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Metro MamaMetro MamaDowntown Toronto mama babbles about motherhood, books, and various nonsense. 
Articles
Twice Bitten
2008-01-17 15:18:00 I’ve been really happy with Cakes’ nursery school, but there is a little situation going on now, and I need your advice. About a week ago, Cakes was bitten by another child (the two of them had been fighting over a toy). Her teacher talked to me about it; the skin wasn’t broken, and Cakes wasn’t upset. They said the other child was going through a tough transition (new baby I think), and I was
Metro Reco: The Lost Highway
2008-01-14 18:44:00 David Adams Richards’ latest novel, The Lost Highway , is a suspenseful and contemplative meditation on ethics and morality. Alex Chapman is a misanthropic intellectual. He spent most of his life feeling alienated, from his family, classmates, pretty much his entire community (down on its heels Miramichi). Having thought he’d finally found a home in academe, he’s left in the cold when he’s More About: Metro , Lost Highway
50 Greatest Books
2008-01-13 20:15:00 I love lists, so I’m happy the Globe and Mail has launched a new series, called 50 Greatest Books . They’ve assembled an international panel, and in the coming year will reveal a book per week, in the Saturday Books section. Each week, a single work will be discussed by an “expert or a writer passionate about the work in question.” I can’t wait to see the selections. This weeks’ pick is The
Capsule Reviews
2008-01-10 15:42:00 We managed to catch a few movies during the holidays. I didn’t see anything fantastic enough to write a whole post about (except No Country for Old Men), but I thought I’d give you a sentence or two on the rest: This Film is Not Yet Rated Very engaging documentary about the MPAA, those fickle folks in charge of rating movies. Humorous and eye-opening. Blades of Glory What can I say? Will More About: Reviews
Finding My Groove
2008-01-08 05:00:00 I’m home after twelve hours on campus, bug-eyed but exhilarated. The holidays were lovely, but seriously? I was pretty fucking happy to get back in the swing of things. I love my family, but three weeks of non-stop togetherness is a bit much. And I don’t know why I was in such a hurry for Cakes to talk--most of the time she’s saying “no”, or “I want to watch Dora”. So, this morning I was awake More About: Groove
Metro Reco: The Road
2008-01-05 03:07:00 A few months ago I recommended Blood Meridian, the first Cormac McCarthy book I’d ever read. I’ve been somewhat obsessed with McCarthy ever since (I’m just finishing up a paper on Blood Meridian actually). So I’ve been reading a ton of McCarthy criticism and now I’m dying to read the rest of his books (but who knows when that’s going to happen). I did however manage to squeeze in The Road over More About: Metro , The Road
2008, Bring It On
2008-01-01 23:53:00 I’m feeling a little less cantankerous today. Yesterday’s shopping spree helped. McHotty fortified me with a birthday omelette, and about four cups of coffee. I headed for the Eaton Centre nice and early, before it got insane. I’m pretty frugal when it comes to clothing, so I do love the post-Christmas sales. I got all of this stuff for about $200. I even managed to buy a pair of jeans More About: Bring It On , 2008
Too Many Candles on the Cake
2007-12-30 23:54:00 We’re back. Had a lovely time in Kingston, as always. Cake s was surrounded by all of her favourite people: As nice as they were this year, I am done with the holidays. I am feeling bloated and sluggish from far too much cheese and wine. I’m also feeling old—it’s my thirty-fifth birthday today. Yep, I’m almost too old for a Contiki trip. I don’t know if it’s the milestone birthday, or having More About: Candles
Snapshots and Tidbits
2007-12-28 03:59:00 I am far too exhausted and wine-hazy for any kind of narrative, so please be content with these holiday snapshots and tidbits until I recover. I can't promise anything better anytime soon; we're off to the in-laws tomorrow for a few more days of decadence, so I will be even wine-hazier, plus I'll be dealing with dial-up. Oy. Christmas was pretty special this year. Before Cakes, I hated the More About: Tidbits
'Tis the Season to be Jolly
2007-12-22 22:49:00 Sorry about the long absence, but I may actually be having a relaxing holiday. Imagine! We are being utterly selfish this year. We aren’t doing a single thing we don’t want to do. I didn’t do a bit of baking (who am I kidding--like I ever do). I sent exactly three Christmas cards, to Cakes’ great-grandmothers. Shopping has been kept to a minimum--ninety percent of it was done at amazon.ca and More About: Season , Olly
