Dear Mom – Day 4
It’s day four in our five-part series on motherhood. To see past entries and full details on the amazing panelists click here.
dp Did you find out your child’s gender while you were pregnant? Did you try to predict? Were you correct?
Mommy E Yes – we just found out we are having a boy, and are so excited! This was one of the discussions that was agreed upon before even getting pregnant. My husband is a planner and wanted to know! I could go either way, so maybe in the future we could keep it a surprise. Because I have been having such an easy time with pregnancy, I was feeling boy at first, but was also very partial to having a girl. I am so excited for the outcome, but either way I think we would have won the lottery.
Dear Mom – Day 3
It’s the third part of our motherhood series. Click here for a full scope of the participating panelists.
dp For those of you with mixed gendered children, is there an easier sex to raise – girls or boys?
Mommy D Boys seem to be easier emotionally, but they are much noisier. Girls tend to be more emotional and dramatic.
Dear Mom – Day 2
The motherhood series continues. Click here to see the full stats on the panelists.
dp In your opinion, how has child rearing through the years changed?
Mommy A There’s a lot that has changed. Spanking is controversial. If you spank your children, it’s because you’ve lost control and are an ineffective parent. There’s too much coddling and not enough discipline. I read a book by Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture, and he wrote of the way parents and teachers are afraid to give honest feedback to their children and students. Everyone is great at everything. This leads to an inability to accurately assess one’s self and ultimately stunts the growth, development, and learning of an individual. Children today are getting away with so much more than I did as a child.
Dear Mom
I’ve had the privilege and joy over the last few years of seeing some of my closest friends as well as my sister and sister-in-law become mothers. It’s made me realize that for as many hats as we women wear, being a mother appears to be, quite possibly, the toughest.
That has made me think more often of motherhood in general and my own relationship with mine. I can’t say I’ve ever written a letter to my mother. Sure, emails. Sure, lengthy telephone conversations with both of us carrying on about nothing in particular. But, an honest to goodness pen to paper letter – not so much. If I were to write her, I’d likely start with a simple thank you and then express my gratitude for her nurturing and her patience throughout my life (not counting the few late high school/early college years where we couldn’t stomach the sight of each other).
In honor of mother’s day, I’ve conducted a sociological experiment of sorts. Below is the beginning of a five-part series that I’ll be posting throughout the week. I interviewed nine women – eight of whom are mothers and one who is just about to be. Each gave me such amazing honesty and insight and they made this piece what it is; and for that, I am humbled. This article reflects their caring, their time and their generosity.
Happy Mother’s Day, a five-day tribute.
Editor’s note
While I chose to not to interview my own mother here in the interest of journalistic distance, it should be noted that all photos in the series are of her and are some of my favorites.
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Derby Days
This past winter my husband and I became obsessed with the Animal Planet show: Jockeys – a documentary/reality program following the lives of seven jockeys at the Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia, California. Both the visuals and the storyline were fascinating. Plus, I can openly admit I have a crush on Mike Smith despite the high probability that I’m taller than him.
So to honor Jockeys and the Run for the Roses at Churchill Down’s tomorrow, this week’s food & drink is Kentucky Derby inspired…complete with two Southern favorites – mint juleps and derby pie. First, derby pie – one of my favorite desserts, it combines chocolate and nuts (I’d eat those two things in combo with anything) in a flaky crust.
And then there’s the mint julep. Both of my sisters make nice ones from when they attended college in the Blue Grass State – so dignified sounding, but I assure you, they likely were sipping the juleps out of plastic Solo cups instead of the traditional monogrammed silver tumbler. What truck drivers they are; honestly, I can’t take them anywhere.
I often daydream about what I’d name a horse if I ever had one, whether or not he or she was derby material – Magellan’s Map, Bordeaux Binge and Piñata are solid contenders. No question, if I ever win the lottery, I’m buying a horse. It’s on the list just after the in-ground swimming pool and my own in-home Pilates studio.
For now, my money is on Dunkirk.
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Beat Studies Made Simple
In On the Road – Jack Kerouac’s defining work of the beat generation – the existential query, “What’s your road, man?” served as a siren song that lured thousands to answer the call of the open road, leaving the establishment behind in search of new meaning.
Beat Studies Productions – an Atlanta-based independent hip-hop label, like Kerouac, calls out the establishment (the hip-hop one) on its complacency when it comes to the commercialization of the genre. Beat Studies is paving a new road for a new generation of hip-hop artists who want to make what founder B.J. Alden calls “intelligent music.”
One of those artists is SIMP (a.k.a Duran Butler). For the record, SIMP is just about the freshest thing to sprout out of the South since, well, the Dogwood.
Here’s my enlightening Q&A with SIMP.
Say My Name, Say My Name
name⋅sake [neym-seyk] noun
1. a person named after another.
2. a person having the same name as another.
I recently attended a work event where they served a number of California reds from a winery called Angeline. I have a good friend named Angeline and so I became giddy at the idea of hosting a party where I’d pair my guests with their namesake wine – or show up at the next party with a semi-original hostess gift.
Do you have a namesake wine? I do – and of course in typical “Dana” fashion, cheap, it’s not – Dean and Deluca tout it for $295 a bottle…not exactly economy friendly…eek! But perhaps, someday, it will be “I just gave birth – bring me that bottle or else” or “The Simon & Schuster book deal just came through with an embarrassingly large advance” friendly.
Life Library, The
My relationship with lists has been duly noted (see Daisy Princess Paperie). I make lists for lists…or to steal a line from my twin sister and her boyfriend that they stole from some Cameron Diaz movie – making a plan to make a plan. With age comes acceptance and as I grow older, I’m trying (honest) to truly embrace the Type-A that I am. And every once in a while a product comes along that leapfrogs my military-precision organization skills to a whole other level – that product is The Life Library.
I recently interviewed its creator, Jean Martin. Here’s what she had to say:
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Postcards from Italy
We here at dp hq take our journalism and reporting duties quite seriously. Because of this, I have reporters dispatched in various bureaus throughout the world. Ahem… truth be told, my best friend is in Lecce, Italy, at The Awaiting Table Cookery School, so this week’s travel posting contains snippets of what she’s soaking in.
And in today’s tech age the physical postcard has now been altered to text messaging, here’s the abbreviated text with photos…
Gustate! (English translation – everyone, enjoy!)
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Design*Sponge
Design*Sponge is one of my favorite go-to websites when it comes to matters of the home. Its before and after projects have stunning results, always teach me something and make me have enough confidence to believe I can actually tackle some jobs around the house myself.
In addition, I’m always inspired by the images on the site – from vials of sand or spices used as decoration, or cool fabrics to breathe life in a struggling piece of furniture; the concept is all Grace Bonney. I had a chance to connect with its founder from her locale in Brooklyn and I’m so happy I did. Q&A follows…
