Cool Mommy Product Reviews

Indeed, this special day should be like any other day. NORMAL.

Even though I didn’t get breakfast in bed for Mother’s Day, I made sure he gets it. However, as we all slept in & I jumped out of bed at 9.15am & got the kids to help with an easy breakfast – toasted ham & cheese sandwich – one of his favorite, by the time we got it to him, we found him in the bathroom – brushing his teeth. At least I tried.

No cards but I got him a T-shirt from Kmart that says “#1 DAD”. Hey, how many of you actually got one? I even sent one to Grandpa (his dad) who lives one world away – one that says “World’s greatest Grandad”.

June is another crazy month – end of school year parties (gifts for teachers), 2 of my kids birthdays and they all want a birthday party. Plus, I have to get Father’s Day gifts & his mom’s birthday is on June 26. This year she is turning 70 and we have no clue what to send to her. The card is still sitting on the desk, all signed.

Still, I promise myself I will show my love for him by writing the top 10 things why I think he deserved a Happy Father’s Day.

1. He helps me with dirty dishes and laundry.
2. He wakes up early (& lets me sleep in) on weekends and make pancakes for the kids.
3. He takes the kids to ballet, soccer, baseball or swimming when I needs his help.
5. He runs out to buy milk when we run out.
6. He puts the kids to bed almost every night. (In the last 2 years since I got too involved with PTO stuff)
7. He helps with the kids science project.
8. He helps with homework when I am not able to. (Frequently this year as I got too involved in PTO stuff)
9. He helps to cook dinner when I am not able to. (he knows I dislike buying takeouts)
10. Last but not least, he is always there when we needed him.

WE LOVE YOU, DADDY!

Husbands

I love my husband for his faithfulness, intelligence, resilience among many other wonderful qualities but his absentmindedness drives me insane. I cannot rationalize how a smart person cannot remember even the simplest things.

And you would think when it comes to the kids, he would pay more attention. No. For instance, tonight, I was going to my weekly yoga (which I skipped for more than 2 weeks because of my son’s baseball games) and told him to pick up the 2 younger ones from our neighbor’s when he returns from the baseball practice with our oldest, of course he didn’t. When I brought the little ones home, he was staring into the laptop while our oldest came downstairs after he showered up. So, what was Daddy doing in the meantime? Did he not realize that the kids are missing when he came home. No. He was more concern about what was going on in the cyberworld and his own little world.

But he loves taking the kids to their baseball or ballet practices & games, or movies, meals and toy store and whatever activities they have. And he loves all of them to death. So, he is a wonderful dad. Nevertheless, I need to vent and I’ll be nice and do it today instead of on Father’s day.

I decided to list down a couple of things that he forgets :
1. To replace the light bulbs that needs replacing
2. To change the air filter
3. To hang up my framed pictures
4. To clean up his pile of year old receipts in the bathroom, nightstand & computer desks
5. Fix that squeaky toilet door
6. Make the appointment to remove his wisdom tooth (that problem first started 10 years ago)
7. To return his friend’s cooler bag
8. To tidy up the computer desk area
9. To sell my daughter’s doll house on craigslist
10. To help me in yard cleanup
11. To change water filter on our kitchen sink tap (it’s been 6 months!)
12. To replace a screwdriver he lost a year ago
13. To fix a broken kitchen drawer
14. To setup Quicken for our business accounts
15. To put the toilet seat down EVERYTIME after he use it
16. To put everything back after he cooks
17. To a million other things that I didn’t list down.

Do you have one of those at home too?
Yes? Write & share your list/experiences.
No ? You must have the perfect husband then.

Husbands, Introduction

What a game on Saturday night! My 10 year old is in Cubs of the Keystone Baseball League, PA. This is only his second season (he skipped last year) and he is fortunate to be on good team & has good coaches.

They have wonderful teamwork & display good sportsmanship. All the kids on the team seemed to know the baseball rules well and usually throw to the right bases to stop the play. We think that is one of the reasons they have been not lost a single game the whole season – and I might add – they deserve to be at the championship.

The night before the game, the coach gathered everyone at the baseball park – a different one (has the real dugout) from the regular ball parks they are always playing in. Then the coach announced that there is no practice. he wants them to “check out” the field and gave a little pep talk. He told the team that he doesn’t care whether they win or lose tomorrow. Most important thing is to have fun. They have worked hard all season long to get there, so no pressure now. Just have fun and from past experiences, he found that the team that have the most fun wins. Told you I love this coach.

Coincidentally, my 5 year old princess was having her first ballet recital and my husband was scheduled to go for his soccer coach training course on the same day as the baseball championship. Luckily we can reschedule my husband’s training so he went to the game while I attended the recital.

