The Mom Crowd

Tara Parker-Pope reports today in the The New York Times about a study from Oxford and the University of Exeter in England that claims that a baby’s gender may be determined by the mother’s diet. According to the study those mothers who have a higher glucose level have a better chance of having a son. Generally, women who eat breakfast maintain a higher glucose level.

The data is based on a study of 740 first-time pregnant mothers in Britain who didn’t know the sex of their fetus. They provided records of their eating habits before and during the early stages of pregnancy, and researchers analyzed the data based on estimated calorie intake at the time of conception. Among women who ate the most, 56 percent had sons, compared with 45 percent among women who ate the least. As well as consuming more calories, women who had sons were more likely to have eaten a higher quantity and wider range of nutrients, including potassium, calcium and vitamins C, E and B12. There was also a strong correlation between women eating breakfast cereals and producing sons.

The study does acknowledge that a baby’s gender is determined by the male sperm with an X or Y chromosome, but the condition of the mom may have an influence.

Frankly, I find this as silly as people telling me that I was having a boy, because I was carrying high. (I actually had a girl.) Although, maybe next time I am trying to conceive I won’t feel as guilty eating all my breakfast cheerios.

Do you believe that the report could be true? What other things have you heard to try when trying to conceive for a particular gender?

My husband and I recently had an unfortunate incident at Darah’s preschool. It’s a long story (and not the reason I’m writing this), but basically we decided we weren’t comfortable with having her go back to the same school. When we pulled Darah out of school, my husband and I started really pondering what was best for Darah and her educational needs. An unfortunate experience gave us a great opportunity to reevaluate the decisions we were making and make sure we weren’t just going with the flow, but that we were truly doing the best thing for our daughter. First of all, it must be reminded that Darah is not even four years old yet. We’re not talking about making a decision on what college or high school she attends, we’re talking about preschool. Through a ton of research and even more prayer, we decided that teaching her at home was the best thing for her. Everybody gets that cringe when they hear the word “homeschool.” This decision goes completely against what’s being preached in the special needs circles, because it is the opposite of inclusion. Darah is trying out another preschool two mornings a week for three hours each morning, but I am just waiting to see how it goes before I commit to that for next year. She will not be attending full time next year, unless I do a complete flip-flop.

I am not saying that this decision is the best decision for every other child. I am saying that this decision has been the best thing for Darah for right now. It is a hard decision because even though I feel like I’m doing the right thing, everyone has an opinion or a story about how homeschooling ruins children and even though I am confident that I know Darah and her needs better than anyone else, I don’t like feeling judged by other people.

During my quest to find the perfect decision for Darah’s education, I became quite intimate with google. I’m a concrete person, so I was looking for concrete answers. Unfortunately, it took some serious digging to find the amazing resources that are out there! I wanted to find an all-encompassing curriculum that told me exactly what to do on each day. The more I started digging, the more I learned that I was actually already doing a lot of the things I needed to be doing with Darah. I am already doing the See-and-Learn reading program that I raved to all of you about in this article. I also was already working on numbers, shapes, and colors with Darah. I was also already “teaching” her in our normal, everyday activities. When her toe comes out of her sandal, I teach her that her toe is “OUT” and needs to go back “IN!” When we outside, I show her the difference between her “LITTLE” toy car and the “BIG” car that drives by. When I give her a bath, we name all of her body parts and count her way-too-cute toes. These are all foundational concepts that are usually taught to preschoolers. I know that Darah is learning by living and I do not take that type of learning for granted because it is the main way all kids learn-through experiences. However, I am the type of person who needs a little more direction. I am goal driven and a list maker and need to know that these are priority numbers one, two and three. I want to feel like I know what I’m doing even if we’re very laid back in our approach to learning. I found some amazing resources that I would like to share with you if you are considering to teach your child at home. My philosophy is every parent is “homeschooling” their child in some fashion. Even if they are sending their child to traditional school, they are still working on homework after school, answering the million and one “why” questions, and teaching their children through everyday experiences. (more…)

Happy Earth Day! In honor of Earth Day I have composed a few easy things you can do to contribute to helping the earth be a little safer for our kids.

1. Next time you go to the store try buying Tide for Cold Water. Using cold water on all laundry uses less energy–thus reducing your carbon footprint. It will also save you about $65 per year on your electric bill.

