lawmummy

Several years ago, I was sitting in front of the computer and decided to organize my random thoughts into something a bit more readable… I started a blog and I called it lawmummy, a name that I had used for years to describe the person that I had become. I joked that it was sometimes about law, sometimes about mummy.

Since then, I’ve had a zillion variations of lawmummy over the years - sometimes even a new blog or two that came and went - but the heart of lawmummy remained somewhat constant. It was the blog that was near and dear to me, where I wrote honestly about the things, people and places that mattered.

About a year ago, things began to change. Regular readers noticed that I was posting less - and when the occasional piece made it to the site, it wasn’t as telling, witty or quite frankly, readable as it used to be. I decided that a hiatus was in order, to revamp and revitalize.

When lawmummy came back, the frequency was ramped up but the content wasn’t. My posts over the last year are not my favorite posts on the blog.

At some point, I couldn’t blog about what was going on in my legal life - too many conflicts and ethical concerns - nor could I blog about my personal life. Writing about the law and the mummy offered dilemmas that were compounded by the fact that I was no longer anonymous. And while I never made an effort to hide my blog (it was, in fact, something that I was proud of), writing for a known audience made it more difficult to write honestly.

While all of this has been happening, taxgirl has taken off. You may have seen my note about being voted one of the ABA Journal Blawg 100 for 2008 (hooray!). I’ve received lots of requests to write for other sites - and I’m mulling those over. But this confluence of events has made it clear to me that it’s time to move in a different direction.

So, it’s with a lot of sadness, but no regret, that I announce that this is my last public lawmummy post. I have so enjoyed getting to know my readers and have appreciated all of your support. This has been a phenomenal chapter in my life and one that I’m sure will tug at me for years to come.

December 21st, 2008 | Category: Blog issues, Me | Comments (9)

I have just returned from Christmas shopping. Not for my kids, mind you. For the family that our firm sponsored and our neighborhood Pollyanna.

I hate shopping for Christmas. Cause I’m like that.

Actually, I hate the commercialism, the “I want”, the stress. It kind of sucks all of the joy out of the holidays. And even though I say it’s going to change every year, it never does.

To prove it, I re-read an old post about Christmas gifts. And it’s still true today. Here you go:

–

“I want that and that and that…” Yes, this is what it sounds like at my house these days. A constant barrage of “I wants.”

Chris and I have developed our own list. The “Yeah, you wish” list. This is composed of things that the girls WON’T get for Christmas. And it’s today’s top ten list:

1. Playdough. Listen, I like playdough. The girls love it. I don’t want to be one of those crazy neat moms (keep your sarcastic comments to yourself, those who have been in my house). But I want the playdough on my terms. My terms means big balls of playdough (insert gratuituous giggle here since I wrote “big balls”) and not those horrid toys that chop the playdough into teeny-weeny un-vacuumable (yes, it’s a word… right?) pieces. No.

2. Sponge Bob. Anything Sponge Bob. Is this the Year of Sponge Bob? I see it everywhere and I hate it.

3. Dora toys. The girls love Dora. I love Dora. I now know where chinchillas live and how to tell a lizard to jump in Spanish - all because of Dora. So, bring on the Dora books and clothes. But no more Dora legoes. No Dora light up toys. And for the love of God, no toys that recite “Let’s Go, Boots!” over and over. It’s madness.

4. Diego toys. See #3.

5. Toddler make-up and/or nail polish. Amy already insists on rooting through my purse for lipstick. I don’t need her to think it’s normal.

6. Anything with pieces smaller than a quarter - or you can come to my house and vacuum it up.

7. Disney storybooks. I like Disney (Chris, he’s another story), I like the movies, but I don’t like the storybooks. They water down the stories to the point of ridiculous. All of the princess ones now read like “Here’s a young girl, her life is awful. One day, she met a boy and her life is great.” I’m not kidding. All of the good role models (Jasmine, Ariel, etc.) turned wimpy and needy. Shudder.

