Perkins just texted me to say she was radioactive, coincidentally!

I bet she's getting her superpowers right. now.

Awww, Zen, you innocent kid. ...

...Wow. People really are crazy.

Puts me in mind of a convo vw and I had one time, about how overwhelming are the choices, the number of options, we have today for everything, and how our ancestors didn't have to make any of these choices because the options didn't exist. Like, not only would my granddad not have had to decide whether to get a smartphone, he wouldn't have had to choose amongst 8398764 different ones. Parenting has to be like that: once upon a time, you parented your kids pretty much the same way your parents did, the same way everyone in your village or whatever did - the older women told you how long to breastfeed, and what foods to start them on, and you sent them to the same school everyone else did, and while surely there were individual variations, there wasn't the same mountain of choices to make: vaccinate? circumcise? homeschool? organic? peanuts? pets? breastfeeding? There are so many options and so much information - however accurate - about each one, it's enough to crush your spirit. It doesn't surprise me that some folks treat their choices like the Holy Grail - if they weren't *that certain*, they'd be terrified they made the "wrong" choice. And then they get all crazy about it.

Personally? one more reason I'm glad I never had kids. I think I know what choices I'd make, but I'm happy to not have to make them. Or deal with zealots who think I should've done otherwise.

He said something like "it is either a hot dog or a hamburger. You are having a girl".

I disapprove of this euphemism on the basis that it is nonsensical and weird and a little gross.

Why on the parenting boards at Table Talk alone you could be accused of being a vile, abusive parent for (a) circumcising your child; (b) not breast-feeding; (c) breast-feeding for "too long"; (d) sleeping in the same bed with your kid; (e) ferberizng your child; (f) not home schooling; (g) home schooling; (h) vaccinating; (i) putting them in public school; (j) putting them in private school; (k) not feeding them organic home made food; (l) not teaching them sign language...

This is why I try not to advertise my hippie greanfreakitude at the playground unless specifically asked for advice on an individual topic by someone I know reasonably well. Because as soon as I say something like "I wash my cloth diapers with soap nuts" - BOOM. I've just labeled myself a Certain Kind Of Mommy and suddenly half the people in hearing range think I'm looking down on them.

(But seriously, soap nuts are awesome. They're cheap and compostable!)

As soon as Connie mentioned hot dogs and hamburger folds, my mind went to ultrasound.

ION, I took the initiative and approached my boss. He was actually very nice about the whole thing and I left feeling fine.

eta:

"I wash my cloth diapers with soap nuts" - BOOM. I've just labeled myself a Certain Kind Of Mommy and suddenly half the people in hearing range think I'm looking down on them.

I feel this way often. Plus, in my world, it's so about expediency until suddenly it's not. Perfect example - I love cloth diapering. Seriously, I always enjoyed washing and folding diapers. And then somehow in the move, I lost half of mine and most of Frisco's diapers are changed by other people these days and surely, surely, he will potty train any day. So, the cloth sits on the shelf.

That's good, Stephanie!

I disapprove of this euphemism on the basis that it is nonsensical and weird and a little gross.

Seriously. The taco thing is gross enough.

And it was fine with your not being in the office, right?

Unsurprisingly there was nothing I could have done better had I been in the office. And the calls and emails kept going pretty late. I haven't had the heart to ask if they were in here the whole time, but there's no way I would have lasted being coherent and public-facing and upright that whole time.

Wow, Steph, are you sure aliens didn't replace your boss?

I disapprove of the hamburger even more than the taco. And I can take a guess at what hamburger bs hotdog fold in origami might mean if you were using 8.5x11 paper, but it's just a guess--I've never heard it before.

I'm waiting to get a pertussis vaccination. And Hep A, while I'm here. Trying to be a grownup and go to the doctor and shit. Now if only I could do all my work and clean all the things, too.

Is anyone else familiar with hamburger fold as opposed to hot dog fold?

I am familiar with folding. That is it. One fold, called "the fold."

Perkins just texted me to say she was radioactive, coincidentally!

I bet she's getting her superpowers right. now.

I hope they're awesome.

I'm impressed by anyone who can see anything on an ultrasound. Every anatomy sono I've had has involved a lot of smiling and nodding while I blindly assume the tech knows what they're doing.

There are so many options and so much information - however accurate - about each one, it's enough to crush your spirit.

Well, that's probably why I opted for a "Good Enough" parenting philosophy. The biggest difference between how I was raised and how I raise my kids is really that I spend much, much more time with my children than my father did with me. And he was a fairly actively involved Dad for his generation, and culture (military).

I am conscious though of not being too much in my kids lives. I liked having my own brain space growing up, and being away from my parents.