Latest post up at The Bump!
I used to be a pretty terrible cook. I could bake with reasonable capability, but cooking was a mystery to me. I think this is because baking requires close adherence to a recipe whereas the best cooking is spontaneous. And I am not spontaneous. I once took an entire month to plan a weekend trip in Florida and thought I was being crazily spur-of-the-moment.
Over the past four years, however, my cooking has improved approximately ten-thousand-fold. Where I once used to be amazed at Andrew’s ability to look at what food we had in the kitchen and then just make something up for dinner, I now find myself throwing together our fresh-from-the-farm-share vegetables in surprising new combinations. Wait, that makes me sound super obnoxious. The combinations aren’t really all that surprising. But I’ve come a long way and dinner is usually a tasty affair appreciated by at least two, sometimes even three out of four members of the household!
Read more at
TheBump.com
Showing posts with label TheBump. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TheBump. Show all posts
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
One day a week
Latest post up at The Bump.
Andrew and I are blessed with an unusual work arrangement. He works long days four days a week leaving him free to stay home with the children on the two Thursdays a month that I work. We’ve been doing this pretty much since Jack was born; the only thing that has really changed is my own work situation, but the point is that Andrew has been solo-parenting one day a week for three years. If there is any way you can arrange something similar, I highly recommend you try it. Not only does this arrangement give me the sanity that comes from getting out of the house without kids to do something mentally stimulating, it gives Andrew the chance to do some solo parenting once in a while. And when I get home on Thursday afternoon, we both have a new perspective on things.
Read the rest at The Bump!
Andrew and I are blessed with an unusual work arrangement. He works long days four days a week leaving him free to stay home with the children on the two Thursdays a month that I work. We’ve been doing this pretty much since Jack was born; the only thing that has really changed is my own work situation, but the point is that Andrew has been solo-parenting one day a week for three years. If there is any way you can arrange something similar, I highly recommend you try it. Not only does this arrangement give me the sanity that comes from getting out of the house without kids to do something mentally stimulating, it gives Andrew the chance to do some solo parenting once in a while. And when I get home on Thursday afternoon, we both have a new perspective on things.
Read the rest at The Bump!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Their marketing power alone is enough to scare me
Latest post up at The Bump!
A weird side-effect of preschool is the way Jack learns things that I don’t teach him. Wait, it sounds wrong to call that a side-effect – “He’s learning things! At school! How strange!” – but I’m talking about pop culture, like the way he joyously identified and selected the Mickey Mouse underpants when we went to Target to replenish his stock despite our never having exposed him to anything Mickey-related in any way. Now, it’s not that I’m opposed to Disney, exactly, but sometimes Disney does seem a bit… Big Brother-y to me, and I was fine with postponing the inevitable for as long as possible. Which, as it turns out, is about three and a half years.
Read the rest at TheBump.com
A weird side-effect of preschool is the way Jack learns things that I don’t teach him. Wait, it sounds wrong to call that a side-effect – “He’s learning things! At school! How strange!” – but I’m talking about pop culture, like the way he joyously identified and selected the Mickey Mouse underpants when we went to Target to replenish his stock despite our never having exposed him to anything Mickey-related in any way. Now, it’s not that I’m opposed to Disney, exactly, but sometimes Disney does seem a bit… Big Brother-y to me, and I was fine with postponing the inevitable for as long as possible. Which, as it turns out, is about three and a half years.
Read the rest at TheBump.com
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The Great Debinkining
New post up at The Bump!
When Jack was born, I took the advice of my wiser and more experienced older sisters and went right ahead and gave him a pacifier so I could get twenty minutes of solo sleep, nipple confusion be damned. And boy howdy, that bink was a godsend at times. I used to feel sympathy for one of my sisters whose kids never took a pacifier because the bink was a large part of the reason he slept through the night when he did. “I’ll take it away when it becomes a problem,” I thought.
Read more at TheBump.com
When Jack was born, I took the advice of my wiser and more experienced older sisters and went right ahead and gave him a pacifier so I could get twenty minutes of solo sleep, nipple confusion be damned. And boy howdy, that bink was a godsend at times. I used to feel sympathy for one of my sisters whose kids never took a pacifier because the bink was a large part of the reason he slept through the night when he did. “I’ll take it away when it becomes a problem,” I thought.
Read more at TheBump.com
Saturday, January 30, 2010
I'm holding out on the Mom Jeans
Latest post up at TheBump!
Although I live in a cold climate, I own remarkably few sweaters. And I am cold. So for Christmas this year, I told Andrew what I needed, and he passed it along to his mom. Thus it was that on Christmas afternoon, I gratefully opened box after box of cotton pullovers and cardigans along with a few long-sleeved t-shirts.
