September 2009 Archives
The Hoover Library has installed a "Cone of Silence" for cell phone uses to have a brief telephone discussion without disturbing patrons. It's about time we started using an invention like this for something besides beauty pageants during the final question to determine the winner and the runner-up.
Many of us will remember the days of the telephone booth, when there was always a priviate space available to make a call or even step in out of the rain. I'm glad to see new version of an old school item.
Next question: When can these be installed for home use? I think the mom market is interested...
If you want to be in good shape for the upcoming holiday season, pick up outfits for Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas now while the selection is best. If you're shooting for matching or coordinating outfits for Christmas card photos, you'll need to get moving.
Seasonal kids' clothing features an ever-expanding variety of themes and colors, so you don't have to settle for holly green or bright Halloween orange. There are plenty of ginghams, prints and corduroys in all shades.
These clothes were once an investment, but they have become affordable now that they are imported. Since they are worn for such a short period, they are prime candidates for consignment or handing down to another child or relative, further extending their value. These outfits are on sale for less than $50 each.
- Look for motifs that can stretch beyond a single holiday, such as pumpkins without the jack-o-lantern faces; owls, squirrels and leaves suggest "Fall" without being as limiting as a turkey
- Jumpers are the most versatile; girls can wear them with a turtleneck underneath or opt for a 3/4 or short sleeve if the weather is unseasonably warm
- Likewise, you can find holiday-themed bishop dresses that have short sleeves and may be more comfortable if you'll be visiting family in LA (that's Lower Alabama)
- If you'll be taking Christmas photos outside, Christmas red shows up well against greenery and our dormant bermuda grass
Tricia's Baby Station in Vestavia has a large selection of holiday theme wear, but BirminghamMoms (and grandmas) are picking through it everyday. Their wearhouse sale is going on through October 3rd next door to their retail store. No strollers are allowed in the warehouse due to fire code, so plan accordingly.
Special note: Saturday, October 3, 100% of the proceeds from hairbow purchases will benefit Children's Hospital. Most hairbows are only $2.99.
This would look much less serious in a natural, white or plexiglass frame. It could work in a home office, play room, kids' room, or on a set of bookshelves.
Thanks for the inspiration, Pottery Barn. I didn't even have to pay shipping.
This weekend's Greek Festival at the Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church downtown is one of Birmingham's best culinary traditions. From Sept. 24 to 26th, cars will line up around the 19th street block as bankers in suits and nurses in scrubs wait for a taste of Greek food heaven.
It's no secret that some of the best resturants in Birmingham have Greek decendants behind them. What is remarkable is how so many professional restauranteurs and enthusiastic families come together to operate such a large-scale, professional-level event to benefit their congregation.
Members convert the church parking deck into a blue and white party room complete with folk dancers in native costumes. A market around the perimeter features vendors selling jewelry, imported textiles and serving pieces made of olive wood. (One year we caught sight of a lamb roasting on a spit outside, which was a bit graphic given the Mary-had-a-Little-Lamb nighttime routine I was perfecting in those days.)
You purchase a ticket that is color coded according to the meal you've chosen, then go to the respective food line where you'll be given a tray to carry your dinner (baked greek chicken, souvlakia, etc.). The take out line is usually longer but it packages dinners in clamshell boxes and bags, so it's actually easier to manage with one hand (for example, if you have a toddler or a stroller to steer). The best strategy I have found is to split up so Mom can grab seats while Dad lines up for food, even if it takes more than one trip.
During the day it's more comfortable to eat indoors in the upstairs hall, which you can reach from the 4th Ave. South entrance. There is a wide flight of steps leading up to the dining hall, but the payoff is air conditioning in a quieter setting. Be prepared to swap friendly conversation with the other eight or so people seated at each large round table.
The baked chicken dinner is fabulous and the smell of fried Greek doughnuts (with a proper name I will not attempt to spell) is irresistible. Bring plenty of wet wipes because honey from the doughnuts and powdered sugar from the wedding cookies makes for a messy feast. You won't mind.
The family-friendly atmosphere is convivial, if hectic, and it's lucky for me they aren't booking Greek Isle cruises on the spot. With the mandolines and dancers all around, I think I would impulsively part with a down payment. For the moment, the Greek Festival is as close as I can get. Opa!
