Name: Roni Noone

Kids: 5 Year son and another boy on the way!

Occupation: Web publisher

Hometown: Baltimore MD

Full H&H Interview with Roni:

1. Your blog says “One Mom’s Journey from Fat to Skinny to Healthy”. What were the most significant changes you made in that journey?

There were 3 big things I did that made a huge difference. I outlined them in a series of posts called 3 Steps to a Healthier YOU! In a nutshell, I learned to accept myself the way I am (stop negative self-talk), I realized that you are never “off plan” and I simply moved more. It sounds so easy to say it now but it took me 15 years to figure it out.

2. What are the top 3 items in your grocery cart?

Only 3? I could ramble on and on about food! Let’s see, right now I can’t live without my grapefruit in the morning, I think it’s a pregnancy thing. I’ve also recently been obsessed with The Laughing Cow cheese products oh! and a bag of Baby Spinach. I can’t live without my baby spinach. I use it like lettuce on everything! Even recently adding it to smoothies.

3. What are you reading (honestly)?

I’ve been grabbing a chapter of What the Dog Saw here and there but besides that, Wired magazines and kid books, I haven’t read anything cover to cover in a about a year. Honestly, I have no time to read at the moment. My days are spent writing for my blogs and connecting with people online.

4. What is your guilty pleasure when you get a little time for yourself?

A loooong warm bath. I don’t nearly do it enough but when I have some free time I’ll fill up the bath with bubbles and read a magazine.

5. What is your most dreaded household chore?

LAUNDRY. Isn’t it every mom’s bane of existence? I don’t mind throwing it in the washer but then the folding and the putting away. Ugh! I wish there was a little laundry fairy!

6. What is your favorite reality TV show?

I can’t believe I’m about to confess this but Top Model is a total guilty pleasure of mine. I’m fascinated by the model industry and I love seeing the behind the scenes aspect of the photo shoots. Sad, I know.

7. What is your cocktail of choice?

I’m pregnant right now so none for me lately but when I get my drink on I’m mostly a vodka and cranberry girl. If I’m tired I’ll go with a vodka and diet red bull. I used to be a big beer drinker in college but vodka has since taken over in my later years.

8. What is the funniest thing your kids have said or done lately?

My 5 year old is a complete trip. We were listening to Christmas music over holiday break and during one particular song (I’m sure you’ll figure it out) he says “How would Santa wrap a hippopotamus? He would just break out?” Imagine hands up, shoulders shrugged and high voice. He cracks me up!

9. What is your favorite quotation?

There are two by Dr. Seuss…

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

And the inspiration for my new site…

“In my world, everyone’s a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!”

10. Who is your favorite celebrity mom and why?

I don’t really get into celebrity stuff too much. Don’t get me wrong I love good gossip but I don’t think we really have any idea what type of parents they are from what we read in tabloids or see on the news. Anyone can hire a good PR person.

11. What is something most people don’t know about you?

Oh I’m pretty transparent. Anyone who reads my blog knows most things about me but if I had to think of something it may be that I like horror movies and listen to bands like Godsmack, System of the Down and Korn. What can I say? I’m a recovering 80s hair band fan who grew up in the 90s grunge era.

12. What advice would you give to other mom’s to stay motivated during their own journey?

The thing that you have to remember is that time is continually ticking away. We say things like “I’ll start Monday” but by the time Tuesday arrives we are already back to old habits. So we put off our goals to the following Monday. I was stuck in this cycle for 15 years. You have to decide enough is enough. Take a good hard look at yourself in the mirror and have a one-on-one. Life is going to start passing you by as you wait for that “perfect” Monday. You’ll never be perfect. You’ll never look perfect. You’ll never eat perfect. Do what you can now that gets you closer to your goals and stop punishing yourself. Life is too short.

Written by Lea Barlow • 4 Comments

Broccoli was never high on my vegetable acceptability list.  As far as greens went, I tended to be more of an asparagus and spinach girl. For some reason whenever I thought of broccoli, I envisioned scowling kids from the 1950′s refusing to eat their vegetables. Oh, and I wasn’t too fond of the smell either. But I put my prejudice aside and simply started serving broccoli to the family. Here’s why:

When it comes to basic nutrients, broccoli is a mother lode. Ounce for ounce, boiled broccoli has more vitamin C than an orange and as much calcium as a glass of milk. One medium spear has three times more fiber than a slice of wheat bran bread. Broccoli is also one of the richest sources of vitamin A in the produce section.

Not too shabby for a tiny, stinky tree. Here are three recipes that I have been serving up lately. Not surprisingly, we all like our broccoli different ways…

Broccoli with Parmesan Sauce

A very simple and super-quick recipe. At 95 calories and 8 grams of protein per serving this dish pairs perfectly with a bun-less buffalo burger. *Kid Favorite*

Chicken Tomato Broccoli Salad

With 231 calories and 24 grams of protein per serving, you can’t go wrong with this main course salad. *My Favorite*

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

FANTASTIC Broccoli soup recipe to take the chill off these cold winter days. 410 calories, 19 grams of protein and 15 grams of carbs per serving. *Hubs Favorite*

Written by Lea Barlow • 1 Comment

I am actually not totally opposed to the whole stick figure family decal trend. It’s cute how they have become so personalized. Waiting at a red light I can see that little Johnny likes soccer and sister Susy is a ballerina. Sweet. But there are a few decals that may be considered a bit of an ‘overshare’.  Take a look…

The Rasta Family.

I’m sensing an EXTREMELY chill home environment.

The Dysfunctional Family.

Someone call MTV. I think we have a couple candidates for 16 & Pregnant.

The ‘Baby Mama’ Family.

A glimpse into the future of the girls from the above decal.

