Shake it up baby!

My happy place just got a little happier.  I was in Costco the other day and first was encouraged that spring indeed IS coming: The bathing suits are back.    Some people use calendars….I use the merchandise cycles at Costco to observe the coming and going of the seasons. 
And then there’s my beloved book table.  This [...]

Do hens go to egg laying school?

Yep, I know silly question.  Such is my brain to ponder random questions.  Of course hens don’t have to learn how to lay eggs….they’re hens!  The doing arises from their being.
Same for our kids.  We spend so much time insisting that they DO things before we’ve evaluated WHO is my child?  But yet in our [...]

Idolatry in the Lode home

Yes….it is my confession.  Every Tuesday night, we gather in the living room around the lighted box and tune out all other distractions to focus and consider…..and watch American Idol.
We are Idol fans here.  We LOVE that show.  We love clapping for the winners and roaring at Simon’s dead pan criticism.  And even more so [...]

That’s “I’m BIG” for short

This is an old Mother Lode column….thought I’d run it again for those of us (ahem) need to address some (ahem-ahem) issues.
So I’m standing in the Franklin Wal-Mart customer service line when my eye wanders up to a framed poster of Faith Hill. Next to it is the sweater she wore in the photo. I [...]

Watch out Mrs. Field!

Because here comes Molly and I think HER cookies are better than yours.
Molly wants to take skating lessons.  She’s been practicing roller skating and studying clips off the net on how to do jumps, etc.  And if we watch Ice Princess ONE more time…..
The kids are clued into our budget and Molly knows [...]

ADHD and tired parents

Every so often I get emails from parents looking for a word of help or encouragement.  The stories are shockingly similar and usually revolve around a frustrating situation at school.  Perhaps they’ve been ambushed a  teacher or two insisting their kid needs medication….or the attentional issues keep the kid in constant trouble.  (And my heart [...]

Your little friends are absolutely right, Virginia

Caleb informed me that his friend recently discovered empty Christmas boxes that contained receipts from “Toys R Us”.  The boy, 11, (?!) was disheartened to discover that, alas, Santa is a fraud.   Well it’s about freakin’ time, I thought. 
Heavens, Molly was well on the road to skepticism by the time she turned 7.  And Daniel and Caleb can gaffaw [...]

The Mother Lode’s Inaugural Poem

Did you get a load of the poem read at the inauguration?  I think it can be best described with one word:
HUH?
USC poet-in-residence (read: couldn’t get a job) Kwame Dawes penned the eight part (heaven help us) poem ”New Day” and you can read it here.
Maybe I’m being too harsh.  Lately I’ve been reading Whittier and Longfellow and [...]

So much to worry about…so little time

Such trying times we live in. The economy….the Goo Goo Cluster Plant in GA closing down….people who don’t know how to pronounce libRaRy…there’s just no end to the things a seasoned worrier such as myself can worry about. 
My doggeared copy of “How to Quit Worrying and Start Living” by Dale Carnegie will attest to the [...]

McChildren

Jay and I had breakfast at the Golden Arches the other day.  (They have GREAT iced mochas, btw.)  As I unwrapped my breakfast sandwich it occured to me: McChildren! 
(Yeah, I know…I’m strange.  My brain fires off bizarre ideas all too often.) 
If you’re familiar with McDonald’s history, founder Ray Kroc revolutionized the food service industry by utilizing an [...]