What a thought.

Where I live, the legal drinking age is 18 but that’s still pretty scary, the thought of celebrating it with 18 drinks. It’s the perfect set-up for alcohol poisoning.

I used to drink a lot when I was younger. I still enjoy a few glasses of wine or a good beer, but at my age (33) I can’t drink like I used to unless I want to feel like I was run over by a truck for at least the next 24 hours. Not to mention I’m too old to be amused anymore by the silly (or stupid) things you find yourself doing when you drink too much. But when I was a college student I could party like nobody’s business, and I’m actually a little surprised when I look back that I DIDN’T end up with alcohol poisoning or any other number of bad things that can happen to a girl who’s binge drinking.

Even so, I never went through 18 or more drinks. There was no way. I can’t even imagine how bad that must be.

I seriously hope that I can manage to instill enough responsibility in my girls that they don’t drink like I used to and that they definitely don’t celebrate their birthdays like this.

Post from: Blisstree

21 at 21 – Scary Idea

Sometimes it’s easy to deal with the hard parts of parenting, like whether our kids listen or behave or throw tantrums. I’m a firm believer in praising my kids when they do something wonderful but it can be easy to slip into a habit of nagging them. Thus, here is one thing each of my kids did right this week.

My oldest is not fond of sharing with her sister. She’ll share at school and she’ll share with her friends, but sometimes it’s like pulling teeth to get her to do the same with her sibling. Therefore, both yesterday and so far today, I have been pleased to note that she has been not only including her sister in her games but also going out of her way to find things they can do or play with together. I have to tell you, it is so wonderful to hear them laughing together instead of screaming at each other.

My youngest is the one I joke about having OCD. She can’t handle messes for very long. In the past week she has washed her own high chair tray with a wet cloth, put bits of cut-up paper in the garbage, thrown her diaper in the pail after bath time, and picked up toys in the living room, putting them back where they belong. Thank heavens at least one kid here likes to clean up.

Bonus – My oldest poured me a glass of water and brought it to me earlier because she noticed I hadn’t had any yet.

What did you kids do?

Post from: Blisstree

Praise about your kids

They’ve asked blogging moms to share the most idiotic and annoying question you were asked either while pregnant or as a new mother. If you have a blog yourself you can also participate (and you may win a random drawing – they’re giving away two prize packages of one book and one iPod shuffle!), or you can just read the entries from other participants. Let me just say, I wrote my entry and then when I read the others that were up this morning, I identified with EVERY single one.

I can’t believe how many stupid questions and comments we get as mothers. Seriously.

Check it out and feel better that you’re not the only target of moronic questions.

Post from: Blisstree

Entertain yourself this weekend with stories of stupidity

I wore all of my kids until they were about a year, non-stop, and then after that we gradually lessened it, just because they got heavy, and by two I was mostly done. However, I treasure those days being so very close to my babies and having both hands free to pat their back and squeeze their little toes. There is something so special about nuzzling your baby’s head, and wearing a sling, for me, made it a much more common To Do.

I was inspired to write this after I came across this post from the Celebrity Baby Blog:

Did you know that babies that are worn cry less and are easier to soothe? Babywearing is good for baby’s physical, emotional, and mental development. Babies who are worn by their caregiver are generally in a quiet alert state, and cry less because they feel constant security. When you’re baby is worn, it can feel your body warmth, breathing rhythm, and hear both your heart beat and your voice, which reminds them of being in the womb. For more on why babywearing is great for you and your baby (and the scientific studies that back it), read Great Things About Babywearing at thebabywearer.com.

I’ve got 2 New Natives, 3 OTSBHs, a Maya Wrap and one made by Dr. Sears that I can’t recall the name of. A few of them were bought at full price ($40-$50 dollars), but most were purchased at consignment stores like Once Upon a Child or on eBay. There are usually $15-ish when gently used. At one time, when I ran the diaper store, I actually sold OTSBHs, but it was a pain keeping inventory in stock as they changed out the patterns so much.

