this was my blog

Category: From PlainJaneMom.com

  • Typical Saturday in the Jurney house

    (If you’re reading this in a feed reader, you’ll have to come to the site to see these videos.) Hey, has anyone noticed that I’ve started using my kids real names and photos on this site yet? Because I have. And here’s more fun:

  • Maria Shriver comes to Palo Alto for a Book Signing

    I was fortunate to be at a book signing last night in Palo Alto where Maria Shriver answered some very interesting questions. I’m going to show them to you out of sequence, because my favorite came at the end. (I also have a bunch of photos of the event on Flickr.) She was asked what…

  • A great way to interact with the commenters on your blog

    I’ve had a post in draft for two weeks about a new WordPress plugin I’m using, but I kept holding off on publishing it because I thought it might be too techy (read: “boring”) for my personal blog. However, I’ve recently seen a few posts out there by people searching for answers to the problem…

  • Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, Oh Crap!

    Every year since we started having kids, Spring has meant time to start visiting the San Francisco Zoo. We’re members and we usually go on the monthly Member Day so we can get in early. I know what we need to do when, so we get in and out with few child or adult meltdowns.…

  • I cured my insomnia without prescription drugs

    For the past few years I have gotten terrible sleep every night. Around 9 or 10pm I would get the Jimmy Legs, and it would be downhill from there. It would be really hard to fall asleep, and then I would wake up many times and not be able to fall asleep again. Even when…

  • It's hard to be the youngest of 3 closely-spaced boys

    Poor Chip… He’s 3 and his brothers are 5 and 6, and all he really wants is for me to let him do what his brothers do. He can’t understand why I don’t send him to kindergarten. He gets mad that he doesn’t play T-Ball. He wants to bring home homework. And what do I…

  • So why did J&J send me to New Jersey anyway?

    As promised, I’m updating you lovelies on my hilarity-filled trip back East courtesy of Johnson & Johnson. Approximately 56 bloggers converged on poor, unsuspecting New Brunswick, New Jersey for “Camp Baby.” (I can’t really comment on any of the pre-hoopla controversies since my arrangements went very smoothly, but head over to CityMama, Queen of Spain…

  • Friday Night

    The plane landed in New Jersey. I checked into the hotel. I took a shower to wash off the travel grime. I shaved my legs. Then. When I was done. I put the razor on the side of the tub and just casually left it there, because there were no kids with me who might…

  • What happens at Camp Baby, stays at Camp Baby. Not.

    Here I am in New Jersey at Johnson & Johnson’s Camp Baby. Will it be a controversy-filled couple of days? Will it be akin to being trapped in the world’s longest time-share high-pressure sales pitch? Will it be a Shangrila of sisterhood and chocolate? Or will it be, as I suspect, a perfectly reasonable 3…

  • Watch these relevant documents

    Thank you for all your thoughtful comments on my post about education today, or at least my corner of it. I’ve had some great materials forwarded my way. Watch these now. 5 Dangerous things you should let your kids do, by Gever Tulley I grew up like this. It works. Tulley runs The Tinkering School…

  • Why school is not for boys. At least not Mike.

    Sit still. No running on the playground. No playing chase or tag on the playground. No pretending to be the guys from Star Wars on the playground. I get it. You’re afraid of lawsuits from kids getting hurt. You don’t want children playing violent games and making other kids feel unsafe. It is hard to…

  • I'm feeling corpsy, but thanks for asking

    I’m now sicker than I was yesterday, but at least the kids are in school. The little germ-laden fuckers. Seriously, when they get sick I only catch what they have occasionally. And when I do I just get a little touch of what they had. You know, because I’m big and strong and all that.…

  • You've got to be kidding me, it's only Wednesday?

    Monday, home with one sick kid. Tuesday, home with two sick kids. Wednesday, home sick with three sick kids. You see where this is going, right? Come Friday we’ll be on the news. “Local family harbors mutant strain of plague! Film at Eleven!” In my delirium, however, I can’t stop laughing at this picture. Is…

  • Please buy these things before I have to

    I love Etsy. It is a sickness. Please. Do me a solid. Go buy these things I lust for before I do. Do it now. These Stolen Flight earrings from Contrary make me feel like spring is coming today. If Love Hurts (so says Mom-O-Matic) then bring it, sister! The Take Me to Your Leader…

  • Do you play a lot of Nintendo DS games? I have a question for you.

    Last weekend my three-year-old got glasses as part of his ongoing treatment related to his cataract. I didn’t think it was possible for him to look cuter, but I have to say these glasses are really the icing on the cake. Totally extra-adorable, in my un-biased opinion. After 24 hours he adjusted to them perfectly…

  • How to get to BlogHer '08 on a BlogHership. Plus, as a bonus, how to pimp your business. Multi-tasking!

    Do you want to come to BlogHer this summer in San Francisco but you’re not sure how you can swing it financially? Check out the information on BlogHerships and apply to get free registration in exchange for volunteering at the conference. It is a fair amount of work, but free is free. And if it…

  • Do you have your own business? I want to link to you.

    [Updated below] When I shop, I prefer ‘Mom and Pop’ style businesses where I can meet the owners and feel a real connection with them. When I buy things online I like to patronize stores owned by the person who makes what I’m buying. I figure I’m not the only one out there who feels…

  • Enlighten me. Open me up to something new. Expand my horizons.

    In case you missed it, over at Linksational (formerly Go Read It Today) I link out to blog posts that I think deserve more attention. But lately I feel like I keep linking to the same sites over and over again — I need some fresh meat! So. In the comments below, please leave me…

  • Get $100 off your BlogHer '08 Conference registration, and come play with me in San Francisco. It's Win-freakin-Win!

    Hey, I just noticed that registration for BlogHer ’08 has been open since December. Like where was I? Anyway, I also saw that if you register by February 28th you get $100 off your registration fee. That’s not small potatoes, so I thought I’d mention it to you all. Oh, and by the way… BlogHer…

  • All three kids are out of school until Wednesday

    Hold me.

  • Please let me give you money

    Update: this contest is over. So I’m one of 9 judges in a Mother of the Year contest where one of the prizes is $5,000. I would love nothing more than for the winner to be one of you lovely ladies reading this right now, so please, please, please enter so I can vote for…