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Taking Things for Granted–The Food Allergy Club

Christy — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:41:00 +0000

Earlier this week I sat at a table with 8 Kindergarteners and their respective mothers/grandmothers. It might have been a mother/child brunch. It could have been some kind of cool club. Instead, it was a meeting for kids with food allergies who are getting ready to transition into a new school for first grade. The school nurse had each child introduce themselves and share their food allergies. We heard things like, "Seafood, shrimp and peanuts" and "Peanuts, nuts, and peanut butter." Bug’s answer was, "Peanuts, and all nuts… except for coconuts." All but one of the kids is allergic to peanuts.

I came home and logged onto Twitter where I found the following message, "Just got a call from school—a kid was suspended 4 trying to touch my daughter’s face w/ peanut butter when he knows she is deathly allergic ." It was immediately followed by a non-related tweet about some high school cheerleaders who hazed a girl with a peanut allergy by covering her in peanut butter. And just earlier this week, I commented on an episode of Smash where one character slips peanuts to a peanut allergic star to get her off the production.

My son has had food allergies his entire life. Thankfully, he has outgrown allergies to dairy, eggs, and soy. In fact, we were able to dye Easter Eggs for the first time this year. But the peanut and tree nut allergies impact his life. He sits at a special table in the cafeteria in school. He typically can’t eat the cake served at a birthday party – we always offer to bring cupcakes just for him. Halloween holds a special kind of horror for me, and a disappointment for him, as we pull out more than half his candy for nuts or potential nut contamination. He can’t order freely from the menu in a restaurant, and he often can’t enjoy the complimentary bread/chips/whatever that comes out before the meal. There are restaurants he can’t even go to because they have loose peanuts everywhere. We buy tickets to the peanut free baseball games. As fortunate as we are that peanut allergies in particular have a lot of awareness, part of that reason is because peanut oil gets on everything and isn’t as easy to wipe off. It’s scary stuff.

We had one person at our meeting today celebrating that she could finally pack a peanut butter and jelly lunch for her child to bring to school because he’s only allergic to tree nuts. She might as well have said that she was thrilled that she could send him into school with a gun. It’s unlikely that he’ll shoot anyone with it, but if he does, they could die.

It’s not practical at this point to ban peanuts (or other high-allergy foods) from schools or anywhere else. And I know that my child needs to learn to manage his allergy. In honor of Food Allergy Awareness Week, I’d like to make a few wishes, though. I wish that we’d get better about teaching our (non-allergic) kids about food allergies and just how serious they are. I wish that adults would get a grip and stop insisting that their kids have a "right" to a peanut butter & jelly sandwich for every meal when it means risking another child’s life. And I wish that Hollywood would take food allergies seriously (with serious repercussions) and avoid using them in trite plotlines. Lastly, I wish that we could get consistent and clear labeling for food and health and beauty products so we could all make educated decisions.

We’re talking about the lives of the people we love.

Healthy Babies: Taking Things for Granted

Christy — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:12:33 +0000

Last week I had an ultrasound done at a local hospital (and, no, I’m not pregnant). I’ve had more than a dozen done over the past few years with two at-risk pregnancies and various other things that crop up. The ultrasound tech was a student, and it just may have been her first ultrasound on a living person because she didn’t really seem to know what she was doing. Her instructor was very involved and I endured some extra prodding and waiting as they walked through every step of the process. This somehow distracted me from the fact that this is the very same room I was in when they had to look for a heartbeat after I started bleeding in my pregnancy with Bug.

After the ultrasound, I asked to use the bathroom. When they brought me to the door, I hesitated, but it was once I was inside with the door closed that I started to hyperventilate. I remembered that room. I remembered finding the first of many blood clots in the toilet due to my sub-chorionic hematoma. I remember yelling that I had just lost the baby. And I remember my aunt, a nurse at the hospital, hugging me and assuring me that it was going to be OK.

