What a mommy will do

My heart breaks when my girl is in pain. I don't like scrapes, I don't like head bumps, and I especially loathe hand, foot, & mouth disease!

Our introduction to the nastly little virus began on Thursday, with a letter home to parents on blue copy paper:

"Dear parents, We wish to inform you that a student in your child's class was diagnosed with hand, foot, & mouth disease this morning..."

OK, great. So we'll be super vigilant and keep an eye out for symptoms.

Friday night, Amelia was quite a little meanie. We held out hope... maybe it's just a cold? Saturday morning, Amelia slept in really late. We gloated about how lucky we were to get extra sleep that day. But on Sunday, we were greeted with red blisters when we looked in her mouth. And now there are blisters on her hands and bottom.

Hello, HFMD. You are not welcome here.

Amelia is in a lot of pain.

Another mall moan

I posted several months ago about my not-so-enjoyable visit to the mall after 5:00. Today I'm back with another gripe about our little suburban mall.

Pushy mall peddlers.

The ones who jump in front of you and try to file your nails, lotion your hands, sign your kid up for photos, upgrade your cell phone plan. Since when am I deprived of my peaceful mall experience? Why can't I walk quietly through the mall without getting accosted by someone who mastered "Overkill Sales 101"?

It's bad enough when I'm alone. But when I have a 2-1/2 year old in the stroller yelling "I want to go PLAY, Mommy! I'm hungry, Mommy!", WHY must these people stop my forward progress? One guy shoves me a flyer for mineral cosmetics. Asks me if he can put some on my eyelids. I glance at the cart...

Sugar rush!

Woah... give the child ice cream and this happens.

And then Kate

Welcome to Friends 2 Follow Friday!
I enjoyed my blogging break so much, that I'm going to make it a regular feature. What better way to get to know some amazing bloggers than a little one-on-one time?

Today's featured blogger is Kate from and then kate. She is a talented writer and truly hilarious. Really. Browse her posts from early September and check out the Hallmark one. She has a way of pointing out real life... with a funny twist.

The writer behind the words? My name is Kate House. I'm the mom of the almost-four-year-old Aura, a little girl who gives new meaning to the words chatty and early-onset chocoholic. We live a few miles outside of Boston, which is still too many miles for our comfort. But when Aura's toys threatened to take over and rule our city apartment two years ago, we surrendered and moved. We now have the space we need, yet we find ourselves having a difficult time adjusting to Life in Suburbia. So very many green lawns, so very few takeout Thai places.

When (& why) did you start the blog?