the ONE thing I didn’t really want her to inherit

When I was pregnant with Maja I talked to her a lot inutero, trying to convince her to inherit the right mix of traits from her parents:

• my teeth, hair, and feet
• blue eyes (don’t know why this was so important)
• her dad’s temperament and brains

Well, she’s got the blue eyes… the rest remains to be seen. What IS becoming clear, unfortunately, is that Maja inherited my trait of Extreme Crankiness Related to Exhaustion. My finest hours do not happen after 9pm — when I get tired I get cranky and Maja has inherited this. Suffice it to say evenings are not usually a happy time in our house.

What about you? Do you, as an adult, still have a “cranky time”? C’mon… ‘fess up!

inconvenience, take 2

sorry, I pulled yesterday’s post. I should rant more often… I get more traffic. :) Thank you to to all who commented. Here’s the revision:

Yesterday I was frustrated by the response I got when I had to leave work to attend to my child. I understand that it wasn’t the best day for it, but when my baby’s butt is as red as a tomato and her face is purple from screaming… well, it needs to be attended to. NO ONE likes a sick kid — it messes everything up. I had plans for the day, too, like going to the pool to swim some laps. Didn’t happen.

Either way you slice it balancing work and children is hard. We’re supposed to be living in an era that supports working mothers. When one of my children is sick I will put everything else aside and deal with it, because my children come first. It’s not up for discussion.

evil mommy

We have a huge amount of baby-related items in our house and, for whatever reason, a lot of stuffed animals. The majority of these stuffed animals have absolutely no sentimental value and were just random gifts — like from a neighbour from our old street or a stranger in Arizona… Maybe it’s just an easy gift to give? Hey, you’re a cute kid. This is a cute stuffed animal! Cute things belong together… so this is for you! It’s not like Maja or Madeleine actually play with even half of the stuffed creatures we have in our house. So, a few weeks ago while the kids were still at school, I donned some dark clothing, put the Mission Impossible theme song on the stereo and embarked on a super-secret stealth-mom cleanout: I rounded these unloved items up, heartlessly tossed them into a garbage bag, and deposited them at the local thrift store. The deal is done.

It was oddly freeing and Maja hasn’t noticed their absence at all. Now ya’ll, don’t get your knickers in a knot: her favourites, and any stuffed creature with sentimental value (gift from family, close friends, or one that proved to be very cute) have remained. But the random Britney Spears bear? GONE.

parenting challenge #406

Bottles. More specifically: bottles with BPA. We (as in ALL parents) have been so blissfully ignorant, but after hearing all the latest reports I can no longer in good conscience continue to use the Avent bottles. I can’t. I was fine with it on Monday, but the fact that I sent Madeleine to school with them today is weighing heavily on my mind.

After much research I have found that I don’t need to spend an arm & a leg to get more bottles. I basically have two options, Gerber Gentle Flow or Born Free, if I want to keep the Avent nipples (I’m probably going to get TONS of spam now that I typed that). Hopefully Madeleine will be oblivious and won’t notice the loss of flavour that the bpa additives have been providing. Eh, my grandchildren will probably all have 2 heads.