Dec07 thread for May04 Mamas -- just waiting for a new Ducette... - Page 3

[Miss Juice]

Crossposted, but Heather your little birdie is super-sweet and has brought a ray of sunshine to my otherwise dreary day!! Thank you : I think sometimes it takes a couple of days to get pinked up - I'll check it out if need be!

[TurboClaudia]

so, simultaneously, on two of the portland threads, two different people have asked what mmf means. do i tell? do i keep it a secret?

[orangecanoe]

tell them technically yours should say jmf! but we mmf! wouldn't let you go!:

[mamameg]

that's funny tc - i recently made a sale on the tp and the mama i sold to asked me what it meant. first time anyone has asked.

fwiw, i told her. did i break the rules? am i ousted?

[TurboClaudia]

Originally Posted by heatherfeather

tell them technically yours should say jmf! but we mmf! wouldn't let you go!:

Originally Posted by mamameg

that's funny tc - i recently made a sale on the tp and the mama i sold to asked me what it meant. first time anyone has asked.

fwiw, i told her. did i break the rules? am i ousted?

no rules broken , just the first time i've been asked, too, aside from when danile asked when she first joined us.

i'll just tell them you are all my one true loves.

[jstar]

i'd tell

juice - that is the *worst*! isaac has only ever had one night of the all-night triple sheets and jammie change pukies and i am still scarred from it. dealing with more than one kiddo with that gets you a BIG badge


i miss my social life. the freedom to have a social life (going out at night, book signings, last minute dinners, movies, all that fun kind of stuff). i would say i miss travelling but we didn't even get to travel that much before. although now it seems highly impossible. i priced beaver creek where my friends are going skiing and....yeah. we are not in the family of four skis in beaver creek category this year. (this kind of ties back to that rich friends thing)

and although i am pretty terrible at having a regular schedule i do see the benefits and make an effort at routine for isaac and ebin. i'm also seeing my work-a-holic-ness right now. i am ending up working (and having more STRESS) than i had envisioned but it is really an all-or-nothing thing to keep clients happy. as in i am making myself available by phone 5 days a week even though i am only trying to 'work' on 3 days.

i also have to make a big decision right now about a project which would hit august 2008. it would be a huge time-suck and i would have to find 5-days a week care for both kids for ~14 weeks (or realistically maybe even longer). but it would be beaucoup bucks. doug wants me to do it. i really wish it were hitting in may 09 so ebin would turn 2 and i could start him at y's choice. the timing is not perfect. BUT seeing my (new) company name in lights in the EIS for one of the biggest freeway projects in oregon would be good for my long-term welfare and the welfare of the fam too


isaac was never a biter of my nipples. he preferred other children's limbs but i dread ebin getting his two front teeth because you never know what this kiddo will be like. poor alison (and you too kk!)

[TurboClaudia]

socks sent.

(and some bonus socks for a very special mama... : )

~c

[jstar]

would any mmf like a free subscription to martha stewart living? i think i'm renewing mine and i can give one.

i can also give 2 free subscriptions to parents magazine right now. that one is so cheap i can't not renew it ($12) and i like some of their 'what is appropriate for what age' articles. but yeah : so mainstream i'm embarrassed to ask you guys. :

[A&L+1]

Originally Posted by jstar

would any mmf like a free subscription to martha stewart living? i think i'm renewing mine and i can give one.

We would! Actually, Alison would love it!

[Sarah'sMama]

We've been outed to the PDX community! Say it loud, say it proud, mama, the may mamas rule!!

Juice, hope you are all on the mend over in c-town. Sux0rs about the timing with your sister's visit. I'm not kidding when I say I live in fear of vomit. :

Heather, I'm so enjoying reading your blog. I love your posts, and visit it a few times a day, because sometimes you treat me with multiple posts in a day.

I'm very interested in the discussion going on here. I can relate alot to what is being said. I really really need alone time. And when I say alone, I mean without dh or anyone. I was never much of a loner before, but the last few years really have me valuing my alone time. I have also been having a lot of self doubt about my value as a mother/leader to my girls. I feel I should be doing so much more with them. I'm trying to go with the flow more and follow what they want to do with me rather than the opposite. Part of it is taht I'm just not good at playing with them. I know that may sound weird, but I have a hard time sitting down playing make believe games with them sometimes and I feel bad about that. But back on topic a little more, I do miss the freedom of my before kids life. Going shopping was so much easier and faster. But the minute I start reminiscing about the good ol' days, somebody makes me laugh or does something sweet and I feel bad. I think for me, I've idealized alot of my pre-kid days, they weren't as good as I think they were. Does that make sense? Ok, long day, and I think that I'm rambling wayyy yto much and not making any sense.:

[Sarah'sMama]

Oh, and just wishing TC an easy-breezy solo time.

[mcsarahb]

OKAY. Last class tomorrow, easy peasy paper presentation, fun no-stress suturing workshop, and that's it. Yay! So I can catch up with you all...

