NOVEMBER’S MOM OF THE MONTH

[ LIZ GREENE ]

It’s that time again, we’ve chosen another mom out of the bunch, and let me tell you, she is just marvelous. Liz is the mother of two children, Samantha, who is thirteen, and Andrew, eleven. She and her husband Mike have been married for seventeen years. Liz has lived in Westchester since she was four years old, and more specifically, in Yorktown for the last eight years. She is the Office Manager at Tri-State Engineering, but that is not even close to being the extent of her weekly work. She is a long time Girl Scout Leader, and on the Yorktown Girl Scouts Community Service Team, as well as volunteering her time to be the Vice President of the Mildred E. Strang Middle School PTA. (SuperMom or what?)

We asked Liz our usual questions, and here are her responses:

1. What surprised you most about being a mom? “That it was so easy to make my kids happy when they were young. I am learning that this gets a bit harder as they enter the teenage years!

(Original answer…my husband thought it was inappropriate to tell you this: That you can still love your children so much even when they are both throwing up on you at the same time.)”

2. What is your favorite thing your children say to you? “And how was your day, Mom?”

3. What is one thing of your children's that you refuse to throw away? “One thing…that’s hard to say. Each child has their “baby box,” as I call it. They are filled with things I could never throw away like the New York Times from the day each was born, coins from the year they were born, hair from first haircuts, first shoes, and the book our daycare person (Me Ma) wrote in every day to tell me what they were up to while I was at work. I am now proudly adding awards, concert programs, and some amazing report cards.”

4. What is the best parenting advice you ever got? “To keep doing whatever it was I was doing because my kids were turning out great!”

5. If a group of magic fairies were to come into your house at night what would be on the "to-do" list you would leave for them? “That would have been a great prize for this contest! First I would need them to consolidate my many “to-do” lists into one master list. Then I would need them to re-do my 1970’s bathroom and then if they had time, put thousands of photos into albums (by child, in age order, if they wouldn’t mind). And they should work quietly so they don’t wake me up!”

6. If you could pick up your house and move it anywhere in the world, where exactly would it be? “Call me boring, but I love my neighborhood…there are lots of great people here. And I wouldn’t want to leave my family and friends (and my kids would kill me if I said we were moving!). But, if you could pick up a beautifully landscaped yard from Hawaii and move it to my house here in Yorktown, I wouldn’t complain!”

7. What is your never-fail-everyone-loves-it dish or dessert to make for dinner parties? “Take out from “Yorktown Pizza and Pasta.” I have served it to the finest of guests!”

8. What did you collect as a kid and how is it different from what your kids play with or collect? “My sister and I had a huge pile of comic books and issues of Mad magazine that we kept near the kitchen table. Although my kids enjoy reading similar materials, they are much more into video games, itunes and their computer. “

9. If you had an unexpected free day, to do whatever you wanted, how would you spend your day? “I would grab my sister-in-law Sue Fuirst and my close friend Ellen Pinto and head out for lunch and some “me” shopping time (and definitely some ice cream). Too often I start out looking for things I need and get distracted by the things I see for my children. If this “unexpected free day” showed up during the Crafts at Lyndhurst show, that’s even better. I would head over there to explore all the great, creative items for sale. And yes, before I left the craft show, I would pick up some fudge to bring home for my kids and husband.”