Confessions of a Mom on Break

A Mom Celebrates Her Special Day with Help from Happy Children

I have some "alone" time shopping and at the movies.

Well, I am another year older. I won't even begin to tell you my real age, but let's just say that it is older than I could imagine and still young enough to rock.  Following an early morning chorus of "Happy Birthday" from the kids and husband, I make the mistake of referring to my daughter's doll by the manufacturer-given name of Lalaloopsy. "Her name is not Lalaloopsy," she says. "Her name is Salt." "Why did you name your doll Salt?" "Because, Mom, she eats a lot of salt." OK. With that, I declare I must have some birthday "alone" time, which was well-deserved after entertaining the kids (and documenting it for you all to read) for the past week and a half. And so, my morning consists of a trip to the Village of Rochester Hills, where I…

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Confessions of a Mom on Break

Escaping the (Clean) House for an Indoor Playground

I venture downtown to Rochester Play and return home with two tired kiddos.

The first week of winter break is under our belts, and we survived unscathed. Now, we move on to Week Two.  But first, let's do a quick recap of our Christmas weekend.  My son lost tooth No. 6 the day after Christmas, and the tooth fairy only had a $5 bill and a $20 bill in her wallet. So, the kid scored $5 for a front tooth. (After begging for "tooth medicine" and saying that he would "faint from the sight of my own blood," she felt the dramatics deserved at least that.) Then the dog decided that eating Italian rice balls off the kitchen table was an awesome idea. For an impressive encore, he preceded to drink the remainder of my mimosa from a flute glass (seriously). A bellyache ensued, and he was rendered useless for two days.  But, …

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Track Santa Today From Your Phone, Facebook, Twitter

Children of all ages can follow St. Nick's every move with the help of NORAD's website.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is charged with keeping the United States and Canada safe from dangers originating from the sky or space. Tonight, however, the Colorado-based government agency adds one more important task to its daily list of duties. NORAD will provide its Official Santa Tracker, which marks St. Nick's every move as he makes his way around the globe. Included on the site is a countdown and activity page and a flight-tracking system. You can download a special application to follow Santa on your phone, and you can follow Santa's journey on Facebook and Twitter. NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command, have tracked Santa's flight every Christmas Eve for more than 50 years. 9:07 a.…

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Confessions of a Mom on Break

Finding the Real Meaning of Winter Break, One Play Date at a Time

A Rochester mom gives readers daily advice on what to do, where not to go and when it's OK to just run away.

Well, here we are. It's winter break: two weeks of entertaining the littlest set so they don't bludgeon one another with heavy objects. I'm the mom of two: a 4-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son. Luckily for me, I live in Rochester — land of play dates, kids-eat-free nights and indoor play areas. My best girlfriends know I'm the mom who needs to start each week — each day, really — with a well-laid plan of attack. Because I can sit through only so many "Super Mario Kart" tournaments and because, sadly, I know all the words to Barbie's  "Get Your Sparkle On," I have a specific thing-to-do every day over break. None of them involves Mario or Mattel. My goal is to entertain the kids while keeping their fighting to a minimum and my sanity …

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