Read more at TheBump.com
Although I live in a cold climate, I own remarkably few sweaters. And I am cold. So for Christmas this year, I told Andrew what I needed, and he passed it along to his mom. Thus it was that on Christmas afternoon, I gratefully opened box after box of cotton pullovers and cardigans along with a few long-sleeved t-shirts.
Read more at TheBump.com
Friday, January 8, 2010
Three-year-olds: A PSA
Latest post at TheBump.com!
One of my nephews – I think I call him “Elfin Nephew” – has an oppositional personality. Fortunately, his mother happens to be a family therapist and knows how to deal with oppositional children, and we’ve witnessed her spending the last six years saying things like, “Oh, you can’t get dressed in five minutes. No way. It’s too hard.” Jack, however, is not oppositional. We were always able to get him to do stuff by issuing the challenge and assuming he CAN do it, and, for the first three years of his life, that worked. OK, so really for the last year and a half; we didn’t issue him many challenges when he was a newborn, but you get the idea.
Read more at The Bump
One of my nephews – I think I call him “Elfin Nephew” – has an oppositional personality. Fortunately, his mother happens to be a family therapist and knows how to deal with oppositional children, and we’ve witnessed her spending the last six years saying things like, “Oh, you can’t get dressed in five minutes. No way. It’s too hard.” Jack, however, is not oppositional. We were always able to get him to do stuff by issuing the challenge and assuming he CAN do it, and, for the first three years of his life, that worked. OK, so really for the last year and a half; we didn’t issue him many challenges when he was a newborn, but you get the idea.
Read more at The Bump
Friday, October 30, 2009
On having two
Latest post up at The Bump!
Well, FIRST of all, having two is exhausting. This is not news, nor is it particularly interesting, but it is TRUE and must be said. So. It is exhausting.
Second of all, the “terrible threes” have descended upon us, officially beginning this past Saturday, the 24th. Sure, sure, the saying is “terrible twos” but that’s only because it’s alliterative. Three is MUCH harder than two. Last Tuesday I very nearly lost my mind entirely as every single solitary act I required of him became a battle of epic proportions. Sit on the potty. Wash your hands. Let me brush your teeth. Put on underpants. Put on underpants. Put on underpants. We will not discuss anything else until you put on underpants. Underpants. Underpants. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, CHILD, PUT ON YOUR UNDERPANTS.
Read more at TheBump.com.
Well, FIRST of all, having two is exhausting. This is not news, nor is it particularly interesting, but it is TRUE and must be said. So. It is exhausting.
Second of all, the “terrible threes” have descended upon us, officially beginning this past Saturday, the 24th. Sure, sure, the saying is “terrible twos” but that’s only because it’s alliterative. Three is MUCH harder than two. Last Tuesday I very nearly lost my mind entirely as every single solitary act I required of him became a battle of epic proportions. Sit on the potty. Wash your hands. Let me brush your teeth. Put on underpants. Put on underpants. Put on underpants. We will not discuss anything else until you put on underpants. Underpants. Underpants. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, CHILD, PUT ON YOUR UNDERPANTS.
Read more at TheBump.com.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Potty Training: Done and done. Sort of.
Latest post up at TheBump.com!
So! It’s going much better now! So much better, we’re calling this kid “Trained.” Of course, he still wears a diaper at night, and he still has accidents sometimes, and he has yet to use our actual toilet… but! He has used OTHER toilets! One was even without a special seat!
Speaking of special toilet seats, has anyone else caught themselves about to say, “You need a special seat so you don’t fall in,” thus nearly instilling a heretofore unknown toilet fear? I came this close, people. “You need a special seat so you don’t – uh, so that it’s, uh, more comfortable.”
Read more at The Bump!
So! It’s going much better now! So much better, we’re calling this kid “Trained.” Of course, he still wears a diaper at night, and he still has accidents sometimes, and he has yet to use our actual toilet… but! He has used OTHER toilets! One was even without a special seat!
Speaking of special toilet seats, has anyone else caught themselves about to say, “You need a special seat so you don’t fall in,” thus nearly instilling a heretofore unknown toilet fear? I came this close, people. “You need a special seat so you don’t – uh, so that it’s, uh, more comfortable.”
Read more at The Bump!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
So, how goes the potty training?
Latest post at The Bump!
Eh, mezzo mezzo. You might recall my last post wherein I described an elaborate plan involving stickers and trucks and hopes of said trucks inspiring an attitude of eager willingness. Well that didn’t work out quite like I had planned.
In the first place, we had devised too complicated of a rewards program wherein Jack would get one sticker for peeing in the potty, two for pooping, and one sticker at the end of the day if he had tried to go on the potty every time we asked him to. And then, when the line of stickers reached all the way across the chart to the picture of the truck, he’d get the backhoe loader! But here’s the problem: YOU probably don’t even understand that last rule. I originally came up with it because I was trying to ensure a steady progress towards the truck. I thought that if he didn’t get stickers fast enough, he’d lose interest in the sticker chart and forget about the truck, but I was also worried that if I gave him a sticker every time he tried the potty, he’d just “try” until he earned the truck and then stop.