I took a moment to calm my breathing while staring in the mirror at the person I’ve become since that day. A mom, among other things. And then I closed my eyes and pictured Bug’s face, proof that my nightmares from the past had not come true. I thought of Bug and LadyBug, playing together, fighting together, testing my patience. I think I healed a little more on that day by unintentionally facing that place, although I hope I never stand in that room again.

Later, as I went to visit my mom who was recuperating in a room upstairs, I passed the old maternity ward where both kids were born. That made me smile. Those were the good memories. Seeing my mom, who was one of the few people who really understood the trauma of my first pregnancy, brought tears to me eyes. I think they were, in part, tears of relief that I don’t need to revisit that time again.

Thinking back on both the stress of my pregnancies and the anxiety of the hospital visit last week, I want to remind people again to not take healthy pregnancies and babies for granted. It’s certainly of no help to anyone to spend your pregnancy worried about all of the things that can go wrong, but I do urge people to notice the things that go well. And to truly celebrate hearing the heartbeat for the first time, seeing your baby via ultrasound, and each healthy check-up you have. Enjoy those moments for yourself, but also for those who can’t have them.

What Mom Bloggers Do For Fun

Christy — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 08:23:50 +0000

This is a departure from my usual content, but I hope you’ll enjoy! It’s best intended for those who can appreciate the joy of a double entendre.

First, a math problem: What do you get when you take 4 influential mom bloggers, encourage them to make videos, and then leave them alone at night with 2 pints of ice cream, 1 bag of chips, 1 package of cookies, 3 bottles of caffeinated-but-diet soda (and 1 Dr. Pepper), 4 smart phones and zero alcohol or illicit substances? You get this non-kid-or-office-friendly video…

Top Ten Signs You’ve Slept with a Blogger

* No bloggers (dad or otherwise) were harmed in the making of this video.

Much love to the three Amys @ A Million Boxes, Resourceful Mommy Media, SelfishMom for the food, fun and friendship.

I’m a TWIN! Toyota Women’s Influencer Network

Christy — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:34:08 +0000

I am excited to announce that I’ve been selected to be an inaugural member of the Toyota Women’s Influencer Network, aka TWIN. Truth be told, my stint started at the beginning of January, but I’ve been kind of quiet about it while I process the information, learn more about expectations and figure out how I want to share the information with my readers. It’s a new program and I think we’re all finding our footing.

I was drawn to TWIN because of my overall impression of the Toyota brand. While we’re not currently driving a Toyota, it’s no reflection on how I feel about their record of safety and quality. My parents have driven Toyota vehicles for years and my father just bumped up to a Lexus which I’ve only just learned is actually a division of Toyota. The Toyota Sienna was a top pick for us when we were shopping for mini-vans and was only missed the cut because of the feature packages.

Over the next few months, I’ll be sharing some of what I learn about Toyota as a company, my experiences with their vehicles, and coverage of some other fun activities. If you have questions about Toyota or their vehicles, please let me know. I’m happy to help find the answers.

Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of the Toyota.

Dreaded Doctor Visits

Christy — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:13:56 +0000

I made a vow to myself on my 40th birthday to make an even stronger effort to focus on a healthier lifestyle. I’m making progress, albeit slow. At least I know that the changes I have made will be with me for life. They aren’t simply a fad I’m going through. The one thing I haven’t paid nearly enough attention to is my annual doctor’s check-ups. I was so far overdue it wasn’t funny and it wasn’t all that smart, either. Now I’m concerned about my health because I haven’t stayed on top of it.

You may suspect that I avoid going to the doctor because I’m afraid of bad news. If so, you don’t know me very well. This is the girl who, upon completing her first Judy Blume book, insisted on a trip to the doctor to be checked for scoliosis. As it turned out, I did have a mild case and spent the next year or two or whatever being photographed half naked all in the name of science. That probably makes it sound worse than it was, but for an adolescent, it was hardly a high point. The truth is that I’m a proactive worrier. Maybe that’s called being a hypochondriac. Anyway, the point is… if something is wrong, I want to know what it is and what I do to fix it.

