Filed under: Work/Life Balance | Tags: cluttered house with kids, finding time for family, finding time to clean with kids, mommy blogger, mommy wears heels, work life balance with a family
I remember when I was pregnant… I swore I would never have toys in my living room―because that would be “messy.” I swore I would not be the type of parent whose house was a cluttered disaster and people had to step over toys to find a walkway to the kitchen. The (finished) basement was where all toys, walkers, bouncers, etc. would be and everything would be nice and tidy. I had an idea of the kind of parent I wanted to be. I was disciplined and way too type A to fail.
Well, that rule I had for myself lasted approx. one day. I was too nervous to walk down the stairs with a newborn so I allowed the swing to stay in the living room―but I told myself it was only for a couple of weeks. I started to stack the magazines I didn’t have time to read and added a couple of days on to the dusting/vacuuming schedule. Now, 8 months later, as I sit typing this, I glance up and see a jumperoo, a play mat, 2 teethers and a book all within 8 feet of me and my rug hasn’t been vacuumed in 1 ½ weeks. So, needless to say, there were a few kinks in my plan.
There was always an excuse from me; the basement was too cold, I didn’t want to put something away when I was going to need it later, I wanted to go to the park as a family instead of dust, etc. At first, I felt like a failure. I wanted to be one of those mothers/wives I saw on TV. You know the one… always looked great, dinner was on the table every night at 6:30 and the house was immaculate. Unfortunately, that wasn’t me and it took me a few months to get “why” it wasn’t.
What I have learned is my “mess of a living room” doesn’t make me lazy or weak; it makes me like every other mother I know that isn’t a television character. I’d rather spend time with my child than throw him in his crib while I straighten the house. I doubt in 10 years you are going to remember one time you came to visit and my living room was cluttered. But I am going to remember the great day I spent at the park with my family instead of cleaning. I’m not perfect; there are toys in my living room, a few dust bunnies under the sofa and my house isn’t at all in order but I’m OK with it.
Moral of this post: We all could use a little lighter load and a little less stress about the small things in life. This is what I love about parenting – your kids can unintentionally make you total liars and eat your words!
Filed under: Celebrity Moms | Tags: $6000 halloween costume, in touch weekly, katie holmes, suri cruise, suri cruise halloween costume, tom cruise
Yes, you read correctly… little miss Suri Cruise is getting a $6,000 princess costume for trick-or-treating this year!
According to the latest issue of In Touch Weekly, “It’s more than a month away, but Suri already has her fairy-princess gown and will be wearing diamonds with her costume.” Diamonds, seriously? The little Scientology princesses Halloween costume is more expensive than my engagement ring!
Now, I get Halloween is a very important “holiday” when you are a child, but a $6,000 costume is a bit insane. Katie, Tom… yes, we all know you have more money than you know what to do with, but this is a little excessive. Especially knowing she’ll wear it on Halloween night and a few days afterward, till she gets bored and will move onto the next overpriced item in her massive walk-in closet.
We have all caught onto the fact Mr. and Mrs. Cruise already thinks their little angel is a princess, now everyone in their neighborhood is going to see it firsthand. Let’s just hope she gets some good candy out of the deal… we’re not talking about fun size candy bars here.
Oh, and a little tip for whichever nanny or bodyguard that’s taking her trick-or-treating that night… might want to stay in that posh little Malibu neighborhood where $6,000 isn’t a lot of money.
Filed under: Recipes | Tags: easy family meals, easy recipes, halibut fish tacos, halibut fish tacos with guacamole, healthy family recipes, kid friendly recipes, mommy blogger, mommy wears heels, recipe for fish tacos
It’s recipe Friday on Mommy Wears Heels! Try one of our household faves Halibut Fish Tacos with Guacamole Sauce. Perfect for an easy meal when you get home from work. Sure to please the whole family… and healthy too!
