7 Quick Takes (Vol. 40)

-1-

It seems that my drastic paring down of my Facebook friends to only those people I'm actually real friends with (or at least want to be real friends with) has kept me in a nice little bubble regarding various (often annoying or infuriating) aspects of modern culture.  For example, despite hearing about it for almost a month, I didn't actually see a single "ice bucket challenge" video on my newsfeed until just this week.  And who posted it?  My 60-year-old father.

-2-

On Tuesday, I made the effort to wake up really early at a reasonable hour, for once, and got myself and the three kids to daily Mass across the street.  I had mentioned to Sly that we were going, so he went to his room and picked out "church clothes" - pants with a belt, a dress shirt, and a bowtie.  I told him that I was alright with him not dressing up, since it wasn't a Sunday Mass.  But he insisted.  I've gotta hand it to him, he realized how inconsistent my rule was - I mean, Mass is Mass. 

All the daily Mass folk (a.k.a. retirees) were tickled by his outfit, and complimented him left and right.  So I'm betting he'll be choosing to dress up again in the future.  Suits me fine.  Little boys in bow ties are adorable.

-3-

All the homeschooling bloggers are busy writing posts about starting up the new schoolyear.  I keep seeing recommendations for curriculum, and the occasional suggestions for keeping yourself sane amidst the chaos and/or malaise that's in store for you in a few months.

Despite the advice I've heard so many times about not starting to homeschool a pre-school age kid unless they're begging for it....I've decided to dip my toes into the water with Sly.  We're testing out the oft-praised Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. 

Sly loves books so much, and already spends hours poring over the pages.  He has many books memorized verbatim, and "reads" them to me or Stella.  He's dying to learn to read for real.  His verbal skills are pretty high, so I think he might be ready.  According to my mother-in-law, Tom "taught himself to read" at age four.  So this might not be too crazy.  Plus, it's just fifteen minutes a day.  Still plenty of time for playing and being a kid.

We've only made it through two days, but so far, so good.  If I realize we need to take a break from it down the road, no big deal!

-4-

Speaking of books, we made a couple good discoveries at the children's library this week.  Books that were so enjoyable, I'm considering getting copies of our own.

The first one is Nest, by Jorey Hurley.

The story is quite simple, with just one word per page ("nest", "hatch").  This makes it appropriate for toddlers, but pre-schoolers will enjoy it as well because of the sweet story about the little robin growing up from egg to adult.  It's a sort of introduction to life cycle or the "circle of life".  The illustrations are very "clean" and appealing.  Because the author shares just one word about each picture, it left plenty of room for discussion with my kids about what was happening on each page.

Tom reading the kids a totally different book (also a good one, though)

The other one is Train, by Elisha Cooper.


It follows five different types of trains as they travel through or across the US.  The author did a wonderful job capturing all the sights, sounds, and moods of the various experiences and landscapes.  The drawings are rich with lots of details to discuss.

But you don't have to take my word for it [anyone get the reference?!].  Keep an eye out for them both if you stop at your local library!

-5-

Why is it so impossible to find dresses that have sleeves these days?  I'm not even talking about long sleeves (that is truly impossible to find - why?  It makes so much sense for the winter).  I mean dresses with any sleeves at all that cover the shoulders. 

Strapless, spaghetti-strap, halter-top, etc. dresses tend to be unflattering on people.  Or at least on myself.  And aside from the potential immodesty issues with many of them, there's the fact that they aren't seasonally appropriate three-quarters of the year!  If I have to layer a shirt under a dress, or a cardigan or shrug over it to be warm and/or modest, then seriously, what's the point?  Why can't they just make a one-piece garment that functions on its own?!

-6-

I did a Google search just now for "dresses with sleeves" and the first result was Modcloth.  It's nice that you're able to narrow down their selection by that indicator.  I do like Modcloth, but it's like a black hole for me every time I get onto their site.  Their selection is massive, and I feel like I can never get through it all.

-7-

Stella loved her birthday gift, as expected.  We had a little mini birthday celebration on her actual birthday, and gave her our gifts.  The "big" party is this weekend, though.

