Tag / daughter

by Kelly Mattei

Top LAURA GELLER NEW YORK Products for Holiday Gifting

Top LAURA GELLER NEW YORK products for holiday gifting.

Want to check off some Christmas or Hanukkah gifts for the women in your life? Wife? Mom? Daughter? Sister? Significant other? Laura Geller has the #1 Best Seller in foundation makeup on Amazon, because it works! Check out the holiday palettes and more offered by Laura Geller New York this season, and use your Amazon Prime membership for free shipping! This is a great list of outstanding products! Lots of great stocking stuffers here:

  • Laura Geller New York Annual Party in a Palette Full Face Palette Set in Jetset. Party in a Palette? Yes, please! This palette is great as a Christmas or Hanukkah gift, or maybe you want it for yourself to create a holiday party-perfect look! Just choose your shade! This palette is an all-in-one, meaning it contains six gorgeous eyeshadows, a blush, and a highlighter to create the perfect holiday glowing face! I have three in my Amazon cart now: one for me, one for my daughter, and one for my Laura Geller New York-loving friend. If you’re traveling, this palette has lots of essentials, making it easier to pack. It’s even easy to carry in a handbag for freshening up your look on the go. Plus, it’s 25% off at Amazon at time of writing. Get it here.

  • Laura Geller New York The Best of the Best Baked Palette – Full Size. This complete eye and face makeup palette includes three baked eyeshadows in beautiful neutral tones, a Baked Bronze-n-Brighten in Tahitian Glow, two Baked Natural Glow Highlighter in French Vanilla and Portofino and a Baked Blush-n-Brighten in Pink Buttercream. This is one of my favorite palettes offered by Laura Geller New York. It’s offered in two color sets, including a Baked Body Frosting that is better than any body frosting/shimmer I have ever tried. Just a light dusting of it sets your skin aglow! The Blush-n-Brighten blush goes on smoothly, not cakey, and it adds color while adding a little shimmer. I used it for a party last month and was asked about it by three different ladies at the party! Laura Geller knows her palettes. This one is convenient for travel too! This one is a no-brainer, but add in the fact that it’s 41% off right now (as of writing), and you’re getting a great palette at a great discount! Get it here.

  • LAURA GELLER NEW YORK The Best of the Best Baked Palette with Mirror, Tuscan Dreams – Full-Size – Includes Bronze, Blush, Highlighter, 6 Eyeshadows. Another awesome palette by Laura Geller New York, and this one features the Best of the Best Baked in Tuscan Dreams, and it includes a mirror for ease of use while traveling or for freshening up your day-to-night look! The colors featured in this palette are glorious! This is one of those universal palettes that looks great with lots of skin tones, and since it’s 54% off at time of writing, you can do a “one for you, one for me” for less than the normal price of one! But get it quickly, because this popular palette won’t last! Purchase from Amazon here.

  • LAURA GELLER NEW YORK The Delectables Earthy Essentials Baked Eyeshadow Palette | 14 Pigmented Eyeshadows Blendable Natural Look. We get my daughter a Laura Geller Baked Eyeshadow Palette every year for Christmas. The colors are not outlandish, and it keeps me from having to pick just one or two colors for her. She loves it! Create simple or stunning looks with ease using Laura Geller’s gorgeous Delectables eyeshadow palette. Add in the fact that they are creamy and crease-proof, and they are ideal! At time of writing, they are offered in a Black Friday Deal, so get them while they last here.

  • LAURA GELLER NEW YORK Classic Bronzer Brush | Fluffy Powder Brush, Contour & Define, Vegan Bristles. This brush, offered by Laura Geller New York goes great with any of the palettes above. I use it with the body frosting offered in the Best of the Best Baked Palette for a light dusting on my shoulders and décolletage. This makes a great stocking stuffer too! Get it here.

  • LAURA GELLER NEW YORK Spackle Primer – Original – Super-Size 2 Fl Oz – Hyaluronic Acid Makeup Primer for Mature Skin. Y’all, this is a great primer for “ladies of a certain age,” like me! I have a friend who swears by this primer, so I just purchased some for myself. It creates a great, smooth base for my foundation, and it isn’t greasy. Highly recommend for all my friends and family who are “of a certain age.” Let’s goooo! Get it today on a Black Friday Deal that gives you 29% off (at time of writing) here.

