My favorite thing about spring sports… that they are over!

Posted on June 24, 2012 by mommydaybyday

My favorite thing about spring sports is not really that they are over.  The season ending is in my top ten along with rained out practices and cancelled games, but it’s not my favorite thing.

There are many aspects of spring sports that I will not miss and first on the list is the racing from field to field. As well as weeknight practices. Between practices and games I don’t believe we have had a day off from spring sports since they began in March.

Of course I know as parents we are partially to blame because we are the ones who sign our children up and pay hefty fees in order for them to play. Therefore, I am willing to assume some responsibility because I am one of the many who signs her kids up for too many activities. Both my girls were on lacrosse and soccer teams this spring.

I have said it before but it bears repeating… there are innumerable benefits from playing sports, especially for girls. Girls who play sports have improved self-esteem which is just one of the many advantages, but a really vital one, especially in a time when models are getting smaller and shorts are getting shorter. My children should play sports because they enjoy it and it is good for them, but honestly it does nothing for me.

I don’t like sports! I said it and don’t hate me. I try to like sports I do! I try to watch and I am just not interested. I don’t like when they are losing and when they are winning I pray for the clock to run out so they can just win. I have no idea what quarter or half it is and don’t ask me who has the ball or what the rules are.

My favorite sporting event is catching up with friends who are busy watching the game. I have some great friends and they take pity on me. They are sure to make me aware when something important happens and to let me know what the score is and how much time is left. One friend in particular even brings a chair to every soccer game because he knows inevitably I will forget it at home and he was sick of giving up his chair for me.

The coach’s wife of my older daughter’s soccer team is always trying to involve me in the game. She can’t seem to understand why I would not want to learn more about the sport my daughter is playing. Thank goodness for her because she is forever pointing out when my daughter is playing exceptionally well.

But I digress… my favorite thing about spring sports… the end of the season party. I am not sure if this is a widely accepted practice throughout the country, but where I live we have these fabulous coaches who throw end of the season parties for the teams.

What great parties! This is a practice I can really get behind. Generous parents who have fabulous yards and amazing pools hosted all of the parties. Parents and siblings are invited and the whole team and their families party together. So fun!

I had such a great time at each of the parties. Next year when I am run down exasperated from running from field to field, washing uniforms and looking all over for that missing soccer sock, I will have to remember that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Posted in Entertainment, Family, Sports | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Summer Movie Time- Disney and Pixar present Brave

Posted on June 22, 2012 by mommydaybyday

Disney and Pixar have teamed up again this time bringing us a 3-D Scottish tale about a fiery red-headed princess named Merida.

My five-year old Amelia and I have just returned from the advanced screening. Amelia was bubbling with excitement as we waited on line to gain access into the theatre.


Since Amelia is an avid television watcher and Disney is her channel of choice, she was fully prepared to see the movie. There has been a tremendous amount of build up and cross promotion by Disney and she knew all about the movie already. I was pretty excited too because I had seen the trailer and had high expectations for the film. I was eager to see a strong heroine protagonist in a children’s film.

The overall experience was pretty pleasing. The movie is visually stunning and the Scottish landscape is breathtaking even though it is animated it is incredibly life-like. In addition the cast is fabulous and they do a great job with the characters. The audience really enjoyed themselves and laughed in all the right places. I surveyed several people of all ages as they left the theatre and all those I asked said they really enjoyed the film.

The film opens with a pretty scary bear attack. Amelia was upset and started to complain that the movie was scary. Since she has seen a shark bite off Bethany Hamilton’s arm in Soul Surfer about 1,000 times I figured she could take an animated bear attack. However, there are a few bear attacks during the movie and her overall review was the movie was pretty scary.

The best part of the film is the heroine, Merida. I love her! She is an independent,  freethinking princess who I think will be a good role model for young girls. She is an expert archer, a little reminiscent of Katniss from the Hunger Games. So now all the girls too young to see Hunger Games will also be asking parents if they too can learn how to shoot a bow and arrow. I am sure that archery lessons are seeing an all time high.

The plot itself starts off really strong but unfortunately falls a little short by the end of the movie. At the heart of the plot is the relationship between Merida and her mother, Elinor.  Merida is a typical teenager and feels like her mother is always telling her what to do and bossing her around, as only a mother can do. Her mother, the Queen, just wants Merida to act like a princess and a proper lady, which is just not in Merida’s repertoire. Having a 12-year old daughter of my own I can totally relate to the queen and all of the eye rolling and sighing she is the recipient of by young Merida.

The rest of the story is one that has been done before. Merida desperate to change her fate meets up with a witch who casts a spell to change her mother. Merida is hoping to change her mother’s mind about forcing her to marry but the spells changes more than just her mother’s mind. It literally changes her. Her mother transforms into a bear. The rest of the movie Merida and her mother spend their time trying to change the spell back before the second sunrise.

There are plenty of laughs in the film. Merida’s triplet brothers are the comic relief as they wreak havoc throughout the castle. And it is not without some crude humor that includes mooning and a few naked hineys.

I liked it and would recommend it but it was not my favorite Pixar flick. I might be biased against the whole humans turning into bear genre, I wasn’t a huge fan of Brother Bear either. Amelia’s final review was she liked it and wanted to see it again because it was exciting. However, she did cry towards the end because she was so upset that the mother was a bear. She didn’t believe she would turn back into a person and that made her sad. Through her tears she said, “Now she is going to have to live a normal bear life.”

Definitely worth a trip to the theatre especially now that school is out and we will all be looking to keep the kids occupied.

Amelia gives Brave a good review. She says she will definitely see it again!

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We owe it all to mom!

