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October 2005
Georgia football foul for Moms
Is it fair for ‘hardworking’ husband to spend weekends on sports? Why can’t ‘game day’ be family friendly?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog.
Yeah, it’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog – if you’re not the one home alone with the kids.
My husband’s season football tickets to our alma mater mean he gets fantastic Saturdays in Sanford Stadium with his best friend reliving his college days.
I know Michael works hard and deserves down time. However, if I said he had to take care of the kids for eight hours while I went shopping every Saturday, you better believe we’d have some problems.
I used to be included in these glorious game days. We would tailgate and cheer on the Dogs together.
But after our first child arrived four years ago, my season ticket got transferred to my husband’s college roommate. The only game I ever attend now is Homecoming.
Two seasons ago, I decided to take the 2-year-old and 5-month-old to visit a girlfriend in Athens during a game so I wouldn’t feel so left out. We drove over with my husband and his friend and dropped them off by North Campus. I was later told that wouldn’t happen again – the kids had ruined their buzz.
Last season, I had completely had it by the fourth consecutive home game. The house needed repairs. I had a terrible cold, and I just needed a break from the kids. I begrudgingly took Michael to a garage to pick up his car so he could head east to get trashed on Jack and Coke and bark like a dog.
As I drove home with the babies in their car seats, listening to the Disney’s Greatest Volume 1 album for the 900th time, cussing my husband, Mark Richt and the whole Bulldog Nation, I got pulled over for speeding.
As much as I want to be included in the game-day experience, I’m not quite ready to commit to the eight-hour odyssey that my husband turns each game into. He arrives early, drinks, eats and then stays late to sober up. Even if I was ready to devote that much time to a game, I’m not willing to spend $9 an hour for a babysitter.
Even though I don’t want to root against the Dogs, the better they play, the worse I get screwed. Game days turn into game weekends. When they’re winning, Michael wants to follow the team around the Southeast. And of course there is always the exciting annual drunken call from Jacksonville after the Florida game. (I put my foot down this year. He stayed home — and ignored us while he watched the game here.)
On the rare occasion that the whole family goes, there still are problems. The University of Georgia insists all children, even infants, pay the full adult ticket price. However, it does very little to make the experience family friendly.
Drunks spew profanity and tobacco juice. Newer ticket holders like us are stuck in the hot sun. There is no place to take kids to cool off except the concourse at the top of stadium, which is full of smokers and drunk sorority girls stumbling around in their stilettos.
There’s no official stroller parking inside or outside of the stadium, which makes it tough to get my 31-pound 2-year-old to the game. There also is no decent place to nurse. One year, a paramedic took pity on me and let me sit in the back of his ambulance to breastfeed and change Rose.
I don’t really want to go to every game, as much as I just want to tailgate in Athens. If the university wants to make even the littlest Bulldogs welcome, it would open up the Ramsey Student Center to season ticket-holder families. The kids could play in the air-conditioned gym during the game and the moms could chit chat.
I can’t imagine the preschoolers could do more damage than the college students.
Permalink | Comments (139) | Categories: Battles between Mom and Dad
Treats all year long
My kids eat healthy meals, but then get sweets several times a day. Am I tricking myself into thinking we have a good diet?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As Halloween approaches I’ve been thinking about treats, and how many I give my kids each day.
I am a total stickler about eating whole grains, healthy cereal and lots of fruits and vegetables. Even their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are sugar free. They aren’t allowed soda, and they drink very little fruit juice because of the high-sugar content.
However, I routinely give them sweet treats probably three times a day. We’ll have two cookies each after lunch. Then when they get up from nap, they might have another cookie or a trail mix with M&M’s in it. And after dinner they almost always get ice cream or pudding or maybe another cookie.
My theory is that I want them to learn what good food is and what junk food is. And I don’t want them to be fooled into eating meals that are full of sugar and fat. I guess as long as they eat well at meal times, know the treats are junk food and eat small portions, I’m OK with that.
Is that nuts? How many treats do you give your kids a day? What do they usually get? How large are portions? Do you talk about junk food versus good food? What are you giving out at Halloween?
Permalink | Comments (15) | Categories: Health
Should we ‘reset’ our breasts?
Are your droopy boobs a Mom's badge of honor? Or should we all head on down to the plastic surgeon's office? Tell us what you think.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While the debate rages on in our other entry over which is best — breast or bottle, I think we can almost all agree that pregnancy and nursing do change our bodies and our breasts.
So the next logical question ladies is what are we going to do about it? Plastic surgery, supportive bras, … not sure what our other options are.