  • LAURA GELLER NEW YORK The Ultimate Palette Baked Eyeshadow Makeup Palette – Neutrally Natural – 31 Matte and Shimmer Shades – Pigmented Crease-Proof Eye Makeup. This is another great eyeshadow palette being offered this season, and it’s glorious! This incredible eyeshadow palette includes 31 shades in a mix of flattering neutral eyeshadow hues with matte and shimmer finishes to choose from. With this incredible eyeshadow palette, you can switch up your look from natural everyday eyeshadow to bold smoky eyeshadow in a flash. It’s every eyeshadow you need for subtle day or sparkly evening looks. Purchase here.

  • LAURA GELLER NEW YORK Jelly Balm Moisturizing Tinted Lip Color – Cocoa-Motion – Hydrating Vitamin E – Semi-Shine Finish. I have heard about this product from several friends who say it doesn’t bleed and offers color with a balm-like feel. Yes, it even hydrates like a balm, so it doesn’t get goopy or sticky. There are lots of colors to choose from. I just ordered it for myself in a shade called Brick House. This is another great stocking stuffer! Purchase here.

You can knock out a big part of your shopping list with these LAURA GELLER NEW YORK products! Get them before they are gone! Laura Geller New York is a best-selling brand lots of women love.

Happy Shopping!

***Sponsored ad. We receive commissions for items purchased through our links.***

by Kelly Mattei

iScooter i9 Deal: Save Over $70 on Amazon!

Great iScooter Deal on Amazon!

***Sponsored Ad. I receive commissions for items purchased through Amazon links.***

Do you have someone on your list who would love an electric scooter? iScooter has a special deal on their i9 Electric iScooter on Amazon right now, so you can save more than $70 when you purchase! (Also note there are a couple of coupons that can be used in conjunction with this offer if you click on them when you get to the item listing.) ***PURCHASE AT THE RED LINK BELOW*** This foldable scooter is popular for neighborhoods and college campuses. When I have visited my daughter at her university, I have seen them everywhere. Get it at the red link below while supplies last!

PURCHASE HERE!

by Kelly Mattei

Ultimate Color Wow Gift Guide

Ultimate Color Wow Gift Guide

Someone on your lists loves haircare products? If they know about Color Wow, they want it. If they don’t know about it, it’s high time they did! The holidays are a perfect time to gift haircare products, and the recipient will love Color Wow. All these products make great stocking stuffers or great gifts! My daughter will find one of each in her Christmas stocking this year!

  • Color Wow Extra Strength Dream Coat. This has been all over the talk shows! I first saw it on Hoda & Jenna and had to try it myself after they gave rave reviews. I have curly/wavy, color-treated hair that tends to frizz in humid weather. I should add that I have a lot of hair. This product, which lasts up to three washes, is a powerful moisturizing, anti-humidity treatment for frizz prone hair. It makes my hair glassy smooth. However, a friend in the beauty business pointed out that it’s best used on coils/extremely dry hair. Mine is fairly tight, but if your hair isn’t tightly curled, you might use regular strength. I love it on mine, though. Highly recommend! Get it here.

  • Color Wow One Minute Transformation. This product is great for instant frizz control. This nourishing styling cream smoothes, tames, and defrizzes. Purchase here.

  • Color Wow Color Security Shampoo and Conditioner. Two products for one great effect. I love this shampoo and conditioner! It cleans my color-treated hair and adds shine! Because it doesn’t contain sulfates, it doesn’t strip the color from your hair. It’s a great gift for anyone on your list with color-treated hair. Get the shampoo here. And purchase the normal to thick conditioner here. Or the conditioner for thin/fragile hair here.

  • Color Wow Dreamcoat Supernatural Spray. Keep your hair frizz-free no matter what the weather. This formula helps repair moisture and humidity. Purchase here.

  • Color Wow Curl Wow Coco-motion Lubricating Conditioner. This conditioner, specially formulated for curly hair, is a weightless conditioner that instantly moisturizes deep inside strands for silky-soft, bouncy curls. Purchase here for the girl with curls!

  • Color Wow Curl Wow Hooked 100% Clean Shampoo with Root-Locking Technology. This rich-lathering sulfate-free formula leaves no residue and helps anchor hair to stop shedding. My friend in Central Florida uses this daily, and her curls are beautiful! Purchase here.

Go to Amazon and pick up some of these awesome products while they are still in stock!

***Sponsored ad. We receive commission for products purchased through our Amazon links.***

by Kelly Mattei

Hot Adidas Products

Hot Adidas Products.

