Overall, things this week went really well. But there were some lessons learned along the way, and I am sure I have many more coming. So, some things that I learned this week:
1. Do not think that because a child "got" the letter of the day yesterday he is going to remember that letter the next day. It's best to make sure that info stuck before moving onto the next letter. The result is a child who confuses "F", "E", and "D" (and randomly names them "W" for unknown reasons).
2. The lesson plan needs to be fluid and allow for changes. Yes, I had three pages of math planned. It's okay if only one (or half of one) gets done. That's the beauty of homeschooling--the child can set his pace!
3. Find a way to do math when the baby is either very happy or sleeping. Cranky awake babies suck all the concentration out of a 5-year-old doing his math. It's very frustrating when he's understanding a concept for the first time and the baby starts to scream. Stopping for 15 minutes to get the baby down for a nap completely rids him of any desire to do the problems that he was doing so well on before.
4. If a subject or lesson isn't going well, MOVE ON. Once he's made up his mind not to do it, it's not going to get done. Period. I'm only going to frustrate him and make him whiny if I push it. It's really not worth the trouble--we can try again tomorrow.
5. Just because I think I know what's coming up in a lesson, doesn't mean I do. It's a really good idea to take a look at the teacher's guide BEFORE we have started the lesson. It really stinks to stop in the middle to make flashcards I should have known about the night before.
I'll write my initial reviews on our curriculum choices this weekend. So far I think we've made good choices, and I'm excited to share how they are working for us.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Lesson Plans, Curriculums, and Supplies...Oh My!
Homeschooling is a lot of work. Really. I didn't realize how much would go into it when I started, but yeah...there is a lot.
Not only am I trying to get our "schedule" finished up, but I'm trying to get everything to correspond, at least slightly. I know throwing too many concepts and the little man at once is going to do nothing but cause confusion.
We got a silly workbook from Sam's awhile ago, but Ian loves those types of things (he found it and wanted to dive in, but I'm making him wait...mean Mommy). It is supposedly "all inclusive" and covers math, science, language, and social studies. I'm trying to organize myself so that he is doing a couple of pages from there with each subject, too, but it needs to "match" what he's working on in his curriculum. Sound confusing? It is.
The manipulatives for our Math U See program came in the mail yesterday. Ian calls them "the super cool blocks"; he loves them! I've been letting him play with them to get familiar with them before we start using them for his math next week. If nothing else, I'll be able to say the manipulatives are "super cool" when I write my Math U See review in a few months.
Today our Handwriting Without Tears is arriving, so I will be able to familiarize myself with that and get our lesson plans written up for next week. At this point it doesn't look like our Hooked on Phonics will be arriving until the 2nd, so next week will be a "review the alphabet" week as opposed to starting on the Phonics. I've learned an important lesson about ordering curriculum at the last minute: don't. Every other homeschooling mom does the same thing and the result is backordered items and long processing times. Oops.
Today we are heading to the library. I found a science book that I want to use for our lesson next week, "Under One Rock: Bugs, Slugs, And Other Ughs" and it's available--yay!
So our tentative schedule is this: Monday through Thursday we will start with a Bible Story (this week we are doing "creation"). Then we do math, handwriting, social studies, and phonics. There will be 45 minutes to an hour in there for snack and "recess", and the hope is to be done by noon for lunch and free time. Fridays are "off" days, but we will be doing science then. The reasoning for that is I really don't see how I can do four days of science with a 5-year-old, and also because a lot of the science activities we are going to do are outside. Since it is STILL 100 every.single.day in Texas, our only chance to get outside is in the morning. So Friday's have it. On the days we have an indoor science project, we will go to the park in the morning. Fridays will also be library day, so we have a chance to pick out some books that will help for the following week's lessons. And the hope is that I will blog about our "adventures" on Friday afternoons...we'll see. It's pretty obvious how disciplined I am when it comes to blogging!
So, this all looks great on paper. And I know it's not going to go as smoothly as I'm hoping. But at least for now, I am very excited and feeling very "yay homeschooling!".
I will try to put up pictures after our HWT stuff arrives today. At the very least, I will take some pictures.
Not only am I trying to get our "schedule" finished up, but I'm trying to get everything to correspond, at least slightly. I know throwing too many concepts and the little man at once is going to do nothing but cause confusion.
We got a silly workbook from Sam's awhile ago, but Ian loves those types of things (he found it and wanted to dive in, but I'm making him wait...mean Mommy). It is supposedly "all inclusive" and covers math, science, language, and social studies. I'm trying to organize myself so that he is doing a couple of pages from there with each subject, too, but it needs to "match" what he's working on in his curriculum. Sound confusing? It is.
The manipulatives for our Math U See program came in the mail yesterday. Ian calls them "the super cool blocks"; he loves them! I've been letting him play with them to get familiar with them before we start using them for his math next week. If nothing else, I'll be able to say the manipulatives are "super cool" when I write my Math U See review in a few months.
Today our Handwriting Without Tears is arriving, so I will be able to familiarize myself with that and get our lesson plans written up for next week. At this point it doesn't look like our Hooked on Phonics will be arriving until the 2nd, so next week will be a "review the alphabet" week as opposed to starting on the Phonics. I've learned an important lesson about ordering curriculum at the last minute: don't. Every other homeschooling mom does the same thing and the result is backordered items and long processing times. Oops.
Today we are heading to the library. I found a science book that I want to use for our lesson next week, "Under One Rock: Bugs, Slugs, And Other Ughs" and it's available--yay!
So our tentative schedule is this: Monday through Thursday we will start with a Bible Story (this week we are doing "creation"). Then we do math, handwriting, social studies, and phonics. There will be 45 minutes to an hour in there for snack and "recess", and the hope is to be done by noon for lunch and free time. Fridays are "off" days, but we will be doing science then. The reasoning for that is I really don't see how I can do four days of science with a 5-year-old, and also because a lot of the science activities we are going to do are outside. Since it is STILL 100 every.single.day in Texas, our only chance to get outside is in the morning. So Friday's have it. On the days we have an indoor science project, we will go to the park in the morning. Fridays will also be library day, so we have a chance to pick out some books that will help for the following week's lessons. And the hope is that I will blog about our "adventures" on Friday afternoons...we'll see. It's pretty obvious how disciplined I am when it comes to blogging!
So, this all looks great on paper. And I know it's not going to go as smoothly as I'm hoping. But at least for now, I am very excited and feeling very "yay homeschooling!".
I will try to put up pictures after our HWT stuff arrives today. At the very least, I will take some pictures.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Here We Go...
With the homeschooling! That's right, we made the big decision to homeschool this year. There were several factors that went into this decision. The main one is that kindergarten is now a full seven hours. My little boy, the one who JUST TURNED 5 six days ago, is expected to sit still from 8:30-3:30. My child does not even get out of bed until 8 (and this is with an 8:00 bedtime). The thought of getting him to school by 8:30 everyday and then to hope he sits in his chair when he gets there...terrifying. Seriously. Terrifying.
So, we decided to wait until he turns six to put him in kindergarten. We thought we would let him do another year of preschool, but guess what? The preschools don't want to take a five-year-old. They only want four-year-olds. The preschools that will take five-year-olds want to take half of our monthly income for the privelege (I might be exaggerating, but just a little). NOT schooling him in any form was not an option.
And so, this year, I am homeschooling. We may or may not continue it next year, it all depends on how this year goes. We live in a pretty good school district, so at least I don't have a crappy school to worry about if we decide against it next year.
Thankfully, I have a friend who started homeschooling her oldest last year (his birthday is one year after Ian's, but he was born the year before). She has given me tons of helpful tips, which has been great since I had no idea where to start.
I've chosen a few curriculums, with her help and advice. We will be using Hooked on Phonics, Handwriting Without Tears, and Math-U-See. We will be looking online for science and social studies activities that we can do. I just put in my final order today, so hopefully we can start schooling around September 1st. I'm going to The Teacher Store here in town to see if they have any kind of lesson plan organizers.
We will be starting each day with a Bible story, which is exciting and scary. I wasn't raised believing in God (we didn't necessarily NOT believe, but we didn't talk about it, we didn't read about Him, and we didn't go to church), so I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm still struggling with understanding everything myself, so to try and guide my child is a big task. I'm sure we'll BOTH learn quite a bit this year.
