kids | Living Imperfection

February 10, 2019February 18, 2019

I think I did a parenting thing right!

My parenting anxieties are mercifully mild compared to my general social anxieties. Can’t worry about absolutely everything all the time, now can we? When it comes to being a mother, I’m pretty confidant that I am a solidly “good enough” mother. I don’t know all the answers and I mess up plenty, but I’m usually able to soldier on in spite of the certainty that I’m fucking my kids at least a little even though I’m doing my best.

But this morning, I think I got something right! Like, really right. It was my reaction to a challenge we’ve faced many times with my son (and usually had little success.) He’s just turned six and he’s too damn smart for us sometimes, so he often outwits us and himself when we try to help him calm down from his tendency to quick, hot, unrelenting rage strokes about relatively minor things.

January 22, 2019February 18, 2019

Till There Was You: Nostalgia & Mortality

I have a six-month-old. Well, six and a half, as of this writing. As her mother, I can tell you she is gorgeous and incredibly charming and we waited so long for her. I adore looking at her. It’s hard to tear my eyes away from her. It took three years to get her to stick and now that she’s here, she is growing so fast. Just so damn fast. I don’t remember my son growing so fast, although I’m sure he did. But I am older now, so perhaps my perceptions have changed.

When I look at my daughter, I think about my own mortality. I was once a baby like her – not nearly as mind-blowingly beautiful and sweet – all head and cheeks and eyes, everything round and bulging. That was so long ago, but in the blink of an eye, she could be having the same thoughts about her own child.

January 11, 2019January 10, 2019

Girls can’t use power tools!

Have you ever done *literally* everything in your power for years to raise your kids to reject gender role stereotypes and sexism only to hear that very same garbage coming out of their sweet little baby mouths in spite of the evidence in front of their little pudgy cherub faces? I have…

FYI: according to my son at age four, girls can’t use power tools because they are too dangerous (the power tools, not the girls. Someday he’ll learn…) He told me this while he watched me cutting deck boards with a circular saw and continued to lecture me about his safety concerns while I drilled holes and screwed said boards into place on the playhouse platform. And I didn’t even screw my finger to the joist!

November 21, 2018January 7, 2019

Kids & Screen Time: A Parental Conundrum

As parents, we are responsible for making sure our children get proper nutrition, plenty of exercise, a good education, and so on. We read articles and books on all sorts of difficult parenting topics, including the modern problem of managing screen time. Some of these articles give us a glimpse into how the experts handle screen time with their own children. It can be a very tricky balancing act!

Case in point: my son is currently obsessed with learning Spanish using an app called Duolingo. Of course, I’m ecstatic that he wants to learn Spanish. We are already a bilingual Franco-American family, speaking mostly French at home, and now we are all “playing” Spanish on our iPhones and iPads. But I’m also worried about the amount of time this child would like to spend learning Spanish if left to his own electronic devices.

October 20, 2018January 7, 2019

Amber Necklaces: Teething Pain Relief for Babies?

Teething is an adorable time, but can be so difficult to survive…

I’m a scientifically minded individual. I believe in science – even have a degree in environmental science. But I also love my fair share hocus-pocus, hippie dippy, crunchy granola, natural remedies – especially when they work!

When my son Sweetie Bird was about eight months old , we got him an amber necklace because I had heard it was a natural way to deal with teething pain. He still didn’t have any teeth, but we knew they were coming and everyone knows that teething is one (or several) of the most dreaded periods in a parent’s life.

Apparently, wearing amber against your skin causes your natural oils to absorb something magical and analgesic from the amber. Amber is not truly a gemstone like amethyst or quartz, it’s actually fossilized tree resin. Baltic amber, which is the recommended type for pain relief, contains 3-8% succinic acid – the magical stuff.

October 3, 2018January 7, 2019

Welcome to My Imperfect Blog!

We visited Greece a couple of years ago. our son was very popular with the locals and even learned a few words in Greek. Here we are in front of the Parthenon.

This blog is my workshop and my showroom. I love writing, making, and creating of all kinds and I can’t wait to share ideas with you. I have some inkling of what I’m going to do in these pages, but I’ll have to get started before I find out what this project will become. It’s very exciting and very daunting all at once.

Continue reading “Welcome to My Imperfect Blog!”