Read more at TheBump.com!
Eh, mezzo mezzo. You might recall my last post wherein I described an elaborate plan involving stickers and trucks and hopes of said trucks inspiring an attitude of eager willingness. Well that didn’t work out quite like I had planned.
In the first place, we had devised too complicated of a rewards program wherein Jack would get one sticker for peeing in the potty, two for pooping, and one sticker at the end of the day if he had tried to go on the potty every time we asked him to. And then, when the line of stickers reached all the way across the chart to the picture of the truck, he’d get the backhoe loader! But here’s the problem: YOU probably don’t even understand that last rule. I originally came up with it because I was trying to ensure a steady progress towards the truck. I thought that if he didn’t get stickers fast enough, he’d lose interest in the sticker chart and forget about the truck, but I was also worried that if I gave him a sticker every time he tried the potty, he’d just “try” until he earned the truck and then stop.
Read more at TheBump.com!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sticker charts: Socially condoned child-bribing
Latest post up at TheBump.com.
Jack is almost three. (Insert your own “where-did-my-baby-go” comments here.) He’ll be three in October, just over two months from now but, aside from one successful peeing incident three months ago and a couple of earnest attempts, there has been no progress on the potty-training front. If anything, there has been backsliding, because Jack expresses a total lack of interest where he used to consent at least to sitting on the potty and/or toilet to see if anything would come out.
I have to admit that we were not trying that hard either, especially as my pregnancy progressed and I got larger and less able to deal with… anything. By eight months, I was lucky to make it through the day, so I was not about to fight with a small person about sitting on a toilet seat.
Read more at TheBump.com!
Read more at The Bump!
Jack is almost three. (Insert your own “where-did-my-baby-go” comments here.) He’ll be three in October, just over two months from now but, aside from one successful peeing incident three months ago and a couple of earnest attempts, there has been no progress on the potty-training front. If anything, there has been backsliding, because Jack expresses a total lack of interest where he used to consent at least to sitting on the potty and/or toilet to see if anything would come out.
I have to admit that we were not trying that hard either, especially as my pregnancy progressed and I got larger and less able to deal with… anything. By eight months, I was lucky to make it through the day, so I was not about to fight with a small person about sitting on a toilet seat.
Read more at TheBump.com!
Read more at The Bump!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Whoever thought the discharge would be the hardest part of the birth?
Latest post up at TheBump.com!
I will be posting Nora’s birth story on my personal blog once I get around to writing it, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to post Nora’s leaving-the-hospital story here. “Leaving-the-hospital story?” I can hear you saying. “What’s there to tell?”
Well, I’ll tell you.
I have, as you know, a toddler named Jack. When Jack was born, HIS leaving-the-hospital story was uneventful; the nurse gave me my discharge instructions and we left. Done and done. But Nora’s and my discharge was something else entirely. At first, it seemed like it would be no big deal. In the morning, I asked the nurses what was involved in the discharge and what time would it occur so that I could tell Andrew when to come get me. I was told that once the doctors had checked the two of us and given their all-clears, it was a simple matter of signing some paperwork and we could go. Thus, once Nora and I had seen our respective doctors, I called Andrew and told him he could come any time; we’d probably be ready in about ninety minutes.
Then I fed Nora and brought her back to the nursery so I could shower. On the way back to my room, I stopped at the nurses’ station to let them know the Social Security/birth certificate person had not yet been by with the forms. Then I went back to the room, undressed, and started to get in the shower.
Read more at TheBump.com!
I will be posting Nora’s birth story on my personal blog once I get around to writing it, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to post Nora’s leaving-the-hospital story here. “Leaving-the-hospital story?” I can hear you saying. “What’s there to tell?”
Well, I’ll tell you.
I have, as you know, a toddler named Jack. When Jack was born, HIS leaving-the-hospital story was uneventful; the nurse gave me my discharge instructions and we left. Done and done. But Nora’s and my discharge was something else entirely. At first, it seemed like it would be no big deal. In the morning, I asked the nurses what was involved in the discharge and what time would it occur so that I could tell Andrew when to come get me. I was told that once the doctors had checked the two of us and given their all-clears, it was a simple matter of signing some paperwork and we could go. Thus, once Nora and I had seen our respective doctors, I called Andrew and told him he could come any time; we’d probably be ready in about ninety minutes.
Then I fed Nora and brought her back to the nursery so I could shower. On the way back to my room, I stopped at the nurses’ station to let them know the Social Security/birth certificate person had not yet been by with the forms. Then I went back to the room, undressed, and started to get in the shower.
