Unprofessional Parenting

In a pretty interesting article this weekend it appears that a doctor and his research teams in London and Australia  have develop a method for cesarean birth that attempts to more closely mimic a natural childbirth.  Working from the assumption that childbirth has changed dramatically in the last few decades to center more on the experience of the parents, the doctor has taken steps to move c-section births in the same direction.

Although the early stages are still the same - a sheet separates the mother’s view from the initial cutting - once the head of the baby is delivered the sheet is lowered so that the mother can see the delivery of the rest of the baby.  The doctor then lets the uterus contractions help push the baby out after which it is rested on the mother’s chest just as in a natural birth.  Procedures for emergency c-sections are not likely to change but for those that are planned, this may become an option after clinical trials are performed.

This is pretty interesting. I had an emergency c-section when I had my son and I was actually asleep (not under anesthesia but actually asleep - it had been a really long day and I couldn’t stay awake) when my son was delivered.  Of course, I really wish I hadn’t been asleep but didn’t have much control over it at that point but what I missed most of all was the opportunity to hold him right after he was born.  That alone would make this an attractive option for me.

Who knows how long it might take to get the method approved but I’m willing to bet it would have big appeal for those who really wanted a more natural childbirth experience but for whatever reason found themselves in the surgery room.

A product recall has recently been announced for the Phil & Teds e3 single buggy, e3 twin buggy, and sport v1 single buddy.  Both single model and double model strollers are included.  Apparently the stroller’s hinge locking mechanism poses a threat to anyone folding or unfolding the stroller.  Several people have received hand and finger injuries from the strollers.

If you have one of these strollers the manufacturer suggests you stop using it and contact them for a replacement hinge cover.  Regal Lager (manuf.) can be contacted at (877) 242-5676 or through their website.

For a direct link to the stroller specifications and to see pictures you can visit the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Luckily this recall does not involve any potential harm for your kids but it is worth getting fixed if you happen to own one of these strollers.

I’m doing a happy Friday dance. For the last several weeks my husband has been working six days a week from 10 to 16 hours a day. By some happy miracle he has three whole days off in a row this weekend. It is certainly an oddity because I think this might be the first labor day he has ever not had to work. By some painful irony, most people who have jobs that involve actual physical labor don’t usually get to stay home on labor day.

This is a short post today to tell everyone to enjoy your weekend if you have the day off. Our plans are to stay home and hang out. Today is supposed to be the last day of our heat wave so by Sunday it should be downright pleasant outside! Can’t ask for more than that. Enjoy your days off!

While cleaning a sink full of dishes and transferring them to the dishwasher last night I picked up a pair of BBQ tongs, washed them, and then instead of putting them in the dishwasher (as I had done with everything else) I walked to the other side of the kitchen and tossed them into the garbage.  It was until several minutes later that I discovered I had done something wrong and then it still took a few more minutes to figure out what.

My friend affectionately calls this placenta brain.  I thought she was joking but a quick search proved that this is a pretty commonly reported problem among preggos.  I forget everything (even while I’m doing it), I’m totally disorganized, and I can’t seem to finish anything I start.

The theories about what causes placenta brain are wide spread.  The most common is that it is caused by the increased progesterone that pregnant women seem to produce.  Since it appears that the placenta takes over the production of progesterone during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy the phrase “placenta brain” has developed. It has also been called pregnancy amnesia and baby brain.

Another theory that I found absolutely no support for (but I still thought it was fun) is that women’s brains shrink 3-5% during pregnancy, which accounts for the loss of memory, coordination, and intellectual conversation.  This might be my favorite reason even though it I couldn’t find any actual proof of its existence.

Research has discovered however, that the influence of placenta brain can last up to a year after your baby is born (isn’t that great news?).   They don’t know exactly why it happens although hormones and lifestyle seem to be the most common theories.

In any case, I will be sure that my children grow up with an adequate sense of guilt at their role in the loss of mom’s brain cells.

Before I was a mom I used to enjoy the sounds of silence in my home.  When I was caught up with work, school work, cleaning, and whatever other random project I was working on, I enjoyed sitting on my couch with a good book and absorbing the quiet. Sure, my husband made some noise from time to time (especially working on those really loud cars in our garage) but other than that I enjoyed my few quiet moments.

