Distraction By Banana
Lately, feeding my child has become very difficult. The reason being that he insists on feeding himself. Now I know that this is a natural and welcome stage of development; however, I have noticed that sometimes he has unreasonable expectations with regard to his self-feeding methods.For example, today I was attempting to let him feed himself oatmeal. He was just about to shove the spoon of oatmeal into his mouth when he noticed that I was spooning some yogurt into a bowl for my own breakfast. He began vocalizing, loudly, that he would like some yogurt. So I swapped out the bowl of oatmeal for the bowl of yogurt. I don't mind a trade, if that's what it takes.He was still not satisfied. He wanted BOTH bowls of food on his tray. Though I explained to him that that they would not fit, he kept insisting. So I showed him with tangible evidence that his plan was physically impossible.Having proved my point, I then I took the oatmeal away. This did not go over well.In moments of crisis, thinking outside the box can only help. I frantically looked around the kitchen for a solution. I found one in the form [...]
BPA: What is It and What Does It Do?
When my son was six months old, I entered Babies R Us to try to find him a sippy cup. When I got to the "sippy cup aisle," as it were, I was bombarded with labels boasting "BPA Free!" I had never heard of this acronym before, so I asked a Babies R Us employee to fill me in."Excuse me?" I said "What is BPA?"She responded in a curious way."Oh, well, it's this thing that's in a lot of plastic items. They're not sure what it does. But it's bad."This was a disconcerting answer. I needed to know more. Upon further research, I found out that BPA is, in fact, a harmful chemical compound that is found in plastic and canned items. It has been known to cause harmful hormonal changes in rats and has dangerous implications for humans.BPA is highly controversial. My colleague and long time friend, Kyle, alerted me to an event surrounding BPA and the Sigg company.Recently Sigg, the Swiss manufacturer of metal water bottles, announced that there was BPA present in some of their water bottles manufactured before August 2008. Because of this, Sigg is offering a "voluntary exchange program." Any Sigg consumer can send in [...]
Vinegar is Triumphant
When you begin to type the words "My Sigg" in the Google search engine, one of the phrases that automatically comes up is "My Sigg bottle smells." I must confess that I was having this very problem. Despite my efforts to rinse out my Sigg water bottle with dish washing liquid and water, it still had a funny odor.I called the Sigg customer service center at (203)321-1220. I explained my problem to the receptionst. I then asked her this:"What is the best way to clean my Sigg?""Use a drop of dish washing liquid and a little bit of vinegar. Dilute this solution with water. Let your bottle sit overnight. This will sterilize your bottle. Then rinse it out completely in the morning."So I gave it a shot. And you know what? It worked! Then I had a flashback. I remembered a while back I was on the phone with my dad. He was raving about the fact that he had cleaned the bathroom with a solution of vinegar and water. Vinegar was his new natural cleaning agent.I can tell you this; combined with dishing washing liquid, vinegar is excellent at cleaning a Sigg water bottle!
Aqua Dads
Today was my son's first swim class. And of course, in true Fader fashion, I was running late as can be. We zoomed out of the house with bags of swimming stuff in hand. Unfortunately, my son hadn't napped yet! He was not pleased...We got to the Y five minutes late, and I realized that I had a ton of stuff and nowhere to put it. The locker room situation went right over my head, and it hadn't occurred to me to purchase a combination lock. The kind receptionist saw me struggling with my bags and offered to watch my sacks of things. How nice!When we got to the pool I was introduced to a new phenomenon:Aqua Dad!Along with myself, there were three other members of the swimming class and all of them were dads! I wasn't expecting this. I assumed the class would be mom-centric for some reason. I figured there might be a dad or two, but I was overwhelmed by the testosterone in the room.Needless to say, I became instantly self-conscious that I was wearing a bikini and surrounded by men. But they were all really nice and so were their babies. So I relaxed and soaked [...]
What Do I Have to Do to Swim in This Town?
After many months of play dates, park dates, Brooklyn Botanic Garden dates and much much more, my son's play group is moving in different directions. My friend Josina went back to work today (she is a high school teacher) and though my friend Gry will be around this coming year, she is moving back to Norway when her son turns two.Despite these obstacles we are still determined to get together when we can. Yesterday, the three of us and Josina's husband, Scott met up in Prospect Park. It was the last hurrah before Josina went back to work today. While we were chatting it up on the playground, Gry mentioned that she had enrolled her son in swimming classes at the YMCA in Park Slope. Josina chimed in that her son, too, was going to attend swimming lessons with her mother (at the YMCA in Manhattan) while she was at work.When I heard about all this potential aquatic action, I wanted in! So today I called the YMCA in Park Slope, where Gry and her son are taking swimming classes. The receptionist informed me that they were so busy, I ought to just come in and see if the class [...]
I am My Worst Critic
I have a tendency to judge, and the person I judge the most is myself. This has become an issue with regard to my parenting.Here is an example of what might go through my mind:Why aren't I feeding my son more vegetables?We should have gone to the playground today instead of staying in.He is cranky, what am I doing wrong?Is he eating enough?I should read more to him, then he would be saying more words instead of babbling nonsense words.He doesn't hang out with other babies enough.I have a difficult time stopping my mind and leaving myself alone. I brought this up to my mom. She said the following:"Ah! These are such typical parent thoughts."I asked her what she meant by this and she went on to say:"No matter what we do as parents, we think we could have done more."And it's true. No matter what I do with my son, I feel as if I could improve upon my parenting. But then again, the fact that I have my parenting skills under a microscope speaks to how much I care about what I am doing with my child. I am utterly aware of my behavior and how it will [...]