My local newspaper, “The Orlando Sentinel,” published an article about how “time-stressed moms get new options for quick lunches.” The article seemed to blame busy moms for supplying their children with unhealthy meal options. The article was on the front page of the Sunday paper and got me worked up that morning. Why blame the moms?

I took the time to write a letter to the Editor, but it has yet to be published. I must assume, that at nearly two weeks old, it will not run. I realize they have limited space to print letters, but I had hoped they would have recognized their oversight with this article and would have run my letter. Since they have not, I am posting it below.

Interestingly, there are several headlines that seem to be associated with this article:

• In print: “Will healthy box lunches tempt kids?”
• Online: “Prepackaged kids’ lunches get healthier”
• In the title bar of the Internet browser: “Time-stressed moms get new options for quick lunches”

Read the full article here.
Dear Editor:

Sunday’s front page story,” Will healthy box lunches tempt kids,” seemed like a positive read for families who want to feed their children healthy meals. What was most likely well intentioned, quickly became biased toward women by blaming “busy working moms.” The positioning of this article was incredibly disappointing.

The author, Sandra Pedicini, writes, “now, time-stressed moms … are getting other options.” What about time-stressed parents? By ignoring spouses in this story, it leaves the impression that mothers are supposed to do it all — including taking the blame for their families’ meal choices.

This negative focus on mothers keeps working women from getting, or even feeling like they can ask for, additional help. Their career successes are mitigated by this constant reminder of a consequence of working motherhood and somehow lets fathers off the hook. It just perpetuates the stereotype that the mother is responsible for everything.

In section G of the same paper, Gregory Karp wrote an article about couponing and menu planning. He could have geared the article toward mothers, but he used different words: families, Americans, people. This made the difference.

Even the President get this concept. Earlier this year, during the White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility summit, President Barack Obama said, “Workplace flexibility isn’t just a women’s issue. It’s an issue that affects the well-being of our families …” He recognizes that people tend to assume that workplace flexibility is needed for mothers, but says it’s needed by “families.” In that same spirit, we need to focus articles like the one in Sunday’s paper toward families, not just the busy working mom.

- Alicia Lewis Murray, Orlando

What do you think?

(Disclosure: Several years ago, I worked at The Orlando Sentinel.)

My four-year-old had only spent his own money once before today … on a Matchbox car. Today, he bought me a present, the flower in the photo above. It cost a dollar, but the sweet part is that he thought of it himself and used his own money.

I’ve since re-potted it into a nicer container (one my son gave me for mother’s day) and am doing everything I can to keep this little thing alive.

A couple of months ago I realized that I hadn’t been away (overnight) from my daughter yet. It had been a year of all of us being together. And it’s been great. But there comes a time when the parents need to get away. We were worn. The baby has been sick a lot her first year of life. Everything from acid reflux as a newborn to constant, non-stop ear infections and a couple of yeast infections. This lead to lots of sleepless nights for everyone.

I thought about how my husband and I could get away and when we could do it. Finally, I thought about leaving the kids at my parents for a night. They don’t live in our town so I had to plan it when we had a long weekend, and when they would be able to watch them for an entire 24-hour period. Fourth of July weekend was an option, I thought, but was months away at the time. I felt I needed something sooner, but no options presented themselves so I booked the Grand Grandparent Getaway. Now, I just need to wait about 3 months for this one day of bliss.

Well, it was worth the wait. I’m so glad that I went ahead and booked everything. Had I given up, the three months would have come and gone and no getaway would have been had. Instead, this is what I saw upon entering the hotel room:

Can you say Heaven?

Our room was right on the beach. Open those big sliding doors and the surf crashed right outside our window.

Our room had a little breakfast area that was almost too cute to use.

And, this little guy. He’s in the room waiting for us. At 9:00 p.m. everyone is to close their windows so the light doesn’t distract the baby turtles from crawling to the ocean. The La Playa hotel has a partnership with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida to help protect the turtles.

And, so it was. I just loved this place. It was perfect. Even though we were only gone 25 hours, it felt like longer. We were able to hold a conversation without any interruption. We stayed up late, knowing we could sleep in the next day. We had a great, adult dinner in a fancy restaurant. We walked the beach. It was just great to rejuvenate and spend time together remembering why we got together in the first place.

I didn’t want to leave, as evidenced by the photo below. The bed was calling my name again. I laid down, grabbing the down pillow and crisp white sheets and huddled up one more time as my husband snapped this photo.

He summed up our stay best on his outgoing Facebook post, “Good bye La Playa, we’ll miss you.”

I love it when the Fourth is on the weekend because it means we get a long weekend and can head out of town or just lounge around town relaxing for an extra day. Here are some things to do with your family to help get in the spirit of the holiday.

• Make a patriotic paper airplane with this free Americana-inspired printable.
• You have to make one of those flag cakes. Here’s a quick flag cake tutorial.
• Make some colorful “red, white and blue sparkle marshmallows” on a stick. Cute and easy.
• A little piece of history here … Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the only two who signed the Declaration of Independence to become President of the United States, both died on July 4, 1826 — within hours of each other. It was the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration. (Video.)
• That said, about Jefferson and Adams, go ahead and do you and your family a favor and order the HBO mini-series, “John Adams” right now. It’s so well done and really brings America’s history to life. I wish this series was around when I was in high school. Would have made those lectures from teachers bearable.
• If you’re not watching fireworks live, be sure to catch what I think are the best fireworks display — right over our nation’s capitol, “A Capitol Fourth.” 2010 is the 30th anniversary of the special. Airtime is 8:00 p.m. EST.
• Most importantly, be careful if you are using fireworks — even sparklers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has a short quiz you should take (pay attention to number 5) to see if you know know about the dangers of fireworks.

Have a fun and safe holiday weekend!