LA Moms Blog

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I did it. I signed off. I actually signed off Facebook. Omigodnowwhat? It’s only been a few minutes, but already I am wondering what to do. It’s truly ridiculous. I mean, I have no time for Facebook, but somehow I manage to be signed on all day long. The thing is, I leave my laptop open on the table and jump on the computer whenever my kids are playing with each other or sleeping. It’s a very effective way for me to get things done during the day. I can write, I can email, keep in touch with everyone, and not miss anyone’s birthday. It makes me feel efficient since I am home most of the day with my little ones. I don’t spend much time on the phone because it’s too darn loud here, so Facebook has turned out to be the perfect solution.

"Shh! Be quiet so I can be a lousy guest!!

"Shhh! I'm trying to read!!", snaps my 9 year-old's friend, who is currently hogging the video game controller.  Did I hear that right??  I focus in on the conversation.  My son begins up his normal chatter, again, after a momentary silence from the shushing of his playmate.  Then the friend says it again, tells my son to be quiet, so he can play the video game in silence, while the other kids sit and watch.  A quick glance to my husband, who has just entered the room, and we agree, without words, that something needs to happen. 

I step in and remind the boy that we talk kindly to friends.  He says nothing and doesn't even bother to look up from the game.  I am reminded of  a similar incident with the same offender.  A couple weeks back, at his house, they were again playing video games, well, he was playing, while my son sat and watched.  Like today.  My son recounts that the boy told him to "stop talking! you're being annoying".  I didn't like the sound of it, but brushed it off as a bad day.  But this was quickly becoming a real issue.

Why have my son over then, if he's a bother?  Why invite him over every Friday?  Why ask, over and over again, to come play at our house, if only to play video games alone, without interacting with the other kids? 

Easter as a Competitive Event

I am a member of a very popular message group catering largely to mothers living in Los Angeles.  In the days after Easter last year, numerous posts appeared describing the horrors of various Easter Egg Hunts held around the city.  One common thread ran through all the posts: parents behaving like lunatics. 

One mom wrote: "It was like a stampede with clouds of dust and parents running around picking up eggs for their kids, taking the eggs so the other kids could not get them.  My 3 year old got one egg and the 2 year old got nothing."   And another: "I am posting this to save anyone who may be considering going to the Easter Egg Hunt at _______ Park next year."  And this: "....many parents were SCREAMING at both their kids and other kids to get more, get away from my son, etc."  This one: "The parents jumped the fence before the whistle or shoved their kids in before the whistle."  How about: "They should not allow parents to participate. It's awful, one woman grabbed an egg right out from under my 2 year old's hand, literally."  Also: "They announced no fewer than three times that parents were not allowed inside the egg hunting area, but that didn't stop about a dozen parents from going in there and scooping up loads of eggs for their kids. My daughter got one egg." 

What the heck?