it comes to promoting women's careers. (And I LOVE the logo for her company's website. Let's give a shout out for sexy-looking moms with realistic hips!)

As a mother of two, Davis knows that being a mom is a wonderful job — but sometimes you find yourself needing extra income (filled your gas tank lately?), the chance to have a little more contact with the adult world, or both.

Unable to find what she was looking for in the work world, and recognizing there was a real demand from both women and employers, Shannon created Beyondmotherhood.com. Her organization affords women the opportunity to raise a family and use their business skills in a flexible work environment. It's essentially a matchmaking site for employers and employees, with the employers paying the fee for the service.

"Many mothers resign themselves to the fact that they cannot have it all — being home with your children when they need you while maintaining a position in the working world," says Davis. "Why not? Why must we be either a 'Stay at Home Mom' or a 'Working Mom'? Why can't we have and be both?"

Whether you're looking for a job that will get you out of house for a few hours a week or one that could become a stepping stone to a full-time position in the future, check out Beyondmotherhood.com.

Have You Embarrassed Your Kid Today?

I just found this photo in a drawer and it cracked me up. I was about 17 when it was taken. What were we thinking with those perms? I guess I was channeling my inner Roseanne Roseannadanna from Saturday Night Live. (See a great 1980 bit from "Gilda Live," below).

The thing that hit me the most was the fact that the current generation of kids and teens is the most-photographed bunch of children in the history of the planet. And we parents have a lot more photos of ourselves as kids than our parents ever had.

Now that photography has gone digital, it's easier than ever to shoot, and shoot and shoot (because nothing's cuter than our kids, right?). I know my son will go into adulthood with his entire childhood pretty darned well documented.

In fact, Matt asked me to stop scrapbooking in actual albums a few years ago because he didn't want to have to "lug the things around with me after you're gone, Mom." (Gee, thanks, kid!) Instead, he wondered "Can't you just put all my photos on a thumb drive and hand it to me?"

These days, I guess I can. But I'll also make sure I scan and include a few ancient photos of Matt's dear old mom and dad (and the rest of his extended family, too). Besides, it's fun to have him look at pics like this (when he's at an age where my mere existence is an embarrassment to him) and hear him say "that's just weird, Mom."

That's me, kid. Just doin' my job.

Want Free Shipping? Look Here

As a busy parent (and someone who is tired of watching too many dollars flow into my gas tank), I love the idea of shopping online. (What did I ever do before Amazon.com and their free shipping for any order of $25 or more?) Besides, we all know how much fun it is to drag our little ones from store to store...

Now there's a website that will clue you in on lots of other online retailers that offer free shipping. Launched last December, FreeShipping.org includes more than 800 name-brand stores. You can search by brand or category.

You'll find free-shipping offers from JCPenney, Target, Bloomingdale's, Kohl's, Sears, Best Buy, Old Navy, Nordstrom and many more.  Macy's offers as many as 15 free shipping coupons at one time.  

Just heard yesterday that Amazon.com's stock is going up, up, up, and that it's attributed to the fact that they offer this free-shipping deal to those of us who don't want to waste gas running to brick-and-mortar stores. I love that so many stores are jumping on that bandwagon. And thanks to this great new site, it's easier than ever to find them.

Parents Magazine Wants Your Family's "Giving-Back" Ideas

I love Parents magazine's wonderful blog, GoodyBlog. (Their fun tag line is "Must see. Must Do. Must Have. Right Now," and they cover parenting news, hot new baby and kid products and much more.

One warning: The site is addictive, so don't get too engrossed right before it's time to go pick up the kids from a play date! They even have a cool GoodyBlog Facebook group that you can join for more news and tips.

Today's post is especially fun. The editors are looking for families who give back during the holidays (yes, they know it's July, but magazine editors have to think far ahead), whether it's making a cookie plate for your local nursing home or making and decorating your own canned goods for a homeless shelter.

If you've done a project (big or small; simple is fine) with your kids to help those in need during the holidays, head over to GoodyBlog and share your idea in the comments section. Your idea and story could be featured in Parents this holiday season!

