Tag: motherhood

Globe Life Park

Farewell Jeter: Thank You from a New Baseball Mom

Posted on by MommyQ

I’m not a treasure trove of baseball trivia, but I’m a big fan of the game. I watched the entire 2004 series featuring an epic and excruciating battle between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. I was hugely pregnant with my first child (due in November 2004), so vegging out on the sofa watching other people’s awesomeness was all I could muster.

I especially loved the Yankees that year (Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, A-Rod — yes, A-Rod) and, in stark contrast, I detested the Red Sox. Maybe it was because Big Papi couldn’t stop crushing home runs or because Manny Ramirez owned one of the most disgusting batting helmets ever in the history of helmets. Jeter was, of course, my favorite player. There was just something everything special about his uniform him. He was a legit superstar. And the fact that he was humble made him a hero.

Today I have two young boys and one of them plays baseball. He just graduated from tee ball into coach pitch, but this is Texas, so sports are very competitive, even at a ridiculously young age. It’s like real baseball, people. He has a mini athletic cup, little cleats, custom bats, batting gloves, practice every week, scrimmages and we travel to play weekend tournaments. It’s a family affair. More importantly, baseball gives us endless opportunities to teach him about building character.

Forget the athleticism and the physical development – capabilities at the age of six are impressive, but rather silly to worry about. What he gets to experience and learn first-hand is how to be a supportive teammate, a positive thinker, a person who perseveres and a good listener. He grows and improves daily, which is great, but he’s also learning to take the knocks and the tough calls in stride, which is necessary. As a mom, I need my arsenal of “perfect athlete” pep talks in the pipeline and ready to go. Enter Derek Jeter.

Me: “Everyone strikes out. Even Derek Jeter.”

Me: “Don’t worry about dropping that fly ball. Even Derek Jeter drops a ball once in a while.” Okay, that is a lie.

Me: “I’m sure Derek Jeter has spilled red Gatorade on his pants too. We can wash that out later…”

Derek Jeter has held up his end of the bargain by remaining hero-worthy. Jeter gives us the chance to teach our children how to be athletes by example. What a novel idea, right? Based on the news clips flooding ESPN right now, it seems as though our heroes are falling from grace daily. Unlike those clowns, Jeter understands that the term is aspirational, not ass-pirational. Whether you love him or hate him, you have to agree that Jeter has been steadfast to the end. He is retiring with the stardom he earned. He is retiring with grace. He is retiring with dignity.

On behalf of new baseball moms everywhere who are desperately trying to raise respectable young men, thank you Derek Jeter…

Our trip to Globe Life Park in Arlington this summer to see Jeter’s farewell tour:

Jeter Farewell Tour, Cathy Hale
Globe Life Park is my favorite! It is just beautiful. Yes, I’m all alone in my Yankee attire. You can take the boys out of Texas, but you can’t…wait, we were in Texas…never mind.
Derek Jeter, Arlington Park
Jeter crushed it and can you believe I captured the ball flying through the air? No way. Yes way. There it is. Boom.
Cathy Hale, baseball selfie
I’m not big on selfies, but if you know me, you know why this one is special… 🙂
Derek Jeter Jersey
This is what makes Rangers fans cool. They can “peace out” for Jeter. 😉
Baseball park food
Forget carb-loading, we were fat-loading…

 

index

“I Don’t Mean This in a Mean Way, BUT…”

Posted on by MommyQ

indexKids say the darnedest things. We all know this is true. But what they say can be quite brilliant if you really listen. For instance, when we were little girls my younger sister would call breakable objects “glassable.” She mixed “glass” and “breakable” and voila! Glassable. My youngest son used to say, “buckle me out” instead of “unbuckle me” when he wanted help getting out of his 5-point harness car seat (and who can blame him for that?!)

Thanks to an intense year of being taught the importance of good manners and his genuine desire not to be disrespectful, my younger son (now 6yo) has a great new habit that harkens me back to my sorority days. If he knows he is going to say something that could be interpreted as mean, he prefaces his statement with, “I don’t mean this in a mean way, but….” And then he says something… well, honest. But he says it in such a way that it doesn’t seem mean at all. It is genius and sweet and kind of premeditated. Pure. Gold.

