Links

I've been hoarding a ton of great articles in my inbox to share on here.

Here is a story about conjoined twins.  The thing that stands out for these two are that they share a thought process but are indeed two different people.  Basically, it'd be like having someone else in your head all the time, sharing your thoughts. So many thoughts on this...

Could Conjoined Twins Share a Mind?

I'm positive my mom would cringe at the thought of what I'm about to tell you. I get rid Lilli's art on a regular basis.  I try to keep one or two parts of her paintings (which I cut up and send out as birthday cards to our family and close friends), I regularly go through her tubs of "mail" and toss away the little pieces of paper she collects.  I toss old coloring books, pictures of kitties and puppies, cards, pieces of mail that somehow made their way back out of the trashcan.  My mom has kept almost all of our art. She has an entire basement filled with our old toys, photos, homework, video games (you name it, it's there).  I call it the Museum of us.  There were 5 of us that grew up (or are still growing up) in that house and if you were to ever visit, you'd see the history of each of our childhoods mashed together.

I appreciate my mom's dedication to reliving our childhoods well into her old age, when the memories become fuzzy. It's just not me. I've moved around a lot, purged my way through what had made it through college.  I don't think about those things anymore, just the memories that went with them. Maybe because I write, I feel less need to hang on to the material stuff that comes along with life.  Hopefully, Lilli won't hate me for it.  If she does, I'll send her to grandma's house.

Recycloflage

And one more... Just cause it's summer

S'mores Recipes!

What's in a name?

When you have a child, you'd think the only naming you have to do is for your child.  The burden of choosing a name for a grandparent can be equally frustrating.  For us, we were the first on both sides. And although, the grandchildren to follow have their choice of what they'll call their grandparents, we forged a path.  Some parents do the choosing, we decided to give the choice.  Almost all of the grandparents involved, chose a name for themselves.  Some stuck, some Lilli decided to rename (see Pa-pa-pa, Pop-pop-pop, and Pa-pa, two great grandfathers and grandfather respectively).

I recently came across THIS article and found it really interesting.  Our parents all chose very traditional names, luckily they all chose something different from one another.  If you know us well, you know that's quite a surprise, we have about six grandparents, a few great aunts and uncles, and even some great aunt and uncles.  With a family so big, it's really surprising no toes were stepped on.

I think, of the trendy grandparent names, my favorite is G-dawg.  Ah, the times... they are a-changing.

Links and what not

The past few weeks have been a little rough. My job just got increasingly more stressful over the past few weeks, giving me very little energy or time.  Between work and our sleep schedules being thrown off, my creativity feels drained.  Although I have plenty of stories to tell, I can't find time in my schedule or a quiet mood to sit down and really get into the things I'd like to share.  Since I haven't had much time to sit quietly, I have been using the few minutes when I am endlessly waiting for her to go potty (a new trick she's learned to drag out things when she doesn't want to do something) to read some pretty interesting articles.  There may be a future lag in blog entries until things quiet down on with work.  I don't like feeling pressured to just write something, so I'll be writing when life allows it.  Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with some of less-thought driven entries through this stressful time.  For now, here are some great links I found this past week and keep checking back.

• Want a girl? You need to quit the salt and bananas (and go to bed together more often) - Found this amusing.  Thought some of my friends who are or may be trying soon would enjoy this one.  
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Preschoolers: Kids being kids or a serious disorder? - The nature vs. nurture and psychological drugs vs homeopathic remedies debate rages on in my head on a constant basis.  I am always drawn to the more scientific side of these discussions until it reaches the decision of drugging a child. Then I find myself weighing the alternative options.  I can't help but hope and believe there is some sort of better way than chemical induced peace. This one is about whether the kids are being misdiagnosed after being re-evaluated later. 
• Healthy Enabling and the Good Enough Relationship - An article about two types of parenting, one who enables and supports their child directly and the other who assesses then reacts.  I was surprised where I found myself in this spectrum of supportive parenting.    
• Emotional Acceptance: Why Feeling Bad is Good - (For Dave, a Huckabees quote: "What's so great about depression!?") I could not agree with this article more. I have often felt that my feelings were something to hide when they are less than chipper.  As an adult, I found myself learning to accept myself and my emotions.  When Lilli gets upset, I am sure to explain to her that it's alright to be sad/mad/disappointed.  It's important for her to understand and identify these emotions, but also to accept that they're a part of who she is as a human being.  
• What Should You Hand Down To Other Parents? - Lilli is the first child to be born into both of our families in over a decade.  We're also the second furthest away from the majority of the families.  When it comes to second hand baby/toddler things, I find myself always questioning what to send.  
• I Let My 4-year-old Swear: Why Kids' Cursing Isn't Always a Bad Thing - Another battle from within me.  The punk rock part of me thinks, "who cares, she's going to curse, we curse, why should I pretend to be someone I'm not for my kid?" The mom side of me thinks, "Oh my gawd, if she curses in front of those moms and kids over there, I will be mortified." I figured, it will be what it will be.  We've made a serious effort to cut down on cursing, if she picks up on some words, the only thing I can do is explain that they are grown up words.  And hope that it processes into toddler reasoning.  

