Not all recalled items are made in China

Sometimes people in the U.S. buy products, jazz them up, and then resell them. And sometimes that's a bad idea. I can barely stand that we use a pacifier with The Cupcake. I don't need to worry that the ones I'm buying are going to make her choke. I certainly don't see them as a fashion statement. I sound so judgemental, but really, I just think things should stay as simple as possible. This child raising stuff is hard enough without pacifiers becoming a status symbol.

Flickr contacts

I think I finally figured out how to use Flickr to keep my kids' photos away from the prying eyes of pedophiles and yet share them with people who are my blogging friends. I just need to make you Flickr contacts and then mark you as friends. So if you have a Flickr account, would like to see the photos of my kiddos, and are not freaky, then drop a comment here or send me an email with your Flickr screen name. Alternately, if you are way more with it than me, go over to Flickr and make me your contact already and I'll reciprocate. Either way!

Some random person I've never heard from before is not going to be made my contact though. So don't bother. :-P

B

I found out when reading The Big Trade-off today that her mom is hosting Alphabet Soup and today's letter is B.

Here's my list:

• First my babies: The Biscuit and his Baby sister and My Bakery's Daddy as he is now calling himself. I can't love them without adding to my love for him, so he has to be included. ;-)


• Obviously blogs. Lots of them, not just mine. I've got to figure out a way to read and write everyday because it makes me feel so much better.


• Breastfeeding. It is the most Zen part of my day. I have a reason to just sit still and be in the moment and I love that.


• Binkies. Technically it's a Avent pacifier, but we still call it a binky. I didn't think I would be a binky-loving momma, but since The Cupcake will eat past when she is full and then spit it all back up I had to find something to satisfy her that wouldn't over-fill her tummy. I swear we are taking it away when she's 4 months old like Baby 411 says we should. She already refuses it sometimes in favor of her hand, thank goodness. Still, it would have been hard to get through these 3 months without it.


• Big Timber, Montana. It's the tiny town my grandparents were from and where they are buried. I can't imagine going up there without stopping in Big Timber for a bit. There's a lovely florist on McLeod Street called The Toggery where we go to get flowers to take to the cemetery. I also stop in to Little Timber Quilts just a few doors down. I'm a sucker for red, white and blue fabrics and last time they had ones that I hadn't seen here in Northern California.

That's enough, don't you think?

Poop is a tool

I haven't had anything much to say for 10 days, but now I do.

I started reading Sweet Salty awhile back and her post today about a conversation with a high school friend that hasn't had kids was (as they always are) excellent.

I often feel awkward with people who don't have kids now. Just as awkward as I used to feel with people that did have them. I *do* find poop talk fascinating and don't mind it during a meal or whenever. I have disassociated from its disgustingness and now see it as a serious diagnostic tool and must learn from others what they have noticed in order to improve my diagnostic skills. It's serious business, this poop stuff.

And, yes, one of the blogs I read every-stinking-day is The Shape of a Mother, because there is no other site that has single-handedly made me feel better about the way I look. Can anyone who hasn't had a child (and I include adoptive mothers here) or been pregnant really understand what a boon this site is? Probably not. It's one of those things that you can't get until you've been there. Might it be an absolutely hellish site for women who want babies but are having trouble conceiving? Yes. Because it is so brutally honest and open and there are so many of us with scars and stretch marks and bad body image, yet who are trying to come to terms with how these things that make us feel ugly happened during the most beautiful and amazing events we've lived through. But it's not hellish to those who are not ready yet or have decided to be child-free; it's probably just silly and they think we should get to the gym already.

Kate's post today talked about how those people aren't living life. They think they are but they have chickened out on the biggest challenge there is. She says it so much better than I could. Here's a taste:

You think you’re living, really living, revelling in a life that’s all about you. Sure, you’re living my momentary fantasy: perky tits and sleeping in and jogging and international travel and sharp-edged coffee tables.

But you’re still a bunch of pussies.

Go read the whole post. This is the third link to it I've given you. And then think about whether climbing Mt. Everest is really such a feat after all. I'm thinking that compared to your 3rd almost-a-week stay in your son's hospital room before his 2nd birthday, Everest pales in comparison. Not that my husband and I should be praised in the media for what we've lived through, but my curiosity about what mountain climbing and bungee jumping and lots of other things would be like has dimmed to a mild, occasional wondering now.

And maybe all those people living adventurous lives full of travel and wine don't have it so great.

I Wish I Had Known...

The Shape of a Mother celebrated its one year anniversary with this post.

Numbers 137 through 141 are mine, edited as she says at the beginning, but pretty much just like I sent them in. Like everyone else, many of the others could have been mine. I just didn't want to forget how I feel now and thought this would help me remember.