Something remarkable happened to me twice today so far. I went to the bathroom - not the remarkable part, besides, it's across the hall from my 'classroom' (spare room that's only mine when nobody else wants it) at my Thursday school. The remarkable part happened twice, both times right after I washed my hands. I looked in the mirror...
and had no complaint about what I saw.
Liked my reflection whole-heartedly.
The first time I almost wrote it of as poor lighting in the teacher's bathroom, and went to teach a class. The second time, I gotta say, I looked really nice. Didn't find red marks or red cheeks to pick on, no stain on my shirt, complimenting jewelry, and the white shirt contrasting my usual palor to the point where I actually looked somewhat tan and healthy. (Thank you, Jergins Healthy Glow lotion!) (And for that matter, thank you Cover Girl.)
All over the place I've found little signs that I might just be getting it together as an adult. I know, I know, should have taken care of that BEFORE having a child, yadda yadda yadda, responsibilty and "finding yourself" etc. Whatev. I've worked out the curriculum mapping and lesson planning and I'm on a nice, easy schedule of To-Do's. Keeping a Schedule/To-Do/Journal book helps. Concert set-up, execution, and clean-up went fine - the things that bothered me were human, and therefore, unavoidable (ask me about that brat who decided to whack the $300 overhead mic with his recorder as he got on the risers). My house is, well, less than perfect, but a healthy amount of antibodies is good for a child, decreases the risk that they'll develop allergies and asthma. At least that's what I tell the black bottoms of our socks. The car isn't even that messy. And I actually look like an adult. Yes, I wear my Crocs out of the house and I have a rhinestone-studded T-shirt reading "This Mom Rocks". But I also have matching clothes and a decent black leather bag that doubles as a diaper bag - of course, ask me if I remembered to actually put diapers in it when we went out last night. Oh well, pobody's nerfect.
At least I look like I know what I'm doing!
Funny thing, suddenly noticing that you like yourself more.
And yes, becoming a mommy helped make me feel like I wasn't a fumbling kid anymore. But I guess I can give plain old "me" a little credit, too.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
50 Random Facts
I really think this is a cool idea. A little fun self-indulgence, but I'd like to see what other people would write, so...
Piggybacking off of JL's cool random facts (allergic to Nickel? How do you make change? ;-) And fully recognizing that blogging is often little more than a socially acceptable excuse for pure narcissism, I present my personal
50 Random Facts About ME
Piggybacking off of JL's cool random facts (allergic to Nickel? How do you make change? ;-) And fully recognizing that blogging is often little more than a socially acceptable excuse for pure narcissism, I present my personal
50 Random Facts About ME
- Until at least 10th grade, any actual music facts I learned (lines & spaces, note values), I learned from my tyrannical but gifted children's church choir director.
- I swear to God my dog drives me nuts on purpose.
- My town doesn't put fluoride in its water.
- I have over a dozen news feeds that I never read.
- A month ago I got talked into subscribing to the Philly Inquirer because they would donate $5 of the $22 to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and throw in a $5 Wal-Mart card for me. I have yet to read anything but the circulars and coupons sections.
- I had a major crush on my 6th grade Math teacher. Who I'm pretty sure is actually gay.
- I started talking to my husband when I overheard that he had to work the night we band freshmen were to go pick up our new band gloves. I walked up to him and offered to pick them up and bring them to his room. Yes, tramp.
- My daughter can recognize and say the following letters of the alphabet by sight: A, B, C, D, E, F, H, I, J, M, N, O, P, T, U, X, Y, Z . 17 months old, ladies and gentlemen!
- My first job was working for a partially brain-damaged European gift shop owner who had been my neighbor before we moved when I was 8.
- All my grandparents are still living, and some are still kicking.
- My favorite color is blue.
- My favorite food type is Tex-Mex, nachos especially.
- I cannot parallel park to save my life.
- My childhood pet was a cat named Smedly, who lived to be 17 (older than I was at the time). My parents named him after a club in some movie they liked.
- My sister has been included in case studies at Johns Hopkins for her Neurally Mediated Hypo-tension.
- My middle name is Rae, my Dad liked that Sally Fields union movie called "Norma Rae".
- My first car was a '97 blue-green Subara Legacy. It was my sister's first car too.
- My dad has had: a heart attack, skin cancer, testicular cancer, and a blood clot on the brain.
- I'm deathly afraid of spiders. My husband is deathly afraid of spider webs. We're hoping our kids will do the bug-killing.
- I lived down the street and around the block from Gettysburg College as a young child.
- I have naturally red, curly hair, which requires 4+ products every morning to not look like an afro.
- I was born on my paternal grandmother's 50th birthday.
- Said grandmother refuses to this day to let me call her anything but "Mamu", since this is what I called her as a 1 year-old.
- I hate how black eye-liner looks on most people, especially myself.
- I was going to list all the guys I'd had crushes on before my husband, but I'm pretty sure blogger.com has a maximum character limit on posts. Yes, tramp.
- My family's dog's name was Hamlet, after the play my sister was in at the time. (I wanted to name him Frasier.)
- 4th grade was my worst year in school; My teacher was anything but understanding, and I was beaten with an awkward stick that year.
- I hate clothes shopping, because if there's such an obesity epidemic, especially in our generation and younger, why is that all the women's clothing stores think all plus-sized women are over the age of 60? Giant flower prints! Gaaa!
- I hate raw onions because you taste them all day.
- I also hate coconut. Coconut flavoring is ok, though, just hate the texture.
- I lied to my mom when I signed up for girl scout camp in 5th grade; I told her I didn't want to take the horseback riding camp because I was afraid of horses, and really it was because I was afraid of the older girls in that camp.
- I swam on the YWCA's swim team for about 5 years. Backstroke was my best stroke. I actually moved backwards when I attempted breaststroke.
- I love really watered-down lemonade.
- I visited Germany in 1997 and my favorite part was spitting off the bridge in Heidelburg.
- Even though I hate bathing suits, sandy stuff, sunburns, and any of the disgusting wildlife that lives in the ocean, I for some reason love the beach.
- I've played French Horn since 4th grade, teach it, wish I played it more now.
- Drinking makes me hot and more red-faced than usual, and I actually don't like the out-of-control feeling at all.
- I strongly considered majoring in English/Secondary Ed. and becoming an English Lit. teacher.
- I asked my husband out when I delivered his band gloves to him. He had plans with his roomie to go to a VIDEO GAME THING and declined...he luckily asked me again later.
- I wore braces for 3 years on my upper teeth only. They didn't fully work.
- I hate going to bed by myself.
- I developed gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my daughter, and my major food craving was, of course, pancakes. Life ain't fair.
