Down with the kids

Carnival of family life is in Australia!

Welcome to the carnival of family life - I wont detain you here with an intro - because there sure is a lot to read! Enjoy..

Great stories

Zantariah presents My Mother - The Cat Lady of Harbord posted at Zantariah - make sure you read this one, it’s a beautiful story and some beautiful family photos! Also, it’s set in Australia!

Karen presents I’m tired and I want to go home posted at Lion and Magic Boy.

Char presents She Put A Peanut Up Her Nose posted at Raising A Healthy Family, saying, “A dose of daily drama”!

Sherry presents Making it through the first day posted at Chaos Theory, saying, “Surviving the first day of Kindergarten - both mom and daughter make it through!”

Deb presents A bittersweet moment… posted at Mom Of 3 Girls.

JHSEsq presents I get that sinking feeling . . . | Colloquium posted at Colloquium, telling the story that every parent fears - when you can’t find your child!

Lynnae presents Our Camping Adventures - Part 1 posted at From Under the Clutter.

Stephanie presents Enjoy it While You Can posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.

Mom & dad presents Glasses For a Five Year Old - Bad Doctors, Worse Prescriptions posted at raising4boys.com.

Humor

Kevin presents Kids Can Be So Easy To Entertain! posted at More4kids.

Anne-Marie from A Mama’s Rant discusses the delights and challenges of holidaying with little kids at Family Fun At Two Miles High. Having experienced car travel with 2 little kids myself I think that maybe Napoleon took less stuff when he invaded Russia!

Micellaneous Mum presents Roll up, roll up, plenty to go around posted at Miscellanous Adventures of an Aussie Mum. Ah - the muffin top, they should write it up in the “post-partum” sections of the pregnancy books! Also - another Aussie blogger - hello!

Jill presents One More Reason to Avoid the Gym posted at The Diaper Diaries.

Linsey B. Knerl presents Fighting for Five posted at Facipiers and Stinky Toes.

TerryM presents Mom On Wheels: Childbirth Through a Child’s Eyes posted at The Chocolate Chip Cookie Family.

Sheila presents From the Mouths of (Driving) Babes posted at The Driving Woman, saying, “When your teen is in driver education class, she’s not the only one who gets a lesson.”

Jenny presents Splin-teriffic Fun posted at Mommin’ It Up!

Jeremy presents My son’s top five imaginary characters posted at Daddy Dialecti. This is hilarious - who says action figures need to come from Disney or Pixar?

Robert presents What Commercials Can Lead Too posted at Kintropy In Action, saying, “The message and the interpretation and entirely different things when a tv beer commercial and a five-and-a-half year old are involved.”

Expat Chef presents Blame it on Sesame Street posted at The Expatriate’s Kitchen, saying, “All I ever needed to learn, I got from Sesame Street. How did we all forget this?”

Kerri presents My Mad Homemaking Skillz posted at My Name Is Mommy.

Sweet memories in the making

Corey presents The Joy of Reading! posted at Living and Loving Every Minute of It! Kids books is one of my favorite things about being a parent - and it looks like Corey agrees with me!

Karen from At Home with Grandmother Wren posts Little Eyes Watching You, contemplating how kids learn to behave from how they are treated and what they observe.

Shinie shares her childhood fun at Fair Weekend with her own little Munchkin, posted at “Well, I guess this is growing up”

Bluskygirl presents Making Memories for Your Children posted at Goddess, saying, “How to spend time with your kids and make memories that will last them their lifetime.”

Karen presents WHEN YOUR HUSBAND IS A COMPUTER GEEK…… posted at PediaScribe Blog

Gameguy presents Some Toys are Special posted at play2relax.com.

Lill presents More Than an Art Lesson posted at News from Hawkhill Acres

Serious issues - things to think about!

Megan presents Children Blamed for Child Sexual Abuse posted at Imaginif…, saying, “If you child was abused, was it their fault? I don’t think so. Please, help our kids by listening and responding to mythical statements.”

Abel Cheng presents Family Relationship Key to Youth Happiness. But How? posted at Parent Wonder. This article contains some great tips to building a great relationship with your kids.

Terri presents Three Seashells and The Fight Against Childhood Obesity posted at The Health and Life Mixing Bowl.

Summer presents Boys for me, please posted at Wired For Noise. A big issue - the sexualisation of our kids, where will it end?

Stephen presents Getting Married Young posted at Amalgam of Me.

Leigh presents Setting an Example: The Best Way to Defeat Bullying posted at Teen Health 411.

Fiona presents First Day at Day care - Tips for Providers and Parents posted at Child Care Only.

Craig presents I have a Dream! posted at escape from the rat race.

Lisa presents Postpartum Depression posted at Let’s Talk Babies.

Millionaire Mommy Next Door presents Help Me David Wann Kenobi; You’re My Only Hope! posted at Millionaire Mommy Next Door.

Donetta presents Carnaval of family life. posted at A Life Uncommon.

Family budget/money

Erica presents 10 Ways to Afford to be a Stay at Home Mum (and go back to college) posted at LittleMummy.Com. Having kids really focuses you on using your money wisely so you can make the right decisions for your family, as opposed to being locked into lots of compromises to maintain income. Some good tips in this article!

Super Saver presents Adventures of A Lifetime posted at My Wealth Builder.

Cade presents Build Your Business By Building Your Life And Family posted at Write To Right.

Savingadvice presents Kindergarten, Money and Positive Incentives posted at SavingAdvice.com Blog, saying, “Encouraging kids early to learn about money”

Tips, questions, suggestions and recommendations

Kailani presents Parenting Advice To Myself posted at Local Girl.

Michelle presents Getting Kids to Go to Bed posted at scribbit.

Chief Family Officer presents Swaddling Tips posted at CFO: Chief Family Officer.

Annette presents 10 Things I Learned While On Vacation posted at Frugal Journey.

Mommy Babble presents Do You Notice How You Read to Your Kids? posted at Mommy Babble.

Veteran Military Wife presents Make Your Kids Smile…Today and Tomorrow! posted at Life Lessons of a Military Wife.

Grace For Gayle presents God’s Reward System? posted at Grace For Gayle.

Mandy presents Tool’s For Dads posted at Building Blocks Blog.

Csara presents Be careful what you wish for posted at Baby Talkers. Until I had kids I never talked about sleep - now it’s one of my favorite topics! Csara writes about one of her families milestones.

Kelly presents School Year’s RESOLUTIONS - Call for Bloggers posted at Pass the Torch, saying, “Kelly’s writing School Year’s Resolutions this week, and she’s inviting bloggers to join her!”

Kerri presents Dinosaur’s Binkit by Sandra Boynton posted at Play Library.

Cory presents Back to School posted at marriageactually.com.

Stephanie presents What?! Where can I sell them? posted at Stop the Ride!, saying, “Check the comments for places you can buy and sell used cloth diapers now that eBay no longer allows it.”

Discipline/ Improving behaviour

Lori presents Are You in Favor of a Time Out Chair? posted at Lori, saying, “There’s a follow up article to this on How to Make a Time Out Chair - which appears the next day.”

Suzanne presents Parenting with Love & Logic posted at adventures in daily living.

Feeding the family

Busy Bee from Busy Bee Lifestyle provides some clever ideas for Birthday Treats for School; I particularly like the tip of providing a full list of ingredients in case any kids have food allergies.

GP presents Kid Friendly Breakfasts posted at Fish Creek House - INNside Innkeeping, saying, “With back to school here again, kid friendly breakfasts that both you and your kids will love”

Julie presents 300 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Home & Dining Experience posted at Declutter It!

Leigh presents New Slightly Revamped Recs to Fight Child and Youth Obesity posted at The Family Fork.

Homeschooling

Liz at Practical Living Blog discusses her reasons for choosing to homeschool in - To Homeschool or Not to Homeschool : That is the question.

Leslie at The path talks about the first day back in the classroom as a homeschooling mother - and particularly the issue of frustration, in Not too bad not too bad.

Alta presents Is This Where I Live posted at Love Country Living.

Summer presents A Day in the Life of a Homeschool Student posted at Mom Is Teaching, saying, “Ever wonder what those crazy homeschoolers do all day?”

Pets

Matt presents Picking up the Poop posted at The Pet Haven, saying, “Having a dog, much like having kids, requires certain, basic, responsibilities. Cleaning a dogs mess is one such example.” This is an issue that touches me - having both a dog (which I pick up after) and kids who tread in the stuff that other pet owners don’t pick up!

Miss D presents Five Tricks To Cure The Most Common Dog Behavior Problems posted at Prefurr.com.

Kate presents A Note About Puppies for Pregnant Women posted at Babylune, saying, “From the bad ideas file.”

Kids parties and fun

Aruni presents Babble Soft’s Blog » Blog Archive » Planning a Transformer Themed Party posted at Babble Soft’s Blog.

Pickel presents My Two Boys: Boo! The Best Products for Halloween posted at blogname.

HowToMe presents How to Make a Birthday Tablecloth posted at HowToMe

That concludes this edition! Over to Mama Pickel at My Two Boys for next weeks edition! Thanks for visiting.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of family life using this carnival submission form.

Posted in Blog Carnival | 34 Comments »

Welcome to the July carnival of breastfeeding

This months topic is “the things they say!”. My entry is below, click on the links at the bottom to read some great stories from contributors (updated during the day)!

Big Sis - the problem solver

When Little Bro came along I was nervous about managing the breastfeeding of a new baby around Big Sis who was only 2 years old. I worried that she would feel excluded and threatened by the intimacy I was sharing with the baby!

To prepare for this I went shopping and bought mountains of sticker books, colouring books, glitter glue and all sorts of quiet play activities that I could set up while I was feeding Little Bro! I needn’t have bothered because Big Sis accepted breastfeeding as the most natural thing in the world - and wasn’t threatened in the slightest!

She understood that this is how the baby ate and also realised very fast that it was a sure fire way to transform a sad Little Bro into a happy baby!

I will, however, never forget the look of shock on another mother’s face when her baby was complaining in his stroller at the shop - Big Sis ran over and peered in with a concerned look and then turned to me, calling on the top of her voice “Quick mummy, come here - you need to give this baby some of your boobies!”

Other Stories

A hilarious look at the combination of baby signing and breastfeeding at The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

Mamajuice and other stories at Breastfeeding Mums Blog

Where did all the boobs go? A good question at Rattling the Kettle

Look at the gorgeous 5 year old drawing (on topic) at Breastfeeding 123

Stories of tandom nursing at Crunchy Domestic Goddess

Why don’t toy shops sell toy breast pumps as well as toy bottles? Have a read at Lactavist Blogspot

Things are very straight forward for a 3 year old at Nurturing Notes

Bortskis take on Mr Booby at Mama Knows Breast

Posted in Blog Carnival | 11 Comments »

Carnival of Breastfeeding

I realised today that by the time the baby in my tummy has their first birthday I will have been pregnant for 2 and a half years of my life, and breastfeeding for 3 years! The strangest thing is, that despite the length of time involved, I know that when I reach this point I will be at least a little sad to see the close of this amazing chapter of childbearing, nursing and time spent with tiny babies!

On this note, welcome to the carnival of breastfeeding, this month we are looking at a Dad’s perspective, you can see DSO’s contribution here.

Check out the rest of the carnival:

breastfeeding.blog.motherwear.com

breastfeeding123.com

www.mamaknowsbreast.com

www.thelactivist.blogspot.com

www.breastfeedingmums.typepad.com

http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com

www.nursingyourkids.com

http://hepatitis-epi.livejournal.com

http://mikelietz.org/whine/

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Welcome to the Carnival of Family Life!

It is of course a law of the universe that the weekend I volunteer to host my first blog carnival the family come down with gastro!

Fortunately we are ‘falling’ in sequence (as opposed to all at once), Big Sis is already over it and is (fingers crossed) asleep in her own bed for the whole night. Little Bro has collapsed in DSOs arms in the lounge room after a solid afternoon of being sick. I suspect either DSO or I (hopefully not both) will be ’struck down’ before the morning! So its for the best that I get the carnival post out now - wish us luck!

Happy reading - so many entries and some fabulous writers! Enjoy.