The Alien Family.

Honestly, these two shouldn’t procreate. I just feel sorry for their dog.

The Cat Lady.

Tip #1 on ‘How to Become a Spinster’: Slap this sticker on your Kia.

Written by Lea Barlow • 2 Comments

by Alexis Novak

If you want to know the secret to Asian students’ academic success and the downfall of Western parenting then pick up Amy Chua’s book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” wherein her answer for raising smart kids is to mercilessly ride their asses until they fear you enough to score straight A’s.  Or consider the actress formerly known as Blossom, Mayim Bialik, new Today Show Attachment Parenting Mommy blogger who requires extended breastfeeding, co-sleeping, home schooling and natural birthing if you truly love your children.

I wish there was a perfect mathematical equation to decent parenting that I could adopt, but I am highly suspicious of those who think they have the answer as Chua and Blossom claim.

First, Chua, a highly-educated law professor and mother of two is smug and relentlessly proud of her parenting model which she calls “Chinese parenting”.  Its sole goals are achievement, obedience and excellence through academics and music only.  Her daughters were never allowed extracurriculars like sports, sleepovers, and socializing in general. Ever.  They aren’t allowed to make their own choices or assert their independence.  Does her formula work academically?  Yes.  Her daughters are classically trained musicians, having been accepted into Pre-College Julliard programs, performing at Carnegie Hall and considered child prodigies.   If achievement is your idea of successful parenting then Chua is the expert and you should follow her advice accordingly.  Some things you will need to do to create children like hers: enforce daily mandatory 90 minute piano practice on kids under the age of 6, even after coming home from regular piano lessons.  While traveling abroad, force the kids to practice hours a day even if it means missing the Coliseum (isn’t this missing the point of traveling in the first place?).  Emphasize competition and being the absolute best in each class.  Is this stressing you out yet?

Chua criticizes Western parents for being indulgent, overly concerned about children’s self-esteem and allowing children to give up on themselves.  She preaches comparing siblings and pushing them to their breaking point because she always knows best.  An A- is a failure and should be punished accordingly.

I had to laugh out loud at her birthday dinner chapter when her children make crappy homemade birthday cards for her that she demands they remake because they aren’t crafted to the girls’ full potential.  She might have raised musically gifted perfectionists but there seems zero room for joy, spontaneity, or growth from screw-ups.  She admits about herself, “The truth is I’m not good at enjoying life. It’s not one of my strengths. I keep a lot of to-do lists and hate massages and Caribbean vacations. Florence (her mother-in-law) saw childhood as something fleeting to be enjoyed. I saw childhood as a training period, a time to build character and invest in the future” (Chua 97).  I am sure this zero-down time approach has produced two daughters with serious anxiety.  In fact, her second daughter rebelled so harshly against her at 13 that she was forced to take it down a notch.

I also couldn’t help but notice that though she clashes with her Mother-in-law’s parenting paradigm and criticizes this sophisticated, liberal, open-minded Jewish woman, her husband was equally as accomplished and maybe more so than Chua.  Husband Jed is also a law professor at an Ivy League school who briefly studied drama at Julliard.  And yet, when Jed’s mother asks Amy for one full day with each granddaughter to have unscheduled summer fun, Amy cannot say yes, thinking that one day off (from Chinese parenting) will hurt their music.  High expectations are essential but think her methods of never letting up and criticizing every aspect of her kids until the bitter (she claims successful) end is hardly the Holy Grail of parenting.  I also find her husband to be neither partner nor sidekick, more of an eerily silent afterthought.  He has no voice or vote in her dictatorship wherein Amy’s obsession with her children’s perfection possesses her every waking moment. I wondered about her own identity when the children leave home and she has no one to bark at and train anymore.  I guess that’s why she keeps adopting dogs.  She sees her children’s academic achievements as a direct result of her emotionally suffocating discipline.  They aren’t their own people, just clay to mold, who will never be able to make decisions for themselves.

Then, on the opposite side of the continuum, we have Attachment Parenting founded by Dr. William Sears.  Attachment Parenting has become a cultural phenomenon and its new poster child is Mayim Bialik.  The former actress who played spunky Blossom and now has a Ph. D.  parents using no time-outs and refuses to teach her kids manners like please and thank you.  Her book, “Intuitive Parenting”, isn’t out yet but I think I will pass on reading it.  Attachment Parenting works under the premise that babies are social creatures and need to be close to their parents through baby-wearing, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, home-schooling, gentle discipline and “elimination communication”.  How many women can breastfeed their children on demand, co-sleep with them at night and wear them all day?   Answer: moms who are out to win the gold medal in Motherhood Olympics so they can make the rest of us feel like shit.  Isn’t it healthy for both mother and child to detach sometimes?  I have trouble imagining how common sense moms could keep up these strict principles and what a failure they would feel like it they couldn’t.  I know because I failed at Attachment Parenting when I was unable to breastfeed and it made me feel awful.  Attachment Parenting’s answer was always to try harder.

My main issue with both Tiger Moms and Blossom Moms is that their theories prey upon mommy guilt, campaigning that the more (discipline or attachment) you give your children, the better they will turn out, at the expense of your own needs.  Like sacrificing a healthy relationship with your spouse.  Or sacrificing your sleep.  Or having your body to yourself for a minute.  I am over moms being told to give up more to make our children more.  In both of these models there is no such thing as healthy boundaries.  It’s crap.  Modern moms need to focus more on themselves to achieve balance.  Martyr Mothers are so out.

I am still searching for a common sense parenting book, one that doesn’t tell me I am not trying hard enough, so tell me if you find one.  If not, I may have to begin writing my own.

Written by Alexis Novak • 4 Comments