- I have a pair of chunky-heeled, black thong sandals from 8th grade in my closet that I still wear regularly.
- My daughter can recognize and say the following numbers on sight: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9
- Elmo and my mother in-law can probably take more credit for #8 and and #44 than I can, but I love them both anyway.
- I have a major problem with parents who "try for a boy/girl", due mainly to a video from social studies class I saw in Jr. High about the orphan baby girl crisis in China that made me cry in class.
- I lived in Gettysburg, PA, until I was about 21, and for the life of me can't understand why anyone would want to vacation there, ever.
- My preschool teacher, Ms. Jane, nick-named me "Megalla-Megalla", and still asks my mom how I'm doing.
- I suck at piano and wish I had the time and drive to actually learn to play well. Guitar too.
- I freakin' love board games .
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
A little help?
I have a student, let's call him, um, John. He's in 3rd grade. He has fine motor skill issues, barely writes legibly unless he tries, and is hyperactive and pretty darn lazy. And that was before.
Friday, January 18th, John lost both his parents. He was at home, before school, playing on the computer in his room. Sponge Bob. His father and mother were in their bedroom. His father's mortgage company was on its way to bankruptcy, and rumor had it, his mother was having an affair. Just lovely, huh. According to good a friend and neighbor who knew them well pieced it together from regular contact w/ their family, it went like this: Dad found out one way or another about mom's affair. Dad flew off the handle, and beat Mom over th e head with a heavy ceramic coffee carraffe. Blunt trauma to the head. Mom's dead. Dad "calmly" tells John that it's time to leave, and instead of school, he takes his son to grandma's house, and calls him out of school that day. Makes arrangements for the older son not to go home on the bus later, but get sent to Grandma's too. After dropping John off at his mother's house, Dad drives south to the Delaware-Memorial bridge, stops the car, gets out, and jumps. They found his body about 3 weeks later.
Yes, this is the stuff of a horrible TV movie. Doesn't end there.
John and big brother (half-brother, not belonging to Dad) are kept out of town for a week. When they come back to school, after much school counselor sessions here and many fearful tears from the younger kids who think their parents are going to die too, all is WEIRD. John was told his parents "died in a tragic car accident". H e knows nothing of how his parents died. His mother's family, who is closer to the school and I believe have custody, want him told. His grandmother doesn't want him to know (I guess until he's older?) and because the father left him in her care, she has a partial custody claim as well. They fight, in and out of the school counselor's office. Vicious. They get the courts involved, and until it's settled, there's a gag order - nobody can say anything to him about how his parents died (keep every kid at school from telling him on the playground, though, I dare you to try!) But so far, supposedly, he knows nothing.
Meanwhile, John is a mess. He's gone from pretty darn bad before this whole event, to very near uncontrollable. On recorders, he blasts air through it, throws it in the air, smacks it on desks, jumps, dances, throws pencils, and screams in class. He has moments of calm, but you look at him and see it all bubbling in him, just under the surface. He's a pressure cooker. He knows his parents are dead, he knows something worse happened, and he knows everybody else knows but him. He also knows that we all can't touch him.
What are we going to do? The kid lost his parents, his world, everything! What do you do, threaten to call home? Take away recess? For weeks, the rest of his class would gasp and give you dirty looks if you so much as suggested that John follow directions. Meanwhile his disruptions don't stop, and they're always JUST this side of violent. He knows where the line is, and he spits on it, but that's it. His class is way behind, and now they're starting to mind his behavior. Their concert is in a month, and they all know who it is that's squeaking, wailing, and otherwise sucking it up big-time.
I meet with his teacher - poor Kate, how she comes to school every day is beyond me. The guidance counselor just says to treat him "carefully" but that he's still supposed to function as a 3rd grader. Ok....how, exactly? Seriously, what do I do with this kid? If a 'normal' kid acted like this, he'd be in the principal's office, kicked out of class, and kicked out of the concert. I don't have that option.
My only consolation is that he already told me that he's not coming to the evening concert for the families because he "doesn't feel like it". PLEASE let him keep that promise, the one day he was absent that class sounded absolutely fabulous. What's worse, we're all sure that some day soon, John is going to blow. He's seething. He's also calculating. Some outbursts he looks like he planned carefully, some it looks like the pod people took over his body. His eyes are blank, he can't speak, he flails and falls off his seat. Then he looks around to see who saw him. Then he throws a pencil to punctuate it all. Your teacher instincts kick in and you go to rain down fire and brimstone on the misbehaver, and then you remember, it's John. Right now, he hasn't hurt himself or anybody. But we're all scared that he'll do worse.
But what can we do? You can't suspend a kid whose parents were the murder/suicide story on the front page of the paper for over a week. What do you do to discipline a child who 1) doesn't care, because why care about anything anymore, and 2) knows full well that you can't do a thing to him anyway, and that you don't really want to. You send him to the guidance counselor for the umpteenth time, taking him out of instruction he sorely needs, but he sits there, refuses to talk about anything, refuses to admit that his behavior was even the least bit questionable, and gets sent back, untouched. Why should it help? Nobody can give him his mom and dad back, nobody matters anymore.
A lovely parent from PTA who was good friends with the mom told his teacher this, and she passed it on to his other teachers: "I knew her, and how much she loved her boys, and she would be horrified if she knew he was like this now. For her sake, please don't let him act this way. She wanted better for him." Yeah. *sniff* I've toughened up on him lately, but even that doesn't have much effect. It's just me yelling at him more, rather than letting behaviors go. He's still exactly the same.
The little girl he sits next to is terrified of him. I can't keep moving him around, either. Too obvious. Oh, and I swear to God his best friend, who previously wasn't much of a problem, has decided to start acting out as a distraction from John's behavior. They almost compete. Now what?
So what do I do? Anybody? Got anything?
Friday, January 18th, John lost both his parents. He was at home, before school, playing on the computer in his room. Sponge Bob. His father and mother were in their bedroom. His father's mortgage company was on its way to bankruptcy, and rumor had it, his mother was having an affair. Just lovely, huh. According to good a friend and neighbor who knew them well pieced it together from regular contact w/ their family, it went like this: Dad found out one way or another about mom's affair. Dad flew off the handle, and beat Mom over th e head with a heavy ceramic coffee carraffe. Blunt trauma to the head. Mom's dead. Dad "calmly" tells John that it's time to leave, and instead of school, he takes his son to grandma's house, and calls him out of school that day. Makes arrangements for the older son not to go home on the bus later, but get sent to Grandma's too. After dropping John off at his mother's house, Dad drives south to the Delaware-Memorial bridge, stops the car, gets out, and jumps. They found his body about 3 weeks later.
