There's not enough coffee in the world...

Most days, I like to get up early and conquer the day! I'm usually in bed by 9 p.m. so getting up at 4 or 5 a.m. isn't a big deal.

Yesterday, I was a single-parent for the night because Ron was at a golf party/tournament. I was prepared! Movies, pizza (wine for me once the kids went to bed!) and popcorn! It was going to be a great night.

Except Lola, the spunky mini-me Scorpio who I adore and love, decided bed time was 10 p.m. Usually I can get the kidlets to bed by 7 p.m., no fuss. My fabulous five-year-old Oscar was good as gold! Watched the movie, ate the pizza, had a story and went to bed.

Lola "slept" with me. I don't sleep well when Ron is away - and he is RARELY away - so I thought cuddling with the little monkey would be a pleasant substitute. And it was - at first. She slept like a log until 2 a.m. So that's four hours, right? She should've gone right back to sleep, right? NO!

Aside from inheriting my stubborn, Scorpio personality and cute smile, the little rugrat also inherited my sleep schedule! She stayed up until after 6 a.m., waking Oz up in the process. He crawled into bed with us at 4 a.m. but we both got tired of being kicked and shoved so I took her back to her crib. She YELLED. Not cried, SCREAMED. Screamed like she was having her favourite pair of shoes taken away! Screamed like I told her she couldn't date until she was married! Screamed until I finally went to get her.

This back-and-forth crib-to-bed thing went on until 5:30 a.m. At this point, I gave up. I yelled at her and told her the next time "I have to come in this room, I am taking ELMO!"

I'm a bad mommy. I threatened her with the thing she loves most in this world. But, dammit, it worked! I didn't go back in there.

OK, it didn't really work, I literally pulled the covers over my head and listened to her scream some more. I think if she could talk her screaming would have been, "Oh NO YOU DIDN'T!"

She is my daughter. I asked for her before I got pregnant - a little girl with dark hair and green eyes, born in November, a true Scorpio like me. She is all of that. And right now, there isn't enough coffee or Prozac in the WORLD to deal with it!

Cheers,
Tamara

Bullying causes teen to hang herself

I just read a story on Canoe.ca about a 13-year-old girl in Calgary who, her mother feels, was driven to hang herself because of bullies. And yet the mom isn't angry with those kids.

She is quoted in the article saying being angry is "too heavy of a feeling."

Lynda Cook, the 13-year-old, had a friend who also endured bullying but chose to go on with life. However her hope for the future suffered a serious setback when Lynda killed herself after listening to insults and name-calling on a school bus ride home.

Sticks and stones? Some kids, no - most people - don't have thick enough skin to deal with daily barbs and self-esteem blows handed to them from their "peers."

The journalist in me is keeping me from ranting. The mother in me is telling me to change the world by starting with my own kids.

I can't make other parents take accountability for their actions and raise kids who have respect for one another, who don't judge other kids because of how they dress or how fat or skinny they are or what skin colour they have.

Kids learn by example. If they see their parents yell and swear and insult eachother or other people, that's what they see as normal. It's OK to do that to other people.

Or maybe those bullies were being abused at home and their way of taking control of their lives was to lash out at a weaker person.

All I know is that, as a mom, my heart breaks for Lynda's mom. Because she didn't see the signs, because she has to live and her daughter isn't, because last week was the last Mother's Day she will ever have with Lynda.

I'm sick of these bullying stories in the news. I'm tired of having to mourn for families I have never even met. I empathize with each and every parent who loses a child - not because I have endured the same pain - because I am a parent. Because the thought of seeing my kids suffer at the hands of a bully makes me see red.

Sticks and stones? Knowledge is the real power.

Click here to read the story on Canoe.ca
Tamara Plant

A romantic weekend...

So, my wonderful husband books a night at a jacuzzi suite. I get there with takeout from this FABULOUS new Japanese restaurant I was introduced to the day before (it will be on my top 10 picks for Mom's Time Out).

He's got the bubbles in the jacuzzi, a glass of wine poured... life is good. We enjoy a romantic night SANS kidlets (who are being cared for by the g'rents) and get to watch TV and eat without being forced to play superheroes and change the channel from news to the Backyardigans. Bliss.

So what am I doing blogging on a Saturday AM when I should be cuddled up with my sweetie? I am ADDICTED. Good GOD. I think I need some sort of intervention!

Actually, I woke up in a panic because I haven't got the word out about the pre-launch event. Final details are:
June 24, 1-6 p.m.
Stony Convention Inn

Demos from Pole Lot of Fun, Passion Parties and Luscious Bags. There will be coffee, a cash bar (god knows if I'm swinging around a pole, I'll need a martini or two!), munchies and LOTS of giveaways!!

