Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Wordless Wednesday: Summery summerness

Hobo Mama wants you to know she's a professional blogger! Look at how professional she's being!

I'm much too hot and pregnant to bother finding the camera,
and the cord, and downloading and editing pictures,
so here's what you're getting:
recent fun stuff from my phone! Woot!


My kids have been playing with the cats lately,
Alrik for fun & Mikko for money
(and that pretty much sums them up right there),
which is great for all the little creatures.
Current fave toy: Cat Catcher
they go WILD for this thing.


Alrik helpfully cooling one hot kitty
with his little fan.
She wasn't sure what to make of it,
but she stayed put
for his ministrations.


Me at a friend's kid's pigeon-themed birthday party.
This is the hot & pregnant I speak of.
This & the following photos are from Shannon.


And you know how when you're hot & pregnant
you want nothing more than to have a three-year-old
glued to your lap for hours?
No?


Big hand, little hand.
I love how my kids have those sweet dimples.


This was adorable:
L3 pushing Alrik on the swing!


Downtown to the children's museum
with some goofy kids.


You can never have too much pretending to be bored
on a fake bus.


Even when this guy's driving.


I'd totally take my elephants to this vet.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Calling for submissions for the September 2014 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Home Tour

We continue to be delighted with the inspiration and wisdom our Carnival of Natural Parenting participants share, and we hope you'll join us for the next carnival in September 2014! (Check out August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January, and a summary of all our 2013 posts, 2012 posts, and 2011 posts if you missed any.)

Your co-hosts are Lauren at Hobo Mama and Dionna at Code Name: Mama.

Here are the submission details for September 2014:

Theme: Home Tour: We want to see, and you want to invite us over! Take us on a viewing of your home. Show us one room you love, or all of them. Show us how you organize your pantry, arrange your play space, or make room for a family bed. We want the fifty-cent tour!

Deadline: Tuesday, September 2. Fill out the webform (at the link or at the bottom) and email your submission to us by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time: CarNatPar {at} NaturalParentsNetwork.com

Carnival date: Tuesday, September 9. Before you post, we will send you an email with a little blurb in html to paste into your submission that will introduce the carnival. You will publish your post on September 9 and email us the link if you haven't done so already. Once everyone's posts are published by noon Eastern time, we will send out a finalized list of all the participants' links to generate lots of link love for your site! We'll include full instructions in the email we send before the posting date.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Carnival of Natural Parenting — 2013 year in review

Code Name: Mama - Carnival of Natural Parenting — 2012 year in reviewFor the past four years, I have been proud to co-host the Carnival of Natural Parenting with Dionna of Code Name: Mama. We created the Carnival in January 2010 to bring together the awesome community of parenting bloggers who identify as "attachment" or "natural" parents.

In 2013, our writers have shared their tips and tricks for having tough conversations with kids; they've discussed the gap between parenting in theory versus parenting in reality; and they've shared stories and advice related to nourishing and protecting their families. The compilations of posts are a rich resource — I hope you will look through 2013's themes and articles below and get to know some of the writers!

Anyone can write for the Carnival of Natural Parenting, and you can write as few or as many times as you'd like throughout the year. You can read more about how to write for the Carnival as well as details on upcoming topics at our main Carnival page. Here are the topics for the next few months: In July we're sharing tips on Family Vacations; in August we're dishing about Friends; in September we're giving everyone a Home Tour; in October we're grumbling about Sick Days; in November we'll have tons of ideas for Indoor Fun; and in December we'll write about the Greatest Gifts. Topics are posted through May 2015 - come read more details at our main Carnival page.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

You're invited to my Mother Blessing!

From my friend Shannon:

The time is almost here! The wonderful moment when a baby comes earthside, a woman becomes a mother to a new person, and a family is made new by their addition.

It is our honor to host an event honoring such an occasion, and we would love to include all of Lauren's readers to join us in celebration of this transition with a virtual Mother Blessing to be remembered!

If you are interested in participating, please contact shannon {@} hillinger.org by September 5 for more information.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Wordless Wednesday: Born shoppers

Monday, August 18, 2014

Slowing down in the third trimester

Hobo Mama wants you to know she's a professional blogger! Look at how professional she's being!

On a hike — a very slow, short hike.
I'm 31 weeks pregnant, and I am tired. I'm sore in various mentionable and unmentionable places, I've all but abandoned bending over to reach anything that's fallen (whatever it is will keep until someone else can), I shuffle and lurch and waddle instead of walk, and I can't get comfortable in any position. If I sit, the baby seems to have no place to go. If I stand, my left leg falls asleep. If I walk, my hips ache within minutes, and my pelvis starts to burn. If I lie down, my joints protest and various muscles cramp up on me spasmodically throughout the night.

I'd like to just … not do much. Just sort of wait and gestate.

But I still feel all this pressure to keep going. Because that's what we do, right? The modern woman? Or, probably, any woman? There's already the myth of the woman working in the fields, squatting to deliver, then tying the newborn on her back as she resumes her harvest. As long as the baby's inside instead of out, we're supposed to keep moving, keep working, keep taking care of things, keep exercising, and above all, stop being such a wuss.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Wordless Wednesday: Into the third trimester

Hobo Mama wants you to know she's a professional blogger! Look at how professional she's being!

