tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-333142012008-05-11T15:20:42.362-05:00Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comBlogger546125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-53400231283151658532008-05-10T20:06:00.004-05:002008-05-10T21:07:23.986-05:00

With my first triathlon tomorrow morning, I have been trying to be particularly careful in my eating and sleeping habits this week. I have also tried hard to manage my progressively escalating case of nerves as the week went on. So you might expect that I would have gone to sleep as early as possible yesterday. Almost as if I were in denial about my need for rest, I did the opposite, and

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-2808369743403043802008-05-09T07:37:00.002-05:002008-05-09T07:39:59.669-05:00

Check out my review of Discovery's game Rapelli for The Parent Bloggers Network over at Flexible Parenting Reviews!

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-87025666239847403912008-05-08T19:37:00.005-05:002008-05-08T21:52:03.904-05:00

Today I felt like I was on an international flight filled with preschoolers and babies. A flight where there was only one parent for every 2+ kids. In typical flight tradition, it was hot and there was hardly any room between seats. I was getting kicked by the kids behind me, and I had to pry my own kids off the seats in front of us on more than one occasion. Parents all around me had diaper

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-71230098282666232042008-05-06T19:31:00.003-05:002008-05-06T20:22:24.568-05:00

When I was a kid, I really enjoyed reading the book The Secret Garden, and I vividly imagined what the garden looked like. Fast forward 15+ years later. When I saw my current house, I felt like I was at home, because, for some reason, the yard felt really familiar. Last night we met with a realtor. I sort of felt like I was dating again. Relax, Big Giraffe! What I mean to say is that I was

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-25534891909465880292008-05-04T18:11:00.006-05:002008-05-04T19:31:45.406-05:00

When I first had my older son (OS), I could not imagine giving away one single item of his. What if I regretted it? What if I needed it later? When I worked at our moms group yard sale, it almost pained me to see the high chairs, strollers, and Pack N Plays donated. How could people part with these items? I'm sure those of you with older kids are laughing about that one. The Big Giraffe and

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-37221673170746886822008-05-02T15:36:00.006-05:002008-05-03T00:21:35.677-05:00

Dear Mrs. Chicky, Her Bad Mother and Mrs. Chicken, I would love to be able to give you some advice on having a second child. The problem is that most of the time, I still need some advice. I'm just kidding sort of. Honestly having a second was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Here's the two best pieces of advice I have for you. 1) This is really the best advice I've received for

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-34592249986527380532008-05-01T21:24:00.004-05:002008-05-01T21:38:38.508-05:00

No, this isn't about exercising or triathlons. I'm very excited to say that I will be writing for both Just Cause (click on Editor Blogs) and GNM Parents. Did I mention that I'm excited? I'll be writing on Mondays for Just Cause (I have been doing Fridays) and on Thursdays for GNP. Hmm...today's Thursday and tomorrow's Friday!

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-19855346973270925552008-04-30T19:13:00.004-05:002008-04-30T21:00:08.341-05:00

Yes, we over in the Elliot household are getting a little wild. First it was the $3 zester. That was unbudgeted item. Alright maybe, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but this next item certainly was an unforeseen expense. Perhaps if we had acknowledged it a little earlier, it wouldn't have been unexpected. The moaning groaning had been going on for about a year now. Every time we had a sitter

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-63980316410580152072008-04-29T17:50:00.010-05:002008-04-30T06:59:53.135-05:00

I'll give you a moment to get the U2 song into your head (or click on it so you can actually hear it). It will set the tone for this post. Then you can be mad at me for the rest of the day when you can't get it back out of your head. One of the many things that just leaves me staring in amazement is the way streets are named in Massachusetts. Many streets do not appear to have a name. That's

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-31349970205727185812008-04-29T08:51:00.003-05:002008-04-29T08:54:00.780-05:00

I just reviewed a fantastic book for The Parent Bloggers Network over at Flexible Parenting Reviews called Were You Raised by Wolves by Christie Mellor. It's about all those little life lessons you missed growing up. I really enjoyed it. Check it out.

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-68235163512413948572008-04-28T19:52:00.006-05:002008-04-28T21:21:27.730-05:00

I've hosted a handful of showers in the ten years (has it really been that long?) since I've graduated from college. This by no means makes me any kind of expert, particularly since each shower has been pretty different. I've hosted showers at a restaurant with just a few guests, at other people's homes with a lot of guests, and at my current home during the holiday season because my good

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-28726051293026877862008-04-27T07:58:00.003-05:002008-04-27T09:16:57.559-05:00

I'm going to leave you in suspense for minute. The Big Giraffe and I got married almost 7 years ago. We both lived in our own apartments and we each owned a set of dishes, pots, pans, silverware and kitchen appliances. When it was time to register, we decided that since we already owned these things (some in duplicate) we weren't going to register for them. We would only register for things

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-77081504834445148932008-04-24T18:25:00.006-05:002008-04-24T20:12:47.138-05:00

Summer is here! No, I'm not referring to the gorgeous weather we've had the past couple of weeks or the fact that it's actually starting to get light when I get up in the morning and stay light in the evenings. I'm not even referring to the fact that the kids were in shorts today or that they've been sleeping well from all our excursions to the park. Today I had actually proof. It was in the

