My Favorite Wear Everywhere Pants

May I introduce you to the best 100 bucks I've ever spent?

It's my Lululemon Still Pant.

I'm wearing them right now, as I blog in bed, 10 days after having a baby. (149 lbs)
I wore them when I was 37 weeks pregnant, after swim class with the toddler. (162 lbs)
I wore them before I got pregnant, when I was thin. (132 lbs)

Six 6 pants that can still look good and fit if you gain 30 lbs?

I don't think I need to say much more.

Although, I'll just say, I wear them to bed, I wear them to work, I wear them out, I wear them around the house.

BEST

PANTS

EVER.

Coming in a close second is my Studio Pant II. I have them in black and dark grey- amazing for airplanes and other outings because you can hike up the ankles when you go to a disgusting, pee-covered floor bathroom.

A hundred bucks seems like a lot for pants until they become the only pants you ever wear. Then you wonder why you ever tried to make all those other pairs of pants work. Just go straight for the comfort and functionality, and don't worry if you only wear 3-4 pants total all week. Nobody notices. Click here to read full entry.

The Passion of US Weekly Readers

So, I read US Weekly online. Around a year ago, a month or two after Sandra Bullock's husband cheated on her, US Weekly broke the news that she'd adopted a baby. On the mobile site, the comments are posted right below, and these comments absolutely caught my eye. They were so humorously heartfelt that I had to cut and paste them. I'm finally getting around to blogging them, a year later, because I can't delete them without sharing them.

I Love Sandra Bullock! She is awesome and I feel so bad for the way her marriage turned out...what a lousey cheating bum Jesse is! God Bless her and that beautiful baby boy she adopted! She is an amazing and forgiving woman!
Posted by garfie6966 April 29, 2010, 2:23 am

Sandra is a class act and is very smart and knows what she should do...no matter who disagrees. I am so sorry her marriage turned out to be what it was and that the world is in her business. She is smart and will get through this and now has the cutest baby in the world. I couldn't be more happy for her and wish her all the best. She is beautiful inside and out and when she is ready, she will find love again. I am a fan and I wish you Sandra all you deserve....the best of everything! I feel for you and I wish he hadn't been such a fool and lose the best thing he ever had and ever will....what a fool. The best to you always Sandra!
Posted by triciarm34 April 29, 2010, 1:17 am

I wish Sandra the best of luck with her new baby. He doesn't deserve her. She is way too good for him.
Posted by **Snowbrat** April 29, 2010, 12:54 am

I Am So Happy For Her And Her Brand New Baby Boy ~ I Wish Them The Best! She Looks So Happy Holding Him!
Posted by ~tinkerbelle~29 April 28, 2010, 11:49 pm

At least she has enough respect for herself not to stay with her cheating husband, unlike that money hungry woman Tiger woods cheats on daily.
Posted by seriously April 28, 2010, 11:24 pm

I think Sandra is definatly an angel and she is ENTITLED to someone who will love and respect her.Jesse is not worthy of a woman of her stature.He is a poor excuse of a man that most likely didn't deserve to be graced with her love from the begining.She is strong and commendable for her decision to divorce him.I also think her baby boy is absolutely precious and was very fond ofthe fact that she adopted within the U.S. ,particuarly New Orleans,not many miles from my home on the Ms. Gulf Coast.Sandra ROCKS!!!
Posted by Tre's Mommy April 28, 2010, 11:02 pm

And these comments were just the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure there were a hundred more, all equally as passionate. I guess they do call her "America's Sweetheart," and that's why people were so utterly pissed. On the US Weekly site, commenters seem to take celeb's behavior very personally; it's worth taking a look if you have the time and want to smile at the oddness of our human nature in the internet age. Click here to read full entry.

Awkward Baby Carrying

Whenever I see photos of celebrities awkwardly carrying their babies, I wonder why they don't babywear. With all the paparazzi, it seems like it would be safer to have a hand or two free.


I mean, look how much more relaxed Orlando Bloom looks. Granted, his kid is younger and easier to wear, but Sandra's little boy is not even one yet, the perfect age to wear!

Click here to read full entry.

What’s the Problem with Toddler Nursing?

