A Long Weekend Treat

Thank goodness for a long weekend. So bring out the sunshine, grills, and great food and family this Memorial Day Weekend. Like so many out there, this mom loves long weekends. I honestly can not wait. So in planning a few special touches I have been scouring my cookbooks, food magazines, and websites to find a few extra special touches to add to the weekend. And the winner is an adaptation of a French recipe by Jean-Louis Palladin, which I have made several times before, and this variation is a nice, easy, and healthy treat to add a special touch to your weekend festivities. It is a French light custard style dessert which features fresh or frozen fruit and which you can prepare ahead:

A Place To Call Your Own

Blocks on the floor, links in the bath, cups on the counter, stuffed animals on the couch, and crumbs in the bed. Yes, once kids enter the picture, welcome to the loss of serenity. Saying that, I wouldn’t trade this place for the world. But I might just barter for a little place of my own. No mother with young children could really dream of such a thing (even our chest of drawers is invaded on a daily basis), but recently I have been trying to carve out a little “mommy space” and I have found that it actually makes me a better mom. This really isn’t a place per se, but it definitely is a frame of mind. So this mom’s favorite tips for creating “a place to call your own” are:

Arrange a hair (or even a doctor) appointment late in the day (after Dad gets home). I did this recently and took a couple minutes on either side of my appointment to catch my breath and quickly read the March (yes March) edition of Food & Wine magazine.

Get up a little bit earlier than normal. Not that sleep deprivation is a good state of affairs, but I find that if I can grab a few snippets of time in the morning before the chaos begins, I am more on top of things (and I might get my hair combed).

If you are so lucky to have a “nap-time” in your child’s routine – take advantage of this! At least once a week skip the errands you set yourself during nap-time, and instead take some time to read, breathe, catch up with friends, etc.

Make a mommy date with a friend sans children. Meet a friend for a quick coffee, walk, dinner, or snack. You don’t have to be gone long, but the break will do you a world of good.

Choose a family activity that you like to do. I love walking, so with family in tow I find myself crafting a place to call my own by doing something that I really enjoy.

Ditch the Baby Einstein cds, and when there is a moment of quiet, listen to your favorite music.

Finally, give yourself the permission to create your own place to call your own.

For a Rainy Day

One of this mom’s favorite things to do is read books, but as most moms know it is hard to make the time. So how do I deal with this? Probably not in the most realistic way. I rationalize all the books that I buy, or receive as gifts, as being “for a rainy day.” Even when it rains though it is hard to get to my once beautifully ordered bookshelf, which now have been ravaged by little inquiring hands. I recently received Through the Children’s Gate: A Home in New York (Vintage)by Adam Gopnick and today it rained. And guess what? I got to the second page…oh well, there is always the next rainy day to look forward to.

“Reel Meals”

This mom’s favorite thing to do is stay in for dinner and a movie – and now even NBC has caught on to this. This morning they featured a new chef from the Food Network’s new show “Chic and Easy” – I did think that the pasta and popcorn ideas were reasonable and quick *but definetly needed a bit more veggies.* If you opted for the pasta one night and then the popcorn another you might strike the balance just a bit more. As always let us know your mom’s favorite ideas for “reel meals.”

Breakfast in Bed (sort of)

I know Mother’s Day has been and gone, but I still think that the weekends should be a time for breakfast in bed. Okay, okay, I know that sounds unrealistic, especially when everyone is running around doing their own thing. But honestly I think we all might be missing something here. In our family we have been trying to slow things down lately. How? By choosing to. We stopped trying to cram everything in on weekends, rushing from here to there to get everything done. We started to stay in on Fridays because we found out we could order a nice dinner to go. And most importantly we started ‘breakfast in bed’ for the whole family. Does anyone really bring me a tray on Saturday morning loaded with my favorite goodies? No, but we do all stay in our p.j’s and hang out, slowing making breakfast and mom still gets her nice big cup of coffee. So now on Sunday night instead of feeling exhausted we feel like we caught a little snippet of family r&r.

Inspiration by Subscription

Today I started thinking about the summer (okay, I know it is not here yet!) and I realized that I might need a little bit of inspiration to help fill those long lovely summer days. So I was going to pick up a copy of a popular parenting magazine until I realized that for a few dollars more I could subscribe to this magazine, or another, for the whole year! Call it a late Mother’s Day Gift, but my magazine is now on its way and will be for the next twelve months.

Post Mother’s Day Blues?

Moms’ Favorite hopes all you moms out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day! Hopefully, the post Mother’s Day blues aren’t hitting you (even with those dirty diapers, cranky children, and dirty dishes piling up). If they are – a word of advice – continue the spirit of Mother’s Day, by taking a little “time out” for yourself! I love getting lost in books, magazines, cd’s and dvd’s. A recent favorite of many of me and my “mommy friends” are books on cd, so that when there is no time to read, you can still keep your brain active. Personally, I love this 5 star rated non-fiction best seller – Three Cups of Tea: