Article

Me! Tandemonimom

Who does she think she is? And what's with the funny name?

This is Me! Tandemonimom

Tandemonimom Welcome to my Wizzley all about ... ME!

I'm Tandemonimom, more familiarly known as Carma. I live in the desert southwest region of these United States of America. I've been married over 25 years to my sweetie and we have four lovely children - oldest and youngest are girls, two boys in the middle.

I have a bachelor's degree in elementary education but I never taught professionally. After a few years as an office manager and freelancing as a proofreader and editor, I got my dream job working as a production editor in a publishing house.

Ten years into my marriage, our first bundle of joy came along. I already knew I would be homeschooling, and so it has been. None of my four children has ever set foot in a school building. (Well, a couple of times, to visit their aunt who is a teacher.)

I am a voracious reader, and like many readers, I love to write. I began writing online when my first two children were very small. (Who remembers Themestream?) I currently have several blogs (see below) and I write articles on Squidoo and now also here on Wizzley. With the advent of print-on-demand, I also was able to realize my dream of designing funny t-shirts! Cafepress and Zazzle are wonderful outlets for my quirky side!

Tandemonimom Blogs & Stuff

Too many places to write, too little time.

LOL Teez Blog
Awarding a t-shirt of the day for obscure holidays is my specialty! There are also links to my own t-shirt shops.

Winging It
Life, learning, and the pursuit of education. Here I blog about homeschooling and family matters.

8 Thumbs Up Blog
My four children (and sometimes me, too) write brief reviews of movies, books, games, and whatever takes their fancy. Four kids = eight thumbs.

Tandemonimom on Squidoo
Not exactly a blog, but a place where I write articles: I am a Giant Squid on Squidoo with over 200 lenses. A few are on smaller accounts; most are on this, my main account.

Tandemonimom on Facebook

I have several fan pages on Facebook.

LOL Teez
See my newest t-shirt creations, plus the t-shirt of the day for today's obscure holiday!

Winging It
The Facebook page for my Winging It blog and for other mostly homeschool related stuff.

1,000,001 Homeschool Quotes
Collecting a million and one quotes about homeschooling, with your help!

8 Thumbs Up
The Facebook page for my kids' review blog (4 kids = 8 thumbs).

Tandemonimom
Just me! I post things that interest me as well as my newly published blog posts, Squidoo lenses, Wizzley pages, and new tee shirts!

Tandemonimom Zazzles!

Funny t-shirts are fun! And yes, these are all my original designs!

So, yeah, kind of quirky sense of humor! The funny t-shirts at right are all my own original designs (and yes, they are copyrighted!). I have several Zazzle storefronts categorizing all of my funny shirt designs.

Sometimes I don't even know where the ideas come from, but I assure you they do all come from me! Other times, though, I can tell you exactly where they come from. See the "Goatee Powers Activate!" shirt? My 12-year-old son was a pirate in a homeschool production of Peter Pan, and we drew on a goatee for his character. One of his friends started calling him "Goatee Man" to tease him. One day we walked into play practice, and his friend called, "Hey, Goatee Man!" and my son responded with a very Power Ranger-like cry, "Goatee powers, ACTIVATE!" I knew instantly I had to put that onto a shirt. This shirt is in my shop This'n'That, where most of my randomly quirky designs end up.

The idea for the "My Inner Child" series of shirts came to me as I was driving. I really don't know the genesis for the idea, but one literally just popped into my head and it snowballed from there. I have over two dozen "My Inner Child" designs, from "My inner child says it's snacktime!" to "Beware of inner child" and everything in between. They are some of my very favorite designs!

As for "Oh no! I forgot to socialize the kids!" - well, anyone who homeschools can tell you where that one came from! The one question that every homeschool parent has had to answer multiple times, guaranteed, is "what about socialization?" And I can tell you, the temptation to answer it sassy is overwhelming sometimes! This is the first of a series of funny homeschooling socialization t-shirts.

Some Favorite Funny Shirts

I have a kind of quirky sense of humor.

Goatee Powers

My Inner Child is More Immature than Yours

Forgot the Socialization

My Book Review Pages

These pages link to all of my book reviews on Wizzley.

Strong Female Characters in Fantasy Literature
I love a good book where the female lead doesn't always wait around for the male lead to rescue her. These are some of my favorite strong female book characters!
Best Picture Book Reviews
Are you looking for a great picture book? These are my personal favorites, complete with book reviews. I hope you love these books as much as my children and I do!

What About the Funny Name?

Which one? "Carma" is kind of funny too, ya know ...

