It has felt amazing to get back out running these last couple of weeks; it’s pretty much the only time when I'm alone with my thoughts! A couple of years ago, after reading reviews and trying them on in-store, I bought my first pair of Mizuno Wave Prophecy runners and they are awesome. I have cranky feet (bunions, etc.) and these shoes are wonderfully lightweight and supportive (and colorful!). I bought my second pair last fall and am eyeing these colorful new models when it's time to replace my current pair!

Want more Friday Finds? Check out: Jordana lip balm stains, LA Fresh eco-wipes, ridiculously awesome pants, parachute cord crafts, Where Is The Cake?, and Travelpro luggage

Image credits: via Amazon product pages

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Happy Friday everyone, I hope you're enjoying the warmer temps; it's been so fantastic to shed the winter layers! Hopefully the rain will hold off this weekend and we all can spend plenty of time outside. On that, enjoy this roundup of 20 fun event picks for the weekend. And be sure to enter to win these Listen To Your Mother tickets; it's going to be a great show and will make for a fun night out with friends!

1. See native animals up close. (Acton)

2. Free evening at the museum for families with deaf or hard of hearing children. (Acton)

3. Magic show with Rupayan Neogy. (Acton)

4. Dinofest! (Amherst)

5. Follow the yellow brick road. (Arlington)

6. Make your own greenhouses. (Attleboro)

7. Brain Building in Progress Week wraps up at Boston Children’s Museum. (Boston)

8. Aqua jobs family day at the aquarium. (Boston)

9. The circus is in town. (Boston)

10. Light up the zoo blue. (Boston)

11. Time to rock out with Josh and the Jamtones. (Brookline)

12. Raccoon Tales puppet show. (Brookline)

13. Start spying on those spring peepers. (Ipswich)

14. Help out with afternoon chores on the farm. (Lincoln)

15. Seeds of Art storytime and craft activity. (Lincoln)

16. Perfect time of year to meet some real live bunnies. (Mashpee)

17. Recycle your bottles and cans at the zoo. (Stoneham)

18. Celebrate Asia festival. (Sudbury)

19. 14 of America’s best living playwrights share their thoughts on Motherhood Out Loud. (Wellesley)

20. Gently-used clothing, equipment, toys, books and more at the MA Mothers of Twins sale. (Winchester)

Image credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Have an event you'd like to submit for editorial consideration? Please e-mail the event description + URL to Christine at editor{@}bostonmamas.com. For guaranteed event exposure, place an advertisement.

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My girl showed me this last night. LOVE.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6I24S72Jps] 

I’m penning this Lessons Learned essay, inspired by National Siblings Day (today):

When I was deep in the trenches with regular visits to my therapist, one of the most helpful things we worked on involved the Enneagram. My therapist taught me about this personality system and it helped me understand my personality traits (I’m a #1 in the system) and also how those traits impact my reactions to other people’s behavior.

One of the major (sometimes challenging) things about being a #1 is that I’m guided by a strong sense of order and assumptions about how things should work and how people should behave in the world. I have worked really, really hard to let go of my assumptions over the years -- in fact, I co-wrote a book in which letting go of those shoulds is a major tenet. And I've found that this has been particularly helpful in the domain of coexisting with and raising siblings.

I have 6 siblings, almost all local. Obviously, when you have 7 people in any mix there are going to be different approaches and opinions and inevitable friction. This mix of personalities, coupled with the extreme challenges of our childhood, have created an interpersonal fabric that is rooted in a deep sense of love and commitment and desire for normalcy, while also being complicated and bumpy at times. The last few years have been especially challenging for me as I've experienced the sadness, frustration, and confusion of intense discord with one of my siblings; we basically have zero relationship right now.

Subsequently, and given that my journey from having one to two kids was such a roller coaster, I've wanted Laurel and Violet's relationship to be simple and pure and uncomplicated and full of love 24/7. Tall order, I know. Instead, the reality is that my two kids are incredibly different, whether it relates to general disposition (Laurel is our gentle deer, Violet is our fiery wildebeest), personal space (Laurel wants snuggling, Violet wants space), or what to wear (Laurel wants all things chevron, ombre, and sequins, Violet just wants the same pair of orange track pants). There is a ton of fighting. Sometimes it's just easier to separate them for long stretches of time.

My former self would fret about this, but through the years, I have finally learned that acceptance trumps shoulds. I don't need to agree with the choices my siblings or my kids make; instead, I need to accept that they are making the choices that make sense to them in that moment and given their personal circumstances. I can give advice or recommendations to my siblings or my kids and I need to accept that they may choose to do something totally different. I need to accept that discord is normal, perhaps even necessary for growth and change. I need to hang back and let my siblings and my daughters be who they are and issue the same acceptance that I want issued in my direction (believe me, I know I’ve done things my siblings don’t agree with).

Why? Because my way is not the only way. And the world needs both gentle deer and fiery wildebeests.

Do you want to submit a Lessons Learned story? See submission guidelines here.

