Daughter's Hair Has Friend in Knots

A friend is dealing with a hairy situation. Her two and a half month old daughter twists her hair when falling asleep. Each morning, it takes my friend fifteen minutes to comb out the tangles in her daughter's hair. With another baby on the way, this is not time she has to spare during her morning routine. How can she stop her daughter from working her hair into knots? Advice needed.

What's Fer Dinner?

MacDad and I have begun making our way through this list of simple salads. Because we are dorks, we are rating our interest for each dish (taking the average score on a 1 - 5 scale) and then assigning a score after we've tried the salad. So far, #2 gets a 5. Highly recommended.

Love Hurts

I have made my child bleed twice, both times with the same nasty implement: nail clippers. MacDad believed my "obsession for hygiene" was injuring the dude, but now he's suffering the consequence of letting the little one's fingers grow. The entire MacFamily looks like we own a feral cat. There are tiny scratches all over our faces.

There is no good time to cut MacBaby's fingernails, and, when I actually do find a good time to do it, I still have a hard time ensuring that my work is even and smooth. When he was first born, a nurse recommended I bite them off, which worked for a while. But, now they're sturdier and MacBaby is wigglier.

Any tips for baby manicures? Should I just take him to Beautiful Nails with me?

Put Your Money Where Your Onesie Is

From BusinessWeek:

Gymboree (GYMB)

Oppenheimer upgrades to outperform from perform

Oppenheimer analyst Robert Samuels upgraded Gymboree on Aug. 20, saying that its Crazy 8 clothing stores division could double its store base and become profitable in 2010. Samuels also said Gymboree "seems to now be toying with the idea of international expansion" for Crazy 8.

The company's strong balance sheet and good stock value are "too compelling to ignore," he said.

"The (back-to-school) season seems to be starting off strong and, in classic GYMB style, we expect that the company will continue to come up with innovative and creative ways to drive traffic and offer compelling promotions," Samuels said.

Samuels raised his 2009 profit estimate for the company to $3.31 per share and for 2010 to $3.70 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect profit of $3.25 in the year that ends in January and $3.54 in the year that ends January 2011.

The Sleep Situation

This sleeping situation came up yesterday in the comments, so I thought I would post about it. Honestly, I don't think it's going very well. My plan pre-birth was to have him sleeping in his own room by the time I went back to work. Didn't happen.

Apparently, I subscribe somewhat to the Attachment Parenting theory. In our house, this is also referred to as "smother mother," or simply, "Jewish mother."

The way this has played out in MacBaby's sleeping habits is that he sleeps in the bed with us. At first, we chose this route not out of any sort of defined parenting techniques -- I simply needed to get some sleep and the dude would NOT sleep in his Pack 'n Play.

Then, things got better and he would sleep in his Pack 'n Play until about midnight. But, then he started rolling from his back to his stomach and everything went haywire again. In his sleep, he would roll and wake up and cry.

I suppose I could leave him in there to cry himself to sleep, but, in the big picture, he's still a little baby. They say that all babies are born premature compared to other species who pop out rearing to go. So, by that logic, he didn't really come into his own until three months, which means he's really only been an alert human being for two months.

At some point, he will sleep in his own crib, in his own room. As for the how and when, your guess is as good as mine.

Planning for Maternity Leave

Here's a good article about setting your and your employers expectations for maternity leave. I told my boss I was pregnant rather early in case she was wondering why I was looking pale and running to the bathroom all the time.

How Often Should We Bathe Baby?

Since we started Feeding MacBaby rice cereal in the evenings, our lives have become more complicated. The rice cereal-eating has to be coordinated with our dinner. I try to do them at the same time, but inevitably, MacBaby is done eating before we are. This presents a problem since MacBaby is a big mess by the time he finishes his "dinner." There is far more food on his face than in his gullet.

I give him a wipedown, but it would be more convenient to put him directly into the tub, which raises the question in the title of this post. We were bathing MacBaby every other night on the recommendation of the pediatrician. But with advent of rice cereal I feel as though it is now necessary on a nightly basis, lest he go to sleep with rice cereal in his hair.

How often do you bathe your little one? Is nightly too much? An additional question - what shampoo/soap do you use? I was determined not to use these cancer causing agents, but was given them as gifts. I'm planning on switching to organic after they run out.