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-7952238707747547672008-04-23T19:33:00.005-05:002008-04-23T20:05:44.289-05:00

This past Tuesday, my triathlon training buddy and I met with a personal trainer for a running session in the park. It did strike me as ironic that one day after the Boston marathon, we were running around a dinky park. Much to my surprise, the running went really well. In fact I would go so far as to say it's the best running experience I've had so far, even with all the hills. There was

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-50239171717464624522008-04-22T19:14:00.004-05:002008-04-23T04:10:21.196-05:00

It is recommended that you hum the relevant 80's song while reading this post. A short while back, I decided to "investigate" getting a good pair of sunglasses. This involved me asking numerous friends what sunglasses they wore, putting a query out on the moms group list-serve, and then reading various reviews of different sunglasses recommended for triathlons. For a few nights, I would glance

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-53910447190193711132008-04-21T19:24:00.004-05:002008-04-21T20:02:31.231-05:00

As you hopefully know, tomorrow is Earth Day. I thought I would write a post about what we do at the Elliot household. We're not tree huggers in this household. My older son (OS) wore and my younger son (YS) wears disposable diapers. When I was in college and later living in my first apartment, I would go through periods were I would be totally green, and then I would swing right back. To me

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-44088239185874795962008-04-20T20:40:00.003-05:002008-04-20T20:55:28.367-05:00

Back in the fall, we all took a trip to the aquarium with my mother in law. She bought my older son (OS) a pink mermaid doll at his request. It looks just like a Groovy Girl doll with a tail. He liked it, but other toys definitely took priority. Every once in a while the mermaid would make an appearance and both boys would play with her. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but suddenly my

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-54415078718953490532008-04-19T19:24:00.004-05:002008-04-19T20:33:56.379-05:00

A couple of months ago, my doctor gave me some inhaler samples. The box said that the inhaler contained 200 metered units. I was to use two units before exercising. This inhaler should have lasted me a few months. Yet one day it stopped working. I used the next sample. After a few weeks the same thing happened. My doctor called in a prescription and when I picked it up I asked the

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-24183657889624739772008-04-18T08:46:00.003-05:002008-04-18T09:14:05.460-05:00

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions! I have found out some interesting things about fine motor skills in the past day. First of all, I decided of course that I'm going to do the suggested activities on the worksheet from my older son's (OS) teacher. Since my younger son (YS) wants to do everything that OS does, he'll also be participating. However, since YS has always had remarkable

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-56443795960168995042008-04-16T20:55:00.003-05:002008-04-16T21:25:02.340-05:00

This morning at playgroup I asked one of the moms who is a teacher about bullying. This has been a topic on our moms group list-serve and I was surprised that no one had suggested talking with the parents to handle the situation. I wasn't sure if you weren't supposed to do that or if I had missed an email where the mom explained that either she already had talked to the other mom or had chosen

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-21863108760756708372008-04-16T07:11:00.000-05:002008-04-16T06:12:15.842-05:00

I remember when my older son (OS) was just a tiny baby. When I looked at him, I imagined that he would always be gurgling and sweet. Alright I knew that he wouldn't remain like that forever but to be honest whenever I saw kids melting down I did secretly believe that OS wouldn't ever do such a thing. Come on, you haven't ever wondered if it was the parent? Be honest. Over time, I have come

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-12665853417741994152008-04-14T20:38:00.004-05:002008-04-14T21:41:15.332-05:00

This past Sunday I had the pleasure of getting together with two of my college friends. We try to get together a couple times a year, but like everything else it's much easier said than done. Somewhere amongst stories of childbirth, kids, husbands, and work, our conversation stumbled onto the subject of storage. I think it came up when discussing how hard it is to keep your house clean with

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-10995886720808505452008-04-12T20:20:00.004-05:002008-04-12T21:05:14.104-05:00

A. Elliot's Lessons Learned after doing a dry run of my triathlon course: If your triathlon training buddy falls off her bike while standing still in the parking lot and almost takes you out with her, laughing will not convince her cyclist husband to take both of you seriously.It probably isn't appropriate to laugh at your friend no matter how funny it is and instead of helping her up, to point

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-44249298258154930382008-04-11T20:37:00.011-05:002008-04-11T22:01:51.675-05:00

So much learning happens in preschool and that's just for the parents. If I look back at my older son's (OS) almost two years of preschool, I realize that I've come a long way, learning appropriate parental attire for the open house, how to spy on my child from the parking lot, appropriate birthday party etiquette, what gifts to give teachers, and of course the rules around preschool Valentine's

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-90924568656705763842008-04-10T21:15:00.003-05:002008-04-11T07:06:31.858-05:00

The past few days have been beautiful. As such, I've forced myself to get off the couch cheerfully rounded up the kids and taken them to the playground. The first time we were there, my older son (OS) went straight to the slides. My younger son (YS) just sort of wandered around not sure where to go first. He picked up sand, then put it down. He walked here, there and everywhere. Part of

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977noreply@blogger.com