Another round of belly bump pics!
We last left off halfway through
this pregnancy with my third child,
so here are 23 weeks through today, 31 weeks.

(Where is the time going to?!)


T-shirt: Old Navy; Hat: Flipside Hats
23 weeks, picking strawberries


T-shirt: Old Navy
23 weeks, playing on the beach (more here)


Long-sleeve tee: Target;
Skirt: Destination Maternity
24 weeks, fighting pirates



Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Arranging kids' friendships in a modern world


Hobo Mama wants you to know she's a professional blogger! Look at how professional she's being!

Welcome to the August 2014 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Friends

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared stories and wisdom about friends.




There are so many times lately I find myself pining for the good old days. When it came to making childhood friends for me and arranging playdates, my mom had it so easy.

I grew up on Army posts and in public schools. I spent my afternoons and weekends outside at the nearest playground, biking the neighborhood, or taking turns visiting a friend's house or having her visit mine. Sometimes, with advance notice, I'd skip my bus ride home in favor of going to another kid's place after school.

We didn't have cellphones to let our parents know where we were at any moment, and my mother didn't sit outside to watch us play. When we played indoors, we were equally unsupervised.

And somehow we survived. Hm.

My kids and I live in a city, with surprisingly few children living immediately near us. We live within easy walking distance of two playgrounds and a beach, and yet I wouldn't dare let my children go to either alone yet, at seven and three. I know I was going out to playgrounds by myself and with my brother or buddies at five, but times, they are a-changin'.

We live in a different world, one of paranoia about dangers (they could fall off the slide at the playground and break an arm! they could be abducted by a stranger!) that are mostly exaggerated — possible, but not at all common. Even if I disagree with the consensus about what's too dangerous for my kids, I can't fly in the face of popular opinion without taking on a more likely risk of having my parenting called neglectful, with potentially devastating consequences.

And, so, I have to play with my kids, whatever's going on, and I have to shuttle them to the playspaces. We don't have a backyard, so I can't keep an eye on them through a window while I get stuff done in the house. If they want to connect with nature, out we all go as a group. And if they want to connect with other kids, it's up to me to facilitate it. They have a higher tolerance for crummy weather than I do, so we have to come up with some compromise for how long to be in nature that satisfies neither group.

It just seems sort of unfair, this necessity of the parent to arrange play when it used to happen so organically. I know partly it's where we live — in the suburbs or just a different city neighborhood, we might have more luck with neighbor kids being out and about in the afternoons. But definitely part of it is a change in environment and culture. Kids' lives are scheduled more now, anyway, including their socialization. To make it work, I have to conform to the expectations.

But it's hard. For one thing, I'm a shy, awkward introvert. It's a winning combination, let me tell you. I'd be fine with doing something social once, at most twice, per week. I get the feeling Mikko desires more. Maybe not even a lot more, but more than I'm currently giving him, so I struggle with how to make it happen. If we lived in that neighborhood where he could just head outside on his own and fill his own social cup, he could figure out how to meet his own needs rather than have me guess at them.

We currently are friends with a whopping two families. They're great families, and we all get along well (mamas who are amazeballs and kids who are compatible with my two), but I can't put all our socialization eggs in one basket. For one thing, they don't live near enough for our kids to hang out on a daily or even weekly basis, or to do anything casual and last-minute.

I've been trying other avenues. We've stalked encouraged families at the churches we used to go to to be our friends. We invited them to meals and activities and chatted them up every time we saw them … but there was no reciprocation, so at some point you have to let it go before you get a restraining order thrown your way. We haven't been going to church for some time now, so I started a Meetup group in hopes of finding some like-minded folks who could become close. I found a few with potential, but everyone comes so sporadically to the meet-ups that I've never gotten anything going on a personal level. I've been attending various homeschool and unschool group activities, but people in such groups can be a bit flaky (I am one of them, I admit), so, again, it can be hard to connect.

And so I keep on envying my mom. She didn't have to be good friends with my friends' moms. She just kind of had to know their names and have a passing acquaintance. When I hung out with my friends at their house, my mom wasn't there. If we were hanging out outside, no parent was. But when I arrange playdates, I'd better like the moms because we're all going to be hanging out together. As I mentioned (shy, awkward, introverted), I find this challenging, particularly when I don't know the people well. And since I'm having trouble connecting with people on a deeper level, I continually am attending get-togethers with virtual strangers (same old small talk each time), which is stressful for me.

Poor Mikko. He chats up everyone he meets and knows how to make instant friends of all ages. If only some of that will rub off on me!

We'll keep on keeping on. I have a few ideas for the fall and winter (in between having a baby): joining some classes at a homeschool cooperative, continuing some extracurricular classes we enjoyed in the spring (gymnastics, soccer, maybe try swimming), and prioritizing getting to know more people in the unschooler groups.

But sometimes I just wish it didn't take so much effort, that my kids could just run out the door and find their friends and not come home till dinner, tired and dirty and happy.

How do you make friends for yourself and your kids? Has it happened organically, or do you work hard at it?