***Sponsored Ad*** As an Amazon affiliate, I receive commission for items purchased through my links.

Adidas has some hot products and some deals on Amazon this holiday season…something for almost everyone on your list!

  • Adidas Samba. There’s a special deal on the black Samba, a shoe that has been very popular with teens for several years. Get the deal here. Or get the popular white Samba here.

  • Adidas Adicane Slide Sandal. This is a great slide for recovery after sports endeavors, but it’s also the perfect shower shoe for college students and athletes! Get ahead of the game and gift your athlete or future college student with these for a great price! Purchase here.

  • Adidas Men’s Park Street Sneaker. If you have a man on your holiday list who loves a good street sneaker, this Adidas model is stylish and comfortable. He will welcome this gift! It’s offered in several colors. My husband wants black. Purchase here.

  • Adidas Men’s Lite Racer Adapt 7.0 Sneaker. The perfect slip-on sneaker! This is another one my husband would love. Men are all about the slip-on sneakers these days. It’s stylish, comfortable, and priced right! And it slips on!! Get it here.

  • Adidas Alphabounce. Another great slide from Adidas. Some people prefer this style post-workout, and Adidas does this right! It makes a great gift! Get it here.

These are all great gift options from Adidas, a well-regarded brand! Happy Shopping!

by Kelly Mattei

2024 Holiday Shopping Links (so far)

2024 Holiday Shopping Links (so far). These are links to posts we have made since the middle of November. THANK YOU for shopping our links! We are creating more links today. Click each title for link to more information:

HAPPY SHOPPING!

by Kelly Mattei

Dyson Airwrap DEAL on Amazon

Dyson Airwrap DEAL on Amazon here.

If you need/want to purchase the ever-popular Dyson Airwrap for someone on your holiday list (or for yourself), now is the time. It seems almost every female in America under the age of 60 wants this incredible hairstyling tool. If you have a daughter in high school or college, you can bet she would be thrilled to get this for Christmas or Hanukkah! I have never seen the Airwrap on sale before, but right now you can get an early Black Friday deal for $100 off the regular price of $599! I’d $499 for a limited time! Get it now before the deal ends here!

This is a huge deal, because you will also get free shipping if you have an Amazon Prime membership! And if you don’t have a Prime membership, it’s time to get one! I have saved $1946 this year with free Prime delivery and movies.

ORDER THAT DYSON AIRWRAP HERE BEFORE THIS DEAL IS GONE, and tell everyone you know to come order through my link for the deal!

***I receive commissions for items ordered through my Amazon link. Thank you for shopping my links AND for SHARING my links with friends! Send your friend to my page, so they can shop through my site.***

by Kelly Mattei

You Are Not Going to College with Your Child

You are not going to college with your child.

Why am I saying that? Well, because it seems lots of parents think they need to be involved with their child’s college experience. I’m here to tell you: you do not need to know anything, Mom. Even if you went to your child’s orientation session (or plan to attend), you don’t need to remember the information. College is your child’s job. It’s not your job. If you keep assisting your child with everything he/she needs to do/know, your child will never learn to do it on his/her own. Stick with me, and at the end of this piece, I will tell you what you can do to make your child’s transition to college more successful.

I think parents became more “helicopterish” with their college students when colleges and universities started offering orientation sessions for parents. No, just no. It makes me sick. I have said before that I went with my daughter two years ago, but I only went because it seemed everyone else was going, and I didn’t want her to feel like an orphan! I skipped out at lunch on the first day and never looked back. I simply couldn’t take it. It made me crazy that parents were asking questions kids should have been asking for themselves. If I had a second child, he/she would be going it alone, and I would feel great about it. You know why? Well, I truly believe those parent sessions are simply babysitting sessions to keep parents busy after they have traveled there. It wasn’t terrible, but I did not need to know the information they were putting out there. Where to park? I don’t care. Where to eat? I don’t care. I have already graduated from college…way back in the 1980s…and I figured it all out myself.

In 1985, my parents didn’t go to orientation with me! No way! I drove myself two hours to the university, found the dorm without a navigation system in my car, learned what I needed to know, made my schedule, and drove myself home…alone. In fact, I don’t recall seeing one parent at orientation at The University of Alabama in 1985!

And while I’m at it, allow me to also remind you that you don’t need to make your child’s academic schedule. Again, he/she needs to learn how to do it on his/her own. I see parents on the parent pages regularly talking about helping their kids make their schedules. What??? I don’t even know what classes my daughter is taking! And my parents never knew what classes I was taking!

