Mother power

IRA in Atlanta was great--super fast, and I'm still so tired I'm falling asleep at 8 pm. It's always so encouraging to meet the fantastic educators out there--principals, teachers, reading specialists. They love kids, they have so much enthusiasm for learning (and they are just as ready for summer as you guys are, so be kind these last weeks!). And they are done such a disservice (as are the kids) by No Child Left Behind. Argh. I always mean to blog about that, but it feels like such a huge topic I never feel like I have the time. I met one woman who raised ten children and now as a second career is a teacher. I was completely in awe--talk about a superhero. We should put women like her on the coins. How about the nickel? Does Franklin really need to be on a bill and on a coin? I ask you.

One really cool part of IRA was this "Joint Publishers Authors Cocktail Party." I had no idea what it was until I got there, and it was basically a room full of every children's and YA author at the convention, like 60 of them. They read a list at the beginning, and I was such a fan girl, I was dying. I'll try to remember a few--Gail Carson Levine, Pam Munoz Ryan, Jon Scieszka, Michael Buckley, Laura Ruby, Jerry Spinelli, Meg Cabot, Megan Whalen Turner, Eric Rohmann...I'm forgetting a million, forgive me, fabulous authors! Megan and I met (at last!) and we went around the room, trying to read people's name tags. I told Meg Cabot how often I get introduced as "Shannon Hale, author of The Princess Diaries," and she told me how often she gets my fan email. She said, "Sometimes I think I should forward it, but I'm so bitter I just delete." She was killing me, she is such a riot.

Don't forget your mamas this weekend (it's Mother's Day this Sunday in the US). These are women who had to put a diaper on you while you crawled away, who knew how to subtly employ in public the Sniff Test, who walked around all day with spit up on their shirt, who kissed you one thousand times before breakfast.

Hey moms, here are a few simple things I do to make life a little nicer for myself and my family.

• I write a short letter to my kids each month, telling them what they're doing now, recording stories of things they've said and done. I love going back to read them, and I think one day they'll love to have that record. It takes me about twenty minutes each month, and it deals a hard blow to mothering guilt. Okay, so I haven't taught my son how to make his bed, but at least I'm recording the incidents of his life!
• On my regular grocery store trips, I buy two limes and a lemon. I used to think of those fruits as special fruits, only for exotic recipes. Now having them in the house I use them for whatever (squeezed over chicken, on a burrito, on fruit or green salad, into drinks). They are so yummy and make food snazzier. I can't believe now I went years without a lime on hand. It reminds me of when I lived in Paraguay, and we had a lime tree growing right next to our place. We put lime on everything. Mmm...
• This year I started wearing eye shadow. Yes, eye shadow! You're going to laugh at me, but this was a very fun discovery for me. I never knew how to wear it before, then my sister taught me and helped me get some good eye shadow (turns out there's a huge difference between grocery store and Mac). I love feeling all snazzy when I go out now. Mary Kay has a great little tube of shimmery stuff called Eyesicles that I put on my eyelid as a base, and it helps the shadow stay on all day.
• I keep an ipod speaker in the kitchen and play a good mix of music in the morning while I'm getting everyone breakfast and cleaning up. It gives me energy and makes breakfast a party. Max's favorite song? "Stop the Rock."

What are some simple tricks you've learned to snazz up life? Share!