|
Mommy Talk
August 2007
Wednesday August 29, 2007
Posted by: mlaehr at 11:06AM CST on August 29, 2007
On Tuesday my oldest child will join the ranks of grade-schoolers as he heads off for kindergarten. And I will join the ranks of mothers across the country, blinking back tears, as the child that was a baby yesterday walks away for the first time with a backpack and lunch box. ... (more) Tuesday August 28, 2007
Posted by: eyoung at 8:15AM CST on August 28, 2007
Parents begin potty training at birth; growing ’diaper-free’ movement also draws skepticism By Rodrique Ngowi, Associated Press Writer SUTTON, Mass. — Thirteen-month-old Dominic Klatt stopped banging the furniture in the verandah, looked at his mother and clasped his right hand around his left wrist to signal that he needed to go to the bathroom. His mother took the diaper-less tot to a tree in the yard, held him in a squatting position and made a gentle hissing sound — prompting the infant to relieve himself on cue before he rushed back to play. Dominic is a product of a growing "diaper-free" movement founded on the belief that babies are born with an instinctive ability to signal when they have to answer nature’s call. Parents who practice the so-called "elimination communication" learn to read their children’s body language to help them recognize the need, and they mimic the sounds that a child associates with the bathroom. Erinn Klatt began toilet training her son at birth and said he has not wet his bed at night since he was six months old. "The nice part is ... really getting the majority of poops in the toilet versus having to clean that," Klatt said. "I don’t have to wake up at night and change diapers or have wet sheets anywhere. That’s really nice. "And being able to travel without a big, bloated diaper bag is terrific," she said. ... (more)Monday August 27, 2007
Posted by: eyoung at 9:20AM CST on August 27, 2007
I've never been a pet person. I do not like animals sniffing around my feet under the table while I am eating. I do not like animal hair on my coat, pants, sofa or comforter cover. I'm not one to let a four-legged anything into my bed, and I’m certainly not fond of cleaning up dog poop. Little dogs that jump as high as my face make me nervous. My oldest daughter freaks out when she encounters dogs she does not know — and even dogs she knows but sees infrequently — and I don’t blame her. And just last Christmas at a family party, my then-2-year-old had too close of a call with a cranky old dog that belongs to an uncle. The dog snapped at her beautiful little face, and she ended up with big bruises and deep scratches from her eye to her chin. (Thank God that’s all that happened.) So it surprised me last month when an e-mail from a friend of my brother’s had me forwarding dog pictures to my husband. The friend was moving to Boston and was too broke to find an apartment that allowed pets. Therefore he needed to find a good owner for his beloved 2-year-old mastiff. All of a sudden, I wanted a dog. A HUGE dog. ... (more)Friday August 24, 2007
Posted by: mlaehr at 10:01AM CST on August 24, 2007
On Tuesday my daughter marked her 16th week. When people ask me how old she is, I usually give it to them in months. For example, right now I say 3 1/2 months or almost 4 months. Because although she is 16 weeks old, Josie won’t be 4 months until September 1. Confusing, huh? I use months because I think it is less complicated, but I often hear people give a baby’s age in weeks. I’ve actually been embarrassed before by having to stop and calculate weeks in my head when a mom says, "He’s 31 weeks." Of course, when she was younger I measured her age in weeks - as in 2 weeks or 8 weeks - but beyond 12, it’s just too much work. Which have you used? Which is less confusing to you? And if you do use weeks, when do you stop? (I just figured out that my 4-year-old is 212 weeks old.) -Marci Wednesday August 22, 2007
Posted by: Janine Anderson at 8:18AM CST on August 22, 2007
