HaleMom.Com

Sounds weird, right?  Well, before I had my daughter, back when I first met my husband, he had a manual transmission car (he still has it,) and it was something I had never tried before.  One morning, I made him wake up at 6 in the morning, and sit in the car while I attempted to learn to drive his stick.  (I know what you’re thinking…get your mind out of the gutter!)

The Learning Process

After an hour or so, I was confident enough to drop him off at work, and take the car around town.  Boy that was the craziest day of my life (before baby.)  Imagine being on your own in a car that you barely know how to drive, and drive in Austin, one of the hilliest (if that’s even a word,) cities in Texas.

Earlier this evening made me think about that day, and how I dived right in, and just started driving.  Even though I knew manual is something most people have a hard time with, I knew that if I just put my mind to it, I could do it.  Knowing full well, that I might stall out in the middle of an intersection, or stuck on a hill while there’s mounting traffic, or even worse have an accident because I rolled back into someone’s bumper.  Well, fortunately none of those things, well not all of them, happened the first day I was learning how to drive a stick

In my experience, parenting has been just the same way.  I dived right in, not really knowing what to expect.  As a new parent, I’m still learning on how to do things, and when to do things, and even though you think you have the hang of it, there’s always the stalls and the roll backs.  Yes, they do happen, but somehow we manage to get passed them.

The Sweet Spot

Eventually when you finally get the hang of driving a stick, you’re able to do all sorts of cool things like coasting, and staying in gear while at a complete stop (the sweet spot,) and get out of sticky situations when people are driving like maniacs.  That’s how I think of parenting.  There’s those moments where you can just get out of gear and coast through, doing all the right things, and save gas along the way (by gas I mean energy.)

Then there’s the sweet spot.  The times that you can just sit still, still in parenting mode (in gear) and watch, at a standstill, your child growing and developing before your eyes.  If you drive a stick, you know what I mean, but if you don’t, you still probably know what I’m talking about if you’re a seasoned parent.  That’s what makes being a parent worth the while.  Seeing a little human bud from just a little munchkin to a full on person.

Then there’s the sticky situations that you can get into, but after a few months of a munchkin running around, there are certain things you just know how to handle, and know how to avert, or deal with the situation in a matter of seconds, before baby even knows what’s going on.

One such situationsmade me think about all of this was when we were about to get baby into bed.  While getting her clothing from the laundry room, I stepped on a piece of glass that my husband dropped earlier, and I guess he didn’t get every morsel, because some ended up in my big toe.  While I was tending to my foot, I asked him to get baby ready for her bath, and so he did, got her diaper off, but he decided he wasn’t going to put a diaper on her while they were waiting.  He refused to put her in the tub while I was fixing my toe, after repeated requests and declarations of “she’s fine until you’re ready”, then pssssssss.  OH NO!  He got peed on!

I’m sorry honey, but I couldn’t help but laugh.  I told you to put her in the tub!  That’s the moment when you think you’ve got everything under control, and then BAM, things aren’t so rose colored anymore, but that’s a moment you also have to stop and laugh.

Anyway, this comparison is really starting to fry my brain, and I also have tons of housework I need to get to, so I’ll leave you all with that.

Do you think I’m just crazy and making a stretch in comparing parenting to driving a manual transmission?  Do you have anything to add, or maybe another angle?  Please feel free to chime in, and help make me feel like I’m not talking to the inter-wall.

Cheers!

~Hale Mom

Oh little baby, it has been so long that we have been attached
from part of me and daddy, you were hatched.
For many months I provided your full nutrition
but for giving up I feel the need for contrition.

But now little baby, from the breast you occasionally drink,
certainly not nearly as much as some would think.
Now you’re becoming such a big girl
and eating your food from a bowl.

Now that you’re almost a year
there is one thing that I certainly fear.
That you will no longer need mommy for comfort
–it’s just an area I don’t need to come up short.

Our ups and downs keep me on my feet,
but your growth, I can not cheat.
Your light brightens my day
so I never lose my way.

From breast to bottle we have come
even though it’s a battle none has won.
I still cherish our time together
but it’s different now whether

you eat with your hand
or you eat while you stand.
From the breast to the bottle
and even though I’d like to coddle
you,
I must let you grow to your full potential,
so I’ll respect the sequential
Even I’m still learning about all of this,
so I’ll just give you a big hug, smile, and kiss.

~Hale Mom

As a mother that makes her own baby food, and freezes the leftovers for quick meals, I wonder how other moms that make their own food deal with traveling.  Not only that, but I wonder what you do when you travel, and are having someone babysit your children for a little while.