And then Bug came along. Before he was even born, he was dealing with specialists. We had additional ultrasounds, maternal-fetal specialist consultations, and quite a few trips to the ER. And after he was born, it was like "Parade of the –Ists." He had things you would never think about. He had things you’ve never heard of. I couldn’t even make this stuff up. Before he was one, he had seen (or was seeing) a dermatologist, opthamologist, physical therapist, psychologist (ok, maybe she was for me), allergist, and some sort of developmental expert. The kid had to have surgery on his tear ducts. And then I found out I was pregnant with LadyBug. At just a year later, I was considered "an older mom," resulting in extra tests and appointments. Plus, I had problems with that pregnancy, too, which added even more special attention. She had hearing loss. Sort of. And that meant repeated visits to the audiologist where I had to try to convince a squirmy infant to fall asleep with probes in her ears. You can imagine how well that went. And then she needed to see an orthopedist. Seriously. Later we added a urologist to the mix, as well as another developmental person. We’ve worked with an OT and a speech therapist, too. I just want to point out here that Bug is only six and, other than Bug’s food allergies, they’re pretty healthy kids.

I share all of this in part because it amuses me, but mainly to explain why I let my own doctor’s visits slide, even though I knew I shouldn’t have. I had a scare in the past, shortly after LadyBug was born and knew I should stay on top of it. I was simply tired of waiting rooms and insurance papers (yes, that IS my husband, even though we don’t have the same last name) and blood draws (UGH) and follow-up visits. The last medical abnormality we had just pushed me over the edge, I think. I stopped scheduling almost anything. My kids’ physicals are up-to-date, but did fall behind schedule (bah. physical, schmysical – certainly one of the 10 other doctors would have noticed if anything was wrong) and they haven’t even seen a dentist. Yeah, I know. I’m an awful mom and my kids’ teeth will fall out and they’ll hate me forever. But at least they’ll be alive, and hearing, and walking, and talking, and all of that. [Note: It's on my To-Do list, right after my own EKG]

Anyway. I called my doctor and asked for an appointment. "When do you want to come?" the receptionist asked. I wanted to answer "NOW" but managed to come up with a reasonable time and date. And then I stopped sleeping through the night because all I could do was worry. I had finally stopped worrying (for one brief moment) about my kids and started to worry about me, which was actually scarier, because I KNEW they were healthy. I also have to blame this partly on the Grey’s Anatomy marathon I’ve been taking part in, which has me imagining all of the many ways I could be dying and not even know. That and the heart palpitations, which I might blame on Grey’s Anatomy stress as well.

I met my doctor for the first time (long story) and gave her a long list of complaints and concerns. I updated my medical history with some scary new stuff. And then I waited for the bad news. As you can probably imagine, the news wasn’t that bad at the appointment. She didn’t find a tumor the size of a basketball or anything. I left the appointment with the longest laundry lists of tests and labs and yadda yadda yadda. Who knew that your 40th birthday was the day you suddenly became old? I’ve got an order for a Mammogram, Colonoscopy (joy), EKG, and a whole host of things involving blood and other bodily byproduct. Actually, the list is a bit freaky.

You might imagine that I’d be even more stressed as I wait for more tests and test results. Uhm, if so, you probably skipped the second paragraph. The truth is that I feel somewhat better. I’m anxiously hoping for good news across the board, but right now, I’m feeling more peaceful just for taking the step to know. There is power in knowledge.

I hope that you have been rolling your eyes at my sheer stupidity for not staying on top of each and every doctor visit. But if not, please take a moment to make the call for yourself. Call your doctor. Call a local clinic. Just call and get yourself checked out. It is scary to think that something might be wrong. On the other hand, if you can stay on top of your health, you significantly increase their ability to fix anything that does go wrong.

