From the Courtroom to the Playroom

I started this blog when I decided to stay home from regular lawyering to be with my two kids. I wanted to chronicle my experience from working full time as a lawyer to being a stay at home mom. Life has certainly got in the way of regular blogging, but times are a changin' at our house. The oldest was just 2 1/2 back then, and I am getting ready to send him off to kindergarten in three days. The baby is now in a big girl room and just about out of diapers (hello, extra $50 a month!). So, I have been reflecting lately on how eventful this staying home journey has been. Full of ups and downs, moments of shame and victory, and containing the longest consecutive streak of "gym shorts days" of my life. So here are a few of the most memorable moments of taking on the daily task of full-time home management - the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. THE GOOD Two words: Beach and Pool. Enough said. Snuggling in the bed in the morning. Getting to come up with crafts and son...

Has it really been SIX MONTHS since I last blogged?!?! I know that someone out there has just been dying with suspense for another good read. And that person is most likely my mother. Anywho, the subject of my blog post today is about baking. Now you may think, "Gee, Jamie lots of people put their recipes on the blog and post great pictorial how-to's - why should we read yours?" Well, in the hopes that there is some flustered mom out there like me who makes stuff that never looks quite right or turns out quite right, I am going to detail my latest baking blunder from this morning. I set out to make a strawberry yogurt cake for a neighbor of mine. Simple enough - hop on Pinterest, print the recipe and follow the directions. Therein lies my problem. I am really bad about following directions when it comes to baking. I read the recipe, think to myself, "yeah, yeah, that's easy, you got this." Then, I somehow manage to seriously botch it up. See, I simply can...

When I was a senior in high school, my class, like most high schoolers, voted for what are called senior superlatives, or for the less fancy-schmancy, the "most likelys." I was voted Most Likely to Succeed. I am still not completely sure why. I thought I might be a more likely candidate for the Most Horrifyingly Insecure in a Totally Crippling Way award. High school was sort of a middle ground for me - I certainly would never (ever, ever, ever) want to go back, but it was still a very good experience in many ways. My husband, on the other hand, was voted by his classmates as Best All Around, Most Popular, and Class Favorite. I mean, come on! Did I mention he was also voted most likely to marry someone who likes to tease him about his senior superlatives? For some reason he just can't seem to understand why my high school experience wasn't as totally and completely blissful as his. Really? Anyway, I was looking at some old yearbook...

Recently a very dear childhood friend of mine posted a list of 32 things she had learned about life and herself in honor of her 32nd birthday. It was an incredible list of things, and being inspired by said list and friend, I decided that I would blog about life lessons from the lyrics of song in honor of my 32nd birthday. Which was 3 weeks ago. But who cares really. My life lessons will be limited to five, however, since (1) I am an underachiever and (2) I seem to dribble on about whatever it is I am writing about and nobody (except maybe my mom) would read 32 of these things. So, here goes: 1. "If you hold the nails, I'll take the hammer. I'll hold it still, if you'll climb the ladder. If you will, then I will, build." From We Build, Nichole Nordeman. This is a song about a love relationship and the idea is that you gotta work at it. My husband and I have been married for 5 years, so that clearly makes me an expert on relationships. Clearly. Anywho, my lesson...

From the movie Rob Roy : Son: Father, will the MacGregors ever be kings again? Rob Roy: All men with honor are kings, but not all kings have honor. Son : What is honor? Rob Roy: Honor is....what no man can give you, and what no man can take away. Honor is a man's gift to himself. Son: Do women have it? Rob Roy : Women are the heart of honor, and we cherish and protect it in them. You must never mistreat a women or malign a man. Or stand by and see another do so. Son : How do you know you have it? Rob Roy : Never worry on the getting of it. It grows in you and speaks to you. All you need to do is listen. I read this movie quote recently in a book for mothers about how to raise men of character. One aspect of doing this is raising a son who knows how to treat women right and is (dare I say it) chivalrous. Let's face it - chivalry is pretty much dead among the younger male set in this country. I'll spare you my personal opinion on why. Not long ago, my husband a...

I think I have pinpointed one of the more difficult things for me to deal with in the transition to staying at home. It's noise. When I was working, although I had a lot of interaction with co-workers and clients, there was a significant portion of my day that was spent in my office, often with door shut, just researching and writing. In silence. In dear, sweet, wonderful silence. I am learning that silence is a rarity around my house being a stay at home mom. The first thing I hear every morning is the sweet voice of my now 3 year old Deacon saying, "Mama, what are we doing today?" Yes, he ultimately ends up sleeping in our bed every night. Sigh. Don't judge. Anywho, from that first question of the day, we launch into countless hours of conversation punctuated by frequent "whys" and extraordinarily loud renditions of the ABC song. It clearly takes a special person to work with preschoolers and very young elementary kids day in and day out. I am certainl...