2. Reuse those baby food jars! They can be used to:

• transition toddlers and preschoolers to a big girl/boy glass at the dinner table

• serve ice cream, pudding, or mouse in them for great kiddie sized portions

• organize your “junk drawer” for things like rubber bands, thumb tacks, paper clips, small watch/toy batteries, stamps

• put paints in for your budding artist to dip their paintbrush into

• catch bugs in

3. Break out those cloth napkins that you registered for at your wedding! I don’t know about you but I registered for cloth napkins and I never used them. We just went through our LAST pack of paper napkins and we are now using cloth ones. Buying or using cloth napkins reduces the use of energy and resources to make the paper napkins. You can also reuse old dishcloths and make them into cloth napkins. If you want to get creative you can assign each person in your family a colored napkin. You could also have napkin holders with each persons name on it. When the napkins get yucky enough you can throw them in the wash. They don’t have to be washed after every use!

4. Consider purchasing a reusable water bottle for every member in the family. 38 billion water bottles are put into landfills every year! A reusable water bottle will help decrease that amount. Sigg and Kleen Kanteens are great choices that are environmentally friendly and recycleable! They also make them in great kiddie sizes.

5. Turn your heat/ac up/down 1 degree. One degree won’t be that noticable and it will also reduce your energy bills and carbon footprint!

6. Arrange a Toy Swap with your other mommy friends. Toy Swaps help rid your house of clutter toys your kids have lost interest in and provide “new” toys for the kiddos to play with. It doesn’t necessarily cut down on toy clutter but it does help reduce waste from buying new toys. With 3 kids I have toys coming out of my ears. Sometimes the plastic toys make me feel like I’m going insane. I have a pile in the basement of toys that we have grown out of or have lost interest in and I am already planning on making a stop at good will or arranging a toy swap of my own!

I recently bought a book that just came out called Healthy Child, Healthy World: Creating A Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home. It is a book with tons of information about making your home nontoxic, recipes for air freshener, bubble bath and pet flea repellents, green gardening, how to avoid those scary toy recalls and how to choose safer art supplies, smart choices for remodeling your home and even a shopper’s guide for quality green products, brands, stores and websites. I haven’t read it all the way through but I have read most of it and have been impressed with the helpful information in the book. One thing I appreciate about the book is that each chapter covers the impacts of our choices on the environment. I know that the idea of being green and changing family patterns and habits can be overwhelming but the book emphasizes that any choice to go greener is a step in the right direction. I think it would be impossible to overhaul everything in our lives all at once. I know in our family we are taking one step at a time and it still feels like we are doing so little. I am trusting that my small contribution combined with others contributions will help make a big impact on making the world a better place for my kids and grandkids.

Being green is definitely becoming more popular and easy to do. What kinds of green things do you do?

My goal is to breastfeed my daughter until she is one year old. Once she turns one she can switch to cow’s milk. Ace turns 1 in less than three weeks. Lately I have been thinking about my goal to nurse for a year and the decision to wean. I have already begun the weaning process. She only nurses about twice a day and can use a sippy cup if she needs to. I have never really pumped. I never expected the decision to wean to be so emotional.

All my personal reasons to stop nursing aren’t a factor anymore. I wear underwire bras again. I occasionally drink a glass of wine after Ace is down for the night. It doesn’t take Ace long to nurse. It only happens two or three times a day. I am not nervous about nursing in public anymore. The only personal reason that I have left is so I can take antihistamines and certain antibiotics if I get sick.

The convenience of nursing is awesome. I hate doing dishes. I don’t have to go downstairs first thing in the morning to make a cup of milk. My husband usually gets up with me, changes Ace’s diaper and then brings her to me in bed. Right now the convenience outweighs the alternative for me.

My daughter is small for her age as she is normally in the 20th percentile for height and weight. I like that she is still small, so it doesn’t seem weird to me to nurse her. Although when she sits up and nurses it’s a little bit weird. Sometimes I feel like a soda fountain at a buffet.

Nursing has definitely given me a bond with my daughter that I didn’t expect. I had heard about nursing creating a bond between you and your baby, but I didn’t understand what my friends meant. Now I feel like I know. When she nurses we have a connection that I don’t think I would have if I hadn’t nursed.

