East Bay MomParenting: The Real Deal
My Joy
It was the day before my due date and somebody thought the girl was going to be a big headed, 9 lb. baby if she hung out in my stomach any longer, and so out she had to come. Just as the doctors prepared to pump me with meds, though, my water broke right there on the table, and four hours later, my first child, Mari, was born.
It was 2 a.m. on June 11 -- two hours into the day she was due.
That's my Mari -- always on time.
I wasn't ready.
When Daddy's Away, the Rest Of Us Will Play
Way way back before we had kids, I remember having an especially contentious fight with my husband over business trips. It was a ridiculous argument, as the business travel was entirely RHETORICAL at that point. I just wanted to make it clear to my husband, he of the revolting work ethic, that I didn't want to be married to someone who traveled all the time. "What kind of life would that be!" I wailed at my husband who was, no doubt, tasking every muscle in his body to resist rolling his eyes. "We're supposed to be TOGEEEETHEEEER!"
Mom Friends -- Here We Go Again
Laylee's switching schools next year. She tested into an advanced program that suits her special needs perfectly. I'm not talking about her hearing loss. No, Laylee's REAL special needs are her desires to read chapter books during recess, conduct science experiments for fun, give class presentations at all times, and invent her own secret languages with painstaking detail.
Summer Reading: 3 Books On My Must List
There are three brand-new books I am dying to read. I actually have all of them in my house and am just waiting to finish my latest book club book (The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller—so good!) before I start. Books and summer just go together and I’m determined to spend a decent amount of time sitting on my butt with a book in my hands in the coming months. Good luck, right? Perhaps I should read Laura’s book first! OK, here’s what’s waiting for me on my nightstand—and why I can’t wait to get reading:
Sibling Strife
I remember calling my mother when Jack and Molly had their first hand-slappy, indignant-shrieky, all-out-bawling fight. "I thought had YEARS," I said, stricken. "YEARS before they started fighting!"
My mother just the laughed the laugh of the Been There, Done That, Oh Listen To Silly Ignorant You mother.
Do You Follow the Baby Food Rules?
There are all kinds of rules for introducing solids to babies. You're supposed to do it in a certain order. Some things should not be introduced before a certain age. Your baby should show certain signs of readiness before you hand her a sirloin steak. You should always cut the blue wire, never the red.
Stuff.
Preston's at a point now where he can almost play independently, now that he's sitting up on his own, thank GOD. See, all that worrying for nothing -- you were right, Moms! He still can't get himself up to a sitting position from lying down, and he'll topple over occasionally, but much less than he was when I wrote about his developmental stages. Thanks for all the encouraging words.
Enough.
Her name was Aiyana Jones and she was only 7 years old.
The dimples in her chocolate cheeks and that hand on her hip tell a story. Maybe she was a little joker, all giggles and big on fun--inquisitive, energetic, and a bit of a smarty pants, with a tip of nutty thrown in for good measure. I can almost see those fancy twists flying in the wind--hear her colorful barrettes clacking and dancing to the rhythm of her little girl dance. She reminds me of my Lila, who, also age seven, is all of these things and then some.
Aiyana could have easily been my child.
Cracking the Nightly Showdown
Because I know you all are just dying for an update: Jack still doesn't eat. I know! Phillip and I are still not sure how this happened. To produce a child so wholly uninterested in delicious food must have required every recessive gene in our bodies.
Literally Children
Sometimes I forget that my kids are not mini-adults, they are actually literally children. This has a few implications. First -- they like chocolate milk… a lot. Second -- they believe sleep is a punishment. Third -- they take everything very very literally.
![[]](/sites/all/modules/ecommerce/cart/images/cart_empty.png "View your cart items"){kind=spacer}