Pop Culture Crash Course All Over Again

The first several months I spent in London I lived with fellow Americans studying abroad through our US University.  Then the term ended, everyone returned to the States and I was still here, gradated, moving in with Chris, getting ready to give British life a go.

What struck me in these early expat days of adjustment, more than anything, was the vast abyss of British pop culture that never got exported to the States, that I'd never engaged with before.  It created a void in my ability to contribute to conversations, I often found myself asking, "Who's that," and I'm sure I wasn't a popular team-member for the UK version of Trivial Pursuit. 

It took time but as I read the news and my friendships grew and England became another home for me, I learned about Porridge, the Manic Street Preachers, David Jason, Noel Edmonds, Jordan, Alan Hansen, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall .... I'm not fully up to speed and won't know who the presenters of Blue Peter in the 1980s were but still.  I didn't feel in the dark anymore.

But now as a mother, I'm on a crash course all over again.  Roly Poly - say what?  Who is the Grand Old Duke of York?  One, two, three, four, five....and something about a fish?  And 'The Gruffalo' - how fantastic, once I learned what he was!  No I didn't grow up with Postman Pat.  Is he a cat, oh no wait, he has cat?  I'm more used to The Farmer in the Dell and 'Where the Wild Things Are'.

Lucky LLC - she's going to benefit from children's ditties and books from both England and the USA.  There are so many great ones.

Thank You Friends

Each day is full of discovery in my adventures with LLC
From what brings on a quivering lower lip to what makes her happy
And as I stumble and soar through early days as a mama
I’ve made some new friends who help me through the drama

Thank you Putumayo Dreamland lullabies
Your soothing tracks work wonders when LLC cries
We started our relationship while she was in the womb
And cemented your ability to cut through grumpy gloom

Thank you swaddle blanket from mom in the USA
Your Velcro tight wrap can’t be easily kicked away
You keep LLC warm and cozy and easily entail
That her sleep is not disrupted by a random arm flail

Thank you Angelcare Nappy bin for keeping smelly diapers at bay
Space efficient and odor free you came and saved the day
From diaper overflow in our garbage pail
Your ease and convenience have been without fail

Thank you Bugaboo, goddess of smooth suspension
Your motion magically abates all LLC tension
Our walks together are in peace, style and grace
I’m so glad we caught you in the ebay race

Thank you Margaret Wise Brown for making bedtime a treat
Your stories keep us company while LLC has her final bit to eat
I know by heart Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny
And love your choice of imagery, though it is a bit funny

Thank you friends
You are godsends

For another bout of creativity, check out A Mid-Atlantic English’s February End of Month Collection Cloud of inspiring sentences found in the blogosphere. I intended to build my own word cloud this month but it didn’t happen; Michelloui’s fab finds are inspiration to have another go at it next month!

Politicians Go Loco

I got a real kick out of The Sunday Times’ 'Daddy knows best' article about Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg infuriating parenting expert Gina Ford by calling her strict routine parenting approach “absolute nonsense.”

How ironic. Extracting a real opinion from a politician is usually as effective as beating your head against a brick wall, so it’s stunning that Clegg made this honest dish without blinking an eye – or considering the affect it might have on the 2 million voters who swear by Ford’s routines.

I haven’t read Ford’s The Contented Little Baby Book. In line with Clegg’s criticism, it sounds too rigid for my tastes. Thus far, I’ve stuck with Tracy Hogg’s Baby Whisperer book, which advocates a more fluid but structured daily routine for baby. Who knows if Tracy’s advice will work for me; what does work for me might not work for the next mom; it’s all a matter of personal choice really. As The Times quotes Ford: “We live in a democracy, and parents are entitled to choose whatever style of parenting they wish.” I couldn’t agree more.

While I applaud Clegg for sharing a real opinion, he probably put another nail in his political coffin by doing so through his brazen lack of tact. Whatever happened to middle ground?

Meanwhile the nanny state reared its head in Scotland, where Glasgow City Council has ordered that children under 16 (not 6, not 8, not even 10 but 16!!!) must be in sight of their parents anywhere on licensed premises, including in the lavatory. Restaurateurs by and large abhor the decision but are worried about losing their licenses if they don’t comply with it.

Has the City Council gone loco? I’m sorry, but I don’t want to bump into a 15 year-old boy in a Glasgow loo while I'm relieving myself or even freshening up because he’s out for lunch with his mama and needs her to take him to the toilet. More so, how embarrassing for him!

Clearly The Sunday Times kept me entertained today while I continue to wait for our little lady to come on out....

Butter Fingers

I have a tendency toward clumsiness at the best of times. I’ll never forget the time I floored it in front of the busy student union at college. I was wearing sneakers and essentially tripped over my own feet. Then there was the time that I dropped a glass, on a knife on the dinner table, which then shattered and cut me landing me in the emergency room for stitches. I have a poorly stitched up scar to this day as a badge of my troubled dexterity.

So every time my pregnancy updates warn that my shifting center of gravity and looser joints would only exacerbate this less desirable trait, Chris shakes his head and warns me to be careful and I silently curse under my breath. I don’t need anything else working against me in the clumsy department.