 She's happy to wear her little Ergo carrier with dolls or stuffed animals, on her front or back.

Yes, I know babies aren't supposed to face out on an Ergo.  But it's just a stuffed bear :-)

Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary

From a 1931 Obstetrics Textbook

A few months back, I found a gem of a book for $1 at a thrift store.  It's a rather fragile 1931 textbook written for those learning to be obstetric nurses.  I have a real interest in learning about pregnancy and childbirth, especially in the history of how these processes were approached in times past as compared to the modern ways.

Not surprisingly, things were rather different in the early 30's.  Many women still gave birth at home, though a lot of them went to special hospitals for the birth.  After the baby was born, women were expected to stay in bed (called "lying-in") for at least two weeks.  Doctors still often worked on women "blindly", reaching in to examine them under a sheet, so as to preserve her modesty.  And the doctors and nurses were absolutely obsessed with sterilization.  This isn't surprising.  At this time, people had finally come to understand that the "puerperal fever" which had tragically killed so many new mothers during the previous century was actually the result of infection - often unknowingly caused by the doctor himself.  But this was still before the advent of antibiotics.  So the best solution was to just be extremely rigorous about making everything completely and utterly aseptic.

So you get unsettling suggestions like,

"Some parturients [women in labor] are unruly, and persist, against advice, in putting the hands on the sterile abdominal towel or even on the vulva.  In such a case the nurse should tie them loosely at the head of the bed."

I can't say I'd appreciate giving birth with my hands tied to the bed.  My favorite part of this quote is that such women are called "unruly"!

***

The book explained another practice I just could not abide, the lying-in period after birth:

"The writer's practice is to allow the woman to have the back-rest on the fifth day, to sit bolt upright on the seventh day, to get out into a rocker or Morris chair on the tenth, stand on her feet on the eleventh, have the freedom of the room on the twelfth, and go down stairs on the fifteenth day."

Ugh.  I could be forced to spend maybe one day lying in bed after birth, but beyond that, it would be torturous.  I need to be up and moving again!

***

Some of the baby-care practices were pretty different from today as well.  It seems the nurses urged mothers to waste no time in getting the baby on a strict nursing schedule and to commence immediate sleep training:

"The baby is put to the breast every eight hours until the milk comes, then every four hours during the day, but not during the night.  The first nursing is a 6 A.M., the last at 10:30 P.M., and the child is put to the breast once during the night if it seems really necessary.  The four-hour schedule is for robust children.  Those under 2700 Gms. [5.95 lbs] and those that do not gain after the eighth day have a three-hour schedule: 6, 9, 12, 3, 6, and the last feeding about 10 P.M."

Four hours between nursing?!  How could anyone stand to wait so long?  Most babies would start screaming long before four hours had passed (and I'm sure the breasts would be uncomfortably teeming).  I'm all for gradual night-time weaning, but a newborn baby is just not ready to go for an eight-hour stretch without nursing at night.  I really wonder how many women still followed this schedule, after they were out from under the watchful eye of their nurses.

***

There was a section about the baby's layette, and what materials you should prepare.  So many women still made clothes by hand (either sewing, or knitting) at this time.  I was particularly interested in the recommendations for cloth diapers, since I wanted to see what was used then as compared to all the fancy types we have available these days.  The book recommends:

"Four to six dozen diapers of cotton diaper cloth 20x40 inches.  These can be bought in sealed packages or made at home.  Two dozen cheese-cloth squares 1 yard square to use folded inside the diaper.  Ten or twelve dozen pieces of clean white absorbent cloth 10 inches square (old linen or cotton) to be used inside the diapers."

I'm very curious about how this worked.  Did the "diaper" go on the outside sort of like a diaper cover, with the cheese-cloth acting as a "doubler" and the white absorbent cloth as a "diaper liner" (to use the cloth diaper parlance of today)?


In the section explaining the type of stockings you should get for your baby (presumably because the babies of the time were all put in dress-like garments, and their legs might get cold), they suggest

"machine-made woolens...which are easily washed and fit comfortably over the diaper at the knee."