8. Permanent markers. Yes, last year, my then 3 year old got permanent markers. Do I even have to write more?

9. Acrylic paints. See #8 above. Acrylic paints are permanent, people!

10. War/violent toys. My mother never allowed them in our house - and I am from the South. Both boys, ironically, joined the military. I still don’t want them in my house. No toy guns, no artillery helmets and no faux hand grenades (yes, they sell them, charming, no?).

December 12th, 2008 | Tags: Christmas, gifts | Category: Holidays | Comments (1)

I haven’t slept through the night since last Friday. It’s now Thursday night.

Chris has been in Europe on business. I have been playing the role of a single mom, one that I am not particularly excited about.

For the first couple of days, it wasn’t awful. The kids were bummed about their dad being gone - but this was one of the shorter business trips and the days were really packed.

Somewhere, midweek, it all fell apart. Charlie wasn’t sleeping, so I wasn’t sleeping. Katie’s big event at school was at Tuesday and I was part of a small team of parents in charge of planning. It was quite chaotic. Then Girl Scouts.

So by Wednesday, I wasn’t functioning all that great. And I forgot that Wednesday was Early Dismissal, so yeah, I left Katie at school. Another parent called me and I managed to get her, about 20 minutes late.

I was tired and a little bit ill when I got home. I was pretty sure that I was getting a stomach virus and was just depleted. Gone. So when Charlie trashed the living room with dirt from the plants for the second time, I just started crying. And I couldn’t stop. Katie kind of freaked out and tried to clean it up for me, which made me cry more. I finally pulled it together.

Later that night, Charlie started vomiting.

And then Amy started vomiting.

By 6am, I had changed at least four different sets of sheets, including my own (Charlie threw up in my bed, too). I had changed 3-4 times and also changed Charlie about 3-4 times. I changed Amy’s sheets and had to throw her beloved Ducky in the wash.

The house smelled. I was tired.

And I somehow knew to expect the phone call from the school nurse that I got around 10am advising me that Katie had thrown up at school.

It was sickapalooza.

Fortunately, things finally started looking up. The kids snacked a little on pretzels and animal crackers but didn’t eat dinner, which was fine. We watched some TV and they were off to bed. I had to rescue Ducky from the dryer before Amy would sleep, but that was the only protest.

It’s nearly midnight and there’s been no vomit. I’m almost scared to go to bed again, despite the fact that I can barely sit up, because it seems that every time my head hits the pillow, I’m up again. It feels harder to get up after trying to sleep than simply staying up.

Chris will be home in just a few hours (about 17). Let’s hope I make it.

December 12th, 2008 | Tags: flu, kids, parenting, sick | Category: Fitness and Health | Comments (2)

What a terrible, no good, horrible day.

December 11th, 2008 | Category: Me | Leave a comment

Amy decided to entertain me this evening with a preview of her upcoming Christmas recital. I’m thinking that the teachers at her Christian preschool are likely wondering about me considering that she believes that the words to “Jingle Bells” are:

“Bells on cocktails ring…”

December 7th, 2008 | Tags: Christmas carols | Category: Holidays | Leave a comment

We spent most of the day decorating for the holidays. The house looks really lovely.

This time of year, I love my house. I adore its quirks and flaws. The creaks in the floor, the cracks in the plaster, the trim that ends in odd places… They all melt into the background amid the lights of the Christmas tree.

And snuggled up on the sofa, with the tree stuffed into the corner and stockings and other decorations tucked here and there, I’m glad that I don’t have an enormous house. I love that Christmas feels like it’s literally right on top of me. You can’t escape it.

Outside, there’s a dusting of snow. Hailing from the South, I have to say that snow, no matter how little, still puts a smile on my face. When the first few flakes fell this evening, my nose was pressed up against the glass on the new front door right alongside the kiddos. I couldn’t tell who was the most excited.

Things feel kind of perfect.

But, of course, they’re not.

Wait, don’t assume that this is going to turn into a whiney diatribe about how much things really suck. Cause things don’t suck. They don’t suck because I’m choosing not to let the crap take over. And trust me, there’s a lot of crap.

Instead, I’m focusing on the holidays for my family. And by family, I mean my husband and my kids. The rest, the drama is not my problem. Yeah, say I’m selfish all you want. I really don’t care.

