by Slouching Mom at Slouching Towards 40
Posted on July 7, 2007
At our hotel last week we slept the peculiar and stuporous sleep made possible by relentless air conditioning and heavy, double curtains. Sleep so drugged that when it finally releases you from its grip you have no idea where you are or what time it is. So when we awoke on Independence Day, cocooned in our room, we were unaware for some time that the threat of severe thunderstorms had left fireworks organizers concerned and dithering. They had not officially cancelled the evening's festivities, but we learned that they might do so at any moment.
All week Jack had been asking pointed questions about these now-iffy fireworks. Could they come close enough to people to burn them? How loud would they be? Would there be an actual fire? No? But then why are they called fireworks? We had suspected that he might be anxious about the fireworks. (Last year he had hated them so much that we ended up fitting him with a pair of headphones, enabling him to tune them out altogether.) But along with these suspicions we had hoped that a year might make a difference, that Ben's enthusiasm for them might prove infectious. Read more...
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
Finding a Moment for Myself
by Lisa at Niihaus
Posted on July 6, 2007
Yesterday it rained. It rained all day. But, not the usual Texas rain with thunder and lightning and high winds. It just rained. Straight down, falling drops of rain.
Posted on July 6, 2007
Yesterday it rained. It rained all day. But, not the usual Texas rain with thunder and lightning and high winds. It just rained. Straight down, falling drops of rain.
The Foreigner had gone, The Boy was gone, both The Girl and The Baby were gone. I was alone. In my own home. ALONE! Like that ever happens. And I stood there looking out at the rain falling. It fell into the pool and it looked inviting.
I still had my white nightgown on. I walked away from the window and I made myself some waffles, played a round of tanks on the Wii, but I found myself continuing to be drawn to the window. I thought to myself, “If it stops soon I won’t go out there.” But it didn’t stop. The soft rain just continued to come down in blinding sheets of wetness. Read more...
What I Got, Mama?
by Amanda at Tumble Dry
Posted on July 4, 2007
Today is the 4th of July, which means that I have been actively playing the role of mom for close to three years, more if you include the following-every-rule-and-heeding-every-piece-of advice-received-from-strangers-and-read-in-magazines 40 weeks of pregnancy. I am not ashamed to admit that some of the more subtle cues offered by Briar were lost on me,
"She's a little night owl, just doesn't want to go to bed until 11." This said cheerfully after she writhed in our arms howling beginning at seven each night and ending as she passed out from exhaustion four hours later.
Neither of us really understood what she was saying until she was nearly two, now her sister at one declares, "Poop" and "diaper" with perfect clarity. "Wow! So much better at communicating." This from Briar about us. Read more...
Posted on July 4, 2007
Today is the 4th of July, which means that I have been actively playing the role of mom for close to three years, more if you include the following-every-rule-and-heeding-every-piece-of advice-received-from-strangers-and-read-in-magazines 40 weeks of pregnancy. I am not ashamed to admit that some of the more subtle cues offered by Briar were lost on me,
"She's a little night owl, just doesn't want to go to bed until 11." This said cheerfully after she writhed in our arms howling beginning at seven each night and ending as she passed out from exhaustion four hours later.
Neither of us really understood what she was saying until she was nearly two, now her sister at one declares, "Poop" and "diaper" with perfect clarity. "Wow! So much better at communicating." This from Briar about us. Read more...
Past and Future July 4th
by Kelly at a child is born
Posted July 5, 2007
July 4th's past, my family would drive to the fairgrounds in our upstate NY town, find a parking spot and unload, getting out the blankets and towels and finding a patch of grass on which to perch. The sun had just about said goodnight, leaving behind dusky purple and pink and orange, and in that dying light, hard-shelled June bugs would fly around, thwapping unsuspecting patriotic revelers in the noggin.
It was a coarse kind of beauty, this waiting and wondering amongst creepy-crawlers and discarded cigarette butts, the anticipation of the visual and aural sensation of fireworks, the noise of which would drown out the sounds of us gathered humans, vulgar and ungracious. Read more...
Posted July 5, 2007
July 4th's past, my family would drive to the fairgrounds in our upstate NY town, find a parking spot and unload, getting out the blankets and towels and finding a patch of grass on which to perch. The sun had just about said goodnight, leaving behind dusky purple and pink and orange, and in that dying light, hard-shelled June bugs would fly around, thwapping unsuspecting patriotic revelers in the noggin.