So wish me luck. I'll update as we move along, and give some reviews on the products we're using. I'm a little nervous, but I feel very confident that we can do this.
So, we decided to wait until he turns six to put him in kindergarten. We thought we would let him do another year of preschool, but guess what? The preschools don't want to take a five-year-old. They only want four-year-olds. The preschools that will take five-year-olds want to take half of our monthly income for the privelege (I might be exaggerating, but just a little). NOT schooling him in any form was not an option.
And so, this year, I am homeschooling. We may or may not continue it next year, it all depends on how this year goes. We live in a pretty good school district, so at least I don't have a crappy school to worry about if we decide against it next year.
Thankfully, I have a friend who started homeschooling her oldest last year (his birthday is one year after Ian's, but he was born the year before). She has given me tons of helpful tips, which has been great since I had no idea where to start.
I've chosen a few curriculums, with her help and advice. We will be using Hooked on Phonics, Handwriting Without Tears, and Math-U-See. We will be looking online for science and social studies activities that we can do. I just put in my final order today, so hopefully we can start schooling around September 1st. I'm going to The Teacher Store here in town to see if they have any kind of lesson plan organizers.
We will be starting each day with a Bible story, which is exciting and scary. I wasn't raised believing in God (we didn't necessarily NOT believe, but we didn't talk about it, we didn't read about Him, and we didn't go to church), so I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm still struggling with understanding everything myself, so to try and guide my child is a big task. I'm sure we'll BOTH learn quite a bit this year.
So wish me luck. I'll update as we move along, and give some reviews on the products we're using. I'm a little nervous, but I feel very confident that we can do this.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Perspective
I am an Air Force wife. Most days, that doesn't have a lot of influence in my day-to-day. Most days, he works a 7-4 job, he gets weekends and holidays off, he makes okay money, and he gets to be a dad and a husband just like anyone else. He just gets to wear a super sexy uniform while he does it. ;)
However, there are some days, as every military wife knows, that he doesn't get to do any of those things. There are weeks and months at a time where we don't get to see him. He may be safe at a school in another state, calling me once or twice a day. Or he may be less-than-safe in the middle east and calling me once a week...if that. I try not to think about those times while we're in the "normal" day-to-day, when he's home.
Today, I read a blog post by a Marine wife who lost her husband in Afghanistan. I used to avoid reading things like that, or clicking on the "three US troops killed in Iraq" headlines. But I now click on every one and say a prayer for those men and women. I think they deserve to have their sacrifice acknowledged, even if it's "painful" to me. The blog was heartbreaking to read, and my stomach knotted when she wrote about the three men in uniform at her door; every military spouse DREADS that knock. The entire story was hard to read and made tears stream down my face.
The part that really hit home, though, was when she said something to the effect of "I'm so glad he always knew how much I loved him". As she was laying her husband to rest, she knew without any doubt that he knew how completely loved he was in his last moments. It made me think: would mine know? I really need to make a more conscious effort EVERY DAY to be sure he knows how completely and totally I love him, and I know that I don't always do it.
The military is unpredictable. Sure, any of us could get in a car accident at any time. But when the military is involved, the fact that my husband could be hurt or worse at any time is always in the back of my mind. There is no warning when deployments are coming, there is training, and, in our case, he works with guns every single day. Things happen. Knowing that, I should not allow myself to think that I always have tomorrow to do better. There is no guarantee of that.
However, there are some days, as every military wife knows, that he doesn't get to do any of those things. There are weeks and months at a time where we don't get to see him. He may be safe at a school in another state, calling me once or twice a day. Or he may be less-than-safe in the middle east and calling me once a week...if that. I try not to think about those times while we're in the "normal" day-to-day, when he's home.
Today, I read a blog post by a Marine wife who lost her husband in Afghanistan. I used to avoid reading things like that, or clicking on the "three US troops killed in Iraq" headlines. But I now click on every one and say a prayer for those men and women. I think they deserve to have their sacrifice acknowledged, even if it's "painful" to me. The blog was heartbreaking to read, and my stomach knotted when she wrote about the three men in uniform at her door; every military spouse DREADS that knock. The entire story was hard to read and made tears stream down my face.