Yes, this is the stuff of a horrible TV movie. Doesn't end there.
John and big brother (half-brother, not belonging to Dad) are kept out of town for a week. When they come back to school, after much school counselor sessions here and many fearful tears from the younger kids who think their parents are going to die too, all is WEIRD. John was told his parents "died in a tragic car accident". H e knows nothing of how his parents died. His mother's family, who is closer to the school and I believe have custody, want him told. His grandmother doesn't want him to know (I guess until he's older?) and because the father left him in her care, she has a partial custody claim as well. They fight, in and out of the school counselor's office. Vicious. They get the courts involved, and until it's settled, there's a gag order - nobody can say anything to him about how his parents died (keep every kid at school from telling him on the playground, though, I dare you to try!) But so far, supposedly, he knows nothing.
Meanwhile, John is a mess. He's gone from pretty darn bad before this whole event, to very near uncontrollable. On recorders, he blasts air through it, throws it in the air, smacks it on desks, jumps, dances, throws pencils, and screams in class. He has moments of calm, but you look at him and see it all bubbling in him, just under the surface. He's a pressure cooker. He knows his parents are dead, he knows something worse happened, and he knows everybody else knows but him. He also knows that we all can't touch him.
What are we going to do? The kid lost his parents, his world, everything! What do you do, threaten to call home? Take away recess? For weeks, the rest of his class would gasp and give you dirty looks if you so much as suggested that John follow directions. Meanwhile his disruptions don't stop, and they're always JUST this side of violent. He knows where the line is, and he spits on it, but that's it. His class is way behind, and now they're starting to mind his behavior. Their concert is in a month, and they all know who it is that's squeaking, wailing, and otherwise sucking it up big-time.
I meet with his teacher - poor Kate, how she comes to school every day is beyond me. The guidance counselor just says to treat him "carefully" but that he's still supposed to function as a 3rd grader. Ok....how, exactly? Seriously, what do I do with this kid? If a 'normal' kid acted like this, he'd be in the principal's office, kicked out of class, and kicked out of the concert. I don't have that option.
My only consolation is that he already told me that he's not coming to the evening concert for the families because he "doesn't feel like it". PLEASE let him keep that promise, the one day he was absent that class sounded absolutely fabulous. What's worse, we're all sure that some day soon, John is going to blow. He's seething. He's also calculating. Some outbursts he looks like he planned carefully, some it looks like the pod people took over his body. His eyes are blank, he can't speak, he flails and falls off his seat. Then he looks around to see who saw him. Then he throws a pencil to punctuate it all. Your teacher instincts kick in and you go to rain down fire and brimstone on the misbehaver, and then you remember, it's John. Right now, he hasn't hurt himself or anybody. But we're all scared that he'll do worse.
But what can we do? You can't suspend a kid whose parents were the murder/suicide story on the front page of the paper for over a week. What do you do to discipline a child who 1) doesn't care, because why care about anything anymore, and 2) knows full well that you can't do a thing to him anyway, and that you don't really want to. You send him to the guidance counselor for the umpteenth time, taking him out of instruction he sorely needs, but he sits there, refuses to talk about anything, refuses to admit that his behavior was even the least bit questionable, and gets sent back, untouched. Why should it help? Nobody can give him his mom and dad back, nobody matters anymore.
A lovely parent from PTA who was good friends with the mom told his teacher this, and she passed it on to his other teachers: "I knew her, and how much she loved her boys, and she would be horrified if she knew he was like this now. For her sake, please don't let him act this way. She wanted better for him." Yeah. *sniff* I've toughened up on him lately, but even that doesn't have much effect. It's just me yelling at him more, rather than letting behaviors go. He's still exactly the same.
The little girl he sits next to is terrified of him. I can't keep moving him around, either. Too obvious. Oh, and I swear to God his best friend, who previously wasn't much of a problem, has decided to start acting out as a distraction from John's behavior. They almost compete. Now what?
So what do I do? Anybody? Got anything?
Saturday, April 12, 2008
80's and 90's music lyric quiz. Obviously 90's music sucked.
Got a 65.5 Apparently I was too busy watching my little pony or being born or something like that. Good 80's quiz though.
You would think that the decade that you spent in jr. high and high school would have music that would stick with you. Nope. I was too busy with showtunes and practicing for district 7 band. :-) Time not wasted, but I had no clue - NONE - on most of these. And several I got right only because I remembered hearing them in Weird Al polka versions. A trophy to my Nerdiness:
You would think that the decade that you spent in jr. high and high school would have music that would stick with you. Nope. I was too busy with showtunes and practicing for district 7 band. :-) Time not wasted, but I had no clue - NONE - on most of these. And several I got right only because I remembered hearing them in Weird Al polka versions. A trophy to my Nerdiness:
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Spring Break Wrap-Up
Friday 3-21: Took Maddie to have her first Haircut at Kids Kuts. They did an ok job, didn't take credit/debit cards, didn't post this fact clearly, and pissed me off. But at least the girl had straight bangs for Easter. Went grocery shopping. Felt like ass all evening, went to bed at 8:00.
Saturday 3-22: Sick all morning, must be this flu that Bob had, it's been going around all winter, worse than usual. Resolved to get my butt out of bed and went w/ family to a cousin's 4th birthday party. Actually felt better once I ate something, so maybe it wasn't flu (because everybody I know who had it threw everything up). Gave Maddie her Easter present early, because it would just be cruel to give her the drum & instruments Easter morning and then say, "Sorry, you have to leave the coolest toy in the world now and by the way, we'll be gone ALL day."
Sunday 3-23: Easter! Looooong day. Get everybody dressed to the nines and out the door by 7:45, early service with handbells & Maddie in the nursery, did Easter breakfast at Nana & Pop's, went to Grandmom & Grandpop's, went to Aunt Cyndee's for dinner & egg hunt & the ridiculousness that was their 3-step sunken family/dining room. Wood steps onto ceramic tile, a jarring fall for any 1 year-old. No gates. And this was the house that was preferable for the little kids' Easter egg hunt because...? Actually, the swing and trampoline outside was a nice diversion.
Monday 3-24: Took Maddie to her grandparents', Bob and I spent the day cleaning out the back yard. Raked and raked and raked leaves, sticks, rocks, dog poop, you name it. I raked every inch of our back yard. And we have a big back yard. Huge by suburban NJ standards. And I'm not saying this to brag. I'm saying this to whine. My back still hurts. Picked Maddie up, had take-out at Bob's parents' house.
