Lela Davidson's Blog, page 10
July 22, 2013
First Stitch, Listen To Your Mother Northwest Arkansas
Way back in May, before the summer’s travel and special projects, before the big blog conference and the hiatus from sustained work in favor of taking my children to water parks and movies and endless trips to Walgreens and the grocery store, there was Listen To Your Mother Northwest Arkansas. It was the second year Stephanie McCratic (Evolved Mommy) and I have produced the local show together at the Walton Arts Center. For all its simplicity–it’s just readers on a stage–the process of puttin...
July 17, 2013
Judging Kids By Their Names: Pinot Won’t Play at My House
We know kids are influenced by their friends. That’s why good parents don’t let their children associate with children who have certain names. This from British reality TV star Katie Hopkins, whose over-the-top judgment has gone viral.
“I do judge children by their names,” Hopkins said on a British morning talk show this week, adding that all parents “need shortcuts to make decisions.” She claims to speak the truth everyone else is afraid to say.
Fine, we admit it. We all snap to the occasional...
July 5, 2013
Smoked Brisket with VSR and Smack Talk
It started innocently enough, with a little smack talk after my friend, the nwaFoodie Lyndi Fultz, got a new smoker. Before I knew it I had challenged her to a duel. May the best smoker win. Soon another foodie blogger, Debbie Arnold of Dining With Deb signed on for a full blown virtual smokeoff for the Fourth of July.
How do I get myself into these things? Especially considering I don’t smoke. My husband was hastily recruited to put his smoking skills where my big mouth was. (Also, this is a...
July 3, 2013
Bucket Lists, Summer Must-Have for Teens
What will your teenagers do this summer?
Teen dreams are accumulating online and according topopular Tumblrand Pinterest pages, some teens want to “go on a banana boat,” “bake Nutella cupcakes” or “be the girl everyone wants to date.”
Teenagers seem to be embracing the concept of creating bucket lists, or inventories of experiences and milestones to conquer. But are they really buying into the spirit of such lists?
Naperville, Ill., momLara Krupickais the author of “Family Bucket Lists: Bring Mo...
July 1, 2013
Mistakes: A Sure Sign You’re Still Alive
In 1991 I bought a 1974 Honda Civic for $500. They run forever, you know. Mine was champagne gold and rust colored. Not all the gauges worked, but it was good on gas, got me around town, and if I wanted to risk it, a few exits down I-5. The car served me well and then eight months after I met my husband I was packing for Houston. The car wasn’t making the trip so I put an ad in the newspaper (remember life before Craigslist?) and waited for phone to ring. (It was attached to the wall.)
A guy i...
June 27, 2013
10 Reasons You Might Want to Retire Your Bikini
Summer is here. Oh yes, with her evil humidity and her sinister bathing suit requirements. I know we’re supposed to be all mighty and empowered to Take Back the Bikini, to revel in our aging beauty, and revel in the comfort within our own skin. But come on. That skin has stretched to accommodate entire other humans. In the last several years I have gone back and forth on the bikini issue, balancing the idea of wearing one to model confidence for my daughter, and not frightening the neighborho...
June 24, 2013
3 Things You Must Discuss with a Web Designer
I’m a bit of a hacker. I like to play around in my WordPress site. Sometimes I even alter the HTML. I know, radical. But I’m not a designer. I pay people to do that, and I expect they are going to do things in such a way that makes my life easier. What I have learned this year: You win some, you lose some.
Several years ago I found a designer online who built me two websites on a theme he had designed himself. I was able the hack the hell out of that thing over the years and make it do exactly...
June 20, 2013
The Zombies are Coming, How to Get Tots and Teens to Sleep
Long summer days, camps, and vacations in different time zones can mess with your children’s sleep/wake patterns. Depending on their level of physical activity, kids may even need more sleep now than during their school year.When it comes to avoiding summer sleep zombie syndrome, parents of small children and teenagers face many of the same challenges. The trick is knowing how to address them.Here are some tips:
Set a schedule
Sticking to a school year schedule is probably not realistic, but a...
June 18, 2013
Ten Lessons from the Junior League

Boas, leis, plastic hats and tiaras– more important lessons from the Junior League.
All I need to know I learned in the Junior League.Okay, so maybe I picked up a few things elsewhere, but the Junior League has been the source for so many good things in my life. I’m talking about Junior League here because that’s my group, but there are other organizations of women. While they all have challenges, there are particular things that I could not have learned anywhere else. Whatever you think about...
June 13, 2013
A Note to the Woman’s Magazine
A note to the woman’s magazine who promised me a week of easy weeknight recipes. You are a liar.
It was incredibly uncool when you lured me in with a crock pot recipe, only to find when I went to make it that it was not a normal crock pot recipe, not the kind we like, the kind that crock pots were invented for, the kind where you dump everything into the pot and hit the on switch. Oh, but no. This was one of those faker crock pot recipes where you have to cook the entire dish and THEN put it i...