In the meantime, please send some good vibes my way…

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Weight Loss on a Budget–Chat with Dr. James Anderson

Christy — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:21:25 +0000

I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions about losing weight. It’s too easy and too depressing to fall off the wagon and revert to your old habits. I do believe in making small changes every day that have a positive impact on your health and life as a whole. If you can maintain those small changes, you can slowly create the person you want to be. That said, I like information and I like adding to the tools I have available to make those small changes successful.

I’m pleased to be co-hosting a chat today with Dr. James Anderson, author of The Simple Diet: A Doctor’s Science-Based Plan. He’s going to talk about losing weight in a budget-friendly way. I’m interested to know what he has to say. If you are, too, please join me for a short (30 minute chat) on The Motherhood. Details below:

When: Thursday, Jan. 19, at 1 p.m. ET. We will chat for 30 minutes.

Where: On The Motherhood, right here – http://www.themotherhood.com/talk/show?id=62336

Who: Dr. James Anderson, author of The Simple Diet, will be hosting the live chat. I’ll be co-hosting along with:

You’ll also have the chance to win one of five copies of Dr. Anderson’s book!

Disclosure: I am being compensated to participate and promote this chat. There is no promise of a positive review and the opinions contained in this post are my own.

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Reflections and Resolutions

Christy — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:49:11 +0000

It is no secret that I am an introspective person. I find strength in taking the time to look within, reflect, and set goals and action steps for moving forward. I’ve never done a vision board (although it looks like fun). I’m the sort of person who can see it all in my mind and stay true to my course with that alone.

In the past, my focus has been on building my reputation as a freelance writer. There wasn’t any kind of specific milestone I was aiming for, but I knew I’d know when I got there. And I did. I’m not finished with my pursuits in that area, but I had gone far enough along that path that it no longer needed single-minded determination. I was free to open myself up to new opportunities and pursuits. I love when that happens!

This past year, I had some vague, but important goals for myself. Early on in 2011, I was feeling solid as a freelancer (or at least as solid as I can be until my kids are both in school full-time!). I actually wanted to be able to focus more on being a blogger. The problem was that freelancing was (and continues to be) my primary source of income. Blogging does bring in some money, but it hasn’t been as consistent or lucrative. And then it happened. All hell broke loose in my freelance world. All of a sudden, I was sliding backwards and it was not a good feeling. Several of my highest paying gigs started to dry up. I took that as a sign, but I wasn’t entirely sure of what.

Right around my 40th birthday in April, things started to happen. Good things, one after another. And most of them came from my blog. I had been toying around with an idea, but that’s when it really started to take root. I was going to need to take another leap of faith. The last big one was when I left my job back in 2005 with an at-risk pregnancy and the idea that I might be a stay-at-home mom. I waffled and waffled, afraid to take that final step. And then something else happened to force my hand. Without going into too much detail, I decided to leave About.com after building the Family Computing site for four years. It was my largest individual source of income and the decision was emotional and scary.

And that’s when I launched Quirky-Tech. I’m still building it up, but I’m so thankful to have it in my blogging family. Launching a tech blog on my own without the backing of the About.com/NY Times name was daunting. I had been building contacts for years and was afraid that I’d have to start from scratch and build a whole new reputation. Luckily, that has not been the case. My prior contacts are, for the most part, still happy to be working with me. Even better, bigger, cooler things have been happening both in front of the metaphorical camera and behind. I have not regretted the move for a single moment. Better still, my income has increased, which is what happens when you are clearly in love and passionate about what you’re doing.

