Archive for October, 2010

This is the last in a series of stories to celebrate the five-year anniversary of Momania. We are flashing back to some of our favorite columns and blogs. The 30-Day Sex Challenge brought everyone out! I never know what to expect on the blog. There were some ladies who were game and other who were exhausted already. I love it when the men chime in too, and they did on this topic of course!

By Theresa Walsh Giarrusso

A church in Florida wanted to help married couples deal with the major problems in their lives: money and sex.

The church set up a financial series to help address the fiduciary issues.

And, for their sexual problems, the church challenged the married couples to have sex at least once a day for 30 continuous days. The challenge began in mid-February.

The pastor of the Relevant Church in Tampa, Fla., says that God wants married couples to have sex. His church believes that by increasing intimacy the couples will increase communication. The theory is if the …

Continue reading Momania Flashback: Could you have sex for 30 consecutive days? »

This is the seventh in a series of stories to celebrate the five-year anniversary of Momania. We are flashing back to some of our favorite columns and blogs. I believe this Jan. 13, 2008 column was our first reference on the blog to “helicopter parents” and it certainly wasn’t our last. We debate often the pros of and cons of helicopter-style parenting versus free-range parenting. I am finally admitting to being a helicopter parent, and I am working on it.

By THERESA WALSH GIARRUSSO

Am I helping or am I hovering?

I have been asking myself this a lot lately as my 6-year-old daughter becomes more independent. When should I step in and offer assistance and when should I back off and let her handle things on her own?

A few years back, “hovering” became a bad thing for a parent to do. It was what overinvolved “helicopter parents” did. Originally, the term applied to late-generation baby boomers who were micromanaging their college students’ lives — calling professors to discuss …

Continue reading Momania Flashback: How ‘helicopter parents’ may thwart the launch into independence »

A man in Boston has created a whole new way to fit and sell bras.

Derek Ohly of Zyrra is using CAD software generally used for architecture and product development for electronics and engineering to design lingerie.

From Xconomy Boston:

“The idea is to take a task that is traditionally frustrating and time consuming—bra shopping—and turn it into a more of a girls-night-in, fun event, Ohly says. Zyrra also holds sales events with local stores and spas, and even has a fitting booth in the MassChallenge work space. (Don’t worry, it’s away from the building’s giant, floor-to-ceiling windows.)”

“The fit specialists gather women’s measurements at these events and plug them into a CAD program that designs the bras and sends them off to the manufacturers. ‘We could make a big impact in an industry that hasn’t seen a lot of real innovation in many years,’ Ohly says. ‘The bra sizing system was invented in 1920. And it doesn’t work very well, so we’re …

Continue reading Would you buy a custom-made bra sold at Tupperwear-type parties? »

This is the sixth in a series of stories to celebrate the five-year anniversary of Momania. We are flashing back to some of our favorite columns and blogs. We often talk on the blog about passages and new stages in life for us and our kids. Giving up my maternity clothes and weaning my last baby were very difficult for me. My childbearing years were over and many moms related to those feelings.

By THERESA WALSH GIARRUSSO

I never gave away any of my maternity clothes in between my pregnancies. I always knew I wasn’t done yet. They sat in plastic containers in the attic waiting for the next addition to our family.

But now with our last baby born and a move to another house upon us, I have no excuse not to part with these oversized garments — except that I haven’t quite been ready to give them up.

Parting with maternity clothes is acknowledging that your childbearing time is done. It’s the passing of an era: No more excitement of taking a pregnancy test hoping to see two …

Continue reading Momania Flashback: Sadness overwhelms as life’s next stage arrives »

We all know it is extremely difficult to get one good photo of all your kids. Invariably someone is making a face or looking the wrong way. But would you go as far as to cut and paste heads on from other photos to make one perfect shot?

Microsoft is marketing on their Windows 7 an editing system where you can cut good poses off of one picture and paste them onto another photo. (Abobe Photoshop has let you do that for years but the Cloud program looks pretty-idiot proof and doesn’t seem to require much training.)

But as frustrating as it is to get everyone pointed in the same direction and smiling, is it honest and representative of family life to cut and paste them into submission? Are imperfect photos what family life is really about?

How much correcting is too much correcting? What are you willing to change on photos – edit out red eye or a boo-boo? Slim your hips? Change heads? Swap out a wife or husband?