Anyway, take a twenty and buy yourself a sling. If nothing else it means you can take your baby out and keep people away from him at the same time. Germs are evil…

Post from: Blisstree

Wearing Your Baby

Elana Centor says working moms aren’t talking about the Great Places To Work List. Apparently, neither is anyone else.

So what’s up with all the silence? Is it because women don’t care? Do the believe the list is not relevant? Or, is it a more practical issue — working mothers simply don’t have time to weigh in on the significance, gains, surprises and trends listed in the top 100? (via BlogHer and Elana’s Blog)

I think it’s probably that 1-we don’t have time and 2-we really don’t care. It’s not like most of us can ever hope to work in one of those companies. Maybe if we were in a big city, but the majority of women/men in America are not even in close proximity to those companies (and don’t even get me started about the huge number of non-US bloggers).

In fairness to Elana though, her post just got thinking about working women. There’s nothing in the post she wrote that fuels or even mentions this debate, it just reminded me of a recent debate because her post has some fascinating quips from morons about working mothers. Apparently there are alot of people who, showing their gross immaturity, think that parenting is no different than caring for a pet. Grrr…

What bothers me about any attention given to WAHM or SAHM seems to only start the US vs THEM debate that I am so bored with… It seems you can’t bring up one positively without someone on the other side saying that it’s horrible for your kids to do the other (or vice versa).

I was on an extremely popular woman’s networking list for several months up until last week. The reason I left is that the only side that wasn’t being told was that of the mother who didn’t fit their mold.

These predominantly work-outside-the-home moms were angry at the recent Forbes article, “Don’t Marry A Career Woman”. And, they should have been. That was one of the most cruel and one-sided pieces of janky journalism I’ve ever seen.

However, the response that one woman gave was alarming to this SAHM/WAHM:

” I’d also be interested to see some stats on the percentage of unfaithful men who have stay at home wives.”

My first response was to (nicely) ask her to append her suggestion as I was ‘trying hard not to be offended’.

Um, I’m trying not to be offended here. What are you implying please…

Robyn Tippins
A work-from-home mom

The moderator quickly let me know that my response was ‘flaming’ so I would need to edit it. Though I was surprised, I did append it and I wrote this:

I read the Forbes article, and I agree it was one-sided, but how is your comment above different. The news media enjoys pitting Working Moms against SAHMs and we have to avoid joining in. Your comment made me wince inside because it is something every woman fears and to suggest that SAHMs are somehow doing something that might make their husband more likely to cheat is, frankly, hurtful.

In order to prevent these ridiculous articles from appearing, they have to stop garnering page views. For that to happen, women like us must not be tempted to throw blame at the other side. The author is the one who deserves your anger, he provoked it. However, don’t place any on SAHMs. They, just like us, are just moms trying to do the right thing. The media surely does make that confusing for us all sometimes.

Robyn Tippins (A work-from-home mom)

As I didn’t hear back, I assumed it would go as written. Instead, when it hit the list (two days later) it had several sections removed and had been completely reworded (and was no longer my words). However, it did not say it had been edited, I was not told it needed to be edited further and they actually still kept my name attached.

After going to the business owner and seeing this was not a priority to her, I quickly resigned the subscription. The temptation to name the group is great, but out of respect to the owner (yes, I do still hold her in high regard, even though we disagree on this intellectual property issue) I have chosen to mention it here, vaguely.

Why do we think it’s us against them? We don’t have to agree fully to agree that we are all trying our best to be the best parents we can be… No matter your niche title (SAHM, WAHM, Working Outside the Home Mom), we’re all Moms and we’re trying.

If you’re tempted to make yourself feel better about your decision by demeaning someone else’s decision then maybe you don’t support your own decision as much as you think.

/rant off

Post from: Blisstree

WAHMs and SAHMs CAN CoExist Peacefully

Post from: Blisstree

Mumspotting.

The blog chronicles her adventures in parenting, her frustrations with the American health system as a disabled person living and caring for another disabled person, and also her hopes and dreams for her sons. It’s heart-warming, heart-rending and yet remarkably addictive reading.

Lisa’s rethinking her blog for the moment, but go visit all the same. I hope it doesn’t disappear or anything!

Post from: Blisstree

New category: Parenting blogs.