Parental Responsibility

The BUMBO seat has been recalled. http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/more-on-bumbo-recall/

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, here is a picture of Zach in our Bumbo seat. It was passed down from big brother.

Zach eating his first rice cereal!

It's a soft seat that helps baby sit up, before he/she can sit up without assistance. It's great for parents with limited space (like us!) because it is compact, and allows baby to sit up to play and eat at an early age.

 

The reason it is being recalled is that babies are falling out of the chair, off of high surfaces, and they end up with head injuries. I can't help but wonder what parents think it is ok to put the baby in this chair and walk away?!  At what point is it absolutely ridiculous to recall products? I think this recall is just silly. Do you really need a warning label to tell you not to leave your child unattended. If he/she is squirmy, maybe they don't want to be stuck in a chair at that moment! Just my opinion... If a product is unsafe, recall it. If children are getting hurt because their parents aren't watching them, that's another story!

A delicate balance...

Talking to my husband this weekend, we both realized that we are slightly different people at work than we are at home. My husband works in customer service, so I'm sure that he deals with much worse situations that I do! In fact, I know he does... I've heard stories. "I will ONLY drive a BLUE car!"  Anyway, it got me thinking about all of the different roles that we play in our lives, and how it is so difficult to maintain balance. Here are a few that I could differentiate:

Wife- thankfully, I've known my husband since high school, so there isn't much to worry about here!

Mother- Am I allowing too much tv time? Are we eating enough vegetables? Do they play well with others?

Daughter- Am I giving enough back? Have I transitioned out of the 'child' phase, and into adulthood? Are my parents proud of me?

Sister- Am I supportive enough? Do we communicate enough? or too much? Am I too 'motherly' to them?

Co-worker- Am I too pushy? Do I get enough done? What do people think of me?

Friend- ...and this categeory alone has several different sub-groups. Did we meet in high school, college, after I had children?

OK, that turned out to be more of a list of "What I Worry About"- which is not what I intended!!



We are all many things to many people, and have so much to balance in our lives... we may not even notice the difference. My goal is to integrate all of these roles, so it doesn't feel like I am a 'different person' at work or at home.  Did I miss any 'roles'? Do you feel the same way?

Monday 6 pm

After a very long commute home, I walk in the door at 6 pm.  I find a kitchen flooded in dog pee, a coloring book IN the dog pee, a 64 pack of crayons shredded/chewed and all over the living room, and a murdered stegosaurus in pieces all over the rug.  At 6:05 pm, my poor mother-in-law walks in with my bare foot 3 year old and red faced 9 month old.  She can't find either of their shoes... She tells me about how 9 month old dumped her coffee in her purse, at the market- and how 3 year old decided to open the bag of pretzels before she paid for them, and spilled them all over the floor.

I proceed to lock the front door, walk upstairs still in my work clothes, still having a flooded kitchen, still with a very messy living room- to try to get the baby to bed.  I do not hear the doorbell, and decide it's a good idea to yell at the top of my lungs for everyone else to be quiet. I realize, at 6:15 pm, that there is someone at the door. My 72 year old neighbor decided NOW is a good time to bring over an ice cream mud pie for my husband. It is not a good time.

After opening the door, with a half-naked, hungry, tired baby on my hip- my neighbor tells me he's just going to put the mud pie on my counter. My three year old is bouncing off the walls, jumping on the couch. My basset hound nearly takes him out, and our Christmas tree, on the way to the kitchen. I tell him, "Be careful, the floor is wet!" I don't mention why...

Then I finally feed the baby, change the baby, and get out of my work clothes. 6:30 pm- my husband walks in, takes one look at me and says, "What's wrong?"

And it's only Monday!!

2011: Coming to an end...

Are there things that you want to accomplish by the end of the year?  Are there things that you know you won't accomplish by the end of the year?  My husband recently decided that he wants to go to Pirate Adventure before the end of the year.

[caption id="attachment_61" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="http://www.piratesdinneradventureca.com/"][/caption]

Our family schedule is quickly filling up- between work, doctor appointments, soccer, yoga, and grandparents... it's going to be a busy two months!! What are you trying to accomplish before December 31, 2011?

UPDATE: We actually went to Pirate's Dinner Adventure, and it was fun! I'll add pictures soon.

Halloween 2011

I had an idea of what I wanted this Halloween to be like. That's where I went wrong. I envisioned my two adorable boys in the wagon, trick-or-treating together, smiling, and posing for pictures that I would share with family, friends and co-workers today. And I've been thinking about that since last Halloween, while I was pregnant with #2.

What I've learned from this year is that I should take pictures the day before, and mentally prepare myself for the stress of running home from work, eating, taking pictures, packing up the baby, and getting out the door in costume before it's too late! Jacob was VERY excited to start the night-

[caption id="attachment_57" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="My little dinosaur"][/caption]

But around 7:45, he started saying, "Mommy, I have enough treats. I wanna go home now." And who am I to argue with the tired, adorable dinosaur? My little turtle was ready for bed, too!