Hooray for Snow Days
2007-12-16 23:23:00 I don’t know where the days have gone. Well, I’ve been partying. I was out again the other night, with my school colleagues. We went to karaoke at the Gladstone (which is a blast by the way—the host is fab and it’s an eclectic crowd). I helped perpetuate the karaoke cliché of six drunken women screaming “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (when will I learn I’m a terrible singer). Good times. Despite More About: Snow , Days
Path Me a Tithue
2007-12-12 21:10:00 Sorry about the lack of content around here lately. I had intended to get back on track in December, but my ass is getting kicked. The day classes ended and I finished my last presentation, my body said “enough”, my head filled with snot, and I’ve been in my pyjamas hacking around the house ever since. I still have a lot of work to do over the holidays, but nothing’s getting done. Cakes is sick More About: Path
Metro Reco: Late Nights on Air
2007-12-08 15:35:00 Classes are done until January, and I celebrated by reading my first book in ages that wasn’t assigned reading. I’ll probably only have time for a couple of extra books this month, so it was hard to choose, but I decided to start with the Giller winner, Elizabeth Hay’s Late Nights on Air. I chose wisely. Set in 1975, the novel centres around the employees of a small radio station in Yellowknife, More About: Metro
November Shat on My Keyboard Awards
2007-12-07 14:50:00 It's that time again. We're a little short on nominations this month. Let's try to shoot for more for December. Send your funny nominations to metro_mama@hotmail.com or chickychickybaby@hotmail.com. In the meantime, throw some Dora on the telly, take a break, and have some laughs. Pundit Mom awarded Self Made Mom Moosh in Indy awarded Clink Bri awarded Crystal Red Stapler awarded I Am More About: Awards , Keyboard , November
Little Miss Personality
2007-12-01 00:41:00 When I was six months pregnant with Cakes, we went to Mexico for a “last hurrah”. Here’s me, hurrahing: (The next time I go to Mexico, I will definitely not be with child, and that will most definitely not be a virgin daiquiri in my hand. I seethed with envy every time McHotty enjoyed a frosty pint on the beach during that trip. But I digress). One night we were strolling through a market, More About: Miss , Personality , Ality
No Faith
2007-11-27 21:49:00 I'll be the first one to admit, I have few strengths in the kitchen (besides opening a bottle of wine, which I can do in less than 10 seconds). McHotty does most of our cooking, and on the days he's on shift, Cakes and I eat a lot of pasta. Luckily, Cakes is not a fussy eater. She prefers things raw to cooked, and she doesn't like her foods mixed. She's happy to eat some roast chicken, brown More About: Faith
Crunch Time
2007-11-23 19:11:00 I can’t believe it, the end of my first term is approaching already. You can tell by the sight of my desk: I wonder if I really need three Oscar Wilde biographies, or if I’m just postponing working on the more boring stuff? Actually, none of it is boring. Here’s what I’m working on now: presentations on Oscar Wilde, Mary Ann Shadd, and Dionne Brand (all in the next week! that was poor More About: Time , Crunch
Ho Ho, Whew!
2007-11-21 01:26:00 The Santa Claus parade went much better than I expected. We waited until 2:00 to leave the house, allowing Cakes to have a little nap first. By the time we arrived at Front and Church (the very end of the parade route), it was already passing through. Cakes watched the festivities from McHotty’s shoulders and we were on our way home in an hour. I survived it without liquor! Cakes loved it. She
Parentbloggers Review: That Baby DVD
2007-11-19 12:23:00 I’m very pleased with my latest product for review from The Pare nt Bloggers, That Baby DVD. Featuring acoustical arrangements of classic tunes by bands like Bob Marley, The Pretenders and The Beatles, That Baby DVD, and its companion, That Baby CD is something I can get into along with Cakes. The music is really fantastic--it’s performed by Stephanie Schneiderman, a singer/songwriter from More About: Review
Speaking Slooowly
2007-11-14 17:23:00 Yesterday was Cakes’ long awaited assessment with a speech therapist. It took us months to get this by the way, so if you live in Ontario and are having any concerns, call them sooner rather than later. At least you can get on the list--you can always cancel later if things sort themselves out. It went pretty well. Her speech has really improved since she started school, so we weren’t too More About: Speaking
And the Giller Goes To...
