LiveMom.com - Dedicated to building a better village

OK, so this email had me laughing. Not at the mom who wrote it, but at myself. Remembering back to all of those times that I’ve tried managing a toddler in a public bathroom while I was peeing. The things people must have thought as they heard me yelling, “No, don’t touch that!! It’s icky!”.

I hate public restrooms and have done everything in my power to make sure that my nine year old knows what he’s allowed to touch, what can be touched better with his shoe instead of his hands and how he should use a paper towel to open the door on his way out after washing his hands thoroughly under scalding hot water. Here’s an email that came in from Natalie:

I’m embarrassed to write this email but I’m hoping that you and your readers may be able to shed some light on a situation for me.  I am a new mom and always on the run (no pun intended there). I’ve managed nicely so far with my four month old- he just attaches to me in his sling and comes along for the ride without any problems so far.

I had to go to the bathroom while we were shopping at Central Market the other day. There was a woman with three kids in there at the same time trying to control them while she was peeing and failing miserably. They were using up all of the towels, playing in the water and making a huge mess of it all. The youngest even tried to run out of the bathroom… luckily a stranger was walking in at the same time and scared her back in. While all of this was going on I could feel the stress oozing off the mom behind the stall. She was yelling out their names trying to make sure they were all in there. The funny thing to me is that she knew they were messing up the place and telling them to stop playing in the water, towels, etc.

I only have one child- it’ll be easier for me, but how do you go to the bathroom in public with a crazed toddler running around? How do you manage to keep them germ-free while you’re doing your business?  Do you take them in the stall with you for easier watching or trust them to behave for a minute while mom has a potty break? This wasn’t something I thought through while I was pregnant. Please share any tricks that you have with me to ease my over-stressed, over-thinking brain!

Wishing all of you mamas out there a very wonderful day! Congratulations, Average Jane Crafter- you won the LiveMom Mother’s Day Giveaway. Here is the winning comment:

I love being a mom, because it’s put me in this great community of other mothers. No matter how horrible or wonderful my day may be, I go through it feeling supported by all the other moms doing the same thing out there in the world. I love feeling that connection and sense of community.

I also love being a mom, because it is so insanely challenging. I am forced - on a daily basis - to rethink, redirect, and regroup. It’s not always fun, but I keep reminding myself that challenges are what help me grow the most.

Plus … I like toys. Having kids give me an excuse to look for, purchase and play with toys. So … toys … they’re a plus.

Enjoy your special day, mama.

I had the pleasure of sitting down to lunch with Ashley, the Marketing Director for Serrano’s in the Arboretum. She’s a mom of three and is working diligently at getting more families into her location.I have to admit that it’s been years since I last stepped foot into a Serrano’s. It’s not because I’ve had issues with the food or the restaurant itself, I just rarely choose to go out to Mexican restaurants unless I’m really craving it. Don’t get me wrong, I love Mexican food. Come on, it’s a requirement for living in Texas, right? I can eat baskets upon baskets of chips with queso and salsa, fill up on some sizzling fajitas and wash it all down with a rita. That’s my dish and I stick to it. Occasionally I’ll stray and order nachos, tortilla soup or ceviche, but I’m just not one for enchiladas or tacos or really anything else.

On the day that I was meeting with Ashley, I was trying to plan in advance what I would order. You see, I’m working really hard at taking off the last ten pounds of baby weight (from 15 months ago, mind you) and didn’t want to eat heavy that day. I was afraid that they would have only the standard fare- fajitas, enchiladas and fried stuff that would go straight to my gut. Well, all of that worrying was a huge waste of time because the menu was one of the most extensive menus that I’ve seen at a Mexican restaurant, ever!

With a little guidance from Ashley- I needed it because I couldn’t decide- I chose a shrimp stuffed poblano pepper. Don’t ask me what it’s called. I couldn’t even pronounce it to order and my brain certainly hasn’t retained the name since. Luckily, they understood my lack of pronunciation skills and smirked kindly on me as Ashley gave the waiter my order.