This weekend at music class, my toddler was not quite himself. He was probably tired. Right in the middle of music class, he requested to nurse, which he NEVER does. I tried to distract him but he insisted, so I left the circle and faced a corner and sat and nursed him. He looked very drowsy and nursed all throughout a song with chimes and into the next song with some jingle bells. I turned and leaned against the wall so I was more comfortable. Plus, I didn’t want to make it look like I felt I was doing something horrible that needed to be hidden from view! Eventually he was done nursing and wanted to join the song.

During the two closing songs he asked to nurse again, so I backed up out of the circle and leaned up against the wall to nurse my out-of-sorts kid. I felt a little self conscious because I’d never seen anyone breastfeed in the class before, plus there were several dads there, but hey, this is Fairfield County CT, land of overachievers, and nursing is an “in” thing to do. I have actually gotten the sense over the past year that in this health-conscious, even slightly crunchy community, nursing an older baby- and even a toddler- is something people admire.

At the end of the class, the teacher, who I love, came over and said, “I think it’s so great that you’re nursing him. It’s so good for them. They get everything they need.”
I said something awkward like, “Well, it’s just easy! Although today I’m not wearing my proper clothes for it.” (I’d had to struggle with my regular bra and two layers of shirts.)
“Oh, but you were discreet,” she said, which made me realize that I sounded apologetic, which I didn’t mean to do, but I did feel a little awkward about broaching the non-nursing precedent that had been set in my 9 months or so of attending these classes. I was so happy that she took the time to make sure I knew she approved of my actions; I needed that boost. In the past two days I’ve gotten a couple negative comments about nursing, and her approval has buoyed me when I felt down.
Click here to read full entry.

High Five! Fist Bump! Blow Me a Kiss!

"The glorious return of the high five" is a great little essay I found on the San Francisco Chronicle's parenting blog, The Poop.

Like the author, high fiving recently became a part of my life because other people started teaching my kid to do it. It seemed pretty cliche to me, but I figured, whatever. It was a standard daycare lesson, along with kiss-blowing, which seemed even dumber until my kid started doing it, and then IT WAS TOTALLY ADORABLE!!! My coworker's husband also taught my kid to fist bump, which always impresses strangers who want to high five and are instead met with a fist offered by my toddler.

(Recently, he learned "Cheers!")

Plus, the Poop post has a picture of Obama. If you read this blog regularly, you know how I feel about Obama.

One more thing about cute baby tricks: they win the goodwill of strangers on trains and airplanes, and you want that. You really do. Click here to read full entry.

Peekaru: Marie Claire Does Not Know Babywearing!

Marie Claire rated the Peekaru babywearing vest as one of their "41 Gifts We Don't Want" but I'd guess that writer hasn't ever worn a baby. I concede that I, despite being a babywearing fanatic, also thought the Peekaru was probably not that useful... until my sister got it for me last month and I was in its cozy heaven of cuteness!!!

If you've babyworn, you know how much easier it is to navigate a crowded place without a stroller. Packed tourist destinations, escalators, stairs, no problem. It's also safer to have them higher up. Last month I had the kid in the stroller in the city- and someone ASHED ON HIS HEAD!!! I promptly put him right into our ERGObaby carrier (which I never leave home without) and wore him for the rest of the night, navigating Times Square and Toys R Us without fear of some idiot dropping a cigarette on him or knocking him in the face with shopping bags.

My city-dwelling sister ordered me the Peekaru the next day, and I wore it the next time I went to see her in the city. We got stared at admiringly all day. I'm serious. No one could resist our adorableness.

Even without a Peekaru, babywearing in winter is awesome. With the kid against you, you don't have to worry about if he/she is warm or not. You just know, because they're the same temp you are, so you adjust your layers around the kid accordingly. This is me babywearing last year, before the Peekaru. I look like a hobo with a large sweatshirt closed over the kid, my winter maternity coat over that, and a scarf around my neck. (No offense, hobos.)

Now, instead of mismatched clothes, I'm the epitome of chic.

Just before this photo was taken, a man said, "That's a beautiful baby!" Do you think he would have even noticed my kid if he was in a stroller? No! See how the Peekaru brings out the beauty in life?

Here's another pre-Peekaru photo, from the day he got ashed on. That was pre-Peekaru. (I cropped out my husband since he's a little antisocial.) You can see how the bulky winter coat gets all up in the kid's face.

The one downside of the Peekaru is that if the kid wants to get down, you have to unzip the Peekaru, but that's no biggie.





When it's really, really cold, you have to protect your baby. The Peekaru is one good option. The other option is to put them in a stroller bundle thingy, a winter jacket, then cover them in plastic (see photo to left), but then you really don't know if they are too hot or still cold. On this day, probably almost a year ago, my hips were bothering me, so I shrink wrapped him in the stroller. You can see how silly the kid looks, and that's why I wear him if I can. Instead of closing them up like a package, why not snuggle them close? They're only wearable for so long, so I get my cuddles whenever I can.

Don't even get me started on how handy it is to babywear in an airport, and while hauling all of your crap onto an airplane. Click here to read full entry.

Cliche: Parenting Changes You

I found it so annoying when people would say, when I was pregnant, "Having a kid changes your whole life." I smiled politely while thinking, DUH!!!! Of course having a kid changes your whole life. I know that. I'm ready for that. You telling me that is insulting to my intelligence.

As I've been a parent over the past 20 months, this little statement has come true in ways I could have easily predicted- you have stronger emotions, less time for yourself, completely different priorities for spending money and time, and new skills relating to patience and empathy. (Hiking in the woods in the photo to the right? Something I did only because I feel like my kid needs to see more nature.)

It's the empathy thing that's interesting to me, because I didn't think people meant that- I didn't think they meant that being a parent changes how you view every other person you come into contact with.

That 20-something lady I stop my car for at the crosswalk at the busiest shopping center in town? Someone's baby.
That 50 something guy driving like an absolute idiot in the same parking lot? Someone's baby!
My student who is being absolutely stubborn about filling out the graphic organizer, who I'm getting really frustrated with because I don't have time to repeat it for the third time? Someone's baby.

That's a lot of pressure! To have to treat other people like they are a former baby? To give them the same respect you hope a stranger or teacher will give YOUR baby, whether they're 11 or 25 or 50? That's a lot of responsibility, but I'm happy to have a refreshed awareness of others. It's easy to be self-centered when you're busy and stressed out about your own life, but awareness of others can give badly needed perspective. That perspective can help you be kind to others when you'd otherwise be impatient.

Of course you can have that patience and perspective if you're NOT a parent- you can try to treat others like you wish your siblings or parents would be treated- but I find the extreme attachment and protectiveness I feel for my own kid is a more powerful motivator. It's so obvious to me how helpless he is, and that makes it easy for me to see how helpless even teenagers and adults are.

It can be a bit depressing to see how some people's babies turn out. I don't mean that in a mean way. I just mean, some of these former babies have difficult lives, and I know their parents probably hoped for something different for them.

Anyway, the cliche came true. Parenting has changed my whole life. Although I'm the same person, I spend my time really differently and I see things in my daily life differently. I do not say, though, to people who are about to have children, "Being a parent changes your whole life!" I get that out of my system by blogging. More people should blog. That way, I won't have to listen to them tell me things I already know, or will discover on my own soon enough even if they DIDN'T tell me about it.
Click here to read full entry.

What I'm Reading

Peter Pan- I'm only on the third or fourth chapter, but that book is deliciously messed up. It is absolutely not a children's book. It is a young adult book. It's one of the books my students are reading for their classics units and I am having a blast talking about it with them. The highlight of my week was when one of my0 students read aloud to me the scene where Tink encourages the Lost Boys to shoot Wendy. I'll include that excerpt at the end of this post. I also love the part where Peter thinks a kiss is a thimble. "Peter thimbled her..." I fell over laughing, literally, when another of my students read it to me!

I'm also reading an awesome teaching book. Only read this if you are a reading/writing teacher (of any grade). It is a fabulous framework for the teaching of reading and writing in a nurturing way. It's called The Complete 4 for Literacy because author Pam Allyn advocates a balance of focus on genre, conventions, process, and strategy. I have the privilege of being on a team that's writing units for my district, as we are switching from the model where the whole class reads one book together to a model where the kids are reading books (or any text) at their just right level. We are using this book, which gives great advice for how to write units of study with very focused objectives but lots of time for kids to read and write at their independent level. I love that it builds in time for conferencing with students as well as small group instruction. It's just a good, healthy model.

