My friends at MomBabble ran this love letter to my post baby body last year.
Dear Flesh and Bones and Heart that Sustains me,
We were first paired some 31 years ago. Neither of us had any idea what kind of journey we would be on together. I was so excited about you in the beginning. You were magical. You could do no wrong. You carried me everywhere with strong legs. We had adventures and everything was fresh and new.
Whether you went the entire nine months or delivered prematurely—or, God forbid, late—your body is likely feeling beaten up after birth. It doesn’t matter if you had a c-section or a “normal” birth, the transition from pregnancy to baby-in-arms is a tough one. You probably feel like a ragdoll some over-enthusiastic toddler played too hard with. Here are some suggestions for getting past the humps and feeling like your old self again.
I had the opportunity to reflect upon my life choices – albeit one bad one after another – and seeing how each decision, each person I encountered ended up helping mold me into who I am today. Self-worth is sometimes measured against how our parents acted towards us, or how our siblings got more than us at Christmas. We measure it in how our significant others treat us, how our kids back talk, how our bosses see us as employees. Each and every person is helping mold you into who you want to be.
If you want your children to be skilled and creative problem solvers, consider preparing outdoor play spaces for imaginative play! Fantasy play and imaginative role playing, in spaces like fairy gardens, are well established pre-cursers to divergent and original problem solving later in life; skills that are well recognized in highly effective students! Fairy Gardens are a great way to encourage imaginative play and they are perfect for taking advantage of the magical thinking young children bring to their everyday play.
When I first found out my Wife was pregnant with our son, I was over-the-moon excited. I had always wanted to be a parent for as long as I can remember and while we were actively trying to get pregnant I couldn’t help but be excited as if it were a complete surprise to me. I had always had these grand ideas of how I was going to be a great parent, mostly because my parents were such poor examples. I would simply do everything opposite of them. How could I fail?
Cabin Girl and Mr. Monkey have birthdays 4 days apart. Awesome planning on my end. We decided that this year, to make things simpler (HA!), we would do a combined birthday party for them. But, how to combine a birthday for a 7 year old girly-girl and a 2 year old rough and tumble toddler boy?
The answer, my friends, is in Never Neverland.
Caring for a newborn takes gargantuan effort, patience and sheer physical strength. Before I had my daughter, I had no idea how much of myself I would have to give, and give, and give. There was no room left for anything, no me time, no us time, no time, period.
Moms beat themselves up and then take it out on each other for choices that should be made by each individual personally. Do I know that the American Academy of Pediatrics says breast is best? Yes, I may have read that a million times or so but you know what? It doesn’t always go that way. There are moms who can’t, moms who adopt, and fathers who are the primary parents.
There are breastfeeding mamas and then there are others that have to go with an alternative method.
How far is too far for an April Fool’s Day joke? It’s all supposed to be a day filled with practical jokes and hoaxes and silliness. Until, it’s not.
Years ago, on April Fool’s Day, I told my mom I was getting engaged to someone I had recently started dating. My acting must have been pretty good because she actually bought it and, worse yet, I let the prank go on ALL day. Boy was she furious when I told her it was a joke at the end of the night.
Funny, right? Wrong! I’ve vowed never to go that far again.
The arrival of spring means that a lot of beautiful things are about to bloom. It also means that some not-so-beautiful things are about to arrive as well… I’m talking about every lawn’s enemy: weeds. We have have a cringe-worthy abundance of these, but I’ve figured out how to make the best of the situation and how you can to. What I’m suggesting is a weed bouquet. Sound hideous? Maybe! But as far as decorative experiments go, this is quite cost-effective. In fact…completely free.