Working Moms (and Dads) Want to Play Too

I realize I've been posting quite a bit about being a working mom, but just bear with me with this final post on the topic and I'll try to find something else to talk about :)

When I went back to work, I was desperate to find a class or playgroup for MacBaby and I to do together during an evening or weekend. This, it seemed, was an almost impossible task. All fun things for babies and mommies are during the work day. I find this strange for two reasons: 1) I know very few stay at home moms, but these classes are all catered to them and 2) Apparently working dads are incidental in child rearing to early childhood centers.

I finally found one class that I signed up for held one evening a week starting in the fall, but they have yet to confirm my registration due to low participation numbers.

But! MacDad and I successfully took MacBaby to his first parent-child participatory class yesterday - Kidz Rock. The class is geared toward kids zero - five, which turns out to be a fairly substantial age difference. MacBaby was the littlest rocker in the class. He alternated between enthralled and totally freaked. The teacher was all for his participation, though so we'll keep at it. He did get to bang on a drum for a few minutes and seemed to really enjoy that.

Really, it made me feel good being able to take my child to a class that will hopefully be good for his cognitive development and perhaps may lead to him shredding a mean guitar at some point.

The Definition of TMI

The wife of Twitter's CEO is twittering her labor according to this article.

After MacBaby safely arrived into the world, I realized MacDad twittered the experience. This annoyed. And, he did NOT need to share with the world that I OCCASIONALLY watched Oprah during my maternity leave. Some things were just between me and my newborn baby.

We have a new rule in our house: cell phone usage, for emailing, twittering, talking and internet searching is prohibiting. Much the way that growing up, we didn' t eat in front of the tv, we're not going to spend our family time hooked up to electronic devices. While we sometimes like to tweet/blog about food, no one is dying to know that we're having steamed salmon for dinner while we're eating it.

I'm all for social media as a world-wide think tank, but at some point, you should just let technology go (this blog included) and live your life.

Exciting New Developments in the Life of MacBaby

1) MacBaby now recognizes me, smiles and gets excited when I visit him at lunch. Perhaps it's because he knows he's going to eat, but I'll take it.

2) The rice cereal eating is progressing. Last night, in addition to still spitting most of it out, he reached for spoon and was excited to take more bites, which eventually landed on his lap. He is well on his way to becoming a foodie, possibly a master chef.

It's the little things in life. . .

I Read the Internets So You Don't Have To

• Don't let your kids near the medicine cabinet
• More health benefits for breastfeeding moms
• What your baby is thinking about: a theory
• Current view of the playpen
• A mom goes sober

More Disses for Working Moms

As if it's not bad enough that my kid realizes when I leave in the morning now and expresses his disappointment with a disconcerted look on his face, The Huffington Post adds to my guilt.

This article states:

As psychologists John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth showed in their research, a child needs a 'secure base' in his early years before launching out to explore the world. A strong attachment to his parents in his first years will give a child emotional maturity and a healthy mental development. Otherwise, his social and emotional development will not be normal.

So, my choices are to work to provide food, clothing and shelter for an emotionally stunted child or be bonded to my normal child who goes barefoot because we can't afford to buy him shoes.

Ok. I admit it's not that dramatic. I'm just trying to make a point.

The subject of the article does make an exception for those who have to work.

I'm not talking about mothers that need to work for financial reasons. I'm talking about women who are so caught up in the pressures of society and in their ambitions that they are not brave enough to suspend their careers for their children's sake.

Is there a distinction to your child when he's five months old? It's not like you can explain to him, "I would really like to stay home with you all day, but I'd really like to contribute to your 529, too."

I get her point that there is should be no stigma attached to staying home (see earlier post), but if you're working to achieve financial goals for the betterment of your family, that should be acceptable too. Hopefully my "emotionally stunted" child will thank me when we foot the bill for his college education.

Hi. I'm a Mom. And I Can Have Adult Conversations. FYI.

This weekend, the MacFamily Unit were out and about and ran into some friends at a coffee shop. MacDad was walking around with MacBaby and left me at a table with two gentleman I had never met. The two engaged in conversation, asking one another about their occupations. No one at the table bothered to ask me what I did or my opinion about anyting they were talking about. This annoyed. Big time.

Was I wearing an unattractive nursing bra? Yes. Did I have spit-up on my skirt? Yes. Does this discount me from using my brain? No. Perhaps they assumed that I'm a stay at home mom, which is a fine assumption. I have no issues with stay at home moms and aspire to be one some day (*sigh*).

But, even if I did stay at home, I'm still college educated and pay attention to current events (pop cuture and actual news both). But, I do work and my work is directly related to one of the guy's career plans. Too bad he didn't bother to ask.

