I asked the Mamas on my Facebook page and on Twitter to let me know in three words or less what “MOTHER” meant to them. This is what they had to say… . . . . . Happy Mother’s Day to all of the most amazing, wonderful, inspiring Mamas EVER!! {YES, I am talking to YOU!} Much Love, Natasha~
**Trigger ALERT** Please be aware that this post is about things that may or may not trigger deep emotions and reactions in some people, especially those with a history of Post Partum Depression. If you feel that you are not ready to read this post, please don’t. Today I am full of so many emotions, that the only way I seem to be able to cope with any of them is to kind of turn them all off and be numb. And when I do find the strength to deal with my feelings, the one emotion that keeps rising to the top is ANGER! I AM MAD! REALLY, REALLY MAD!! You see… {brace yourself} I found out today that a girl I once knew, a girl I worked with, a girl whose wedding I attended… Smothered and killed her four-month old baby boy. I am sorry, but yes, this tragedy...
We have a WINNER! Zita on May 9, 2012 at 4:43 PM There is nothing in the world that moves me quite so powerfully as music. I have genres to fit all my moods and get very antsy in ‘silence’. Lately, I’ve been very into lyrics as well- I appreciate a lot of the poetry that’s emerging in new indie music. Great review, N! Congratulations Zita! An email will be sent to you shortly. Thank you to everyone for entering! ********** I have a 3.5-year-old and a 5 year old. I know all the words to the Hello song, the Goodbye song, the Clean-up song, the Ridin’ in the Car song, the Playin’ in the Kitchen song, the Sleepyhead song and countless more. The 6 CD-changer in my car has been overtaken by all of the kid’s music class CDs, not to mention what is on my iPod,...
I have something to confess. I am a lazy, lazy breastfeeding mama. Case in point. My three and a half-year old daughter still nurses at night. Which means 2-3 times a night she gets out of her bed, walks to our room, crawls in to bed with me and nurses for anywhere from 1 minute to 30 minutes depending on how sleepy I am. And since I am usually quite sleepy, it’s closer to the half hour mark than not. I know she doesn’t “need” to nurse at this time, I know I “should” have night-weaned her months/years ago, but I didn’t. Oh, I have tried, more than a few times, really I have, but two happy sleeping people always seemed to be more important to me than one crying and then fitfully sleeping baby and one miserable mama. I am also quite the lazy breastfeeder in other ways....
I have had more than a few ‘foreign’ materials in my body over the years. I have titanium hip joints and polyethylene and ceramic hip sockets. I have had surgical steel rings pierced in my belly button and various parts of my ears. And up until 6 weeks ago I had a tiny little T-shaped polyethylene and hormone-filled device in my uterus. Yes, I am talking about the ever popular intrauterine device known as Mirena. Three and a half years ago, after Princess L was born and we were pretty darn sure that we did not want anymore babies, this seemed like a really great birth control option. Easy office appointment to have it put in place, minimal side effects (more on this in a bit), safe to use while breastfeeding and no need to even THINK about having an oops baby for at least 5 years. What was...
I feel the need to also publish this post tonight. I wrote this at the same time as I did my previous post, but they needed separating in order for my thoughts on both to be clear and concise (and to make sense to me!). My friend who wrote about the “heart” vs “brain” conversations when it comes to breastfeeding or not, also brought up something that I feel I need to explore in a bit more detail. She said in her post that: …groups that appear extremist seldom accomplish much beyond polarizing the already divided public and swaying public opinion away from their original goals. I think the breastfeeding “movement” falls victim to this, getting labeled by the crazy behaviours of a smaller subsection of our population. This makes us feel sad and defeated, and we react from that emotional place as opposed to regrouping and considering more...
It is not until you become a mother that your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding. ~Erma Bombeck Oh Erma, how I wish this was more true. Compassion. A feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. As mothers we (are supposed to) have it in spades. For our babies, who need us 24/7 to nourish, nurture, love and keep them safe. For our husbands and partners, who for the above reasons need us as well and because they are there for us when we need them. Sharing our lives, bringing home the bacon, or doing the stay-at-home parent thing while we go back to work. And for our fellow {wo}man. Our sisters, our friends, the stranger with 4 kids under 4 struggling at the grocery store, the new mama doing her best to figure this all out, the grandmother who has been there and done that and now looks on with a touch...
A few things have me all riled up today. ~ When I am really, really wrong. Like having no problem swearing in front of my kids, saying that I don’t care if they swear as long as it is in context and then having them swear totally IN CONTEXTand realizing that I was WAY OFF BASE with this one. (Oops!) ~ Bad editing. Whether it be in a movie, a TV Show (Hello Once Upon a Time, I am talking to you), or a blog post. Especially a blog post. Spell Check people, know it, use it, love it! And please read and re-read your posts before you hit publish. ~ People trying to pass off someone else’s work, research or pictures as their own. Show some respect and give credit where it is due. (PS. Not only is this not very nice, it is often illegal! ~ Laundry. (Not...
My children and I are “regulars” at our own mommy and toddler version of Cheers. Yup, it is true. We go to a place where everybody knows our names, they’re always glad we came, and very often the people and our troubles are all the same. They have even named a drink after me! (And I may have been sitting there, without kids, drinking one while I wrote this!) I am of course speaking of our local cafe and play place, the wonderful Cafe O’Play. This parent’s dream of a cafe was the first of its kind in our fair city and it is a very busy, bustling and yes, often chaotic place to be. There are kids ranging from 0-5 years of age running around, playing, eating, sometimes crying, and otherwise behaving as kids of that age often do. And their parents all sit and sip yummy lattes...
This post has been a long time coming. And I don’t really know how to write it. So here goes… I have come to a realization over the past few months. (You Mamas out there with little babies, listen up!) What I have realized is this. We have all been duped. We have been duped into believing that our babies need us the most when they are brand new. And while, yes, it is true that they do need us to clothe, feed, soothe, love and protect them while they are so tiny and vulnerable, once you get into a routine and you find your mama-baby rhythm, things can get relatively easy at this point. Yes, I know, I am making some big generalizations here, but stick with me on this. Last year I went to visit a friend in Toronto who had just had her third daughter. Her...