Posted on May 13, 2012 by mommydaybyday

My mother, she is the greatest!

All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.

Wish I could have said it first, but unfortunately the credit goes to Abraham Lincoln. It is a great quote because it is perfectly worded and succinctly sums up my own feelings about my mother.

A single mother, before it was cool and hip to be one, she raised three children almost completely on her own. She is both an inspiration and a role model for my two sisters and me. I don’t know where I would be without my mother. I would be completely lost without her constant advice and support.

Now that I have children of my own it’s my turn to be the mom. Honestly, with a mother like that the pressure is on.

Will I ever live up to her?

I try hard and hope that I will be as successful a mother as she was. I am lucky enough to live close to her so I can count on her motherly advice daily.

Being a mother is the most important job in the world. I think Jackie Kennedy said it best, “If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do matters very much.”

Posted in Life, Motherhood | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

40 Years of Magic

Posted on May 12, 2012 by mommydaybyday

This year I am celebrating 40 years of Magic.  This November I will be turning 40. This old age thing is a little surreal. I think back to my childhood and I can remember when my mom and dad were 40. They were old… I can’t possibly be that old!

The truth is that time marches on and sooner or later you realize it is marching right across your face. Thank you Steel Magnolias – one of my favorite movie quotes.

Lets forget for the moment about the wall I am bound to hit into one of these days, lets just talk about being 40.

How did this happen? How could I possible be 40! I am still waiting to grow up, waiting for that day when I become a grown up. On occasion I look around my house and and I find myself wondering, “Whose life could this be? Can’t be mine, I am not grown up enough for three kids and a husband.” Pardon the cliche but I do believe you are as young as you feel.

Nonetheless the big 4-0 is looming overhead and waiting to crash down this November. Rather than wallow in the sadness of 40 I am going to bask in its glow. I think I will buy into the whole 40 and fabulous thing.

As a die hard Disney fan I have taken a page from their playbook and I am planning a year long celebration. Hence the 40 years of Magic!

I have also taken a lesson from my girlfriend and fellow blogger Lara who celebrates her birthday better than anyone I know- with the exception of maybe a Kardashian. Her birthday lasts at least a week and involves various celebrations, presents, treats and culminates on Mother’s Day, which she naturally feels is an extension of her birthday. I of course jump on the Lara birthday party train and happily ride out the celebrations with her. Who doesn’t love a party!

Lara and I celebrating her Birthday Week
The photo quality of this picture is the pits.
I really need an Iphone

So here is to celebrating 40 years of magic.

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Life’s Little Disappointments

Posted on May 7, 2012 by mommydaybyday


Ten weeks ago at the end of February I began training for the Long Island Half Marathon. During those first few weeks I bundled up and braved the cold weather in order to run 3 or 4 miles a day. My brand new ipod nano clipped to my shirt loaded with new songs to keep me company while I ran. Four times a week I was out there adding mileage as I went along.

I am a big fan of Marathon Rookie.com and religiously follow their training schedule. I love a goal that I can work towards and Marathon Rookie makes it ridiculously easy to follow. There is no better thrill than the feeling of accomplishment as you cross the finish line. Running amazes me because I am blown away that in ten weeks you can build up to running 13.1 miles, it is crazy.

There is something wonderful about running. It is hard to put into words why I enjoy  running, I just do. I won’t lie it is hard getting out there sometimes but once I am out there it is worth it.

And you need to know I am no athlete… quite the contrary. I never played a sport, unless you count cheerleading and I often trip when walking… but I can run. Which leads me to believe anyone who has a desire to run a race can as long as they are determined.

A few weeks ago I was already into my sixth week of training. That morning I was doing ten miles., but around 8 miles the muscles in the back of my leg started to hurt. In hindsight I probably should have stopped running and stretched-but I was so close only 2 miles left… how could I stop? I ran the last two miles, thankfully downhill, and finished without too much pain.

When I did finally finish I stretched out my leg and assumed I would be okay. I was in pain but I figured it would get better in a day or two at the most. Unfortunately, the next day it still hurt so I decided to rest it and not run that day. Then on third day it still hurt so I rested again and the fourth it still hurt and… you get the picture.

I tried to run twice the next week and ended up walking instead. Slowly I realized that I had really hurt myself, it took a few days to understand that I needed some professional help. I was completely in denial. Eventually I ended up the following week at the physical therapist’s office. There I was diagnosed with a pulled hamstring. The physical therapist was great she wouldn’t come right out and tell me I had to pull the plug on the race but she urged me to make my own decision.

I really struggled with the choice. I wanted to run the half marathon. I longed for that feeling of accomplishment of crossing the finish line after completing 13.1 miles. As the days ticked by and my leg still hurt I was forced to come to terms with the fact that I had to withdraw from the race.

Life is filled with little disappointments. This was one of them. I was pretty bummed out by the whole experience.  My friend Barbara pointed out, it even if I could physically run and finish the race, it wouldn’t have been the race I wanted to run. Most likely I would have been in pain and my time would have bee much slower than last year. In addition, I could have aggravated my injury considering it still hurts as I type this post.

In the end I had to put everything in perspective. It’s not like I caused any major damage, it could have been much worse… I have a friend Kimmie who tore her ACL and needed surgery and couldn’t run for months. Currently Kim is training for an Ironman so that gives me hope that there is running after injury- but an Ironman, I doubt it!

I have now set my sites on healing and finding the next half marathon in my area.

I hope my kids see me take this little set back in stride because as we all know life is filled with these little disappointments. They all knew how excited I was about the marathon and knew I was disappointed. How we deal with them is an important lesson for our kids that hopefully they will remember when it is their turn to be disappointed.

Posted in Life, Running | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments