mad about pink

Cinderella Ate My Daughter -Dispatches from the front lines of the new girlie-girl culture written by Peggy Orenstein

Peggy Orenstein writes . What first interested me in this book was the story I heard on NPR about the new book. Then recently I went to the library and it was right there on the shelf. Hey I’ve heard about that book, I thought as I grabbed it and added it to be too big stack of books. I really love going to the library but have the tendency to check out more than I can actually read in the little free time I have.

All in all I enjoyed reading this book. I liked the author’s style and the balance sge provided between light hearted humor and solid research was just right to keep me turning the pages. This book looks at changes that have occurred across generations and explains that a lot of these changes are being driven by the marketing departments of some big name corporations.

motherhood—the beginning

Leading up to the birth of a child things are measured in trimesters.  And I’ve heard of the first three months of your newborn’s life being called the 4^th trimester. That got me thinking, it sort of makes sense to continue with the trimester concept for your baby’s first year. From my experience there are drastically different stages that somewhat correspond with three month time frames. Furthermore, if this is your first child, this is also a time that you are rapidly learning how to be a mother.

During the first three months after your baby is born they will be the most amazing little lump you will ever lay your eyes on.  Don’t get all uppity, you know it’s true. They just don’t do anything! They need you 100% and can’t communicate their needs any other way than crying. As a new mother you will be thrust into a new life abruptly to put it mildly. I don’t think a person could ever be fully prepared for it, but I guess all the inconveniences of pregnancy do their best to ramp you up for the big leagues. You will be a walking, talking, human feeding machine. My son only nursed for a few minutes per feeding so I usually was nursing him hourly. And that was round the clock.

With time your infant gradually becomes more and more alert and able to connect with you. I found that after your child gets to be about 3 months old I felt I could really enjoy him so much more. I was getting (a little) bit more rest and was more comfortable with nursing and caring for his needs. Also in addition to gaining skill and confidence as a mom my son was also gaining the ability to see things more clearly, smile, coo, look at toys and hold his head up on his own. Might not sound like much, but we’re talking baby steps here.

In the 3-6 month trimester we worked on ground mobility—a lot. My son went from lump status to being able to hold his head up for longer periods while doing ‘tummy time’ and so he was able to play

Stirabout; how do you like your oats?

In case any of us needed a definition; Wikipedia defines Oatmeal as ground oat groats, or a porridge made from oats (also called oatmeal cereal or stirabout, in Ireland). Oatmeal can also be ground oat, steel-cut oats, crushed oats, or rolled oats.

Stirabout? I love it. I think I may have to adopt it.

While this dish is possibly the most common, dare I say mundane, breakfast around, in our house we have a few simple twists that can make your run of the mill bowl of oatmeal much tastier.  I'll list some of our techniques and I implore you to get a little wild with your oats, you may just concoct something that's a keeper.

1. Shhhhh.
   My father's secret is to boil the water before you pour the oats in.  Now, this sounds like it wouldn't make much difference at all, right? Even I have to admit that the results are quite pleasing to the palette. Although this distinction may not be detected by everyone, waiting to add the oats until after the water boils results in less goo in your bowl and a delicate texture as the individual rolled oats have been allowed to retain some of their structure.
2. Fruit.
   I ain't just talkin' raisins here. We regularly hit up our pantry for a variety of dried fruits to add

something to talk about

I pretty much always have something on my mind.  Something to talk about, that I am eager to share with others.  My mind rarely rests.  So here I am sitting still, at the computer, but my thoughts rarely 'sit still'.  My favorite method to put the thoughts at ease is to simply write them down.  It seems to me that if I write it down it's ok if I forget about it because I can just look at my reminder note.  For the most part this works out great for me, except for the random little notes of tasks that I don't take care of in a timely manner which lay around collecting dust.  Because, as I said before, if I toss out the note I'll forget about doing that task which I have obviously been avoiding doing!
It occurred to me recently that I might just have some thoughts in common with other folks out there.  And that those people might also enjoy reading some of my thoughts and ideas.  These days my themes tend to be about the baby, motherhood, cooking, other house work, the job, bargains, and well, life in general!  I've put together mama bloggie as a place where I can share my thoughts with you.  Since having my first child almost a year ago, I find that I am always on the look out for tips.  Be it a bargain or some way to easily make something I will likely need anyways, or just a tip about the way I tried to do something. More so now than ever before these tips from others can be life savers, or at least time savers!
Being new to the whole mom-gig there's constantly stuff to decide and figure out.  Having a place to share what I've learned and learn from others is what I would like to create here.  Please don't be shy about chiming in!

what's a mama bloggie, you ask?

Hi there, I'm new to the world of blogging and am writing from the desert of Southern Arizona. Please feel free to call me mama bloggie.  Since becoming a mom about a year ago I have an increased urge to share my thoughts and experiences with a larger audience than those poor souls in my cell phone address book.  Plus, I have to admit, I can't keep track of who I've told what these days so it will be easy for me to post to my blog and know that my stories are right here on the web for anyone to find.

If you've just stumbled upon my blog, this is my 'mom blog' and I like to refer to myself as mama bloggie.  It's not only for moms, or moms-to-be, but for anyone who might be interested in all the various things I'm doing, experimenting with, sharing, thinking (and sometimes ranting) about.

In my little world I have an ever growing baby, a teen to whom I am a pseudo-mom, a wonderful husband, and two parents of my own who have 'temporarily' relocated to the Sonoran Desert to be with their first grandchild.  I am a busy mama who tries to be home as much as I can while maintaining my part time job for which I am grateful 'cause I don't know if I have what it takes to be a stay-at-home mom.