Tag Archive for 'Silicon Valley Moms Group'

Dear Dads with Daughters

Daddy and Daughter

Daddy and Daughter

My life has been insane lately. In the past several weeks, my family moved into a new house, our beloved cat died, we got a puppy, celebrated Christmas and New Year’s holidays, we hosted house-guests for two weeks, my mother faced an illness, I had to prepare and attend CES, I spoke at the MommyTech Summit, and more. Oh yeah, and my work blew up more than once, which required frequent travel from Austin to Silicon Valley. Can you say stress?

And through it all, my husband remains my rock and my daughter’s beacon. I have been trying to tell him how much I appreciate his strength and dedication to our family. I sat down to write a blog post in his honor, but I was reminded of this post I wrote for Silicon Valley Moms Blog nearly two years ago.

It still holds true, and it still brings tears to my eyes.

Thank you, my love, for being so good to your wife and daughter!

– LTV Mom

Dear Dads with Daughters,

Back when we were single, my girlfriends and I kept our eyes open for available men. We usually scoped out a college guy who was funny, smart, handsome, and had access to beer.  Now I’m happily married with a daughter, and don’t need to be dazzled by men who aren’t my husband.  But the people-watcher in me can’t help but admire the good men out there. Of course, my views of the world have changed dramatically, and I have a whole new set of criteria for spotting what I consider to be a good man. It’s quite simple: just show me what kind of daddy you are.

Since I have a soft-spot for dads with daughters, I can’t help by smile every time I see a daddy lovingly interact with their little girls.  Here are my personal favorites:

  • Ballet Class: There is nothing cuter than a tough guy trying desperately to stuff their little girls’ feet into ballet shoes. (Yes, there is a “right” and a “left” ballet shoe!)  I personally find it sexy when dads burst with pride while watching their girls trot around a dance studio in a pink tutu.

  • Ponytails and Headbands: Sometimes it’s obvious when Daddy was in charge of the ‘do.  Personally, I find a messy ponytail and mismatched barrettes adorable.  I love the effort, because we know it takes a little skill and a lot of patience to accomplish any sort of hairdo on a four-year-old girl.
  • Dresses or Jeans: Some daughters want a frilly dress, others want jeans and a T-shirt.  We are just impressed when both dad and daughter leave the house fully clothed.  We know that little girl picked out an outfit and probably changed her mind several times… and daddy had to keep his cool along the way.
  • Princess Books: A trip to the library or any waiting room is the ideal time to see a daddy reading to his child.  I love it when dads read the Princess books, complete with a falsetto voice for Cinderella.  So sweet!

Dads, here’s my point: We are married ladies now, but you can still impress us with your softer side. We love our kids, and we appreciate it when a daddy isn’t afraid to show how much he loves them too.

This post originally appeared on Silicon Valley Moms Blog in April 2009. And I still mean every word.

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on January 27, 2011
in Family and Silicon Valley Moms Group
. 2 Comments

What is my bedtime strategy? (and other signs of “corporate seepage” in my house!)

I am a proud writer for the Silicon Valley Moms Group, and every month, we have virtual book club meetings. A handful of bloggers read the same book, and we each post our thoughts on our personal blogs. It’s a great way to be part of a book club, especially when I don’t have time for non-family socialization… and I really love books. This month’s book is Just Let Me Lie Down by Kristin van Ogtrop, editor of Real Simple magazine.

I immediately fell in love with the book title, and then became enamored with the sub-title: necessary terms for the half-insane working mom. Instantly connecting to the subject-matter, I dived into the book.

Yep, I am a half-insane working mom: I choose to be a working mom, and respect any mom who is working (in the home, outside the home, and everywhere in between) to provide and care for her family. I connect with working moms, well, because I am one.  I get the madness of driving from home to school to work (takes me at least an hour everyday), leaving work early to watch 15 minutes of dance class and eating dinner as a family, and then working until midnight to make up the time. We all do it. We all have our reality. And this book made me know I am not alone. It even made me laugh at the madness of my wonderfully crazy (and never boring!) working-mama life.

As the sub-title alludes, the book provides an “A to Z” look at newly created lexicon for working moms to embrace as they journey through life. Kristin created a “Mom 2.0 dictionary” peppered with wit and sarcasm (two of my favorite things!) leaving me with a sense of “Good Lord, being a working mom is hilarious.”

Corporate Seepage: All that said, I want to deep-dive and focus on my favorite “necessary term” from the book: corporate seepage. This term is self-explanatory, it’s when corporate-speak spills into the home. And then your kid starts using phrases and expressions that a toddler should not know exist, such as “Mommy, what is my bed time strategy?” in response to “honey, bed time is in 10 minutes.” Oy.

Recently, corporate seepage has been taken a step further. You see, my five-year-old daughter has taken it upon herself to set-up an “office” with a faux workstation, computer and office supplies.  The other day, my husband was trying to get the kid’s attention, and simply heard the reply “Daddy, I am on a conference call, can you please hold for a moment?!” In fact, my daughter loves the conference call excuse. The other day, I was at home making dinner as Daddy and Kid were on their way home from dance class. The Kid blasts into the kitchen to hear me proclaim, “welcome home, honey, can I have a hug?” And what did I hear? “Mommy, I can’t talk right now! I have a conference call in 11 minutes!” So, she ran upstairs to her office… just in time to make her call. Whew!

