tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49518606579691123952024-03-13T23:00:40.820-04:00Picket Fence PostReal life. In the 'burbs. With three kids. And a dog.Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.comBlogger209125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-39087124654161974392013-05-01T10:40:00.001-04:002013-05-01T10:55:34.262-04:00Preparing for the Release of My Novel: The Life of a FICTIONAL Mom BloggerAs the Picket Fence Post family girds itself for the release this month of my novel about an oversharing blogger who gets into big trouble when her previously anonymous blogging identity is revealed and her family goes ballistic after discovering what she's been writing online, I feel compelled to state the obvious. For the record. (Imagine that I'm holding a bullhorn to my face as I Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-69377976048442972562013-02-20T14:33:00.002-05:002013-02-20T14:33:29.804-05:00What I'm Reading Now ... A Primer on Raising AdolescentsI realized the other day that when my kids were very young, heck, even when they were still in the womb, I was voraciously reading up on the best parenting practices. Compulsively so.
Then all three of the Picket Fence Post children hit puberty and it dawned on me that it's been quite a long time since I've read anything about childrearing. Two are of my kids are teens, the other's not too Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-44558398927448057142013-01-02T17:01:00.003-05:002013-01-02T17:01:32.201-05:00A New Year, Lots to Celebrate in 2013
It's 2013 and I can proudly say that I've made no resolutions, although I have made a few, um, suggestions for myself for the new year.
As I skimmed through my brand, spankin' new 2013 calendar -- trying to ignore that nagging, superstitious feeling that anything with the number 13 is inherently unlucky -- and was taken aback when I realized several things:
I completely Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-22079577235393114222012-11-02T17:49:00.001-04:002012-11-02T17:49:08.314-04:00Talkin' Book-in-Progress & Families 'Over-Sharing' Online
*Cross-posted from Notes from the Asylum*
One of my favorite Boston Globe columnists, Joanna Weiss, invited me to participate in a very cool thing called a "blog hop," where one author "tags" another and the person who's "It" fields questions about her next writing project.
Weiss -- who wrote the sharp and amusing satirical novel Milkshake, about the lunacy of the political and Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-13625689919954438882012-10-30T17:37:00.001-04:002012-10-30T17:37:15.084-04:00Back from the Brink (Otherwise Known as Being Buried in Work)
The Picket Fence Post family has not fallen off of the face of the earth, nor has it been swept away in the winds of the hurricane.
We've been here, in the Picket Fence Post domicile in the suburbs of Boston, with our three middle schoolers who've been busy doing their adolescent things (including busting a cell phone, overdoing it with the noxious and likely toxic Axe body spray andMeredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-30980798750603826762012-08-30T20:31:00.001-04:002012-08-30T20:32:07.726-04:00My Dog is a Thief
Don't let that cute face fool you. That fuzzy, "ain't I cuddly?" mug is a simply facade. It's a front for a stealthily sinister thief who's becoming more brazen with every passing day.
Take, for example, a few weekends ago when we were having company here at the Picket Fence Post domicile. Seeing as it was a beautiful summer's afternoon and the pressing humidity had lifted, The Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-3164534540235138262012-08-14T16:19:00.003-04:002012-08-14T16:19:32.011-04:00Notes from Suburbia: Mama's New Job, Insulting the Parents, Olympian Sleep DeprivationSummertime Madness
It's, nominally, still "summer," a word that brings to mind thoughts of relaxation and restoration, of sipping sun-brewed iced tea with a sprig of fresh mint while lounging in a hammock as you clutch a beach read and soak up the deliciously cool shade of a regal maple tree.
Nothing like that is happening in the Picket Fence Post house these days.
Why? For once, theMeredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-7900054979838260762012-07-30T16:01:00.001-04:002012-07-30T16:01:02.776-04:00The Olympics Has Overtaken My House (As Has a Rogue Yankee Fan)
My 13-year-old daughter has been consumed by serious Olympics mania and it's threatening to overtake the house.
