Family Archives - The Culture Mom

05Oct

Binging Gilmore Girls All These Years Later

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I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Gilmore Girls on Netflix for a few reasons. For one thing, I selfishly wanted to revisit Stars Hollow, the fictional town in Connecticut in which the show was based. I missed its eccentric residents and I certainly missed Loralai and Rory. From Miss Patty's Dance School to Luke's Diner to Kim's Antiques to Weston's Bakery, I was eager to revisit parts of the show that remain etched in my memory. I have often wondered how I would perceive these characters and places today, as a mother and resident of a place not Read More

08Sep

Rootsy.com: Getting in Touch with Your Roots via Social Networking

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This week I was asked to try out a new social networking site called Rootsy.com. As soon as I discovered that it was a genealogy tool and a way to track my family history, I was instantly intrigued. My mother's cousin, Bill Israel, has gone to great lengths to track her family's history and has traced it back to the 1700s. He has documented all his findings and they are astounding. Our family started with a patriarch named Solomon Israel, who came to America from Amsterdam and declared "I am named Solomon and I am Jewish" when he arrived. However, Read More

05Jul

Living Away from Family

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While reading my good friend, Squashed Mom's blog (a must read if not on your radar) today about how she spent July 4th with her cousins, I felt tears slowly come out of my eyes and drip on the keyboard. Her post was about how she spent July 4th with her cousins and close family, mainly out of necessity ( to visit an ill relation) but the day turned into a reunion and celebration of their love for each other with a visit to the beach. I cried for the family that lives far away, for the reunions and celebrations that we can't have very often. I moved Read More

05Jan

Unbalance by Ann Imig

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This is the first entry in my new series "I Don't Know How She Does It," written by Ann Imig, a stay-at-home humorist and the National Director of Listen to Your Mother (LTYM). In some overwhelmed moments, I still wish I could just be content with the privilege of affording to stay home raising my kids. I wish that the business of mothering could fulfill me completely, because my five and seven-year-old boys' baby days are bygone, and their childhoods feel fleeting. I already have to bribe my boys for hugs. Kisses are completely off-limits. Read More

04Jan

Kicking Off a New Series: I Don’t Know How She Does It

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There’s a heck of a lot to project manage when you’re a mom and I’ll be the first to vouch for that. Combine everything you have to do for the family at home with work and you have a recipe for chaos. But I’m not necessarily knocking this chaos. Just a year ago, I wrote “To Work or Not to Work” over at ScaryMommy.com where I voiced my regret about leaving my full time job when my first child was born. That post garnered 90 comments, and I loved reading every single one. Most women applauded my honesty and some knocked for me not enjoying my time at Read More

12Jul

NYC with Kids: Exploring the NYC Waterways

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As more people are staying close to home with their families this summer, many have yet to explore the New York City waterways. You can now take advantage of the local New York City Harbor by heading out on one ofManhattan By Sail’ s (http://www.manhattanbysail.com ) river excursions. We took a sail around the NYC harbor last summer and it was a real highlight for the entire family. This summer climb aboard one of Manhattan’s magnificent seafaring vessels, the prohibition-era Shearwater Classic Schooner and the topsail schooner Clipper City , with Read More

01Mar

One Traveling Mom to Another: Leave the Guilt at Home

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I just came back from my third SOLO trip away from home since the new year. You read that right: SOLO. Sans enfants. No kids. Just me. You know what that means, don't you? Quality time for me, myself and I. As much as I love traveling with my kids, both in NYC and away from home, a trip on my own is a novelty these days. I no longer have business trips or expense accounts, so the odd conference or press trip is a real treat. I also no longer have the guilt I used to feel when going away on business. I actually just came back from the Traveling Read More

24Jun

The Quest for Passport Stamps

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(This was an original New York City Moms blog posted on March 9, 2010). Tonight we took my husband to JFK International Airport so he could catch a flight. The topic of why we travel came up into our conversation. In this case, my husband is going home to see his family, but usually we travel for a variety of reasons and we started talking about them. We talked about experiencing different food, languages, architecture, art, meeting new people and more. I felt such a sense of pride when my 5 year-old son turned to my nearly 7 year-old daughter Read More