The food and conversation were excellent. We talked a little about what they have to offer families in Austin- Kids Eat Free EVERY DAY of the week. She told me some history about the company and I was happy to find out that it was started 20 years ago right here in Austin, Texas! Here’s a little info taken from their website:

Serranos is a family owned and operated Tex-Mex restaurant in Austin, Texas. Brothers David Quintanilla and Adam Gonzales opened the first Serranos in 1987. As the city of Austin has grown, so has Serranos. Currently there are 6 Serranos restaurants in the Austin area. Serranos is truly Austin’s Original Mesquite smoked Tex-Mex.

I realized that this would be a great feature for LiveMom. It fits all the requirements- locally owned and operated, family-friendly and excellent food. So if you are wanting to get out of the house for dinner, you want Mexican food with lots of variety and you want to feed the kids for free, head on over to Serranos in the Arboretum. Each kids eat free meal (age 12 and under) must be accompanied by an adult meal, unless your child can prove that they had perfect attendance (bring your report card, kids). Ask for Ashley, show her your card and get a free meal!!

Thanks, Serranos, for supporting families in Austin! Do you have a favorite restaurant that you want to see featured on LiveMom? If so, send me an email and I’ll get on it! Thanks Deanna for the photo.

It’s Mother’s Day weekend in Austin, Texas. What will you be doing to celebrate? Whatever it is, there’s a bunch of free stuff to keep your family well entertained!

Book People Storytime- A special treat for Mother’s Day with a reading by Laura Duksta on Saturday at 11:30a.m. FREE! Book People, 6th and Lamar.

3rd Annual Pioneer Day- Come celebrate Home Sweet Texas Home with the Williamson Museum, Saturday, May 10, at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, 3300 E. Palm Valley Blvd. The event will include hands-on demonstrations of pioneer activities and games, living history presentations, and the winning posters from the Home Sweet Texas Immigration Poster art contest. A FREE hot dog lunch will be served at noon and a pioneer-style lunch cooked on site in Dutch ovens will also be available for $3.00 per person. This event is FREE of charge and open to the public from 10:00 am to 3:00 p.m. Old Settler’s Park, 2800 Palm Valley Rd.

Snow White- Based on the classic tale of Snow White, her woodland friends and a “no-so-nice Queen”, our original, interactive production encourages children to help the story unfold. Saturday, 10:00a.m. and Sunday at 2:00p.m. tickets $3-$10. Scottish Rite Theatre, 207 W. 18th Street.
Mother’s Day in the Park- What better way to close out a great day with Mom than by taking her to a FREE concert in the park in her honor? The band will perform well-known tunes, including marches and musical numbers that you and your mom are sure to enjoy! Get there early to select the best seating… this concert gets more popular every year. Sunday, 7:00p.m. Zilker Hillside Theater, Zilker Park.

Magical Mystical Michael- FREE kids show at Ruta Maya Coffee House. Every Sunday at 10:30a.m. Ruta Maya, 3601 S. Congress.

Round Rock Concert Series- Alpha Rev comes to Round Rock’s Amphitheater to perform from their album “The Greatest Thing I’ve Ever Learned.” In addition to the typical guitar, keyboard, bass and drums, Alpha Rev boasts a violin and cello that add to the band’s sound. FREE! Bring a blanket or lawn chair. Coolers are allowed, but no glass. Pets must be on leashes. 301 W. Bagdad, Round Rock.

Just For Mom:

Brunch, a spa treatment, some shopping. Whatever you want, you can have for Mother’s Day. I was going to compile a list for you of restaurants and spas, but found that it’s already available on Citysearch! Check it out if you are lacking inspiration on what to do this weekend, especially if you are needing some pampering.