Image credits: Christine Koh

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"My blog is my spirit animal." OMG.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPFCtD4IO_4] 

Today I had lunch plans for the second time in 2014. So exciting, this leaving the house during the workday thing. I hopped in Vicki, turned the ignition ... and nothing. Not even those little clicking noises that tell you all hope is not lost.

Pffft. My friend picked me up so we could still see each other and we talked about how like, yeah, I can handle this. (Beloved is out of town and has been during the week since basically the end of January). So FUCK YEAH WOMAN POWER.

Vicki was in the garage, but I remembered how when I was in college and won a trip to the Bahamas at a sit-through-our-time-share-pitch-and-win-fabulous-prizes meeting and we drove 24 hours from Iowa to the tip of Florida and left the car and when we got back three days later the car was dead and surrounded on all sides and we begged some guy with a jump pack to bail us out after freaking out. And Beloved looked at me with that face he makes when confronted with my spectacular lack of common sense and asked, "Why didn't you just roll the car back?"

So today! I knew what to do.

I rolled Vicki back and out of the garage, and my neighbor came over and gave me a jump, then I left the little angel jumping on a different neighbor's trampoline and drove to the auto parts store. He took one look at Vicki (which is disgustingly filthy because I was going to wash her tonight but OH BEST-LAID PLANS) and groaned. "A convertible," he said, and I knew this meant bad things. Yes, the battery is located inside the wheel well and you have to put it on a lift and take the tire off to get to it. Oh, and by the way every nearby mechanic is closed because it's six o'clock.

I bought the battery anyway, thinking if I had it with me then all I had to do was beg the one still-open mechanic in town to throw me a bone.

Except I forgot myself and shut off Vicki when I got to the auto parts store.

So the man got the little jump pack, but that was dead. Then he got his own car and gave me the second jump in a half hour and then I drove all the way across town.

The Firestone people took one look at Vicki and said, "Oh. A convertible." And I said, "Please, please. This is the only way I have to get home to my child who is hungry." Because that was the most guilt- ridden way I could think to say it. And they told me it will take an hour and almost $100 and I was all HEY, WHO CARES?

And now I'm here in Firestone.

Have you heard of Listen To Your Mother? In four years this tour of live readings has grown to 32 cities, including Boston on April 26! LTYM gives a voice to the many dimensions of motherhood and I love that they support family-oriented nonprofits through their work. Regretfully, I can't attend the Boston show, but I know some of the cast and have no doubt it will be fantastic! To celebrate, I'm giving away a 4-pack of tickets to the show!

***This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to winner Anju!***

Simply post a comment below by midnight, Wednesday April 16 and be sure to fill in the field with your e-mail (which will remain private when the comment goes live) so I can contact you if you win! The winner will receive a 4-pack of tickets to the April 26 (2pm) Boston show at Old South Church, Copley Square. Prepare for a fun mama outing!

So ... I'm never sure if anyone is still reading my new posts, but if you are ... next month is Surrender, Dorothy's ten- year anniversary. What would you like to see?

I declutter on a regular basis, but one area where I tend to get stuck is tech. I have bigger items (hello, Mac tower from grad school) taking up precious space in my closet and the dreaded drawer of smaller gadgets and cords that I wish I could dump in the trash but can’t in good conscience. The good news? I just learned about, and want to share, an easy solution for the latter: ecoATM.

In a nutshell, ecoATM is a tech recycling solution. These kiosks offer an easy way to sell your old phones, tablets, and MP3 players or recycle ancient devices (like my Blackberry from 6 years ago...ahem), chargers, and other accessories (e.g., phone cases).

There are ~900 ecoATM kiosks across the US, located in malls or large retailers. I took my aforementioned ancient Blackberry to the Burlington Mall kiosk, which is right in the middle of the food court. Before you go, I recommend visiting the simple how to prepare page, but in short, all you need to do is place your device in the system, show your ID (at first I was slightly weirded out by this but the purpose is to deter thieves from using the kiosk to sell stolen phones), and follow the touch screen prompts. The kiosk examines the device and returns a value for it; the value will depend on age and condition (e.g., a device with a broken screen will obviously be less valuable than a device with an intact screen). You can choose to sell your device for cash or recycle it.

So cool, right? I also think the below facts are pretty awesome in terms of the big picture impact of these kiosks:

• ecoATM has found a second life for 75% of devices collected, and responsibly recyles the remaining 25%.
• ecoATM donates some or all of each transaction (ranging from $1-$300 per device) to charity.
• In 2013, ecoATM kiosks generated a hazardous waste reduction equivalent to the weight of 267 refrigerators.
• ecoATM recycled its two millionth device this past January, enabling the recovery or reuse of 500,000 pounds of devices -- the equivalent of three space shuttles worth of plastics, metals, and other potentially toxic materials!

So, if you've got old cell phones, tablets, or MP3 players, definitely check out ecoATM -- below is an image of what the kiosks look like, and it's super handy that they're in mall locations so you can make a quick stop while doing other errands. Now, if only I could stuff my old Mac tower in one of these kiosks!

Image credits: ecoATM

Disclosure: This post represents an editorial partnership with ecoATM; opinions on its recycling awesomeness are, of course, my own.