Tuesday 3-25: Bought Maddie her first swing set. She falls down a lot, wants to climb up the slide and sit on the rock-climbing thing, but she likes it. Cleaned out the guest room (that's the room where we dump stuff we don't know what to do with), sorted stuff, and Bob talked me into going out for dinner to Don Pablo's - mmm, Tex-Mex, baby! Fabulous fajitas. Maddie loved the place this time, unlike my birthday dinner, where she apparently got indigestion from the decor.
Wednesday 3-26: Ikea junkie! Got a new dining set. See previous post. Love it. Love the rocking toy, "ee-kee-ya" as Maddie calls the rocker, and its place of origin. Plus, it was the first time we bought her a kids' meal. 99-cent mac & cheese w/ drink. Yay Ikea.
Thursday 3-27: Gymboree! Music class was fun. Free trial class. Maddie was into the other kids some, but mostly she just wanted to run around the room dancing or play on the low window-ledge. Then they got out the instruments and she was VERY into that. Talked to the teacher, mentioned that Bob & I are music teachers and she got all bright-eyed and said they needed teachers there for summer. Hmmm...but can I stand other people's kids all summer, too? Put away the snowman collection that was taking over one of the beds in the guest room. Put away the 9-12 month clothes of the girl's. Yes, she's 16 months old. Shut up.
Friday 3-28: More Gymboree - did the gym class, which also involved music. The guy running it is an '06 grad of E-town college, right down the road from our dear old alma mater. Pretty good class. Maddie had fun. It's $216 for 12 sessions of class. Bob and I have to decide if that' really worth the money. I'm leaning towards NO, and hoping to just get her together with some teacher friend's kids once a week or so for playground or mall socialization. Went grocery shopping. Put more stuff away. Cleaned more stuff. Went shopping for Maddie for some spring clothes. You know, long-sleeved, light weight shirts and pants, maybe a jacket or two. Hah. Problem is, it's already July in the stores. There was hardly any short-sleeved things (all sleeveless tanks and whatnot) let alone nice spring-weight clothes. Bought her a pair of capri-length pants, sweats, and a hoodie. I figure she's wearing whatever I've got for her, and if it's cold, boom, hoodie. My poor child. Mamma didn't know to shop for spring in January.
Saturday 3-29: Holy cow, when did it get hard to get out of the house? Forgot to wrap presents for birthday part #2 (for my friend's 2 year-old twins) barely got out of the house by the time the party actually started. Very fun. Lots of kids, tons of toys, Maddie did beautifully, plus they have a giant play room full of toys and a big-fenced in front yard full of my toys, and did I mention the toys? Dang. Plus my gym teacher friend swears he walked into the bathroom to find two older female family members of the hostess kissing - like, KISSING, kissing. So Monday's lunchtime conversation should be titillating. Had Bob's folks over to dinner to dine on our new lovely set, plus Bob makes this fabulous rigatoni dish with red peppers and sun-dried tomato sauce and shrimp.... mmm.
Sunday 3-30: That's today. Today we're getting the house straightened up, getting ready to go back to school - ugh - spending time with the girl, and counting how many school days are left so we can put giant count-downs in our classrooms when we get in tomorrow morning. Actually, the worst part of the school year for me is done. The long haul from Christmas to Easter is always drag-out, gray, boring and troublesome. Observations. PIP reports due. Concert prep. Ick. Of course, now it's crunch time. Yearbook, concert, church, everything. Again, I say ick. And tomorrow, we're back.
Too damn early. In the morning, that is. I know we had 10 days off, and they were a very sweet 10 days. My daughter learned new words every day, we took her places, tried new things, and had a ball. (And none of the places we took her involved the Caribbean, unlike most of my students' spring break activities. Must be nice to be rich.) We enjoyed mornings of sleeping till 8, unhurried breakfasts together, much playtime, walks, and romping the back yard, shopping, ordering out a little more often, and finishing stuff that we'd been meaning to finish. Good stuff.
And now we've just got to get through 81 days, 2, hours and 33 minutes till summer. There are weekends in there. And Memorial Day. We can make it. Right?
Saturday 3-22: Sick all morning, must be this flu that Bob had, it's been going around all winter, worse than usual. Resolved to get my butt out of bed and went w/ family to a cousin's 4th birthday party. Actually felt better once I ate something, so maybe it wasn't flu (because everybody I know who had it threw everything up). Gave Maddie her Easter present early, because it would just be cruel to give her the drum & instruments Easter morning and then say, "Sorry, you have to leave the coolest toy in the world now and by the way, we'll be gone ALL day."
Sunday 3-23: Easter! Looooong day. Get everybody dressed to the nines and out the door by 7:45, early service with handbells & Maddie in the nursery, did Easter breakfast at Nana & Pop's, went to Grandmom & Grandpop's, went to Aunt Cyndee's for dinner & egg hunt & the ridiculousness that was their 3-step sunken family/dining room. Wood steps onto ceramic tile, a jarring fall for any 1 year-old. No gates. And this was the house that was preferable for the little kids' Easter egg hunt because...? Actually, the swing and trampoline outside was a nice diversion.
Monday 3-24: Took Maddie to her grandparents', Bob and I spent the day cleaning out the back yard. Raked and raked and raked leaves, sticks, rocks, dog poop, you name it. I raked every inch of our back yard. And we have a big back yard. Huge by suburban NJ standards. And I'm not saying this to brag. I'm saying this to whine. My back still hurts. Picked Maddie up, had take-out at Bob's parents' house.
Tuesday 3-25: Bought Maddie her first swing set. She falls down a lot, wants to climb up the slide and sit on the rock-climbing thing, but she likes it. Cleaned out the guest room (that's the room where we dump stuff we don't know what to do with), sorted stuff, and Bob talked me into going out for dinner to Don Pablo's - mmm, Tex-Mex, baby! Fabulous fajitas. Maddie loved the place this time, unlike my birthday dinner, where she apparently got indigestion from the decor.
Wednesday 3-26: Ikea junkie! Got a new dining set. See previous post. Love it. Love the rocking toy, "ee-kee-ya" as Maddie calls the rocker, and its place of origin. Plus, it was the first time we bought her a kids' meal. 99-cent mac & cheese w/ drink. Yay Ikea.
Thursday 3-27: Gymboree! Music class was fun. Free trial class. Maddie was into the other kids some, but mostly she just wanted to run around the room dancing or play on the low window-ledge. Then they got out the instruments and she was VERY into that. Talked to the teacher, mentioned that Bob & I are music teachers and she got all bright-eyed and said they needed teachers there for summer. Hmmm...but can I stand other people's kids all summer, too? Put away the snowman collection that was taking over one of the beds in the guest room. Put away the 9-12 month clothes of the girl's. Yes, she's 16 months old. Shut up.