I like to eat tacos. Primarily because my son likes it when I make them. I generally make them with ground turkey instead of beef and it almost always ends up turning into taco salad. I was looking through the recipes on Andria & Co. and found a recipe for taco salad served in an edible shell. It occurred to me that I’ve never attempted to make an edible shell before. How can I call myself an experienced cook without ever having made one of these? I feel like such a fraud.

So, it’s decided. We will soon be eating taco salad from an edible shell. I think that this will push my status as a good cook to the best cook ever in in my son’s eyes! Thanks, Andria, for sharing your recipes. I love looking through other weekly menus to get inspiration for dinner at my house. Be sure to check it out and if you have a recipe that you would like to have featured, please send it to me.

Taco Salad in an Edible Shell

• large flour tortillas
• black beans
• shredded chicken, or ground beef (and taco seasoning)
• lettuce (I like to use romaine mixed with a spring mix salad)
• tomatoes cubed
• guacamole
• salsa
• sour cream
• pitted black olives
• shredded cheddar cheese

1. To prepare taco shell: On a cookie sheet, place a silicon baking sheet. Turn bowl (cereal size works best) upside down. (This is where the silicon comes in handy, the bowls aren’t directly touching the cookie sheet, and this helps to prevent cracking the bowl. Drape a large flour torilla over the bowl, and bake in the oven at 350 until the tortilla is a golden brown color, and hard. I think I usually leave them in around 6-8 minutes.
2. Prepare your ground beef or shredded chicken with taco seasoning.
3. Layer the above ingredients, starting with lettuce first, followed by meat and beans. Layer the other ingredients as desired. (Everyone prepares/layers differently. It’s like the hubby and I pouring a bowl of cereal. He pours cereal first, followed by milk. I’m the opposite. I’m not even going to talk about how we fix bowls of chili.)

Mother’s Day… it’s right around the corner. That one day when you should feel like a queen with breakfast served in bed, dinner made by someone other than yourself and a house that is so clean you’re not even sure you live there. And all of this pulled off by your loving kids. Yes, I know I’m a dreamer. Well, if you can’t get all of that, at least you have a chance at winning some cool things!

What’s up for grabs?

• $20 Gift Certificate to Serranos Tex-Mex Restaurant

• Gift Basket from Irie Bean Coffee Bar

• Clocky from IF + D

• Signed copy of Haiku Mama by Austin’s own Kari Anne Roy!

Total value of $98.00!

What do you have to do?

Leave a comment by Saturday, May 10, 2008. To make your chances of winning even better, leave a comment telling us something you love about being a mama. One stipulation- you must be in the Central Texas area to win. The contest ends on Saturday, May 10 at midnight. The winner will be notified by email.

It can be a tough decision when you are considering the options of going back to work or continuing to stay home. For some moms, it can be especially challenging if you have not had an established career before the kids came. Here’s an email from a local mom looking to go back to work soon:

I am currently a SAHM and am thinking that it’s time I go get a job, but I don’t know where to start. I started having kids when I was 21 and I don’t have much work experience. I’ve been out of a job for close to ten years now and am afraid to enter back into something that I was never really a part of. Now that I have kids and they are all in school I feel like I want to create a life for myself but still have some flexibility to be there when they need me. This is where I am struggling the most. I don’t want to not be there for my kids and am wondering if there are any family friendly companies in the Austin area that I can try to get a job at? I live north and don’t mind driving as far as downtown or even out to Round Rock/ Georgetown.  

Many Americans have received their stimulus checks from the government over the past week. This got me thinking about how these checks will play out in the local economy in the coming months.

It doesn’t seem like Austin is in much of a slump. Many companies are still seeing growth in the Central Texas area and it appears that the housing market is still strong, with the number of housing sales decreasing but the prices remaining steady, if not rising. Here’s something that I read in Community Impact about Georgetown and Central Texas:

Growth rate is typically a good indicator of economic strength, and Central Texas is in the midst of a population boom. As people flock to the area, they fill jobs, buy homes and pump dollars into the economy.