2007-11-07 20:05:00 …Elizabeth Hay’s Late Nights on Air. This book has been sitting next to my bed for a couple of months now. I promise to get to it and review it here before Christmas. Have any of you read it? What did you think? Actually, I’m embarrassed to say, the only Giller nominee I’ve read this year is Divisadero (see my review here). People seem to love or hate Divisadero--what did you think
Music to My Ears
2007-11-03 14:52:00 The thing that irritates me most about parenthood lately is the constant sweeping up. Cakes refuses to use a highchair anymore, so every time she eats it’s a disaster. It’s so monotonous cleaning up these messes six times a day. (We just finished doing Peter Pan in one of my classes—the Darlings have a dog they’ve trained to be a nanny, named Nana. I wish I had a Nana around here.) So, it was More About: Music , Ears
October Shat On My Keyboard Awards
2007-11-02 04:46:00 Enjoy! Cinnamon Girl awarded Mad Hatter The Eleventh awarded Jurgen Nation Coffee Shop Mafia awarded Almost Somewhat Positive Oh, the Joys awarded Joy Unexpected The New Girl awarded Motherhood Uncensored All Rileyed Up awarded Alpha Dogma T with Honey awarded The Mother Load Moosh in Indy awarded Metalia Them's My Sentiments awarded Lawyer Mama Mother Bumper awarded Oh, the Joys More About: Awards , Keyboard , October
Giddy Up
2007-10-31 16:19:00 I had to send this cuteness off to school this morning while I work on a paper about Roughing It in the Bush. Not a good deal. I get home tonight just in time for dusk. Cakes is all set to hit a half dozen of the neighbours’ (a few of them have even asked ahead what she is allowed to have—isn’t that awesome!). Once we get Cakes to bed and give out candy to the eight children that venture to
Membership Has Its Privileges
2007-10-26 06:46:00 I’ve been doing some whining about grad school around here, but I haven’t talked much about the good stuff. Well, there is good stuff, and when I’m stressed and feeling insecure I keep reminding myself how lucky I am to be doing this, and tell myself to enjoy it while it lasts. Because really, it many ways it’s pretty sweet and I can see why people spend years getting a PhD they’re not sure what More About: Privileges , Membership , Members
Toddler Fashion Sense
2007-10-23 15:15:00 From the fall collection... Pants are so 2006. More About: Sense , Fashion , Toddler , Fash
Parentbloggers Review: Printakid
2007-10-22 12:19:00 We’re enjoying our latest review products from the The Pare nt Bloggers--personalized books for children from Printakid. With a very user-friendly website, ordering is easy. Choose from six stories, provide a few details describing your child and some names of friends and family. Our end product is a charming adventure tale, with a curly blonde-haired protagonist named Princess Cakes, a mommy More About: Review
Neglect
2007-10-19 04:35:00 Busy with mothering and studying for the last couple years, I’ve let a lot of stuff go. I’m trying to get on top of it all, but it’s not easy. My finances were terribly disorganized. McHotty was very irritated with me about that. I had three different RRSP accounts (performing poorly), and couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually read a bank statement. But when he sorted and filed all my More About: Neglect
On the Mend
2007-10-15 03:53:00 As those of you on Facebook know, Cakes is just recovering from pneumonia. McHotty deserves some snaps for catching this one. She had a cold last weekend, but when he picked her up from school on Wednesday she had a nasty cough, so he immediately got on the phone with our doctor’s office and got her an appointment the next morning. He was able to take her Thursday and stay home the rest of the
The Art of Negotiation
More articles from this author:2007-10-11 23:45:00 My daughter is no dummy. Lately every transaction with her is a complex negotiation. Take dinner time for example. I always try to put on her plate: a green thing, a protein thing, and something she likes, like pasta. So a typical conversation during dinner goes like this: Cakes: Pasta! Me: Do you mean more pasta please, mommy? Cakes: Buddy! Pasta! Me: If you eat two carrots you can have More About: Negotiation 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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