The part that really hit home, though, was when she said something to the effect of "I'm so glad he always knew how much I loved him". As she was laying her husband to rest, she knew without any doubt that he knew how completely loved he was in his last moments. It made me think: would mine know? I really need to make a more conscious effort EVERY DAY to be sure he knows how completely and totally I love him, and I know that I don't always do it.
The military is unpredictable. Sure, any of us could get in a car accident at any time. But when the military is involved, the fact that my husband could be hurt or worse at any time is always in the back of my mind. There is no warning when deployments are coming, there is training, and, in our case, he works with guns every single day. Things happen. Knowing that, I should not allow myself to think that I always have tomorrow to do better. There is no guarantee of that.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
My Babies
I suppose I should try and update a little bit about my kiddos. They're constantly changing, and I know I'm going to forget all of the cute things they do (I've already forgotten so much).
Ian: what can I say about Ian? He is crazy, and busy, and curious. He is always doing something, making messes, asking me questions that make me laugh. He loves coloring and he loves when I color with him. His favorite thing to do is to walk through the toy sections at stores. He is a fantastic big brother, and is constantly wondering what Teagan is doing and always wanting to talk to her and kiss her. I think he scares her sometimes because he likes to get RIGHT IN HER FACE and speak as loudly and as high pitched as possible ("are you a sweet girl? Aww, you're such a sweet girl! Hi Teagan! What are you doing?"). Anytime she makes a sound back at him, he asks me "what did she say, Mom?" like I have any idea. He is insanely excited about Cars 2 coming out in movie theatres and has been counting down the days (sleeps) for a couple of weeks. He has been set on going tomorrow, opening day, but we were invited to a birthday party tomorrow evening so I had to break it to him that he has to wait until Saturday. The birthday party is for his best friend here, though, and there is a pool and cake involved so he accepted the change in plans pretty easily. It's just going to be the best weekend ever in four-year-old land. ;) He also says daily "Mom, I love you. You're my best girl." It absolutely melts my heart (I tell him regularly that he is my favorite boy, so I think that's where he gets it). He always wants hugs and kisses, and he has to give them to everyone before bed, the dog and cat included. He is such a smart, caring kid. We got lucky with him.
Teagan: She is almost three months old already--I can't believe it! She is such an easy baby, which is dangerous. She has me thinking I can do this again, even though I know we're not ready! A couple of weeks ago, though, my crazy hubby had a couple of beers and said "I want another baby"...eek! She sleeps great, and pretty much has since birth. We've had one rough night of every hour waking, and other than that she's never woken more than twice a night. Most nights she only wakes once, and last night she didn't wake at all until 7:15! She then went back to sleep for a couple of hours, we went on a walk, came home, and she went down for a nap. She's now been sleeping for over an hour without a peep. Seriously, easiest baby ever. She started sucking her thumb a couple of days ago, and her need to nurse has gone down substantially. I suspected that I was being used as a human pacifier, and it seems I was right. She absolutely refuses bottles, and I've given up trying. I am still pumping daily, though, because when I wake up in the morning I am so engorged. Even when she wakes to nurse, she usually only makes it through one side before going back to sleep. So I usually have at least one side that goes 9+ hours without relief; pumping is a must first thing in the morning. She is starting to notice everything around her, and she is so full of smiles and giggles. We went and got her a playmat the other day, and she can lay contentedly on it for quite awhile, just looking and smiling at the toys. She is such a sweet baby.
We're getting into a good routine here, and going from one child to two hasn't been too difficult. Thankfully Ian has adjusted wonderfully and Teagan is an easy baby. There are times when I'm definitely wondering what I was thinking (you would think doubling the kids would equal double the work...no. Adding a second kid triples the work...at least), but I wouldn't go back if I could. I've been amazed at how seamlessly she's fit into our family. Everyone told me she would, but when you have a little person you are so in love with, it's hard to imagine being able to give that amount of love to another one. But, somehow, you can. And there is no effort involved, it just comes. Life is so good right now, I'm truly lucky.