“Recent growth rates are very good, and future projections show that Williamson County in particular is in the cross hairs of some excellent long-term growth,” said Mark Thomas, economic development director for Georgetown.

A second indicator is the unemployment rate. Area unemployment is 3.8 percent, lower than the national average of 4.6 percent.

Danny Klingler, project manager at consulting firm Angelou Economics, said real estate is one important reason why the regional economy has been resistant to the nation’s downturn.

“You didn’t have the level of a housing bubble that you had in a lot of other markets, where homes had become ridiculously overpriced. Here it’s been fairly steady. You have a very affordable housing market.”

Has this downturn in the economy affected you? Have you and your family had to cut corners and give up some luxuries to accommodate for the rising cost of living? Is your stimulus money already spent on unpaid bills that need to be caught up or will you be hitting the stores for some stimulating shopping? With food and gas prices constantly rising, will you save some of your stimulus money for possible tougher times down the road? What do y’all think- will these stimulus checks really create a big enough boost in the economy to make a difference?

Here’s another talented Austin mom! Be sure to check back next week for our Mother’s Day Giveaway, which will include an autographed copy of her book!!

Name: Kari Anne Roy

Occupation: Writer, mama

Age: 31

Number of Children: 2 – Samuel, 5 and Georgia, 22 months

Current Projects: Here’s a list of the stuff that’s keeping me busy…

A middle-grade space adventure novel, Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel, due from Random House in Spring 2009

About 14,000 other partially written novels. I really need to just settle on one and get to work.

An old-school 90’s-era paper zine, Aprön, that I’m working on with a friend of mine. Who knows when it will actually get finished, but it’s fun working on it.

My blog: http://www.haikuoftheday.com

Freelance copywriting for various ad agencies around town (mama’s got to buy groceries)

Tell us about yourself:

I am a high-strung, OCD-plagued worrywart disguised as a laidback funny lady. I do a good job of being messy, lazy and pretty free-wheeling, even though my brain in constantly freaking out about a variety of hypochondriac things, money, politics, and the end of the world.

You are a writer and a mother. Do they blend nicely together?

I am really fortunate that I’m able to stay home and work. It’s never easy, but the fact that I can write anywhere – in the car at a red light, in the bathroom, during naptime, whenever – is fantastic. Plus, the kids are always doing something ridiculous or hilarious (like naming their babydolls things like Oobaloo), giving me a constant source of material. Did I just admit that I steal writing ideas from my kids? Yes. Yes I did.

What’s a typical day like for you?

My super awesome husband gets up with Sam, my oldest, and makes his lunch and takes him to school while I sneak an extra few minutes of sleep.

Georgia, the youngest, wakes up between 7 and 7:30 and I moan and groan and lay in bed with her and try to force her to watch Sesame Street (which she always refuses to do) and then we get up. I shower while she dumps a baggy of Cheerios all over the bathroom floor and then it’s on to breakfast and checking email.

We happily mess around for most of the afternoon, taking time to play and scream and poop and nap (well, Georgia does), and I furtively try to sneak in time to email and write and catch up on worldly happenings.

By 2:30 we’re off to pick up Sam from school and then we’re back home for some afternoon PBS, more furtive writing, more screeching (sometimes happy, sometimes not) and pooping, and some playing outside. This is also when we like to have our 1-minute dance parties to inappropriate music.

On good days, my super awesome husband is home by 6, where he does his best to feed us, if I haven’t gotten around to it. Then he baths the kids and gets them to bed by 8 or 8:30 while I start working for the night. We watch a little TV, he crashes out on the couch and snores through World’s Deadliest Catch, and I work and email my friend ridiculous web links until midnight-ish when I collapse into bed.

Tell us about Haiku Mama.

Read the rest of this entry »

Celebration of Families- This year’s event, Healthy Families/ Healthy Planet, is brought to you by Family Connections. It’s FREE and will feature an entertainment stage with the Biscuit Brothers performing at Noon, rock wall climbing, moonwalks, a petting zoo, face painting and a toddler zone. There will also be over 100 exhibitors and many seminars throughout the day. Saturday, 10:00 am- 4:00 pm at the Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd.