Huh?  The knee?!  Just how huge were those diapers?  Or is it just because newborn's knees tend to be bend upwards all the time?

 ***

Anyways, it's been an interesting book to read.  I'm not even halfway through yet, but if I find anymore ponderables like these, I can share them in a future entry.  

Though I've peeked ahead to the "Grave Disturbances During Pregnancy" and "Complications During Labor" chapters and let me tell you, there are some pretty gruesome pictures there.  It might be best for me to wait until after I've given birth.

Monday Musings (in my own style)

This post loosely follows the pattern of Patch O'Dirt Farm's Monday Musings, but I made up my own categories since I just had random unconnected things to blather about.  Sorry to be a rebel today!

In the past week...
We had some friends over for dinner - a newly-married couple who are expecting their first baby.  They seemed to get a big kick out of our children, and I was happy to provide them with a little preview of what they might be able to expect their home to look like in a few years.  At one point during normal dinner conversation, Sly butted in excitedly to say, "One time! When we were at the lake! There was a dead fish!  And then a seagull came and ate him all up!  And then a turkey vulture came and ate what was left!!"  Our guests were very tickled.

Last night, I was walking down our front steps while bearing my much-increased pregnancy weight and carrying Stella in my arms and the (wooden) stair broke under me and I crashed down on my bum.  Thankfully, Stella was fine.  But I twisted my ankle, and it's not been pleasant trying to get around today.  The stair below cracked as well, so we can't use that entrance anymore.  I left a sign on the stair for the mailman, and I'm hoping he will somehow avoid getting hurt by the stairs but still manage to get our mail up into the mailbox! The landlord has been notified, and I hope it's fixed soon.


Today...
We had an unseasonably warm day for January - jacket weather!  So I decided to stop being a lazy mom and actually take my kids to a playground.  Sly couldn't stop telling me what a great time he had.  It made me feel like a real champ.

 

 Until Stella started freaking out on the swing, and we had to go home... :-)

Tom is taking our car in to get detailed tonight, in preparation for selling it.  Our growing family won't be able to fit into it in a few months, so we're looking to upsize.  I bought the car - the only one I've ever owned - when I started my first real job, teaching high school.  It's been with me for a long time, and it's going to be a little sad letting it go.  It also makes me sad to think that we're finally making it shiny and clean again, just so we can sell it to someone else!  I've wanted to have the car detailed for ages, but Tom always said it was a waste of money (and I know he's right, since it would have taken the kids about five seconds to spill something new all over the seats).


What I'm reading...



Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. This is a short little book, but full of thoughtful and beautiful reflections about life, womanhood, and being human.  It could make an excellent discussion piece for a short bookgroup, or a couple of girlfriends over coffee.  It's written by the wife of famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh.  Worth picking up!



Tom finally tracked down an inexpensive older copy of Mary Reed Newland's We and Our Children, and gave it to me for Christmas.  I had heard rumors that the new version (re-named How to Raise Good Catholic Children) was abridged to cut out some of the best passages relating to the old Mass (which we attend, so I wanted those parts included).  I've since found out that they once again re-published the original unabridged book (which I linked above).  Newland has lovely ideas about teaching the Faith to children, and I've been sharing many passages with Tom as I read.


What I'm making...

I'm still slowly cranking out a blanket for the new baby.  I *think* I should actually have it done by the end of March, when baby is due.  I'm just about halfway.  The nice part is, since the blanket is knit diagonally, each row is going to get shorter and shorter as I finish!


Something I'm dreading...
I really need to go through all my photos on the computer, and select the ones I want to print out.  I haven't done it in ages...ugh.  I always feel like this is one of the most tedious tasks ever.


Updates...
I mentioned last week that we wanted to try out Stella - not quite 17 months - in her new toddler bed, and see if she was ready for it yet.  She's been sleeping in it for both nighttime and naptimes since, and doing great!  For the most part, she doesn't even attempt to get out until it's "time."  I was worried the kids would be climbing into each others' beds and bugging each other all the time, but Sly knows better, and Stella has seem too interested in sleeping so...so far so good!

