Dreary Days and Tough Thoughts

Jim and I love rainy days. We both got so excited when we saw this week's forecast and every single little box had a happy little rain cloud. Then we had a complex conversation about the difference between "scattered showers" and "patchy rain". It was intense.

Anyway, today all the lights in the house are off and James and I are being quiet and sleepy in the gray, moist light filtering through the mini blinds. I'm reveling in his soft "ooo's" and "aaaah's". He's added squeals lately, which I love, but I think today he's completely feelin' the rainy day snuggles.

A few minutes ago I put him down for a nap and blog surfed for a bit. Molly Piper (daughter-in-law to John Piper) suffered the stillbirth of their daughter about a year ago. Her blog is dedicated to the comfort and encouragement of grieving parents, along with a little day to day stuff. As I read through some of her archives, closer to the day of their daughter Felicity's death, my eyes and heart kept finding James asleep on the couch. Of course pretty soon my eyes were brimming and I was biting my cheeks so my crying wouldn't wake him up. I'm so thankful for this little soft person that I get to take care of. This little boy who is beginning to recognize Jim and me and seems to like us. Then I read a reader's comment who was lamenting the grab-bag "Bible bullets" that people somehow think are comforting:

I remember people saying to me “God has been so good to us b/c we didn’t have any infertility issues!”. I walked away going “WHAT??!!!!” If that is what makes God good, then we have some reevaluating to do! BUT, obviously, the point missing is that it’s NOT our circumstances that make God good – it’s HIS righteousness, holiness, unfailing love, compassion, etc – it’s HIM that makes HIM good! : ) I had to come to terms with that through some serious wrestling around and many tears!!! .... - Shawnda

I have been guilty of saying something like that very thing (not to a grieving mother, but just in my own heart or to Jim) - "I don't know why God allowed it to be so easy for us to get pregnant... it didn't have to be this way." Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for that. But I have also subconsciously listed that under "God-being-good-to-us". What's hard for me to grasp is that He'd still be good if all of our babies were stillborn.

Yea, I know. Easy for me to say.

If you want to continue eating hotdogs, don't watch this video...

Pottery Barn Kids sells this attractive doll set, aptly named...

"Thompson Family - $19.00"

See Previous Post...

While Jim met a friend at Starbucks, James and I took a stroll through Wal-Mart. We were minding our own business ambling down each aisle, when out of no where, THIS MONSTER tried to devour us!

She was under the guise of "Lucille Ball Barbie" but we knew better and high-tailed it to the safety of the baby clothes section.

Terrifying, isn't she??

Throw Away All of Your Kids' Toys!!!

Well, maybe not ALL of them, but go read this article. My boss sent it to us, highlighting the importance of the development of the brain's executive functioning (self regulating one's behavior).

If you don't have time to read the whole thing, it's basically outlining how all the stimulating, educating, developmentally appropriate, (I'll add expensive and sometimes annoying) toys that we give our children can sometimes hinder this self regulation. When children play with no toys at all and are left to imagine, they use private speech to narrate their actions. This is the part that aids in the development of executive function.

The most poignant part of the article was about an experiment done with 3, 5, and 7 year-olds sixty years ago. When asked to stand still for a certain amount of time, the 3 year-olds were not able to at all, the 5 year-olds could do it for about 3 minutes, and the 7 year-olds could for just about as long as they were asked. Sadly, 60 years later, the results were grim:

"Today's 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today's 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago," Bodrova explains.

Toys have their place, but they should not always be the main object of play - a child's imagination is a bottomless toy box.

*** Update: I still think baby toys, such as jumper-oos, are INDISPENSABLE ... but you catch my drift :) ***

Please Take a Moment to Read This Blog Post

I hope this makes your day like it did mine.

Nursing To Go

A Facebook poll about public breast feeding caught my attention this morning. (Yep. You, Katie :) This led me to a Google search to find out the laws that allow James to partake in meals on the run. The results made my day!

• First of all, SC Law provides that a woman may breast feed her child in any location where the mother is authorized to be and that the act of breast feeding is not considered indecent exposure.
• 12 states exempt breast feeding mothers from jury duty.
• Puerto Rico requires airports, shopping malls, and other public places to provide clean, private areas that ARE NOT bathrooms for breast feeding mothers.
• Maryland exempts any breast feeding product (pumps, etc.) from sales tax!

Ultimately, I feel like it's MORE than polite to use a cover up and that mothers should use their good judgment and discretion as to the tone and context of their surroundings. Let's try not be militant, bra-burning booby flashers out there.

P.S. A friend of mine wrote a blog post about an nasty run-in with a rude, anti-public-feeding lady... I hope this helps, H.J.