Posts made in August, 2008

Furniture Hunter

Posted by Michelle on Aug 28, 2008 in Life | 1 comment

We recently moved into our first home and I have been given the green light to go furniture hunting. Now I’m sure that most women, given carte blanche to go furniture shopping, would be absolutely delighted and their only trouble would be having to trim their wishlist. My problem, however, is the exact opposite. I find myself stricken with an almost ridiculous panic when faced with the simple question: what do I want my living room and dining room to look like?

I should first explain that I am anything but a girly-girl. If I was lucky, I would get hit by a mysterious force every three months or so that would remind me to get a haircut, a manicure or, if I was feeling particularly adventurous, new clothes.

But more importantly, I am shopping impaired. Yes folks, I shop much like your typical male. I know what I want, I go in, I get it and I leave, usually in under 5 minutes. How? Because my clothes shopping trips usually consist of replenishing my basics: jeans, tank tops, undies. No thought is given to style and, sadly, little thought is given to fit. Does it look better than a potato sack, even marginally? Okay! Who cares if it’s not fitting as it should… it was 50% off!

This, of course, also explains why my dear girl friends have plotted to nominate me, multiple times, to What Not to Wear. Luckily, to the best of my knowledge, they have not yet succeeded. However I do sometimes tremble in fear, wondering if Stacy and Clinton will accost me in some public place for the shame of wearing my maternity jeans more than 5 months post partum. (They’re comfortable, dammit.)

However, common sense kicks in when I realize that I CANNOT apply this method of shopping towards my new home’s furniture. The Hubster agreed that because where we live is now Home ™ and We Own It ™ we ought to take some pride in it, meaning that whatever furniture we pick out is meant to last forever and ever, amen. This is the furniture that The Little Empress will grow up around, learn to crawl and cruise on, jump on, jump off, run around, chase the dog around, spill grape juice on, do her homework on, etc.

So with that in mind, I asked The Hubster what kind of furniture he wanted. His answer, “Meh.”

When I inqiuired about whether or not he wanted modern, contemporary, traditional, etc. I was met with a blank stare and yet another, “Meh.”

He is no help whatsoever.

So now I find myself with the clock ticking for Labor Day sales, frantically searching for nearby furniture stores and wondering just what the hell to buy. Did I want traditional? Or did I want contemporary? What WOULD one classify Pottery Barn as? And can anyone actually afford PB full price? Geezus chrysler, someone must be able to.

While I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to pick out furniture like this, I still feel a bit like I’m a little girl playing in adult world. I keep reminding myself that this place has to look grown up and sophisticated but I feel like I’m anything BUT.

For Technorati

Posted by Michelle on Aug 18, 2008 in Site Admin | 0 comments

Technorati Profile

Carrier Lust

Posted by Michelle on Aug 11, 2008 in Babywearing | 0 comments

Before I began babywearing, I wondered why in the world anyone would need multiple carriers. I mean, wouldn’t it be good enough to just have ONE carrier that worked and be done with it?

Oh, my naivety. If there’s anything motherhood has taught me, it is to never say “never”, at least when it comes to baby gear.

The Little Empress is 4.5 months old and while I certainly don’t have the largest carrier collection out there, I do have a pretty respectable one. Even as I’ve often congratulated myself on never having bought/used a stroller, I also realize that the money I’ve spent in carriers has already equalled (if not surpassed) some of the frou-frou strollers I’ve scoffed at. Oops.

As of this writing, I currently have:

• Babyhawk meitai
• Catbird Baby Pikkolo SSC
• Vatanai wrap
• Moby wrap
• Maya wrap (ring sling)
• Custom dupioni silk ring sling (a gift from The Hubster’s babywearing Cousin L)

Most of my carriers, with the exception of the ring slings, get a lot of use. The Babyhawk was our go-to carrier for almost everything until I got the hang of wrapping. Now the Vatanai wrap gets the most use as I find it to be the most versatile — The Little Empress is carried in it for her naps. The Moby gets use when I think TLE needs a warmer wrap, usually when she’s excessively fussy. Our Pikkolo is our out-and-about carrier.

With so many carriers, you’d think that I’d be satisfied. But alas, I am not and I’m scheming new ways to afford more. I love our Vatanai wrap but would love to get other, similar weight woven wraps in different prints. I love our Babyhawk and think that it would be nice to have one for my car and one for the house so I don’t have to constantly check to see if I brought it along. I’d like a new Beco Butterfly because it has the ability to securely put the infant in the carrier before putting it on your back.

