I'm mad as hell

and I'm not going to take it anymore.

RESPECT MY AUTHORITY!

My parents are the type of people who think they know everything. They have never made a mistake in their life. Never had a parenting issue. In all fairness, they did raise 4 extraordinary kids, but that may have been a fluke. Growing up, we were limited to the number of activities we could do b.c. mom didn't want to drive to get us, they warned us about sex, took us to a conservative Christian Church, came occasionally to performances/recitals, etc. Despite feeling a little ignored, they also insisted on family dinner and holidays, which may be why I feel loyalty to them. My mom and I havr grown closer as I've grown older. Now with a new baby, we are back at square one.

I should be supplementing, I should be giving solids, why do I listen to my pediatrician? Why isn't that baby in his own room? He looks uncomfortable in his sling. He isn't satisfied with milk alone. Why cloth diaper, you can do other things to save the environment. For instance, don't buy juice boxes. You overdress him....and on and on.....

My mom says these things to my face, my dad sends passive aggressive emails to my sisters. They both think I should get a life. Thanks, I have one.

Being a feminist mom

So today as I drove to teach class, wishing I could stay home with DS and clean house, play, be domestic, I thought a little about how shocked my MIL was that I would ever consider being a stay at home mom. She "couldn't imagine not having a career." She always intended to go back to work and when I told her DH and I wanted a big family and eventually I might like to stay home and take care of the kids, she just couldn't believe it. In all fairness, I am a raging feminist. I study rape and prostitution in the 18th century. I'm active in women's groups. I took a lot of time deciding whether or not to change my name. Despite that though I don't think feminist=working outside the home. The problem with feminism is that people have such extreme ideas of what it is. I think we can thank NOW for that. Feminism, for me, is simply about choice. I have the choice to be a mom, have a career, go to school, stay home, etc...No one choice defines me as a woman.



Of course, I got to school, had a fantastic class, went to the library and picked up stuff for comps. Would it be so wrong to get a PhD just to have a PhD? I could be Dr. Mom.

Cloth: the final frontier

t's official the rest of my cloth diapers just arrived! I'm in the process of getting together everything I need to make the switch. Dipes, cloth wiipes, wetbags, a diaper pail etc...

Once I get settled into cding, I will post a beginner's guide to cloth diapers for other moms who are interested. So stay tuned!

For now though, I thought you might be interested in why I am making the switch from sposies to cloth.

1. I find myself very into natural/attachment parenting. I knew I was going to bf, but I didn't expect to become such an instinctual mom. I've found my expectations were out of line with the reality. I expected James to sleep in a crib. I expected him to use disposable diapers and love riding in a stroller. That's not what worked for us though, and I have learned to trust my gut.

2. That gut has been telling me that I needed to research cloth diapers. I felt guilty throwing away all those sposies.

3. I found out some interesting facts: the chemicals in sposies are associated with toxic shock, blindness, etc. I don't want that next to my son's privates. Disposables take upwards of 20 years to decompose. The average child goes through 1200 disposable diapers in the first year. (I found a lot of info a lot of places, some of it differed in factuality, but the principal was the same: diapers=chemicals+waste).

4. I found that cloth is much easier than it once was and very cute!



So wish me luck. I can't wait to tell you guys how it's going!

A prayer for mothers

I wrote this prayer to express the joys/concerns/etc I feel as a new mom.

The New Mother's Prayer
J .L. Albin

Lord, help me to be the mother my son thinks I am.
Give me the patience to meet his needs without frustratration,
The understanding to know the hard times will pass,
And the strength to trust my abilities as a parent.
Remind me that each day is precious and fleeting
And that I will only hold him in my arms a short time.
Grant me the confidence to be the mother I choose to be
And guide me when I feel helpless, lost, or unsure.
Let my son feel my love in all my actions
And help me to protect and nurture him all of my days.

Personifying Food and Other Strange Marketing Campaigns

What ad exec at Taco Bell decided personifying burritos was the way to sell tacos? Am I suppose to believe a beef melt is really talking to a nurse at the emergency room? Is anyone? Is that even in a small way funny?

In an effort to find out, I will now personify my breastmilk(bm):

BM: Help, I'm lost!
Police: But you're milk!
BM: Actually I'm Breastmilk.
Police: How can you be lost?
BM: I've lost my boob.
Police: How can you lose a boob?
BM: I don't know I'm just breastmilk.
Police: You're going to have to wait 48 hours to file a missing persons report.
BM: I'm not missing a person, I'm missing a boob.

Funny? No....not at all... Seriously, send an email to Taco Bell and tell them to fire their marketing team.

Accepting applications: motivation needed

So the pod person went on vaca on the day my son pooped on our sheets, the floor needs vacuuming, lesson plans aren't ready, and my husband is watching football. Incidentally how did an academic like myself wind up with a sports fan. Now don't peg me as one of those women who can't differentiate between a touchdown and a homerun. I know the rules to most major sports and understand them but I don't get why its entertaining. Moving on...If you fit the job description below, I have a salary of endless love to offer you:

-endless supply of patience and energy
- no need to sleep or eat
- a drive to actually clean the house not just move around the mess
- a willingness to have sex with my husband - lord knows I don't have the energy and he has needs
- a general love of cats
- the ability to hang pictures, clean tile, fold laundry and scrub pans
- boobs that never tire of being used as a pacifier, chew toy, and bottle
- bilingual - not sure why but it seems like a good idea.

I'm sure I just described moms everywhere, except for the fourth one. 'Cuz let's face it, no mom has time for sex.