Friday 3-28: More Gymboree - did the gym class, which also involved music. The guy running it is an '06 grad of E-town college, right down the road from our dear old alma mater. Pretty good class. Maddie had fun. It's $216 for 12 sessions of class. Bob and I have to decide if that' really worth the money. I'm leaning towards NO, and hoping to just get her together with some teacher friend's kids once a week or so for playground or mall socialization. Went grocery shopping. Put more stuff away. Cleaned more stuff. Went shopping for Maddie for some spring clothes. You know, long-sleeved, light weight shirts and pants, maybe a jacket or two. Hah. Problem is, it's already July in the stores. There was hardly any short-sleeved things (all sleeveless tanks and whatnot) let alone nice spring-weight clothes. Bought her a pair of capri-length pants, sweats, and a hoodie. I figure she's wearing whatever I've got for her, and if it's cold, boom, hoodie. My poor child. Mamma didn't know to shop for spring in January.
Saturday 3-29: Holy cow, when did it get hard to get out of the house? Forgot to wrap presents for birthday part #2 (for my friend's 2 year-old twins) barely got out of the house by the time the party actually started. Very fun. Lots of kids, tons of toys, Maddie did beautifully, plus they have a giant play room full of toys and a big-fenced in front yard full of my toys, and did I mention the toys? Dang. Plus my gym teacher friend swears he walked into the bathroom to find two older female family members of the hostess kissing - like, KISSING, kissing. So Monday's lunchtime conversation should be titillating. Had Bob's folks over to dinner to dine on our new lovely set, plus Bob makes this fabulous rigatoni dish with red peppers and sun-dried tomato sauce and shrimp.... mmm.
Sunday 3-30: That's today. Today we're getting the house straightened up, getting ready to go back to school - ugh - spending time with the girl, and counting how many school days are left so we can put giant count-downs in our classrooms when we get in tomorrow morning. Actually, the worst part of the school year for me is done. The long haul from Christmas to Easter is always drag-out, gray, boring and troublesome. Observations. PIP reports due. Concert prep. Ick. Of course, now it's crunch time. Yearbook, concert, church, everything. Again, I say ick. And tomorrow, we're back.
Too damn early. In the morning, that is. I know we had 10 days off, and they were a very sweet 10 days. My daughter learned new words every day, we took her places, tried new things, and had a ball. (And none of the places we took her involved the Caribbean, unlike most of my students' spring break activities. Must be nice to be rich.) We enjoyed mornings of sleeping till 8, unhurried breakfasts together, much playtime, walks, and romping the back yard, shopping, ordering out a little more often, and finishing stuff that we'd been meaning to finish. Good stuff.
And now we've just got to get through 81 days, 2, hours and 33 minutes till summer. There are weekends in there. And Memorial Day. We can make it. Right?
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The junkie gets a new dining room.
The
has struck again. :-)
has struck again. :-)
It was time. The kitchen/dining room table was 3rd generation and the chairs were wedding presents. But unfortunately we picked them out before we realized that chairs are supposed to last more than a year, so we picked out and registered for the kind that fall about in about 6 months. Our bad.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
In Celebration!
I've added a little ticker at the left. You see them on reflux support websites, celebrating the owner's children's success stories. Yesterday was Maddie's first day without reflux meds. Yes, we'd been on them that long. About a year ago was when she really started to get bad, peaking in June - when I pretty much lost it and demanded a second (third, really) opinion from a specialist and a friend helped us get Maddie into CHOP. Wow, those days were awful at times. I remember colleagues at school asking me why I looked so concerned. I remember lots of supportive friends, and few ignoramuses who claimed that reflux was an over-blown ailment thought up by parents who don't understand that 'babies just cry and spit up sometimes'. Ha ha. Worrying about whether my baby was eating while I was away. Worrying whether she was going to throw up whatever we could get into her while on her back and choke or get spit-up in her eyes and nose. Worrying if she was getting deaf from the white-noise blasting - hey she ate when we blasted it, it calmed her. Feeding her Pedialyte by syringe on Fathers' Day because that was the only food she'd take. She spent so much time being fed that I felt like that was all we did with her. Several nights I remember getting home, attempting to feed her till dinner, letting her play during dinner, attempting to feed her till bed, and putting her to bed with maybe 3 oz. in her stomach. What a great life for a baby. Not to mention her parents. But her doctors (grrrr...) said she absolutely must have 25 oz. a day. Again, ha ha.
Now, we've been blessed with a wonderfully healthy child. Besides being strong and developmentally healthy, she has had but one real cold her whole life, and she's 16 months old this week. (I give credit to the high level 'antibodies' my house must build up in her!) But those reflux days...wow. I've never worried, laid awake at night, or agonized over anything like that in my life. I had just gone back to work around this time last year - talk about guilt layered on top of guilt - and I honestly don't remember much of what I was teaching, because that's just not where my mind was all day. I do remember guiltily enjoying some days just before my spring concert, because I at least HAD to focus on something other than reflux worry for a few hours. My friends tell me I'm so much more laid back and content now - well after worrying like that, nothing else really seems like that big a deal. Moms, you know what I'm talking about. That combined with the whole unexpectedly-natural birth, and I'm pretty sure I could tackle anything. And, thank God, in the grand scheme of things, our issues were nothing compared to what some parents have to worry about. Still...*whew* I do NOT want to go back there.
I have to admit I was a little nervous yesterday morning, not giving her any acid medicine at all. Of course I know she's fine, and probably could have been weaned off these meds a few months ago, she's been so healthy. But still, those few months were bad enough that I just gave a little 'gulp' as I put the medicine droppers away.
But hey - now we're done. So here's to no more reflux meds for my girlie! I'm so proud of you, Maddie! Every now and then, when she shovels pieces of cheese, chicken nugget, and green beans into her mouth - all at once - and then chug-a-lugs from her sippy, I remember that it used to be an awful battle to convince her to drink an ounce of liquid. And I'm beyond grateful for how it is now.
Now, we've been blessed with a wonderfully healthy child. Besides being strong and developmentally healthy, she has had but one real cold her whole life, and she's 16 months old this week. (I give credit to the high level 'antibodies' my house must build up in her!) But those reflux days...wow. I've never worried, laid awake at night, or agonized over anything like that in my life. I had just gone back to work around this time last year - talk about guilt layered on top of guilt - and I honestly don't remember much of what I was teaching, because that's just not where my mind was all day. I do remember guiltily enjoying some days just before my spring concert, because I at least HAD to focus on something other than reflux worry for a few hours. My friends tell me I'm so much more laid back and content now - well after worrying like that, nothing else really seems like that big a deal. Moms, you know what I'm talking about. That combined with the whole unexpectedly-natural birth, and I'm pretty sure I could tackle anything. And, thank God, in the grand scheme of things, our issues were nothing compared to what some parents have to worry about. Still...*whew* I do NOT want to go back there.
