Rage Against The Minivan

Today in the car Jafta spontaneously asked me if he could take all of the money he’s been saving in his piggy bank and give it to the child he sponsors in Haiti. He was so earnest about it. “It’s the right thing to do, Mom.”  I reflected on how mature he was becoming . . . such a thoughtful little guy. About 2 minutes later he switched subjects to tell me about a new game he and his friends are playing at school. “We climb onto things and then throw ourselves off and try to see who can . . .

Today the good folks at Lionsgates sent me the photo series for the new Capital Portraits of the cast of Catching Fire. Over the course of the week these eleven Special Edition Capitol Portraits were released on the new Capitol Couture Instagram account. But I’ve got them all right here for your Hunger Games dork-out pleasure. CAN. NOT. WAIT for this new movie to come up. Did you read the trilogy? Are you excited about the movie? . . .

We’ve been living in our house for a few months now, and now that the major renovations are coming to completion, it’s time to turn our attention to some of the things we’ve neglected. Like window coverings.   We currently have temporary paper shades from Home Depot covering most of the windows. They look tacky and they are impossible to pull up or down. So we are anxious to get some new treatment in that can be an improvement in both form and function.   In choosing window treatments, . . .

Last week felt like an unusually full week, and I was pretty exhausted by the week’s end. The kids were supposed to have a football game right after school on Friday, and that morning we got an email letting us know the field was rained out, so the game was cancelled. The wildly different reactions we had to this news illustrates the difference between Mark and I.  Mark thinks, “Oh thank God we can go do something!” and I think: “Oh thank God we can do nothing!” Mark tried to convince me to . . .

Towards the end of last year Sarah James and I filmed a Mama Said episode where we talked about the pressure to put kids in competitive extra-curricular activities.  If you watch, you can see I have some Big Feelings on the matter, and at the time I had resolved to resist the pressure to put my kids in a million activities, because I feel like inevitably it becomes too competitive and time-consuming for my liking.  I haven’t changed my views since the video, but I’ve done a 180 with . . .

Oz the Great and Powerful opens this weekend. If you have kids and are wondering if they are mature enough to see it, I’ve got some feedback. You can read my content guide for parents over at Babble.com. I had a chance to see a screening with Jafta, and I also got to attend a press conference with the cast. It was fun hearing them talk about the process and the behind-the-scenes aspects of making such a fantastical movie. For example: while Zac Braff’s character is done in CGI, he was actually . . .

Mark: Why is everyone laughing at this picture you put on instagram? I don’t get it. Me: Well, it’s two internet memes, juxtaposed together, so of course you don’t get it. Mark: Meme? What does “meme” mean? Me: Exactly. . . .