Continue reading Microsoft Cloud: Would you cut and paste kids’ heads for the perfect photo? »

This is the fifth in a series of stories to celebrate the five-year anniversary of Momania. We are flashing back to some of our favorite columns and blogs. As a community we are at our best when one of our own is in trouble. The sniping stops, the criticisms cease and good advice is dispensed by almost all. Here are several samples where moms were in crisis and our community offered good advice. You can click on each headline to see the original discussion.

What to do when a child can’t stop stealing?

Ladies, one of our own needs our help! I received a note from a regular MOMania contributor who has a big problem with her child. Her child is an older elementary student.

Here is what she wrote: “What do you do when your perfect angel gets caught taking (i.e. stealing) other people’s things at school? This child is not deprived, is an A – B student and genuinely liked by most people. The child has a kind heart, and believes in God. However, whether it is a gem clip or …

Continue reading Momania Flashback: Crisis brings out the best in our moms »

Santa needs to buy stock in Apple because the top three things kids ages 5 to 16 want for Christmas are the iPhone4, the iPod touch and the iPad, according to the Duracell Toy Report.

From The Telegraph UK:

“Approximately 39 per cent children quizzed desired Apple gadgets this year, with 17 per cent of five to eight- year-olds, 50 per cent of nine to 12-year-olds and 66 per cent of 13 to 16-year-olds all putting Apple items at the top of their lists.”

“The report, which quizzed a total of 2,138 children and parents in equal measure, also highlighted the growing similarities between boys’ and girls’ preferred Christmas presents, with both sexes increasingly opting for gender neutral gadgets. “

“It found more than three out of five parents admitted choosing Christmas presents that would keep their youngsters quiet throughout the holidays.”

“The top 10 toys for Christmas 2010, according to the report are:

1) iPhone 4 (14%)

2) iPod touch (13%)

3) iPad (12%)

4) Kinect …

Continue reading Forget the toys, kids want iPads, iPhones for Christmas »

This is the fourth in a series of stories to celebrate the five-year anniversary of Momania. We are flashing back to some of our favorite columns and blogs. This is one of my absolute favorite columns. It was written by my husband after I gave birth to our third child. I think it is just hysterical and truly represents what happened that night. I was ready to kill him as would any woman in transition with an 7-pound baby forcing it’s way out of your vagina and he stops to shower, shave and put on cologne! This column originally ran on March 11, four days after our third child’s birth.

Do I not look like I was ready to explode with child? This is hours before I went into labor.

By MICHAEL GIARRUSSO

Editor note: Theresa Walsh Giarrusso gave birth to Lilina Catherine (7 pounds, 8.8 ounces; 20.5 inches long) on March 7 at 1:21 a.m. For the next few weeks, her husband, Michael, will be writing the Sunday column. Her friend Keith Still, mother of three, is handling the MOMania …

Continue reading Momania Flashback: When the wife is ready to give birth, don’t stop for a shower »

Examples of some new fangled pumpkin carving tools. (AJC staff)

Example of a pumpkin stencil. (AJC staff)

The final product! (AJC staff)

When I was a kid, our mother took a gigantic butcher knife and carved two triangles for eyes, a round nose and a mouth and that was your Halloween pumpkin.

There were no cute pumpkin carving kits with tiny saws that even kids can use without losing a limb. I didn’t know anyone using drill bits to delicately carve into the pumpkin pulp without busting through the pumpkin wall or anyone using stencils or templates to create fancy characters or designs. I am fascinated by all these pumpkin carving “advances.”

Last year I tried using a template of Minnie Mouse on our pumpkin. It turned out OK. I had a hard time differentiating between her ears and the big bow. I’m pretty sure though nobody who came to our house could have guessed who it was supposed to be.

The best luck we’ve ever had with pumpkins was painting them and using props on …

Continue reading Pumpkin carving style: Old school freestyle or with stencils? »

This is the third in a series of stories to celebrate the five-year anniversary of Momania. We are flashing back to some of our favorite columns and blogs. This June 3, 2007 column represented a lot of what we discuss on the blog – ethical dilemmas while rearing our kids. How do you handle things in front of your kids? There may be an easy way but is that the way you want to teach your kids?

Pop quiz, hotshot. You’ve just left Target with your purchases. You’ve locked your three kids in their car seats when you notice two boxes of breast pads that were overlooked by you and the cashier. They were not paid for. Your 6-year-old daughter also notices. What do you do? What do you do?

Do you unhook all three kids and slog back into the store to pay for the items? Do you leave the items in the shopping cart in the parking lot? Do you take the items home and return them on another shopping trip? Do you just take them home without paying?

Parents are faced with ethical dilemmas …

Continue reading Momania Flashback: How do you handle ethical dilemmas in front of kids? »