Mother at Large presents Job for Life posted at Mother at Large

kailani presents 9th Annual Lantern Floating Ceremony posted at An Island Life

Emma Honey presents Two wheel trauma posted at healthandfitnessfactorfiction.com

alfaking presents Mother’s Day or Business’ Day? posted at Alfa King Memories

Anna presents Marital Relations in the bathroom posted at On The Ponderosa

Jonathan Pippenger presents First Day On The Job posted at Step-family Talk

Lori Cooperstein presents Global Moms - What Life is Like for Kids in England posted at Fun Play Dates

Romie presents Live Performance with the little one posted at Romie’s Rants

Kevin presents Tips When Traveling With Kids posted at More4kids Parenting

Eric presents How To Check if Your Child Fractured His or Her Finger Without Them Knowing that You’re Checking posted at Husbandhood

Justin Consuegra presents Father’s Day 2007 - Unique Gift Ideas posted at The Men’s Gift Guide

Maureen presents Trinity Prep School - Fotos For Far-away Father posted at Trinity Prep School

Kendra presents Ahh, If Every OB was Like My Mother posted at vbacadventure.com

Dexie presents It’s Spaghetti Time posted at Superwoman.ca

Erica Douglas presents Holidaying with Family: Pros and Cons posted at Littlemummy.Com

Expat Chef presents Thursday Thirteen: Toddler Entertainment posted at The Expatriate’s Kitchen

Super Saver presents Having Children When One Is Older posted at My Wealth Builder

Rory Sullivan presents The Secret To Successful Parenting: Make Yourself Dispensable posted at hamelife

Audrey Strikes Again posted at Keynoter

Kevin presents Parenting and Coaching Tweens to Get Chores Done posted at More4kids Parenting

Terri Mauro presents School Pick-Ups and Put-Downs posted at About Parenting Special Needs

Jennifer presents Crib vs. Toddler Bed posted at Toddler Tactics

Kate presents Moderation Versus Zero Tolerance on Drinking During Pregnancy posted at Babylune

Csara presents Appalling sight of the day posted at Baby Talkers

Seafarer presents Blue Ridge Road Trip posted at Family Travel

Lill Hawkins presents Unschooling Flowers in the Spring posted at News from Hawkhill Acres

Tracee Sioux presents Battered Women, Time To Leave posted at So Sioux Me

Kerri presents We met Junie B. Jones!!! posted at Play Library

Jordan presents Dear Hayden posted at MamaBlogga

GP presents Kid Friendly in Montana posted at INNside Innkeeping in Montana

Jenny presents Little ones everywhere! posted at the so called me

Char Polanosky presents 30 of the Best Printable Activity Sites for Kids Plus One for Mom posted at Printables for Kids - free word search puzzles, coloring pages, and other activities

Pamm presents Telling The Kids About Drugs posted at We Survived The Teens

Equuschick presents The Case of the Raccoon posted at The Common Room

Megan Bayliss presents Imaginif?Advertising and Marketing drove you Senseless. posted at Imaginif…

Karen presents A Box For My Memories posted at Pediascribe

Kerri presents The problem with dating since high school posted at marriageactually.com

Chicago Pop presents Race, Violence and (Black) Fatherhood posted at Daddy Dialectic

Joanne Tai presents I never know posted at I’m Happy Fish

Christine presents To my amazing son Josh, posted at arewethereyetmom.com

Andy presents 5 Basic Concepts To Teach Kids About Money posted at moneywalks

Stephanie presents The Cost of Busyness posted at Stop the Ride!

Moorea presents How to Pay a Nanny/Babysitter posted at Queercents

Sherrie presents Skye J Bunny Doll…Or My 8 Month Old Niece Ninjaed My Ass (Again) posted at Confessions of a Wandering Gypsy Princess

Linda presents Recognizing Your Dreams posted at Life Without School

muse presents I’m a Little Teapot posted at me-ander

Amanda Rose presents Thumbs Up for Tempura Tarantula posted at Rebuild from Depression Blog

Dana presents Southern Gal Goes North: Another Night in the ER posted at Southern Gal Goes North

Summer presents Busy day with the kids posted at Wired For Noise

Sundance presents My Grandmother’s Voice posted at A Girl Named Sundance

Lisa presents Making Your Own Baby Food posted at Let’s Talk Babies

Summer presents Low Impact toys? posted at Mom Is Teaching

Whymommy presents New diet posted at Toddler Planet

mom & dad presents Free Summer Movies for Kids posted at raising4boys.com

Posted in Blog Carnival | 23 Comments »

It’s a Carnival (again)!

I have been submitting to the Carnival of Family Life for a little while. Please see my earlier post for a description of what a carnival is. I particularly enjoy the diversity of people that contribute to this one, if you get a chance check out the first anniversary edition at An Island Life!