My conclusion is that staying in a house with other moms is like rooming with Mary Poppins:
- There are abundant snacks with a steady infusion of fresh creations
- All household members are proficient with the appliances
- The kitchen runs like clockwork in a seamless cooking and clean up process
- Throw pillows are repositioned, design side up, every evening
- Everyone knows what they packed and where to find it
- Lids to milk and toothpaste are always replaced, no socks are left on the floor, and the diswasher is always loaded properly
Under these circumstances, how could we all not have had a relaxing escape?
We permitted ourselves to slow down and allow the usual chatter in our heads to be replaced with the sound of waves breaking on the shore. We could lounge in plan sight with no need to hide in the bathroom or closet in hopes of being undetected for a few quiet minutes.
The days flew by and we were ready to emerge from our retreat recharged. Like Ms. Poppins promised, a spoonful of (white sand) sugar makes the medicine go down. The girls' trip is a most delightful way.
I'd requested honey to go with the biscuit in my chicken dinner, and all I could think was, "What would the Colonel do?" Any man who valued a secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices and savagely guarded it for years would surely not settle for high fructose corn syrup as a honey substitute. I mean, we southerners have nothing against syrup on our biscuits - heck, we invented the dish - but if syrup's what we want on our biscuits, it's going to be Golden Eagle or Alaga.
You would think a company with a marketing budget that includes nationwide giveaways through Oprah could do better than honey sauce. Then again, what's new?
Mass market manufacturers long ago created "maple-flavored syrup," or "pancake syrup," a cheaper alternative to real maple syrup. No one seems to care that what sells as chocolate syrup is mostly corn syrup anyway, especially since it is so easy to squeeze a dollop onto ice cream or into a glass of milk. Since corn syrup is already ubiquitous in many of the products we buy off the supermarket shelf, who would expect us to object to its use as a replacement for honey?
But It's just not the same. Maybe if honey syrup had a spokesperson (Mrs. Bumbleworth?) we would start to forget the origins and characteristics of real honey. Already, most kids probably have no idea that a syrup label picturing a log cabin is reference to real log cabins near groves of sugar maple trees, and that yes, maple syrup comes from sugar maple trees.
An unsentimental comparison shows that maple-flavored syrup costs one-tenth the cost of real maple syrup. Maybe corn syrup is keeping Saturday pancake breakfasts affordable, but it seems profoundly sad to think of missing out on the variations and subtleties of flavor that are inherent in a genuine, as opposed to flavored, product. It's only fair to point out that bee colonies were indeed collapsing a couple of years ago, and maybe biscuit sellers had to prepare for the worst.
As a counterpoint, the other packet pictured here is from Starbucks, which still serves real, grade A honey. Of course, a large specialty drink there can cost almost as much as a single chicken dinner. I'm guessing most people would vote for a $5 value meal for everyone rather than worrying about real honey for the persnickety few. Sigh.
I recently learned that Cottonelle makes a kids' toilet paper that is supposed to help potty training youngsters learn how much T.P. is "just enough." The sheets are printed with a puppy paw print on a run of four squares followed by the Cottonelle puppy on the fifth square, signaling that it's time to tear the paper and use the five-sheet allotment, which we are told is the "average amount per wipe."
We've all heard of helicopter parenting, so I suppose the market research team determined helicopter toileting is just as pervasive. (Come to think of it, helicopter-style hovering is indeed a necessary part of early toilet training.) I would love to have heard the marketers' original pitch to the executive team. "Consumer studies show that Moms are exasperated by children pulling off more toilet paper than is required for the job. This revolutionary product frees busy moms from the tedious chore of counting each square for their pottying children."
I suppose I do chafe (pardon the pun) at the idea of a toilet paper specifically designed to teach how much is enough. Aren't some things a matter of judgment? And shouldn't that judgment be cultivated so that the question of "how much" can be answered sufficiently under various circumstances, whether it's the familiar TP at home or the gigantic commercial roll at the mall?