[and now since I've said this, I should probably expect a terrible night with Stella climbing out of bed constantly!]

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 12)

1. I'm going to the the matron-of-honor in my best friend's wedding next month.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very honored to have been asked.  And I know that I have no right to complain when all my duties combined don't even come close to the overwhelming amount of responsibilities and planning she has on her plate.  But oy vey - it takes a fair amount of work, and a whole lot of money to do this thing right!  The initial cost of the bridesmaid dress was already pretty frightening.  I had to order it two sizes up since I knew there was a possibility I would be pregnant by the wedding, and of course they never make the dresses with maternity options.  At my dress fitting yesterday, I put the thing on.  It fit - with a little room left for baby to grow - on the tummy.  But NO WHERE ELSE.  It's enormous.  I have to have it taken in at six different areas.  No joke.  The alterations are costing more than the stupid dress even cost to begin with!!  And I know I'm never going to wear it ever again, because the excessive drapiness of the style just makes it look like I'm fat and lumpy rather than pregnant.  Sigh.  I'll post pictures when the wedding comes.  I probably need to just get over it.

It looks great on her, sure.  Don't be fooled, though...that's no empire waist.  It hits right at the natural waist which is exactly where I have a huge baby bump.

2. It's suddenly gotten very hot, and I'm remembering very clearly what a summertime third trimester felt like.  Sly was born at the end of August which is when this baby is due as well.  We don't have air conditioning.  How did I survive this before?  I took a picture of my feet yesterday "pre-swelling" so that I can blow people's minds in a few months with how enormous my feet and ankles will have become.

3. Speaking of the heat, I think we may have found a little trick to help keep the house slightly cooler this summer.  My cousin's been insisting for years that the best thing to do when it's hot is to keep doors and windows SHUT and windows well-covered to block out the sun.  We'd always gone with the open-every-window-and-door and stick-fans-all-over-the-house methods.  But we've been experimenting, and I really think she's right.  It's too bad, though.  I love getting a little breeze indoors (even when it's a hot one), and actually being able to hear the sounds of the outdoors coming in.

4. I've been reading some books recently on different approaches/methods of homeschooling.  We definitely hope to homeschool.  I know any number of things may force that plan to change at some point, but it makes sense to start thinking about it now.  So far I'm most attracted to the idea of a classical approach.  To explain this in the briefest way possible, that would basically entail teaching our children the skills that are needed for learning and understanding material, and not delving too deeply into real "subject matter" until later.  And it would be a great excuse for me to finally learn Latin, as I've always wanted to.  One approach that I am SO turned off by is "unschooling."  Perhaps - perhaps - this is a successful approach to learning for some families.  But I could never handle it.  The parts of unschooling that most resonated with me - the idea of fostering your child's natural desire to learn, and of allowing their interests to help direct their learning - seem to be things I could work in to a more traditional schooling approach anyways.

 

5. Sly's finally been saying some words!  For the longest time, he's been stuck with just "what's that?!" (asked 50,000 times a day), "hi", "hey", "bye", and "no."  I really wanted him to start saying Mama or Dada, but it just wasn't happening.  Then I realized: when Tom or I refer to ourselves, we say "Mommy" or "Daddy."  Perhaps those words were too difficult for him to say?  We started actually using "Mama and Dada" and seriously, within one day, he was saying our names!  It was as if he was just waiting for us to make it easier for him all along.  He also says: shoe, choo-choo, beep-beep (which means car), soap ("so"), bee (which is now squealed excitedly when he sees any type of bug), 'o' (the letter o, which I taught him to pick out in his books, as it seemed like the easiest letter to spot) moo, and hee-haw.