Thinking of Ducette and being 9 months preggo. Wishing you a wonderful last few days/weeks and a beautiful birth!

Lily is into: Art. Drawing, painting, stamping, cutting out and gluing. Playing vet or doctor, or any imaginary play. Loves talking about and imaginative play about "scary things" like zombies and ghosts and monsters. Dinosaurs - books, toys, etc. She is interested in reading and writing; wants us to write words describing her pictures and is starting to sound out short words. Can write most letters and will label her own pictures if you spell the words for her. We have one of her signs in our window, barely readable by anybody but us, that says, "NO MONSTERS." Also is always "doing acrobatics" (her words) and wants us to sit while she climbs all over us and flops around.

I get a lot of away-from-Lily time. It is 1. fascinating (gyn clinic, some classes, parts of call), 2. boring (some classes), or 3. stressful (call), or some combination of those, and does not fulfill my need for "me" time. I do still crave FUN me time and occasionally will grab an hour or two from a day when the nanny is here and I'm supposed to be doing homework to go to Goodwill or whatever. But that's relatively rare, and I am looking forward to returning to my other, longer-term hobbies that I can't focus on during school. Usually my idea of a good time is taking Lily with me to do errands or we go to OMSI/the zoo/etc. together, because I feel like I don't see her enough. DH and I are looking forward to doing more things alone together, like dates, etc. but I feel like what's hindering us is me being in school more than having Lily. I think once I am done with school and start working we will have both more money and more time with which to enjoy ourselves.

Sherri, I too find it hard to get into imaginative play with kids. Sometimes I can do it for a short while, but I quickly tire of it. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I often tell Lily that I am enjoying myself doing something that's interesting to me (cooking, reading, whatever) and that she can join in, but that I'd rather not: pretend to be a monster, be a trampoline, read her books out loud, etc. It's a balance - sometimes I do feel like I need to be more engaged with her. But she gets an awful lot of focused, one-on-one stuff from the nanny all day and often in the evenings she *wants* to play by herself. I also think it's different for me since I am away from her so much.

I can't believe I'm done for the quarter. I keep feeling like there's something more I have to do...


Thinking of all of you and looking forward to my sock mail! w00t!

S.

[jstar]

Originally Posted by A&L+1

We would! Actually, Alison would love it!

gotcha

i am actually pretty terrible at sitting down and playing and it is something i am working on. my mom is SO good at engaging isaac like that so i have been watching her. she doesn't play imaginary games with him but finds an activity that is up both their alleys and gives him the undivided attention he needs. one thing is playing matching games with the thomas cards. i did that with him yesterday. it is so easy for me to *always* be doing something else (cooking, dishes, responding to ebin, uh....dinking on the computer). i have to make sure i focus on him because the baby demands focus (and gets it) whereas isaac will demand it by starting to act out. and i am trying to heed those signs. sometimes i think i'm a terrible mom :

we watched rudolf tonight. i love deer (including reindeer!). it was stinkin cute. i am into seeing all these classic christmas shows that i haven't watched in years (if ever). i haven't actually seen that rudolf one before (large chunks of an overseas childhood resulted in american cultural gaps) it made me think of little HJ in his buck shirt i loooved that one

[fiddlefern]

L's up and crying and has been on and off for an hour, so this'll be quick.

Am appreciating the discussion. Immediately after posting last night I wanted to delete, as I felt like such a whiner. I mean, I have this awesome dh, i'm not doing it all on my own, but sometimes, man, I just want my freedom. And then the kids are sweet and I appreciate them so much.

ok, crying kiddo gotta go.

[orangecanoe]

four o'clock party
rocking wakey babe. again.
will miss this one day

[TurboClaudia]

i hate the person who invented business trips.

[Sarah'sMama]

Originally Posted by TurboClaudia

i hate the person who invented business trips.

Everything OK? I'm worried.

[orangecanoe]

From the time of your post, I'm guessing you had the joy of a very early morning wake up?? Any playdates, coffee shop trips or the like planned? *hugs*

[Sarah'sMama]

Being the stalker I am, I searched your posts, TC, and saw you had a horrible time getting the bambinos to sleep. Sweet dreams, I hope you are all tucked away for a sleeping in kind of day now.

[elsanne]

TC, I so hear you on hating being alone with the two. Last night Viet wanted to go out with his friend, and so I did the eve shift alone, and it wasn't lovely. Getting them both to bed is a circus.

Duce, you need to check in daily now, otherwise I'm going to think you're in labor.

SARAH! yippin' yee has about being just about done with school! I am psyched for you! What you are doing is extraordinary--how much longer do you have?

I have a hard time staying present during play, because of the myriad householder tasks to be done. I like Sarah's matter-of-fact way of explaining this to Lil. Also, Sarah, cannot believe your daughter knows her letters. Holy alphabetronics, man.