Take a deep breath, Mom. Your child can navigate college without you. If you don’t believe that, maybe your child shouldn’t be going too far from home. Mine goes to a school 450 miles away, and it’s the greatest thing I ever did for her…letting her do college on her own. She takes care of herself and handles everything on her own, and we don’t waste our time talking about school. We talk about life and fun things, instead!

So, how can you help your child with the transition to college? I’m not a counselor or psychologist, but I am a mom, so I know a little bit. Here’s what you can do:

  • Help them prepare to outfit their dorm room. Gather what they need, and purchase what you don’t have. (Amazon Prime Days are coming up in mid-July, and there will be lots of dorm stuff on sale…a great time to get good prices! Come back to my site to get information on some special deals!)
  • Answer the phone when they call you…anytime, day or night. That first semester can be difficult, so they might need a sounding board. Be there for them. Be supportive. Be positive and encouraging.
  • Make sure they know what to do in emergency situations.
  • Provide whatever they need.
  • Most of all:

Let your little birdie fly! It might not be easy, but it’s important! They can do this! And you can too!

by Kelly Mattei

You Have A High School Graduate

You have a high school graduate.

I just saw a video of Jennifer Garner on Instagram. She was crying, because her daughter just graduated from high school. In one clip, she asks, “How are we gonna make it?!” Of course, lots of people responded, but my favorite comment was, “Why aren’t people making us casseroles?” I laughed until I cried thinking of a mom being so distraught over her child leaving that she needed comfort food, and while I loved that comment, because I also love any opportunity to make or receive a casserole, I know a secret.

My secret? Having your child graduate and move off to college (or the military or trade school or ATC school or the police academy or whatever) is not the end of the world. In fact, it’s the opposite! If you have more than one child, you’re likely to feel like your life continues on about the same trajectory until all your babies have left the nest. I have one child, so when my daughter went off to college, my husband and I became empty-nesters…empty-nesters who are still paying all our daughter’s bills, but empty-nesters, nonetheless. And you know what? After we dropped her off at her university 450 miles away, the world didn’t come to an end! Our old life ended, but a new life began, and it’s a lot of fun!

I saw a video clip from the TV show, Modern Family, recently that really hit home. In the video, Jay, the family patriarch, talks about how we fall in love with a baby, and then the baby becomes a toddler, and on and on through different stages of life, but we never have time to miss the baby, because it’s replaced with another version of itself…a “toddler with the greatest laugh on earth.” And it’s true! I have loved every stage of our daughter’s life! Has it always been easy? That first year was especially tough. I remember thinking on her first birthday, “I survived the first year.” Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the first year too, but there was some survival involved. I think the fact that it’s not easy is what makes us appreciate it. Struggling with a newborn just bonds us!

My next door neighbor, who is a grandmother several times over, told me recently that she feels like those early years with kids at home are a real gift, but they are a sacrifice too. Once our kids are grown and out of the house, we miss them, but we are grateful for the gift they continue to be (even with crises), and we appreciate not making the daily sacrifices. Since our daughter went off to college, my husband I don’t have to get up early every morning to make sure our daughter gets out to school. Like many people these days, we can do our work from home…or anywhere, for that matter. If we want to leave town during the school year, we can! If we want to eat dinner standing over the kitchen sink, we can! For me, I love that our lives are no longer built around a school schedule. Of course, there are other sacrifices. College is not cheap. Trips abroad for our daughter are not cheap. Also, we have to worry from afar instead of worrying about her in our own home. If she’s in Italy, we worry about her in Italy. If she’s in Tuscaloosa, we worry about her in Tuscaloosa. However, the minute-to-minute sacrifices aren’t there like they are when our children are younger. I don’t spend my weekends at soccer or lacrosse tournaments anymore, praise the Lord! I don’t volunteer at her school anymore, thank God. At the same time, though, we don’t get to watch her play lacrosse, and we don’t have her here every day anymore.

Is it difficult when they first leave? Yes. I’m not gonna kid you about that. The house is quieter. The friends are not in and out all the time anymore, and at first, I was sad about that. Then, by the Christmas of her freshman year, I guess I had grown accustomed to having my own space, because when all the friends were here, I was surprised at how loud and intrusive it could feel! Don’t get me wrong…after a couple of days, it became the norm again, and by the time she went back to school that January, I had to get used to the peace and quiet again.