I have to admit I was a little nervous yesterday morning, not giving her any acid medicine at all. Of course I know she's fine, and probably could have been weaned off these meds a few months ago, she's been so healthy. But still, those few months were bad enough that I just gave a little 'gulp' as I put the medicine droppers away.
But hey - now we're done. So here's to no more reflux meds for my girlie! I'm so proud of you, Maddie! Every now and then, when she shovels pieces of cheese, chicken nugget, and green beans into her mouth - all at once - and then chug-a-lugs from her sippy, I remember that it used to be an awful battle to convince her to drink an ounce of liquid. And I'm beyond grateful for how it is now.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Late 20's?
No, 27 is not late 20's. 27 is still mid-20's.
And so is 29. And 32.
Lord I'm old.
Bob's mom brought Maddie in for lunch w/ me at school on my birthday. :-) So fun to show my girl off. She waltzed right up to a 2nd grade boy and tried to climb up him. And I must say that I'm now quite a fan of cute little girl dresses, now that she can walk. This is going to be a fun spring/summer. Damn she looks cute in dresses.Oh well. Feminists, sue me. She was SO adorable.
She caused such a distraction in one classroom when we walked by that the teacher asked us to come back in and let Maddie walk around - and give the kids a subject for their journal entry of the day, "What's Maddie Up To?" Cute cute cute. Later we went out for Mexican, gorged on nachos, and other combinations of tortillas with cheese, meat, and vegetables (that's really all Mexi places are, face it!) and threw cheerios all over the floor. Bob, like any smart husband, got me jewelry. And a DVD.
Bob's mom said 'officially' that she's on board for watching the kiddos. (Maddie plus sibling.) So we started talking about when this sibling is coming. And we started realizing that if we want this kiddo while Maddie is 2, we gotta start seriously thinking about this kiddo soon. No, not SOON, but earlier than I thought. These things just creep up on you. I feel like I just got done being pregnant. It wasn't particularly fun, beyond the extra cutesy-futesy attention and excuse to get lots of gifts. Blood sugar testing sucks. Sleeping on your sqashed left side constantly sucks. Not being able to tie your shoes sucks. Babies rock though, so they're worth it. But Maddie's birth, hospital time, and first few weeks were not exactly easy, and I'm a little scared of repeating them. Who knows if it will be the same, but I'm naturally a little apprehensive. *sigh* But on the other hand it will be SO awesome to have 2 kids. Well, I don't have to consider it JUST yet.
Well, my 5th graders are looking slightly less on-task. Time to go to work. They're writing rhythm compositions in rondo form. This is loud, but fun. Probably should have picked a quieter activity for the week of the NJ ASK testing. Oops. The kids need to cut lose and have a looser assignment this week, I think.
And they're gone. I like this altered schedule, I actually have 10 minutes in between classes to set up! Imagine!
Well, 1st is on their way. We're having a ridiculously easy week. I'm doing individual assessments while they watch a movie. I call them back one by one and have them do a rhythm and pitch assessment at my desk, then they get to go back and watch a MOVIE (treat of treats, they don't get that joy in my room much) and it's a very easy period for all of us. Which if fortunate, because grades are due next week and I'm about to be buried in them with all the evals I'm doing this and next week. What fun.
And so is 29. And 32.
Lord I'm old.
Bob's mom brought Maddie in for lunch w/ me at school on my birthday. :-) So fun to show my girl off. She waltzed right up to a 2nd grade boy and tried to climb up him. And I must say that I'm now quite a fan of cute little girl dresses, now that she can walk. This is going to be a fun spring/summer. Damn she looks cute in dresses.Oh well. Feminists, sue me. She was SO adorable.
She caused such a distraction in one classroom when we walked by that the teacher asked us to come back in and let Maddie walk around - and give the kids a subject for their journal entry of the day, "What's Maddie Up To?" Cute cute cute. Later we went out for Mexican, gorged on nachos, and other combinations of tortillas with cheese, meat, and vegetables (that's really all Mexi places are, face it!) and threw cheerios all over the floor. Bob, like any smart husband, got me jewelry. And a DVD.
Bob's mom said 'officially' that she's on board for watching the kiddos. (Maddie plus sibling.) So we started talking about when this sibling is coming. And we started realizing that if we want this kiddo while Maddie is 2, we gotta start seriously thinking about this kiddo soon. No, not SOON, but earlier than I thought. These things just creep up on you. I feel like I just got done being pregnant. It wasn't particularly fun, beyond the extra cutesy-futesy attention and excuse to get lots of gifts. Blood sugar testing sucks. Sleeping on your sqashed left side constantly sucks. Not being able to tie your shoes sucks. Babies rock though, so they're worth it. But Maddie's birth, hospital time, and first few weeks were not exactly easy, and I'm a little scared of repeating them. Who knows if it will be the same, but I'm naturally a little apprehensive. *sigh* But on the other hand it will be SO awesome to have 2 kids. Well, I don't have to consider it JUST yet.
Well, my 5th graders are looking slightly less on-task. Time to go to work. They're writing rhythm compositions in rondo form. This is loud, but fun. Probably should have picked a quieter activity for the week of the NJ ASK testing. Oops. The kids need to cut lose and have a looser assignment this week, I think.
And they're gone. I like this altered schedule, I actually have 10 minutes in between classes to set up! Imagine!
Well, 1st is on their way. We're having a ridiculously easy week. I'm doing individual assessments while they watch a movie. I call them back one by one and have them do a rhythm and pitch assessment at my desk, then they get to go back and watch a MOVIE (treat of treats, they don't get that joy in my room much) and it's a very easy period for all of us. Which if fortunate, because grades are due next week and I'm about to be buried in them with all the evals I'm doing this and next week. What fun.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Don't Talk Politics...
Blink it!
In case anyone wondered how I ended up voting on Super Tuesday, way back when, I went for Obama. Yes, Hill was my girl, but I gotta be a sell-out and claim that Barak is simply more electable, and I ain't messin' around this time. We CANNOT do another 4 years like this, people! What it came down to, really: When the candidates were asked about the "No Child Left Behind" laws and what they'd do about them (since they very clearly aren't working, as proven in black and white by these past 7 years of testing...) only BARAK OBAMA came out said he plans to get rid of the whole initiative, because focusing on test scores and teaching only to the tests does not produce educated, well-rounded students who are ready for real life. They will know only how to take standardized tests, and that is all. Clinton said she'd reorganize it and fund it better...but she failed to recognize that it's fundamentally WRONG in the first place, and needs to go.