Read more at TheBump.com!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Because I said so
Latest post is up at The Bump!
Jack started talking early, and has advanced at a pretty decent clip. In most ways, this is absolutely delightful. Take, for example, his current penchant for coming into our bed around 6:00 am and saying, “Mommy, I want to talk about animals.” And then we do. HOW CUTE IS THAT? And today, as we drove through the rain over a bridge, I said, “Jack, is that the river?” and he said, “Yes, but it’s kind of hard to see.”
“It’s hard to see?” I said, confused. Because I didn’t think it was hard to see; the river is pretty big and it was right there in all its majestic expanse.
Read the rest at TheBump.com
Jack started talking early, and has advanced at a pretty decent clip. In most ways, this is absolutely delightful. Take, for example, his current penchant for coming into our bed around 6:00 am and saying, “Mommy, I want to talk about animals.” And then we do. HOW CUTE IS THAT? And today, as we drove through the rain over a bridge, I said, “Jack, is that the river?” and he said, “Yes, but it’s kind of hard to see.”
“It’s hard to see?” I said, confused. Because I didn’t think it was hard to see; the river is pretty big and it was right there in all its majestic expanse.
Read the rest at TheBump.com
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Sickness
Latest post is up at The Bump!
We have been having a difficult time of it here at Chez Dr. Maureen, because it feels like SOMEONE has been sick five out of six days for the past two months. In reality, it’s probably more like two out of five days, but I’m seven months pregnant with a kickboxing ninja, and I refuse to be troubled by mere details. In fact, let’s call it nine out of ten days. Yes, someone has been sick in my house nine out of ten days for the past two months.
Read more at TheBump.com
We have been having a difficult time of it here at Chez Dr. Maureen, because it feels like SOMEONE has been sick five out of six days for the past two months. In reality, it’s probably more like two out of five days, but I’m seven months pregnant with a kickboxing ninja, and I refuse to be troubled by mere details. In fact, let’s call it nine out of ten days. Yes, someone has been sick in my house nine out of ten days for the past two months.
Read more at TheBump.com
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Aren’t fetusus really small?
Hey, folks. My latest post is up at The Bump!
Because I thought they were supposed to be small. I’m 31.5 weeks, so my fetus is only about 3.3 pounds, or so I’m told. AND YET. I think I am being squashed to death from the inside out. So either my particular fetus is larger than the average fetus, by, say, four or five pounds, or else she has eschewed the traditional “fetal position” in favor of the more unorthodox “spread-eagle” position. I have no other explanation, because one tiny coiled up bundle of 3.3 pounds could not possibly be responsible for the unbelievable pressure I’m experiencing. It’s like she’s doing isometric exercises in there. Always with the pushing! I think she’s using my diaphragm for resistance training.
Read more at TheBump.com.
Because I thought they were supposed to be small. I’m 31.5 weeks, so my fetus is only about 3.3 pounds, or so I’m told. AND YET. I think I am being squashed to death from the inside out. So either my particular fetus is larger than the average fetus, by, say, four or five pounds, or else she has eschewed the traditional “fetal position” in favor of the more unorthodox “spread-eagle” position. I have no other explanation, because one tiny coiled up bundle of 3.3 pounds could not possibly be responsible for the unbelievable pressure I’m experiencing. It’s like she’s doing isometric exercises in there. Always with the pushing! I think she’s using my diaphragm for resistance training.
Read more at TheBump.com.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Pregnancy: Awful once again
Hey, guess what! I’m now a featured blogger at TheBump.com, a division of The Knot, Inc. It’s a gathering place for moms, and I’ll be posting there about twice a month. So to see the rest of this entry, you’ll have to click over!
Bleah. Blearrrgh. Bleah bleah bleah.
After a month or two's respite from the awfulness, pregnancy discomfort has once again reared its ugly head over here. And while this late second trimester discomfort of heartburn, backaches, and the feeling that I need to carry my belly with my arms to keep it from falling clean off is preferable to the "discomfort" of the first trimester's constant nausea and incredible fatigue, I have to admit that there would be no discomfort at all if I had my way. Seriously, who is in charge of this pregnancy design? Because it is flawed. FLAWED.
Read more at TheBump.com!
Bleah. Blearrrgh. Bleah bleah bleah.
After a month or two's respite from the awfulness, pregnancy discomfort has once again reared its ugly head over here. And while this late second trimester discomfort of heartburn, backaches, and the feeling that I need to carry my belly with my arms to keep it from falling clean off is preferable to the "discomfort" of the first trimester's constant nausea and incredible fatigue, I have to admit that there would be no discomfort at all if I had my way. Seriously, who is in charge of this pregnancy design? Because it is flawed. FLAWED.
Read more at TheBump.com!
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