So, bring on the hot cocoa and the snow. I’ve put reindeer antlers (and a big red nose) on my car and I don’t care who sees it. My six year old is contemplating which Christmas cookies should end up in the cookie jar. My four year old has already started wearing party dresses to school as everyday wear. My two year old has been wandering around the house today, pretending to be what sounds like Punk Rock Santa (the “ho-ho-hos” are pretty emphatic).

Tis the season. From my house to yours, enjoy it!

December 6th, 2008 | Tags: Christmas, snow | Category: Holidays, Weather | Leave a comment

Earlier today, I got an email notification that taxgirl was named as one of the 2008 ABA Journal Blawg 100!

And I’m not too proud to beg, so um, here goes:

taxgirl has been nominated in the “niche” category by the editors of the ABA Journal but now it’s up to readers to vote. I’d really appreciate your votes. I mean, I’d really, really appreciate your votes.

Just click over tohttp://www.abajournal.com/blawgs/blawg100_2008/niche and scroll about halfway down - you’ll find taxgirl between Sports Law Blog and the Pop Tort. You don’t have to register or log in or anything. Just click. For me? Please?

Yes, it means that much to me. It’s been that kind of week.

Psst, while you’re at it, make sure you vote for Diary of a Law School Mom, too. She’s nominated in the “students” category. Like me, she has three kids. So help a mother out.

December 1st, 2008 | Tags: ABA, ABA Journal Blawg 100, American Bar Association, blawg, legal blog, tax | Category: Law | Leave a comment

What do the following colleges have in common? Illinois. Indiana. Iowa. Michigan. Minnesota. Michigan State. Northwestern. Ohio State. Purdue. Wisconsin.

They are all colleges that my children will likely never attend.

You see, those are colleges in the Big Ten. And you know and I know (at least you would if you lived in my neck of the woods) that there’s only one college in the Big Ten that matters: Penn State.

Yes, it’s true that I had never heard of Penn State before I moved to Pennsylvania. It is also true that when I saw Penn State bumper stickers, I thought it was an advertisement for motor oil… you know, like Quaker State (c’mon, it’s logical, right?).

But then the blue and white invaded my life.

Yes, in a good way.

Some of my dearest friends are big Penn State fans. And by big, I mean crazy tailgatin’ Penn State fans.

They have brainwashedindoctrinated my kids with Penn State-ness. My middle daughter can spot a Nittany Lion at 50 paces. All of my children have visited State College on multiple occasions yet none of them have been to our national capital (sad, I know). My son screams, “Football! Football!” whenever he sees a Nittany Lion logo.

And it’s not just the children. I know who JoePa. I have eaten at the Creamery. I know that Penn State will be going to the Rose Bowl this year to face either USC or Oregon - and I don’t even watch college football.

So we’re a bit Penn State-y. And it shows.

After a day of decorating a blue and white tree at my friends’ house for Christmas, the family and I headed over to Morris Arboretum to see the holiday railway exhibit. The kids were loving it - there were so many trains and lots of Philadelphia landmarks recreated in natural settings. Very holiday. And through the woods, I saw a blue and white train.

“Look guys! Penn State!” I said excitedly, “It’s a Penn State train!”

The kids ran over to look. They were jumping up and down.

“Penn State! Penn State!”

And the train rounded the bend, coming completely into view, causing me to remark, “Or Hanukkah.”

Cause yeah, I’m just that dorky.

November 30th, 2008 | Tags: Hanukkah, Morris Arboretum, PSU | Category: Holidays, Sports | Comments (2)

Stop searching for the terms “sex” and “mummy” and then pausing on my site. It freaks me out.

I don’t know if you use the word “mummy” to mean mom as I do, or you’re looking for dead Egyptians, but either way, you’re totally creeping me out.

This blog is pretty much about parenting and being a lawyer. That should be enough to convince you that there’s no sex involved. Ever.

And only occasionally are there dead people.

So please just go somewhere else.

(And now, I must shower.)

November 30th, 2008 | Tags: Mummy, sex | Category: Blog issues | Leave a comment