It reminds me of the “compliment sandwich” we were taught to use when we had a problem with a fellow sorority sister. In an effort to help ease the insane drama that often occurs with a bunch of crazy drunk emotional girls, we were told to deliver bad news sandwiched between two compliments. For example, “You look really pretty today, but I think you’re a lying troll and by the way, I love your perm!” And shockingly enough, it worked every time. Especially the part about the perm.

It seems my sweet little guy has mastered the art of the “compliment appetizer.” Even better. Less carbs!

 

Confessions of a Non-Stage Mom

Posted on by MommyQ

There are four words that can strike fear or love in a mom’s heart. Elementary school talent show. Ahhh, I have such fond memories of mine. I did a tap dance routine with my younger sister every year. I believe in our very first show we wore raincoats and twirled umbrellas to “I Love a Rainy Night” by Eddy Rabbitt. Oh, yes, that was a 45 rpm record that we played over and over again until it was so scratched it wouldn’t play anymore. As we got older, we stepped it up with some clogging to “Mountain Music” by Alabama. Yes, that’s how we rolled in Virginia 30 years ago.

Last year, my 8yo son performed in his talent show for the first time. You can read all about it here. This year with both kiddos at the same school, we thought they should both perform. It was a no-brainer for my older son (he’s 9yo) who pretty much has one awesome talent – Kung Fu. Figuring out a talent for my athletic kindergartner was more of a challenge. He couldn’t dribble a soccer ball or throw baseballs on stage. Hmmmm.

One day Pharrell’s “Happy” came on in the car and my youngest son shocked me by singing all of the lyrics and singing with some attitude. Yes! He would sing in the talent show. He wasn’t very into the idea at first, so we got him a few singing lessons to test it out. After the first lesson, he was hooked. I was so excited for him to branch out and do something he had never done before. He was six! Everything is a big accomplishment when you’re six, right?

As the show got closer, we started practicing everyday. And then a few days before the show, my nerves caught up with me. No, not his. Mine! I suddenly felt like I had unintentionally pushed him into something that would blow up in my face. What if he forgot the words? What if he froze? What if he just puked on-stage? What if it was a horrible experience that plagued him for life? I could envision him walking into a therapy session at the age of 25 and saying, “Well, it all started when my mom wanted me to do that stupid talent show when I was in kindergarten…”

That’s when I realized God blessed me with boys for a reason. This mommy is not cut out for stage stress! Dance recitals, solos, gymnastics…balance beam routines? Oh lordy. I don’t know how moms stay calm. I would be popping Xanax like Skittles with wine chasers.

The night of the show, I told both boys I was proud of them no matter what happened during the show. They had impressed me so much with their hard work, nothing could erase that. And it was true. I was 100% proud. Doing well in the show (or just having the guts to try) would be icing on the cake. In my mind, they had already achieved so much.

And without a doubt, they both did great! My older son who just loves being in the spotlight did so well. He was psyched! My youngest NAILED IT. He sang, he did his choreographed moves, he smiled and he had fun. Afterwards he found me in the crowd and we shared a very special “I know exactly how you feel” hug that was priceless. Of course, we’re already discussing next year’s act… 😉 talent show steele3 talent show cruz3    talentshowcruz

 

Steele LT Football players

Five Years Beyond Autism Diagnosis: High Hopes & Happiness

Posted on by MommyQ

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged, thanks to a very intense full-time job. I love it, but it certainly takes up most of my time. Anyway, for those of you that have followed MommyQ, you know I have an autistic son. He was diagnosed at the age of three and now he’s eight years old! Wow! Over the last five years, I’ve talked to so many parents about autism. The one piece of advice I give over and over again is, “Take it one day at a time.”  There’s no need to worry needlessly into the future, because it does nothing for you. Make each day count and be thankful for every milestone. It may sound too simple, but when you’re trying to live in the moment, simple is good.

If you had asked me where my son would be now as far as school, sports, etc, my outlook was originally bleak. Not because I’m a pessimistic person, but because autism is such a mysterious reality. The good news is he’s doing great. (You can see his smiling face in the photo above – he’s in the light blue shirt, posing with our high school football team.) Thanks to a solid support system of friends, family and community, he is thriving.  He learns in a regular classroom with one-on-one help as needed. He reads, writes, does math and enjoys science. He’s faster on a computer or iPhone/iPad than I am. He can play tennis and soccer and swims like a fish. A few months ago, he started Kung Fu and today his skills are impressive, not to mention he uses a staff. It’s like having my own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle! He’s learning a routine for his school’s Talent Show, so I’m very excited for him.

