Let Sleeping Babies Lie

My husband and I have a very laid back approach to parenting. We don't ascribe to a particular school of thought. We go with what works at the time. We think other parents should be free to make choices about what is good for them and their little ones.

That being said, I have learned that there is something you must never, ever do. It is something that I can't believe other parents are still doing in the modern age.

Never leave your sleeping child's room and tell your spouse, "She's finally asleep."

Don't do it! You may as well send a marching band through her bedroom. In fact, try not to even think about the state of your child's slumber.

You know how some animals can sense fear? Well, babies can sense their parents relaxing and it makes them very, very angry -- up until 4 a.m. angry.

Babies are very tricky when you are trying to put them to sleep. You may have been rocking the little tyke or rubbing her belly for what seems like an eternity. Your back has seized up and your ability to think logically has completely abandoned you. It may have been an hour or two since she stilled her movements, closed her eyes and started snoring. You may think you are in the clear and that it is okay to creep out of the room.

You are wrong! She is faking! You must always slowly count to 100 before you can tiptoe out backward (never turn your back on a seemingly sleeping child).

Also, if you have other children in the house, it may be wise to tether them to their bed. Just when you have rubbed the baby's belly for five hours and successfully counted to 100 (or 150 just to be safe), your 5-year-old will clump into the room with his water cup. In his sweet little voice, he will bellow, "Mom! I'm thirsty!"

One final word of advice: It is probably wise, once your child is finally, truly asleep, that you not sit down, crack open a beer and start writing for you blog. Apparently, this is the equivalent of a clumsy elephant trying to go down the stairs.

Big Button Woes

Yes, my social media buttons are really big.

No, I did not intend for them to be that big.

I've always had trouble envisioning how much room a pixel takes up. Okay, so I know right there I am highlighting my ignorance. I have not trouble with picas, a measurement most people haven't heard of, but when it says 90 by 90 pixels ... well, you see the results.

I can and will fix this, but the thing is I have been fixing and tweaking things for the blog for the last six months. I know, it is shocking how little I can get done over such a wide span of time. It's not like this is all I have been working on though.

First there is the small matter of holding down a full-time job.

Then there is this little boy Liam. I am responsible, along with his dad, for his well being. There are the basics of getting him dressed, feeding him, keeping him clean, taking him to grandma's, taking him to preschool, taking him to gymnastics, brushing his teeth, getting him to bed. He also likes to ask a lot of questions, sing a lot of songs and tell a lot of stories. I feel obliged and delighted to give him an audience for these endeavors.

Back in August, I became responsible for the care and well being of another little human named Gwen. She also requires feeding and cleaning (lots and lots of cleaning). She also needs to be dressed and put to bed, taken to grandma's and given an audience.

Let's not forget my long suffering husband, Chris, who also needs an audience and looking after from time to time. We collaborate on a lot of things and which necessitates time to communicate. Plus, I like him and feel the need to spend time with him.

There is also our house, our yard, cooking and cleaning, laundry, a dog and a cat, various appointments, laundry, grocery shopping, laundry, hopefully eight hours of sleep and some laundry.

So in actuality, I've spent maybe an hour putting this blog together. When you look at it that way, it's pretty slick.

The thing is, I wanted to start this blog so I could spend a little time writing and so far I've done not of that. So although my buttons are big, I'm done with delays.

Here we go.