Leigh Sparacino

5 Rings

The Olympics, they are coming. Soon inspiring stories of heartbreak and hope will be splashed across the front page of the paper, and, undoubtedly, on the news. Being TV-less, I am very, very out of MANY loops, and the Olympics are just one more. However, I would like to host some Olympics of my own. Note that all the events are ones that I would undoubtedly dominate, REGARDLESS of my age.

Posted 1 yr. ago.

NEW Parenting Books!!! Except they're old ...

I have a long shelf of parenting books. Granted, I don't really USE much of the advice given, mostly because I simply can't remember it, but I find the topic as whole very interesting, even before the advent of Flipper into my life.

Posted 1 yr. ago.

It's the Only Way to Fly

Travelin' Light ... as the song says, is something I have always aspired to, but rarely succeeded. Until now. For THIS trip, I promised myself, before I even found out that Delta now charges $25 per bag, it would be carry-on only.

Posted 1 yr. ago.

Memories (hopefully)

I read a blog written by a father that debated whether or not to travel with his very young daughter. Readers weighed in (of course), with many definitively saying NO, DON"T DO IT!! And while traveling with small children and babies is a bit taxing, their rationale was surprising to me. Why take your daughter along to Paris? they wondered. She won't remember it.

Posted 1 yr. ago.

Hello from the Valley Isle!!

We are 6,000 miles away from the hideous heat and humidity of Chapel Hill, having survived the lloooonnnggg plane fight(s) from RDU to Kahului. Ironically, it gets harder to fly with Flipper as she ages, not easier. Or, my memory of the past three flights out here has become very selective indeed. She is less inclined to want to sit still for nine or 10 hours. Can you imagine? And more vocal about…

Posted 1 yr. ago.

Memories of Sleep. Or the Lack of It.

I love to sleep. I mean, doesn't everyone? I had a boyfriend once who told my dad, when asked what he liked to do, answered, "Sleep." Needless to say, he was not a keeper. Back into the ocean with him!!

Posted 1 yr. ago.

Summer Is Here ... Almost

We are Pool People. I cannot fathom how any human survives a summer here without access, preferably daily, to a pool. And, why yes, I DO know exactly how spoiled and lucky us pool people are. Growing up here, my mother dropped my sister and me off every single weekday morning at 8 a.m. for swim team practice, followed by lessons, followed by an endless day in and out of the water, pestering our he…

Posted 1 yr. ago.

Discoveries Both Good and Sad

Every now and then, one is afforded a glimpse into The Inner Workings of a Child's Mind. Often these glimpses are either hilarious or disturbing. At times, they are an amusing mixture of both. Yesterday, Flipper and I discovered two things out of the ordinary on our daily trek through the graveyard, across two creeks , and through a web of trails on a densely wooded hillside with the dogs.

Posted 1 yr. ago.

Five years. And counting.

Flipper celebrates her fifth birthday Sunday, May 25. Five seems like a big birthday, a landmark in some way. Perhaps only to me. It seems so grown-up, and yet not-teetering on the cusp of babyland and little girlhood.

Posted 1 yr. ago.

Food, Glorious Food

Remember the old "compare and contrast" essays from high school? You know, "Compare and contrast Shakespeare's early works with blah blah blah...." I have been thinking about how certain aspects of Flipper's childhood "compares and contrasts" with mine. In some ways, it feels worse, meaning more stressful for me, the mom, and in other ways ... well, the kid's got it good. And one area where she ha…

Posted 1 yr. ago.

about this blog

Leigh Sparacino

Leigh is a TriangleMom2Mom featured blogger, appearing every Monday.

Leigh grew up in Durham, attended college in North Carolina, left the area for an island off the coast of Georgia, the high mountains of Colorado, and her favorite mountains in western North Carolina, before returning to the Triangle eight years ago. She lives near Carrboro with her 4.5-year-old daughter Flipper and two dogs. She is single in marital status only, surrounded by friends, family, and her daughter's very involved and loving father. She works part-time and tries to be as involved as possible in her daughter's school, The Emerson Waldorf School, where Flipper is a kindergartner. She likes wood, glass and other natural materials for toys, loves the principles of Waldorf education and hates plastic. She might be the only person in the world with no TV and who hasn't been to a movie in 15 years, but races to the mailbox every Saturday for the most recent issue of People magazine. In other words, a contradiction. Or just human.