I remember the days when he hardly spoke, couldn’t complete directions, didn’t take interest in the world around him and had minimal physical strength. He existed in his own world and we desperately fought to bring him out of it. Today, he’s a normal kid who loves chocolate cake, hates cauliflower, fights with his little brother and blushes when a female classmate gives him a hug. His perspective of the world will always be different, but different isn’t bad. I’ve learned that a big dose of hope brings happiness. Keep your chin up.

Have Kids? Meet Your Inner Concealaholic

Posted on by MommyQ

I know we blog about items you must have as a mother. Things you need for survival in this crazy, kid-filled, hectic life.  There is only one thing I can guarantee as a mom. If you have dark circles under your eyes BEFORE the children arrive, you will have bigger, darker circles AFTER they show up.

This is maybe the cutest, coolest, most innovative product I’ve purchased in a while. It’s the ‘Confessions of a Concealaholic’ Kit from Benefit and it works. If you didn’t figure it out from the clever name, it’s a concealing & brightening kit You can find it online at Ulta for $36 and in many department stores.

My favorite item in this little kit is the Erase Paste. Like you, I’ve tried tons of concealers and none of them seem to work like this one does. Now you MUST understand that the biggest part about concealers like this is knowing how to apply them correctly. If you buy this at the Benefit counter, ask one of the gals to show your how to apply everything. No shame in that!

Here’s what comes in the kit:

– “That Gal” Brightening Face Primer
– Erase Paste (no. 2 medium) brightening camouflage for eyes and face
– Lemon Aid Color Correcting Eyelid Primer
– Eye Bright Instant Eye Brightener
– Concealer brushes
– Step-by-step lesson

I think this would be a great gift for an expecting mommy or new mommy. She may laugh at it when she opens the gift, but she’ll be putting it on in the a.m. And thanking you for it…

Ellen Pompeo Dishes with SELF Magazine

Posted on by MommyQ

The April issue of SELF  features a really great interview with Grey’s Anatomy star, Ellen Pompeo, where she dishes on her secrets to handling marriage-motherhood-career while staying sane and enjoying it.  That sounds heavenly to me!

She reveals her pregnancy truths (“I was like, ‘Oh, God, it worked! Oh no!’”), her brown-bag lunch strategy, the 6 foods on her personal “energy diet,” and lessons she’ll teach her daughter (“I hope Stella has more self-confidence than I did as a child.”).

What does she have to say about happiness? “It’s easy to get lost in the baby. But you have to make the time for your relationships. You have to make sure you give your husband attention. And I still see my friends all the time, too. It’s important to have a well-rounded life. You learn things from your friends, and they bring you joy, and you bring back all that happiness to your baby.”

The actress, known for her sexy,casual style, showed up to the SELF shoot in a black leather jacket, a black jersey dress by Jay Ahr and black ankle booties by Madison Hardy. On set, she personally introduced herself to each and every crew member. Get more behind the scenes goodies by visiting www.Self.com.
Image: SELF

Happy Handbags: Rock Your Ruffle For Less

Posted on by MommyQ

I’m in love with all of the fabulous ruffle/flower handbags. I’ve seen so many incredible options in every color under the rainbow. I haven’t bought one for myself yet, because I can’t find the perfect one. In my mind, one huge rose/ruffle purse is plenty, so it’s gotta be 100% perfection. I’m not planning on a shelf in my closet dedicated to ruffles. Well, not yet.

valentino

Take a look at how you can rock a ruffle for less. Pictured above you will find a stunning Valentino Rose Tote that retails for about $1600. You can find it at Saks. If you don’t happen to have almost $2k sitting around in your designer purse fund, do not fear! There are plenty of affordable options.

bebe

Here is a beautiful Rosette Hobo bag at Bebe. It comes in black or metallic and retails for $99 – $129. Not too shabby

bebe-clutch

You can also find a smaller version at Bebe. It’s the Rosette Crossbody Clutch and this lil’ beauty comes in two colors. It retails for $64 – $69.

dillards

Another option is the Big Buddha “Mia” Rose Dome Satchel. Wow, that’s a mouthful. You can find it in a shade of pale pink at Dillards for $88. I know it looks nude, but it says “pink.”

dillards-ruffle-tote

If you like the ruffles more than the flower, check out this tote from Steve Madden. It’s the Ruffle Satchel and it comes in three colors. It retails for $88. Happy shopping, ladies!