|
|
 My wife’s been doing a little reading from the avalanche of parenting books and articles (and blog posts) that it’s tough to avoid these days – and she passed on this little nugget that’s of particular interest to work-at-home dads.
Basically, some research has found that when our kids are acting needy – you know, pulling at your pant legs, crying inconsolably, throwing tantrums – it’s because well, you haven’t met their quota of quality time with them.
Sounds like a no-brainer, right? But how often do we go for the quick fix – looking for something to distract or occupy or satisfy them for that moment – anything to get them to be quiet… And it might work for a little bit, before it starts right back up again, and suddenly everyone’s frustration level is rising and rising. Continue reading Spending a Little Time
 Remember the days when all you really had to worry about when it came to your kids, toys and food was choking hazards? Lately, you’re probably longing for the days when a little knowledge of CPR and the baby heimlich was all you needed to protect your children (well, so long as you could figure out a way to keep them out of the street!)
With everything made in China, and more and more stuff coming from China apparently poisonous in one way or another, it can seem pretty overwhelming – Does this bottle have BPA or PVC? Is that going to give my daughter cancer? What about the plastic lining in that can of food? Does this rubber ducky have pthalates? What the heck are pthalates? They do what to my son’s sexual development?
Or perhaps you have this question in mind now, which is arguably the scariest of them all: What the heck are you talking about? I haven’t heard of any of this. Continue reading BPA, Pthalates and more – How to Keep Your Kids from Mutating
Going on a week now since my great experiment in sleep deprivation and time management – getting up at some Godless hour before dawn to get some precious quiet keyboard time in before the fam rises and daily MtnDaddy chaos ensues.
Been up at around 5:30 each morning the last week – 2-3 hours ahead of the bean’s normal wake-up/shout ‘mommydaddymommydaddy’/demand applesauce and read a book time.
But on only day 2, the bean seemed to catch on, and I was greeted with a waaay unusual 5 AM shouting of “mommydaddymommydaddy!’
Whoa, she’s totally trying to out-do me. Am I proud or pissed? No wait, I just have to take one…
Anyway, we sorted that one out, and after a little lullaby, the bean seemed to remember the sweetness of sleep and the insanity of Dad’s new schedule – and there’s been no more 5 AM powwows since.
Time to recreate myself again, or at least my schedule.
Know any parents who get up before the crack of dawn every morning… 5, 4 AM just to get some quiet, productive time before the kids arise and the chaos begins? The very concept used to seem offensive, given my life-long torrid love affair with sleep. But now, here I am, a full-blown adult who works form home, makes my own schedule, living the dream I’ve had since my first day having to get up for school at Age 5, and yet, I’m up of my own free will at 5:30.
My wife thinks I’m insane, but having a few things done and out of the way before Flora arises has taken down some stress a notch and allows me to have a little more focused family time without the nagging feeling of the day’s deadlines to distract from my daughter’s rapid, never-gonna-see-it-again development.
All that said, it’s not as easy as it seems. Green tea just isn’t seeming strong enough these mornings to clear my head, and this morning, Flora woke up a few hours early at 6:15. So much for hours of quiet productivity. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to have a conversation about horses and Curious George.
 As we prepare for our next 5-week on the road family adventure, I happened to catch an interview with these folks on the Albuquerque pubradio station.
After checking out the site, I have to admit it seems weird to take the kids out of school for what’s essentially an experience to pump up Mom’s marketing business and give her some kooky ‘on the road’ anecdotes for public speaking engagements, but at the same time… how cool is this?
Familyofftrack.com
 What our setup looked like. New research just out suggests that Co-Sleeping with young children is dangerous, citing a number of recent deaths. The BBC has the entire skinny here . Some key excerpts:
The risk is greatest if either parent smokes, has been drinking, has taken sedative medication or is “very tired”….
…Data from Dr Marta Cohen, paediatric pathologist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, showed that of the 50 cases she investigated (of sudden infant deaths) between 2004 and 2007, 31 were found to have been sharing a bed or sofa with a parent.
While it’s no doubt that these deaths are tragedies, all indications are that they could have been avoided if we simplified the rules of co-sleeping down to one rule that all parents follow: Don’t co-sleep if you’re irresponsible, stupid, or both.
Many of these deaths occured when parents were sleeping with children while under the influence of substances like alcohol, overly exhausted, or on sofas. These are all common sense things to be avoiding, and there’s no reason to issue a blanket condemnation of a very beneficial practice like co-sleeping because of a few irresponsible parents.
Then again, don’t feel pressure from parents like me or anyone else. Co-sleeping was a great experience for us with out daughter, but we did it in a way that we were comfortable with, we used a co-sleeper placed next to the bed so it was impossible for either of us to roll over on her. We were still close to our daughter, but we felt more secure about her safety.
Don’t let our culture of fear overwhelm your parenting and what’s best for your child. And don’t pay attention to blankey judgments meant for the lowest common denominators of our society to protect themselves from themselves.
 The New Kelty The Kelty can be pricey, but it’s made us more mobile in our mountainous surroundings now that Flora has outgrown her Ergo carrier, and that’s worth every penny – especially since we found ours used.
Be sure to get the backpack addition that zips on to be able to bring along, snack, drinks and whatever gear. I’ve seen others out there that seem to offer a lot more extra ‘baggage space’ behind the child. Without having tested them, I’d say they look attractive, but having worn the Kelty, I have to wonder how that sort of design would affect your back, and it’s also even pricier, so for now we’re happy to stick with this Kelty, which makes it ultra-easy to load up the family and go, even when it’s just Flora and I.
- http://www.shopkeltykids.com/Kelty-FC-30.pro
 OK, I didn't have a camera, here's the trail later in the season After dealing with a few last minute stories that needed editing, the girl and I made it out the door and up the road a few miles for a hike. The snow has finally melted enough to make it all the way to the end of our forest road and the trailhead that leads into the Pecos wilderness.
I gassed Flora up with some Cherry Cider and a few snacks and strapped her into our Kelty baby backpack that I’m slowly falling in love with (more on this in a separate post) and we hit the trail for a short mid-afternoon hike-break. After some fun in the mud and seasonal snowmelt streams at the top of a hill just short of the Wilderness boundary, we headed back down, fitting the whole excursion into one, all-too-short hour, getting home in time to wrap up my editing shift for the day. Sigh.
Other important new developments: Flora took great pains to enlighten me on the difference between “rock” and “big rock” and of course, no mud-puddle went unnoticed.
After Monday’s Vaccinations, the flower was up again at a quarter to six, apparently with HIB and Pneumococcal-induced nightmares – perhaps of being marooned on a Pacific island she can’t yet conceive of and stricken with a fever…. Whoa – too much Lost and Swine Flu news lately…
After being coaxed back into about another half hour of sleep, Flora was up for good by 6:20 and the day had begun.
The plan was to get the morning busy work out of the way in time to go for a quick hike as soon as Mommy takes off for work at 9:30 (ok, more like 10). But halfway up the forest road to the trailhead, Flora’s head began to bob and short blinks turned into long morse code dashes of darkness.
So, at 10:15 and with a phone interview scheduled for 12 – no sense in spending precious productive naptime dragging a sleepy kid up the side of a beautiful spring slope. We turned around just short of the trailhead to head back for a proper nap.
Two hours later, flower is juggling my pencils while I type. So, with little left in the work queue, we’re off for a belated midday hike!
|
|