All this is my long way of saying this: embrace the change! It’s a great stage of life! Do I miss my girl when she’s not here? Yes, but I also appreciate the time she is here, and I appreciate the extra time to do what I want to do. If you have a child who has graduated and is leaving soon for college, the military, or something else, take the time right now, before they go, to make a plan for yourself. Know in advance how you are going to fill up that quiet time! It’s easier to adjust if you have a plan. Play mahjong! Play pickleball! Learn to play bridge! Volunteer somewhere! After our daughter left, I started getting more exercise, and I spend a lot of time planning vacations. I don’t go on vacation constantly, but it’s fun to research destinations. I also spend time with friends once or twice a week.

You can do this, Mama! I think you will find empty-nesting is not scary. It’s fun. Fill up the weekends doing what you want to do! Embrace the change!

by Kelly Mattei

Don’t Sweat Fall Sorority Rush Yet

Don’t sweat fall sorority rush yet.

I have received three phone calls from worried friends this week. Their daughters are planning to participate in sorority rush in the fall at big southern schools, and they are worried they should be working on “rush stuff” right now. No. The answer is no. Let your daughter enjoy her senior year!

Mom, you can start thinking about the preparation, but there’s no need to be consumed by it. What can you do now? Look up which sororities have chapters at your daughter’s school. Start thinking of your friends who know your daughter; which ones were in sororities in college and would be willing and able to write recommendations for your daughter? Make a list in the notes on your phone. Or you can do like one of my friends and make a spreadsheet. I’m not Type A, so a spreadsheet was not my thing. I just made a list. Anytime you’re out and about and hear that someone is a member or alumna of a sorority, make a note of it in your phone.

If you’re thinking about hiring a rush consultant, that’s entirely up to you. We didn’t hire one for my daughter when she rushed, and she landed exactly where she wanted to be. I have lots of friends who have daughters who have rushed, and personally, I don’t know anyone who hired a consultant. And all my friends have daughters who are very happy with their rush choices. The hiring of a consultant is a personal choice.

Seriously, right now, just start compiling your recommendation list and having your daughter start working on her resumé. The girls cannot even make a complete resumé right now, because they don’t know what they’ll have to add before the end of the school year.

In May, have your daughter contact your friends who are sorority alumnae by phone, text, or email to ask them to write recommendations for her. This is something she needs to do herself, and she needs to ask people who actually know her. In a pinch, she can ask a friend of a friend. Recommendations are basically introductions of your daughter to the chapters, so she will want them to be able to write about her from personal knowledge. For example, when my neighbor’s daughter participated in “recruitment,” I was able to write a detailed recommendation/introduction of her, because I had first-hand knowledge of her personality and great attributes. Try to get recommendations to every chapter, and whatever you do, make sure your daughter does not say to any alumnae, “I’m only interested in sororities A, B, and C.” First, it sounds bad. Secondly, until rush begins, your daughter might think she knows what she likes, but she might change her mind. She also might not get invited to the ones she think she will.

You can start looking at dresses if you like. Spring dresses are coming out now, so it’s perfectly fine to start looking and even purchasing dresses she thinks she will wear. When shopping, look for fairly conservative dresses but not too conservative. Amanda Uprichard offers some great options at amandauprichard.com.

But right now, the main thing is to have rush in the back of your mind. Keep you ears and eyes open for people who can help with recommendations. Soak up every moment of senior year of high school, and enjoy having your daughter at home with you!

Here’s a rough timeline of preparation:

  • January-April: Find out which sororities have chapters on campus. Also, make a list/spreadsheet of sorority alumni who can write recommendations for your daughter. ***ALSO, make sure your daughter cleans up her social media…no alcohol or extreme photos.***
  • March-May: watch the university’s Panhellenic website to find out when registration is. At most southern universities, you can register for fall rush starting in May.
  • May-June: Your daughter can contact sorority alumni and ask for recommendations, telling them they will send their resumé soon.
  • June: create a resumé using the Canva app or another app. Distribute the resumé to the alumni who have agreed to write recommendations. Most sororities want digital recommendations now, so please don’t do old school “rush packets.” If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry about it…you don’t need to know.
  • July: make sure you have your rush wardrobe, and finish gathering everything for the “rush bag.” For more information on the rush bag, click here.
  • Late July/August: move her into her dorm and let the magic happen!

