Friday, June 14, 2013

7 Quick Takes Friday: Grammatical Nightmare Edition




Patrick is still working on coordinating all his little limbs to crawl.  He's less determined than he was a few weeks ago, because he can get around our house pretty quickly by sliding along on his tummy, pushing himself with arms and legs, so crawling is no longer quite as urgent as it was last month.  He did seem pretty disappointed when his double back leg bunny hop didn't work as a crawling method.

So I was relieved yesterday when I saw Mae approaching with a "in that position he looks like a rocking horse" look in her eye and shouted "No, no, no!  Do not ride your brother!" and she backed away instead of trying to hook her little leg over his back more quickly, which, I have to admit, has been a problem in the past.

He's still a little distrustful of his little Big Sister, but at least he doesn't squeal every time she comes within a two foot radius.  She just went over and kissed him and hugged him and, while he had a slightly suspicious look on his face, he didn't protest the cuddles.


Sadie's obsession of the moment?  Volcanoes.  And dinosaurs... but mostly volcanoes.

Yesterday Mae had a fever (that is thankfully gone today!) and so we took it easy and tried to play quietly while she napped for most of the day (that's how you can tell when Mae is really sick).  And I gave Sadie choices like "would you like to watch this science documentary or Angelina Ballerina or Tinker Bell?"  And I was really hopeful that we were about to spend the day with Tinker Bell but 100% of the time she would shout something like "Let's watch Walking with Monsters!" and I would refrain from saying "but we've watching it one thousand billion times and don't you think it will scare Patrick to see those lizards eating each other?" because I know the answer to that is "Walking with Monsters!"

When she asked if we could watch the Smithsonians special on Jurassic Park and the theories behind making a dinosaur out of DNA, I said "Oh look!  A National Geographic Special on the wonders of the earth!" not realizing that the movie was completely about volcanoes exploding spectacularly, ending with a nice description of how Yellowstone is going to turn into a super volcano any moment and how it will likely kill us all.

Yeah.  So the volcano movie is off the list of documentaries we watch together.  And I've had to say about 10 times "I guess it's a good thing we don't live near any volcanoes..."

Yesterday may not have been a parenting win...


He thinks I'm funny...
Paul and I had a conversation on the three hour car ride to the airport that went something like this:

Me:  "And all the other bloggers are publishing books and I want to publish a book and.... blah, blah, blah... whine, whine, whine..."
A while later my darling husband said something like:  "Well, let's see.  What would you write about?  What's you're schtick?" (Followed by a conversation when he spelled the last word in that sentence and claimed that it really is real, although google spell check says otherwise).  "You're not funny..."
Me:  "I'm not funny?"
Him:  "Not really."
Me:  "I think that sometimes I'm funny."
Him:  "Yeah..."
Me:  "I mean think about it!  Sometimes I am!"
Him: "Yeah... No... It's just... I'm trying to think of a time when you were funny..."
Me:  Glaring.
Him: "I guess there was that picture of Mae that you posted when she fell on her face at the dinner table and you labeled it 'A Typical Breakfast.'  Some people might have thought that was funny.  Although most of the people who think that a picture of a little kid falling on her face is funny are probably jerks..."
Me:  "It was a funny picture!  And she wasn't on her face."
Him:  "She was.  She fell on her face.  And Sadie's just sitting there eating breakfast.  And you took a picture."
Me: "I don't think she's on her face."
Him:  "She is... Maybe you should write fiction. Fiction is what you wrote before.  It's kind of your thing..."

In my defense... She did this in slow motion... and she thought it was funny... I think...:



Clue #1 I might not agree that
"the Church should stay out
of our business"...
The fact that I was reading
Catherine of Sienna
when she walked into
the room...
Maybe yesterday's doctor's appointment doesn't deserve it's own post.  It was just one of those appointments that I hope that none of you can relate to but I'm sure some of you can.  Or else I just pick all the winners.

It wasn't really that bad.  I mean, in some ways it was, but it was more one of those you-throw-your-hands-in-the-air-and-marvel-at-the-crazy afterwards type appointments.  I mentioned it in yesterday's post.  I thought about giving it it's own seven quick takes but I'm really trying to be less whiny (I know.  Fail.).  So I'll try to squeeze it into one (or two?) takes.  Okay, we'll make it two because there were two topics.

Topic one was when she told me we need to talk about birth control and I said "We're Catholic.  We don't use birth control." and she said: "I'm Catholic too and Catholics can use birth control.  The Church needs to stay out of that sort of business."

And maybe she could have left it at that but instead it came up around a half dozen times over the course of the appointment, because I need to go to her parish where it's progressive and the priests inspire you and aren't fuddy duddies that talk about things they shouldn't talk about.

Because having an opinion on how we live our lives is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of line, right?

Yeahhhhhhhhhh............

I smiled and smiled in a polite, strained way, until I thought my face was going to split in two and kicked myself afterwards for not disagreeing at all, because I'm so non-confrontational in real life, but I felt, even at the moment that I should have said something... instead I just sat there... smiling a smile that was clearly oh-so-uncomfortable, not saying anything at all...

To break up #4 and my inevitable tale for #6 I'll tell you that Sadie has been sitting on the couch, scribbling in a notebook while saying:  "Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species...  Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species..."

Um... yeah.  I feel like I've done something right in my life.  Kindergarten here we come!


A 7-month old who's "too attached..."
Sorry... I don't think that's possible.
Of course, it's a good thing we're homeschooling because according to the PA I saw for yesterday's doctor's appointment Patrick is going to be breastfeeding until he's 10.  This is because I mentioned that he hasn't started solids yet.  I'm okay with waiting.  I started the girls when they were interested (too early for Sadie I know in retrospect).  I'll start him when he's interested.  He's not... so... we're waiting a bit longer.

Apparently this means he's "too attached" because "boys aren't as brave as girls" and I need to force feed him or he'll never try new things.  I don't know.  I've never force fed anybody and I have kids who love calamari if they're given the chance to eat it and a four year old who has told me she'd like to try alligator and venison.

Hmmmm...

So.... so far I've been told that I can start him on apple juice (at four months) and now that I'm damaging him by allowing him to be exclusively breastfed for a bit longer (I'm especially okay with that because of his allergy).

Yeah.  Right.

I'm ignoring 100% of the medical advice I received yesterday, taking my inhaler prescription and continuing on my way.


I'd like to use #7 to apologize for my uses of "ummm," "yeah," "so," and any sections with repeated letters for emphasis.  It's just been one of those days when the rules of grammar have been done away with on this particular post for dramatic effect and tone.  Sorry about that.  Let's hope tomorrow is a little less spastic...

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

12 comments:

  1. I want to write a book too...but I have nothing to write about.

    Ick on the dr's appt....I hate it when dr's do that. Most of my kids didn't really start eating a lot of solids until 9-12 months.

    I think doctors just flip out about late-starting babies because some kids do have sensory issues or motor issus an dneed therapy to learn to eat, but most late starts learn just fine on their own.

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  2. Okay, on the point of birth control... This REALLY burns my toast. I cannot tell you how irritated it makes me when people assume that we Catholics only follow the dictates of the Catholic Church because they ARE dictates, and not because, oh, we might actually agree with Her logical, well-thought out and valid reasoning. Every time someone pulls that line on me, I want to take their faces in my hands, gaze straight into their ever-so-earnest and scornful eyes, and say "JESUS USED SHEEP AS A METAPHOR. WE DO KNOW WHAT A METAPHOR IS, DON'T WE? PUBLIC SCHOOL TAUGHT US THAT MUCH, DIDN'T IT? BAAAA ONCE FOR YES, TWICE FOR NO....'

    Sigh.

