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NEW YORK, USA: Love and Marriage

May 8, 2012 16 comments

This topic may be taboo in some cultures, but I’m part French, and nothing is more important to the French then l’amour (although food and wine are very close contenders)!

I recently read an article somewhere that said many moms polled were having sex (I should say moms who are married or in a committed relationship) about 4 times a year… and they were ok with that, as were their partners.  Once a quarter?  Really!?  I know we are all exhausted by the time we get to bed, but isn’t it important for your and your partner’s happiness?  Isn’t it important for the health and well-being of your relationship with your significant other to be intimate? Read more…

NEW YORK, USA: Business Travel (With Children)

February 27, 2012 25 comments

On Monday I am told, “you need to go to Paris for 3 days next week.”  I say “OK”, but think, “How can I pull that one-off?  I am still nursing!”.

So I go into action, first calling my mother (who happens to be French, has a large family that live in Paris…and who is the primary caregiver during the day while I am at work), and then I start looking up plane tickets and hotels.   The only way for me to be able to go on this business trip is to take the baby, and therefore, I need to take my mother to care for her while I am at work.

In turn, I need to take my 4-year-old son as well, since he would be otherwise left without a caretaker while we are away. Tickets are bought, hotel reservations made (which is a process on its own, since I need is a place with a kitchen, so that we can prepare food for the kids and are not forced to eat every meal out), bags are packed, and we are off! Read more…

NEW YORK, USA: My Healthier Muffins!

December 26, 2011 6 comments

I should preface this by saying I am not usually a baker. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook almost everything, but I didn’t grow up in a home that always had baked goods, so I was just not accustomed to it.

Then, a few years ago, I decided to try to bake muffins as a rainy day activity for my 2-year old son and I. They were super easy, healthy and delicious. I found that most of the recipes were similar, just substituting different fruit from one to the other.

My son went apple picking with his class a few months ago. What a wonderful fun, fall activity and a great way to spend a day, but I found myself holding a rather large bag of apples.

“What do you want to do with all of these apples?” I asked. “You can only use them in my apple cinnamon oatmeal, Maman”. Somehow, we were supposed to manage to keep these apples from going bad, and only use one a day….that’s not what I had on my mind. So we made muffins :-) Read more…

NEW YORK, USA: A Mother’s Job is Never Done!

November 15, 2011 26 comments

So here I am, on vacation with my family (down at the Jersey Shore for those of you familiar with the awful TV show with the same name), enjoying, or supposed to be enjoying, the beach.

We were lucky enough to be able to find an apartment for rent, which is right next to the beach.  This is so convenient, since we don’t have to worry about eating out every single meal while on vacation (which as you moms know, is not as healthy as preparing the food at home).  It’s also convenient for when the little ones are tired, and we can just call it a day and walk up to our apartment.

The problem is, I find that I am spending more time in this apartment than on the beach, usually  with one, if not both, of my children.  In fact the only “alone time” I have had since we arrived, is a two-block walk to buy some bread for lunch the other day.  Read more…

NEW YORK, USA: To Wean or Not to Wean? That is the Question!

October 17, 2011 20 comments

My baby’s turned 1… I should say my last baby’s turned one.

I only have 2, but will not attempt to have any more after this.  Making the decision of having the first 2 was very difficult for me, since there are some genetic issues at play in my family.

I told my then fiancée, while we were discussing future family plans, to be prepared to adopt, that I will probably not have my own children.

I had prepared for that my entire life and was sure that I would never carry and give birth to my own child.  After running tests and having discussions with geneticists, we decided to tempt fate and ‘go for it’ — attempt to have our own, and hope for the best.  I had an amnio, monthly and then weekly ultrasounds.  Read more…

NEW YORK, USA: Sept 11, 2001 – Never Forget!

September 12, 2011 38 comments

I know that this is a blog about moms and being moms (and this is my first post)…. but this is a story of me, before I was a mom or a wife, while I was still just my mother’s daughter.

It was the worst day in my life, 10 years ago, on September 11, 2001. There was the worst attack on US soil!

I was at work that morning, in the World Trade Center (building #4, which was one of the smaller buildings along the edge of the Twin Towers). Read more…