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Support for Mindful Mamas! - Page 4

post #61 of 98
12/21/02 at 4:05pm
oatmeal baths help my ds. once the rash is bad, cream seems to irritate it even more.

good luck!

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post #62 of 98
12/21/02 at 6:28pm
hey momcat.

letting bebe go diaperless as much as you can possibly deal with would be my vote. here are some get well soon vibes

and welcome to the world of electricity, mamakarata. six days!

merry solstice, everyone. the days of light are just ahead of us. we've made it through the time of the densest dark.

off for a solstice moonwalk

angie
post #63 of 98
12/22/02 at 9:27pm
Hi, friends -

Just a quick update - I thought of letting ds go w/o a diaper, but the problem is explosive diarrhea... I just can't bear the thought of cleaning it up every 1/2 hr to hour!!! Thanks for the suggestions - I'm using Mylanta now and it seems to be helping. You all are the best!

For the record - the Norwalk virus is what hit all of those cruise ships a little while back... I haven't been this sick since I had malaria ten years ago (that's a whole different story!!) - I was taken to the hospital by ambulance Wed PM and given three bags of fluids. Ugh. I managed to keep ds hydrated earlier this week by nursing 'round the clock (thank heavens he got it first, not second). At any rate, I dearly hope none of you get to experience this particular *joy* of a virus.

Happy solstice, everyone (a bit late, but it always makes me happy to celebrate the return of the sun!), and enjoy your holidays. We're on the mend!

post #64 of 98
12/22/02 at 9:32pm
Thread Starter 
I think it would be kinda cool to be w/out power for a few days as long as it's not too cold. It would be a bonding experience in our house. Growing up near the Gulf of Mexico I experienced some powerless days as a kid b/c of hurricanes and it was always a fun time to spend with family talking and being thankful for what we did have...like a house that wasn't flooded or blown away.

I'm enjoying our little break from the discussion to catch up on some things and enjoy the holiday festivities. I hope you are all well and I am glad that the dark days of winter are getting shorter! That is news to celebrate.

Breathe~I'm not sure when the teething pain will end. I am feeling the pain on that end. It seems like ds is never going to get his eyeteeth (1st molars). He's been teething on those for three months.

Karen~ I'm glad all is getting better. And I hope we don't get that virus either.
post #65 of 98
12/24/02 at 12:07pm
hey there,

Just wanted to send support & hugs to you all as we struggle to at least not be totally *mind-LESS* during holiday festivities.

We do a two-family thing, alternating, so this year it was last weekend at my folks, now dh's family over tomorrow. Each year I think we're really going to do something alternative, gift wise, but dh overrules me because he thinks I'm being stingy at Christmas.

There are so many things I'd like to vent about a little right now, but I've got a long to-do list as I"m sure you all do, and Sophie's getting tired of my lap. Mostly it's just that I feel I can do basically one thing *well* at a time -- so it's EITHER be a good mom OR get ready for Christmas! Let her sleep in my lap or clean the downstairs?

I am grateful she's not sick and the tooth that was coming finally came and at least we have power and no norwalk virus here! And when I think of mothers in Iraq & elsewhere who haven't enough food for the day, I am humbled and remember that I can go this this week gratefully, awake and with awareness.

Blessings to all of you in whatever you're doing this week.


mb
post #66 of 98
1/2/03 at 12:51pm
Thread Starter 

[Me today: ]

Hello my mindful friends~I am feeling very rejuventated but sorta blue [reason for the blue font color] after such a wonderful time with dh and ds the past week. Dh had to go back to work today and the holidays are over. But tonight dh's favorite team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, are playing in the Orange Bowl in Florida. So it will be an exciting evening here.

BTW, HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!!! Also, I just wanted to let you know that I have found some time to read "Wherever You Go There You Are" by Jon Kabat Zinn. I'm not even half way done with it but I'm finding it helpful in understanding more about mindfulness and how to put it into practice since it has a lot of examples. I hope it will help me in our discussion of Part IV, since I am still rather new to mindfulness and meditation.

How are you all anyway?? All the MDC threads have been very calm so I hope that means everyone is enjoying their holidays and family time. The Norwalk virus has made its way into Iowa but we have been healthy and had nice weather.

, , and s to all!!!

 P.S. Is anyone ready to continue our book discussion this coming week or do we need another week to read Part IV? I need to re-read Part IV again since it's been about three weeks and it's not feeling fresh.
post #67 of 98
1/2/03 at 1:15pm
i'm back, and would love to have this week to read part IV. I started it, but you know, the holidays....

happy new year to you too heather, and all. i am very ready to pick up and go again. there were lot's of opportunities to practice mindfulness this holiday. and so far, part IV has been good.
post #68 of 98
1/2/03 at 5:17pm
Hey Mamas,

I'm back too. Finished the semester and then dropped out of school and am feeling SOOOOOO excited about starting the new year with no burdens hanging over my head. It's just me, ds, and dh and from here on out, and that should be PLENTY to keep me challenged and busy!

