Author: Crissi Langwell

Crissi Langwell is a romance author who writes heartfelt stories filled with humor, emotion, and a heavy dose of angst. She has been publishing books for over a decade, including her steamy Sunset Bay romance series. When she’s not writing, Crissi stays busy leading her local writers’ club Redwood Writers and getting lost in a good book (everything from romance to fantasy to thriller). She lives in Northern California with her writerly husband, Maine Coon cat Cleo, and a chair of laundry she swears she’ll fold any day now.

The best policy

truthI received a call from the landlord the other day. A call from the landlord is rarely a good thing. If you pay your rent on time (which I do), keep good repertoire with your neighbors (we borrow sugar from each other regularly, as well as pawn each other’s kids off on each other), and follow the rules of the complex to a tee (kitty? what kitty?), you can pretty much keep the landlord away. So a phone call from the landlord was not on my list of favorite phone calls to receive. We exchanged the normal pleasantries before she got to the meat of the phone call.

“Was the Taz at your apartment over the weekend?” It was the Ex’s turn to take the Taz and DQ from Friday through Sunday, and I was away on vacation, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

“No, he was at his dad’s house all weekend.” But then I thought a little harder.... (more...)

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"Mom? Mom? MOM???"

toddler

I heard recently that toddlers interrupt their mothers nearly 400 times a day. That is roughly 40 times during every single waking hour of their day! I find this number to be astronomical – yet completely believable. I mean, how many times have we answered question after question when we are in the middle of another conversation, or have had to finally acknowledge the “Mom? Mom? Mom?” after ignoring it (or not even hearing it, as we’ve become so used to tuning it out) the first 20 times? (more...)

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The Excuse Maker vs the Howler Monkey

Howler MonkeyThere is a certain sound resonating in my household that is akin to fingernails on the chalkboard or a dog howling out of tune in the middle of the night. Without warning, this noise modulates into a higher pitch with each note, getting more frantic if it is left to continue. This annoying clamor, unfortunately, is an epidemic. What starts out as an innocent first becomes a habitual occurrence. They come more frequently as time goes on. And the result of this reverberation to anyone within earshot (mainly those it is directed at), is an elevated heart rate, a clenching of the fists and teeth, an ability to see red, and a sudden burst of mania that comes forth as a string of shrill commands even louder than the original sound.

I am, of course, talking about the “excuse maker”. (more...)

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Loving the Bully, part 2

We live in an area where bullies are a part of day to day life. There are kids who have families that are not exactly on the right side of the tracks, and who are destined to go down the same road. Except, in this day and age, that road is a lot rougher. A mom wrote me today regarding an article I wrote about bullying, and relayed her own story of her son being bullied. When the school wouldn’t do anything, her husband finally went down and let the bully know in no uncertain terms that if he bullied his son again, the bully would be dealing with him, the dad, in the same sort of manner. This was years ago, of course. Nowadays something like that could never happen without legal repercussions resulting. But how many of us parents have been tempted to knock the block off of the overgrown kid that is tormenting our child? (more...)

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Looking for Mother-Baby Friendly Workplaces

One of the most difficult decisions a new mother can make is to rejoin the workforce. Not only are you leaving your infant with a caregiver for several hours a day, but, when you are a nursing mother, you are potentially being forced into a decision to change your baby’s breastfeeding routine. Fortunately, there are now laws in many states (including California) which specifically state that an employer is to allow reasonable break time and an adequate private room for a nursing mother to express milk or breastfeed during their child’s first year of life. And while it is law that employers provide these conditions for their nursing employees, some workplaces shine when it comes to helping mothers in their transition from home to their career.

Is this YOUR workplace? (read more to nominate your company for an award...)

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A new addition to our family

Hi. Remember me? I’m the girl who decided that she didn’t want to grow up to be a cat lady. I try to like cats. I really do. But when their hair is all over me, or they are whining to want to be fed or cuddled, or when they poop outside of the litter box and then spread the litter all over the bathroom, it all comes down to the fact that I am just not a cat person.

I mean, isn’t that what kids are for?

So knowing that about myself, and radiating that negative energy to all cats that come within 20 feet of me, tell me please why this was found in my backyard, crying more pitifully than anything I had ever heard in my life:



(more...)

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6th grade right of passage

It is a 6th grade right of passage to attend 6th grade camp before the end of the school year. It’s a way to celebrate the end of elementary school, and a way to make new friends from other schools before being bunched together in the big, scary halls of Jr. High.

At 12 years old, I went with my class to our own 6th grade camp. I was excited to leave my parents and sisters behind and have the opportunity to hang out with all my friends for a whole week. And the best part? No school work! We spent the days playing games out in the field, going through “ice breaker” games that helped us to get to know our future classmates from other schools. We ate in the cafeteria, food that was just as good as cafeteria food can get, but decent enough to eat. And we’d stay up way later than the obligatory “lights out” call mandated. About 6 of us were crammed into a cabin with bunk beds. I got the top bunk, and shared the room with some of my closer friends from school. Our parent chaperone was very lenient, allowing us to hang out on each other’s bunks after the last call was given as long as we kept it down to a low roar. I think this was also to encourage us to stay in the cabin and not sneak out. And for the most part, it worked. (more...)

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A baby's need for Vitamin D

My son was born with moderate jaundice, which I did learn was fairly common among newborn boys. I had planned on breastfeeding him, and the Dr let me know that while breast milk was best for babies, it would not have enough Vitamin D to help with my son’s deficiency. In fact, 9 out of 10 babies who are breastfed are not getting enough Vitamin D, as a liter of breast milk only holds 20-40 IUs of Vitamin D. From babies to adults, we should be receiving no less than 200 IUs. He told me to just give him enough indirect sunlight to help ease the jaundice symptoms. So I would make sure to stay near windows with plenty of sunshine so that he could soak up some sunrays and not be in danger of skin cancer. But now that we know even more about the dangers of sun exposure, I question if that could have been too dangerous as well.

Some claim that formula fed babies have an advantage in the vitamin department. Formula is specially made to include the vitamins that they need, including Vitamin D. But a recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics is showing that even formula fed babies are not getting enough Vitamin D in their systems. It has become apparent that babies, whether breastfed or drinking formula, will need some sort of supplement to ensure they are receiving the 200-400 IUs of Vitamin D they should be getting daily.

So why does a baby need Vitamin D? (more...)

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