Did your Halloween live up to your expectations?

New AAP Media Guidelines for Babies and Toddlers

According to a press release by the American Academy of Pediatrics (http://www.aap.org/pressroom/mediaunder2.pdf)- babies and infants under 2 should watch absolutely no media. Their suggestion is that babies and toddlers learn more from play than from tv. Do they think this is news to us? With Nick Jr. marketing itself directly to the pre-school crowd- this is the group that I would be more concerned about. Yet, this new press release seems to have really upset some people. Do you worry about your child's media intake?

[caption id="attachment_46" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Image Source: Corbis"][/caption]

Evolution

After watching "Up All Night" with Christina Applegate, and seeing her character deal with the changes to your personal relationships that occur after becoming a mother- I went to see a few girls from high school that I haven't seen in ten years. We found each other on Facebook, saw our babies were all born within 5 months of each other- and met up today for lunch. It was so interesting to not only see these women as mothers, but also to see how much had changed in all our lives since we last saw each other.

For the two women I met up with, it was their first baby. For me, it was my second. I saw a bit of my former self in each of them, worrying about the details, worrying about germs, what classes to sign the babies up for, how many mommy friends they have... I felt all of those things, but I don't anymore! Now I know that if my child is happy and taken care of, then I am succeeding. I also know that there is no need to stress about germs, because you can't escape them. And I know that you have to do what works for you- not what other people tell you are the 'right things' or the things you are 'supposed to do'. I guess we all get there in our own time.

Halloween

As I was searching for Halloween costumes for the boys, I was struck by how Halloween is marketed now- SEX. I found myself looking at the costumes for women in a new light. I'm a mother now, of two children. I'm not going to be parading around the neighborhood in THAT! To add to the complications, my husband wants to 'match' me and I have to wear a costume to work.  So here are just a couple costume choices from www.partycity.com, along with my thoughts...

[caption id="attachment_35" align="alignleft" width="111" caption="Spider Witch from www.partycity.com"][/caption]

 

Spider Witch: Really, they can even make a witch costume inappopriate? I would have to wear leggings under that skirt, and a sweater over that top. Seeing as today is 100 degrees, I'm going to pass...

 

and by the way, witches have black hats- not orange!

 

 

 

 

Prisoner of Love from www.partycity.com

Prisoner of Love: Besides the fact that this is a totally ridiculous idea for a costume, those shorts barely pass for shorts. I would call it more of a leotard- also not work appropriate!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our office just voted on what the theme will be- GNOMES! Time to get creative, and I'll be sure to post pictures!!

 

 UPDATE: Here is a picture of my department, dressed as gnomes!

 

 

 

 

My Mollie

Mollie, with Zachary

Our Basset Hound, Mollie, is 4 years old. In her 4 years, she has eaten MORE than her fair share of items in our household. Her past has included eating a Costco pack of brownie bites, the arm of our couch, several pacifiers, and of course- a pair of knee high boots. Most recently, she destroyed our last pacifier for our 6 month old and our 3 year old's Stegosaurus. I decided that from now on, I'm going to take pictures of her destruction- and post them.

Does anyone else's dog do this, or just mine??

Memories

Looking at photos this weekend, I realized that while I told myself that I would be really great about remembering to print/sort my photos... I haven't exactly been 'great' about it. I have a few albums full of pictures from our first born. But my absolute favorite memory of him is our first 4th of July together... when he was not even one year old. We stuck him in the stroller (we were camping) and walked down to the beach to watch fireworks. He wasn't really awake, but when he heard the first POP- he looked up and smiled, and snuggled in closer. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he felt safe with me. That just says volumes about our relationship to me, and he was so young!!

I hope I can get better about printing/sorting pictures of our second son, but I doubt it. Hopefully, we'll be making wonderful memories together- just like that 4th of July, 2009...

Are you good about printing pictures, or have you found other methods that work better for you?

About myself

I'm Keri. I'm 31, a wife and a working mother of two wonderful boys. I was born in New Jersey, and moved out to Orange County as I was entering high school. After I lost my Jersey accent, and stopped wearing the middle school uniform (Thanks, Dad!) I eventually earned some California credibility. If only New Jersey was trendy back then... maybe it would have gone more smoothly! It was in high school that I met my husband. So much has changed since then- college, grad school, jobs, marriage, kids, dogs, LIFE. We ended up in Ladera Ranch, and we love it! Our oldest son is in pre-school, and our younger son is 2. I feel like our house is going to explode, we couldn't possibly fit any more in it. And then my husband tells me that he wants a jellyfish aquarium. Honestly.

I'd prefer to wear flip flops all day, every day. I don't particularly enjoy cooking, but I find great satisfaction in cleaning. Too bad for me, I don't have much 'extra' time to clean! I am pretty sure that I used to be a Type A, until I moved in with my husband. Somehow, someway, he mellowed me out. We plan to have more children, someday. We have lots of fun, some of it planned. But as my mother always says, "There is never a dull moment" in the Bullock house!