Wondertwin Powers

I know two moms. They are no ordinary moms. They are the moms of twins. And while I admire these women for their limitless creativity and shake my head in wonder at their mommy technique, I secretly hate them. OK, hate is a bit strong, it's just that moms of twins blow the curve for the rest of us moms of singles. They seem to possess some superhuman quality, a wonder twin power, that makes parenting look effortless and still leaves them with time and energy to write a book or start a new business.

Stephanie Klein, is the author of a new book that is being released today! Moose a memoir of fat camp, is Stephanie's second book and is sure to be a great read. If you're looking for something fun to do tonight, head down to Bookpeople here in Austin for her release party. Leave it to Stephanie to throw a party in the middle of a bookstore, complete with camp food and spiked bug juice. You will become a fan before you even read the first chapter. See the video teaser at the bottom of this page...Hilarious.


Sara Crowe is the owner and mastermind behind a little nugget of genius called GoodyTubes. Imagine opening your door to find a 36 inch tube, chock-full of everything good and fun at your feet. My kids received a GoodyTube from their Aunt Nancy a couple of months ago and had as much fun playing with the jacks, balls and other toys as they did with the tube itself. Candy, gourmet chocolate dipped pretzels and salt and vinegar popcorn were also in the kid themed tubes they received. This is the perfect care package for military personnel or kid away at camp, not to mention a totally memorable corporate gift. Sara is also in the midst of launching a new website, EventsGuaranteed.com. This will be THE go-to site for all your party planning needs. They've covered it all from baby shower ideas to webinars and ebooks on corporate events. The site will be officially launched sometime in July!


Whew, I'm exhausted just writing about all of the things these wondertwin mommies do! You know, if I could just figure out how to bottle their secret power, I just might have something.

Elvis and Eggs

It's the awesome responsibility of every God fearing, parent on the face of this earth to indoctrinate their children in the music of past generations. Because, all too soon the children will be making song selection on their own and will be overcome with an uncontrollable eye-roll and what looks to be the infliction of physical pain when exposed to your music. So while you still have some control over matters, go ahead and sing at the top of your lungs to Nu Shooz while they are strapped in their carseats, expose them to Bon Jovi in his big hair days, and Stop the World and Melt with them while you dance in your living room to the decade of your choice channel on the television. These are important years, formative years, and your influence will have everything to do with their musical prowess as adults.

My musical education started at an early age. A white plastic record player and Elvis's Greatest Hits LP laid the foundation for all things danceable in the future. And I, to this day, know the words to almost every classic country song on the radio, thanks to the eight hour road trip to Colorado each spring break. The ipod, about as likely as people living on the moon or an electric car! Names like Conway, Buck and Loretta did not even seem ridiculous to me yet. And I still associate station wagons with Charlie Pride to this very day.

So this past Mother's Day, I did my duty and exposed my own children to the King of Rock n Roll. It was an Elvis impersonator, hired to swoon the Mother's Day brunch crowd at a local restaurant. My kids were in awe of him. It's too early to tell, but I'm sure they will have an uncontrollable urge to eat eggs each time they hear Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love.

Teach, your children well.

The Why of Writing

James Thurber once said, “I never quite know when I’m writing”. Ditto, Mr. Thurber. I get you. Often times I find myself rearranging words in my head while in the midst of a conversation with my five year old on the merits of telling the truth or the definition of ‘tacky’. Don’t forget to write it down, I tell myself, because, the file system in my head, well, it’s jam-packed. And if I don’t write it down, it’s liable to never again see the light of day.

Writing gives me a linear outlet to express myself and my circular maze of logic. Besides, my mental filing system has become outdated since my journey into Mommydum. The “Mommydum” file, wedged in between the “Daughter I’m sure I was” and the” Wife I think I am” files would be totally inaccessible had I not began to blog.

Write what you know. Sure, that’s how it started. I would blog about myself and my family, life, love and relationships. But I soon came to the realization that I was writing to discover meaning in the caveats of these, aforementioned areas. Things that I really had not discovered until the moment I typed them out and reread them to myself. The writing process, at least for me is more about where I end up and most often, it’s a diversion from the path I thought I had been on all along. When I reach my final destination at the end of a post, I look around and think, wow, that was not at all where I thought I would end up. But, and this is the true beauty of it, It’s most always a better place than I had imagined all along. And that, is where the why of writing comes from. Although I may not always know when I’m writing, at least now I realize why.