I was talking about child care options with my mom the other night. She stayed home with me and my sisters for 12 years - until the youngest of us was in first grade. She said she doesn't regret her "12 year maternity leave." I don't think I could do that. Sometimes, just thinking about my 12 week maternity leave gets me nervous. I like the idea of a stay-at-home parent; I just don't want to do it. My husband, on the other hand, thinks it would be great. He says he'd love being home all day. And I believe him. Over the years I've seen several friends decide to have the father stay home. Now that I think about it, of the families I know where one parent stayed home, dads make up the bulk of the at-home parents. There are so many new household jobs that a child brings with it - diaper changes, feedings, bathtime, bedtime, extra laundry and a whole new scheduling problem for all the chores that keep the place running. How do you figure out who does what around the house? Is it an equal balance, or is one parent picking up the bulk of the work? Monday August 20, 2007
Posted by: eyoung at 2:49PM CST on August 20, 2007
So??? Was it all you hoped it would be? Was it worth all the anticipation, the hype, the marketing? Did it fulfill your every expectation? And the true test: Is the new soundtrack in your minivan yet? I’m talking, of course, about "High School Musical 2," the Disney sequel that premiered Friday night to an audience of 17.24 million. That’s the largest audience for any telecast in the history of basic-cable television, by the way. For comparison’s sake, the series finale of "The Sopranos" pulled in a first-telecast crowd of 11.9 million (Source: The Washington Post). We couldn’t watch the premiere Friday — an annual festival in my husband’s hometown offered a Tilt-a-Whirl and a Giant Slide, perhaps the only things more exciting than Zac Efron to an elementary-school-aged girl right now. But luckily, Grandma taped it and we DVR’d it, and we’ve already watched parts of it three times. And there they were, just like old friends: Ryan and Sharpay, Troy and Gabriella. Sporting new hair cuts and singing new songs. Facing new obstacles and overcoming them, as a team. ("What TEAM? WILDCATS!!!") It was, like, the Best Thing Ever for my daughters, who sadly are only 3 and 5 but already know the first movie by heart — to the point where my 3-year-old ogles every pretty brunette she sees. "Is that Gabriella?" she’ll ask, her voice all breathy and awestruck. My 3-year-old loves Gabriella. It’s an obsession. This I know. I just haven’t decided how unhealthy an obsession yet. It started with my 5-year-old. (We’re not so horrible at this parenting thing that we’d let our 3-year-old seek out "High School Musical" on her own). My older daughter came home from school sometime last spring insisting that we get "High School Musical" because Claire and Molly and Lila already knew all the words to all the songs. I had no idea what she was talking about. Little did I know how my life was about to change. We DVR’d the movie on the Disney Channel one weekend, and I found the soundtrack on iTunes. Now we are officially a "High School Musical" family. The soundtrack is in the minivan. I absentmindedly hum the songs at work. My husband wakes up with the bubblegum pop ballads on repeat inside his brain. And every time I stand up from my chair at work, there’s a little part of me that wants to slide away from my desk, my arms outstretched ala Troy, singing "I’m SOOOARIN’, flYY-in’. There’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach. If we're tryin' yeah we’re breakin’ free..." OK, see — got caught up in the moment a little bit right there. It’s hard not to. I’ve seen the first movie no less than 20 times. It’s cheesy, yes. But no worse than "Grease" and "Grease 2" — my obsessions in my younger day — and a lot, um, less risque. Troy and Gabriella don’t even kiss until the end of "HSM2" (Whoops, probably should have warned with a "Spoiler Alert") and the songs are about becoming who you are, regardless of who other people think you should be. Gabriella’s the smart girl. Troy’s the hardworking basketball star. Sharpay’s the villainess who is nowhere near as mean as real middle school and high school girls today. When the movie ends — both HSM 1 & 2 — they’ve learned a lesson about honesty, friendship and being true to themselves. They’re "All in this Together," after all. So what’s not to love? Besides, when my 3-year-old so seriously sings Gabriella’s winsome ballad "When There Was Me and You," I think it’s absolutely adorable. Videotape-it-and-put-it-on-YouTube adorable. Send-it-to-Disney-because-they’ll-want-to-make-her-their-next-star adorable. I love my 3-year-old as Gabriella. I can’t offer a mom’s review of "High School Musical 2" yet, as I’ve only seen it in bits and pieces. But I guarantee that I’ll know all the words to all the songs by Sept. 1. In the meantime, test yourself. Call yourself a parent of a 5- to 12-year-old girl? See how well you do: 1. What holiday are Troy and Gabriella celebrating when they first meet? 2. What’s the name of the drama teacher, and how would she pronounce the title of the movie? 