Let's Talk About (Awful!) Manners

I'll be chatting live with my favorite radio folks, Rob and Joss, on Froggy 92.9 in Sonoma County, California tomorrow at 9 a.m. PST.

Love these guys! I've been on the air with them twice before, and they are so much fun. Now if I could just convince them to move the station to Southern California... (Waddya think, Rob and Joss?)

To listen online, just go to froggy929.com. (You'll need to download a free plug-in.) To get a sneak peek at what we'll be talking about, click here.

Also, I'll be posting our chat as a podcast right here.

(NOTE 5:30 P.M. WEDNESDAY: JUST FOUND OUT THAT THEY WILL BE RECORDING THE SPOT FOR A LATER BROADCAST. SO I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN THE PODCAST IS UP. THANKS FOR THE ENCOURAGING E-MAILS, EVERYONE!)

Women Helping Women (of Any Age) at BlogHer

I've been reading lots of blog posts and comments about last weekend's BlogHer conference, and it seems as if some of the women over age 40 are feeling a bit left out by the younger crowd as these 20-something women Twitter, text message and basically (at least it's perceived that way) run digital circles around the middle-aged blogging community.

Well, I have to tell you, I don't see it that way. I'm not 20-something. I'm not 30-something. But I met some of the most fabulous younger women at BlogHer, and they didn't intimidate me. They inspired me. I learned so much, and even jumped on the Twitter bandwagon at their urging. (You can follow me at http://twitter.com/kathysena.) I'm now checking out dozens of tips I learned from these generous women, either from panels where they spoke or from across the table at lunch, over a martini in the evening or in e-mails since we returned home.

Mastering this digital-communication thing doesn't have anything to do with age. It's about being open to trying something new, being willing to learn from someone who may have been in preschool when I was in high school. I'm waking up this week raring to go. I'm thinking of ways to improve this blog even as I take a shower or load the dishwasher. Forget juicy novels. My bedtime reading, thanks to BlogHer, is all about search-engine optimization at the moment.

Thanks to all you women, of any age, who sent me home from San Francisco full of enthusiasm for being a writer and a blogger, as well as a mom. I'm honored — and jazzed — to be one of you.

P.S. This wonderful piece of embroidery art is featured over at a terrific site that I just discovered, Layers of Meaning. The site was created by Serena Fenton, and it's beautiful. Check it out.

I'm Lovin' BlogHer '08

Just got back yesterday from BlogHer 08, a most amazing weekend in San Francisco with 1,100 women bloggers. Mommy bloggers, travel bloggers, food bloggers... It made my socks go up and down to be in one place with all this talent and energy.

The free t-shirts and chocolate weren't bad either. My favorite t-shirt slogan (from CafePress): "Be Nice to Me Or I'll Blog About You." (OK, twist my arm: Here's where you can get Parent Talk Today merch from CafePress.)

All you mom bloggers out there: If you haven't already checked out BlogHer, head on over there and sign up. It's a terrific community of talented — and really fun — bloggers.

Oh, and I won an iPod nano, from the nice folks at care.com, by finding the person whose number on a button matched the number on my button. Out of 1,100 women, that's pretty amazing! Here I am with my new buddy, Arielle, and our iPods. (OK, my arm got cut off. But I'm holding it. Really!)

Do we look as happy as a couple of kids on Christmas morning or what?

   

Ticketmaster Ticks Me Off

I went to Ticketmaster today at EXACTLY 10 a.m. Pacific time, when tickets for the Who were to go on sale to the public. Clicked on "three tickets, any seats" and got NOTHING. No tickets available — three seconds after they went on sale!

But guess what? Ticketmaster was happy to direct me to ticketsnow.com, which they partner with, so that I could buy nosebleed seats for twice the face value.

The ticket-buying system in this country absolutely sucks. If you have bucks to burn, you can always go to a reseller and get anything you want. But if your concert or sporting-event budget isn't limitless (and I'm guessing that accounts for most of us), you're left out in the cold.