Carnival of Natural Parenting -- Hobo Mama and Code Name: MamaVisit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be updated by afternoon August 12 with all the carnival links.)

  • Sibling Revelry — At Natural Parents Network, Amy W. shares her joy in witnessing the growth of the friendship between her two young children.
  • Making New Mama Friends — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama muses on how she was able to connect with like-minded mamas and form deep friendships both in 'real life' and online. Learn how these life-long friendships, both between Jennifer and other mothers but also between Jennifer's daughter and the other children, formed and flourished.
  • Family, Friends and Family Friends — Vidya Sury at Vidya Sury, Going A-Musing, Collecting Smiles is reflecting on family friendships, past and present.
  • Arranging friendships in a modern world — From a free-range childhood to current parenthood, how can an introvert like Lauren at Hobo Mama navigate the newly complicated scheduling of playdates and mom friends?
  • Mommy Blogs: Where Moms Make Friends — Mothers make friends with other mothers in new ways. The options from earlier decades remain, but new avenues have sprung up with mommy bloggers. Laurie Hollman, Ph.D. at Parental Intelligence shares her thoughts.
  • Friendship and Sacrifice: Guardians of the Galaxy — Shay at 4HisGlory learned that friendship lessons can be found in unlikely places, like blockbuster summer movies.
  • Friendship - Finding, Forming, Keeping, and WishingLife Breath Present's thoughts on finding, forming, keeping, and wishing for friendships as an introvert.
  • Consciously Creating My Community: Monthly Dinners — How have you intentionally created community? Dionna at Code Name: Mama's goal for the year is to cultivate community. One way she's done that is to help organize two different monthly dinners with friends.
  • Adults need imaginary friends, too — Tat at Mum in Search shares why it's a good idea for adults to have imaginary friends. You get to meet Tat's friend and download a playbook to create your own.
  • Friends Near, Friends Far — Kellie at Our Mindful Life helps her kids keep in touch with friends 600 miles apart.
  • Which comes first, social skills or social life? — Jorje of Momma Jorje frets about whether her daughter can learn social skills without experience, but how to get good experience without social skills.
  • Snail Mail Revival — Skype isn't the only way to stay in touch with long distance friends, That Mama Gretchen and her family are breaking out the envelopes and stamps these days!
  • Montessori-Inspired Friendship Activities — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares a roundup of Montessori-inspired friendship activities for home or classroom.
  • How I used the internet to make local friends — After years of striking out at the park, Crunchy Con Mom finally found some great local friends . . . online!
  • My How Friends Change — Erica at ChildOrganics knows entirely too much about how to comfort a friend after a loss.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Wordless Wednesday: Sibling love

Lately the boys have been really lovey with each other.
I had this idea to post some photos showing it,
to remind me when they revert to squabbling
and screeching at each other …
which they have done today.
("Make him stop looking out
my window!"
"But that's the toy Iiiiiii need."
"Are too." "Are not." "Are too." "Are not." etc.)



When my parents were visiting, they mentioned more than once
how well Mikko and Alrik get along.
It wasn't something I had seen,
so it was really good to hear it from someone else
— gave me a new perspective on how often
they are happy with each other
vs. how often I get frustrated seeing
(and hearing) them fight.

The above photo was a walk where, without prompting,
they chose to hold hands and run along together.
Alrik had been upset that Mikko "won" the race down the stairs,
so Mikko held his hand the rest of the journey
so they'd both be at the same pace
and win together.



At Chuck E. Cheese the other day (oh, blessed A/C),
I told Mikko we could eat there
but only if he'd stick with his brother for the games
so I could enjoy my salad in peace.
He did, and they both loved it.


Brother hugs!
Ignore the fact that one child has no face.
My phone broke and has been out for repair,
and my loaner phone has the Worst Camera Ever.
Just when my kids are being cute!

Monday, August 4, 2014

Thoughts on being pregnant with a third child

I'm 29 weeks along with #3, and it's made me think about how this pregnancy and the expectation of this child have differed from my pregnancies with Mikko and Alrik. Each pregnancy has been special and golden in its own way — here are some highlights of how this one has gone so far.

Everything's less a mystery

But that feels like a good thing. I sometimes have to refresh my memory on whether such-and-such is really a pregnancy symptom or not, but this one has been running similarly to my others, which makes it easier to handle. I remember when Alrik was born, too, having that reassuring sense of been-there-done-that mixed with flashes of "Oh, right, I forgot about that" when it came to newborn care and breastfeeding but then being able to figure it out. It's nice to feel confident.

Looking forward

Speaking of newbornhood, I find this time around, I'm more keenly aware of those little kicking feet in my belly and wanting to meet this sweet little baby. For Mikko, I did want to get to know who he was, but it was all so surreal — it was hard to connect a growing bump with a real, live human with a personality and features, until after he was born. With Alrik, I can't remember feeling all that eager to get him out — maybe because we'd had such difficult newborn days with Mikko, maybe because we had so many renovations to finish before I felt comfortable giving birth. Either way, I just get giddy this time around considering who this little one is going to be and wanting to hold that little squish in my arms!