O-mama - Opinionated Moms

So cute!! Gotta love her. Welcome to O-MAMA Liz. Can't wait to read your weekly blogs.

I just read an article in Parenting magazine about a married mother of 2 who feels like a "single mom" because her husband works sooo much. I read it and realized that I am not alone. I feel like a "single mom" sometime when my husband is at leaves for work at 7am and doesn't come home until 1am the next morning. You do the math!!! Are there others out there?? I dont think I am alone??

INCREDIBLE YOUTH CULTURE PEACE FESTIVAL, JULY 1OTH. Don't miss it. It will be the most fantastic peace festival of the century. Please invite or take all youth to this event. SGI, Buddhist peace organization is holding this wonderful event full of music, dance and song in celebration of youth and their inheritance of the future of our country and world. On the west coast, it will be in Long Beach, http://www.westrockstheera.org/Home.html. Register online. In the Central Area, in Chicago, http://rocktheera.sgicentral.org/. On the East Coast, in Philidelphia, JULY 25TH, http://www.sgi-ny.org/rock-the-era/.

My kids go NUTS in the book store -- my teenager and tween fighting for my attention in their sections to pick out books (and the teen showing quite a 'tude!), my younger twins running around (with the girl trying to ride whatever huge stuffed animals are on display). Oh, yeah, I get it!! And, you know what? These kids are excited about books!! So, I say HOORAY for you and your kids!!!!! Also, in relation to the other posts... my son (with 3 sisters) spent many a day in "the boy tutu" (the white one, the others were pink...) My only regret is that I don't have photographic proof! Rock on Moms!

Hi tiredmama

Hi Jackie!

Sometimes you've got to let them wiggle and giggle...and, I'm sorry, we all could only hope all kids squeal with delight at the sight of their favorite books!

I love this.

Inspiration for sure! Haven't we all felt this way...and been treated this way! Amen, sistahs

Hey Selarde. I have 4 so here's my input...at age 2 little boys don't make friends so much as parallel play so playing with his sister and her friends is fine, unless she's not happy with it but she ought to learn to deal. Look into a parent toddler class but you won't be able to bring sister along. Also, Moms Club would have playdates by age group. But really...probably all he wants right now is to play with sis and there's no harm done to his manhood. My now 10 year boy old spent many a day dressed in a tutu thanks to older sister. They are very close and he has plenty of his own friends now.

Hi O-Mamas I need some advice. I have 2 young children (2 and 3) I want to get the 2 year old into a class, so he can make friends his age, rather than play with his sister and her friends. My older daughter is not in preschool and we do not have family near us, so I just don't know how to pull this off. Any ideas??

With the economy as it is, are any stay at home moms reconsidering joining the workforce or do you now have stay at home dads home with you too?

When asked if I'm a Stay at Home mom, I always feel the need to clarify by saying, "yes, I am, but I was instrumental in getting a children's museum built in OC. Now that it's open, I don't go down there for "work" as much." Why I can't I just say, "Yes. And I rock at it"?

I look forward to that when I've got my next one! Right now life is slow for us. My husband works long hours and my daughter is only 13 months old. Other than grocery shopping, dr's appointments, and water-babies, there's not a whole lot going on. We are loving it though, and look forward to the busier lifestyle that a second child brings.

I can't wait to have everyone at home for the Christmas break! Go O-MAMA holidays!

Check out all the news from this weekend!

Read the new blog!

So fun to know other moms feel the brain drain. Love that we can check in with other and share ideas about how to inspire each other...

Like the new blogs...let's see, yoga inspires me...I leave and I feel like I can do anything. Then, I walk in my house and I feel like I can't do anything right?!

O-MAMA inspires me...

Hey O-MAMA's check out our great new discussion group starter topic and tell us what you think!

@Reefsmom: Sounds like a teenager, right?!

I don't think government officials should use phrases like "I'd like to give a shout out..." at least not during a televised press confrence. It just sounds bad.

@MommyB: I feel the same way sometimes. Then I remember that this is just a small season of life. It will be over before we know it! I am grateful that I get to stay at home. I admire working moms (especially those who do it alone) and I don't know how they do it.

@MommyB: i have the opposite problem. yes, i used to be a workaholic, but now i don't have the least interest in going back to work full-time. i find the work i am doing with my child will have much more impact on society than anything i ever did in my office. opinions of others be damned! but i HAVE to go back to work for financial reasons and agree there is NOTHING out there to assist moms going back to work. i have very strong managerial skills but now i have to compete with ex-CEOs working as barristas (and fresh-out-of-college kiddos). *sigh*

I am a mom of a toddler and I'm going crazy staying in this house. I feel like I want to work becuz society doesn't put much value on the work I do with my toddler not to mention my toddler's father. I am really torn becuz before having my son I was a workaholic. I feel like I am not worth much by only raising my son. The dilema is I can't go back to being who I was before becuz I have diffferent emotions and priorities now. There aren't any programs to help moms transitioning back to work if you already have advanced skills.

My brain is mush. Like the "tid bits" of sanity on O-MAMA!

It is really nice to have adult conversations...uninterrupted adult conversations! Hooray O-MAMA.

i teach sometimes, too,,,by the way..but then i just see kids...thats why i blog..my only adult convos

Know what....Im a mom who works...from home. So I have to force myself to get out in the world sometimes to just get out of my uggs and sweats and not be frump mom. i get the work but not the stimuli of other people..kinda weird??