Ian: what can I say about Ian? He is crazy, and busy, and curious. He is always doing something, making messes, asking me questions that make me laugh. He loves coloring and he loves when I color with him. His favorite thing to do is to walk through the toy sections at stores. He is a fantastic big brother, and is constantly wondering what Teagan is doing and always wanting to talk to her and kiss her. I think he scares her sometimes because he likes to get RIGHT IN HER FACE and speak as loudly and as high pitched as possible ("are you a sweet girl? Aww, you're such a sweet girl! Hi Teagan! What are you doing?"). Anytime she makes a sound back at him, he asks me "what did she say, Mom?" like I have any idea. He is insanely excited about Cars 2 coming out in movie theatres and has been counting down the days (sleeps) for a couple of weeks. He has been set on going tomorrow, opening day, but we were invited to a birthday party tomorrow evening so I had to break it to him that he has to wait until Saturday. The birthday party is for his best friend here, though, and there is a pool and cake involved so he accepted the change in plans pretty easily. It's just going to be the best weekend ever in four-year-old land. ;) He also says daily "Mom, I love you. You're my best girl." It absolutely melts my heart (I tell him regularly that he is my favorite boy, so I think that's where he gets it). He always wants hugs and kisses, and he has to give them to everyone before bed, the dog and cat included. He is such a smart, caring kid. We got lucky with him.
Teagan: She is almost three months old already--I can't believe it! She is such an easy baby, which is dangerous. She has me thinking I can do this again, even though I know we're not ready! A couple of weeks ago, though, my crazy hubby had a couple of beers and said "I want another baby"...eek! She sleeps great, and pretty much has since birth. We've had one rough night of every hour waking, and other than that she's never woken more than twice a night. Most nights she only wakes once, and last night she didn't wake at all until 7:15! She then went back to sleep for a couple of hours, we went on a walk, came home, and she went down for a nap. She's now been sleeping for over an hour without a peep. Seriously, easiest baby ever. She started sucking her thumb a couple of days ago, and her need to nurse has gone down substantially. I suspected that I was being used as a human pacifier, and it seems I was right. She absolutely refuses bottles, and I've given up trying. I am still pumping daily, though, because when I wake up in the morning I am so engorged. Even when she wakes to nurse, she usually only makes it through one side before going back to sleep. So I usually have at least one side that goes 9+ hours without relief; pumping is a must first thing in the morning. She is starting to notice everything around her, and she is so full of smiles and giggles. We went and got her a playmat the other day, and she can lay contentedly on it for quite awhile, just looking and smiling at the toys. She is such a sweet baby.
We're getting into a good routine here, and going from one child to two hasn't been too difficult. Thankfully Ian has adjusted wonderfully and Teagan is an easy baby. There are times when I'm definitely wondering what I was thinking (you would think doubling the kids would equal double the work...no. Adding a second kid triples the work...at least), but I wouldn't go back if I could. I've been amazed at how seamlessly she's fit into our family. Everyone told me she would, but when you have a little person you are so in love with, it's hard to imagine being able to give that amount of love to another one. But, somehow, you can. And there is no effort involved, it just comes. Life is so good right now, I'm truly lucky.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Running, Running
My ridiculous, ambitious, 5-months pregnant self decided that running a half-marathon with my hubby after the birth of the baby would be a good idea. I was afraid that my body wouldn't bounce back as easily after Teagan as it did with Ian (I am nearly five years older afterall) and I really like the way my legs look when I work for them. I should mention, the most I've ever run at a time is three miles; a half marathon is 13.1 miles. And it's been almost a year since I've run at all. The morning sickness hit and that was the end for me.
We selected the race we would do a while ago, and we signed up a couple of weeks ago. I have until October to train, which is a completely feasible goal. Except that getting out to train has not been as easy as I had thought it would be. For one, I have a two-month old. My days pretty much revolve around her schedule, and my ability to wake up in the morning is pretty dependent on how well she slept the night before. The bigger problem, though, is that we live in Texas. It has not been under 100 degrees in over a week, and the 10 day forecast is not showing any relief. So to run, I have to go in the morning before it gets too hot, or I have to use a treadmill at the gym, and getting myself to the gym is another challenge in itself.