There will definitely be more links this week, if you like that part of my blog, check back.  

"Song of the Entry" 

I am to you by A Lily

Links

Here are some links I came across this week:

• Scientist Expect C-Section Rate to Keep Rising - This isn't surprising to me. I felt rushed at the hospital, given Pitocin about four hours after I was checked in. It wouldn't have shocked me if they had tried to force me into a C-Section if I had not started to progress as quickly as they'd liked.  Maybe it was just my experience, but I feel more educated now and I would have made different decisions.   
• The secret of creativity: An oblique perspective - Another personality article linking creativity to gays, androgynous males and females, and immigrants.  Saying that their ability to see things through various filters makes them able to think abstractly.  Interesting read. 
• 27 Homemade Halloween Costumes for Kids - If anyone is nearly as excited for Halloween this year, this article has some great ideas. Unfortunately, Lilli has her sights set on a store bought costume. Perhaps there will be more than one event to dress for this year.
• Coworkers, Getting Pregnant and an Office Baby Boom - I laughed when I read this. When I was pregnant there were about three other women pregnant at my place of work. I'll be the first to admit, I caught the baby fever. 

"Song of the Entry" 

Marina & The Diamonds by Obsessions

Links

I love sharing these articles with my readers, especially when they share their own thoughts about them with me.  Being a work-at-home mom has many great advantages and one huge disadvantage.  There are no office parties here, no morning stops at my favorite people's desks to discuss the weekend, and no sharing of ideas and information we have stumbled across in the news.  So, here are a few interesting articles from this past week:

• Having Brothers Delays Maturity in Girls - short article exploring how having brothers makes life more difficult.  Having three brothers of various ages and a sister thrown into the middle of the mix, I'm inclined to agree with the article. 
• Museum Day September 25th - my good friend, Sam, sent this link to me. It's not surprising he's an English teacher and a very inspiring one. I am really looking forward to taking Lilli to the museum for the first time. Let's just hope she gets the hang of "inside voice" and "don't run!" before that time.  
• Why Parents of Girls Divorce More - I thought this was really interesting, it explores the relationship between mother and daughter verses mother and son and it's effects on a family (or potential family).  I can see where a mother who is not being appreciated by her husband, instead being supported emotionally by a daughter, would have more confidence to take on the world alone.  Not exactly uplifting material, but interesting.  
• Babies Remember Moments of Neglect - Now on to more sad news. This made me feel much better about being such a push over when it came to Lilli's sleeping situation.  She didn't make the full transition into sleeping alone until after her first birthday. Before that, we felt like she wasn't ready. She always seemed scared when we tried the "cry it out" approach and so we didn't make a huge push for it until she was able to express herself more clearly.  When I became a parent, I had my own ideas of what was right and wrong.  Quickly, I realized it's all about mental self preservation and doing what is best for my unique baby.  We do what we can to make our children happy and well adjusted (well most parents), so no matter what studies come out, it's all about doing what works for each of us.

"Song of the Entry" 

And the Boys by Angus & Julia Stone

Links

Here are a few articles I found recently:

• Do-It-Yourself Preschool - This article gave some great hints for things to do with Lilli and even a few she has yet to grow into.  
• Study: Birth Order Affects Smarts, Personality and Firstborns smart, but younger siblings work harder  -  I always have had a passion for the study of  birth order and personality. Being a first born married to a first born I would imagine the differences in understanding would inevitably be with a second child.  I asked Dave the other day if he thought we'd be able to sympathize with a second-born since we have no frame of reference.  We know so much more this time around, a second child would benefit from experience no doubt.  
• The Right Way to Space Siblings (For You) - Loved this article. It put things into perspective for me and maybe put me at ease a little with the pressure of having a second. 
• No Child Prodigy for Me - I have quite a few friends that are teachers or coaches to younger children.  I listen to a lot of "stage mom" and "helicopter parent" stories and this article made me think of them.   I'm inclined to agree, though if I was in a similar situation, I may not be able to sit back and let her talent fall to the side. Though, I might put my foot down at fame.  

