Believe your Prof, vw--if s/he doesn't know how much you need to do, who does?

Exactly. And, if she's willing to work with me while I try to catch up, I think I can do it.

Ok...gotta walk the dog and get off to class. Talk to you all later.

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vw - Robin is exactly right. Oh, and I'm sorry your new boss is weird.

I just had to jump in on the infant potty training thing because I actually bought a book about it while I was pregnant. After reading the book, I thought it sounded just like potty training a dog, except way more work and for a way longer time. I briefly considered it but decided that a) it was more effort than I could put forth and b) I didn't want to be constantly justifying why I was doing it to other moms. In the end, I just bought some fantastic cloth diapers and went with that.

I never meant to be an "attachment parent." A lot of times, they come off as really dogmatic. But I guess I'm going down that road, what with the natural childbirth, breastfeeding, cloth diapers, and co-sleeping. But I came to each of those decisions individually because I thought they were the best for Ellie and me and saved us a ton of money.

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But I came to each of those decisions individually because I thought they were the best for Ellie

This is the way to do it girl, but don't forget when the choices are "It's not bad for Ellie, and it is good for me," it is okay to choose those, too. Hec's "Good Enough" theory of parenting has a lot to commend it.

Ellie is still brannie new, as is Lily. There are lots of things I would never have dreamed of doing when a baby was a month or three old, that I felt quite comfortable with at 6, 9, or 12 months.

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Stephanie, that picture of Ellie is the cutest thing to hit the internet in ages. OMG what a dollface!

Who knew a newborn had the power to kill me DED?

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Hec's "Good Enough" theory of parenting has a lot to commend it.

I've actually thought a lot about this since the last time we talked about it here. I recognize that I am totally one of those people that could wear myself out by trying to be a super-mom.

However, I've let Ellie sleep in my mom's room the last few nights so I could get enough sleep to study and my mom has occasionally given her a bottle in preparation for the exam. I know these are tiny things, but I see them as baby steps towards me not being a control freak wrt my child.

On a different note, how come no one told me that having a baby would make me cry at everything ? Maybe it's not this way for everyone, but I've been all upset at every murdered child, child bitten by shark, child drowned story on the news since she was born. I cried watching a The Practice with a dead infant last week. Being a mom has ruined my ability to enjoy TV!

eta: thanks Maria (and everyone else). For every cute picture, there are 15 goofy ones. I laugh at myself when I look at how many pictures I have on my computer now.

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On a different note, how come no one told me that having a baby would make me cry at everything ? Maybe it's not this way for everyone, but I've been all upset at every murdered child, child bitten by shark, child drowned story on the news since she was born. I cried watching a The Practice with a dead infant last week. Being a mom has ruined my ability to enjoy TV!

NO KIDDING! I couldn't watch half the video clips for Live 8. All those starving children had me running for the gin and prozac.

This might explain the bumps on Em's head.

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On a different note, how come no one told me that having a baby would make me cry at everything ? Maybe it's not this way for everyone, but I've been all upset at every murdered child, child bitten by shark, child drowned story on the news since she was born. I cried watching a The Practice with a dead infant last week. Being a mom has ruined my ability to enjoy TV!

Or newspapers, or CNN.com, or the local news. Hell, I cry reading Newsweek and Time, too. If it's not on Noggin, I'm not watching it. And I'm re-reading a couple of Jane Austin books this summer. Not. Watching the news. It freaks me out and makes me weepy.

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Good luck with class tonight, vw. I somehow missed that part of your post.

I can't bear to watch the news, now, without the motherhood. Maybe I should stick to cats.

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I seem to have missed the crying over everything, but I've nearly gone postal on a member of my Monday writers group any number of times because all his recent work is set in a dystopic future created by global warming that he's quite confident will really happen. Confident and, I swear, gleeful. And it just pisses me off, because he's 70 or so and doesn't have kids, so I'm like, "Can we stop rejoicing in the coming comeuppance of the wealthy and powerful? 'Cuz my daughter and I have to live with whatever comes, and while your rejoicing doesn't change the outcome any more than my fretting over it would, YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF!"

Um. Yeah. Just channeling this stuff in my own goofy way.

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{{Erin}} So sorry things are of the suck right now. Fay et al are wise people.

vw, good luck with class tonight!!

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