Effin’ Bad Language

My two-year-old repeats everything I say. She has an excellent vocabulary and speaks in full, and often remarkable, sentences. I do not refrain from using “big” words with her. My theory is that the more she hears them, the more she will become familiar with them. However, I do refrain from little words, those little four letter words. Read more »

Only Child

At a baby shower recently, some moms were sitting around discussing how exhausting infants and young toddlers are and how grateful they are to be “done.” They had two, a boy and a girl. When I also expressed that I was “done.” They were shocked and joked that I had to meet the status quo of at least two children. Though it was complimentary (I think) that they felt I “seemed like the type to have more,” they could not quite explain what that meant. Am I too maternal for just one? On the way home, I grew a little upset thinking about it. Read more »

First Leg of West Coast Road Trip ‘09

Our fancy "retro" paint job on this fixer upper

Our '66 Cardinal Travel Trailer

When my daughter was six months old we spent five weeks on the road with her driving to New Orleans (from New Mexico) and back. Things were different then. We owned a ‘77 Dodge Santana Camper Van and my daughter did not walk or crawl. We sold the van and bought a travel trailer so that we would no longer have three vehicles. More importantly, my daughter, at 20 months, walks and talks, all the time. Yet, the adventerous ones that we are, we are taking another five week road trip, this time to Los Angeles and up the coast to Portland, OR. We have managed the first part of our trip and made it to L.A.

I put a lot of preparation into this trip from fixing up our ‘66 Cardinal travel trailer (including setting it up with a solar power system) to packing all our basic needs, but my biggest priority was entertainment. Read more »

Co-sleeping: Safe or Dangerous?

Our Co-sleeping Set-up

According to the BBC World News, the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) just released a study that says co-sleeping or bed sharing with your child, has been implicated in about half of SIDS cases. According to this study, the risk is greatest if either parent smokes, has been drinking, has taken sedatives or is “very tired,” and that small babies, such as preemies are particularly at risk.

According to Dr. Sears, attachment parenting guru who has written two books on the topic and done extensive research on the risks of SIDS when co-sleeping, there is nothing to worry about. In fact, he believes that co-sleeping can actually reduce the risk of SIDS.

The best advice is to do as you would with all things parenting and follow your instincts. As for my husband and I, we knew we wanted to co-sleep, but did not think we would be comfortable with a baby in bed with us. Read more »

Madlyn Primoff: Kicking her Kids to the Curb

Primoff Mug Shot

First of all, I would like to know, what’s the big deal? Child endagerment? They were in White Plains for goodness sake. What were her kids in danger of, honing their luxury vehicle identification skills, getting their toes stuck in freshly aerated lawns? The answer, apparently, is that they were in danger of being treated to ice cream by a friendly neighbor. And, worst of all, seeing their mom handcuffed and thrown into jail. Read more »

Realization: My World Revolves Around My Child

You may be surprised to learn this, but today I realized that my life revolves around my child. Yes, it took me 18 months to fully come to terms with this idea. I’m still unsure why I hadn’t clued into it earlier. What was the moment that made this epiphany clear? Nothing monumental in the least. Read more »