Tickets are $10 in advance. All proceeds go to support the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters. (acws.ca for details on what they do.)

I hope all you moms will take an afternoon for yourself and learn more about the magazine! I really am excited to meet you and get this out to all of you!

I'm going to grab some coffees... then maybe grab my hubby! heheh

Cheers!
T.

Happy Mother's Day!

Good morning Moms!

I hope you all get the chance to sleep in today, have coffee made for you and the dishes done by the kids!

Enjoy your day!!!

Cheers,
Tamara

Calling all Pole Dancers!

I have received a few comments from moms who are excited about the launch of MOM Magazine. However there hasn't been ANY feedback on what you want to read. I have developed my editorial outline based on the information I have gathered over the past five years from moms I have spoken with.

I would like to do tackle some serious issues like depression and loss, but I also want this to be a FUN magazine.

To generate some excitement about the magazine we will be hosting an afternoon for moms only June 24.

Calling all pole dancers! Ever wanted to let loose around a pole? Christie Mawer from Polelottafun will be on hand to show all us divas how to have fun and let go of our inhibitions!
There will also be product on hand from Passion Parties... the ultimate Girl's Night In!

I had a party like this last year and had women of all shapes, sizes, and ages. It was SO much fun and we cheered eachother on, giggled, hooted and learned a whole new way to be a sexy mama!

Please join us! I will be advertising the event closer to the date with full details. RSVP to tamara@a-muse.ca

See you there!!

Attention MOMS!

I would like to start an advisory committee for the magazine and have moms from in and around Parkland County. This includes - but is not limited to - Onoway, Devon, Alberta Beach, Carvel, Wabamum and Muir Lake.

If you are interested, please email me at tamara@a-muse.ca

The first meeting will be held Wed. May 23 at 7:30 p.m.

I will provide further details when you email me.

I look forward to hearing from you!!!

Cheers!
Tamara

Dear Diary: Where'd my life go?

As I sit here at 1:36 a.m. on a Sunday morning, staring at the chaos that is my office, my thoughts drift to Sunday mornings of years past. Clubhopping, dancing, drinking, going out with the girls, not always going home with them...

Ahhh, the insanity of youth. During my 20s, I lived my life much the same way as I live it now - to the extreme. I am an extreme person with extreme tendencies. Perhaps it is a Scorpio thing, perhaps that's just my personality, I don't know.

As I got older and settled down, I found myself looking forward to turning 30. So many women I know dread turning 30. I truly don't understand it. I looked at turning 30 as a blessing. I made it out of my wild youth without too many scars and a tonne of life experience.

At 30, I knew myself better than I did when I was 20. I was more confident - as opposed to arrogant (which on occasion I still am) - I was more comfortable in my own skin and not as prone to feel unworthy because I wasn't a size 0 or look like the starlet on the red carpet.

Now, at 32, I am proud to tell people I'm 32. It isn't a big deal, this age thing. Yet most women seem determined to keep their age a secret. Why????!!!! Why all the secrecy about age! What is the big deal?

Looking at society today and all the problems younger people are facing - never mind the syphilis outbreak in Edmonton and the shootings at universities - I can't see myself wanting to be that age again. I lived it, I loved it, I learned from it.

I see each year that I live as a blessing and I look forward to each birthday. As each birthday passes, it means more time with Ron. It means I get to see my kids grow. It means I am LIVING life. Not hiding from it and denying the passage of time.

I have earned every ounce of cellulite and stretch mark on my body. I have this nasty little one inch frown line beside my right eyebrow that WILL NOT go away. It sometimes pisses me off but then I hear my friends talk about getting botox and lipo and whatever else and I realize that line will always be a part of me because DAMMIT I've earned it!

Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge anyone their beauty treatments - God knows I'm the first one to talk about my breast reduction/lift and flaunt my now perky boobs! Whatever makes you feel good, is great.

But now it's 2 a.m. and if I had my choice of being 22 again and stumbling home from the bar at this time or being 32 and knowing I can crawl into bed with the most WONDERFUL man in the world... it's a no-brainer.

How do you keep your house clean?

Hi moms,
I want to provide some tips for moms on juggling housework and family. Would anyone be willing to be interviewed? Email me at tamara@a-muse.ca

If you don't want to be interviewed but would like to place your tips on the blog, please do! I look forward to reading - and sharing them with other moms!

Cheers!
Tamara

Welcome to the launch of MOM Magazine Blog!

Hi there,
I am inviting all the moms to participate in the MOM Magazine Blog. I will be publishing some of the content from the blog, so if you don't want your stuff published, you must make sure I am aware of this.
Any story ideas, submissions or photos can be sent directly to mom@mommagazine.ca

I look forward to sharing tips, ideas, events and SO MUCH MORE with all the moms out there!

Cheers,
Tamara