I am also reading Mary Poppins, which, like Peter Pan, is also not really a young kid's book! Mary Poppins is actually super mean- the opposite of the sweet character Julie Andrews plays in the movie. "I hate her!" one of my students said yesterday as we looked at a part where she threatens the kids, or tells them to be quiet, or mocks them.... which she does constantly! I absolutely love how mean she is, but my students don't see how it's funny. Oh well. She's like, viciously mean and shows the kids no kindness. It's insane.

A couple of New York Times articles that I've read over the last couple of weeks have stuck with me.

One I won't link to because it's about the Cheshire CT triple murder case of a woman and her two daughters, and it is very, very disturbing. Don't read about it. It's awful. The dad survived the attack and recently one of the killers was sentenced to die. The article I found interesting was about how the jury, after they delivered the verdict, asked the judge if they could speak privately to the father. They all cried and hugged him. Many other lines in the article stuck with me. One jury member told the reporter that although he did not believe in the death penalty, he felt that if any case necessitated one, this was it, and so he applied the law. Another one said she wished she could take away the pain and fear that the daughters had to go through in their last hours. They were very human comments, not clinical legal ones. These jurors felt how I would feel, and we don't always get that inside window on a trial.
The article really showed how the people seemed to connect and care for each other both during and after the trial. After the verdict, the judge thanked the jury for their service and said they'd seen things that no person should ever have to see. He didn't have to say that, and that to me shows a degree of care. The reporter ended the article with the comment that clearly amazed him the most. When the jurors met with the dad and family, the grandma told the jury she was sorry they'd had to put them through that. This reporter was clearly struck by the people in this case, and his article got that across to me.

On a lighter note, I enjoyed the article about the Chilean miner who ran the New York City marathon after being stuck underground for 10 weeks. I'll link to that.

Here's the part from Chapter 5 of Peter Pan where Tink encourages the boys to shoot Wendy. The dialogue is ridiculous. I have always loved the absurd.

Now Nibs rose from the ground, and the others thought that his staring eyes still saw the wolves. But it was not wolves he saw.

"I have seen a wonderfuller thing," he cried, as they gathered round him eagerly. "A great white bird. It is flying this way."

"What kind of a bird, do you think?"

"I don't know," Nibs said, awestruck, "but it looks so weary, and as it flies it moans, `Poor Wendy,'"

"Poor Wendy?"

"I remember," said Slightly instantly, "there are birds called Wendies."

"See, it comes!" cried Curly, pointing to Wendy in the heavens.

Wendy was now almost overhead, and they could hear her plaintive cry. But more distinct came the shrill voice of Tinker Bell. The jealous fairy had now cast off all disguise of friendship, and was darting at her victim from every direction, pinching savagely each time she touched.

"Hullo, Tink," cried the wondering boys.

Tink's reply rang out: "Peter wants you to shoot the Wendy."

It was not in their nature to question when Peter ordered. "Let us do what Peter wishes!" cried the simple boys. "Quick, bows and arrows!"

All but Tootles popped down their trees. He had a bow and arrow with him, and Tink noted it, and rubbed her little hands.

"Quick, Tootles, quick," she screamed. "Peter will be so pleased."

Tootles excitedly fitted the arrow to his bow. "Out of the way, Tink," he shouted, and then he fired, and Wendy fluttered to the ground with an arrow in her breast.

And the chapter ends right there. Hilarious! Insane! How on earth is this a children's book???

Here's a link to Chapter 6, and you can read the whole book online if you want. Click here to read full entry.

My Age

Me to kid who has bossed a classmate around: "Do not boss him around. When you're 35 like me, then you can tell an 11 year old what to do."

Murmurs of shock and horror flow throughout the room. "Thirty-five? Oh my gosh."

A few of them murmur kindly, "You don't look thirty-five," and then, because I'm totally ignoring their comments and moving on, one of my most helpful students shouts, "You don't look your age!" just so he can make sure I'm not offended.

I brush my hair back from my face and say, "I know."

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Click here to read full entry.

Candy Life

My sister showed me that by early August, stores already carry those candy pumpkins!
I'm somewhat horrified and offended that sugar is rushing the end of summer, but I do appreciate the cuteness of candy that relates to the seasons. It feels, y'know, very cyclical and holidayish and traditionish. I suppose we could mark the passing of seasons with something a little healthier like apple or pumpkin pie, but I guess this is the easier option.
Now, when do my pumpkin spice lattes come out?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Click here to read full entry.