Cheryl Perry

Is there anything more nerve-wracking than parent-teacher conferences? That’s something they don’t tell you when you take the baby home from the hospital. It doesn’t matter how old, how smart, how good or how promising the child is, nothing puts our parenting skills to the test as much as a one-on-one with the teacher.

Parent-teacher conferences are the closest we’re going to get to a job performance review for the Mom position – the only problems are we don’t have quite as much control over the actions in question and there is no financial performance bonus.

I’m so happy it’s Election Day. I’m so happy I won’t have to watch any more terrible commercials when I’m trying my hardest to forget about reality while watching reality TV. I’m so glad I won’t get any more political phone calls. I’m so excited to log into Facebook and not see all of my friends’ political beliefs streaming through my news feed. And I’m so glad I voted early.

I have to say the best part of this election season has been seeing it through my kids’ eyes. Our older two kids are seven and eight – the perfect mix of intelligence and innocence in my opinion – especially compared to a two-year-old’s manic mood swings.

My husband and I don’t usually talk politics around the house much – I know some families do – we’re just not one of them. But this is our first presidential election year where our kids have a clue that there is something big happening so we’ve talked about it more. Their teachers are talking about it, and their friends are doing informal polls (our six-kid carpool’s informal result was Romney 4, Obama 2). So now the kids have formed their own opinions.

We’re in such a sweet spot. I haven’t told them which way I voted – or which way to vote – and I think it’s hilarious to watch their thought process. My daughter wholeheartedly believes Obama should win again because he already has the job. (I remember thinking the exact same way with Reagan.) My son thinks “Romany” should win because his friends think so. Actually, I bet many adults vote for the same reasons. They have no clue about the social issues. No clue about the economy. No clue what’s at stake.

So, my son scored a few goals in his soccer game the other day. I couldn’t have been prouder. Yes, he is only four and it’s an instructional rec league, but still. My boy was showing some skill – it still amazes me how proud a mom can be of her kid – even with the smallest things.

Admit it, you’re beaming, too, when your kids show a hint of skill or smarts in anything – it’s human nature. We mamas get very excited to think one of our offspring might excel at something, right? And on the flip side, aren’t we absolutely cringing when our kids embarrass us? In fact, after that same game when one son made me so proud, one of my other kids had an all-out tantrum because I wouldn’t let him have a post-game snack (he DIDN’T PLAY). Eeeek. Hate those parenting moments.

But it got me thinking: what I’m dealing with is small potatoes compared to what celebrities’ moms face everyday.

Imagine being the mom of someone in the public eye. Not one of those moms that writes a tell-all book or stars in her own reality show (think Bieber or Kardashian). The moms behind the scenes are who intrigue me the most. How do they control themselves? Either they’re bursting with pride or crawling into a black hole – I’m not sure my nerves could handle the ups and downs. Could yours?

Smarties, don’t miss THE event of the weekend – the 5th annual Brookhaven Family Run for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy on Saturday, October 27 at the Brookhaven Clubhouse in Matthews. This is an AWESOME family event to benefit an incredible cause and a very special 8-year-old boy, Jake Pritchard.

This whole event is the brain child of Jake’s parents, Emily and Michael Pritchard. Emily and I met as newbie parents when Jake and my oldest were in the same playgroup together way back in 2004. I am so proud of the work Emily and Michael have done to fight for their sweet Jake and for the rest of the boys living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

This year’s run will feature a 5K run/walk, kids races, a pre-race breakfast, great raffle prizes, food from the Meat House, TCBY yogurt and a Kid Zone featuring crafts, inflatables, face painting and more. Sir Purr and Chubby Checker will even be there to cheer everyone on and might even show down in a race of their own – who would want to miss that?! They’ve also expanded the event to include a Family Fun Night on October 26, the evening before the race, where families can pick up their race packet and enjoy an outdoor movie, pizza and s’mores. What an awesome idea that the kids will love!!

Let me introduce you to this week’s Smarty Mom, Dawn Hamilton! Dawn and I met years ago – she was the brave soul who asked my friend and I if she could join our running group. We weren’t an intimidating pair but it takes guts to ask to join a group – LOVE that about her!

So after that one fateful day, we’ve been running together from the Harris Y . The same route. Same pre-dawn time. For SEVEN YEARS (we think – we’ve kind of lost track and try to gauge it based on what babies were born when – that’s how mamas keep track of time isn’t it? We have 8 kids in between us so it gets a little confusing). That’s a whole lot of miles covered and minutes spent getting to know each other. (You might see us on your way to work or school trudging along Sharon Road…honk if you pass us!)

Dawn and her husband, Graham, have four beautiful daughters ages 4-11. She first started contemplating homeschooling when her oldest daughter (who is now 10) started kindergarten. She opted to go the public school route back then, but has always had the feeling deep in the pit of her stomach that homeschooling would just be a better option for her family. After much thought and discussion, Dawn took the plunge this past fall and pulled her older two girls (4^th and 5^th grade) out of public school and is now homeschooling them. Her 2^nd grader is still in public school, and her 4-year-old is in preschool.

