Lick the Bowl

Hey everyone! This past Sunday my son and I worked one of the tables at the local FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education) walk in Maryland. It was a beautiful day and a great event. What struck me the most, however, was my 11 year old's metamorphosis. Most of the time, I'm telling him to "cut it out," "calm down" or "stop being so silly and focus." I know, these are typical statements used in reference to most 11 yr. old boys! Nevertheless, what I witnessed this past Sunday was eye opening. Here was a boy full of poise, maturity (always relative) showmanship, salesmanship and totally being in the moment. For the first time in a very long time, he was able to be himself without worrying that someone was judging him as "weird" for having a food allergy. He talked to little kids and shared his experiences, and just as easily conversed with adults, impressing them with his allergy acumen and his passion. Who was this kid? I have alwa...

When our 20 year-old television started cutting off tops of heads, my husband and I decided to purchase a flat screen. We didn't need a lot of reasons to make this investment. The culminating factor was when  my 11 yr. old had to start wearing his glasses specifically to see the Netflix descriptions because they were too small-OMG tragedy!  Sure, it was an expense, and yes, we researched it for weeks, poring over Sunday circulars and stalking Amazon until we found the right size at the right price. Press the button-CLICK-and a new TV comes to our door through Prime magic. TADA! Now, could we have waited a while longer? SURE. Did we HAVE to get a new one? NO. Could we have survived? ABSOLUTELY! The television is a luxury, a frivolous source of entertainment. If it's on the fritz or it cuts off tops of heads or the news crawler at the bottom of a newscast, I can pretty much live, or find another gadget like my phone or Ipad. On second thought, it's probably better that I...