“This is not the end.  It is not even the beginning of the end.  But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”                  - Winston Churchill   For the past two years, I have had the pleasure of letting readers of this column into the life of just another, multi-tasking, married, working Mom, and it’s been wonderful.  Each week I’ve reflected on some aspect of parenting and family and whether it was deep and emotional or downright ridiculous, looking back on these stories is a trip.  While I’m sad to say that this week’s column will be my last with Patch, there will most definitely …

  While pleading with Quinn this weekend to please, PLEASE lay down for his afternoon nap, it occurred to me that I would have traded places with him in a heartbeat so that he may stay up and clean the kitchen instead.    Just think about it: kids wake up, play for a few hours, eat lunch and then GET TO SLEEP.  As an adult, I would sell my soul to the devil himself to take a nap after just four hours of work each day.  These children have no idea how good they have it…but why stop at naps? Let’s take a look some other perks of being a child and just how much they are taken for granted, shall …

  “QUINN ANDREW SHUMWAY, STOP SHOOTING YOUR SISTER!” If I had a nickel for each time I’ve yelled this in the past few months well, then, I certainly wouldn’t have to work for a living.  It seems as though every ten minutes I’m asking, telling, yelling, BEGGING Quinn to stop firing imaginary bullets at his sister/brother/mother/father/dog/neighbor/friend and once even the unthinkable… Grandmother. It was right after Christmas when my mother stopped by to say hello to the kids.  Quinn ran through the doorway, stopped, told my mother quite frankly, “Wait, I have to shoot you first,” took aim, …

  It was bound to happen sooner or later; I guess I just always thought it would be far into the future.  But when the time came, I was helpless to fight it and went out not in a blaze of glory but rather with a sad, quiet whimper. The Queen has been overthrown.  My family went and got themselves a dog. I’ve never had a dog.  We had a cat growing up and so when Andy and I were engaged, we thought it would be cute to get a couple of kittens (you know, now that we were, like, 24 and SO grown up and stuff).  Ripken and Smokey the Wonder Cat were with us for 12 and 15 years respectively and so …

  This Sunday, I de-Christmafied my house. It’s an amazing phenomenon…come the first weekend in December I can’t wait to hang the twinkle lights but by the 26th, the mere thought of a pine needle makes me want to hurl. You must understand, I go big at Christmas.  BIG.  There is not a single room in the house that doesn’t boast at least one decoration, whether it’s as subtle as a candle in a window or as over-the-top as lit garlands on every flat surface available.  The smell of Hollyberry wafts throughout the house and Chez Shumway is sparkly for three weeks straight.  At the time, it’s …

  As Americans, the events of Friday morning in Newtown broke our hearts but as parents, it terrified us to our very core.I had meetings in New York that day and therefore didn’t realize that any of it had happened until my train ride home. Seeing pictures of the families and grasping at the fragments of information trickling in, I had the same thought that every other parent did: how would those parents go on?Choking back tears (many of us on the train were doing the same thing), the faces of Ben, Georgia and Quinn flashed through my mind. Posts from friends called for gun control, more …

  As I parked in front of my laptop to write this week’s column, something immediately struck me…and it was just a simple number. 100, to be exact. Hard to believe, but this is my 100th “Tireless Mom” column and since I’ve only missed one week since I began, it has become a kind of family diary for me.  Which means, my friends, that you poor souls have been made to sit through my literary scrapbook, week after week, reading about everything from piano lessons to potty training.  It has been fun, it has been therapeutic, and at times a little embarrassing.  Somehow, it has been almost two …

  As soon as we’d decked the halls, trimmed our tree and had Chez Shumway looking like a little bit of the North Pole right here in Dedham, I grabbed my camera and set out to end all that festive cheer. That’s right, folks, there’s one sure fire way to deliver the ultimate Christmas buzzkill and you all know EXACTLY what it is.Take the dreaded Christmas card picture.Now, one of the things I love about this time of year is my daily trip to the mailbox and seeing it filled with cards instead of bills. I mean sure, our postal carriers certainly earn that Holiday Tip we give them during the month…

“Think Globally, Act Locally.” We’ve all heard this statement and probably even said it ourselves, but have you ever stopped to think about just exactly what it means? It’s saying that in order to change the world you have to start somewhere . . . and that somewhere may as well be your own backyard. Because of the big heart of my 7-year-old daughter Georgia, I learned this lesson firsthand. Jean Fox is a friend of a friend and lives in nearby Stoughton. When her grandson Nathan was born three years ago to a heroin-addicted mother, Jean knew what she had to do. She immediately filed for …

  Before we head over the river and through the woods to the most delicious feast of the year, I thought I’d take time to call out just a few of the things I’m thankful for. While obviously I’m grateful for my health and overall happiness, this year I’d like to give some of those “unsung heroes” their due as well. Everything below makes my life just a little happier and a lot easier, and a working mom like myself NEVER takes those for granted.1. Georgia’s laugh – I don’t know how she does it, but it starts from way down in her chest and by the time it reaches your ears you can’t help but …

