Being a Mom: March 2008 Archives

The numbers of women in the workforce has declined slightly in the last decade, and one result is that restaurants are seeing fewer families coming in for dinner, according to a story the The Wall Street Journal ran last week.

Personally, I've been taking the kids out for dinner a whole lot more recently, now that they are so much more manageable. It's just so nice to have someone else clean up the mess they make. But it really is silly -- they barely eat, so guess who ends up finishing off the leftovers? Not good.

What are your eating out habits?

L.A. Mama: Best of the blog this week:

MOMNESIA is my favorite new buzzword. It gives me an excuse for all the really stupid things I find myself doing, like chatting on my cell phone while frantically scouring the house - and even the car - for my cell phone. I used the excuse of Momnesia a lot right after my girls were born, but, years later, the explanation is wearing this. For instance, the cell phone incident didn't occur the month after they were born. It happened just last week. In a fun USA Today article, a researcher speculates that it takes so much brain power to keep your eyes on your kids, it hurts performance in memory and other areas.

HOMESCHOOL DEBATE: A California appeals court ruled recently that parents who home school their kids must have a teaching credential. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for a reversal, and local homeschool groups are working to reassure homeschoolers that the ruling isn't law yet. Stay tuned.

MOTHER'S HELPER: Help for Mommy is a new Web-based networking site for parents to find baby sitters, nannies, personal chefs, tutors and household help. Users can advertise for jobs or pay for lists of applicants, and background checks are also available. See www.helpformommy.com/user/index.php.

SMART MOVES: Time spent in physical education class does not detract from elementary school students' ability to excel in the classroom and may even help improve girls' academic performance, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health. No significant change in academic achievement was found for boys. www.ajph.org.

MOTHER OF ALL GARAGE SALES: A reader called to remind me that LA Kids Consignment, a monster sale of used children's clothes, equipment and stuff, happens March 28-30 in Van Nuys. See http://lakidsconsignment.com.

INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED: "Baby: An Owner's Manual" is a new book by Woodland Hills mom Nancy Sayles Kaneshiro and Dr. Bud Zukow, chairman emeritus of the Department of Pediatrics at Encino/Tarzana Regional Medical Center. With a subtitle promising to answer your first 365 phone calls, it's got practical answers to basic questions for first-time parents who don't know their diaper from their drooling cloth.

Momnesia -- It's my favorite new buzzword. It gives me an excuse for all the really stupid things I find myself doing, like talking to a friend on my cell phone while searching the house (and even walking out to the car) in search of .... my cell phone.

I used Momnesia to excuse a lot of things for the first few years after my girls were born, but the problem is, the excuse is wearing thin. They're not babies anymore, but I don't think my brain has ever fully regained its sharpness.

For instance, that incident with the cell phone didn't occur the month after they were born. It just happened last week. In a fun USA Today article, a researcher says part of the reason for the mental fuzziness is that it takes so much brain power to keep your eyes on your kids, it hurts performance in other areas, like memory.