Anita Renfroe has been described as “a triple shot of espresso in a decaf world,” which makes this singing comedian a welcome addition to my caffeine addiction.

In a recent Good Morning America interview (Click for this and other Anita Renfroe video clips), Anita Renfroe describes her ‘William Tell Momisms’ as a response to how moms are often stuck in a ‘cosmic Groundhog Day’ where they constantly repeat what needs to be done in the hope that kids will hear them and do it. The response has been overwhelming, over 1.5 million viewers, because most moms have been there.

Take a look and listen for familiar household phrases.

Do you hear your own words, perhaps a bit more humorously or melodically?

I know I find myself saying more of these phrases as the kids get older and I expect more of them. Not long ago, before my daughter became a tween with a new biorhythm, she woke up early on her own. Now, she ignores the alarm clock and counts on my ‘rise and shine’ wake up call. I’ve heard of neat kids who keep their rooms tidy, but mine leave a trail. ‘Clean your room’ and ‘put your stuff away’ are phrases I say often. I tell my son ‘brush your teeth’ several times before he actually does it. He would be perfectly happy to go for several days without wasting his time on this ritual. I might not use all of the momisms, and certainly not all on the same day, but it’s only a matter of time.

On an Unschooling Yahoo Forum, one mom commented that she is “so glad this is not my life.” Another describes the video as “one of the saddest things I’ve seen” because of the “disrepect” to children. Wow! What a wonderful world it must be where you never have to ask your kids to wake up, dress appropriately for the weather, clean up, eat the food on the plate, use decent table manners, be fair to others, treat their sibling well, etc.

Are there really children in this world who don’t have to be taught and reminded to do all these things? I would love to hear how you avoid the ‘cosmic Groundhog Day’ syndrome. Please tell me by using the Post Comment link below.

Much of what I know about parenting comes from what I learned from dog training. When Mowgli, my yellow Lab, was a puppy I followed the advice of Carol Benjamin, author of Mother Knows Best: The Natural Way to Train Your Dog. She counsels new dog parents to spend several hours each day physically attached to their puppy with a leash. After a few days of this quality time, the youngster becomes emotionally attached to “mother.” The puppy comes to obey the owner because he wants to please his mother dog.

In the hopes that my kids will listen to me because they want to please me, I have tried various bonding activities.

Try these activities. They work. Sometimes the children do listen.

1. Family Meals
Every parenting expert tells you to share family meals, but it’s hard to find the time for the entire family to eat together. Even though I’m a stay at home mom, juggling various schedules means that we can’t always eat together. That’s OK.

Commit to a family meal 1-2 times per week. Consider getting together for other meals such as a weekend brunch. Keep the meal simple and expect everyone to help. Some fun ideas: Pancake Dinner; Picnic on the Living Room Floor; Reverse Meal (kids cook & serve).

2. Outdoor Time

Commune with nature, get some exercise, and listen to your kids and the birds on a family hike. Start with short trips and build up to more strenuous expeditions. Make sure everyone dresses in layers, stays hydrated, and pack snacks. Keep them motivated by encouraging them to identify the flora and fauna and dole out mini-chocolates as an incentive & sugar rush.

Consider trying other sports such as biking, skiing, rock climbing, white water rafting, or tubing.

3. Parent/Child Project

Some of my husband’s favorite childhood memories involve building model airplanes with his Dad. Forget the trauma of the annual science fair project and pick a project that interests both of you.

You could create a Butterfly Garden or participate in a global project like Star Count or Project FeederWatch.

A young friend is raising egg-producing chickens with his Dad. They built a portable chicken coop to house the hens and documented the entire project. Now they are earning money for their Chicken Tractor Plan on EBay. You never know where a weekend project will lead.

4. Share Books

You’ve heard it a million times - read to your kids! Sure, but it isn’t always easy to find the time to read aloud. We like to relax with a bedtime book, but not every night. Sometimes we prefer to read our own books.

Try sneaking in some reading at other times. We keep magazines & newspapers at the breakfast table. Carry books & magazines everywhere, you never know when you’ll have to wait somewhere. Borrow or buy audio books for long car trips. Our library has a great collection, but now you can also download books on your ipod through services such as audible.com or The Spoken Alexandria Project.

Don’t just read. Talk about it! Share the excitement with a book club. Start a Mother/Daughter Book Club or a Kid’s Book Club. Visit the book’s setting or the author’s home. Have a book theme party.

5. On On One Outings

Occasionally, plan a parent/child outing. It can be as simple as a trip to the ice cream stand or to the pet store. It’s important to have a time to chat without sibling interruptions.

6. Share a Hobby

If your child seems interested in your hobby, give them the chance to try it as well. Don’t push it if they lose interest. If you like to scrapbook, set up your child with his/her own supplies so that you can work together (but apart.) They may drop the project for awhile, but come back to it later.