Ace is increasingly getting more adventurous and doesn’t want to be held as much. My little baby is turning into a toddler. I am not ready to fully wean her, because I am not ready for her to grow up. I didn’t think the first year would go by so quickly. Especially not in her second month when I wasn’t getting any sleep and nursing around the clock. But now she is almost one year old and I need to make a decision.

I know Ace may wean herself any day. My friend Kristin’s son just stopped nursing two weeks before his one-year birthday. There have been two nights where Ace didn’t want to nurse, because she was too full from dinner. It actually made me a little sad.

Right now I am going to continue to nurse past the first year until I have a peace about stopping or Ace isn’t interested anymore. I am happy with this unexpected decision.

I would love to hear your stories! When did you stop nursing? Did your baby wean themselves or did you wean them? How did you make your decision?

(Note: Normally I’m your trusty pop-culture writer, but occasionally I might veer away from that territory and into other things. In case you were wondering.)

When I am fortunate enough to have my two darlings nap simultaneously, I get to have “free time”! Oh, to remember life B.K. (“Before Kids”, as Myra awesomely puts it.) I’m not that housewifey with my free time, I’m just gonna make that clear right now. Each room is pretty much a mess, there’s always laundry to put away, and I don’t get dinner prepared.

Naw, instead, I jump on the computer and start blogging. I love blogging. I used to feel guilty for the amount of time I spend blogging – it’s all so virtual, you know? What do I really have to show for that time? I worried – but then I realized that there is nothing wrong with spending my time doing something I like. And here’s what I like about blogging: It’s my creative outlet. Some people like gardening, others paint. I find personal satisfaction in blogging about my kids, my faith, my taste in movies/music/tv, what our family is up to, etc. I post tons of pictures. I get to keep in touch with my many friends in other cities/states/countries in an easy and convenient way. And I meet new friends with common interests all the time! Blogging makes my “world” seem smaller, and I mean that in a good way. To me, the benefits far outweigh any insecurities that I am “wasting” my time. And you probably agree, or you wouldn’t be here reading my ramblings!

One of the biggest parts of my blogging addiction is photoblogging (posting original pictures on a blog). There are a ton of mommy-bloggers who do this! I began participating in Best Shot Monday last summer. Tracey Clark, an inspirational mommy-blogger and photographer, hosts BSM. The concept is simple: each week, choose what you think is your best shot from your week’s worth of picture-taking, and post it on your blog. Don’t worry over whether or not your picture is good enough – the participants range from highly skilled to the average picture-taker. The cool thing is that everyone is nice. I’ve seen no pretentious attitudes anywhere in BSM. On Monday mornings, go to Tracey’s blog and leave the link to your post in the comments. You’d be amazed at what this simple act will afford you: a slew of amazing photography to enjoy, a ton of input and encouragement from others about your own pictures, and a whole host of new friends to swap life stories with. It is a really cool way to feel connected to something, especially when you feel cut off from the rest of the world in the stay-at-home grind. It’s also a fun way to start another week. Here’s a link to some of my previous BSM’s.

Theme Thursdays are also fun. Stacy hosts this. Each week she gives a helpful tutorial on an aspect of taking or editing pictures, and assigns a theme for us wannabe-brilliant photographers. Then we post our photos and share them in the same manner I described above. This week’s theme was “Spring”. Check it out! Stacy usually posts the new theme at the beginning of each week. Here’s a link to some of my previous TT’s.

I don’t always have time to participate in these things, of course. There are many stretches of time when I’m just too busy with life to focus on pictures and blogging. But it’s nice to know that these communities are there whenever I do have the time.

Of course, there’s also Flickr, a really cool photoblogging community with millions of users. You can set up an account for free (with limited uploading amounts), or pay a fee for unlimited uploading. I like using Flickr because it is really fun to share my pictures with people who are equally crazy about taking pictures. My photostream can be viewed here.

Now that I’ve got an ipod, I’ll probably spend my precious free time playing with that. But that’s a whole ‘nuther post.

What about y’all? When you’re not doing chores, how do you spend your free time? How often do you get free time? And if you’re looking for something fun to do, be sure to check out one of these great online communities.