Our son, Matt, is 12 and LOVES the Who. Wears a Who t-shirt all the time, plays the "Tommy" CD over and over in his room — the whole bit. Randy and I thought it would be great to take him to a concert before Pete and Roger decided to hang it up for good. But I'm not sure how much $$$ we're willing to fork over to this system that simply robs the average consumer.

Have you found a better way to buy tickets?

Is Your Teen Smoking Pot?

Vanessa Van Petten is a wonderful bridge between teens and their parents. The 20-something author of You're Grounded!: How to Stop Fighting and Make the Teenage Years Easier (which is on my nightstand at the moment) has a terrific blog, Teens Today With Vanessa Van Petten, where she talks about parent-teen communication, drug use, sex, stress, college prep (and college-prep anxiety) and much more.

Her post on the warning signs that your teen is doing pot is straightforward and honest:

"If they come home smelling like: pot (obviously), cloves (clove cigarettes are often used to cover up the smell of pot), hookah tobacco (also used to cover up the smell of pot), lots of mint (many of my teen friends will literally shower in Listerine and gum before they get home), loads of perfume or cologne."

I've added Vanessa's blog to my Google reader so I don't miss a thing. She also has a free e-mail newsletter.

Vanessa's posts are honest and she doesn't pull her punches. She reports what's really going on with today's teens. Check it out.

A Little Ice Cream... And a Better Day Today

Several readers have e-mailed to suggest that the comment I left yesterday (in the comments section, not as a post) should be a post. So here goes: 

Today is a much better parenting day, and I even felt a bit (just a bit) bad about writing such a whining post yesterday. (Although in my "What's Parent Talk Today?" description, I do promise a bit of whining now and then!) I considered taking the (July 14) post down, but then I thought "Hey, this is real life. Some days we drive the people we love crazy, and we muddle through and move on to the next day and it all works out." That's probably a better thought to share with my fellow parents than all the hearts-and-flowers posts about mommyhood could ever be. (Although you'll find those here, too.) Because none of us is even close to perfect, and it helps, I think, to know that other moms have days when running to the grocery store, alone, feels like sweet relief. So the post stays. And the love for my son never disappears — even when I'm so frustrated with him that I want to take his video games and hold a big garage sale because he's driving me nuts. Today is a better day. But boy, that ice cream tasted good last night!

10 Ways to Prevent Summer Brain Drain

Kids vegging out in front of the tube too much this summer? Head on over to Montana Parent's terrific website and check out my new article, "10 Ways to Prevent Brain Drain," for expert tips on keeping your kids' brains engaged during these lazy days. (They'll have so much fun, they won't even realize their synapses are popping, I promise.) Here's a sample:

• Learn cool science tricks with the Surfing Scientist. At www.abc.net.au/science/surfingscientist/tricks.htm, Australian physics instructor (and surfer) Ruben Meerman shows kids how to amaze their friends by lifting a marble off a table by touching it only with a glass, making an ice cube necklace, turning an empty soft drink can into a twirling ballerina and much more. (Younger kids will need assistance.)

 • Have fun with grocery-store math. Visit http://printables4kids.com/grocery-cart-math to turn a trip to the grocery store into a fun learning experience. Before you head to the store, ask the kids to use the printable worksheet to estimate prices for items on your list. Once there, have your kids check out the actual price for each item. Then get those math skills working as they calculate the difference between the estimated price and the real price. (And talk about a great way to teach kids the importance of family budgeting. With the price of groceries these days, you’d think Lucky Charms would come with a real pot of gold!)

• Take younger kids to the post office. Talk with your child about “snail mail” and how it’s different from e-mail. Tell her about the Pony Express (visit the Pony Express National Museum website at www.ponyexpress.org) and the different ways mail is delivered today — by plane, train, boat, etc., suggests Don Schilling, editor of The Stamp Collecting Round Up (www.stampcollectingroundup.blogspot.com). “Let your child pick out some stamps she thinks are interesting. When you get home, write a letter together and use one of the stamps your child selected,” Schilling adds. Talk with your child about starting a stamp collection.