As you may know, I’m going to San Antonio this weekend.  We’re going to try and have a relaxing day and night while my mother and father help us out and babysit baby bear.  Grandma and Grandpa are coming several hours just to give us a hand, and for that I am VERY thankful.

The only thing I’m worried about is baby food because this is our first time traveling since baby bear has started solid foods.  It’s going to have to be convenient, and easy for my parents to deal with, but the more I think about it, I don’t really know what would be the best option.  I suppose that I could just pack up some cubes, and put them in an ice chest–San Antonio is really only an hour or so away.  That should be safe, but then again, my parents didn’t raise me like that, so they’re going to look at me with crazed eyes when I tell them all the directions just to prepare a meal for our daughter.

Ok, so if I don’t bring her frozen food cubes, I guess I could always bring some of those food pouches along with us along with the baby cereal and that way I don’t have to worry about the whole frozen preparation situation.

My question for you, dear mothers and fathers: how do you travel with your child that is learning to eat solid foods?  Do you opt for jar food?  Do you make compromises to the way you do things at home?  What is the most important thing for you during traveling, or just having someone babysit your child?  Quality of food/nutrition, or convenience?

I need a little bit of advice on the best way to make this trip go smoothly and be convenient for all parties involved, so please feel free to give me any tidbits you may have, if you have the time.  Any advice is greatly appreciated!

~Hale Mom

I can’t believe what a great day I’ve had today; I didn’t have a chance to make a post earlier, but I’m glad I didn’t because I have so much to share!  From milestones to awesome news, today was full of happiness.

My baby girl makes my day so bright, and even though she gets brought to the bed in the middle of the night so that I can have some rest, it’s always so awesome to have a cute little face wake me up in the morning, trying to give me kisses.  Now that’s the good stuff in life.

We wake up, have breakfast, play, take a nap, clean, and all that good stuff, then daddy comes home for lunch and then we have to take him back to work and go run errands.  While I was out on the town, I get an email and I immediately respond.  As a result of this email, I’m headed to Mom 2.0 in Houston!  YAY!  It’s funny because I was just wishing yesterday how it would be awesome if I could attend just one of the many blogger conferences after reading someone’s blog about attending Blissdom.  Now, I’m not absolutely certain about how everything will go, but I will keep you in the know, for sure!  (Even if you don’t get to go, you will be able to experience the conference from my perspective.) There are so many exciting speakers, I can hardly wait for next weekend.

Anyway, we got our errands done, so I head back home to do some more cleaning and playing and in the mix of the playing, baby girl takes FOUR steps by herself!  In all the excitement of moving and getting settled in to our new place, and everything in between, I forgot to announce her first steps, but it only occurred about three days ago, and was momentous because both mommy and daddy got to witness those cute little steps.  She amazes me everyday, and I love watching her get braver each day to take another step and then dive for mommy.

After we play, clean and baby takes another nap, we head to pick up dad, then come back home to make dinner.   Daddy is excited that we’re headed to Houston (because that’s where most of his family at,)  and we get home to work on dinner and relaxing.  Baby plays some more, we eat, some more playing, and then reading and getting ready for bed.

Whew!  Baby is in bed, now time to gather my thoughts, and figure out what to write about today.  First, I check my email, and to my surprise I get an email from one of my friends telling me I’ve won a contest!   You remember, the contest that I entered last week, I actually won it!  I can still hardly believe it!  I’m so excited, I feel like I’m dreaming.

As you can see, I have to say, today was a good day!

Let me know if you’re going to Mom 2.0, so we can have a chance to meet.  If you don’t have a ticket yet, I’d jump on board soon!  I Look forward to meeting you!

~Hale Mom

In case you haven’t heard: stop using your Graco stroller and make sure you are not using a model on the list.

What I find particularly disturbing is the fact that these strollers have been on the market for several years now, but they are barely being pulled due to incidents that have been reported.

I think there should be more testing and complete safety inspection when it comes to items that are going to hold our most precious cargo. Companies shouldn’t be allowed to put something on the market ghat hasn’t gone through a complete third party testing to ensure complete and utter safety.  Maybe there should be a 6 month testing period before new products are allowed on the market.

Imagine buying a stroller to cart your little munchkin, then while putting up the canopy to protect your little tykes face from the sun, your child is wiggling around and reaches for the canopy, and snap, your child’s fingertips have just been amputated or at the very least severely cut.

I don’t wish that on anybody, and couldn’t imagine the horror I would be experiencing if that were to happen to my family. If you were affected by the strollers in question, I hope you are coping well with the situation.

How about you, do you think there should be more oversight before these types of products go on the market? Who should be responsible for ensuring the safety of crucial items like strollers so that we can avoid devastating incidents from occurring?

~Hale Mom