6. There's been a bad smell in my kitchen the past few days which I can not find the source of, and it's driving me crazy!  It's sorta a musty old food smell more than a true rotting type of smell.  I've washed the rugs, towels, dishrags, etc.  I microwaved the sponge.  I cleared old food out of the fridge and pantry.  I emptied the trash (and sniff-checked the empty can - it's fine).  I moved the oven to see if something gross was under there.  I scrubbed under all the burners on the over.  And ok, I haven't actually mopped the floor, per se.  But I've spot-cleaned it, and it looks good (I hate mopping!!).  Yesterday, I thought maybe it was the drains in the double-sink.  How are you even supposed to de-stink those??  We don't have a garbage disposal or anything.  I just poured some bleach down, waited a little, then followed up with water.  Afterwards, it just smelled sorta bleach-y to me.  But I'm willing to try a more effective method, if anyone knows of one.  I still think it might be the drains.  But if not....what stink-sources could I be missing??

7. I need to share a fantastic recipe from Pioneer Woman.  This is the first of her recipes I've used, but I've tasted some other at friends' houses, and they're always amazing.  This one is for Crash Hot Potatoes.  I've made them three times in the past month or so, and Tom keeps requesting them over and over.  Definitely give them a try!  And if anyone has some other favorites from her extensive recipe collection, link me up!

Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary

To Schedule Your Day, or be Spontaneous?

Sly nestling into his blanky while he sleeps - so precious!

For the almost-ten-months Sly has been around, I've been pretty pleased - and perhaps even a bit prideful - about the fact that he did not have a "regular naptime." During his earlier months, I just let him fall asleep whenever, wherever. But he gradually began to need his crib and quiet in order to get any quality sleep. So for the past few months, I've tried to gauge when he needs a nap (i.e. waiting until he's already really tired, and thus waiting TOO LONG), and "encourage" it to happen by putting him in his crib with his *Special Blanket* and letting him cry for a bit if necessary.

I kept insisting to myself and everyone else that I liked it this way. That it gave me more flexibility, because I wasn't tied to my kid's nap schedule, like so many other moms were. I prided myself on the supposed freedom of it all, and my ability to drag Sly out of the house at any time of day that it was convenient for me.

But a few weeks ago - I think mostly by his own doing - Sly made it clear that he likes more consistency in his life. By paying better attention to his signals - and actually responding to them - I've let him develop his own remarkably regular schedule of sleeping and waking. He still goes to bed at 9 pm as always. But now, instead of allowing me to encourage him back to sleep in the morning (so I can catch another hour or two of sleep myself), he insists on waking me up with him at 7 am. While this took a few days to adjust to, I am loving all the time I have in the mornings now. Sly then takes a two-hour nap around 10am, and another nap around 3pm for a couple more hours. It's great!

This does mean that I've had to plan my days more around his naps, and put off out-of-the house trips to run errands, etc. But so far, I am LOVING IT. My days have taken on an anticipated pace and pattern. And ironically, in ways, there is more freedom in this schedule than in the unstructured days we had before.

The basic rundown looks something like this:
6:40am: Sly wakes up almost exactly the same time each morning. Like, 6:45, with a standard deviation of 5 minutes tops. No matter what time he actually fell asleep the night before. How does he do that?? I nurse him in bed and try to catch a few more zzzz's.

7am-10am: We get up and have plenty of time to shower, get dressed and ready, tidy the downstairs, eat breakfast, put in some laundry and just relax and play.... And some days we get to Mass (we've been WALKING to a nearby Parish, that I didn't even know existed, for 9am Mass ).

10 am (-ish. it's all approximate.): I put him down for his nap, and I try to make sure to do at least one more time-consuming job around the house (vacuuming, mopping, etc.). And then I sit myself down on the front porch with a book (or upstairs at the computer, as is the case today), and a rewarding cup of delicious coffee.

12pm - 3-or-so pm: As soon as he's up, it's lunchtime. After that, we can run errands, visit my mom, or do whatever else needs to be done around the house (ok, well, I do what needs to be done; Sly follows after me grabbing onto my legs and skirt, asking to be held).

3 pm: Another nap for Sly (and sometimes for me!). I usually have a sit-down, and work on paying bills, adding items to our budget, making phone calls, etc.

4:30 or 5 pm: He's up again, we play together, and I start on dinner.