Want more? Click here.

Death by Pecking (Or Fudge Ripple, Whichever Comes First)

You've seen the t-shirts that say "Raising Children is Like Being Pecked To Death by Chickens," right? Well, raising a teenager, I'm learning, can be like being pecked to death by a very large, hormone-filled rooster.

I'm off to the grocery store to escape the coop. (And because we're out of food, but that's beside the point.)

Yes, folks, I'm living proof that one can spend 12 years writing about parenting, child psychology, education, kids' health, yada, yada, yada — and still be driven insane by one 12-year-old boy.

OK, frozen-food department, here I come. Better lock up the chocolate ice cream.

Parent Talk Today Is Now Featured at Alltop.com!

We're doing the happy dance here at Parent Talk Today because the nice folks at alltop.com have chosen to feature the blog! Check it out here.

You'll need to scroll down to the bottom of the listing to find us (and we're not complaining!), as new blogs are listed in the order they're posted.

Alltop.com helps you explore your interests by collecting stories from “all the top” sites on the web. They display the headlines of the latest stories from dozens of sites and blogs, and they describe themselves as a “digital magazine rack” of the Internet. Great concept! (Warning: Start nosing around there and an hour will fly by before you know it.)

It's a real honor to be in the company of blogs such as Divine Caroline, iVillage and DailyCandy. Be sure to stop by and check out all the great stuff.

And thanks again to everyone at alltop.com for helping to spread the word about Parent Talk Today!

Energy Drinks: Is It Safe for Tired Moms to Get Buzzed?

Would you believe there are now are at least 200 different energy drinks on the market? Yep. It’s a billion-dollar industry. But is it a good idea to get an energy-drink buzz when the demands of parenthood are wearing you out?

“There was a time when we would get our caffeine intake from coffee and cola, but now there are a number of caffeine-containing beverages, and we need to be careful because over a period of 24 hours, that caffeine intake is cumulative,” says Dee Rollins, R.D., PhD, a dietitian with Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine in Grapevine, Texas.

Experts say energy-drink consumers should keep careful track of the amount of caffeine they get in a day. “If you know that 400 milligrams a day is the upper limit, you can check the back of the labels and make sure that you don’t get more than that,” explains Rollins.

It may sound like a lot, but 400 milligrams is roughly the equivalent of just one energy drink and two cups of coffee. Getting more than that can lead to jitteriness, nausea, heart palpitations — and in extreme cases, more severe symptoms.

“It can be so bad that if you take too much caffeine you can end up in the hospital thinking you have flu-like symptoms and really it’s caffeine overdose,” says Rollins.

For most people — if they’re not getting more than around 400 milligrams of caffeine a day — these energy drinks are safe, says Rollins. But here are some important things to remember:

°    Don’t drink energy beverages while exercising. It can lead to severe dehydration.

°    Don’t ever mix these drinks with alcohol. Doing so can not only mask how intoxicated you really are, it can be extremely dehydrating.

°    Remember that, in addition to caffeine, most energy drinks contain very high amounts of sugar and sodium, which can be dangerous for diabetics or those with high blood pressure.

New CPR Rules DON'T Apply to Kids

You've probably seen recent news reports about the American Heart Association's new simplified CPR guidelines for adults, where we're advised to "call 911 and then push hard and fast in the center of the chest."

The AHA says that some of those media reports were a bit vague about exactly who these new guidelines were meant for, leaving parents to wonder whether this new CPR recommendation applies to children and infants, too.

The answer is no. According to the AHA, conventional mouth-to-mouth breathing remains an important part of CPR for infants and children, largely because their breathing stops more often due to respiratory distress (in a near-drowning, for instance) than because of heart problems.

