Never Mind

I sift through piles of hard plastic cases, many of the names and titles long forgotten, after nine years in my attic. “What are those Mama?” My daughter asks. “Music,” I say. There must have been hundreds of CD’s spread out in front of me, all listened to, all loved, at one time, back when buying music was a commitment and not a whim we acted upon while playing on our laptops or phones.  It was the pre-download era, a time when you didn’t buy songs but you bought albums. Every title I scanned in that pile was more than … Continue reading

Bring on the Noise

  “I think I know what you’re going to decide,” I say, after I’ve explained her options. “You do?” “I’m pretty sure of it.” “Is it OK? Mommy, is it OK?” The letter explained that our town will have two cheer squads this year for the age level of my daughter.  One will be competitive, whose goal will be to win the national title in their division, and one squad will be non-competitive, who will cheer at football games.   Their decision to split into two squads does not surprise me, since many of the parents of these girls, as … Continue reading

Happy Endings…Kind of

It wasn’t a pretty scene that Friday morning.  I’d like to blame it on a long week of pulling midnights to get my editor work done, but by most Friday’s, I’m tired.  My filter is gone, and one whiny outburst from a child will result in my being less than compassionate.  Less than compassionate I was, as I gave Miss F. “the hand” when she shrieked over not having the “right shoes” to wear to her end of season cheer banquet that night. I knew it was going to be a problem, and it was one of those problems that … Continue reading

Coming Home

Hello, blogosphere!  I’m back! I’d like to tell you that I have been away on an exotic vacation.  To the islands, to an ashram, an African Safari. But in actuality, I’ve been hustling around New Jersey, as a mild mannered administrative assistant/freelance writer/yoga teacher by day, and budding entrepreneur by night (more on the entrepreneur thing later).  There has not been as much silence or pausing or deep thinking as I would have liked.  I’ve been working it, if you know what I mean. I’ve been working it so much that I hardly missed my blog as much as I … Continue reading

Cheer Mom Part 3: Game Day

As I walked into Sun National Arena in Trenton,  New Jersey for my daughter’s cheer competition, I was keenly aware that one of us would leave that night crying.  Either they’d lose, and she would be devastated, or they’d win, and I’d be devastated.  Don’t get me wrong, I want what we all want for our children.  But if you’ve read parts one and two of my Cheer Mom trilogy, then you understand the struggles I’ve encountered with my cheerleader daughter.  Advancing is what the girls want and what their coaches want and what I’m supposed to want. Yet, the … Continue reading

Cheer Mom Part 2: Cheer Angst

I wasn’t in the mood to go to a wiglet party. Furthermore, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with Miss F.’s mood after that cumbersome looking hair piece was sewn into her hair, which she would then need to sleep with and live in until her cheer competition, some 18 hours later.  Miss F. is the kid who goes on sensory overload from a stray dog hair caught in her shoe.  Asking her to sleep with an artificial hair piece that has been woven into her hair is like asking a child who has sandbags tied to her legs … Continue reading

Cheer Mom – Guest Post at Things I Can’t Say

The premise: A willful daughter and her control freak mother lock horns over the demands of the daughter’s competition cheer team. The cast of characters:  The Fierce Diva and the Divine Miss F.   The major dramatic question: Will the Diva pull Miss F. from cheer mid-season? The setting:  Suburbia The outcome: Hop on over to Things I Can’t Say to find out!   Wow!  What a week! I am still basking in the afterglow of my SITS Day, which was Wednesday, and today, I am the guest blogger over at Shell’s place, Things I Can’t Say. I met Shell … Continue reading