DC Metro Moms

Going and Keeping Green

Last month I made a little pledge with myself and thousands of readers to make serious efforts toward making my family and our home more eco-conscious and "green".  I'm happy to report that we (I) have made some great strides in the emerald direction but, dudes (!)  this is NOT easy.

I joined a CSA.  We are signed up to get vegetables through the end of the year from a great local farm.  I have made extensive use of the lettuce, asparagus, arugula, potatoes, carrots, chives and strawberries so far.  I got two neighbors to join as well and we have taught each other new ways to eat the fresh delectables and we carpool to get the farm (woo hoo, saved gasoline!). 

Dear Mother's Day, I Call a Do-Over

A belated Happy Mother's Day to all the m-o-m-s out there. I bet you had a great day, huh?  Someone made you breakfast, maybe you went back to bed for a nap, got a mani/pedi or had lunch with your friend or mother or daughter, took another nap, awoke to hot tea and fresh cookies, had a nice enjoyable workout or Yoga class and then sat down to a nice healthy dinner prepared and cleaned up by your children and adoring spouse. 

What!?  It didn't go that way for you either?  Alright, NO FAIR!  I call DO-OVER! 

Renewing My Blogging Vows

I almost left.  No good-bye, no explanation, just disappearing into the dark and blogless night.  It would have been a fitting way to go I suppose.  An exhausting second pregnancy left me without a creative bone in my body and I am not one of those gals who can just fake it, ya'll.  Not with my keyboard and blog at least. (wink, wink)  I tried. I posted pictures.  I updated with blah blah blaawgg and oh, babies are hard work and I'm tired, Waaa! But my heart wasn't in it. 

On January 30th I gave birth to my gorgeous baby girl and any concept I had of personal time and space became a total mirage of laughable proportions.  Three weeks later my son was diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum and let me tell you, when it rains it pours.

Confessions of a Counterfeit Recycler

On this Earth Day I am vowing to make some changes in the way my family lives to keep the earth and our home cleaner and healthier for our children.  I am not really a counterfeit recycler ... in fact, I take full advantage of our county's weekly recyclables pick-up.  However, I can do better and I can do more. 

Sometimes I throw my aluminum cans into the regular trash can.  I don't always do full loads of laundry.  I use paper towels and extra soft toilet paper and bleach!  ...and Drano!  And, disposable diapers, but I refuse to apologize for those. I am a mom of a toddler and a newborn and I totally get the time crunch and necessity of convenience.  I feel hindered by the expense of many eco-conscious products but as I learned in the documentary, Food, Inc., a lot of industry-production is subsidized making unhealthy choices cheaper than healthy ones.  What?

Lesson Learned: Sunscreen. Apply Liberally.

"You are just a baby at 30," he said with remorse on his face and in his voice.

Age 30 that is.  He was twice my age and old enough to be my father.  We were both having a Mohs Procedure yesterday. We discussed past sun habits and having been there before I could see that we also both felt shameful for ending up with skin cancer. Because in some way we knew we played a role in the demise of our skin's innocence.  I think we both were thankful that it was just that simple: A few cuts, a few stitches, a few hours of our day and then done, cancer free. But it could have been and could someday be, far more difficult.

The older I get, the less self-conscious I get. I'm more comfortable in my own skin, so to speak   (Haha ... no irony there!) Now that I am a mother, a mother of TWO CHILDREN, I am even more self assured and confident in myself.  I speak my mind more freely, I know who I am, I like who I am.  But there is one place when I feel strange, like a child, like I stand out like a gnarly gang-green thumb. That place is the surgical waiting room at my dermatologists office on the day of the week when he performs a Mohs Procedure to remove Basal Cell Carcinoma skin cancers. I feel guilty for having skin cancer because I know I could have prevented it.  I could have worn more sunscreen, more hats, used more umbrellas and sought out more shade.

Doing it right the second time around: A positive postpartum experience

My dear baby girl is six weeks old and I am proud and elated to say that I am doing really well. People can't believe that I was driving so quickly and wearing actual jeans within three weeks, but let me say, I worked hard for this!  And also, they were maternity jeans.  I am physically and mentally in a much better place than I was after my son was born when I was hurled into the dark hole of postpartum depression.  It took that awful experience to know how to plan well for this period of time so that I could experience my children, take care of myself and accept the new challenges, sleeplessness and the host of physical awkwardness that is the postpartum period.

I would be a fool not to admit that sure, I was scared of being wildly pitched into that dark place once again where I hated myself and my body, felt tunnel visioned by the sleeplessness and quaked with anxiety every day.  I was afraid of being so consumed with worry that I wouldn't be able to just relax and enjoy my new baby and my new and larger family.  If you have experienced postpartum depression, or even just a bad case of blues, it doesn't have to repeat with each child, you can do it differently the second time around.  I am so glad that I had the courage to make this time different.

When three becomes four

I'm about to have a baby. My second child is due any day now and our family of three is about to become four. GASP!  From the moment I brought Noah home two years ago I knew I wanted to give him a sibling, a companion, a lifelong pal and childhood playmate.  And woo-hoo!  I'm about to deliver, literally! I'm happy to be giving my children the gift of each other, someone to play with, talk with, and of course, battle restraints against me and my parenting tsk-tsks. 

Waiting for this second child to arrive is drastically different than waiting for the first.  For starters, if my water breaks first, I won't be all clueless wondering, huh, what's that feeling?  But more seriously, I have to plan for childcare for my current child so I, his only ever daytime and constant caregiver can leave for several days.  I think am losing sleep and shedding tears over how worried I am about leaving Noah, much more so than the impending physical toll of my planned un-medicated natural labor. 

When will I be old enough to host Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, people are traveling far and wide, some stay locally and visit with family and friends. We are all preparing to eat way more than is advisable is one day.  It's the beginning of the Holiday Season, on cool nights you can smell chimney smoke in the neighborhood, and you almost always need a jacket in the day time.  

This year we are spending the day at my parent's house, just thirty minutes away.  I had wanted to host this year for several reasons; I'm (very) pregnant and wanted to be home, I want to keep things simple and easy for Noah, and I just wanted to be the host, the cook, the Mom.  But, alas, I lost out once again to my own Mother and I got to wondering, when will I be old enough to host Thanksgiving?

Surprise! I really do like Halloween

It came as a surprise to me when I found myself standing in my kitchen several nights this week slowly and methodically carving pumpkins.  It was calming, zen-like work and I was getting excited to put them outside and entertain and amuse my neighbors. This, from someone who just one year ago confessed to hating Halloween. 

If we all had a dime for each time we've heard someone else talk about how becoming a parent really changes you, we'd all be richer than Bill Gates.  This time though, it's me and I'm still in shock.  I grew up living in a rather rural area and never had the suburban trick-or-treating experience, plus I'm just not that taken with the spooky, scary bit.  Until now. 

I want a VBAC, please support me

My second child is due in about three and a half months and I want to have a VBAC, a vaginal birth after cesarean.  My son was born two years ago via a necessary c-section because after meconium-laden-broken-water and hours of pitocin I never dilated beyond 2 centimeters and he never got into position, so to speak. It was a routine and normal c-section with an uncomplicated, albeit painful, recovery.

The easiest thing to do would be to just sign up for a scheduled c-section on my due date and check myself into the hospital after a relaxing evening with my family, a home-cooked meal and a cozy night of sleep.  Not one to take the easy route, I am opting and hoping, of course, to go into labor, on my body's own will and time, prior to my due date and have a successful and hopefully, medication and intervention-free, natural birth.