Think her days are busy?

I’m SO proud of her for taking on this challenge. The decision to homeschool is a huge one – I know that more than ever after discussing the pros and cons over miles and miles of Sharon Road – but for some families it’s the best decision.

Dawn is an incredibly fun, loyal, and beautiful wife, mama, and friend. I am so excited for the rest of you to get to know her!

Smarties, meet Dawn!

Smarties, there’s a new workout in town and it’s AMAZING. Flywheel and FlyBarre – have you been yet?

Flywheel Stadium Cycling is a super high-energy, fast-paced cycling cardio extravaganza. You will leave a sweaty, hot mess, but you’ll be on endorphin overload. Trust me.

I, along with the rest of the Smarty party sisters, have been trying it out over the last couple of weeks and I just have one thing to say: addiction. I can speak for my other Smarties that they are all hooked as well.

I’ve never been a spinner – I am a runner through and through, and the spinning classes at the Y stress me out so much with the get-there-30-minutes-early-to-get-your-pass thing. So I hesitated to hit FlyWheel because I thought it was just another spinning class – I was so wrong.

We’ve all heard of the “man cave” right? I imagine it to be a dark room with a huge flat-screen TV, leather couches, and a fully-stocked bar, don’t you? What about a “mom cave”? Most of us have sectioned off a piece of the house for the kids’ toys but is it possible to section of a piece of your home to be ALL YOURS?

This was my mission a few months ago – I wanted one tiny space in my house to be all mine. I share a bed (with my husband and one or two kids depending on the night), a bathroom, a desk, a den -the entire house is communal territory (except my 8-year-old daughter’s room – how is she the only person in the family to have her own space?!). I wanted my little nook to reflect my style and my hobbies – not my kids’ or my husband’s.

One of my biggest creative outlets (besides writing this blog) is sewing. I am not that great at it, but I love it. I’ve had a machine for years but have always had to set up shop on the dining room table. I decided to make part of my bedroom my own little craft nook – it took a little convincing because, let’s face it, not many men want to wake up and see a sewing machine – but as long as it meant all of my creative “crap” was off the dining room table, my husband was game.

I enlisted the help of a college friend, Tessa, whose interior design blog Two Inspire Design continually inspires and amazes me. She and her blog partner, Amy, came up with some awesome ideas for my very uninspiring little nook – I was overwhelmed thinking about how to design the space myself and they were so on target with what I really wanted. I couldn’t wait to implement the ideas.

Consignment sales never cease to amaze me – especially the ones put on by area churches or other houses of worship for local charities. I get tired just thinking about organizing and sorting all of those items at a consignment sale. I’ve never been the committee chair of something that large or that overwhelming, and I can’t even imagine all the hard work, hours, and love that go in to each one of those sales.

What amazes me the most is that church consignment sales are all produced by volunteers (many of them moms) – incredible!

I have a couple of friends who are super involved in the upcoming St. Gabriel Christian Mothers’ Group 13th Annual Consignment Sale on October 20. I’ve heard a little from them about all the work that goes into these types of sales, but I wanted to know more. Most of these church consignment sales are chaired by fellow moms who have 24 hours in the day just like the rest of us – I will forever bow down to them.

Kristen Bailey, mother-of-three and chair of the St. Gabriel consignment sale, was nice enough to explain a little about what goes into a charity consignment sale. Thanks, Kristen!

Smarties, I recently read an article in the Huffington Post about gender selection. I know it’s a very controversial topic, and trust me, I’m not here to debate it. What really caught my eye was this: history says that boys have always been the preferred gender; but, according to the article, in the United States, “a different kind of sex selection is taking place: Mothers…are using expensive reproductive procedures so they can select girls.”

So this is what I want to know – do you agree that girls are winning the gender popularity contest? Have you noticed a preference among your friends (or yourself!) to have girls? Please put the gender selection debate aside – under normal circumstances, do you think people are preferring girls?

The best word to describe Smarty mom Jen Hunt is inspiring. We met several years ago when we were neighbors (and laughed when we realized how we’re connected in one of those six-degrees of separation things that happens quite often in Charlotte!). Jen’s style is like Martha Stewart, Anthropologie and Etsy all wrapped into one beautiful mama. She’s crazy talented.

She and her husband, Chris, are amazing photographers – their blog jen+chris (we are photographers) highlights their photo shoots of families, babies, couples, and weddings all over North Carolina and beyond – phenomenal. Jen’s personal posts on the blog are a breathtaking view into their lives (I’ve cried on more than one occasion reading her blog – Jen is an incredible writer).

After trying for several years to have children, Jen and Chris started the adoption process. They found out they would be parents to 3-and-5-year-old sisters Hannah and Hailey in August 2011. And on June 1, 2012 they officially (by law) became parents to the sweet girls.

I am so overjoyed for Chris and Jen AND for Hailey and Hannah. They are a beautiful family whose love for each other radiates from the core – just see for yourself!

Smarties, meet Jen Hunt!