I realized the other day that a profound change has taken place since I’ve become a parent.  I’m actually pretty lucky to have a son that isn’t too high maintenance at this point.  He makes a lot of noise, he rearranges everything in the house on a regular basis, and he is a whirlwind of energy but at least he can entertain himself for short periods of time throughout the day.  Not bad.

As I was working at my computer the other day I was struck suddenly by a sense of panic at what I realized I was hearing in my house.  It was nothing.  Quiet.  I think it was only going on for about a minute before I noticed how peaceful it seemed. I bolted from my chair to locate my son who was luckily not doing anything too bad (he was only taking everything out of his dresser drawers and reorganizing it into piles on his floor - a relatively quick mess to put away).

I realized however, that the sound of silence is no longer soothing to a parent.  It is almost always the sign of something going terribly wrong.  It is a simple mathematical equation. K (kid) + X (variable) + Silence = anxiety, or terror if you prefer.  The variable (X) can be anything - a permanent marker, a bottle of shampoo, a dog, whatever.

Go ahead, do the math.

It might seem like a small thing but I recently liberated myself from a most annoying clutter problem in my house. It took some time to work up the nerve but I finally did it - and I feel great!

Since I love books I began collecting them early for my son.  By the time he was born he already had the beginnings of a great library with books ranging from newborn (those touch & feel books) to books intended for older kids.  A family member gave me some of those racks that hang on the wall so the books can be displayed with the covers out for my son to peruse at his leisure.  I painted the racks to match his oh-so-adorable baby furniture and I’ve been admiring my handwork ever since.

I first noticed the problem when he became old enough to get the books out himself.  The beautiful dust jackets that adorned his hard cover books started appearing all over the house.  I quickly found one that had been torn almost all the way through and tossed it. I felt a little guilty but it was ripped after all. My husband saw it in the trash and questioned me - which only increased my guilt.

At some point I got really tired of fighting them and I took them all off and put them in a drawer in my son’s room. That way I’m not throwing them out but they also won’t be all over the house. A nice compromise. Until I needed the drawer space, that is.

Today, I threw away the dust jackets. All of them.  I feel no guilt, just a sense of cleansing and the Buddhist glory of non-attachment.  Finally, no longer do I have the double clutter of books and jackets scattered all over the house! What liberation!

This story hit a couple of days ago but it has generated quite a controversy and a larger social discussion about the necessity of vaccinating children. Although there are various reaction articles, the specific piece that I’m responding to (the first one I read) came from MSNBC and is posted here.

The issue is whether or not parents should vaccinate their kids and the implications of higher number of parents opting out of the vaccines.  Doctors are concerned that large percentages of kids who are not vaccinated will contribute to outbreaks of diseases such as measles.  Outbreaks are becoming more frequent and are centered around non-vaccinated populations.  In addition, they suggest that large percentages of non-vaccinated children who are susceptible to an outbreak can potentially infect already vaccinated children if their immunity to the disease has waned.

Parents who don’t want to vaccinate argue that it is their choice and that the potential dangers of the vaccines outweigh the risks of getting the disease (or getting a serious case of the disease when referring to illnesses such as measles or chicken pox).

It’s a tough issue and both sides seem to make compelling arguments. I chose to have my son vaccinated because I believed the benefits outweighed the risk.  I know one parent who decided to opt out of the vaccines for her daughter because she believed they were not necessary.  It seems to me that the medical arguments for vaccinating are more compelling than the minimal risks involved. That said, I also don’t believe in mandating lifestyle and health choices so I respect the decision not vaccinate as the right of the parents.

This post is about my vacuum - but by way of explanation I need to start with another appliance. Our microwave broke about a month ago. It started making this horrible sound and smelled like smoke so we promptly removed it and never got around to replacing it. When my husband and I bought our first house we didn’t have a microwave for a long time so I’m pretty good at going without it.  I finally got fed up and headed out today to pick up a new one.