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  3. I guess I'm a jerk then cos I think the photo's awesome.

    #5 - Sadie - WOW! You go, girl!

    #6 - in your own good timing - you will know what's best for your son and when.

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  4. I must be a jerk, because I actually laughed out loud at the picture if Mae! Doctors will tell you what studies and text books tell them, but no one knows your children like you do....you know what's best!

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  5. I'm a jerk, too. That picture is hilarious.

    I can't stand when doctors make their comments about not using birth control. The best was at my 6wk post-partum appointment when the topic came up and I said that we use NFP and have no interest in ABC. The midwife's response was "We'll I guess we'll see you next year when you're pregnant again." I guess she was wrong since our baby is 20 months old and I'm not pregnant. Hmm.

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  6. I would find a new doctor. Her advice on the birth control was out of line and her statements about boys and the solids were just false and would make me question her medical judgments.

    As far as solids go, if it makes you feel better, my second son didn't begin any solid food until he was 11 months old. He nursed until 18 months and self weaned when I got pregnant again and my milk started to dry up. The same was true for my first daughter, although she started solids about a month earlier at 10 months. I'll be doing the same thing with my second daughter who is three months right now.

    Do what works for you!

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  7. When someone gets in my face, as that nurse did, I find that my sarcasm often takes control of me. My comment to her "Catholics don't have to use birth control" would probably have been: "I totally agree. And we don't have to believe in God either, and we can murder some of those people who always get in our face -- like some doctors and nurses. It's called free will, and Catholics believe in it. I like that part of Catholicism. But real Catholics also know that with free will comes responsibility, and sometimes it is hard to be responsible, since we should not do just ANYTHING we "can" do. Yeah, sometimes I don't like that part of Catholicism because it's hard, but it's what makes Catholics different from just ordinary "I'll do whatever I feel like" wimps. Don't you agree?"

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  8. I had a very similar experience just this past week! Doctor asked what I'm doing for birth control, I say I'm not using birth control. She then says, "oh you got a tubal?" Me, "No.."
    Her, "You got an IUD?" Me "No.." Me, "We are Catholics, and we do NFP, but right now I'm solely breastfeeding." She then goes on to laugh and say that she is "Catholic" too, and that you can very easily get pregnant breastfeeding. I smile and say we're open to that.:) Funny thing is I wasn't at an OB, don't understand why it was even brought up.

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  9. I get kind of pissy about the birth control thing. I hear the whole "I'm Catholic and use birth control" all the time and what I usually say (and I know this isn't nice) is that we all should strive to be better Catholics who follow all the rules and that, while we may call ourselves "Catholic" unless we are striving to follow the rules, then we are just labeling ourselves and doing a disservice to our Church. It really burns me... I pray about this issue a lot.

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  10. Just want to encourage you with: my oldest child breastfed until she was sixteen months old, and my son breastfed until he was seventeen months old. Both happy and healthy preschoolers now. I was also told with both of them that I'd be nursing them/have them crawling into my bed to be nursed until they were 8. Because, you know... kids do that.

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  11. It is a HUGE PEEVE of mine when a physician wants to put me on a drug I don't need and won't accept NO for an answer.

    I used to look at them, feign shock, and say, "OF COURSE NOT, if we do that we'll never manage to have 12 kids!"

    If that doesn't shut them up, then I get another doctor.

    That said, guy doctors are less of a pain in the ASS with the birth control stuff because they usually blanch when I tell them that "birth control is my husband's problem not mine, I LIKE being pregnant."

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  12. As for feeding babies, when the doctor can point to at least six adult children, all breastfed, who are breastfeeding their own kids, and IF that doctor can also get the gals in the LLL meetings to talk about how much they love that doctor-- well, I don't listen to parenting advice from them either.

    Mine started solids when they started asking for tastes of my food. As they got to liking it, they got more, and by the time they wanted more they had enough teeth to handle more.

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