So now you know the scoop. But are you CPR-trained? Happily, the AHA can bring the class right to you, by offering two different kits for in-home instruction:

• Infant CPR Anytime ($34.95) is designed to teach the core skills of infant (under one year) CPR and choking relief in just 22 minutes. Developed in coordination with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the kit contains a "CPR Anytime Skills Practice" DVD, a personal, inflatable baby CPR mannequin, quick-reference guides in two sizes, a practice phone, sanitizing wipes and an extra lung for the baby mannequin.
• Child/Adult CPR Anytime ($29.95) also teaches the core skills of CPR in 22 minutes. Each kit includes an inflatable mannequin, a "CPR Anytime Skills Practice" DVD, a "CPR for Family and Friends" resource booklet, and other accessories for the program. The self-directed course is based on the traditional AHA "CPR for Family and Friends" course and is equivalent to the traditional course for learning the core skills of CPR. (The AHA says this is the appropriate course for learning CPR for children over age 1, as well as for adults, and that it does include instruction on conventional mouth-to-mouth breathing.)

To order, visit CPRanytime.org and click on "Shop CPR Anytime Website" in the right-hand column. Or call 877-242-4277.

If you'd like to attend a CPR class in your neighborhood, visit Heart.org and highlight "CPR & ECC" in the left-hand column on the home page. Then click on "Find a Class Near You," where you can type in your ZIP code. Or call 877-242-4277.

A Little League Mom Rounds Third

It wasn’t all that long ago that my son, Matt, was thrilled to be wearing his first baseball glove (carefully broken in by Dad in a weeks-long ritual involving special oil, rubber bands and voo-doo, I think). Matt was beyond excited to help carry the team banner in his first Little League parade, and he couldn’t wait to get up to bat in his first t-ball game.

That little guy with the baggy baseball pants is now 12 years old,  5'7", a pretty good pitcher and running full-tilt toward his next baseball league. Time, it seems, is rushing by faster than a line drive to left field.

So it was especially poignant to open my e-mail recently and to read a note from the president of our local Little League:

"On a personal note, our fourth child will leave Little League for high school baseball next fall. For the first time in 15 years, we will not have a child playing Little League,” he wrote. “The time slipped by very quickly and our children have few memories of championships or All Star teams. Instead, they just have a love of the game, an appreciation for sportsmanship and competition, and fond memories of time spent with Dad."

He ended his letter to the parents with some advice: "Please relax and enjoy this time in your child’s life. It will pass quickly..."

That’s something I've tried to keep in mind every season as Team Sena scurries around the house, grabbing cleats, equipment and water bottles, and then heading off to yet another game, yelling to each other “Did someone feed the dog?” “Do you have your baseball cap?” “Are the stadium seats in the trunk?” as we rush out the door.

Between practice and games (on top of homework and all the regular stuff that keeps a mom churning until 11:00 most nights), my time certainly isn't my own during baseball season. But I'm acutely aware that that’s not a permanent state of affairs. So I'm trying to appreciate each crack of the bat just a bit more than I probably did when the end wasn’t so clearly in sight (or, let’s face it, when my turn for snack-stand duty rolled around).

Because in the not-too-distant future, I'll have to be satisfied with flipping through scrapbooks and watching home videos showing a bunch of wound-up, grass-stained, sunflower-seed-filled boys in a dugout, yelling "LET'S GO SEN-A!"

I hope Matt has wonderful memories of these years. I know his dad and I will. The knowledge that nothing lasts forever — in Little League or in life — sometimes makes my heart ache as a parent. But it also makes every snack-stand hot dog, every scramble to first base, every glance up at the stands to grin at Mom and Dad after a good play, just that much more delicious.

Moms & Daughters: What Do You Know About Inflammatory Breast Cancer?

Thanks to Seattle T.V. station KOMO, channel 4, for this terrific report on inflammatory breast cancer. (And thanks, KOMO, for making it available on YouTube, along with the code that allows it to be shown on blogs like this one. Talk about a wonderful use of the Web!) The more we can spread the word on all forms of breast cancer, the more lives will be saved.

Check out the video below. Then tell a friend!