Personally, if there was one essential life skill I was determined my kids were going to master regardless of five-sheet averages or focus group recommendations, it was wiping their behinds. Wouldn't anything less be a terrible dereliction of mom duty?
Sure, I had setbacks along the way to toilet trained bliss. I finally told the daycare not to bother trying to salvage soiled underwear; I figured a few casualties were part of the process, and I frankly did not want to deal with whatever had festered in the "oops" bag once I got home. I blush to think of the threats I muttered under my breath as I discovered that "Do you need to go?" had become "already went." There are places all over this town that are marked by my diaper/potty training disasters, almost like a Friends sitcom episode ("The One Where He Told You He Had to "Go" and You Said, 'But You Just Went!' and Everyone Glared at You as the Puddle Began on the Floor").
None of us will do a perfect job, but it's imperative that we train our kids to be thinking adults. Could it be that toilet training can be a precursor to developing what most of us would call common sense? Consider that Cottonelle has a Q&A page on its website. Presumably this helps frustrated customers unravel any technical difficulties with their roll: "When I tear the toilet paper, the perforations on my two plies do not line up. How do I fix this?" An earnest response begins, "The good news is that this is an easy fix..."
Do people really seek out the manufacturer for answers to questions like this? Could they not just examine the roll and see that a ply got off course somewhere?
Obviously, paper manufacturers have to take this stuff seriously. The "Be Kind to Your Behind" page (the phrase is trademarked, by the way) allows you to make a pledge concerning how you will be kind to your own behind, from walking it across the parking lot instead of parking near the front door to pledging not to burn it in a tanning bed. You can even "Share this pledge with a friend." Can you imagine?!
Although over 100,000 people have made pledges to their behinds thus far, I have hope that it's not us BirminghamMoms who are struggling so with our behinds, either the kids' or our own. It turns out five of the 10 Top Rated Pledges are currently from North Carolina.
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Post script: The subject of kids' toilet paper has sparked a lively discussion with my spouse. He can't believe I don't rate it a "find" and reminds me that I never picked up the plunger or auger to remedy a clogged toilet. In his opinion, excess toilet paper is an imminent threat to the peace and quiet of couch-resting dads everywhere who have to respond to any clog with the utmost urgency.
Furthermore, he contends that the world is full of people who "don't have sense enough to wipe" and he has had the displeasure of dealing with many of them at ballgames, on freeways, and countless customer service/support situations.
In conceeding this last point, perhaps I have been too harsh in my criticism. If you'd prefer to potty train without special paper, Charmin has toilet training printable pages that include a booklet and stickers. They also offer a printable roller ruler so kids will learn what's "not too little, not too much" (apparently there is disagreement on this exact amount, since Charmin recommends a five-square regimen to Cottonelle's four). Which just goes to show, some things you have to judge for yourself.
Since education and personal responsibilty are on topic these days, it only seems appropriate to mention the Birmingham National College Fair scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 20, from 1 - 4 p.m. at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.
With tuition costs rising, schools are eager to attract students and set their parents' minds at ease. While highly selective colleges have a surplus of applicants (hence their ability to remain "highly selective"), there is still a place somewhere for every student, and education fairs like this help students identify theirs.
The schools attending the Birmigham National College Fair are mostly four-year institutions, both public and private, Eighteen states are represented along with most of Alabama's colleges.
Realize that colleges want to connect with your student early in their selection process so they can build an interest early. Likewise, you need time to evaluate opportunities and costs, as well as whether your student will be a good fit with a chosen school. Many BirminghamMoms experienced firsthand or had friends who transferred schools, or worse, endured a few unhappy years becuase of a poor fit initially. A few campus visits and the realization that mama's breakfast will only be a menu item at Cracker Barrel may help your student get adjusted to the future that lies ahead.
The National College Fairs website includes links to relevant articles about the college admission process and, of course, costs. For those of us with awhile to go before we start paying for college, we've got no time to spare in saving for college.
It's true that moms worry, and the H1N1 flu virus has got us more worried than usual. Let's agree to stay helpfully alert, not helplessly worried, with information on how to recognize symptoms of a common cold vs. symptoms of the flu. This following information is provided by WebMD; or print swinefluorcold.pdf for quick reference. Check out the Children's Hospital website for additional flu information.
