How “part-time parenthood” works for us
The upside of this situation is that we found out that my husband IS the better stay at home parent. This could be because he really didn’t enjoy his “on call” job very much, or it could be that he hasn’t spent the last 10 months 24/7 with a little baby happily suckling his nipples, but he is happier at home, gets more done than I ever did, and our baby is happier camper for him. Instead of me waiting for him to get home at question mark o’clock from his crummy job, he knows I will be back at lunch time for breastfeeding, then at 4:30 on the dot for more breastfeeding. We get supper on the table together, take a walk as a family, then both tackle bedtime together. Sometimes we even have time for sex.
On refusing to let your kids take over your life
I want my daughter to see that I am happy with my life now. I want her to understand on a fundamental level that she deserves happiness, too. And, I want her to be able to handle life’s obstacles as a confident and capable individual… Preferably one who doesn’t grow up to live in my basement.
What kind of geek dad do you have? Find him the perfect gift set from Think Geek
I’m pretty stoked that I just found the perfect Father’s Day gift(s) for my dad over on Think Geek, so I thought I’d give y’all a heads-up if you were still looking. Think Geek has these cool Father’s Day gift sets, from Garden Dad, to Star Wars Dad and more! And here’s a special code for a free shipping offer.
Why I love every inch of my stretch marks
I have obsessed about my weight since I was eleven. I’m not going to get into all of the years of disordered eating and self-loathing in this post, but when I look back on photos of myself, I can’t believe I thought there was anything wrong with me. I was a fox — long, lean, lithe, and curvy in just the right places. I could shimmy into tons of really cute clothes, and heads would turn. These days, you could describe me as “pillowy” rather than “willowy.”
A home water birth in a developing country with a homebirth ban
I woke up at 6:30 with what felt like menstrual cramps. I don’t know how many times I’ve read that phrase at the beginning of the scores of birth stories I’ve read over the months but it just didn’t seem real now that it was actually happening to me. I knew then that this was definitely labor, but couldn’t imagine I’d have a baby at the end of the day.
My son told me I’m his “second mom”
We had waited until our son Ben turned four to talk about adoption. We wanted him to be old enough to begin to “get it”, knowing we’d build on it more and more as he was able to understand everything it meant. And like the “Where do babies come from?” conversation with our oldest son, the “What does adoption mean?” conversation was brief and age-appropriate, with most of the grownup details left out.
Creating community by using donated breast milk
I feed my daughter a mix of my breast milk, formula and donated breast milk from five different women. Not only has donated breast milk benefited my daughter’s digestion and overall health, it has introduced me to other moms that I’m now proud to consider part of my community.
“Don’t Think of Ugly People”: how parenting advice has changed
Ever feel constantly inundated with tips and tricks for raising kids? WELL, it turns out there’s a reason for that: sharing parenting tips is just part of what humans do. This piece from The Atlantic compares and contrasts parenting advice from today (don’t let your kids see a screen until they’re two!) to parenting advice from the 1900s (“Pregnant mothers should avoid thinking of ugly people, or those marked by any deformity or disease; avoid injury, fright and disease of any kind.”) and examines why parents are so hung up on all that information in the first place.