"Song of the Entry"
Tbft by Kevin Drew

Links

It must be back to school time, every thing I see are mini-fridges and Trapper Keepers.  Are Trapper Keepers still around?  I hope they started making the rings out of metal instead of plastic.  Those things lasted the first two months of school before ductape was needed. My favorite time of the year was when we got all new school supplies and a couple of new threads.  The smell of new pencils and sharpie markers that still sends me into a childhood bliss. Here are some great links I found this week:

• The Parental Push to Repeat a Grade - I'm not sure what we'd do if faced with this situation. Dave and I grew up as the younger kids in our grades and I think it gave us a fighting attitude about learning.  We have some time and have no idea how Lilli will take to school, but it's something interesting to ponder. 
• Personality May Be Set By 1st Grade - Love this article. I have a passion for learning about personality, especially the ones that I am close to in real life.  Recently, my aunt and cousin were watching some old videos of us as kids.  It was no surprised that they described me as a ham and bossy. 
• 25 Best Organizations and Charities for Children and How You Can Help - I was surprised to see who made this list and more surprised that a lot of foundations, I know of personally, that did not.  One of my senior projects at Drexel was to work with an organization called Children's Services Inc. The project we worked on was for promoting literacy for underprivileged kids through an after-school program. It was a very quick three months, we worked very hard on setting up a structure for the next semester's students. At the time Dave and I were contract workers for The Department of Human Services, barely getting through those winter months.  We worked on some of the most heart wrenching life stories I've ever heard.  We lived with two other people who were also struggling, the four of us often think about the times when we had a mop holding our fridge closed.  This time period of my life reminds me to be grateful for what we have and where we've come from, even if that place was dark and complicated.   
• Does Having Daughters Make You More Liberal?  - At first I thought this was a load of crappola.  After reading through the reasoning, it sort of make sense.  

Enjoy! 

"Song of the Entry" 

You Found Me by Josh Mease

Links

A few more links I came across at some point over the past week that have something to do with something.

• Growing up too soon? Puberty strikes 7-year old girls - Dave sent me this one earlier this week. Directly after he sent it, he said he would have to change his homepage from MSN to avoid being worried all the time.  
• Baby Declared Dead, Comes Back To Life - Seriously? At her own funeral no less. I had to read it to believe it.  
• Is a mom's college degree a waste? - I have a lot to say on this topic, but I'll keep it short. I am a WAHM, not a SAHM which is just as hard as far as the kids and home go.  Perhaps, in my opinion, not quite as taxing mentally and requires less planning.  Being somewhat employed, my degree is obviously coming in handy. I'd imagine someone who is a SAHM isn't planning to never work again, although I could be wrong.  I don't think education is ever a waste, no matter in what form it comes. I'd be interested to hear what other moms think about this topic. Any takers?

"Song of the Entry" 

Wave Backwards To Massachusetts by Hallelujah The Hills

Links

I read a lot of articles about family, kids, learning, psychology, and development.  Sometimes I come across great articles to share but I don't like flooding my Facebook and Twitter with articles only a fraction of my friends and family care to read.  So here are a few articles I found this weekend that I thought were interesting:

• Chocolate Mug Cake Recipe - I haven't tried this yet, but with only three ingredients and done in less than a minute, it looks WONDERFUL
• Why Sisters are Good for You - Of course, I love this article. It only makes me feel better about being the oldest sister with too much advice.  It gives me hope that Lilli will be a great older sister some day.  
• Top 10 things they really should warn you about before you get pregnant - I won't pretend like some of these things didn't happen to me. I hated being pregnant, some of these were reasons why it was so terrible.  Not to mention lugging around 41 extra pounds in the Florida summer. 

Hope someone gets use out of some of these links. Please share any great articles you find and maybe I'll post them (with credit of course).

"Song of the Entry"
Shining Spinning by Hiawata!