Maybe we're all skeptical of "Hallmark Holidays" but there aren't enough excuses to thank grandparents for all they mean in our lives. If you're lucky enough to still have your own grandparents around, you know that you haven't been giving them the time and attention you would like since you had kids of your own. And you are probably beholden to your own parents and in-laws - your kids' grandparents - for what they do for your family, from the birthday cards and calls after tonsillectomies to the occasional babysitting that makes an evening out or weekend away possible.
Consider Grandparents' Day a commercial reminder that you need to acknowledge the grandparents in your life. For them, this stage is all about enjoying the fruits of surviving the years we're in right now. Perhaps their households are a bit quieter and their time is a bit more fluid, providing the contrast that lets them savor interludes with grandkids. Isn't it ironic that they never cut you any slack and yet they let your kids break all their old rules?
Maybe they exasperate you at times (You gave the baby a bite of hot dog? But the American Academy of Pedicatrics says they should be at least three years old!). Consider that you probably gave them some harrowing moments in your day, like when you rode in the back seat untethered. That's why child locks eventually had to be developed for back doors. Nowadays we have car seats and DVD players to maintain control.
Here are some ideas for communicating your appreciation to grandparents:
*If your kids are old enough to draw or write, nothing, but nothing, beats a handwritten letter or artwork from them. No card from the store even comes close.
*If you do find a card that expresses your sentiments better than you can put into your own words, don't neglect to include a drawing or scribble from your child's own hand.
*Your grandparents may not get out much anymore and are unlikely to be digitally connected. Besides a note from your kids, send them a sheet of stamps, a packet of stationery and some return address labels you've printed from your computer. For a generation that fully appreciates the written word, a kit like this provides everything they need to stay in touch.
*If they can visit, have them over for a meal and make it as good as any party occasion with cake, ice cream, and balloons. Make plenty so you can send them home with leftovers to enjoy the next day. As for the cake, consider serving a pound cake since it freezes well and you won't need a messy frosting. They'll get to enjoy the cake and the memory several more times.
While restaurants bake their potatoes on high heat in commercial grade ovens, most of us don't have the hour it takes to wait for them to cook nor the desire to heat up our kitchens at home. Microwaves have released us from needing the oven to cook potatoes, but they can still yield uneven results, with some spots of the potato more done than others.
Pre-washed, pre-wrapped baked potatoes are time-saving options but naturally cost more than plain baking potatoes. Glad Simply Cooking Microwave Steaming Bags offer a compromise between the convenience (and slightly higher price) of pre-wrapped potatoes and the time-consuming oven baking of raw potatoes.
Potatoes cook in 6 - 8 minutes, depending on their size and number (larger bags can hold more than one). I've found that the potatoes cook more evenly and are moist and fluffy but not soggy. The flesh peels away from the skin easily. The bags can be used a couple of times without losing their effectiveness; I'll cook two potatoes, then cook two more using the same bag. Although the manufacturer instructs not to re-use bags due to the possibility of cross-contamination, whole potatoes cooked in batches wouldn't pose the same risk as, say, steaming fish and then steaming broccolli in the same bag.
The bags work for other vegetables as well, but potatoes are a truly fool-proof use for this kitchen helper, and the gains in your time and more efficient use of energy are considerable. Use a bag to quickly cook a potato for your lunch and add a topping like chili, roast chicken or barbeque. It's cheaper than a frozen dinner and a good way to use up your leftovers besides.
Remember those zipper bag omelete recipes that were passed over the web (you put egg, ham and cheese in a zipper bag and tossed it into boiling water)? The recipes were discouraged later because the bags weren't intended designed for boiling, leading to a concern of potential chemical breakdown into the food. Microwave steaming bags once again offer us the promise of a real breakfast with no dishes left in the sink; toss in two eggs, stir, then add ingredients and cook on high for 2 minutes.
The company provides other unexpected recipes for the bags, like beef stroganoff starting with uncooked noodles - just slice the sirloin steak thinly and add beef broth to cook the noodles. Ready in 5 minutes with virtually no cleanup? I like it!