And, for all you dudes out there who think taking care of a baby isn't work, I beg to differ. It is far more challenging, physically and mentally, than sitting in an office all day. And, more rewarding to boot.

Have any other mothers out there had an experience where your opinion was automatically discounted because you're just a mom? Did it annoy you as much as it annoyed me?

You Annoy Me Mr. Hotel Front Desk Man

I realize that this story may make me sound like a nutbag. I'm ok with that.

MacDad frequently travels for work. We have a routine of speaking frequently in the evenings. Last night, he was in Txxxxxx, CT. We spoke after I was done with work and MacBaby and I fell asleep around 9 o'clock (yes, this is my new bed time. I'm ok with that, too.).

I woke up around 11 realizing I hadn't heard from MacDad. I tried his phone, but voicemail picked up after one ring. I surmised it was off and had probably run out of battery. I decided to track down his hotel. My internet search came up with one hotel in Txxxxxxx, CT. I called the Marriott there and Mr. Hotel Front Desk Man told me MacDad was not staying there.

More internet searches led me to hotels in various surrounding cities, but I was fairly sure these were incorrect. I called back to the original Marriott, thinking perhpas they didn't understand the spelling of the name. Again Mr. Hotel Front Desk man he was not there, and suggested other hotels.

Shortly after, MacDad called. He returned from a late night McDonald's run and was greeted by the Mr. Hotel Front Desk Man who told him he was in trouble because a lady was looking for him. This was the same man who referred me to other hotels knowing this information was incorrect. I can only assume he was bored and had to find a way to entertain himself.

MacDad alerted him that it was his wife (me) calling. Apparently Mr. Hotel Front Desk Man did not connect me because I did not know his hotel room. This is their way of keeping "jilted lovers" at bay because "some people don't want to be found." What the hell kind of shady people live in Txxxxxx, CT?

Mr. Hotel Front Desk Man, I could have been calling about an emergency. I wasn't. But I could have been. You're lucky I wasn't. The next time a wife calls looking for her husband, PUT HER THROUGH TO THE DAMN ROOM! Sheesh.

Should I Move to France to Recevie Acceptable Maternity Benefits?

This article in Newsweek points out that:

In the study of 173 countries, we stood with Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea as the only countries providing no paid maternity leave. Of the 169 countries that guarantee paid maternity leave, 98 of them provide 14 or more weeks. Among wealthy countries—except ours—parents are entitled to as much as 47 weeks of paid family leave.

Why is there not a bigger cry for maternity leave form in the U.S.? I suspect that it goes back to our puritanical roots and our country's "work ethic," in addition to the longtime dominance of the old white men. I could similarly write a whole post about getting a month of for vacation a la Europe, but that's for another time.

I truly believe, though, that reform is necessary. Speaking from my personal experience, my small office offers six weeks of short-term disability coverage. I coupled that with saved vacation days and financial savings to take an additional six weeks off. Though FMLA in larger organizations allows women to take 12 weeks, it does not provide income, making the time off impossible for many women. I was lucky to be able to take advantage of my office's coverage and to be able to plan accordingly for more time.

Why is this an important issue to me? The sooner women return to work, the less likely they are to continue breastfeeding. Although, not every woman opts to breastfeed, we should all have the choice, especially for the first six months of an infants life. According to the World Health Organization, this is the only nutrient necessary.

With my current work schedule, I work four days, then am off for a three day weekend. While I'm home, I am the sole provider of MacBaby's meals. If I didn't have to work, he would never receive formula. As it were, the pumping proved to be ridiculously time consuming, so he does take formula while I'm at work.

Again, I'm not saying everyone must breastfeed their children and that anything else is bad parenting, but we should at least be able to raise our children with our best intentions the way we see fit. The government should want that too.

What The?

I'm all for breastfeeding, but this seems to be a bit much.

It's Not Like I Spend All My Time Watching MTV . . .

But, I happened to catch an episode of True Life last night entitled "I'm Having Twins." This represents my nightmare. One of the featured couples had girl twins which is my WORST nightmare. I'm convinced girls are harder to raise than boys. I can't imagine having TWO of them at ONCE. Everytime I see twins out and about, I literally say out loud, "TWO!," in amazement.

I can only imagine that with twins you get zero sleep and can't get anything around the house done. This must require much additional help, especially if you have already procreated. I know a mom of twins who went out to get bagels after she brought her daughters home from the hospital and forgot the bagels at the bakery.

If you have twins, I am extremely awed by you. If I ever have twins, please plan on bringing me a casserole.