Sunday, April 29, 2012

Sunday Surf: Swimmingly

Welcome to the Sunday Surf, a tour of the best blogposts I've read throughout the week.

spring garden raised bed
I love seeing the start of a spring garden.
Even cooler is that half that greenery overwintered.
This past week felt pleasantly full. Maybe it was the intense celebrating we did for my birthday. Maybe it was hosting multiple meetups. Maybe it was having two parent-child swim classes.

Funny thing about those classes: The age range is six months to four years. Rather extreme range, no? There's this single, solitary doofus visionary in the class struggling to support a 50-pound four-and-three-quarters-year-old during all the songs where you pour water on your baby's behemoth's feet and the games where you lay the little (big) ones out in front of you to practice floating. She's the only one who can't fully support her child the class-approved way of two hands under the armpits and has to slip one hand under the back so, you know, her kid doesn't drown. Gosh, she must feel a little silly. Good thing she's having too much fun to let it show.

Mikko, on the other hand (oops, just blew my cover), thinks it's torture that I'm making him attend a swim class. He'd rather play with a toy boat the entire half-hour instead of practicing kicks, refusing to practice bubbles, and reaching with his arms for the toy. I think that boy's a born unschooler, I truly do.

But this is the absolute last chance we have to take this class, and I've paid for it now, so we're persevering, dangit!

All right, then…some reading:




Guest post


A Recommendation For The Humble Condom at Diary of a First Child

Condom Embroidery Hoop ArtLuschka's presenting a series on Contraceptive Options, and she's let me wax eloquent about, yup, condoms.
I’d like to recommend them to you for their consideration as a birth-control method for male-female sexual couples interested in preventing pregnancy, due to their many benefits:

Economical — in my own comparisons with other birth-control methods, condoms are a frugal choice.
Compatible — since they’re non-hormonal, you can use them while breastfeeding or in preparation for trying to conceive, and they won’t interfere with tracking your cycle.
Convenient — less mess. Don’t make me over-explain that.
Easy — less chance of user error than remembering to take a pill every day at the same time or schedule an appointment for a shot or other procedure. I mean, yes, some prep is needed, but that’s what practice is for.
Effective — somewhere around 90-98%. More on that later, but suffice it to say — no “oops” babies here so far!
Reversible — want another baby? You got it.
Read more at Diary of a First Child, and I'll chat with you in the comments over there. I know we all have different perspectives on birth control, so I hope we all can learn from each other.

Poetry of a Hobo Mama giveaway extravaganza

Giveaway: Poetry of a Hobo Mama - 7 Winners! {4.30; Worldwide}

Poetry of a Hobo Mama: The First Three YearsYou have one day more to enter the giveaway for one of SEVEN copies of my poetry book. The group giveaway ends tomorrow, April 30, so enter now!

Here again are the reviews and giveaway links from all the bloggers participating in the group giveaway, so you can read their thoughts and pick your favorite one to enter from!

Please also read the latest reviews:

Giveaway: Poetry of a Hobo Mama Parenting Poetry — $12 ARV — 2 WINNERS! {5.14; Worldwide} at Anktangle & Natural Parents Network

Touching review from Amy:
This is a beautiful, funny, truth-filled collection that I believe would resonate with any mother. The focus on Lauren’s experiences as an attachment-focused parent gives it a unique perspective which any parent on the natural parenting spectrum could appreciate. But it’s not just for the “crunchy” mama in your life; it’s truly about the human experience: about life and love, about laughter and loss. It’s about the joyfully heart-wrenching reality of loving someone as deeply and fully as a parent loves her child.
I love hearing Amy's words and connection, and she shares one of my favorite poems in the post.

Read more and enter to win one of two copies at NPN.

Giveaway: Poetry of a Hobo Mama Parenting Poetry — $12 ARV {5.5; Worldwide} at Hybrid Rasta Mama

Love Jennifer's honest take:
If you like poetry, you will adore this collection from Lauren. If you hate poetry, you will adore this collection from Lauren. If you are on the fence about poetry, this collection will make you take notice of the beauty in poetic expression. It will also make you feel a whole lot better about your own experiences and feelings in this journey of life and motherhood.
Seriously, what better endorsement could there be?

Read more and enter to win a copy at Hybrid Rasta Mama.

I won't let you win more than once, so feel free to enter all three giveaways to improve your chances.

Carnival news:

Carnival of Natural Parenting -- Hobo Mama and Code Name: MamaDoes anyone have any to add?

From Natural Parents Network:

Visit Natural Parents Network
I'm loving the parenting poetry & prose this week for National Poetry Month!


Giveaways:



Find more giveaways at my Natural parenting giveaways linky! Add your own, and enter some good ones. Right now you can enter to win cloth diapers, children's books, Coconut Oil for Your Skin, swim diaper, fertility tea, and more!

Win me. Win me.

Surf with us:

Sunday Surf with Authentic Parenting and Hobo MamaWe love following along with fellow Sunday Surfers. If you have your own post of reading links to share, please link up your post on Hobo Mama or on Authentic Parenting. The linky will go live every Sunday, and you can link up any day that week. If Sunday doesn't work for you but you do a links list another day, feel free to play along. You only need to add your post to one of the sites, and the linky will automatically show up on both sites.

You can get the Sunday Surf button by Jenna Designs and some code to add to your post from my Sunday Surf page.

Check out previous editions for good reading, and you can find more shared items during the week at my Tumblr blog, Hobo Mama's Shared Items.





This linky list is now closed.

1 comments:

Unknown said...

We just started swimming lessons this week too. BabyE was the one clinging to his mama for dear life!

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