looked it up) feel pressure to be the perfect mom. Those of us who aren't moms feel the pressure of perfection in other ways.
Remember those safety assemblies at school when you were a kid? Like when the firemen came and taught you to stop, drop and roll, and everyone got to crawl around on the floor and pretend the room was filled with smoke? I would go home, head full of important new information and wait for my house to catch on fire so I could put it to use.
One time when I was little (but old enough to have had the Stranger Talk at school), I was walking into the post office with my mom. Suddenly, a man I didn't know - a Stranger, you might say - offers me candy. Yikes! I'm thinking This is exactly what they warned me about!! I was too scared to say anything. Mom accepted the sucker on my behalf, thanked the postal worker and later talked to me about how I don't have to freak out if I'm with a parent. I kinda felt like Mom didn't really know about Strangers, though. After all, I was the one who had been through the special training.
McGruff the Crime Dog distinguishes "bad strangers" from "safe strangers." BTW, McGruff has come a long way since the coloring book pages of my childhood. He has his own website, downloadable wallpaper and a seldom-updated blog. (I checked to see if he had a myspace, and I found this. Does that seem a little sketch to anyone else?)
At some point my family started reading the Christmas story from Luke 2 before opening presents on Christmas morning. The passage seems so long when there's presents waiting to be unwrapped. But, really, in the grand scheme of things, what do presents matter?"But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.'"
- Luke 2:10-11, NIV
Did you know there's a babywearing conference? Yep. It's four days long. And I'm a little baffled by the whole thing. Who goes to a babywearing conference? Maybe I could see it if you sell items for babywearing. But how many people fall into that category?
Granted, there are several workshops on the schedule that don't seem to be babywearing-specific (i.e. "Website 101," "Intro to Cloth Diapers," and "Mom and Baby Yoga") and several more on businessy things (like "Legal Considerations for BW Vendors" and "Owning a Bricks [sic] and Mortar Store"). There are, however, plenty of workshops just about babywearing, and that's what confounds me the most. How much knowledge does one need in order to wear a baby? Am I missing something here?
It's not every year that I get Christmas baking done. When I can fit it in, I'm always glad I did. There have been years I've baked with friends and others I've gone solo, taking my time, tweaking the recipes as I see fit.
When I was a kid, I "helped" Mom in the little kitchen that seemed so big at the time. I remember those rich, cinnamonny, nutmeggy, smells that fill the house only in the last two months of the year. At her direction, my brother and I would dump (pre-measured) ingredients in a bowl or stir or push candied cherries into the tops of unbaked cookies or use a spoon to drop cookie dough onto a big metal sheet.
She also let us cut out and decorate sugar cookies. I stuck with Christmas-themed shapes; I believe he added dinosaurs. My trees were green with carefully placed candy "ornaments;" his were much more colorful.
As a child, I loved to push the presents aside and lay on the floor underneath the Christmas tree and look up at the colored lights. I would watch them blink and smell the fresh pine scent. I would stay there so long my parents would wonder where I went and come looking.
I'm sure that's not all they're good for. I think they'd be for some kind of craft or project. What do you think they should do with them? What would you do?
It dissolves really well in liquids. They say you can't event taste it in water, but I haven't tried that.
take some eggs
and when they're done, you won't be able to tell you added anything. (Also, see how I put the eggs between the English muffins - makes it look like less food. ;) )
I don't usually think of baby food as trendy...or tasty. Apparently, Tastybaby is out to change all that. Is it really that hip or is it all hype? I'll let you visit tastybaby.com and see what you think. As always, I welcome your comments.
What do you do when feel sick to your stomach but can't (or don't want to) take anything for it? For some people, putting pressure on their wrists helps prevent/relieve nausea. I've seen people wear special (but ugly) wrist bands to ward off motion sickness.
Ah, the gap between theory and practice.
I thought carrying your baby around in a sling/pouch was just handy, little did I know that simple action came with its own terminology (noun: babywearing; verb: to babywear) and often a whole philosophy. Need to read up on that too.
With the Aqua Dots recall and all the other recalls of baby and kid products going on, I thought it would be a good time to re-post the link to the CPSC's Product Safety and Recalls page. 
As it turns out, that is actually a valid question. In an earlier post, I think I mentioned someone joking about skipping the diaper debate altogether and letting their baby go diaperless.
Most people's blood has something known as the Rh (Rhesus) factor, which is basically a protein that rides around on your red blood cells. If you have it, you're Rh positive; if you don't, you're Rh negative.
give birth. That pacifies your white blood cells and keeps everyone healthy. There are a few other instances (like if you have a miscarriage) where you might need that shot, but your doctor will be able to discuss that with you.