Zilker Elementary Backyard Concert- A family-friendly concert open to the public with music by Jimmy Lafave, Matt the Electrician, Robin Wiley, Moving Blues and the Bobkats.Bring a blanket, concessions available for dinner. No alcohol, please. $10 adult, $5 teen, $2 ages 11 and under. Friday, 5:30- 9:30 pm. Zilker Elementary Amphitheater, 1900 Bluebonnet Lane.

Old Pecan Street Festival- For over 30 years the Biannual Old Pecan Street Festival has provided Central Texas residents a family friendly venue to collect arts and crafts from local and national artists and artisans, experience live music and take part of a long standing Austin tradition. The Old Pecan Street Festival not only supports local artists and vendors but gives back to many of Austin’s most beloved charities as well as preserving Old Pecan Street (6th Street). Come and be a part of the magic! Saturday, 11:00am - 10:00pm, Sunday, 11:00am - 8:00pm.

Maypole Festival- Come celebrate springtime. See “Charlotte’s Web” stage play, the Contemporary Cloggers and the Emmy Award-winning Biscuit Brothers. Plus hayrides, crafts, activities and historical demonstrations. Saturday, 1:00pm-5:00pm. Tickets $8 child/$10 adult . Pioneer Farms, 10621 Pioneer Farms Drive.

Peter and the Wolf- This production is an adaptation of the original story of Peter and the Wolf. Accompanied by a cat, a duck and a bird, Peter, a brave young man, makes his way to find an evil, ornery wolf and eliminate him, once and for all. This is a movement based production of the original Peter and the Wolf story. Be mesmerized by the visual beauty captured through movement and music. Brought to you by the Second Youth Family Theatre. Saturday, 11:00am and 3:00pm shows. $10 adults, $5 children 1-12, children under 1 are free. Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Rd.

Go Wild at the Library- Kate Young of the 4-H will be displaying and demonstrating wildlife habitats at the Wells Branch Community Library on Saturday at 2:00pm. FREE! 15001 Wells Port Dr.

Little Lounge Lizards- A dance club party for ages 10 and under and their adults held in a popular Austin nightclub, MoMo’s on 6th Street, the first Saturday of every month from 12:30-3:30pm with a hip DJ spinning hits from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s on up! It’s a fun, alternative family outing keepin’ Austin weird where kids can dance and interact with their grown-ups. $10 . Momo’s, 618 W. 6th St.

Mamapalooza Festival- A family event celebrating mothers in the arts, showcasing local artists, vendors and performers, including singer-songwriters Sarah Hickman, Idgy Vaughn and Barbara Kooyman and many others.Ticket price, $5.00 at the door. Sunday, 1:00-6:00pm. Symphony Square, 1101 Red River.

Cinco de Mayo Festival- Music, food and fun for the whole family, featuring: Tejano Music Workshop, Ballet Folklorico Dance Demos, Face Painting, Art Demos, Storytelling with Dan Arrellano and more. Sunday, 1:00pm-7:00pm. FREE! Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 River Street.

Just For Mom:

You know what I need? A movie. Not one that I watch while sharing the couch with my husband and the various dogs, cats and kids that roam around my house. Yes, I’m talking about the kind of movie where you actually leave the house, anxiously wait in line because you were late getting out of the house and you just know all of the seats will be horrible by the time you get your ticket, then proceed to stand in another line to get your paws on a big ol’ bucket of greasy popcorn. Ah, sounds delightful. No, really, I want to see Baby Mama. I really like Tina Fey and could use a good mindless, funny movie right now. Something to make me forget about all of the responsibilities that I’ve been forgetting to do at home lately. Say it with me folks…. ESCAPE!

If you are not so into seeing Baby Mama and want something more intelligent, check out Austin360 for all of your movie-going needs.