I will have posts later in the spring and summer with more information.

Mostly, relax. Don’t let your daughter get nervous about it.

***Over the next few days, I will be re-posting some posts about rush and preparation for it.***

by Kelly Mattei

Revisiting Childhood

Revisiting Childhood.

Anyone who has spent any time with me has heard me say that I feel like I have had three childhoods: 1. my real childhood 2. college 3. my now 20-yr-old daughter’s childhood. I’ve had a lot of fun in my life, and a lot of it was associated with those three eras. Now, I’ve entered what I think might be a fourth childhood…empty-nesting! I often think of all those other childhoods, including the great experiences I had with my child as a stay-at-home mom. However, it’s not often I revisit a place that we frequented when she was a toddler/young child.

Today I did just that.

I read recently that the Charlotte Nature Museum would be closing. It’s a quiet little nature museum in Charlotte near Freedom Park. When my daughter was a toddler/little girl, we were regulars at the Charlotte Nature Museum. I was fortunate to be a part of a playgroup made up of moms who had kids about the same age. Lucky for us, the moms were pretty close in age too, and we all became great friends. In fact, I’m not sure I would have survived toddlerhood without my awesome playgroup friends. We had places we visited regularly with the kids, and on the short list was Charlotte Nature Museum. It’s likely the kids don’t even remember much, if anything, about the “museum,” but that’s OK. It gave us moms lots of peace when our kids were little. There were turtles, an opposum, a butterfly garden, and there’s even a planetarium. Somehow, we never made it to one of the planetarium shows, but we did enjoy watching the kids watch the animals.

I realized today was the last day for the museum to be open, so yesterday, I called my friend, Kelli, who grew up in Charlotte, and I asked her if she would visit the museum with me. She said she recalled visiting the museum as a schoolgirl; the whole class would load up on school buses, go to the museum, and then go to McDonald’s for lunch…a big treat back in the day. After talking about some of her memories, she agreed to go with me today.

We met at 11:00 and rode together to the museum. When we walked in, she said, “Oh my gosh! It hasn’t changed since the 1970s!” I could verify that it hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years, but Kelli gave me verification that it was much the same in the 70s. We walked around, taking pictures of the taxidermy animals to show our kids, hoping to jog their memories with photos later. I took a picture of myself posing as an insect, in a photo op that has been around since I started going there in 2005. I sent it to my 20-yr-old daughter and asked, “Do you remember this?” She responded, “OMG! Yes!” I knew there probably wouldn’t be much she would remember, but because the kids used to have to take turns with the insect photo op, I thought she might remember it. It warmed my heart that she had some recall of the Charlotte Nature Museum! (See photos from today at bottom of page.)

After we strolled through the butterfly garden and saw a few butterflies, we took photos of the resident turtles, the opossom, and the snakes. Very little had changed since my last visit there. Sadly, the building will be demolished soon to make room for a new and improved Charlotte Nature Museum. While I’m sure it will be awesome, I feel sure it won’t have the same charm as the old museum…small with several small rooms, no hi-tech gimmicks, and lots of little creatures and lessons about little creatures.

We left with smiles on our faces. Back in the car, we talked about our memories of the nature museum…how Kelli’s class used to line up on the back porch of the museum and along the boardwalk. I talked about how my daughter and my friends’ kids mostly just wanted to stand and watch the snakes and turtles. They weren’t much interested in the little indoor playground…and I was thankful for that, because it really looked like a germ fest to me.

As we drove away from the Charlotte Nature Museum in our car instead of a school bus, I asked Kelli, “Where would you like to have lunch?” She didn’t really have a preference, but after a brief discussion, we decided McDonald’s would be the perfect ladies lunch place today. We agreed it would be the perfect ending to a nature museum visit, so we went to McDonald’s and ate in the dining room there. That also conjured up memories of my daughter’s childhood, as someone’s child had left a Happy Meal toy on the table we chose. I told Kelli, “This would have been pure gold when my daughter was little.” I didn’t know a lot of moms who took their kids to McDonald’s, but I did, and fortunately, my playgroup friends did too. McDonald’s was a great rainy day destination back in the day, because the one we went to had an indoor playground…yes, a germ fest, for sure…but on a rainy day, I didn’t really care.

Lucky me! I got to revisit my daughter’s childhood today! Just walking into the nature museum, I stepped back in time…it still smelled the same, and basically, it looked the same. Now I wish I had taken my daughter when she was home for the holidays.