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It’s a Carnival!

What’s a blog carnival? I’ll defer to Wikipedia to answer that one (they do it so much better than me!). My entry “Goodbye Booby” has been chosen for a breastfeeding carnival. I’ve reprinted the post here:

Goodbye Booby

As I write both kids are asleep at the same time! I manage this probably once a week - and for me it’s like winning the lottery! I like to go and peek in on both of them. Little Bro head down, bum up in his cot - snoring loudly and Big Sis invariably on her back with her mouth open and miscellaneous toys and bits and pieces, collected over the morning, spread across her doona. The house is quiet - even Dog senses the mood and curls up on his day bed. It’s bliss!

I’m beginning to wean Little Bro and have managed to keep him to a morning and night feed for the last week or so. I’ve enjoyed feeding both my kids into their second year. Setting it up was however, really really hard. Big Sis simply would not latch on and in both cases I had cracked and bleeding nipples and with Little Bro I also had a nasty case of mastitis (or milk fever as I prefer to call it - it sounds so much more romantic!). The pain of those first few weeks of breast feeding have been etched into my memory and overshadow any memories of pain in birth!

With Little Bro a miracle working lactation consultant finally visited me at home and was so shocked by the state of my nipples she took photographs to use in her training sessions (apparently she is also writing a book). In my milk fever fog, with my bleeding nipples and this tiny little feeding machine suckling at them every 2 hours I was actually really comforted by this. It was like a vindication for my pain - see it is really bad! Sitting there as she snapped away the irony of the timing of my first ever topless shots wasn’t lost on me, but I’m pretty confident they wont appear on the cover of Ralph. I don’t think they’d even feature Kylie’s boobs in that condition!

Anyway, said miracle worker sorted it all out and after a few weeks breast-feeding was established and has worked beautifully ever since. I just love the quiet cuddling times of feeds, the fact that you are able to quiet an upset baby at any time and the convenience of walking around with your very own built in milk bar.

Before I had kids I always thought I would be self conscious about feeding in public, or that I would be worries about evoking a hostile response from people. I found once I had that baby in my arms these concerns didn’t even cross my mind. My babies hungry and I’ll feed him or her whenever and wherever I want! I don’t think I would have even noticed a hostile look, in fact,I never did!

The funny thing is, when I was in hospital with Little Sis and the booby thing wasn’t working very well she was drinking some formula from a bottle. I remember one visitor saying in an incredulous voice “Are you bottle feeding her?”. I wasn’t planning to, but I remember registering this and thinking that mums who chose (or have) to bottle feed must get lots of attitude from people.

The weird thing is when you are breast feeding you reach a stage, often somewhere between 6 and 9 months when people start saying “Are you still breast-feeding?”. It’s like you go to bed one night and breast-feeding is what you should be doing, then wake up in the morning and public perception has changed and bubs should have bottles! And really, whose business is it, besides you and your baby?

Anyway, as I embark on the path of weaning Little Bro I guess I feel a little sad at how fast the last year has passed and how independent he will shortly be. I also feel really proud that we have managed to get him this far! Little Bro isn’t taking it well though, when it occurs to him that he would like a suck he crawls around after me exclaiming “mumumumum” and clawing at my clothes. He has now learnt to suck from a straw however, and those chocolate milkshakes he has started drinking will, I think, go a long way as compensation!

If you are interested in the topic check out the other entries:

~Tanya at the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog recalls the big changes that breastfeeding brought in her life

~ Sinead at BreastfeedingMums looks back over her seven years as a mother and shares what she wishes she’d known
~ Andi at Mama Knows Breast
~ Jennifer at The Lactivistand sideshows:

~ Shelly at Adventures of a Breastfeeding Mother tells us what she didn’t expect about breastfeeding
~ Down with the Kids reflects back on breastfeeding as she weans her son in her post “Goodbye Booby”
~ New Mama’s Nest
~ Melanie from Spit-Up on My Shoulder is a postpartum doula who has written a book entitled Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me? True Stories of New Motherhood. She tells us why education is key.
~ Rixa at The True Face of Birth shares how doing her homework helped her have a pleasurable experience.
Jen at The Lactivist tells us how “Nursing isn’t quite what I expected.”

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