So far I’ve avoided any crash and burn spills and I am trying to “slow down” and take care in protection of my bump. But today I just had a really clumsy day. I dropped Rico’s food bowl on the floor and sent his food a flying. Then I dropped my hair brush on the dirty gym floor and had to stoop and rummage under the counter for it (more easily said than done these days). Later I banged my head on the kitchen counter on my way up from the washing machine and soon after dropped a whole role of aluminum foil, which unraveled across the kitchen floor.

By that point I was pretty frustrated, probably cursed out loud and decided I needed some time out with Rico and bump. As I sat at the kitchen table grumbling the little lady started belting me with her foot as if to say, “buck up mama, chin up, easy does it!” Yes, that’s exactly what she was saying…..in my world where babies in the womb dish out adult advice. Either that or she could feel me getting riled and wanted to fight back!

So I'm ready for bed tonight. I’m tired and looking forward to A Christmas Carol, which Chris is in the process of reading to bump. We thought we’d try to get her in the holiday spirit a la Dickens – with his wordiness and my jabbering she’ll probably come out of the womb talking!

Here's the Rub....

I'm 32 weeks pregnant! Wow - only two months to go now (hopefully, provided that she is not running late....). Though I've been charting each week of this journey the imminence of birth hit me today like a brick wall. That sounds bad, but I don't mean it in a negative way. While in the shower I was suddenly enraptured by my swelling tummy and the little person that it holds....a little scared that I still feel I have so much to learn and discover, much of which I probably can't plan for, planner that I am....shocked that it's really truly soon to be three of us day in day out. I can't wait, I am ready and I'm sure Chris and I will be fine. But in this moment the mix of emotions was a bit overwhelming....I lathered my belly and took a deep breath.

My brick wall moment may have spurred me to start reading my Secrets of the Baby Whisperer book by Tracy Hogg. I've heard she is structured and loving but less hard core than Gina Ford who many new parents swear by for routine making. I've only read the first chapter, but her tone and style are conversational and easy to relate to. More on that once I've read more.

I've also started wondering a bit more on random parenting logistics like when babies can sleep through the night without a feed every 2-4 hours and the best way to clean up messy poop - muslin in warm water, cotton wool...and if so which type of cotton wool? (No, I haven't totally lost it!)  I think I'm going to avoid wipes for cost saving and baby skin sensitivity issues but I really don't know what is best.... Like I've said before I'm sure we'll pave our way and find routines and practices that work for us, however, in the absence of really knowing what's best, I'm very open to ideas from experienced moms. Then at least I'll have some starting points to consider and pick and choose from. My wonderings may seem small and ridiculous (they do to me at least) but put them all together and they can be a bit overwhelming too.  Chris says I need to chill and just take things one step at a time.  I know it - sometimes I just get on a roll - I'll blame those raging hormones!

Our lady is now the size of a jicama and is moving around constantly in my belly. She may have less room to stretch out but boy can she wriggle - particularly at night! I just read on Babycenter that it's theorized babies have more control over their movement when their mom's are still at night, thus they take advantage of it! This is no proven theory but I found the reasoning interesting so thought I'd share.

Last but not least, my other odd pregnancy "rub" of the week. Yesterday the crease where my bump meets pelvic area kept really itching. I haven't had issues with itching or dryness but hey, new week, new little ailment. I think the problem may have been exacerbated by my jeans, which hitched to that area via my bump band and subsequently caused my underwear to dig into the crease! Why wear the jeans you ask? Maybe I should have changed but I didn't feel like it....anyway, I found that rubbing a little bit of Vaseline in the crease soothed the itch and kept any irritation at bay. A little tip to try if you're ever caught out with the "bump crease rub!"

Fruit Photo Credit: Babycenter.com

'Where the Wild Things Are'

Yesterday I posted about the supposed benefits of reading to my bump. One of my favorite childhood books is 'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak. Aside from from ranking high on my list of baby reading material, I just came across these fantastic Wild Things themed cupcakes.

I want to go the extra mile for my daughter so maybe I need to take a page out of this baking chick's book and learn how to fashion these tasty cakes. My mom used to paper mache and paint my sister and me pinatas....maybe I can generate a similar "kiddie wow factor" at birthday parties by serving up some of these bad boys! But now I'm getting ahead of myself....

Carrots & Cameleons

Friday I reached my 21 week mark - our little girl is the length of a carrot - about 10.5 inches long. She's regularly moving around and on Thursday night, for the first time, Chris felt her kick/elbow me/pull on the cord/etc when he rested his hand on my stomach!

She should definitely be hearing us now; incentive to stay calm, cool and collected at all times....hmmmm...if only. I have started talking to her now and then like when I'm driving or cooking; I love my talking, so it's comforting to know that she can hear me. Hey, I may look a little nuts but maybe she'll come out with an innate propensity for language. I'm also going to start reading to her before bed. Similar to the soothing music theory, "experts" suggest that if she hears the same story repeatedly in the womb, she'll be comforted by it once born so I figure it's worth a shot. Crying baby? - cue special story that yields happy, quiet baby - I don't sound too far off the mark anymore now, huh?! I haven't chosen a story yet, but maybe something short and sweet like 'Goodnight Moon' by Margaret Wise Brown.