Hope you all feel rested after the holidays -- we are pretty darn exhausted and are looking forward to returning to a normal routine, even tho we will miss dh terribly when he returns to work. (((((((((Heather!)))))))))))

I would love it if I could have next week to read part IV. Maybe Heather could just get us all rolling again this weekend, and then we'd have all next week to discuss -- if that's okay with others.

This will undoubtedly be an AMAZING year to watch our children grow. I'm so glad to have you all to share the journey!
post #69 of 98
1/3/03 at 12:34am
Feeling very unmindful here. I am soooo tired and I have mixed feelings about having to go back to work. I love my work and I feel really cooped up and impatient, but I am sort of in a groove and I do enjoy some aspects of being home, like having the laundry not be an enormous mountain in my garage! and being able to dig around in the back yard more. But I confess that we watch a video every afternoon now because I am too tired to deal with things. Well, DD hasn't been napping well at all and so she is really tired and clingy. Plus I am tired of thinking up things to eat for her and games for her to play. I don't want to play in the play kitchen anymore, and I don't want to stack the stacking jack again and again even though it is fun to see him fall.

Gotta go brush some teeth. I'll feel better in a week.

Jacqueline
post #70 of 98
1/3/03 at 12:41am
Congratulations, El, and Happy New Year to everyone! I, too, have a celebration - I am now just two short weeks away from the end of one of my jobs! HOORAY! This will mean more (and much-needed) time with ds. I'm really excited and am counting the days!

I'd love some extra time to re-read Part IV. I'm also feeling overwhelmed by the expectations of the holiday season, particularly as a musician. Ugh.

Thanks, Mamabutterfly, for reminding us again how fortunate we all are. That has been part of my mindfulness practice over the last months, too... and I've been SO thankful for health care since our little bout with that virus... and thankful for food, and thankful for shelter, and thankful for friends who helped us out... we are so blessed. We really are all part of that interconnected web.

Blessings, all!
post #71 of 98
1/3/03 at 3:05pm
Mmmm,

everyone seems so excited and sure about being at home FT and here I am with mixed feelings. Funny thing is that I didn't even know how ambiguous I felt till I started to post. THen it sudden;y came out of my fingers. Now I am at work and I am so happy here but I miss DD so much too and wondering what she is doing. She was SOOOOO happy when she same the DCP and all her friends this morning though.

Jacqueline
post #72 of 98
1/3/03 at 4:22pm
Hello mamas!

I have been missing this circle a lot! The past couple of weeks have felt hard -- filled with beautiful moments but also just been pulled in different directions. I feel like now at 10 months pp, the sleep deprivation is catching up with me, becoming a deep exhaustion that doesn't really go away after a good night's sleep. But I did just re-start (albeit a very small & pitiful) yoga practice which I am very excited about. Right now it's 10 minutes a day but it has made a HUGE difference in these 3 days and I NEED to keep it up. (remind me of that please! )

Jaqueline I definately have days I wish I worked outside of the home. I do feel bored or restless a lot. I feel like I didn't get to explore many things I wanted to do before my unexpected pregnancy last year. Realistically, we still EBF and don't even leave dd to go to the movies, and if one of us changes our work right now it will be dh (from work in the home to working outside). But I do feel that longing..... and I'm *sure* that if I worked outside I would spend every minute feeling a longing to be home with Sophie!!

Ummm, so much for living in the now?! :

Well, more to vent about but I better go take this nap to do that yoga session instead of writing about it, lol.

happy new year to all of you,
mamabutterfly

(p.s. One update from here - our houseguest of 5 months and her ds have moved at last! she has a job and is renting a room with an elderly woman and honestly, while I'm glad we could offer her hospitality when we did, this development was my best Christmas gift of all!! It's so beautifully quiet around here.... )
post #73 of 98
1/3/03 at 10:19pm
Hey All -- Coupla quick thoughts . . .

Thinking about MB's 10 min of yoga each day: I would love it if during Part IV we could start supporting each other to do just a few minutes of either yoga or meditation each day -- at home or elsewhere. Would that kinda fit in with this section? You know, like putting the theory to practice and helping each other to do it. Should that go on the other thread?

Also, congrats MB on getting your house back! I hope you all are enjoying each other in the peace and quiet and familiarity!

Jacqueline, I just wanted to support you in feeling happy about working outside the home. I hope you don't feel isolated by the SAHM-ness of this thread . . . please remember that what Naomi needs is a WHOLE mom and you have been very clear over time that you NEED your work to feel whole. Your wholeness is not the same as anyone else's, and you know in your heart how to work toward it. Just want you to know that you are supported in choosing to be whole, wherever that takes you and the nugget!