It was a coarse kind of beauty, this waiting and wondering amongst creepy-crawlers and discarded cigarette butts, the anticipation of the visual and aural sensation of fireworks, the noise of which would drown out the sounds of us gathered humans, vulgar and ungracious. Read more...
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Little Bear and the Big River
by Wendi at Wendi Aarons
Posted on July 5, 2007
LITTLE BEAR
Oh, Duck! This river is so wide! How will we ever cross it?
DUCK
I don't know, Little Bear!
LITTLE BEAR
Maybe we could try to walk across on that log!
DUCK
Oh, we could certainly try!
LITTLE BEAR
Or maybe we should walk across these stepping stones!
DUCK
We must be very brave, Little Bear!
LITTLE BEAR
Yes, we must get across this river without falling in the water!
MY HUSBAND
You're a frickin' Duck and a Bear. Swim, you morons.
Read more Wendi Aarons...
Posted on July 5, 2007
LITTLE BEAR
Oh, Duck! This river is so wide! How will we ever cross it?
DUCK
I don't know, Little Bear!
LITTLE BEAR
Maybe we could try to walk across on that log!
DUCK
Oh, we could certainly try!
LITTLE BEAR
Or maybe we should walk across these stepping stones!
DUCK
We must be very brave, Little Bear!
LITTLE BEAR
Yes, we must get across this river without falling in the water!
MY HUSBAND
You're a frickin' Duck and a Bear. Swim, you morons.
Read more Wendi Aarons...
Be Still
by Carrien at She Laughs at the Days
Posted July 4, 2007
I had no idea until I had small children how much time is spent just waiting for them. Have you ever tried to hurry a two year old along on a walk, through an area he's never seen before? They stop to examine every single bug and leaf and blade of grass. They pick up every piece of trash on the sidewalk and show it to you. They speak in paragraphs instead of sentences, very repetitive paragraphs that they start all over again from the very beginning if they are interrupted halfway through. It's enough to drive a grown-up in a hurry mad. Read more...
Posted July 4, 2007
I had no idea until I had small children how much time is spent just waiting for them. Have you ever tried to hurry a two year old along on a walk, through an area he's never seen before? They stop to examine every single bug and leaf and blade of grass. They pick up every piece of trash on the sidewalk and show it to you. They speak in paragraphs instead of sentences, very repetitive paragraphs that they start all over again from the very beginning if they are interrupted halfway through. It's enough to drive a grown-up in a hurry mad. Read more...
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Blood
by Beck at Frog and Toad are Still Friends
Posted on July 4, 2007
This morning has been a busy one already, this suddenly hectic day. Later this morning - in about an hour - I am taking The Girl to visit the doctor where she will have some blood drawn to test, I mention casually, her white blood cell count.
Yeah, nothing scary there.
Most likely she has allergies. Or she's anemic - she certainly doesn't EAT and I'm prone to anemia, too. But there's that other scary thing that they're testing for and let us not even name it right now. Read more...
Posted on July 4, 2007
This morning has been a busy one already, this suddenly hectic day. Later this morning - in about an hour - I am taking The Girl to visit the doctor where she will have some blood drawn to test, I mention casually, her white blood cell count.
Yeah, nothing scary there.
Most likely she has allergies. Or she's anemic - she certainly doesn't EAT and I'm prone to anemia, too. But there's that other scary thing that they're testing for and let us not even name it right now. Read more...
Ovagirl’s Tips for Helping You and Your Baby Sleep.
by Ovagirl at L'eggs Up And Laughing
Posted on July 4, 2007
#32 Try Putting A Toy In Baby’s Cot For Him To Find In The Morning.
Somewhere near the crack of dawn when you are desperate for just ten minutes more sleep and you can hear that your baby is starting to wake, it may occur to you to sneak into baby’s room and lob a couple of toys over the side of the cot without being seen, thus cunningly distracting him and providing potentially even half an hour of quiet amusement while you sneak back to bed.
This is not a good idea. Read more...
Posted on July 4, 2007
#32 Try Putting A Toy In Baby’s Cot For Him To Find In The Morning.