As I was completing my microwave purchase I happened to glance at the nearby display of vacuums in the store. The woman who was ringing up my purchase noticed and said “Those are supposed to be really good vacuums.” Then, leaning over and lowering her voice she added, “Although if you ask me it’s crazy to pay $400 just for a vacuum.”

I debated about telling her in equally hushed tones that I actually own one of “those vacuums.” A few people thought we were crazy when we bought it but here was the scenario: We have a large living room and a ton of carpet. We also have four large dogs (50 lbs, 65 lbs, 80 lbs, and 95 lbs), one of which is a husky mix. Yeah. We burnt up two $200 vacuums in two years and I was beside myself at having to perform major hair removal surgery at least once a week on our vacuum.

In desperation my husband plunked down just over $400 for a Dyson vacuum. To risk sounding like a commercial - it’s been three years and I still love this vacuum. It rarely clogs and when it does cleaning it out is a snap. I wash the filters every so often, let them dry, put them back and it’s as good as new.  I vacuum just about every day.

I decided to let the sales lady off the hook and not mention it. Some of my friends still think we’re crazy for spending that much but overall it has been a much better investment than the $200 variety of vacuum.  Now, if only Dyson would make a self-emptying dirty diaper pail - wouldn’t that be spectacular!

I know, I know. Who hasn’t heard of the Berenstain Bears? I’m willing to bet that just about anyone who has ever been a kid or had a kid knows “the Bear family.” When I was young I had an entire collection of these books that took up two whole shelves in my bookcase. When I started buying books for my son I picked up a collection of stories that included five stories bound in one big book. I know that most of you know these bears but because of the resounding success of them with my son I feel obligated to give them a shout out.

When I picked up the first big book of stories for my son he seemed to like them right away. He was only 18-months old but he loved the book, the pictures, and the stories. After I read the stories about 100 times each I finally ordered another big book of stories that he loves just as much.

I now have to convince him to read the other books we have around if I want any deviation from the bears. He sleeps with both books in his bed so he can sit up and start looking at them immediately after he wakes up. This gives me a few extra minutes in the morning so I can get going before I go get him which was an unexpected bonus. He looks at them on the couch by himself in the mornings while I eat breakfast, he wants me to read them before his nap and his bedtime.

When he’s a little older there are a ton of Berenstain Bears activity sites on the web. Here a few:

• The Official Berenstain Bears Website
• Berenstain Bears Activities for Learning and Fun
• PBS Kids Berenstain Bears

In the mean time the spines have broken on my son’s first two Berenstain Bears books already.  I’m sure this isn’t a defect - they are just really well used.  I’m off to search for more - I am particularly infatuated with the collections because they take up less room in the bookcase and keep him busy for a while.  Berenstain Bears are worth their weight in gold (or honey, if you’re a bear)!

My son is such an angel when he is just waking up from a good nap! It has to be a good wake-up too - it happens probably three or four times a week. You know what a bad wakeup is - the annoyed “something is waking me up too soon,” or “I’m waking up sweaty and angry.” My son sometimes wakes up exactly like his dad when the alarm goes off on a weekday morning. It isn’t pretty.

My son has actually, at the tender age of almost two, waved me off when I’ve tried to get him up from a nap. He says, “no mommy, no, no” and rolls over to go back to sleep. I’m not crazy trying to get him up from a nap. If he goes longer than two hours he’ll be up at 5 AM the next morning so waking him up is a survival mechanism on my part.

No, those are unpleasant wake ups. The perfect ones are when he stirs after about an hour and a half and I meet him in his room as he’s sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He gives me one of those really goofy smiles and says, “Mommy, out peease.” When I pull him out of the crib he snuggles up and puts his arms around my neck. For about 15 minutes he’s snuggly, quiet, and polite. My angel.

Then he really wakes up, runs across the living room and smashes two toy crash together while yelling “CRASH” in ultimate satisfaction. Sometimes he just starts running around screaming happily. If he’s feeling particularly less than angelic he’ll beeline for the kitchen to see if there are any drawers without locks that require immediate rearranging.

I love those few quiet minutes though when he’s content to sit with me and snuggle - the calm before the storm.