mcmama's comments

In Honor of Mother's Day: Mother-Son Day Trips

29 Apr 2006 01:31 AM

This is a great approach. I am a single mom with one son left at home, and road tripping for us is wonderful. One of the great things is we build it around common interests, and build in some flexible pacing so it is relaxing and enjoyable.

Most people don't think its such a great thing for a boy to spend time with mom, but we really have a lot of fun with it. Two years ago on spring break we went to south Florida, and we went snorkeling in Key Largo. i did this as a kid, and knew he would enjoy it. He was 13 and he had a ball. I almost had cardiac arrest when he decided to get closer to the barracuda - fortunately they did not want to have anything to do with him.

I blogged about our more recent trip in the Education blog. He likes the 70s, and history, so a highlight was he got to meet Jimmy Carter.

Eliminating Risks

26 Apr 2006 11:06 PM

Thanks for this. I am considering buying a home in a shore area in the next few years - I've been thinking along similiar lines. Yes, that bay access is really nice, but at this point in my life, do I want to deal with storm surge? Property more inland, within a few minutes of the water, view or no view, certainly has its appeal for me! Best of all possible worlds.

Sorting and Organizing Photos

25 Apr 2006 05:06 AM

OK, here is my question for you expert scrapbookers -

I have over 100 years of family photos.

I have tintypes. I have a portrait of my great grandma from around 1885. I have my grandma's holiday in atlantic city circa 1900. I have WWI, enough of WWII for a whole army, and everyone who has been born in the past 60 years sitting on Santas knee. Most of those people are dead or they have their own duplicates of these photos. I have my grandpa working in a steel mill circa 1920. A lot of wedding and school photos of people I don't recognize. One of my great aunts is dressed like a flapper.

Then there are the newspaper articles. Obituaries. Retirements. My aunt and uncle being hijacked by the PLO and no one knowing where they were. (they survived, and there are pictures of that) Every award my brother or I ever won. My late cousin's drawings. My aunt's discharge papers from WWII and her promotion to major (twice, once for the "women's army" and after the war for the regular army) She kept a WWII scrapbook but it is falling apart.

This is what happens when you get to be middle aged and survive everyone. You get the pictures. I am not kidding, I have a closet full of pictures. Most of these people died before my kids were born. So I need to pass on something before it becomes meaningless.

What sorts of albums, labeling, and collection systems do you recomend for archival photos and newspaper articles? It needs to be preserved, but accessible and make sense when I am not around to explain it.

Sometimes I Feel Like Bobo the Sperm Guy!

24 Apr 2006 08:03 PM

Ouch. Being part of a support group for the straight spouses and ex spouses of gay people, I know guys for whom a comment like that one on Friends has got to hurt.

But back to you - kids take your presence for granted, particularly at this age. They don't realize that other kids don't see their dads as much. My dad was home a lot when we were little, as he was an airline pilot with days off at a time. He was very involved in our lives. There were certain things that I wanted to do with just him, but mommy mommy mommy for the needy stuff! And much harder to let go of mommy at that age.

Don't take it personally. You the man!!! They love you.

Eminent Domain and the Homeowner

24 Apr 2006 07:20 PM

A great article on an important topic - thanks for letting people know about this important and legal abuse of power.

Divorced Parenting: Rules of the Exchange

19 Apr 2006 08:36 PM

Nicki, this is excellent advice as usual.

I wish my ex would follow it, especially the last point. If I refuse to discuss what he wants to discuss when he wants to discuss it, he pitches a very public hissy fit about me not "cooperating".

There is less of an exchange now that the youngest is a teen, but it still happens sometimes. I have encouraged the boy to set his own schedule of visitation around his activities, and involve me and his father. I avoid contact whenever possible. After all, I have a permanent restraining order against the man for quite a few years now.

But if I do not jump when he says boo, I usually have to undo the damage of his accusation that I am "putting the kid in the middle"

There is just no working with some abusers. But for normal divorces, these are great ground rules.

My Secret Wish

19 Apr 2006 02:43 PM

Candace, go to the education blog and see what Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey are spending some of their money on. Even a small amount of what they have can support the dreams of others!

Meantime, when you open that store, let me know.

Missionaries and Humor

19 Apr 2006 02:40 PM

Candace, I love this. it is so appropriate to so many organizations.

Collaborative Teaching Through the World Wide Web

18 Apr 2006 02:25 PM

Thank you, WhiteLily, for your comment and for the resource. I think a lot of teachers love to collaborate, and the web has made it possible for us to do so globally!

Tech connections make it possible for us to provide quality education, no matter how remote or rural the area!

Religious traditions and what they symbolize

10 Apr 2006 08:09 PM

Christina, I really appreciate your perspective and also your "celebrate Jesus" day idea! Really you got to the point!