Ingredients:
4 pieces fresh halibut, steak or filets, 6 to 8 ounces each
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and pepper
1 lime, juiced
3 small to medium ripe avocados, pitted and scooped
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
1 heart Romaine lettuce
12 soft (6-inch) flour tortillas
Directions:
Preheat a grill pan or indoor grill to high heat or, prepare outdoor grill. Drizzle halibut with extra-virgin olive oil to keep fish from sticking to the grill pan or grill. Season fish with salt and pepper, to your taste. Roll lime on the counter top to get juices flowing. Also, any under ripe citrus may be placed in a microwave oven for 10 seconds at high setting to induce the juices to flow. Grill fish 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until opaque. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime down over the fish and remove from the grill pan or grill. Flake fish into large chunks with a fork.
While fish is cooking, in a blender or food processor, combine avocado flesh, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, yogurt and salt. Process guacamole sauce until smooth. Remove guacamole sauce to a bowl and stir in diced tomatoes and chopped scallions. Shred lettuce and reserve.
When fish comes off the grill pan or grill, blister and heat soft taco wraps. To assemble, break up fish and pile some of the meat into soft shells and slather with guacamole sauce. Top with shredded lettuce, fold tacos over and eat!
Filed under: Celebrity Moms | Tags: bryan and jenne masche, bryan masche, bryan masche resisting arrest, jenne masche, jon gosselin, mommy blog, mommy wears heels, raising sextuplets, raising sextuplets dad arrested, TLC's raising sextuplets
Well, it looks like Jon Gosselin has handed over the “crazy reins” of reality TV dad to TLC’s Raising Sextuplets star, Bryan Masche. Recently, Masche was arrested for domestic violence against his wife, while all six kids watched. As if that wasn’t bad enough, take a look at his smug, smiling mug shot on the left. Makes me ill…
The fight started because he wanted to take the children to Lake Havasu, while his wife, Jenne, wanted to drive them to Phoenix to visit friends (at the time, there were about 90 miles away from Phoenix). Totally a reason for domestic violence, right?
Masche was taken into custody, but only after he had to be threatened with a Taser when he refused to be handcuffed. He repeatedly argued his rights were being violated and at one point said he had “law enforcement experience and that domestic violence had not occurred,” an officer wrote in the report. He eventually was arrested and charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and threatening domestic profanities.
Bryan was later released on $3,500 bail and is due back in court Oct. 7 for a pretrial conference, where he’s expected to answer to domestic abuse and resisting arrest charges
Now, I’m sure there are many pressures of raising six children, but get your emotions in check, Mr. Masche―you have six children that you are supposed to be a role model for. Bryan and his wife have even (publicly) said their six-year long marriage hasn’t been without its own hardships… so maybe that should have been their first sign that they shouldn’t do a reality show. From the looks of it, fame and money were more important to them than stability for their children and their own relationship. I expect this marriage to end in bust as well. Sorry, Bryan and Jenne… I call it how I see it.
Filed under: Work/Life Balance | Tags: boston globe, johanna weiss, maternity leave, maternity leave policies in US, mommy wears heels, paid maternity leave, swedens maternity leave, unpaid maternity leave, working moms
I went back to work after having my son in March. Unfortunately, my company did not have maternity leave, so I had to go on short-term disability. Yes, even in 2010, my former company did not have a maternity leave policy. Now, I thought that was bad and after reading this article, I think it’s even worse. 18 months paid leave… for dads? Wow! Move me to Sweden! 
Johanna Weiss, a columnist for the Boston Globe agrees with me. She spoke out last month about the fact that generally speaking, maternity leave policies in the US… well, kinda suck! Fueling her fire? The recent court ruling in Massachusetts that limits unpaid maternity leave and job protection to eight weeks. As she wrote in her article for The Globe, the ruling insinuates that “if you can’t afford to stay home with your baby, you shouldn’t bother to procreate.” And according to Weiss, this just underscores a greater problem with the American attitude.
Now, there is a big difference in having a baby and having to tighten the purse strings for a while and having 14 kids and expecting the government to pay for it. (yes, I’m talking to you, octomom)
According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, 40% of mothers are the primary breadwinners and two-thirds of mothers earn more than 25% of a family’s income. With these stats, I think something needs to be done about the lack of maternity policies we offer in the United States. Granted, I don’t think 18 months is necessary, (although, nice it would be) a nice 12 weeks with your job secured for a year would be fair. What are your thoughts? Should the US have a guaranteed maternity leave policy or do you believe you shouldn’t have a child if you can’t afford not to work?