And momcat, congrats to you on lightening your load! I hope your free-er schedule will allow you to rest and spend lots of QT with ds!
post #74 of 98
1/4/03 at 5:40pm
Thread Starter 
I'm so tired today this afernoon, but I really feel the need to say how much I have enjoyed reading your posts even tho' I haven't responded until now, I've been lurking...been busy w/ ds and a meeting today that we had. I the way we all support (hence the name of the thread) one another and allow one another to find our own way in such a non-threatening way.

And I love El's idea about supporting eachother on our meditation path thru Part IV. I think sharing what we are each doing, as some of have been doing anyway, is helpful to others. I enjoy learning what is working for you...it gives me hope for myself and ideas for down the road. I'm still doing daily yoga or pilates and quiet meditation a few times a week before or after the yoga. I do my routine to a yoga video or I do the stretches I need and try to focus on my breath and try to quiet the mind as much as possible. Every time is different...sometimes I am more into it than other times. When I cheat myself I notice pay for it. But live and learn...ehhh??

I have re-read the first chapter of Part IV (for the 4th time and I'm still learning from those two pages) and I'll post my favorite quotes today or tomorrow from that chapter. I'm glad we all agree about moving slow.
post #75 of 98
1/5/03 at 12:20am
Jacqueline - I have to be clear, here, about exactly what I mean by freeing up my schedule a bit... I am leaving one job out of three, which means that instead of working 50-60 hours per week outside the home, I'm working closer to 40. I'll actually be home two extra nights per week to put ds down to sleep. Make you feel better?

I, too, struggle with the need/desire to work in my profession and the need/desire to be with ds. I was able to be home with him exclusively for the first 9 months, and, while it was really wonderful for both of us, I definitely felt a gap in my life. I wish I could feel completely fulfilled as a SAHM, but it just didn't work for me. Push came to shove when dh had a job change and we lost our health benefits - it meant I really did have to go back to work. As "alternative" as I tend to be with meds, etc, I just can't go without health insurance for the family. It's simply too risky.

So, I think about ds often at work, but I know he is in a wonderful care situation (an AP caregiver with no children of her own and a maximum of two other children at any given time - sometimes it's only ds, sometimes it's one other child), and I know I'm doing what's best for all of us by meeting my own needs professionally (I can then feel "whole against the sky"... there's that quotation again!) as well as providing health insurance benefits. It isn't easy, though. I often feel as though I can't do either thing well (working or mothering) as I am trying to do both. Argh! But we still bf, co-sleep, etc, so I think we're on the right track.

So, lots of hugs to you as you navigate all of these questions - I know I'm not the first or the only mom ever to feel these doubts, but it doesn't make it any easier!
post #76 of 98
1/6/03 at 8:49pm
Thread Starter 
O.k. now today makes every other day seem like a cake walk!! Dh was layed off for the second year in a row! I am o.k. but he was really bummed when he came home! He sat in the car for half an hour b4 he came in! He was and so depressed! But b/c off my mindfulness training and realizing "what is important here" I was able be very calm and stable. He's been on the phone networking and now he is laughing and realized everything will work out! We have no nest egg since we used it the last time he was layed off around 9/11! But we will survive! Thanks mamas for support here and I know in a pinch that I can be mindful .

post #77 of 98
1/6/03 at 9:48pm
Oh Heather, I am SO sorry for you and your dh! How incredibly frustrating and scary that must be. It sounds like you are both very strong people and you know can get thru this bc you did once before. In the meantime, feel free to come here for support. I'm sending hugs and positive (job-searching) vibes to all three of you!!
post #78 of 98
1/6/03 at 11:00pm
(((Heather and family)))
That sounds so hard! I'm so sorry. Just when the new year was starting out, too. Hopefully it will feel like a time of new opportunity for him & all of you. I'm sure your support will help him keep this loss in perspective & to move forward. Good luck in the next steps...

hugs, mb
post #79 of 98
1/6/03 at 11:59pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the empathy and compassion, mamas! Your kind words mean a lot to us!! We'll make it through but it really does bite the big one! He was looking for another job anyway but it just isn't happening quick enough. He was not happy there even tho' he put in 50-60 hour weeks over the last year and did the work of three people and went in on one of his vacation days last week. But we do see this as a new opportunity and a little vacation in a way. I find it ironic that the chapter we are discussing is "...The Full Catastrophe." Life REALLY IS the full catastrophe. I'm so glad I have you all!!!!! My fairy mamas give me happy vibes!
post #80 of 98
1/7/03 at 1:11am
Have to be quick, our move went well, we are house hunting, Heather I'm sorry about your DH.
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