3. What city is home to the Wildcats and what are their team colors? 4. To which group does the girl whose real passion is hip hop belong? (Extra point: What does the one kid ask when she admits she loves to "pop and lock and jam and break"? He says, "Is that even _______?") 5. In "HSM2," what kind of class is Mrs. Evans taking when Sharpay and Ryan interrupt her with their latest crisis? Who joins in? 6. Who changes Troy’s song for the country club talent show at the last minute? And now, my own "High School Musical" version of the NBC/Fox game show "Singing Bee" or whatever it’s called — finish these songs: 7. "It’s funny when you find yourself _____ _____ _____ _____." 8. "Something is really—something’s not right—really wrong. And we’ve got to get things back where they belong. We can _____ _____!" 9. "Living in my own world/Didn’t understand/That anything can happen _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ." 10. "No, no, no, noooooooooo / Stick to the stuff you know / It is better by far / To keep things as they are / Don’t mess with the flow, no no / _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ." So, how’d you do? And did you let your daughters watch "High School Musical 2"?
Tuesday August 14, 2007
Posted by: mlaehr at 4:00PM CST on August 14, 2007
I read the recent Mommy Talk post about Liz’s daughter ordering her a sofa at Target.com with horror. Not because I fear my children might do something similar, but because they don’t know the first thing about the computers in our home. I felt the fear that many parents of our age feel - often unnecessarily: Is my child behind on this? It’s irrational, I know. My boys are only 4 and 5. Who cares if they don’t know how to use a mouse yet? They know how to tie their own shoes, write their names, read a little and sing our phone number. (This is me being defensive by the way.) And yet I was only further distressed when my sister-in-law and her daughters came to spend the afternoon yesterday. Her oldest daughter is about six months younger than my 4-year-old. And SHE showed me a get-ready-to-read program online. It was the final straw. My boys went online last night. Surprisingly, the Inky and Gus (they’re the guys from Between the Lions) activities were entertaining enough for my sons and educational enough for me. At bedtime, they made me promise to let them play again tonight. I happily agreed. Anyone have any other age-appropriate online games to suggest? -Marci Friday August 10, 2007
Posted by: Rob at 12:12PM CST on August 10, 2007
For as long as they can remember, my 4 and 5-year-old boys have been the center of attention in our house. They are so close that instead of competing for my and my husband’s attention, they often team up to get it. I was pretty nervous about how my boys would react to the new baby we brought home in May. They’ve never been what you might call patient, or good listeners. I was afraid every time I answered a request with, “I can’t right now, I’m feeding the baby,” or “Please play outside for a little while so I can get the baby down for her nap,” they would hoot and holler about it. I was wrong. My boys have been incredibly good about letting me tend to the baby’s needs. They even help me by throwing away dirty diapers and singing her songs when she’s fussy and I need to do the dishes. Of course, they still don’t listen very well when it comes to cleaning up their toys, but I refuse to give up hope. In fact, my husband and I really have had only one problem concerning the boys and their new baby sister: they can’t get enough of her. They kiss and hug her to the point that I’m afraid they’ll smother her. They are constantly asking when they will be old enough to feed her, burp her, carry her and give her a bath on their own - which makes me very nervous that they will try. (Of course, I’ve talked with them about it, but as I stated above, they aren’t very good listeners.) I don’t want to reprimand them about over-loving their sister, but when they are practically crawling into her cradle, I have to. Have other parents had this issue? Did the older child/children eventually loosen up their grip on their younger brother or sister? Marci Wednesday August 8, 2007
