From the monthly archives:

May 2012

Some Babbling That You May Have Missed

by Marinka on May 31, 2012

Hey, did you know that I’m writing for Babble Kid Scoop now? Because I haven’t mentioned it for a few hours.

Here are some of my favorite posts (that I wrote myself) for Babble for May. Really, if I could give myself some kind of an award, I would.

Seven Important Moments That Your Teen Totally Won’t Care About. Like all the first. Also if she was breastfed.

I got all sentimental about finding old plastic not-quite-sippy cup covers.

I’m proud to be a helicopter parent. Sorry, free range isn’t for me. (Except I’m not sorry.)

Why I blog about my kids even though they’ve asked me not to.

There is no book that I hated in high school more than Moby Dick. What about you?

I join the fun in the who do you love more: your husband or your kids debate by bravely confessing that I love my kids more than I love Nicki, the cat. (Don’t tell Nicki.)

Parenting controversies that I’m totally over. Breast vs. Bottle, I’m looking at you.

There is a long list of things that my kids know how to do and I don’t. Like play the piano.

Funny words that kids mispronounce. Torteweenie for dinner!

I’m closing comments on this one, so please hold your applause. But I’ll be back soon with a real post. Is it me or is this short week a million days long?!

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Nostalgia

by Marinka on May 30, 2012

Husbandrinka and I were looking at some old photos recently and reminiscing.

It’s funny how two people who share a life, and so much history can see such different things when looking at the same photo.

“Oh, honey, look at this one!” Husbandrinka tilted his screen towards me so that I could admire a photo taken some six years ago. “That’s when Jefferson Market was still open– see the bags?”

Of course I saw the bags. Jefferson Market was a Greenwich Village institution (and the bags were ever-present on Friends episodes) until the store closed a few years ago. We miss it. We miss it a lot.

But looking at the photograph, as much as I loved Jefferson Market, I couldn’t focus on the bags. They were insignificant to me.

What I saw was how red and shiny my red cart was. I’d been using that cart for over 20 years now, since before I was married, to haul laundry to the basement, groceries from the store, sometimes even blankets to the dry cleaners. That red cart is like a member of the family, but lately it hasn’t been as shiny. It’s still fine, no need to panic, but I can see that it won’t be with us forever.

I didn’t want to burden Husbandrinka with my worries about the red cart. Not while he was reminiscing about Jefferson Market.

That’s the great thing about photographs, I guess. Everyone notices something different.

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I’m Right, You’re Wrong: Now With New Rules

May 28, 2012

This installment of I’m Right, You’re Wrong is a little different, because I had an argument with my husband and I cannot go through the charade of presenting the argument objectively without reveling who held which position since he is so obviously wrong. So I’m going to present the argument as it happened, ask you […]

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Dance Moms is Coming Back! Sponsored Video! And Happiness!

May 26, 2012

You know how when you’re a kid, you wait all year for Christmas (or your own birthday) and then the big day comes and it’s great, but then eventually it’s over and as you go to bed that night there is a little sliver of sadness that the best day ever is behind you now […]

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Cannonization

May 25, 2012

A loving mother/daughter conversation. Marinka:  You have an orthodontist appointment right after school, so you need to leave at 3 on the dot to meet me. Don’t linger, please.  Pretend you’re being shot out of a cannon. 13 year old daughter: Or I can just ask my teacher to leave five minutes early. Marinka:  That […]

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Delicious!

May 24, 2012

This post first appeared on this blog in a slightly different form in 2008.  You probably weren’t even born then yet. I’ve learned to edit since then. When I was pregnant for the first time, Mama and Papa were overjoyed. And by “overjoyed” I mean “insane”. They hovered over me. They made sure that I […]

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Everyone Is A Critic (and a Sponsored Video)

May 22, 2012

Marinka gets dressed for a fun and productive day. Young Ladrinka, 10, looks at Marinka and says, “Hey, you look like Minnie Mouse!” Later, after Marinka takes Young Ladrinka to school where he will hopefully learn about the perils of comparing his mother’s outfit to that of a rodent, Marinka will tell her Mama about […]

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If You’re In NYC, Please Come To This Tomorrow

May 22, 2012

I was going to start this post by telling you how I know about this boy. About how my friend and book group member Lara emailed me and told me that this boys is the nephew of her son’s- but you know what? Does it really matter? As my friend Stacey once said, “it’s always […]

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