So, here we are in 2012. I’ve already made another little leap of faith to start off the year and I’m anticipating many more. Heck, I’m a bit of a risk taker. I haven’t quite solidified my concrete goals for the year, but I am ready to put some resolutions on the table. There are some personal and some professional, but the way my job goes, they are closely intertwined…

Focus on creating a healthier lifestyle for myself, and my family. I know that some lifestyle coaching expert will look at this and say that I need something concrete to measure it by. No, I don’t. Healthier is healthier.
Strengthen prior relationships. As someone who relies on page views, freelance assignments, and contractual gigs, relationship building is of utmost importance. That said, it’s even more important to maintain the relationships you already have. That’s something I need (and want) to put energy into this year.
Get more organized. This is a life-long struggle for me. Anyone who knows me very well is probably nodding right about now. I am not going to BE organized by the end of this year, but I want to make some positive strides in that direction. Big Guy, if you’re reading this, feel free to hold me to this one!
Regroup and re-focus. I have some decisions to make about what direction I want to take, especially in terms of blogging. I’m not sure I want to be a “big blogger.” I think I kind of like being a smaller blogger with a strong resume. We’ll see!
Get on top of my finances. I’m awful at this, so it’s an important area of focus for me.
Travel. This is a vague, out-there goal, but I want to travel more with my family. One little step is to make sure we all have passports and are ready to go if the opportunity arises.

My resolutions this year are more nebulous. But here’s what I’ve learned about myself and my career… if I focus on what I want, I can achieve it. Some parts are more difficult, and I anticipate smaller success in those areas, where some areas will be much easier. You’ll probably be seeing some of these resolutions for the next few years. I’m OK with that.

I hope you have a wonderful 2012 as well. We’ve got a whole year of potential ahead. What will you do with yours?

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2011… a Year in Pictures

Christy — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:47:40 +0000

This was a crazy busy year full of all of my favorite things… family, travel, tech, and fun. These are just some of the highlights of my activities this year.

CES 2011 in Vegas… Danny Gokey Concert

A LOT of Snow

Trip to Disney as the Traveling Mom Food Allergies Blogger

A new room for my girly little girl

A 40th Birthday! (Yikes)

A trip to NOLA for the Mom 2.0 Conference (Thanks, Microsoft!)

Lots of baking…

Forward with Ford

Visit to GE with the lovely Charlene

Family travel

More family travel

And more…

BlogHer San Diego (with some of my favorite Boston Parent Bloggers)

Bug’s First Day of Kindergarten

A Hurricane (yeah, this is the only picture I got!)

Big Guy Turns 40 (Bug turns 6)

Freak October Snowstorm (haven’t really had any snow since…)

A visit with Walter Wick

Gaming with PlayStation Family

Happy, albeit sick, holiday season…

We are (PlayStation) Family

Christy — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:02:01 +0000

I am thrilled to officially announce my new role as a PlayStation Family Ambassador. We have been a PlayStation family for quite some time now and it is by far our favorite gaming platform. When I was asked to come on board, I didn’t need to think twice. Ambassadors have been given access to a PlayStation 3 with Move, and will be checking out new games as they come out.

As the first step of the process, we were invited out to Foster City to meet with PlayStation execs, tour the facilities and have some time to get to know each other a bit better.

We had some time to chat with Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America. He gave us a fascinating overview of how he came to Sony and how his path paralleled the growth and progression of gaming in America.

The thing that I was most excited to check out was the new PlayStation Vita. It has a 5-inch OLED screen, front and rear cameras, front and rear touch panels, and dual analog sticks. I can’t even begin to describe how gorgeous the graphics are on this handheld. In addition, you’ll be able to some of the same top-end games from your PS3 on your PS Vita. The PS Vita will also have social networking apps, so you can stay in touch. There will be a Wi-Fi version and a 3G/Wi-Fi version. If you’re familiar with some of the augmented reality-type games on the Nintendo 3DS, you’ll be able to experience that with the PS Vita, as well.

As you can probably expect, I had a lot of questions about PlayStation Move and its application in educational environments. I know the possibilities are there, but I haven’t seen a lot from PlayStation about their vision in that area. I got some good feedback around that and am hoping to be able to share a little more on progressive uses of that equipment in the near future.

