Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book. Hilarious and a quick read. I learned to never go on a cruise with your husband if he's been acting distant. And certainly don't go walking on the deck late at night when no one else is around. Reason #105 to not go on a cruise. Like I needed more reasons. Titanic was enough.

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Postpartum Ramblings of a SPECIAL educator

I wrote this little number when I was on maternity leave, pumping every 3 hours (evenings included), and feeling a tad bit overwhelmed. Well, I was just cleaning up the kitchen, feeding Sami, picking up toys, banging the shit out of my hand, and what I wrote all those months ago popped in my head. To all my hard working girls with babies/toddlers...this is for you!

Postpartum Ramblings of an Educator

As a new mom, I’ve discovered that there are many parallels between the special education process and the new baby process. For instance, I find that applying some of the same basic principles we use with special needs students with husbands very helpful. In addition, the ARD process (Admission, Review and Dismissal for special education kids) has taken on new meaning for me.

The ARD Process

The ARD Process is a process by which new mamas come to the realization that all their hopes and dreams about life after a baby were clearly off target and borderline delusional. All those daydreams about frolicking in fields of bluebonnets with your new baby and husband are quickly replaced with Anger, Resentment, and Daily Prayer.

Anger
This stage of the process is the most volatile. The new Mama, accessorized with all kinds of raging hormones, realizes that the new addition to the family is not revered by Daddy the same way he or she is revered by Mama.

Resentment
This stage takes place after numerous “come to Jesus” talks with the hubby with little to no outcome. This stage is especially hard for stay at home moms when their “job” is perceived as less difficult and stressful than their husband's real jobs.

Daily Prayer
Not completely sure if this stage can be defined as “prayer”. This stage is characterized by desperate ramblings to self, girlfriends, and other inanimate objects. The sleep deprived mom frequently breaks down into tears over the most inconsequential things.


Chapter 2: Special Needs

Whereas the mom seems to make a somewhat seamless transition into motherhood, fathers seem to find fatherhood a bit more fleeting.

Chapter 3: Accommodations, Modifications, and Behavior Plans

Coming from the world of education, I find that applying some of the same basic principles we use with special needs students to husbands very helpful. For instance, consider some of the following “accommodations” when discussing disproportionate baby responsibilities:

* Consider using a multi-sensory approach with your husband. This might include something like talking very slowly while motioning made up sign language.
* You might also want to consider visual aides such as timelines, pie charts, and highlighted materials to help with comprehension
* I’ve found that nonverbal gestures also come in handy when communicating very important points (I am sure you can think of at least one nonverbal cue)
* Using proximity when talking with your husband may help with inattention and distractions, such as ESPN, flourescent lights and ceiling fans.

Goodbye old friend

It is with a heavy heart that I bid farwell to my pump (a.k.a. Rusty). As I hooked up this morning, for what I knew was my last pump, I took a little trip down memory lane.

The arrival of our little sweetie. Rusty was there for our big moment.


Mom, Sami and Rusty catching a cat nap.


Halloween


Christmas


As you can see, Rusty has been an important part of our family. Godspeed, Rusty. I hope you bring many, many more bottles of mommy's milk to another little one.

Free Yoga Retreat

I went to yoga this morning. I'm not real big on yoga, but it sounded like a nice, relaxing way to start the three day weekend. The class was great (minus the beeping noise of a construction vehicle backing up for like 20 minutes). It was a hatha class, which is not usually a class I'd take. I prefer a hard core ashtanga class, or any other one that will kick my ass and make me feel like I got a workout. This was slow and pretty mild. I normally would have hated it, but I really enjoyed it and felt like an inch taller by the end. We also ended the class with some yummy yogi tea with soy milk and honey. All of the sudden, I started feeling all healthy and "one" with the tea. And this is when I had a great idea. I should stay at the yoga studio ALL day, maybe in a closet or something, and nap and steal cups of tea when thirsty. You know you're a new mama when ideas like this pop in your head...and you actually come up with a plan on how you could pull it off. I'm sure stealing yogi tea brings lots of great karma. Namaste...