So, sorry Hillary, you couldn't promise me what Barak could. So now I'm..
because...
In case anyone wondered how I ended up voting on Super Tuesday, way back when, I went for Obama. Yes, Hill was my girl, but I gotta be a sell-out and claim that Barak is simply more electable, and I ain't messin' around this time. We CANNOT do another 4 years like this, people! What it came down to, really: When the candidates were asked about the "No Child Left Behind" laws and what they'd do about them (since they very clearly aren't working, as proven in black and white by these past 7 years of testing...) only BARAK OBAMA came out said he plans to get rid of the whole initiative, because focusing on test scores and teaching only to the tests does not produce educated, well-rounded students who are ready for real life. They will know only how to take standardized tests, and that is all. Clinton said she'd reorganize it and fund it better...but she failed to recognize that it's fundamentally WRONG in the first place, and needs to go.
So, sorry Hillary, you couldn't promise me what Barak could. So now I'm..
because...
Thursday, February 14, 2008
I Always Knew I Should Have Started My Own Religion
If you founded a religion...
Created by EvilAuthor on Memegen.net
Created by EvilAuthor on Memegen.net
The Unobstrusive Worshippers of the 300-foot Glass Cathedral Down The Street From City Hall
Your followers are friendly and welcoming people,
who work for a living just like everybody else,
who are free and fun loving,
and who are encouraged to achieve greater spiritual enlightenment by questioning their own beliefs.
Your followers wear whatever they want.
Your followers are
a massive movement (over 7,000,000),
and they don't interfere with the beliefs of outsiders.
Take this quiz now - it's easy!
Sunday, February 03, 2008
A Chance to Blog
How nice. Of course, I really should finish the laundry, wash the floors, yadda yadda yadda.
But I just discovered that dear sis Cait left series 3 of "The Vicar of Dibley" for me in my series 1 case (yes, dear, it took me that long to find it. That's life!) and while my hubby is out running the sound board at church this morning, I'm enjoying the bawdy situational comedy of a 'randy' rural vicar on the BBC. Hey, it has religious themes. Gotta love Sunday.
*that crack of thunder you just heard was me being struck from above, heathen that I am*
Life is pretty good. Been sick for weeks, it seems. 2nd round of antibiotics seems to be taking effect nicely, and I'm starting a nasal spray soon. Not that you needed to know that, but hey, YOU checked my blog, YOU asked for it. School is nice, starting up spring chorus, planned out all my lessons till the end of the year so I feel like I've got a nice handle on it. My classroom is MESSY as hell...just random stuff needs to find a home. Handbells Enrichement class starts Wednesday, and amazingly enough I've already written and marked the first piece! Imagine, I'm prepared! Maddie's good - she learns new words pretty much daily...let's see, she says: Hi, shoe, tree, mamma, daddy, nana, choo-choo, night-night, up, no, yes, knee, doggie, max, um...oh, and PACI! This is quite an interesting development, since she can now ask for the paci, which she loves so dearly. She is not allowed to have it except for sleep. (Although I'm sure she and Nana break that rule from time to time, I often find the paci out in the living room, etc., but hey, when we ditch them, we pitch them, so when they're gone, they're gone.) She's awesome, entertaining, and she has a pretty easy routine. She's still very healthy (had one cold, knock wood). She's taken a few steps independently, and walks pushing toys and holding onto your finger, but she's made up her mind that crawling is faster. Oh, and she still has no teeth. According to child development sites, she's still within normal development range as far as this goes. Of course, this doesn't stop female friends of mine from gasping and suggesting I take her to the doctor when they hear that she's not cut a tooth yet. Other women suck, they're just there to make you worry.
Super Tuesday is almost upon us, and I actually find myself undecided, still. I'm hovering between Obama and Clinton. Duh. Either way, the world will be a better place...I just have to decide whether I care more about education reform or healthcare reform, at the time I actually go and vote. Cause I like Hill's healthcare, it's more inclusive. But Barak has come right out and said that teaching to the test does not a well-rounded student make, and he will fix No Child Left Behind. (Or at least fund the damn thing?!?! Hello!) I also have to see if I think people will be more likely to vote for a "white black guy" or a "ball-busting bitch". Bigots abound, you have to predict how they'll vote. Cause we will NOT have McCain, dang it. None of that, please!
Well, off to the laundry room I go. I actually got all ours done on Saturday.
OH! And CHEERS to my darling husband who did our taxes and squeezed out every little deduction possible and found us enough $ to entirely pay off our credit card. Take that, Visa.
But I just discovered that dear sis Cait left series 3 of "The Vicar of Dibley" for me in my series 1 case (yes, dear, it took me that long to find it. That's life!) and while my hubby is out running the sound board at church this morning, I'm enjoying the bawdy situational comedy of a 'randy' rural vicar on the BBC. Hey, it has religious themes. Gotta love Sunday.
*that crack of thunder you just heard was me being struck from above, heathen that I am*
Life is pretty good. Been sick for weeks, it seems. 2nd round of antibiotics seems to be taking effect nicely, and I'm starting a nasal spray soon. Not that you needed to know that, but hey, YOU checked my blog, YOU asked for it. School is nice, starting up spring chorus, planned out all my lessons till the end of the year so I feel like I've got a nice handle on it. My classroom is MESSY as hell...just random stuff needs to find a home. Handbells Enrichement class starts Wednesday, and amazingly enough I've already written and marked the first piece! Imagine, I'm prepared! Maddie's good - she learns new words pretty much daily...let's see, she says: Hi, shoe, tree, mamma, daddy, nana, choo-choo, night-night, up, no, yes, knee, doggie, max, um...oh, and PACI! This is quite an interesting development, since she can now ask for the paci, which she loves so dearly. She is not allowed to have it except for sleep. (Although I'm sure she and Nana break that rule from time to time, I often find the paci out in the living room, etc., but hey, when we ditch them, we pitch them, so when they're gone, they're gone.) She's awesome, entertaining, and she has a pretty easy routine. She's still very healthy (had one cold, knock wood). She's taken a few steps independently, and walks pushing toys and holding onto your finger, but she's made up her mind that crawling is faster. Oh, and she still has no teeth. According to child development sites, she's still within normal development range as far as this goes. Of course, this doesn't stop female friends of mine from gasping and suggesting I take her to the doctor when they hear that she's not cut a tooth yet. Other women suck, they're just there to make you worry.
Super Tuesday is almost upon us, and I actually find myself undecided, still. I'm hovering between Obama and Clinton. Duh. Either way, the world will be a better place...I just have to decide whether I care more about education reform or healthcare reform, at the time I actually go and vote. Cause I like Hill's healthcare, it's more inclusive. But Barak has come right out and said that teaching to the test does not a well-rounded student make, and he will fix No Child Left Behind. (Or at least fund the damn thing?!?! Hello!) I also have to see if I think people will be more likely to vote for a "white black guy" or a "ball-busting bitch". Bigots abound, you have to predict how they'll vote. Cause we will NOT have McCain, dang it. None of that, please!