  As we head into the Holiday Season – a time of festive overindulgence – it’s hard for parents to keep their children grounded. I do my best to remind the Shumway kids how lucky they are but this year I am vowing to do a little more…and it started last week.When I realized that Ben and Georgia would be off from school for teacher development day (an event that strikes fear into the heart of every two-working-parent family), I had an idea. Our neighbor Martha was organizing a load of everything from clothes and blankets to toys to send down to the hardest hit victims of Hurricane Sandy and …

  As the three Shumway kids dumped out their pillowcases last week after very successful Trick-or-Treating excursions, I couldn’t help but notice the differences in how they all managed their Halloween loot. Watching each child’s “candy personality” was an interesting study in gender,age and individuality, and I’ve done my best to categorize the different types of post-Halloween children for parents around town.Where do YOUR children fit in?1. The Hoarder – this child will Trick or Treat for hours, logging 12 miles and contracting mild hypothermia in an attempt to get AS MUCH CANDY AS …

  There are the milestones in a child’s life that we all file away in our memories: their first step, their first word, when they finally get a haircut without crying. As parents, we have a special place in our hearts to remember these moments and relive them as our babies grow up. There is one “first” however that brings chills to all moms and dads, although for an entirely different reason…and you ALL know what it is.Yup, you guessed it. I’m talking about your child’s first swear.While making dinner last night, my three-year old son Quinn was sitting at the kitchen island playing. He was …

  They say that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and nowhere is this more evident than at the ever-popular yard sale. But if you really want to see your castoffs make one’s eyes light up then invite a child to help you work it.This weekend we took part in a Neighborhood Yard Sale. There were four families who organized their “treasures,” made signs and set up tables on what turned out to be a beautiful fall morning, all in hopes of unloading some unwanted things and making a few bucks. As Andy had to take Ben to Basketball practice, I had two little helpers in Georgia and Quinn.Make…

  What is it about Bouncy Castles?Like a moth to a flame, I have NEVER met a child who can resist the allure of the Bouncy Castle. This colorful enclosure made of rubber and vinyl has a power over children like nothing I’ve ever seen. They will risk anything – injury, embarrassment, even punishment – to spend “just five more minutes!” in the Bouncy Castle, and when they see one they can only think of one thing:“I must get inside and jump.”You may know it as a Bounce House, Hop House, Moon Bounce or the ever-popular Jumpy House, but if your child has never been inside of one then they simply …

  As any parent of an athlete knows, you spend a good portion of your free time on nights and weekends sitting by the side of a field. For the die-hard fan, it’s an opportunity to watch a lot of sports. For the proud parent, they may delight in seeing their child learn the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.For the cold and tired mom, however, she’ll clap to keep warm while sucking down vitamins and hot tea. We’ve all been there.As I shivered on the side of the f-f-f-FREEZING cold soccer field last night, begging Quinn to please sit on my lap to keep my legs warm (don’t judge…I’m not …

  Much is written about birth order and what it says about you. Supposedly, middle children are peacemakers and creative while the youngest are highly social and unconventional. Although the oldest child is said to be authoritative, a perfectionist and driven, I realized that there is another characteristic that I would like to add: Extremely well dressed.While going through Ben’s hand-me-downs for Quinn, I was struck by the sheer volume and quality of his 2004 attire. I can’t believe that I didn’t remember it, but apparently, Ben had a better wardrobe as a three-year old than I have as an …

  When it comes to running the Parenting Gauntlet, there are different degrees of difficulty I apply to various challenges. For example, “Easy” tasks are the more simple (yet necessary) jobs likechanging diapers. Gross, sure; hard, no. The “Moderate” jobs take some finesse, parenting know-how and a little instinct, like handling a child’s “Divide and Conquer” routine (aka, “WhenMom says no, go ask Dad”).But without a doubt, the “Difficult” level is the most harrowing of all. It requires parents to summon strength from deep within and use a combination of patience, commitment and resolve. Not …

  “Mommeee, can we go to the ac-tic tonight?”Twice in the past week I’ve had to make a trek up to our attic and each time was amazed at how much I detested sorting through the old boxes, bins and dust…and how much the kids absolutely loved it.The first trip was because our 8th grade neighbor Emma asked to borrow one of Georgia’s baby dolls for a school project. Since it’s been a while since she’s played with them, Andy headed up the stairs and came down cradling a Baby Dora the Explorer to use. Emma laughed, Georgia acted aloof and Quinn’s eyes became as wide as saucers as he plowed past Andy…

As I was finishing up a conference call around 5:15 tonight, I could smell Andy making dinner downstairs and all I could think of was, “Pasta, AGAIN?” While I was certainly happy that he was taking care of feeding everyone, the mere thought of eating another strand of spaghetti had me contemplating filling up on the Altoids in my purse instead. When I asked him why the carbo-loading of late, he looked at me quizzically and asked, “You ARE aware that we have almost no food in the house, aren’t you?”And then it hit me. Between a new school year for all three kids, getting used to their …