However I'm having a hard time putting the kibosh on her enthusiasm because the Olympics are the one time when women's sports receives even close to the volume and quality of media attention as the male athletes receive, so I've decided I'm going to try not Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-71298076459033208782012-07-18T22:30:00.002-04:002012-07-18T22:39:32.460-04:00Notes on Pop Culture: Periodical Beach Reading, The Newsroom & Political Animals*Cross-posted on Notes from the Asylum*
I spent the past week on a Cape Cod family vacation where I swam, biked (rode a bike for the first time in many, many years), enjoyed sunsets, fresh seafood and got thoroughly and embarrassingly crushed on a farm-themed mini-golf course. (The Youngest Boy handily kicked my behind.)
But when we weren't scanning the seas for seals, the favorite snack Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-86866156321098349472012-07-09T09:52:00.000-04:002012-07-09T09:52:01.584-04:00Taking a Blogging BreakI'll be spending some "quality" time with the Picket Fence Post family over the next week . . . whether that will include refereeing sibling spats, arguing with my offspring about what movie we should see, making fresh meals the juveniles won't eat and being accused of being a parent who's "mad with power" remains to be seen.
What does that mean for the Picket Fence Post? No new entries 'til Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-75638548096118434002012-06-28T18:48:00.002-04:002012-06-28T18:48:51.957-04:00Three for Thursday: Dead Plants, 'Good' Food & Dog Meets Crab
Why I Hate Gardening: Stuff Dies
The crisp plant (pictured on the right) is only the latest in a long, tragic string of untimely deaths experienced by plant life that I've foolishly purchased or some hopeful soul has given me in the hopes that maybe THIS time I would develop a green thumb and the plant would thrive.
I usually start off strong when I buy plants, with a Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-16453549294960332012-06-20T12:25:00.000-04:002012-06-20T12:25:26.325-04:00Now There are THREE Middle Schoolers in the HouseThe Youngest Boy (who recently gave me the green light to once again mention him in this space) has just left his elementary school days behind him. In September, he'll be movin' on up to the big middle school to join his elder siblings who'll be entering the eighth grade.
How this will work is anyone's guess as all three of them haven't been students in the same school before. (The Youngest BoyMeredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-10279322036042653442012-06-13T11:27:00.003-04:002012-06-13T11:27:41.010-04:00June is the New December: Parents' Busiest Time of the YearEnd of the season parties for sports teams.
End of the year bashes/barbecues at school.
End of the year school award ceremonies.
End of the year soirees for other extra curricular activities.
End of the year concerts/performances.
Gifts/thank you notes for the teachers, coaches and after-school activity supervisors.
Birthday parties.
Last-minute school projects.
Sports tryouts/Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-58393428131957621052012-06-07T16:34:00.003-04:002012-06-07T16:34:32.799-04:00Random Notes from Suburbia: Pi, 'Dogs in the City,' Overzealous Sports Mom & Being Tardy
Pi in the Sky
As part of a school math competition to see how many digits of pi students could accurately remember, The Girl was able to recall, hold onto your hats, 102 of them. Seriously. I have no idea how she did it. I have trouble remembering where I leave my car in the grocery store parking lot. I'm not all that far removed from being the lady who frantically hunts around everywhereMeredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-13377269827660476192012-05-24T16:08:00.000-04:002012-05-24T16:08:52.304-04:00Bissinger's 'Father's Day' Book: Raw, Honest & Page-Turning
* Cross-posted on Mommy Tracked *
Buzz Bissinger doesn't care what you think about his parenting. Honestly. He doesn't. That's what makes his new memoir, Father's Day: A Journey into the Mind & Heart of My Extraordinary Son compellingly different from other parenting books.
Bissinger's candor about his failings and how he responded poorly to his son Zach's "serious intellectual deficits" Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-20961991147571955722012-05-18T17:39:00.003-04:002012-05-18T17:39:44.879-04:00Quick Hits: Remember the Cleats, 'League of Their Own,' Dad-Centric Book & Summer CampCleat Check
Note to self: Ask the kids if they have their cleats and other sports equipment BEFORE driving a half-hour to a game.
It isn't all that fun to race home in order to pick up the forgotten item(s) and then be hounded by panicked cell phone calls and texts as you're making your way back to the field and hoping you don't get a speeding ticket.
A League of Their Own
My campaign to Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-38937480809099250842012-05-15T17:11:00.004-04:002012-05-15T17:11:28.422-04:00Played Hooky on Mother's Day. And It Was Divine.We played hooky on Mother's Day, my pal Gayle and I.