They also took us on a super-secret tour, but if I told you about that I’d have to kill you and that wouldn’t be all that productive for me. Suffice to say that we had a chance to talk to some folks who make the games the wonderful experiences we often take for granted. Honestly, it was a dream come true for a gamer and PlayStation fan like me.

So, most of my reviews and content around PlayStation will end up on Quirky-Tech, but I will cross-post some back here as well.

Disclaimer: Sony paid for my travel and lodging and provided some PlayStation products for our use. There was no promise of a positive review and no additional compensation. The opinions contained in this post are my own.

Pink and Purple Guns

Christy — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:38:00 +0000

When Big Guy and I decided to have kids, I had some ideas about how I wanted to raise them. My husband had fewer opinions, but seemed on board with the things that were most important to me. I know that you can’t really be prepared for what it’s like to have kids, but now, more than six years later, I’m pretty sure I’ve really screwed up the plan.

We have a few big philosophies, but these in particular stand out:

1. Giving girls the space to be what they want without pressure to do “girl” things. Ah, nature vs. nurture. Do girls like pink and purple because of genetics, or because everyone behaves like it’s a foregone conclusion? Do they play with dolls and favor social play because they have learned to do so from the people in their lives? I think it’s a little of both, but it was important to me to create a space where my daughter could choose her own path. We shied away from the pale pink and purple clothes that many purchase exclusively. We went instead with neutral pastels and bold colors like turquoise, plum, and red. We made sure she had equal access to blocks and cars as to dolls and and play kitchens. It’s challenging, quite honestly, because many family and friends around us still believe that girls prefer dolls over trucks. They give her everything “girly,” while Bug gets all of the engineering toys. I believe that sends a message to both of my children about what they should like and what their roles should be.

2. Guns. I am not a violent person and I don’t believe that violence is generally the best solution to any problem. Big Guy and I have struggled a bit more with this particular area. Not that my husband believes in guns or violence either, but we’re gamers and sci-fi fans, and weaponry plays a role in our hobbies. We both fondly remember Star Wars from our own childhoods and wanted to share them movies with our own kids. But it’s a slippery slope. Is a light saber a gun? Yeah, kind of. And I’m sure my husband thought I was a lunatic when I was furious with him for purchasing a Toy Story 3 Lego set with green army men. Once Bug started school, it became virtually impossible to avoid the influence of guns and a battle culture, even if we hadn’t been great about dealing with it in the first place. This past Halloween, Bug decided to go as a Clone Trooper (they were good guys before they became Storm Troopers). And when I balked about getting him a toy blaster, he counseled me, “It’s just a piece of plastic that makes noise. It’s not REAL.” This is where I had to make a choice. Do I blindly hold onto this rule, or do I make an occasional exception, but use it as a chance to talk more with my kids about the subject. I went with the latter, although it’s an uneasy decision for me. Still, Bug reminds me frequently that his battle play is pretend, while I continue to request less violent games. Lady Bug is younger and it’s hard to tell what she understands and what she doesn’t. This makes the whole situation far more complicated.

There are plenty of other decisions we have made as parents that are the same as some families and different than others. It’s not about right or wrong; it’s about making the choices that we feel comfortable with and that seem best for our family.

That brings us to today. LadyBug is making out her Christmas wish list and it has two items on it. The first is a My Little Pony play set with a slide. For the record, Hasbro doesn’t currently make any. The second? A pink and purple gun. And it is those minutes of parenthood in which you know, without any doubt whatsoever, that you have failed your children.

The good news? Guns are not typically girly, so there aren’t many toy gun options in pink and purple. Sadly, there are more pink toy guns in production than My Little Pony slides. LadyBug is going to have to come up with a new list and I have a whole new parenting challenge ahead. How do I explain that Santa doesn’t really make either of those toys?