quickie post

i may get my wish of a new water heater. our maude-knows-how-old one has cracked or rusted through. and of course it's leaking in a really akward spot so we cant put a drip pan under it. so im posting quickly before i research how to drain a gas water heater.

i love saturdays.

some new mama-related stuff

as opposed to new-mama related stuff. nope, none of that in this house.

i found a new blog i really like - it's all about the hat - found her on feministing - she's an AP mama who also does no 'poo.

and it's weird, now that the little people are getting older, a lot of the trappings of AP arent so obvious anymore - im not nursing constantly, i dont wear agrippa anymore. it's not like i can bring up crunchy pregnancy/birth much anymore. but it's fun to read about it.

and speaking crunchy, or anti-crunchy, stuff here's some new crap in a can being sold.


there is no mention on enfamil's website about what this thickening agent is. all i can think is that it is supposed to curdle in the stomach and react. yuck!! and what about choking hazards? both boys were pukers and having to hork up this murm, i cant even imagine. and what about malnutrition issues with the "feeling" of being full, but not calorically full? im sorry enfamil, the "natural way to help keep your baby feeling satisfied" would be to feed your child when they are hungry, no matter what hour. there is also the notion that an infant's restlessness at night is a protective measure against SIDS. but fuck that, get yourself the binkie-buddy and never have parent your child between the hours of 9pm-9am again!!

sulla survived kindergarten

just came home from school. im slowly coming to realise besides tuition there's also going to be "opportunity" costs. unless i can find someone to carpool with, i'm going to use up the same amount of gas in one week that would usually last me two. that's not counting if i have to go somewhere outside the direct to and from route - like to the fort worth library or to the park. and there's a sonic on bryant irving - when it's hot, like today, and my ass is dragging, there's 2bucks for beverages (i wonder why their "happy hour" is during school pick-up time.)

but im making the most of the trips by picking up mulch/manure every time.

a freebie

i lucked out and got one more day alone yesterday.

it was productive and i made cookies. yeah! and read and knitted. im going to put of a picture post later.

i ran around to 4 different stores (though i did find a pair of kahkis for husband and two shirts for agrippa and a new bathingsuit) looking for more shirts for sulla for school before finally settling on target. i only got two. they might even be to big so i will have to return them - im going to keep looking though.

it had to come to an end

today is my last full day without sulla and agrippa. so im:

• getting stamps
• going to two libraries
• going to green mama's (i found a coupon!)
• getting a hair cut
• thrift town - for a toaster oven and shirts for sulla

last friday, husband and i went to his co-worker's house for a party thing. they just bought it and it festooned with BUTLPs (pronounced butt-lips. kinda unattractive, right? that's the point, keep reading) - Boring, Unimaginative Texas Landscape Plants - crepe myrtles, boxwoods, youpon holly, photinia. the only thing they were missing was asiatic jasmine. plus they had some lantana that's taking over. one plus is their beautiful vitex (chaste tree). it was late and there was alcohol involved (diet coke for me!) but i told them i would love to be their landscaper - i thrilled everyone with my plant knowledge. i told husband to get on them about it. maybe that could pay for agrippa's school.

selling out, part 2

the ads are now up. you know what to do.

baby's first ball-gag

there seems to be a glut (yukyuk) of stupid child products ive have the pleasure of learning about in the last few days.

first one is the binky buddy. the general idea is, if your baby cries because it's binky fell out of it's mouth, make the fuck sure that sucker stays right in there. because there's nothing a baby couldnt be crying about that isnt worth getting something artificial shoved in it's mouth. with the exception of the use in the baby bjorn (in video) the whole point of this product seems to be to keep the baby quiet and "happy" with minimal parental involvement.

in the "about us," we are informed the binky buddy was originally designed by NICU nurses, in an attempt, i suppose, to give it some legitimacy. but think about it. nicu babies, with all their wires and tubes and machines, with no other comfort than a binkie. a few nurses in charge of several babies without the time to give them the personal touch and comfort. it is heartbreaking (i dont suggest doing a google image search without a box of tissues). and that's the tenor you want to give to your parenting? this, besides the fact kangaroo care has been show to give better outcomes for premie babies and their parents. but why attach, when you can detach, eh?

from the site, bolded for emphasis:

It provides a soft and cuddly extension to the pacifier which helps the baby independently retrieve the pacifier. The Binky Buddy keeps the pacifier from falling away when not in use which allows the baby to retrieve the pacifier without parental assistance when wanted. Both parent and baby feel proud when baby maneuvers their head in order to retrieve pacifier all on their own.

hell, why not get your 3 month old a job at the local fast food joint while you're at it, they can start paying rent. the only "soft and cuddly extension" a young baby needs is it's parents' arms and mom's boob. but why do that when you can strap on junior's ball-gag, close the door and VOILA, your baby is "sleeping through the night" and you can pat yourself on the back for being such a doubleplus good parent.

and RLY? you're "proud" when your baby moves zur head to reach the pacifer? proud of what? your laziness? proud your child has realised mom and dad cant be buggered to do the most minor task of retrieving an errent binkie? and the baby is proud? really? i call BS. my boys, for all their high suck needs, gave me nothing but looks of incredulity when i had the gall to attempt using an artificial nipple (there's a reason some countries call them "dummies.") on them. and if youtube is any proof, and it will be for me, crying babies dont want to be pacified, they want to be held and loved and fed. but nope, it's shut up time for you!

the next piece, is spain's bebe gluton, a mechanical doll specifically for nursing play. im not going to get into the whole "boobies are gross unless they are selling beer" and "this will sexualise young girls" or "this puts feminism back 150 years" wank.

sorry for the image cut off. click to see full.


im going to pick some nits instead. what's that in the baby's hand? why is a breastfeeding baby given a pacifier (does it need a binkie buddy?), which can cause nipple confusion and can otherwise hamper a breastfeeding relationship? and the picture second from the left (next to the one where the girl is holding two. hell, i gotta give some props for tandem/twin nursing), is that a bottle? that's the classic holding something to the baby's mouth pose. so nursing is good, but only with supplementation? argh!!!!!!

for children who with play nurse their dolls, do they need one specifically for it? this doll is a one-way, one-use, one-function. what's with companies sticking batteries in things that otherwise dont need them? it's not the baby that's the glutton, it's toy companies, alway looking for something to separate parents from their money by creating some useless piece of trash that will be forgotten in a month. let your child nurse their teddy bears, trains, cars, buzz lightyears or baby dolls. if you want to promote breastfeeding, nurse your children early and often. point out nursing when you see it, even if it's other animals - we like looking for nursing at the zoo or the local farm. read nursing-friendly picture books. i particularly get a kick out of finding birth-positive, pro-nursing passages in adult fiction.

selling out

i was on my way to town talk this morning and heard a commercial for google ads for "mommy bloggers" *vomit. i hate that term* but hey! money right? at this point any little bit will be helpful. just today i was mulling over markers and glue and the 20 odd cents difference between crayola and elmer's and whatever cheaper generic wal-mart carried. i stuck with crayola crayons and fiskar's for scissors because they are better, but for everything else, my desire for brand purity and to buy american just couldnt compare to the money i would save. also, the school supply list had some communal products on it that i would never normally buy - namely anti-bacterial crud and paper towels. buying more, there wasnt extra money for "the real thing."

so come on google, gimmee gimmee gimmee. (ads should be up in a few weeks or so. i will try to keep anything objectionable off the list - namely formula, weight loss, adoption crap.)

childless day...what is it now?

i think it's day five. they are all blending in with each other at this point.

• the shrubs are gone - except for the last one being guarded by some hornets
• playroom, living room and boys' bedroom cleaned (just leaving the computer room and kitchen)
• legos organised
• did some minor toy weeding, there's not much left that the boys dont play with consistantly
• slept a lot, yesterday i was feeling particularly out of it
• reading a lot
• later im going to the library
• tomorrow is pay day and i will do grocery and school supply shopping maybe go to green mama's to get some ideas for the spring
• fed some hornworms to my two resident preying mantises (mantisae?)
• unsuccessfully tried to feed some leafhoppers to a banana spider i found in my rosemary

childless day 2

• 4 loads of laundry
• mopped bedroom
• set up sewing table
• mopped bathroom
• went to St. Peter's PTO meeting and got to talk to adults

childless day 1

today was the first full day ive had without the kiddos. hurz wat i did:

• slept till 9am
• mowed the backyard
• took down and cleaned the pool
• started attacking the wood pile
• read over 145 pages in a single sitting
• put up the mail box post in the ground (technically i helped husband do it). tomorrow i finish it - i had to wait for the cement to cure
• went out to dinner with said husband
• took a shower