I thought finding the time would be easy. We even got a fancy double jogging stroller from Hazen's mom to allow me to get out and run with the kids. But, again, I have a two-month old. And not only is the area of Texas that we live in scorching hot, it is also windy. So on the mornings I have been ambitious and gotten myself and the two children dressed and ready to go, I have been shot down the second I've gone outside and realized the wind was blowing just enough to be unhealthy for the baby.
This morning, I set my alarm for 5:30am to get in a mile (that's my current max...I'm definitely not going to be setting any records!) before Hazen went to work and the kids woke up. Unfortunately, Teagan hadn't woken yet to eat and the alarm woke her up. Which was a good thing because I was completely engorged and running would have been pretty uncomfortable, but also a bad thing because I had limited time to get my run in. I did end up making it out the door at 6:00, and Hazen left for work on time (got back at 6:12...a 12-minute mile isn't good, but I'm getting quicker every time!).
I know I'll get this figured out. Having a race on the books and not wanting to look out of place when we get there has definitely got me motivated to put in the work. It's just that what I want to do and what I CAN do seem to be a little at odds right now.
We selected the race we would do a while ago, and we signed up a couple of weeks ago. I have until October to train, which is a completely feasible goal. Except that getting out to train has not been as easy as I had thought it would be. For one, I have a two-month old. My days pretty much revolve around her schedule, and my ability to wake up in the morning is pretty dependent on how well she slept the night before. The bigger problem, though, is that we live in Texas. It has not been under 100 degrees in over a week, and the 10 day forecast is not showing any relief. So to run, I have to go in the morning before it gets too hot, or I have to use a treadmill at the gym, and getting myself to the gym is another challenge in itself.
I thought finding the time would be easy. We even got a fancy double jogging stroller from Hazen's mom to allow me to get out and run with the kids. But, again, I have a two-month old. And not only is the area of Texas that we live in scorching hot, it is also windy. So on the mornings I have been ambitious and gotten myself and the two children dressed and ready to go, I have been shot down the second I've gone outside and realized the wind was blowing just enough to be unhealthy for the baby.
This morning, I set my alarm for 5:30am to get in a mile (that's my current max...I'm definitely not going to be setting any records!) before Hazen went to work and the kids woke up. Unfortunately, Teagan hadn't woken yet to eat and the alarm woke her up. Which was a good thing because I was completely engorged and running would have been pretty uncomfortable, but also a bad thing because I had limited time to get my run in. I did end up making it out the door at 6:00, and Hazen left for work on time (got back at 6:12...a 12-minute mile isn't good, but I'm getting quicker every time!).
I know I'll get this figured out. Having a race on the books and not wanting to look out of place when we get there has definitely got me motivated to put in the work. It's just that what I want to do and what I CAN do seem to be a little at odds right now.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
A Nice Conversation
Here, I am "the hippy". Seriously. I think people consider me a little bizarre. The cloth diapering and breastfeeding seems to really get people--they are always skeptical that both are as easy as I claim (they ARE!!).
We took the kiddos to the pool today. We had Teagan in one of her new swim outfits (a two-piece UV blocking sun suit...$6.99 at Tuesday Morning compared to $30 online--yay!) and put her toesies in the water. We didn't keep her out long, and I went to change her into a diaper and t-shirt while the boys continued to play in the water.
In the locker room, a mom and her little girl were getting ready to go in the pool. The mother saw me changing Teagan and asked "is that a diaper?" I told her, yes, it's a cloth diaper, and she started talking about how cute they are (I had Teagan in a super cute floral cover). She brought up some of the benefits which SHOCKED me...nobody else I've talked to has had a clue! She mentioned the less rashes and even said "and they're not very hard to wash, are they?" People tend to assume the laundry involved is horrible, and it's really not. I have two children and a husband; I do a lot of laundry anyway, another three loads a week really doesn't make much difference. She said that she had considered using cloth with her daughter (who I would guess was four or five), but that the daycare wouldn't allow her to while she was finishing up her teaching at one of the local schools.