I've heard of a lot of promotional prizes and giveaways in my time, but one that has to be in my personal top 10 list of Giveaways That Inspire Fantasy is free housecleaning.
Two Maids & a Mop is expanding in Birmingham from its base in the Florida panhandle, and to generate interest in their services they are offering prizes such as free housecleaning for a year and, grandaddy of them all, free housecleaning for a lifetime. (I'd settle for covering just the next ten years of my life, which promise to be the most cleaning-intense I will ever experience. I am definitely Proctor & Gamble's target market.)
Interestingly, the service pays its cleaning team a sliding rate based on the customer's assessment of performance. Would BirminghamMoms be the pickiest clients or the most grateful of all time? I'm guessing the latter. We know the fortitude it takes to clean the toilet in the mancave.
To enter, register on the website. While you're there, take a look at some of the practical blog posts on cleaning in general.
In preschool, there's no accounting for what interests our kids. Despite all the promising toys we give them, it's a pair of rain boots or a random kitchen utensil that captivates. In fact, we long for a bit of conformity so we can easily find (or, horrors! replace) the toy of the moment.
Then they get to elementary and start noticing what other kids have that they want, and it's only a precursor to middle school's "I'll-need-a-shrink-one-day- if-I-don't-have-this" item, followed by a must-have accessory in high school that we will eventually learn has a terrible connotation by watching the Oprah show.
For now, though, it's shaped rubber band bracelets that have become the must-have of the elementary school world. They come in zoo and farm animal shapes as well as geometric shapes (hmm, a circle perhaps?) and are around $1.99 for a package of 10. Packs are selling out at Learning Express, where they are displayed in packages near the register.
This fad is easy on Birminghammoms, provided the store is in stock. The bracelets are allowance-friendly, unisex, match any outfit, and won't tear up the dryer. As far as we know, they connote nothing but grade-school coolness, something we will miss one day.
Anyone who has visited the Pepper Place Market on a Saturday morning has wished they could bottle up the exciting buzz of vendors sharing fresh, local produce, the scent of the foods being prepared by a chef, and the general sense of goodwill that pervades the whole area (maybe it's all those friendly dogs wagging their tails).
The closest thing to having the Market on a shelf in your pantry is the General Store at Pepper Place, which made its debut last Saturday. It's so new they are still setting up some of the displays in the back area, but suffice it to say that the best of Birmingham and surrounding Alabama products have been curated here for you at the General Store. In fact, most of the products represented are by artisans, chefs and vendors who maintain booth space at the Market.
Where do you go when you take a notion to try a new recipe and need the best of ingredients? You could hunt for stone ground corn meal at the grocery store, but what if you could find fresh organic, stone-ground corn meal grown just down the road in Wilsonville? Maybe you'd like to wow with a meal of the southern classic, shrimp and grits. The General Store at Pepper Place has locallly grown blue corn grits. How triumphant would you feel serving those?
There are several culinary treasures here that are far from the standard, mass-produced variety. A jar of tomato base from Blackjack Gardens. Fig jam from Petals from the Past. Local distributor Tsitalia offers large cans of marinated artichoke hearts, red peppers, capers or olive oil on these shelves. A particular value is the 32 oz. bottle of vanilla extract for $12.95 (and I thought I was getting a bargain on a much smaller bottle at a specialty store for that price).
The best of the local and southern cookbooks are here, as are books on green living and almost forgotten arts like canning and homesteading. Give your nose a tour of the luscious soaps handmade with sweet-smelling herbs. If you're being more deliberate about how far your food travels, the General Store at Pepper Place brings you products within a cozy radius of home and helps local farmers market their products.
Of course a BirminghamMom's first choice would be to visit to the Market on Saturdays (market days end Oct. 10 this year). Since birthday parties, ballgames, and other family commitments may tie up your Saturday, you can still enjoy the best of the market at the General Store at 212 29th Street South near iCantina, a Upromise participant, and o kafes coffee house. They are open Tuesday - Saturday from 10 until 4.
Dr Pepper fans note: Hours are in keeping with the original Dr. Pepper logo suggesting a Dr. Pepper break at 10, 2 and 4. Most of us are probably just thinking of the a.m. and p.m. infant feeding schedules we've survived.