In the last few days we also commenced our baby buying/borrowing/auction winning! I spent about half an hour wandering aisles of baby clothes on Friday with an enthusiasm I usually reserve for the candy store. I managed to tear myself away having bought one, her first, baby grow. We also picked up a brand new crib to bed converter with a built in changing table from our friends M&H. Thanks guys! It's the same crib they have for their daughter, and the company they purchased it from delivered two but never returned to pick this one up, much to our luck! Then, finally, after eagle eye watching and new bidding in the wake of my Bugaboo bid tantrum, we bid and successfully won ourselves a Bugaboo Cameleon at half its normal retail price. I hope this stroller lives up to my expectations but only time will tell.

Many people have suggested we gradually ease into our baby buying now, so it feels good to get the ball rolling. Though I set my sites high with the Bugaboo, in general I'm hoping weather the wild baby buying sea by visiting second hand furniture stores, seeking out more online deals and making a list of what we need versus what we'd like to have. Lists and focus are good. While I'm sure there are inevitably lots of new things we'll want to buy too, hopefully this varied approach will keep us practically and financially in balance.

Don't have Kids their a "Pain in the Ass" : Can I slap this author?!

My jaw hit the floor when I stumbled across AlterNet's article on the book No Kids: 40 Good Reasons Not to Have Children by French economist/psychoanalyst Corinne Maier. Released last year in France and earlier this month in North American, Maier, a mother of a 14- and 11-year-old says she's "not sure" if she'd have kids if given a second chance - lucky for her poor children that there is no genie in the bottle who can wave its magic wand over Corinne and reverse time!

No recluse from controversy having previously published a book entitled Hello Laziness: Why Hard Work Doesn't Pay, Maier may just be stoking the fire of debate from a position of particular power: she's not a bitter childless woman who has tried to conceive without success, but instead a tried and tested mom who feels compelled to tell the truth and set the record straight. And even without reading her book (which I don't plan to do), it evokes an emotional response so she's won there already.

Accordingly to Maier, parents have less fun, less sex, less friends, less money, less successful careers (particularly women) and crappier relationships. Women feel a constant, debilitating pressure to be "Super Mom" and to keep pace with other "Yummy Mummies" at the expense of their inner creative spirit, in turn morphing into bored drones. She then adds an extra twist of the knife by suggesting that children are environmental hazards to the already pressurized developed world.

Maybe I should start writing my own obit now since according to this tirade I'm soon to be luckless in love, money, career and spirit, committed to domestic drudgery with a child latched onto my hip. Please. This is not what I want to hear when embarking on this huge, life changing experience. But maybe that's where I need some perspective.

We're all entitled to our own opinions and in Maier's case, having children may have brought more frustration than joy - at least that is how her book is pitched. Maybe many people, misguided people in my view, are too quick to assume that "everyone" wants children and subsequently wax lyrical about parenthood, looking down on those that don't want to join the club. Still, I think sweeping generalizations that suggest becoming a parent is on par with committing yourself to a lesser existence is ridiculous and equally insulting.

Maybe Maier is just looking to evoke a response. I'm not saying she is a bad mother; I don't know what type of mother she is. I do feel bad for her children that their existence would be hanging in the balance if she could take back time, but in our nutty world of "keeping up with the Jones'" I think we're all too quick too judge. What makes a "good mom" can't be black and white, though I don't know much about parenting. I am unsure how I'm going to balance my now life with my soon to be life as a mom, but I'm up for the challenge and view it as a positive one. So Maier and her book can go take a hike. Maybe she'll find support in other moms who haven't embraced the experience or childless/childfree people who are tired about hearing about the joys of having kids.

All I know is that I've got a one way ticket to parenthood, I want to enjoy the ride and I've read enough.

16 Weeks and Counting

I'm now 16 weeks pregnant and my baby is the size of an avocado! I'm a visual person and I like my fruit so I'm loving these analogies. Apparently a growth spurt is on the cards, and I can expect our little one to double in weight over the next three weeks. Maybe that is why my stomach feels tender and is just starting to pop out...everything is stretching. I usually put lotion on my arms and legs morning and night, but I've now taken to rubbing Palmers Cocoa Butter on my stomach, sides and butt in an effort to stave off stretch marks. I think my mom escaped that - I hope that genetics work in my favor here but I guess we'll see.

I woke up early Thursday morning to the sound of me shouting about a really annoying leg cramp. Apparently these are also common in pregnancy because of the excess weight on your legs and/or the pressure of your expanding uterus on nerves leading to the legs. I fortunately kept it at bay by straightening my leg and flexing my foot a few times. I have a good routine down since I can be prone to leg cramps, probably because I'm often on my feet. I also read that stretching before bed is a good way to avoid cramping, so that's a tip worth noting.

Aside from that, nothing major to report. I just finished a fantastic book called 'A Confederacy of Dunces' by John Kennedy Toole. Join the educated, foul sloth Ignatius J. Reilly crudsade against modern society....If you're looking for something to add to your reading list, check it out.

I'll post a new 16 weeks picture tomorrow.