Was having a discussion about baby-wearing with some other online moms today. I do my best to wear Fish whenever possible. He has ridden in the stroller exactly 3 times in his 4.5 months. But, I tend to not wear him around the house. He gets bored if I'm standing doing dishes and sometimes it's just SOOOO much quicker to vacuum/dust/etc without him in my arms that I opt for speed over babywearing. He sits quite happily in his swing/bouncy chair/pack 'n play. Most if the time. I confess to letting him kvetch a little if I know I'll be done shortly.
But, I have always felt guilty for not wearing him CONSTANTLY as I assumed these other Cooler-Than-Me Online Moms did. Turns out most of them don't wear the baby constantly and make just as much use of the swing, etc. as I do. Yay!
I'm here to tell you I'm not so cool. My toddler ate soup from a box today. And potato chips. On Friday afternoon he ate two huge croissants and had just stolen a third when my husband caught him. Last night we all had french fries and boil-in-the-foil Indian food at 1030 pm. While watching HGTV. All of us. Hippo watches on average one 30 min DVD per day - sometimes a few times - depending on what kind of day I'm having.
/confession
Human, as charged.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Inauguration Anticipation, Homeopathy, and Our Gardening Extravaganza
In that order:
I'm giddy over the upcoming inauguration. I realize this is not a popular sentiment in the frum community. Sorry you've all been brainwashed. Anywho, I rescheduled our dog's grooming appointment so I can stay home and witness history courtesy of my high-speed internet connection.
Was recently introduced to homeopathy. I had heard of arnica and had used Traumeel tablets after Fish's birth. They were amazing. I didn't have to take pain meds and could tell within minutes of having taken a dose that they were working. Fast forward to last week when Fish was having worse and worse teething pain. We couldn't continue to dope him up with baby Tylenol forever so I decided to give Camilia, a melange of homeopathic teething remedies, a try. It worked like magic and I got my first half-night's sleep in weeks (baby steps...). Related the good news to my chiropractor (who had recommended the remedy in the first place) and she loaned me a book. Homeopathy is fascinating.
I'm not suited to any kind of healing career (frequent thought when talking to friends sick with the flu: 'Stop whining and get on with things already.'). I'm not a paragon of sympathy and , according to my friend Eva, I apparently have less milk-of-human-kindness than your average bear. BUT, I'm interested and a little more knowledge can only help. Plus, how cool to be able to treat myself and my family. Public library here I come.
It's winter on the west coast and spring is already in sight. Hereabouts people start to get serious about their gardening in Feb/March. The previous owners of our house put in a magnificent and very time-and-labour intensive garden. Lots of rhododendrons, a few camelias, a magnolia, and other fine shrubs. They also must've had something in the front beds that now contain weeds, weeds, and the few perennials I've been able to make grow there over the past few years. Did I mention there were weeds?
Right now I'm spending 30 minutes a few times a week trying to get rid of the weeds. For the moment. My goal is to create beds so thick with vegetation that weeds can't get a foothold. We'll see.
In the back yard, I'll be taking charge of the vegetable garden. We removed an old, gnarly ornamental cherry tree last month which will dramatically increase the available sunlight. Peas, lettuce, kale, beets, leeks, tomatoes, and zucchini are on the planting list.
I'm giddy over the upcoming inauguration. I realize this is not a popular sentiment in the frum community. Sorry you've all been brainwashed. Anywho, I rescheduled our dog's grooming appointment so I can stay home and witness history courtesy of my high-speed internet connection.
Was recently introduced to homeopathy. I had heard of arnica and had used Traumeel tablets after Fish's birth. They were amazing. I didn't have to take pain meds and could tell within minutes of having taken a dose that they were working. Fast forward to last week when Fish was having worse and worse teething pain. We couldn't continue to dope him up with baby Tylenol forever so I decided to give Camilia, a melange of homeopathic teething remedies, a try. It worked like magic and I got my first half-night's sleep in weeks (baby steps...). Related the good news to my chiropractor (who had recommended the remedy in the first place) and she loaned me a book. Homeopathy is fascinating.
