My kids were all Rice cereal, eh. Then we tried them out on applesauce. It was the Miracle of Applesauce! Little tongues were poking out of mouths trying to figure out where the magic applesauce came from. And there appeared to be this plastic thing involved somehow, but usually if you stuck your tongue out there was applesauce eventually.

We wound up mixing baby cereal with baby carrots, applesauce, &c; otherwise it wasn't interesting.

t trying to stop crying enough to post

I reacted so strongly to Aimee's post because it never occurred to me that anyone would rebuke someone for what I thought was a fairly obviously tongue-in-cheek post (the whole bit where I said that Annabel's development was the most important thing in the whole world, while acknowledging that every other parent trying to get an appointment with that clinic feels the exact same way about their offspring was meant to be a giveaway), nor do anything other than sympathize with someone facing an inordinately long wait for ANY type of appointment their PCP had thought it worthwhile to refer them, their spouse, or their child for. I was expecting headpats, not a smackdown.

I'm sorry I reacted so strongly. But I don't feel like I'm doing wrong to do things like take her in for these hearing and speech pathology tests. If I were completely off my rocker, I don't think my pediatrician would've made the referrals.

And I can think of times where I've bragged about Annabel, posted pictures, or told cute stories and got little or no reaction to them. That's probably partly because I'm a West Coaster who stays up late and posts when everyone else is asleep or headed that way, but it's also made me think that what strikes me as cute or funny or precocious must not seem entertaining or charming to anyone else, so I'd better just keep my mouth shut.

Well, I think if we'd not been hearing this for months and months, it would be easier to be kind, patient and diplomatic constantly. Sometimes I do feel that Susan won't love her daughter as much if she isn't, say, speaking French at five, but obviously I have my own issues in re this topic as my father has made it clear I wasn't what he would have ordered my whole stupid life...I know you did not say that and I honestly applaud your tenacity in trying to do the right things. I'm just hoping you're not missing stuff pulling out the Daughter Template and rating her on it. Because say there's something...if there is, she's gonna need at least one unqualified booster who will think she is fucking great and not a spectrum of symptoms or a problem to be fixed.Because it won't be the therapist or the school...it's on you, then. Trust me, though I haven't spawned, I do know that from inside. Hopefully, you will get much more support than we ever got, but...

I worry that Em is too skinny even though I have watched her put away 2 whole hot dogs, an entire serving of diced peaches, a bunch of carrots, and 2 veggie wagon wheels.

You're just jealous. (I know I am)

My concern is for you. If the worry you are showing here is just a moment of freaking out and needing to express yourself in a safe place (goodness knows I need time and space to freak about stuff that is less important), that's well and good. But if you are feeling like this a lot of the time, I hope you can find ways to de-stress.

I second this.

What are other mothers worried about?

One of the benefits of waiting so long to have a child is that I'm really not worried about much with Mallory. I suppose I could worry about the strawberry on his hand, but the worst-case scenario is that it doesn't go away on his own and we have to have surgery so that it doesn't impair his dexterity. Big whoop; it's not in his brain or eye or anyplace difficult. And I have one of the same things on my arm and have been through the surgery, so not freaked.

I worry that when he finally decides to get his butt off the ground he will injure himself. I can't babyproof this place the way I want to.

I worry that he doesn't have enough people around. There's no other kids, and just me and Robert. But again, that was my upbringing, and I eventually turned out okay.

That's about it; everything else is either an irrational fear (we'll be killed by terrorists; he'll be carried off by dingoes), or a formless hope (I hope he finds happiness in his life, however that happens).

Fine, while everyone's taking a step back...speaking of things mothers worry about, has anyone heard from Cindy?

Other than her brief post in lj, nothing yet.

{{{{{{{{{{Cindy}}}}}}}}}}}}

Is it wrong of me to eat Pop Tarts for lunch when I already had them for breakfast?

Depends. What kind?

It's never wrong to eat Pop-Tarts.