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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

A problem of terminology

C (known on Million Moments as Inexperienced Mom) works for about 6 hours a week at an after-school tutoring center. My work is flexible such that I'm able to leave early the two days a week that C works. I come home so she can go to work.

The other day, while C was at work, my mom called.

"Oh, you're home already, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah. C starts work at 4, so I have to be home in time for her to go" I replied.

"Well, your work sure is good to let you come home to babysit twice a week."

"Yes, they are."

Ok, we'll stop the conversation there. I have a problem with that terminology. The way I look at it, it's not called "babysitting" when you are taking care of your own kid. Really--I'm the dad. I can take care of my own kid. So I can't feed him by myself; that doesn't make me incompetent in other areas.

I didn't turn like this on my poor mother, who I'm sure doesn't see me as "just a babysitter." But after the conversation was over, I thought about that word, and I realized it just isn't a good fit for what I was doing, but I couldn't think of a better one to use in its place.

After all, the term "babysitting" sounds like it is something that isn't normally my responsibility, and then my responsibility ends when the Mom gets home. My mother isn't the first one to use that term, and I'm sure she won't be the last. So I've got to find a better word to use instead.

What is a good term to use? Primary caregiver? That term has some of the same problems. Any suggestions on how I should handle it when people talk about me "babysitting" my own kid?

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Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Snooze

To say you get less sleep with a new baby is like saying it's windy during a tornado.

I am lucky though: most days (and nights) are really not all that bad. N is a good sleeper at night and I am lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom who can nap with him if the night was less restful than usual.

That being said, those first few moments of waking up to a fussy baby are the hardest for me. I woke up the other morning to find myself shoving the pacifier into N's ear. At first I couldn't figure out why he was still crying; turns out his reasons included both the lack of pacifier as well as one being stuck in his ear.

Conclusion: giving a waking-up baby a pacifier is a like pressing snooze on the alarm clock. It may give you a few more moments of sleep but they aren't all that restful and it only prolongs the inevitable.

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Monday, February 26, 2007

Introductions

I've certainly enjoyed reading my husband's perspective on this whole parenting journey. I think he chose an apt title for the blog as life in general, but especially with a small child, is made up of a million little moments. After putting in about 7,481,940 of those moments, I have decided that I have a few things of my own to share. Hope you don't mind. Hope DH doesn't mind!

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Blessing Day

Author's Note: I wrote this post back in January, and then saved it to my computer. I just found it today, and decided to post it as-is.

On Sunday we blessed Kiddo in Church. If you aren't a member of the LDS Church, when we use the term "blessing" in the context of a blessing in church, we are generally referring to an event that is somewhat equivalent to the christening of a child that is done in other religions. In our family, it tends to be a family affair. Both my sister and brother were there with my mom. C's parents are in town, so they came. Because C's grandfather passed away this last week, she had a number of paternal aunts and uncles in town who attended (large family). Additionally, every one of my dad's living siblings attended with their spouses (another large family). Add to that a couple of close friends and some other family, plus C's grandmother, and C's great aunt. C's also had some cousins and second cousins who attended -- well, there were a ton of people there.

As I think back on the blessing (which I gave), I don't even remember who was in the circle. The only people who I actually noticed/recognized by name were my father-in-law, and my bishop. I was so nervous about the whole thing that I didn't even pay attention to who was standing around me. I know that there were so many people that some couldn't reach into the circle.

I have conflicting feelings about this. I hate to cause a scene, which I think this kind of did. I served with a bishop previously who instructed new parents to limit the number of people who stood in the circle to 5-10. I can understand that. But in our case, the people who we invited to stand in the family were all close family members, with three notable exceptions. And how do you include some family members while excluding others? In the end, we decided that we were more interested in including people than excluding them, and we decided not to worry about the number of people, and just ensure those who came who were family were included.

We didn't want to leave church and go to our house for an open house. It was important to us to attend all our meetings. We decided to invite people to attend church with us for the entire block, and then to have an open house in the evening from 4 to 8 PM. This allowed us to put church attendance first, and then go home in the evening to celebrate with our families. This was a fun way to do it, and I'd do it again, although at the end of the day I was exhausted.

All in all, it was a great day. We loved having our family close, to celebrate this important milestone with us. Even if we did cause a scene.

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Thursday, February 08, 2007

They say they grow fast...

... and they aren't kidding. Take a look:

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Tuesday, February 06, 2007

A New Convert to...

Reading!!!

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The proof is in the video

I told you last week that Kiddo is watching his hands and feet, right? Here he is after discovering his right hand:


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Friday, February 02, 2007

FOUND: Two hands and two feet

The boy Jr. has found his hands and feet. It's pretty adorable, actually.

He discovered his hands earlier this week, and has since decided that sucking on his hand is sometimes better than sucking on the pacifier. It was pretty amazing to watch him look at his hands as he moved them from side to side.

Then this morning he seems to have found his feet.

Our little boy is growing up. Already! Dang....

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