My daughter’s recital was almost at the end of the program line-up so I made my husband text me the results at the end of every inning. At my son’s level, they only play 6 innings.

It was 0-0 after 2 innings and by then they were up 3-0 at the 3rd. By the time my daughter and I reached the baseball park, the other team scored 2 runs and it is now 3-2. Very exciting. So, we’re going into the 5th innings & my son’s team is up. Th team is hitting and loading the bases. Unfortunately, my son got struck out. He is the only out. They managed to score 5 runs after that & they called the game because they have to stop the game after 5 runs (Little League rules) & since the there is no way the other tam can catch up, we win (at the 5th inning) !

As a parent, words cannot express how happy I am to see him win a championship. As their banner says : “dreams do come true”. He have been dreaming of going into the championship since the season started. Although he hits well in practice and at the batting cages, he only got one or 2 hits the whole season. He always got walked or struck out. However, he is a good catcher & knows the play very well. In fact, I am proud to say he “stopped” many plays & saved the game because he caught the ball in time or threw to the right person always.

It is such a wonderful game to teach a kid about team work. We always reminded him of his strengths and weaknesses and reiterate the importance of teamwork in baseball. His fellow teammates and coaches have also been very respectful of each kid’s limitations. Not forgetting the parents, they are an awesome awesome bunch. We all cheer for each other’s kids and got along very well. We are all happy to see them progress.

I never enjoyed baseball until last year when the Phillies were playing in the World Series. My sons taught me the game and this year I learnt even more. I conclude that a successful Little League baseball game is really all TEAMWORK – teammates, coaches & parents and now I love it!

Introduction, Kids

This spring, all hells broke loose at our house. My 5 going on 6 (or 16?) year old daughter joined in the Phillies Phever (we live in the Philadelphia western suburbs) and wanted to do teeball while my 8 & 10 year olds signed up for baseball.

So, 3 evenings every week, dinner has to be ready by 4pm so that they can have an early dinner & go for their practices or games by 5.30pm. My oldest stopped practising chess which he loves very much because it would take too long as his bedtime is 9.30pm.

Then, our Saturdays are spent on the ball field all day too. Luckily for us, we live really close by (across the street) and could walk back and forth to get things done, or my husband or I would take the younger kids home earlier to bath and get ready for bed if the game goes too long.

Sometimes, we have games going on at the same time and they (usually my youngest) get upset that I didn’t watch her whole game. Take last week for instance. it was the last game of the season for everyone. When I was getting ready to take my little girl to her teeball, I decided to stop by the 2nd son’s game to see if they were finishing. So, we drove over, she was waiting in the car & I ran over to the ball park seeing that the assistant coach was helping my son to warm up. He was pitching the next inning – which is the last. This is his first season playing baseball and 2nd time pitching. I missed his first time pitching last Saturday because I went to queue up to sign up for summer swimming lessons. So, I was not going to miss this one. I told my husband to get in the car & take our daughter to her game. (She is still complaining that I didn’t watch her whole last game!)

I grabbed our Canon Rebel extreme, position my nervous self and aim. The team was losing already but their spirits were high and they are all having a ball of a time, literally. My son is the second smallest kid on the team and does not have strong arms either. But he pitched pretty accurately. Although I expressed concern that his ball does not have speed nor power, another parent commented that at this age, accuracy is more important.

In between cheering “go Marshall, you can do it, buddy”, I could hardly breathe. Then, the moment of truth. He walked one kid (coach takes over if they walk 2 kids), let in runs and already struck out 2. The atmosphere was electrifying. The moms on our team & his team mates were all cheering him on. Now, the bases were loaded, Marshall took a deep breath and pitched. (his exact words as he told me while walking home) He struck out the third without letting any runs in the last inning! What a rush of adrenaline! He was so pleased and smiled as he walked back calmly into the dugout while I was screaming & jumping up and down. That is Marshall – my cool 2nd grader. I am soooooooo proud of him!

His coach -who also happens to be the commissioner of the league congratulated him and named him the Closer! We have been lucky as his coach and team mates were great. So, they all learn and progress so much in the season and even though they didn’t win many games, they all had fun at every game!

I will no longer complain about how hectic it is for me to get everything ready & sit at these long games anymore. It was all worth it.

Now, soccer and baseball moms take on a different meaning to me.

Kids

I have been involved in my children’s elementary since we moved to the USA 4 years ago. I co-chair the International Committee for the last 3 years and I am so glad that finally I can let it go.