Somewhere near the crack of dawn when you are desperate for just ten minutes more sleep and you can hear that your baby is starting to wake, it may occur to you to sneak into baby’s room and lob a couple of toys over the side of the cot without being seen, thus cunningly distracting him and providing potentially even half an hour of quiet amusement while you sneak back to bed.
This is not a good idea. Read more...
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Plain Truths and Phallacy
by Kate at Sweet/Salty
Posted on June 29, 2007
I am not good enough for him, and I don't say this fishing to be convinced otherwise. It's the plain truth.
He is a living Old Spice commercial, all impeccable goodness. He kills bugs on-demand and airplanes our son until his legs ache and smells like woodsmoke and knows how to whistle grass and stays out until he collapses building rock walls, restoring clapboard, painting, pruning the roses, refinishing the tiller of a neighbour’s sailboat. Read more...
Posted on June 29, 2007
I am not good enough for him, and I don't say this fishing to be convinced otherwise. It's the plain truth.
He is a living Old Spice commercial, all impeccable goodness. He kills bugs on-demand and airplanes our son until his legs ache and smells like woodsmoke and knows how to whistle grass and stays out until he collapses building rock walls, restoring clapboard, painting, pruning the roses, refinishing the tiller of a neighbour’s sailboat. Read more...
What's Behind Door Number 3?
by Betsy at Gray Matter Matters
Posted on June 30, 2007
Jumping into the world of blogging is like walking down a long corridor with doors on either side. You’re free to open any door you choose and take a peek in.
Sometimes it feels like the old gag in a comedy when one of the characters keeps opening and closing the same door and what’s inside changes each time. First it’s a Western scene with cowboys thundering down the plains on horseback shooting their guns, then it’s cannibals preparing to cook a blonde virgin in a huge caldron, followed by a lady in the French Court leaning in to kiss a suitor only to be startled by the intrusion and hide herself behind her frilly parasol. Read more...
Posted on June 30, 2007
Jumping into the world of blogging is like walking down a long corridor with doors on either side. You’re free to open any door you choose and take a peek in.
Sometimes it feels like the old gag in a comedy when one of the characters keeps opening and closing the same door and what’s inside changes each time. First it’s a Western scene with cowboys thundering down the plains on horseback shooting their guns, then it’s cannibals preparing to cook a blonde virgin in a huge caldron, followed by a lady in the French Court leaning in to kiss a suitor only to be startled by the intrusion and hide herself behind her frilly parasol. Read more...
Monday, July 2, 2007
What This Blog is For
I only recently entered the blogging world--very recently. As in 2 months ago. But I quickly learned that 1. There are a WHOLE lot o' blogs out there and 2. A WHOLE lot of them are "mommy" blogs.
While browsing these sites, I've noticed that some bloggers feel, well, sheepish about being mommy bloggers. Maybe it's because they are joining a club that is already very, very full and they're not sure they have anything worthy to add, or maybe they are feeling that insidious "motherhood is stealing my identity" anxiety. But I also discovered that I love reading mommy blogs. There are thousands of voices out there telling witty, poignant, honest, and insightful stories about their lives and families, and their work is nothing to feel sheepish about.
Over the past few weeks, I have felt inspired to showcase the best of these stories. I created this blog as place to do that. I hope to post daily, but we all know how life (and those damn pesky children) tend to get in the way of such aspirations.
You can help by submitting, via comments or email, mommy blogs that you love--even your own. And if you come across posts that stand out, send those my way, too!
I'm off to scour the internet. I'll be back soon with some good reading for you.
While browsing these sites, I've noticed that some bloggers feel, well, sheepish about being mommy bloggers. Maybe it's because they are joining a club that is already very, very full and they're not sure they have anything worthy to add, or maybe they are feeling that insidious "motherhood is stealing my identity" anxiety. But I also discovered that I love reading mommy blogs. There are thousands of voices out there telling witty, poignant, honest, and insightful stories about their lives and families, and their work is nothing to feel sheepish about.
Over the past few weeks, I have felt inspired to showcase the best of these stories. I created this blog as place to do that. I hope to post daily, but we all know how life (and those damn pesky children) tend to get in the way of such aspirations.
You can help by submitting, via comments or email, mommy blogs that you love--even your own. And if you come across posts that stand out, send those my way, too!
I'm off to scour the internet. I'll be back soon with some good reading for you.
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