I'm not suited to any kind of healing career (frequent thought when talking to friends sick with the flu: 'Stop whining and get on with things already.'). I'm not a paragon of sympathy and , according to my friend Eva, I apparently have less milk-of-human-kindness than your average bear. BUT, I'm interested and a little more knowledge can only help. Plus, how cool to be able to treat myself and my family. Public library here I come.
It's winter on the west coast and spring is already in sight. Hereabouts people start to get serious about their gardening in Feb/March. The previous owners of our house put in a magnificent and very time-and-labour intensive garden. Lots of rhododendrons, a few camelias, a magnolia, and other fine shrubs. They also must've had something in the front beds that now contain weeds, weeds, and the few perennials I've been able to make grow there over the past few years. Did I mention there were weeds?
Right now I'm spending 30 minutes a few times a week trying to get rid of the weeds. For the moment. My goal is to create beds so thick with vegetation that weeds can't get a foothold. We'll see.
In the back yard, I'll be taking charge of the vegetable garden. We removed an old, gnarly ornamental cherry tree last month which will dramatically increase the available sunlight. Peas, lettuce, kale, beets, leeks, tomatoes, and zucchini are on the planting list.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Winter Blahs
We're emerging from the winter doldrums here on the west coast. Normally we look forward to copious amounts of rain and temps in the 40F/5C range. The past two weeks we've had snow. Ugh. As a transplant from a more continental (read: cold in winter and hot in summer) climate, I LOVE living where we seldom get snow. Thus the past two weeks have been especially taxing to me. Add in the fact that Soulmate used his vacation to tile our countertops and we had no kitchen sink for a week and you can see that it's been hard to keep my sun-loving chin up.
Now, however, the snow is gone and the sink is back along with our lovely new tile counters. Life is good again.
Fish has decided that he wants to nurse all night for the past three nights. I'm hoping this is signaling some sort of developmental milestone (rolling over?) and is NOT a permanent state of affairs. I've given up on sleep for the moment (hence the wee-hours blogfest).
Now, however, the snow is gone and the sink is back along with our lovely new tile counters. Life is good again.
Fish has decided that he wants to nurse all night for the past three nights. I'm hoping this is signaling some sort of developmental milestone (rolling over?) and is NOT a permanent state of affairs. I've given up on sleep for the moment (hence the wee-hours blogfest).
A Book Every Parent Should Read
I've been reading Hold On To Your Kids by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté.
In a nutshell, they say that the reason Western society in going to hell in a handbasket (think gangs, school shootings, bullying) is that we've abdicated our responsibilities as parents. Instead of keeping our kids attached to us, we've allowed (encouraged?) them to become oriented to their peers for values, nurturing, etc.
Not only does this cause discord at home, but it is also at the root of a large number of social and cultural problems facing many communities today.
In addition to explaining the problem at-length, they also offer solutions.
Unfortunately, the first 2/3 of the book is heavy in psych-lingo and I had to work hard to understand the exact nuances of what they were saying - I'd love to rewrite it for them in more accessible language. This is such an important topic that making the message available to everyone should be high-priority.
Of course, they do say that full-time daycare from a young age is pretty damaging, so a lot of folks out there won't want to hear that...
In a nutshell, they say that the reason Western society in going to hell in a handbasket (think gangs, school shootings, bullying) is that we've abdicated our responsibilities as parents. Instead of keeping our kids attached to us, we've allowed (encouraged?) them to become oriented to their peers for values, nurturing, etc.
Not only does this cause discord at home, but it is also at the root of a large number of social and cultural problems facing many communities today.
In addition to explaining the problem at-length, they also offer solutions.
Unfortunately, the first 2/3 of the book is heavy in psych-lingo and I had to work hard to understand the exact nuances of what they were saying - I'd love to rewrite it for them in more accessible language. This is such an important topic that making the message available to everyone should be high-priority.
Of course, they do say that full-time daycare from a young age is pretty damaging, so a lot of folks out there won't want to hear that...
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