While discussing the diaper laundry, breastfeeding came up. Washing the diapers is easy anyway, but with breastfeeding it's even easier--no rinsing required, I just dump it all in the washing machine. She talked about how upset it used to make her when people would call her breastfed baby "small" when in fact it's the formula fed babies that are "big" (typically...there are definitely petite formula babies and chunky breastfed babies, but overall there tends to be a size difference between the two). She is the first person I have talked to here who gets frustrated that the size scales that are used for babies were created using formula fed babies. So it does tend to make breastfed babies look "small" which is ridiculous. Breastfed babies are the size nature intended them to be, and instead of focusing on the smallness of them compared to babies who aren't breastfed, we should probably instead be concerned about the overall largeness of babies who are primarily on formula.
Now this isn't to get down on formula feeders at all. This is simply about being happy to meet someone with the same mindset when it comes to baby care. It was exciting since I just don't have that here. I have a group of friends in my small group who are interested in learning about the cloth diapering, but none of them do it (and the two who are seriously considering it don't have children yet). The ones with kids have all breastfed for at least a little while, so that's definitely something. But it was different with this other lady...she really got it. I spend time with mothers who don't breastfed because (direct quotes) "I didn't want to be a 24-hour water fountain" and "if I were breastfeeding I wouldn't have been able to have the four beers I just drank." So it was nice to be around someone who got that the 24-hour water fountain thing is temporary and SO worth it (and, for the record, I have never considered myself a water fountain nor thought that feeding my child was an inconvenience), and that excessive drinking has not been worth trading for the long term health of my children. I should have gotten her name and number. We have season passes to the pool, though, so maybe we will meet again. ;)
We took the kiddos to the pool today. We had Teagan in one of her new swim outfits (a two-piece UV blocking sun suit...$6.99 at Tuesday Morning compared to $30 online--yay!) and put her toesies in the water. We didn't keep her out long, and I went to change her into a diaper and t-shirt while the boys continued to play in the water.
In the locker room, a mom and her little girl were getting ready to go in the pool. The mother saw me changing Teagan and asked "is that a diaper?" I told her, yes, it's a cloth diaper, and she started talking about how cute they are (I had Teagan in a super cute floral cover). She brought up some of the benefits which SHOCKED me...nobody else I've talked to has had a clue! She mentioned the less rashes and even said "and they're not very hard to wash, are they?" People tend to assume the laundry involved is horrible, and it's really not. I have two children and a husband; I do a lot of laundry anyway, another three loads a week really doesn't make much difference. She said that she had considered using cloth with her daughter (who I would guess was four or five), but that the daycare wouldn't allow her to while she was finishing up her teaching at one of the local schools.
While discussing the diaper laundry, breastfeeding came up. Washing the diapers is easy anyway, but with breastfeeding it's even easier--no rinsing required, I just dump it all in the washing machine. She talked about how upset it used to make her when people would call her breastfed baby "small" when in fact it's the formula fed babies that are "big" (typically...there are definitely petite formula babies and chunky breastfed babies, but overall there tends to be a size difference between the two). She is the first person I have talked to here who gets frustrated that the size scales that are used for babies were created using formula fed babies. So it does tend to make breastfed babies look "small" which is ridiculous. Breastfed babies are the size nature intended them to be, and instead of focusing on the smallness of them compared to babies who aren't breastfed, we should probably instead be concerned about the overall largeness of babies who are primarily on formula.
Now this isn't to get down on formula feeders at all. This is simply about being happy to meet someone with the same mindset when it comes to baby care. It was exciting since I just don't have that here. I have a group of friends in my small group who are interested in learning about the cloth diapering, but none of them do it (and the two who are seriously considering it don't have children yet). The ones with kids have all breastfed for at least a little while, so that's definitely something. But it was different with this other lady...she really got it. I spend time with mothers who don't breastfed because (direct quotes) "I didn't want to be a 24-hour water fountain" and "if I were breastfeeding I wouldn't have been able to have the four beers I just drank." So it was nice to be around someone who got that the 24-hour water fountain thing is temporary and SO worth it (and, for the record, I have never considered myself a water fountain nor thought that feeding my child was an inconvenience), and that excessive drinking has not been worth trading for the long term health of my children. I should have gotten her name and number. We have season passes to the pool, though, so maybe we will meet again. ;)
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