How many of us are considering plastic surgery? What would you have done? What would your expectations be of the results? Would you be doing it for you or for your husband?
I have a girlfriend that had some work done recently, and she looks fantastic. She and her husband had a party a couple of weeks ago. All the guests were married and in their 30s, and all the husbands could do was talk about how great her chest looked!
We need to know more from Moms who have had their breasts “reset,” a term Susan taught us yesterday on the blog. We also want to hear from Moms who have had other work done. Did it hurt? How long did it take to heal? Could you care for your child while you were healing? How much does it cost? Give us a ballpark figure because I have no clue. How do you find a reputable doctor? And finally were you happy with the results? Please tell all. We need to learn from your experience.
Permalink | Comments (60) | Categories: Health
Healthy babies beat beautiful breasts
Is post-partum boob depression inevitable? Was it breastfeeding or just pregnancy that made us flat or floppy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Long ago, before I had two beautiful children, I had two beautiful breasts. They were perfect 36Cs- not too big, not too small and oh so perky. Girlfriends were envious of them and boys were always checking them out. One of my editors at the college newspaper would assign stories to them - he never looked me in the eye, he always talked to my chest.
In a quest to make my children healthier than I am, I was determined to nurse both babies at least 12 months. I ended up nursing each 18 months. Are my children healthier for it? I think so. Are my breasts saggier because of it? I know so.
I have topped out at a wacky size of 34E (More on supportive, ugly bras in crazy sizes in a later column), and I swear when I’m slouched over driving, my boobs drag across the top of my stomach. This is not a good thing.
When buying lingerie for an anniversary trip last spring, the lady at Victoria’s Secret advised, “From now on, you’ll need to wear a bra under sexy nightgowns to give you the proper support.â€? I passed this information along to the ladies in my playgroup during a recent mom’s night out. They were all like “Aha.â€? Light bulbs went on over our heads because we figured out how to keep our boobs in the proper place during sex. (Husbands take note: You must leave the bras on for this plan to work!)
Breast feeding was not en vogue in the early ’70s when I was born. The nurses at Piedmont Hospital told my mother that she didn’t have the right kind of nipples to nurse me and completely discouraged her from even trying.
Now I’m not a doctor, and I can’t prove that I constantly develop strep throat because I didn’t get breast milk, but I didn’t want to take any chances with my kids.
Ironically, one of the nurses at Piedmont Hospital has been my greatest nursing supporter. Julie Duncan, lactation consultant and perinatal educator for the hospital, has stuck with me through four years and two pregnancies. She helped me establish my milk supply, treat breast infections and taught me how to wean my toddlers.
Nursing is just one of the many choices Moms make for their children. We want our kids to be smarter, healthier, more confident and happier than we were as they grow. And we are willing to make any sacrifice, including our perky boobs, to make that happen.
Permalink | Comments (107) | Categories: General Frustrations of Motherhood
Meet Theresa
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Theresa Walsh Giarrusso is the mother of three children. Her daughter, Rose, was born in April 2001, her son, Walsh, joined them in May 2003, and their new baby girl, Lilina came in March 2007.
Theresa is a fourth-generation Georgian, who grew up in Gwinnett County, where she lives today with her family. She graduated from Parkview High School and attended the University of Georgia. She met her husband, Michael, while working at the campus newspaper, The Red and Black. For a brief time Michael was her boss at the paper. It didn’t go well and ended with a dictionary (unabridged) being thrown at his head.
Still, they married in 1994 when Theresa graduated from college. For four years they were journalism gypsies, living first in rural State College, Pa., and then in Manhattan.
Much to her parents’ delight, the couple returned to Atlanta in 1998. Michael continued his career with The Associated Press, and Theresa joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. During her three-year stint, she was the News for Kids editor and also edited the Saturday Living section. “I loved explaining current events to the kids and why they should care about what’s happening in their world. I also loved visiting schools all around the city.”
Theresa left the newspaper in 2001 but continues to freelance write and edit for the AJC from her kitchen table. After four years of being peed on, snotted on and loved on, she wanted to share her family’s exploits, and let Moms across Atlanta know they are not alone.
“It’s a tough gig. My husband is at work at least 11 hours a day and travels a lot. I am in no way the perfect mom. I hope the column and blog will make moms laugh and give us a chance to discuss ways to make our families healthier and our lives easier. For any non-moms reading, feel free just to laugh.”
Contact Theresa at ajcmomania@gmail.com
Permalink | | Categories: What kind of Mom are you?
