The king in his castle

Dana's Birth Story: Part 2

When we last left off, I had just been told that I might want to abort the pregnancy due to suspected placenta accreta. Hot times! Pregnant in the background! There are many things I do not like about living in a large city. Noise. Lack of open fields of wildflowers. The smell of garbage in the summer. However, lack of access to medical care is not one of these problems. After doing some frantic googling, I decided that I would consult a high risk OB/GYN to see what they had to say about my hungry placenta. I scheduled an appointment for a second opinion for which I had to wait a week. What a long week that was! The doctor that I was referred to was a balding Israeli who I had to work really hard to make laugh (always my goal in any medical appointment). Upon reviewing my ultrasound, he said he was not even sure I had placenta accreta and that even if I did have it, there were measures that could be taken to prevent the worst case scenario. ...

Teaching Your Toddler

It's no secret that I had TERRIBLE classroom management skills when I became a teacher. What do you mean the kids aren't going to do exactly what I tell them to do the first time? Luckily, I had the fortune of working with a teacher with amazing classroom management skills and I began to hone my techniques to the point where I didn't need to worry about management anymore. Even though I had this experience, I still expected Leo to listen to me the first time I asked him to do something. hahahafail. Eventually I realized that I could use some of my teaching skills to make this stay-at-home mom thing easier. Planning - I think I've mentioned this is a previous post, but I really feel so much better about the day when I have a plan going into it. Even if we wind up deviating from it, having a morning and afternoon outing, and a morning and afternoon indoor activity provides some structure for my day and for the kids. If I have a plan, I'm much mo...

Happy and Healthy: Part 1 - (It's really all about the clothes.)

Whenever people asked me whether I wanted to have a boy or a girl while carrying Leo and Seth, I usually said, we don't care, we just want a baby who is happy and healthy! Sometimes I would say, there are pluses and minus to both! Rarely did I say what I was actually thinking: that a baby's biological gender doesn't say anything for certain about the personality of that child or even necessarily about the gender that they will eventually identify as. Because most people see this answer as crazy-pants-hippie-talk. Don't get me wrong - there are certainly stereotypical boy and girl traits that are embodied by many boys and girls. These are stereotypes for a reason - they are common. We all know what these traits are: boys are tough, girls are gentle. Boys love trucks, girls love dolls. The list goes on. When people ask "Boy or girl?", I am sure that these are the traits that they are picturing. These expectations, though, feel wrong to...

Unsolicited: Parenting Stories and Advice

Search This Blog