Don’t get me wrong. I lovvvve doing it. It’s in my nature – I’m very sociable, enjoys meeting new people & organizing events is my strength. However, I got in way too deep this year and stretched myself so thin that I totally neglected my children’s homework. Luckily for me, my “superman” husband helped out and made sure they get their homework & projects done on time.

There would be weeks in a row where I would be at school doing stuff, preparing for an event, decorating etc etc. My Kindergartener’s teacher jokingly said I should have a bed in school!

I am working part time – another internet website which I am involved in marketing. Thankfully, I work from home & hence juggling it involves sacrificing our family social life.

So, let me list the activities & events I am involved in.

1. I organize the monthly meeting – coordinating with the host on EVERYTHING including email reminders to members about the meeting. (We have a different host each month)
2. I write the announcement for our committee to be published in our school’s monthly newsletter.
3. Attend monthly PTO meeting explaining our committee’s activities for the month
3. I coordinate our committee’s participation of our school’s craft night – involve selecting one or 2 craft with an “international or cultural” theme, getting supplies & recruiting volunteers to man the booth
4. I organize a school wide Chinese New Year celebration, including decorating the school to make it look festive, a presentation during lunch hours for all 5th grader levels and food tasting.
5. This year, I coordinated an Asian Food booth (the 1st ever in our SPring fair) and we made & sold sushi, dumplings & vegetarian curry & rice. I had to canvass for cash & food donation so that 100% of the sales proceeds go to PTO. I also had to purchase ingredients, help to make the food & sell them at the fair.
6. I co-chair the International Week committee and organize events for everyday of International week, including decorating the entire school, securing artists for lunch time performance, meeting with principal, getting “passports” for kids, re-sorting passports as children changed classes every year, etc etc etc… In addition, during International week, I spent approximately 4 hrs every day at school running the event. I even helped to write the press release, contact news media to cover our events, produce video & slide show.
7. Lastly, I helped to organize our committee’s Potluck Dinner for the school which took place tonight.

I love doing it but man – did it suck all my energy. So, this summer is like a whole new me is taking over. I will not worry about those PTO events anymore. I promised the new co-chairs that I will always help out but I am just so glad someone else is responsible & making decisions.

My New school year resolutions are :
1. to organize our house,
2. de-clutter
3. spend more time working with the kids academic needs (I have high achievers)
4. spend more time speaking & working on their 2nd language to them
5. Seriously decorate our “minimalist” house although I suspect we’ll move in 5 years
6. spend more time building contents on mycoolmommy.com

All the above is Priority One. However, I signed up our kids in 4 different half day camps & daily swimming lessons for 4 weeks & hence I will also be driving them around, alot. I will update you by the end of summer on how I progress on my resolutions. Wish me luck.

Kids

There was a coupon to save $30 off a LACK shelf from Ikea that my 2nd son wanted badly (because my oldest got one – a very nice used one). It was $49.99 after discount and that is definitely more worth it. The special offer ends is only for a week so I took my little girl shopping on Tuesday after kindergarten ended at noon. I also brought along my $25 kidstuff coupon from kidstuff coupon book in case I end up spending $150.

We went to the Ikea Restaurant for lunch first and then my daughter went to Smallland to play while I shopped. But 1 hour wasn’t enough. So, after I picked her up from the play room, we continued shopping. While I was browsing the “organizer” section looking for a sock & underwear organizer for my boys, I met a woman with her teenage daughter shopping in the same section. In fact, I saw many pairs of mother & daughter teams shopping at Ikea, must be getting ready for college.

I left my daughter sitting on the LACK shelf in the cart nearby while I was browsing the organizer section. As I hear my daughter singing her favorite songs of the 80s (her K club friends gave a year end “80s concert” last week), I am also listening to this team of mother & daughter arguing over the choice of organizer & how many she should get. Then,

mom said “can you please stop texting and concentrate on what you supposed to get”
daughter said “I am not texting and it does not affect my shopping anyway and will you please grow up on me”.

Then I stopped listening and walked away – back to my daughter. I gave her a big hug & kiss and is thankful that she is only 5 ! I (turning 6 in 3 weeks) I have 10 more years before this “scene” happens to us.

As I slowly walked back into the “organizer” section, they are still there, discussing very cordially & respectfully on the same issue, then we all hear my daughter yelled “are you done, mom?”. The 3 of us looked at each other and burst out laughing. Yes, my little girl is so sweet and I guess we all saw the innocence of youth at that point.

When we were checking out, I saw that same pair of mother & daughter too. That mom & I gave each other a wink – as if saying enjoy it while it lasts!

Yes, I did save money and achieve my shopping targets. Instead of paying $193 for my total purchase, it came to $138.

Introduction, Kids