The Hangover

MacDad recommended I incorporate some tips and tricks into the blog. So here's a "what not to do."

Do not go out to dinner, have too much wine, go to a high school reunion, drink beers, come home with your childhood girlfriends at 1 a.m. screaming like "wild banshees," eat all the Christmas cookies, wake up the baby and pass out on the bathroom floor.

Just a suggestion.

Little Boy Trauma Overload

SPOILER ALERT (DEXTER)

Recently, in entertainment and real life, there seem to be a mass of stories about traumatized little boys. It's really getting me down. Would I be this affected if I had a girl? Here's the low down:

Fiction

• The Road - I tried to prove MacDad wrong and read this book. I got about 60 pages in and realized it was just too depressing. Maybe I'll pick it up again over the holiday (doubt it -- it's already back on the bookshelf), but I couldn't help but picture MacDad and MacBaby trudging through an apocalyptic nightmare without me. Why anyone (MacDad -- I'm talking to you) would want to see this play out on the big screen is beyond me.
• Dexter - Two nights ago I had a Trinity nightmare. Not kidding. Then, last night, as I was innocently watching The Sing-Off, the kid that Trinity kidnapped showed up on a fast food commercial. There is no escaping the terror that was the season finale. Fast food boy escaped unscathed, thanks to Dexter, but the cycle of awfulness continues with poor Harrison. Perhaps this affected me so much because little MacBaby was sleeping peacefully next to me while I was watching the horror unfold. Again, in this scenario, the mom is absent while the dad and son (I'm presuming) will navigate their way in the world. An aside about Dexter -- it's interesting that he says he and Harrison are both "born in blood." Aren't we all? Is it being "born in blood" twice that gives one serial killer tendencies?

Real Life

• A man inserted more than 40 sewing needles into his step son in an effort to kill him to spite the boy's mother. I cannot fathom why a person would do this. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about. Thank goodness the mom realized that something was up and sought help.
• I don't know what's going on in the Southern Hemisphere, but David Goldman's heartbreaking journey to regain custody of his son. This time, a father and son separated for years because of his (now deceased -- again!) mother's actions. I hope they are reunited and can live happily ever after.
• Finally, and even more heartbreaking, a two year old drowns while his mom is Tweeting. There's a lot of talk on the internet about "judging" others, so I won't judge this particular case because I don't know all the details, but I will say that I can't understand moms who are constantly Twittering. It would seem that they Tweet while driving, preparing family meals and putting their children to bed. This makes me nervous. I can barely manage to keep MacBaby from taking a nose dive at any given moment. I couldn't imagine running a household while constantly broadcasting our goings on. Not to mention, does anyone really care/need to know how many diapers I change in a day.

It's enough to put the boy in a bubble until he's 18, or maybe even 21.

So, world at large. How about some happy stories involving a little guy? Those in lost in hot air balloons need not apply!

Postpartum Depression - Not Just For Moms Anymore

According to this article in the New York Times, new dad can experience postpartum depression, too. One study on the subject cites that "4 percent of fathers had clinically significant depressive symptoms within eight weeks of the birth of their children." I haven't really thought of this before, but it makes sense.

Women start mentally and physically preparing for motherhood the minute we find out we're pregnant. We're tired and can't drink, so pregnancy already necessitates a life-style change. Fathers are on the sideline while the moms grow, and start bonding, with their babies. Yes, many dads are very involved, but seeing your child once or twice through an ultrasound and feeling him do daily somersaults in your stomach are very different.

Through labor and delivery, and once the newborn arrives, much of the attention is still on the moms. If a baby is breastfed exclusively, a dad is unable even to feed his new child. Adding to that pressure to keep the family financially stable, lack of sleep and less intimacy, I could see how this could cause alienation and depression.

Thanks to the New York Times for bringing awareness to this issue. The author suggests psychotherapy and antidepressants as solutions. Although neither MacDad and I suffered postpartum depression, we did experience growing pains with the addition of our new family member. As such, I would include time as a healing factor. New born babies are hard. In my experience, it gets easier.

All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

I have to imagine that this is what MacBaby is thinking right now, even though he's probably not cognizant of "Christmas" or "teeth." At eight and a half months-old, he has two tiny white specks sticking out of his bottom gums. The development of these buds occurred about two weeks ago.

MacDad and I wonder how his teeth will change his smile and if he'll look goofy with two lone teeth. While I don't obsessively wonder about my son's dental development during my waking life, sometime I dream that he smiles, revealing a whole set of pearly whites. Strange.

In the meantime, he enjoys holding tubes of toothpaste and thinks that when we brush our teeth it's the funniest thing he's ever seen. So, I bought him his very own baby toothbrush. He enjoys chewing on it. Hopefully this leads to good dental hygiene practices. Soon enough, he'll be standing beside us at the sink, brushing his own teeth. For now, we still get a kick out of his gummy grin.