What aliens and pooping during labor have in common
When I find boredom creeping up through my limbs, I play what I call the alien game. To play, you look around and imagine how what ever is around you would look to aliens fresh out of the hatch. I imagine that it’s human procreation that would most baffle the aliens, assuming that they did’t happen to have a similar biological casing.
How can I talk to my tween sister about breasts and other body parts?
I’m not a mom, but I’m getting lots of practice while helping raise my nieces and cousins and by living with my twelve-year-old sister, Angela. Angela is on the cusp of puberty and doesn’t really have a parent to talk to — my mom sent her to live with us, and my dad isn’t much use for gender-specific troubles. I’m stepping up to the plate, but am being confronted with some sticky situations.
How to live like a hermit crab: feeling at home in shared space
…You see, I’m 25, and I am financially and habitationally dependent upon my parents. I am not only living once again in my parents’ house; I am living in my sister’s (former) bedroom.
When I moved back into this house, my sister’s bedroom was hers, and my bedroom was nonexistent. The room I needed to live in had decorated walls and shelves, furniture, clothes in the closet…I felt like it wasn’t my home, like it was temporary. And that worked for me until I began to realize how detached it feels to be living in someone else’s space and calling it your own…
Penis in vagina: this way of making babies is kind of crazy
I remember the day in fourth grade when our school nurse divided the classroom into boys and girls, then whisked us, the ladies-in-training, off to a wing of the school I’d never seen. We were made to watch a poorly scripted, grainy feature film about a girl who gets her period for the first time while sleeping over at a friend’s house. The next morning, terrified, she tells her friend and her friend’s mother. The mom spends the remainder of this ostensibly ’80s classic drawing a uterus and ovaries in pancake batter on the griddle to demonstrate the female system.
Traveling with a baby: about my trip to Machu Picchu with my 4-month-old
I recently traveled to Machu Picchu with a few friends and my son, who was four months old at the time. Everyone thought I was crazy for taking him. I am not sure what they were afraid of… malaria? Too high. Water-borne illness? Breastfeeding. Ear pain on the flight? Exaggerated. Consistent nap time? Overrated. It was during this time that I realized that children are extremely adaptable. It is adults who are not.
How can I get doctors and nurses to include my partner at check-ups?
I recently had a pre-term baby and much of our lives have been spent in the NICU. Since then I’ve noticed the nurses, doctors and lactation consultants expect my husband to be a poor father to our baby. It irks me. For example, whenever the doctors or nurses come to talk to us about our baby they always speak to me only. They only ask me about the baby’s feeding habits. The nurses are surprised when my hubby gets up to change the diaper and does well with it. The lactation consultants ask me about my milk supply even though he is the one processing and keeping record of volumes. It is like they expect men to be uninvolved and distant. It is a shame.
3 things I wish I’d done differently when I was pregnant
Since conception we have often joked about the magical powers of the iconic seafood restaurant chain. So this weekend we returned, which got me thinking about pregnancy, specifically my pregnancy and that a year ago I was just two months pregnant, blissfully unaware that I was having two babies rather than one. There are so many things about my pregnancy that I wouldn’t change, but there are others that I wish that I could do over again.
What Valentine’s Day traditions can single parents establish?
I’m a newly singled momma. New momma, newly singled. This will be my first Valentine’s Day with my son, who is 11 months old and who I adore and love with all my heart. I want to do something fun and special just the two of us — maybe even start a mother and son tradition since it is going to be just the two of us for a very long time. Does anyone have any suggestions?