Posted by: Janine Anderson at 11:18AM CST on August 8, 2007
A year or two ago I read a newspaper article about how there's something about babies and small children that draw adults' attention. They're fascinating, these little humans, with their gurgles and cries and finger-grabbing. Who wouldn't want to just watch them? New parents walk into the room, carrying the infant, and everyone focuses on the baby. Pregnancy is giving me a little taste of that. I'm creeping up on the six month mark, and my belly has become a topic of conversation. I mean, it's getting pretty hard to miss. ... (more) Monday August 6, 2007
Posted by: eyoung at 1:54PM CST on August 6, 2007
So guess what my 5-year-old did last week. She ordered us a new couch from Target.com. She had been playing on the computer in the kitchen for an hour or so, taking pictures of herself with our iMac’s Photo Booth, typing her name, closing windows and launching PBSKids.org from the desktop. A few hours later, I checked my e-mail and found an order confirmation from Target. She had ordered us the Metropolitan Sofa in Chocolate Brown. Priority shipping. It would arrive in 3-5 business days. It took me a minute to figure out what happened. My husband is not the type to willingly shop for furniture, so I knew it wasn’t him. And while I am a little absent-minded, I was pretty confident it wasn’t me. "Soph," I yell outside, where she’s playing in the pool with her dad. "You ordered us a couch?" ... (more)We lost her Barbie at Shedd Aquarium
Posted by: Rob at 1:42PM CST on August 6, 2007
... and she screamed and screamed and screamed. We looked everywhere, went back to the cafeteria, looked under people's legs, made it back to the car in the heat, drove home, told 4-year-old Barbie would probably go to another little girl who doesn't have one, more sadness, got home, found Barbie in my pocket. Friday August 3, 2007
Posted by: mlaehr at 9:54AM CST on August 3, 2007
After 12 weeks of being a stay at home mom, I dreaded coming back to work. As the end of my maternity leave approached, I tried not to think about how quickly the days were slipping by. For the past 3 months I had napped with my beautiful baby girl, read to my children, watched my boys splash around in their backyard swimming pool, and enjoyed every moment of my little girl’s coos and smiles. I even got a chance to putter in my garden and to read the new Harry Potter book. A big part of me wished that I would never have to come back to work. A little part of me was excited about it. ... (more)Wednesday August 1, 2007
Posted by: Janine Anderson at 8:50AM CST on August 1, 2007
I'm now a bit more than five months pregnant, and I can now feel the baby moving several times, every day. That's an incredibly concrete reminder that, for now, I am this baby's entire world. I'm also the baby's filter. Everything I encounter passes through to the baby. What I eat nourishes both of us. The things I feel, and their corresponding chemical responses, get passed on, too. My heartbeat and blood flowing past are the loudest sounds around, and the baby hears my voice whenever I talk. In a few months, the baby will be out in the world. No more mom filter. It will be amazing to watch this little one learn about the world: touching, tasting, smelling, moving, seeing, hearing. Babies are like little scientists. Just about everything they do is testing the world around them. They test us, by crying when they need something. If we respond by helping them, they learn that their needs will be met. They drop things, and for them, that's exciting. Why wouldn't it be? No one has told them about gravity yet. They get to discover that on their own. In the process, they'll learn that mom and dad, grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, will retrieve dropped things ad inifinitum. What a fun game! They'll learn to blow kisses, to play peek-a-boo, to sit up, roll over, crawl and walk. Soon, I'll be able to watch my own little one make discoveries and learn things. I won't be the baby's entire world any more, but that's OK. I'll get to watch the process of a new person discovering exactly what this world holds. |
About This Blog
Mommy Talk Blog
  6 rating(s)
Categories
Older Posts
Current Entries
November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007
Latest Entries
Loading...
 |
Leave a Message
Leave a Comment
Request a Friend