Capturing her imagination: Despite the copious amounts of corporate seepage in my house, I also see some amazing and wondrous benefits of having two working parents in our house. I mentioned my five-year-old kid has a faux office in our house, but did I mention she uses her office to design buildings? She creates blue-prints, has meetings with clients, and has imaginary discussions about how beautiful her buildings look once they are engineered. She currently is working on designing a movie theater and an animal hospital. I swear, she comes up with all these ideas on her own… and I am bursting with pride.

Like any mother, I don’t care what career my kid chooses when she grows up. But I use these moments to remind her that she can be whatever she wants to be. I promise I am not pushing her into a world of competition and madness. But I love that she is learning to tap into her talents and imagination… just as long as she doesn’t miss that conference call in exactly 11 minutes!

Just Let Me Lie Down is available on Amazon.

– LTV Mom

Photo with Gina von Esmarch of Bowl Licker fame; Kristin van Ogtrop of “Just Let Me Lie Down” and Real Simple magazine; and yours truly.

Thank you to the Silicon Valley Moms Group for organizing a wonderful luncheon allowing us to meet Kristin and enjoy her wit and wisdom.

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on April 30, 2010
in Books, Silicon Valley Moms Group and Working Mom
. 19 Comments

Do One Nice Thing: and not just when it’s convenient

From time to time, the ladies and gents who write for the Silicon Valley Moms Group participate in a virtual book club.  We all read the same book and share our thoughts on our personal blogs.  I have been so overwhelmed with work and life, I skipped the past several books. But this month’s book selection was too intriguing to pass up. We read a book called “Do One Nice Thing” by Debbie Tenzer.

The concept of the book is quite simple: it offers more than a hundred easy ideas to show kindness to other people. The ideas range from donating baseball tickets to the Veterans Administration to smiling at everyone you pass on the sidewalk. Reading the book was a good exercise in self-reflection: Am I a nice person? Do I do nice things? Most importantly, am I teaching my daughter to be a nice person?

I grew up in a household that had one simple rule: if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. (And I guarantee unkind words resulted in big trouble, especially if I was talking to my sisters!) More importantly, I grew up in a Midwestern community that was just that… a community. We treated each other with respect, kindness and generosity each and every day. If a neighbor had a baby, the neighborhood would fill her refrigerator with casseroles and lasagnas.  When our roof needed to be re-shingled, my dad’s buddies on the street spent an entire Saturday helping him. When the local downtown flooded after days and days of rainfall, the high school seniors filled and hauled sand-bags to help save the family-owned businesses.

Random acts of kindness, and making time to help others in need, fueled our community. It was who I was raised to be.

Sadly, reading this book made me realize that I have lost some of the kindness and generosity that is so important to me. I am so focused on getting through my days, so set on surviving the rat-race, I have forgotten to take time to care for others. Oh sure, I still make the goulash for the new mommy across the street and I gave my daughter’s stroller to a friend who was strapped for cash. But those things are done when they are convenient for me… not necessarily when they are needed most.

I already have working-mom guilt, always worrying about taking care of my family.  But I have had a wake-up call that I need to look beyond my four walls and care for the people who need it… when they need it.

And not just when it’s convenient for me.

– LTV Mom

If you want to explore other thoughts and opinions on being nice, please follow the dialogue on the New Jersey Moms Blog.

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on September 29, 2009
in Books and Silicon Valley Moms Group
. 0 Comments

See you at BlogHer 09

BlogHer 09 in Chicago

BlogHer 09 in Chicago

I’m leaving on a jet plane… and heading to Chicago for BlogHer 2009.  Here’s why I’m going this year:

1. Seeing the bloggers I love. [Smart, cool women from all over the world. I'm especially looking forward to seeing the ladies from Silicon Valley Moms Group.]

2. Meeting the bloggers I read regularly. [Can't wait to stalk meet the uber-smart writers on my blogroll. Look out, Role Mommy, I'm gonna track you down!]

3. Working with SmartyCard. [Yep, my client SmartyCard will be there in full force, signing up bloggers for their affiliate program. Yes, you can make money with your blog.]

4. Enjoying cocktails with the Yahoo! Mother Board. [Yes, my client Yahoo! will be there, as will their brand ambassadors, complete with video cameras and cocktails.]

5. Finding Tim Gunn and Rick Bayless. [I didn't know they were making appearances when I signed up, but that doesn't mean I can't stalk try to meet them too!]

6. Attending the sessions. [Believe it or not, I do want to attend the sessions and learn a thing or two. The session that has my eye is Day Two keynote: Traditional Media Chops meets a New Media Calling.]

7. Representing Voce Nation. [I work with bloggers who are more clever and widely read than LTV Mom, including Media Guerrilla, TV Through Glasses and Hyku.  So I will proudly represent Voce, share some live-Tweets, and do my thang.]

Hope to see you there!

– LTV Mom

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on July 22, 2009
in BlogHer and Laptop Television
. 1 Comment