So many reasons, so many carriers, so little money. I may scheme to get a Beco Butterfly because I “need” it for back carries while she’s so tiny but I think I may just be trying to justify it.

To give the breast is to give life.

Posted by Michelle on Aug 11, 2008 in Breastfeeding, Media | 0 comments

Here’s a great video featuring breastfeeding mothers and their children. I love seeing videos that feature breastfeeding in such a positive, natural light. I’m not a lactivist but I do very strongly feel that mothers should feel free to nurse their children wherever, whenever they want to. Breastfeeding is such a beautiful part of my relationship with my daughter and I love to see that bond reflected in other women and their children.

Dar la teta es dar vida. To give the breast is to give life. This was a Puerto Rican public service announcement.

Originally linked from here

Attached

Posted by Michelle on Aug 10, 2008 in Parenting | 0 comments

When I was pregnant, I made up my mind to be a hands-on parent. I promised myself that I would make myself available to my child as much as humanly possible during her tender, formative early days. From the day she was born, I did everything possible to make sure she didn’t cry for very long. I always picked her up and began to soothe her as soon as she began to cry. A devoted babywearer from the very beginning, I’ve worn her almost every day of her life in some type of carrier, usually a meitai or a wrap.

Of course, my practice of holding and carrying The Little Empress whenever possible has raised a lot of eyebrows amongst my family and friends. Seeing me frantically rush to pick up and hold my daughter the instant she began to cry when she was just days old, my parents sagely advised me to not be so quick to hold her, otherwise she’d come to expect it. To which I huffed and puffed and began to quote all the literature I’d read about why crying it out was bad and my daughter’s self confidence would later suffer.

While I breastfeed, babywear and co-sleep, I don’t consider myself a classic Attachment Parent. We didn’t become AP parents for the sake of living a natural, holistic lifestyle. We simply did what made sense to us.

To be quite honest, in my mind, the phrase “attachment parenting” conjures up the image of a crunchy granola family, perhaps a Berkeley or Santa Cruz vegan, who perhaps homebirthed their child in a warm pool and whose accessories of the moment include carrying an organic hemp bag, filled with organic cotton diapers. Which, I’m sure, could describe a few AP parents but by no means all. It is clearly an unfair image but still, that’s my own stereotype.

While I may not be an AP poster mama, neither am I a classic mainstream parent. I chose breastfeeding not only because it was the best, most nutritious choice for my child but also because I am TOO DAMNED LAZY to get up in the middle of the night to fix a bottle. I just figured it would be easier to pull down my shirt and hook baby to boob. Which, for the record, it is. I don’t understand the concept of sleeping separately from your child, especially when breastfeeding, for the aforementioned reasons. The Little Empress has never ridden in a stroller; she has been worn since she was five days old.

At four months old, all this breastfeeding, co-sleeping and babywearing seems to really fostered that inexplicable bond between mother and child. I can barely bear to be without my baby. And right now, she prefers me to the exclusion of everyone else, including The Hubster whom she will at least tolerate for a few minutes before wailing to be reunited with me. When I returned to work when she was 12 weeks old, we hoped that she would adjust to the change in caregivers. Long story short, she never acclimated to my being gone. In fact, she ended up reverting to the point that she not only rejected bottles with breastmilk in them, she rejected bottles with formula in them which meant she would only nurse. I’m now back on leave and seriously exploring other options as far as working goes.

While this bond is wonderful and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, there is a minor drawback: she refuses to be comforted by anyone else other than Mommy. I know that the time she’s so attached to me will be so short in the grand scheme of things but even so, right now the demand on my time is just a little bit problematic. I find myself having to wear or carry or nurse her pretty much around the clock. Something as simple as showering can be a challenge because I never know if she’ll remain calm without me around long enough for me to take a shower. While I’ve been able to do things like work with relative ease thanks to babywearing (which allows me to nurse hands free and in turn, soothes her), things like housework have had to take a backseat.

There are times that I’ve found myself worrying about whether or not I am spoiling The Little Empress. She does expect — if not outright demand — that it be Mommy to hold her, comfort her, soothe her. But I knowo that this is because she knows, no matter what, that Mommy will be there for her. Even at this young age, she knows that, no matter what, I will find my way to her.

I know that there will come a time that her cries will have to be reasoned with but I know that now is not yet the time. As clingy as she is now, I know that some day, she may run away from me, eager to explore the world on her own. I can only hope that the when that day comes, that some part of her will remember the days that she cried for me and that I was there, and that through that knowledge,  she will remember that Mommy will always be here for her to return to.