And then Tom's home (and I've been convincing him that a little more structure to our evenings would bring peace and order to our family as well, so that's slowly been working itself out).



It's surprisingly nice to have more of a pattern to our days. I think Sly's better off. Most importantly, I can be sure he's getting enough sleep each day (the pediatrician reprimanded me about this at his last appointment!). I think it's been keeping Sly in better spirits throughout the day. In the past, there were some days he refused to nap very much or even at all. I think he just got so overly tired and cranky, that it prevented him from sleeping. So, of course, it was a self-perpetuating cycle of cranky-baby-syndrome [I made that syndrome up]!

It's also nice now because I know he is definitely going to get a nap at roughly such-and-such a time. I can tell myself, "don't stress out about the pile of papers sitting there for you to go through. You'll have time to get to that this afternoon" or "make the effort to spend quality time with Sly now, because he's taking a nap in half an hour, and you will get your alone time.'

So, how has this changed my approach to my day? Does this mean that I now have to reconsider accepting every opportunity, invitation, or whim that comes my way? Yes. But I think the trade-off of peace and restfulness that it brings to the home and to our persons has been worth it so far.



For more about this topic, do check out A Mother's Rule of Life. I am currently reading it with the Catholic Moms Group of Pittsburgh, and it is very inspiring.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 6)

1. I expect I am going to be merely sleepwalking through the day today. I don't know what was going on with Sly last night - either intense teething, or he caught the sickness that Tom had all week. But every ten minutes - no joke - he would wake up SCREAMING. It took forever to calm him down. He was in our bed all night, of course. And Tom did not stir even once. How is that possible? I tried Tylenol, but it didn't help (and that's always helped in the past, when he's like this). Now that it's morning, he seems just fine and dandy. But I feel like a zombie.


2. Father's Day is coming up later in the month. I think I am going to use it as an excuse to get one of these carriers. For Tom, of course....hehe, well...and myself.


3. I'm reading a very griping work of non-fiction right now, called The Flipside of Feminism. Basically about how the feminist message is a lie, and actually bad for women. Maybe next week, I will assemble a post of some choice quotes from the book.




4. I'm also reading (I can never seem to restrict my active books to just one) The Omnivore's Dilemma. Very well written, and a fascinating look at where our food really comes from. The first part is all about the corn industry, and it makes me angry, and tempted to just boycott corn forever! But aside from the fact that that would be near impossible to do in America, the truth is, I really enjoy corn. I just ate two delicious buttery and salty cobs of it last night...mmmm.


5. Ironing clothes has never been a favorite activity of mine. Mostly because it takes FOREVER. And practically every item of clothing that Tom wears to work needs to get ironed after it's washed. We have a special basket designated for clothes that are waiting for the iron. About twice a month, I put aside two or so hours in my day and tackle them all.

But now that Sly is crawling, I've found this impossible. There is absolutely no way of ironing when he's awake. He insists on being in the same room as me (which is probably for the best these days, since he's constantly finding new ways to get into things), and he wants to come over and see what I'm doing. This could mean trying to climb the ironing board, or grabbing the cord on the iron. I am certain that letting Sly be in the same room as a hot iron would result in him getting burned. Evenings are tough to get it done as well, since there are so many other things I've been saving to do for "when Sly goes to bed (!)". For over a week, I've been begging Tom to give me a hand so I could get through the ironing. Last night, he was finally feeling a little better. So we put on a movie, and took turns wielding the iron. Man - what an exciting evening, huh?

And still, we only got through half the basket.


6. Now that Sly is crawling, my poor Lancelot is getting even more beat up!7. I just bought a new bright red red red lipstick the other day. We'll see how it goes. I've been on a quest to find one that's a true RED shade, and yet lasts on my lips longer than two minutes. All traditional lipsticks are worthless. I love the Covergirl Outlast lipcolor sticks (which last for maybe 3-4 hours, rather than the 16 hours that they claim on the box). But they, sadly, do not make a real red. So I've been exploring other brands of long-lasting lipcolors. Loreal's was a total flop. The new one is Revlon....now to find the right occasion to try it out...

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