Bless me, Earth Mother, for I have sinned. To cut to the chase, I drove a full 22 minutes on a perfectly gorgeous sunny autumn day to buy a bucket of plastic toys. Virgin plastic. $29.99. Lots of petroleum. Bad precedent. I know, it’s not pretty. So why did I fall so hard? It’s complicated….
The clothes make the man, but do they make the baby?
I don’t understand why people get so defensive when strangers make the wrong assumption about their baby’s gender. Who cares what other people think? Why is it an insult either way? I’ve heard lots of people complain about ignorant commenters, “I mean, she had bows in her hair. She was wearing pink!” Or “He had…
Counting the minutes
There are a lot of emails I haven’t responded to and much more interesting posts I’ve written and never finished getting list to and so never posted. There are a million books I could read while I’m nursing, but at this moment, I feel the need to shout publicly that I am going insane! Yesterday…
Perspective, after two weeks
It’s been one heck of a week, filled with peaks and valleys. Beginning on Saturday night when my sister said she wouldn’t be able to come because her daughter was sick, I was thrust into Plan B, otherwise known as Find People To Take My Son Out of the House So That We Do Not…
The second time around
I have an essay called “The First Time Around” in an anthology that is coming out soon, From the Heart: A Collection of Stories and Poems from the Front Lines of Parenting. It compares my first year mothering to my first year teaching high school and explores the desire for a do-over, to fix all…
I had a baby! HBAC story
This is the story of my home waterbirth, a VBAC.
ACOG’s new guidelines in VBAC seek to reduce repeat c-sections
Woo hoo! The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has revised its guidelines to say that “vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) is a safe and appropriate choice for most women who have had a prior cesarean delivery, including for some women who have had two previous cesareans…” Finally! Maybe they were listening at the…
Giveaway for Strathmore’s Backyard Theater July 29
I’m giving away four tickets to one of the July 29 performances at the Backyard Theater for Children at Strathmore. Performances are at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. On July 29, the show will be “Banjo to Beatbox with Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer and Christylez Bacon.” The description of this act is: “Family folk meets hip…
If you like my body…let me know!
Being pregnant in the summer is a different experience than having a baby due in March. My body is really out there. And I mean out there. But still, people have been pretty nice. One friend complimented me on how good I looked and then made the analogy: “like an olive on a stick.” I…
Feedback from Mothering magazine — how we all find our way
Dear Angie Ferrell of Norwood, Ohio and Jennifer M. of Danvers, Massachusetts, Thank you for writing letters (published in the July/August issue) about recent Mothering magazine news briefs on Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). When I first read Jennifer’s letter, I thought she was responding to the piece I wrote in the May/June issue about…
Preschooler’s first movie: Babies
Although we are not media-free, I’ve avoided full-length feature films and had not considered taking my son to a movie before the age of six, at least. It just seems like way too much stimulation, not to mention the whole Waldorf thing about media stifling kids’ imaginations. But when I saw the trailer for the…
Last hurrah: farm trip
Despite the fact that a drive to Michigan resulted (I think) in the first swelling I’ve seen this pregnancy, I am headed with my little boy now to Polyface Farms, some three hours away. I’ve been looking forward to having him see a real sustainable farm in action for months, especially now that he’s watched…
Elusive instant gratification
I cannot find the USB cable for my camera. It astounds me how annoyed this makes me — the idea that I have to wait and do some searching in order to load onto my computer photos I can perfectly well see on the camera itself. Remember when we used to have to develop pictures?…
Silver Diner supports local food in schools
Who knew diner food could be health food? I had no idea that the Silver Diner – a chain of restaurants in Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey – was on a mission to serve local food and offer healthier choices. When I attended a special evening recently for food bloggers, I got a true taste…
“Leisure” time, yoga, and multitasking
I walked into the Enterprising Moms event with speaker Brigid Schulte almost 20 minutes late, which I figured was appropriate since the Washington Post writer was going to be discussing her Post Magazine piece on moms and just how much “leisure time” they have. Was this event “leisure time?” Or did it count toward some…
Wheeling away with goodies: Blogger/Brand event loads up mamas
It sure is nice to feel like other people want to make you happy. I was excited for the DC Metro Moms Brand/Blogger event as a motivator to finally get my three blogs merged into one blog (this one! with the domain I’ve been sitting on for a year and a half!), to see other…
The buzz around Samantha Bee
When I first heard that Samantha Bee had written a memoir and was coming to a downtown DC Borders, I was both excited to read something by the hilarious Daily Show correspondent and pissed that I had a birthday party in the ‘burbs the same afternoon. As luck would have it, predicted (but unrealized) thunderstorms…
Nature center saves the day
Although I was totally annoyed at my son for waking me up at 6:11 a.m., I also felt a little guilty that I was going to be dragging him to an appointment later that morning with nothing in it for him. Well, the practitioner was going to check him out, too, and at least she…
Read me in a book!
I’m pleased to announce that an essay of mine is going to be published in From the Heart: A Collection of Stories and Poems from the Front Lines of Parenting, an anthology that’s just about to be published by a group called Write for Charity. Proceeds will benefit Children’s Hospital and St. Jude’s Children’s Research…
American Idol 2010 — not a mom
How bad does it sound to say that because she is a mom, I’m glad Crystal Bowersox didn’t win American Idol? That’s not completely true. I just wondered how bad it would sound to say it. Make no mistake, I was and am a Crystal fan. I think she’s amazingly talented, so damn centered, and…