We left six kids with their fathers to attend to their various sporting and other sundry activities while we, the moms, went to Fenway Park to see the Boston Red Sox demolish the Cleveland Indians in absolutely ideal baseball weather.
We enjoyed a fresh brew beforehand at the Boston Beer Works (I partook of some Fenway Pale Ale), compared Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-42510244535932327042012-05-10T13:43:00.002-04:002012-05-10T13:43:30.853-04:00How Worried Should We Be About Soccer Players & Concussions? Should Heading in Soccer Be Banned?
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Are they trying to panic us, these experts who are telling us that girls who play soccer rank second behind boys who play football when it comes to the number of concussions they sustain? Brian Williams' primetime news show Rock Center ran two long segments on NBC the other night asserting that girls with Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-46038815989800221932012-05-10T11:58:00.000-04:002012-05-10T12:11:12.676-04:00This Cover Doesn't Promote Breastfeeding. It Exploits it.
*Cross-posted from Notes from the Asylum.*
Seriously?
What the heck is up with that "Are you MOM enough?" headline? And, for that matter, what would possess Time Magazine's editors to pair such a shamelessly Mommy Wars-baiting kind of question with an intentionally salacious (not maternal, not nurturing) image of a nearly 4-year-old boy, who's identified by name, standing on a Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-39585481554954171562012-05-09T14:49:00.001-04:002012-05-09T14:49:11.814-04:00Preparing My Daughter to Take on the World
I sat down with my 13-year-old daughter the other day with the intent of revolutionizing her, or, at the very least, stoking embers of the fire which I hope will eventually energize her to take on the world.
We watched the documentary Miss Representation together. I've written about this film before and, even upon my second viewing, found that it remains a powerful indictment of the media of Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-46813952857831641462012-05-03T14:47:00.000-04:002012-05-03T14:47:05.086-04:00What Real Mothers Look Like
Stop what you're doing.
Seriously.
Go to YouTube and watch BirthMarkings, a short film by documentary filmmaker Margaret Lazarus that's currently being featured on the online International Museum of Women's exhibit entitled, "Mama: Motherhood Around the Globe."
It's a 20-minute video comprised of women talking about the scars, loose skin and extra bulk that was left behind on their bodies Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-4985259913915458662012-04-30T15:19:00.003-04:002012-04-30T15:19:51.918-04:00The Twins, They've 'Come of Age'Okay, here are the deets on why I've been in cone of blogging silence in this space: I've been super-busy helping The Eldest Boy and The Girl prepare for their Coming of Age ceremony -- and their accompanying service projects -- at our local Unitarian Universalist church. In the Unitarian Universalist (UU) church, the Coming of Age ceremony is like a low-key confirmation or a Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-21855481288609599872012-04-19T11:47:00.002-04:002012-04-19T11:48:10.279-04:00Quick Hits: Clothes Shopping Hell, Oodles of Braces & No Second Dog (Yet)Clothes Shopping Hell
The Picket Fence Post kids keep doing this growing this, lately in giant, sudden spurts. The amount of time in which they have to wear their clothes before they turn into high-waters or become so tight that they look like something the Hulk might wear seems to be shrinking. It seems like we're buying new shoes and cleats constantly. The boys' pants aren't wornMeredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-21962429786055806992012-04-13T16:45:00.001-04:002012-04-13T16:51:08.697-04:00Finally . . . We've Finished Reading 'The Half-Blood Prince.' Now Onto 'Deathly Hallows.'*Warning -- If you haven't read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, don't read any more of this post unless you want the book's ending spoiled for you.*
It has taken The Spouse and I more than a year to read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince aloud to The Youngest Boy (who, by the way, gave me special permission to write about him in this post). We finally finished the Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4951860657969112395.post-20406152582327133892012-04-11T13:55:00.001-04:002012-04-11T13:57:07.908-04:00Quick Hits: Sexism in Sports, 'Miss Representation' DVD & Dog #2?Women Athletes Should Get Paid More, So Says The Girl
I'm so proud of my burgeoning feminist gal. She was recently assigned to write a persuasive essay for her Language Arts class. The Girl selected a topic near and dear to her heart: Women's sports.
In particularly, she wants to make the argument that female professional athletes, as well as those who coach them, should get paid more money and Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340noreply@blogger.com0