7. Be a Scouting Volunteer

One of my most rewarding volunteer activities is being a Girl Scout Leader. I get to hang out with my daughter and her friends while we try out new activities or help out in our community. It’s fun, and I get to hear what’s going on in their lives. Now my husband is experiencing a whole new level of parenting, and developing strong organizational skills, as a Cub Scout Den Leader.

8. Coach a Team

You can coach your child’s sports team, but there are other options as well. Last year, I co-coached two Odyssey of the Mind Teams. It was a blast enabling these kid’s creativity, and I learned a lot about what it really means to “think outside the box.” Other team competitions include: Math Counts; Lego League Challenge; and Destination Imagination.

9. Explore Your World

Family travel can be a relaxing time to share interests in a setting devoid of the stresses of your regular schedule. Well, I’ve heard that it can be relaxing. I just don’t travel that way. I like to experience a new environment to it’s fullest potential. Fellow travellers have labelled my pleasant jaunts “death marches.” Hey, different strokes for different folks!

My family actually enjoys the way we travel. We’re never bored because there is always lots of stuff we want to do.

Explore your world at the pace your family enjoys. You don’t even have to go far. Check out your local museums, arboretums, theme parks, odd exhibits, festivals, and fairs.

10. Blog Together

Share your family story through a blog. There are several family network sites including: Famoodle; Familyroutes; and Amiglia. Another option is to create a Family Blog using Blogger’s Team Blog feature.

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In the blink of an eye, they grow up.

I remember when my baby sisters used to follow me everwhere. I helped them learn to read and write, and soon I was helping edit their college application essays. Now, the last of my baby sisters is getting married.

My own children are growing up faster, and faster. Kayla is a middle schooler, and my baby boy isn’t a baby anymore. Sometimes I want to make time stop so that I can catch up.

More often, it’s a blast getting to hang out with these cool kids (even the ones who are now parents too!)

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Encouraging children to explore their wild side is the shocking title of a Times Union review of Chris Mercogliano’s book, “In Defense of Childhood: Protecting Kids’ Inner Wildness.”

I finally read this article at about midnight after spending the day picking up after kids who were pursuing their inner wildness. I gotta tell you, there is something to be said for parking them in front of some mind-numbing TV. They can get plenty of exercise waving the Wii controls.

Sure, I love that the kids are imaginative and creative. But, do they need to cover the house and yard with their creations? Today’s highlights included exploding cat-tail fights countered with a torrential water hose defense. Our yard may never recover. Certainly, the local frogs and worms that escaped the mighty hunters will be cowering for awhile. And I can guarantee that there will be cat-tail grass growing all over the neighborhood next Spring.

Staff writer Paul Grondahl asks “Where are today’s Tom Sawyers and Pippi Longstockings?” Well, I don’t know but don’t go giving my kids any bright ideas. I don’t want them going on unsupervised boat rides or brush-skating on my hard wood floors. They make enough messes as it is.

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I found a poem today that eloquently sums up my philosophy of life.  Enjoy the journey, for it is the destination.  Wow!

Ithaka
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon — don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon — you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time:
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind —
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now
.And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
Constantine P. Cavafy

Some people think I’m crazy because every year I plant a huge vegetable garden, even though I’m rarely home in the summer. But the vegetables aren’t really the point. I love planning and planting the seedlings, tending them, and sending them on their way. Later, I share the veggies with my neighbors (and the deer and rabbits.)

In my mind, it’s all about the joy of the process. Once there is a product, it’s time to move on.

As a mom, I only get to enjoy my children’s growing years. Fortunately, I think that’s the best part!

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In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways. Edith Wharton, A Backward Glance

We moved into our home on a sweltering August day when Alex was just 2 days old. For weeks, we camped out on the plush carpet merely content with the luxury of central air conditioning. I was too tired to care that the house lacked furniture or that the landscape was just a barren green grass.

The next Spring, I was a homeowner on a mission to imbue my McMansion with some cottage charm. I drooled over garden books, magazines, and garden catalogs. I toured garden shows, arboretums, and historic homes. I tested my soil, determined sun exposure and zone, and started digging.

As always, I pursued this passion with gusto. Yes, it is possible to dig by moonlight. After a while, you don’t even notice the back pain.

Somehow, despite my “survival of the fittest” philosophy of gardening (which always seems to favor the weeds), I have had a lot of success with flowers and shrubs. The trees seem have a hard time staying upright; and the vegetables are very popular with the deer and bunnies. Overall, I love that my garden is a riotously gaudy display of colors.

If I’m very lucky, my children will grow up displaying a gaudy display of intellectual curiosity!

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