Me, age 16 I came up with Tandemonimom many years ago when I was trying to think of a name that would be completely unique and always available to me (I have no interest in trying to remember which of 27 different handles to use on a particular website) that would also be descriptive of me. At the time I was beginning to become active with posting online, I was tandem nursing my two first children (an infant son and my two-year-old daughter). Mothering is pandemonium in general, of course, and with tandem nursing and being a new mom, I was able to put those three words together and come up with: Me, Tandemonimom. Since I subsequently had two more children who also tandem nursed, the name suited for many years, and now that I am no longer nursing anyone (after twelve long years nonstop!), it's just who I am online.

As for Carma, all I can say is yes, I was born in 1965; but no, my parents were not flower children. It was suggested to them (they were thinking of Carmen) and they liked it; at the time they didn't even know karma was a word, much less its meaning. Anyway, I prefer to think of the more obscure Hebrew meaning of carma (which my parents also did not know!) when I assign meaning to my name: a garden. But really, it's just me.

Photo: Me, age 16

A Few More Tidbits About Tandemonimom

My experience with homebirthing my four children ...

the funniest poem I ever wrote (or read) ...

our fun with our sweet pet rats ...

my grandmother's 100th birthday ...

and my autobiography told on t-shirts!

Updated December 4, 2011

So Now You Know All About Tandemonimom!

barbarabAug 24, 2011

this is a wonderful about me article!! looking forward to more articles!

RalpapajanAug 24, 2011

Great ideas ~ unique name and an asset to Wizzley. Thank you for being here and sharing.

happynutritionistAug 23, 2011

It's great to get to know you better...love the origin of your username. Love the area where you are living, so beautiful here. TNX for being a fan:-)

tandemonimomJun 26, 2011

Yup, it's mine! (There's a whole series of them.) Thanks!

dustytoesJun 26, 2011

I've seen that "forgot to socialize the kids" shirt at Zazzle and never knew it was yours, but I love it! Nice to know more about you, Carma.

GuestJun 13, 2011

It's fun learning about your name. I wondered what it meant . . . .
Great to know you a little better, Carma. I look forward to reading more wizzles.

tandemonimomJun 13, 2011

GonnaFly - I've noticed (when I see other people typing it) that most people seem to do that!

GonnaFlyJun 13, 2011

Shows you how well I read - I've never seen the mom on the end but always read "tandemonium"!

ajgodinhoJun 10, 2011

Wonderful to read about you and get to know you better, Carma. It's awesome to know that you not only home-schooled your kids, you home-birthed them...wow! Tandemonimom is definitely unique...thanks for sharing about you and your family! :)

tandemonimomJun 9, 2011

LOL, WebWriter, I never thought of the "and" being read that way!

sandyspiderJun 9, 2011

Now I know the history behind your name. Awesome! Nice to read more about you.

WebWriterJun 9, 2011

I thought your name stood for T and E Moni Mom. I was thinking that maybe you had too kids with names that started with the letters T and E, and the Moni was short for money, and then the last part of your name mom. So my guess was that you had 2 kids, T and E, that you, "Mom", were always having to give money "Moni" too. Hence T and E Moni Mom "tandemonimom" Isn't that funny?

tandemonimomJun 5, 2011

{blushing} Aww, shucks!

HSSchulteJun 5, 2011

I've always thought there was something special about "Tandemonimom." After reading this, I figured out what it is. You are not only unique, you are brilliant. :)

ohcarolineJun 3, 2011

I didn't realize that you lived in the U.S. in the desert. Nice to know more about you. Great intro.

AJJun 2, 2011

I have to admire your dedication and bravery to homeschool four children! Love the sense of humor too :)

Susan52Jun 1, 2011

I loved reading this, Carma. I really enjoy your sense of humor and your creativity. So happy to call you a good friend!

WordCustardJun 1, 2011

You definitely have one of the most unique names around! And I bet your sense of fun has stood you in good stead as you've dealt with your family and pets.

NAIZAJun 1, 2011

Great to know more about you Tandemonimom! I think I know you for quite some time in Squidoo. I love your sense of humor and your writing. I enjoyed seeing a face behind every great blogs, articles and wizz. :)

JimmieJun 1, 2011

I love your writing style. It's like we're chatting over coffee. I had no idea your name comes from tandem nursing! I am in awe; I nursed only about 4 months before the well went dry.

petuniaJun 1, 2011

I am so glad you joined Wizzley, too! I totally get your sense of humor and always enjoy your writing, but especially your Funny Shirts. Your son has that same humor, obviously! Super story - "Goatee Powers Activate!" .

ohmeJun 1, 2011

I always wondered where the name Tandemonimom came from. Thanks and I enjoyed learning more about you.

pkmcrJun 1, 2011

Always good to learn a little more about the people we meet online and this is very nicely presented too!

DianneJun 1, 2011

Hello Carma! I think I pretty much knew all of this about you, but it's a great introduction for those who don't!