Well, off to the laundry room I go. I actually got all ours done on Saturday.
OH! And CHEERS to my darling husband who did our taxes and squeezed out every little deduction possible and found us enough $ to entirely pay off our credit card. Take that, Visa.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Monday, December 31, 2007
Happy New Year!
Ah, what a year. Amazing. Last year while we were watching the New YEar's festivities in NY, we had a sweet little baby, who, after some major fussiness, was sleeping like a newborn upstairs, with not a tooth in her mouth. This year...um, yeah, we have the same. But not for long.
Whoo-hoo! (This is a sarcastic 'whoo-hoo', btw.) The girl is teething. (We're pretty sure.) And she may or may not have a runny nose cold type-thing. She woke up with a lovely crust over her nose. So pleasant. Don't know if it's a genuine cold (she was passing around the sippy cups w/ my friend's 20 month-old twins at Friday night's party, and they apparently woke up with nasty cold the next day.) Or, "unexplained" sniffles can be a sign of teething. Either way, we see something popping through there, and please noticed the new blinkie:
Yeah, had to break out the infant Motrin, and we heard quite a bit of yelling before she finally consented to be put to sleep. I of course had to sneak in later and check her. Poor kid. Happy New Year, she'll wae up to crusty nostrils.
Eh, whatever, there's worse things.
We went out to Red Lobster - damn them and their Cheddar Bay biscuits, they had me at hello! - and rented The Simpsons Movie and hung out, munching on our Christmas leftover goodies. The doggie is quite happy we're home. Now we're heckling the Home Shopping Network actors, and wondering why our hick neighbors have been setting off fireworks 12 minutes early. It's very nice here.
Whoo-hoo! (This is a sarcastic 'whoo-hoo', btw.) The girl is teething. (We're pretty sure.) And she may or may not have a runny nose cold type-thing. She woke up with a lovely crust over her nose. So pleasant. Don't know if it's a genuine cold (she was passing around the sippy cups w/ my friend's 20 month-old twins at Friday night's party, and they apparently woke up with nasty cold the next day.) Or, "unexplained" sniffles can be a sign of teething. Either way, we see something popping through there, and please noticed the new blinkie:
Yeah, had to break out the infant Motrin, and we heard quite a bit of yelling before she finally consented to be put to sleep. I of course had to sneak in later and check her. Poor kid. Happy New Year, she'll wae up to crusty nostrils.
Eh, whatever, there's worse things.
We went out to Red Lobster - damn them and their Cheddar Bay biscuits, they had me at hello! - and rented The Simpsons Movie and hung out, munching on our Christmas leftover goodies. The doggie is quite happy we're home. Now we're heckling the Home Shopping Network actors, and wondering why our hick neighbors have been setting off fireworks 12 minutes early. It's very nice here.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Cheers for Actually Showing the Tears
Although LOOONG overdue (but when do I have time to watch prime-time TV?) I want to say a big CHEERS to "Scrubs". I just started watching the 6th season on DVD (Thanks Dad!) and within the first few episodes, there's a very happily expected birth. One of the main female characters, Carla, gives birth, and for once the event doesn't include cute little huffs and puffs followed by a perfectly clean, healthy pink (aprox. 3 month-old) bundle being passed around while mommy sits back and glows, her lipstick still looking fresh. Carla instead labors for hours only to be given a C-section - a little nod to the harsh reality that the act of birthing NEVER goes the way you wish and plan for it to go.
In later episodes the male characters gradually piece together that Carla is showing signs of early postpartum depression. It's the big kicker at the end of a particularly great episode - remember, this a commedy - but as a woman watching the episode, a MOMMY, that is, I was practically yelling at the screen "Carla has PPD, duh!"
And it's not just cute little baby-blues sniffles. She's bawling uncontrollably. She's sobbing because she can't get her baby to latch on (Oh! What's this? Breastfeeding isn't perfectly easy and natural? But it looks so easy on TV! When they actually dare to mention it on TV, that is...) She's a depressed, panicked, sleep-deprived, desperate mess. She feels like she can't do it, has to get a break from the baby, isn't a fit mother. She was lying in bed holding a tiny, beautiful newborn, sobbing her brains out.
And I watched this silly-stupid sitcom that usually could make me snort coffee through my nose, and said, "oh my God...that was me."
It is awful, it's never the same mommy to mommy, and of course, it does eventually go away, and life seems absolutely beautiful a year later. I think I was lucky. But yeah, I remember it well.
Cheers to
for showing that sad, scary-ass side of new mommyhood.
In later episodes the male characters gradually piece together that Carla is showing signs of early postpartum depression. It's the big kicker at the end of a particularly great episode - remember, this a commedy - but as a woman watching the episode, a MOMMY, that is, I was practically yelling at the screen "Carla has PPD, duh!"
And it's not just cute little baby-blues sniffles. She's bawling uncontrollably. She's sobbing because she can't get her baby to latch on (Oh! What's this? Breastfeeding isn't perfectly easy and natural? But it looks so easy on TV! When they actually dare to mention it on TV, that is...) She's a depressed, panicked, sleep-deprived, desperate mess. She feels like she can't do it, has to get a break from the baby, isn't a fit mother. She was lying in bed holding a tiny, beautiful newborn, sobbing her brains out.
And I watched this silly-stupid sitcom that usually could make me snort coffee through my nose, and said, "oh my God...that was me."
It is awful, it's never the same mommy to mommy, and of course, it does eventually go away, and life seems absolutely beautiful a year later. I think I was lucky. But yeah, I remember it well.
Cheers to
for showing that sad, scary-ass side of new mommyhood.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
My New Year's Resolution:
"A mother who radiates
self-love and self-acceptance
vaccinates her daughter against
low self-esteem."
~Naomi Wolf
PS - I also resolve to take more walks, particularly with my girl, in her little red wagon.
self-love and self-acceptance
vaccinates her daughter against
low self-esteem."
~Naomi Wolf
PS - I also resolve to take more walks, particularly with my girl, in her little red wagon.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Are you absolutely and totally bollicking crazy?
"Well, I can't believe I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and the stuff I can't believe is not I Can't Believe It's Not Butter are not butter, and I believe that they both just might in fact be butter, but in cunning disguises, and in fact there's a lot more butter out there than we believe."
Love Vicar of Dibley
Love Vicar of Dibley
Sunday, December 23, 2007
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