Moms do it all. I work part time as a teacher. I love my work schedule. I get to be home with my kids after school and can help out in their classrooms in the afternoon. Once they get home, I run around like a chicken with my head cut off: dance, Kumon, hebrew...busy each day. Yet, most moms I know still make dinner, wash clothes, clean the house,buy presents for birthday parties, head to target for whatever is needed, purchse new clothes when your child has an unexpected growth spirt, etc. I love my husband to pieces, but if I left my husband my list of things to do today, only two things would get done. Hooray for all the moms out there.

@camomama: That's right, we do it ALL! You go girl.

@lemomama: today I dropped my preschooler off at school, dropped my car off for an oil change, then during that time I took my 5 and 1 yr old in the stroller to the market, breakfast and park...then came back to get my car and my preschooler. It was so rewarding to meet everyones needs we as MAMAS truely are the multi taskers of the world!! ps- I fold laundry while I'm blogging :)

reersmom: I did the same thing! I totally agree that I need to budget into our expenses "my highlights" my hair turned an orangy-tint with one of those Loreal home coloring kits. My husband joked that he would learn how to do highlights...thanks but no thanks!

I am laughing out loud...I just have to share the fact that my husband just got hosed! He tried to save money by not taking his car to the dealership to get a dent fixed. He met some random guy in a parking lot who told him that he worked in a body shop, but his hours have been cut back, so he would fix his dent cheaply...you know what happened, ladies. A white "drying wax" was put on his car that needed to be there for at least 2 days before he took it off...in the meantime, the guy was paid in full. Never to be seen again...the car looks like it has tape on it! Ridiculous. Thank God it wasn't me.

Consignment store furniture people! Unless you buy really expensive furniture, never re-upholster cuz furniture is cheap these days..especially with the economy the way it is. Also, you can get slip covers made for everything for the one time expense and then wash it...no furniture cleaning only the washing machine forever! Never carpets..only hard surface then Ikea rugs that you can ditch when they get too yucky. For landscaping..put in green plants that NEVER have to be changed and put color in your pots or fronts of beds when you have the cash or are entertaining. For dinners...on Sunday...cook and freeze chicken, casseroles, rice, pancakes and whatever for the week and just bust them out all week. Fast and no cooking during the week. Just one big cook fest for the week.

When the upholstery on our patio furniture frayed beyond embarrassment, instead of just getting rid of it & getting brand new, we took the furniture in to be reupholstered. After all was said (these pieces must be custom-made because there is no standard to measure by) & done (thousands of $$), we ended up w/the same mediocre patio furniture we started w/for the price that would've afforded us a whole new patio set I actually would've liked!

@tiredmama: I am glad to know I am not alone! Your husband sounds handy (we just call my husband's dad instead of letting him try it, it would just end badly!)! Sounds like the Brownies are doing their part to go "green" and now they use bio-degradable patches :) Hope you have a nice weekend!

@Reefsmom: HILARIOUS! Green hair might win the prize. Actually, my husband has been trying to do a lot of things, but they ALL seem to backfire. Instead of getting a handy man to do little things around the house, we now have holes with patches in the walls that have paint that doesn't match...a totally jerry rigged electrical situation in the backyard...I don't even want to know what else he's got planned...I tried "ironing on" Brownie patches, instead of taking them in to get sewed...did the wash and they all disappeared...not floating around in the washer, but GONE. Hmmm...had to drive to sporting goods store, buy new patches and have them sewn on anyway?!?@#!$!

Okay---Here is a question for you: What have you done to save money that has backfired? Let me go first: In an effort to save money, I thought I'd color my hair myself. I went to Target, picked my color and in just 25 minutes I had colored my hair. One problem though, it turned green. Yup! I said green. Not a bright green, more like dark, ash green. So I figured I'd get a darker color to fix it. Well, that didn't work either. It was worse. Needless to say, I called a salon and paid to get it fixed. Bad idea. Some things should be left to the experts!

@momof3 - As far as other dinner options, how about baking halibut & steaming squash...or baking salmon & sweet potatoes? Also, there's always taco salad. All of these can be made in less than 45 minutes.

I'm over making dinner...HELP. Anyone have a favorite, quick & easy dinner idea to share??? I think my kids are over the pre-roasted chicken and bag of broccoli that I serve every other night!!!

I love being home...and I love to work...its all good moms!

@lemomama: We are multi-taskers...we are wired that way. Think about it...there is no job we don't do?! Moms know how to move an agenda forward and problem solve, that is for sure! Together, moms can do anything...I am convinced of it!!!

@lemomama: ha ha! absolutely!!! moms can do it all...that's why it's up to us to be the voice of reason...with our kids...and our country!

and Michelle - don't you find things that take other people so much time you can squeeze in WHILE kids at an activity - ie can get my 5th grader to tennis and while he's there food shop, go to dry cleaners, put something in oven for dinner, play uno while in kitchen unloading groceries, answer some emails, deal with the ac repair man, grab an iced t (essential to finishing the rest of day) and get back to pick him up! am positive my husband would be at tennis center watching espn during entire lesson or reading wall street journal!

Got kids out the door, folded some laundry and now I'm on O-MAMA until I have to run to school for 1st grade coffee! Then, pick up pre-schooler, run to market, back to school to get other kids...Girl Scouts, Tae Kwon Do, homework, dinner, bath, bed...and more O-MAMA!!! I'm exhausted and it's not even 8 a.m.! (-: