Sean hurt his ankle. It’s about the size of a softball and hurts. I wrapped it up and I’m hoping it’s a little better tomorrow.

We may have found a good rent house. Hope hope hope! I think it’s St. Joseph’s department in the saintly switchboard for this one.

And thanks everyone for the comments about Miss Beatrice. She’s starting the nightly must-nurse-for-an-hour fill up so I’m off to comply. She’s so cute! It sounds like: Wah! (pause) Aaa! (sniff) Wah? but it will quickly progress to true sadness and we don’t want that.

I’m off!

Today we’re having Quick Noodle Soup for lunch. My soup recipe is simple: boil water, chop up and add whatever sad ends of veggies you have leftovers in your fridge, add some chopped cooked meat if you like and it’s not Friday, let it boil a bit, add some spices that complement the veggies and meat, mix up an egg or two and pour it in while stirring, maybe some firm tofu, add some noodles and let them cook, and hey presto! Lunch.

The variation of the day is broccoli, 3 eggs, soy sauce, garlic and ginger, a package of ramen noodles and a few handsful of rotini. It sure smells good! Mmm!

Just chillin’ in the Jungle Room

Hey, what’s that thing?

Whoa!

Sweet!

(That’s an unbleached premium Indian prefold, for those who are interested)

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be careful.
Strive to be happy.

copyright 1927 Max Ehrmann

(for National Poetry Month)

Bede is 3 years old and while I haven’t measured his height or weight for a while, he wears 3T and 4T clothes and is average to large size for a 3 year old boy, I think.

Here’s Bede on my hip, ready to swing him around to the back. Notice how high up the rings are on my shoulder, so when he’s on the back they end up at a more normal position.

Here he is on my back. The sling goes from behind his knees to his armpits, and he’s very secure. See how the rings have come down a few inches and are no longer on my shoulder?

My mom came by today. It’s one of the things I like the best about living in Oklahoma City, being close to my parents. She had been to the dollar store and had gotten us some neat classroom posters with the alphabet, and numbers, you know the sort, and some new hair scrunchies for the girls. The kids were pleased with them and were putting them up around the house when Mom said “Oh, and this came for you at our house,” and handed me a manila envelope.

In it was a copy of the most recent Hanna Andersson catalog and…

a five hundred dollar gift certificate to same.

After I recovered from my fainting spell and shooed the little bluebirds from around my head, I scrutinized the notecard that came with it. My clues are: it was purchased by someone named J******, and the message was

mischief managed
:o)

Whoever you are, you’ve made my year! Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you. I’m still all giddy and in shock.

So shines a good deed in a weary world.

Wow.

My first baby carrier was a really poorly designed Infantino sling. It was impossible to get it high on my chest, so little baby Faith sort of looked like she was ready to be tossed on a customer’s front porch as I made my newspaper deliveries. I got it in desperation at a Chicago Walmart when we were visiting when she was six weeks old.

When we got back home, I asked a woman at church who wore a sling if she could help me figure out what was wrong. She took one look at the piece of junk I was using and headed to her van, returning with a well-loved NoJo in turquoise and cornflower hues. She helped me get it on and popped Faith in it, where she immediately nursed and passed out. I was sold! SHe let me keep it and I used it for a month or so and then bought my own, a navy batik.

I used that sling for Faith, Abby and Bede. It finally started to disintegrate when Bede was about 4 months old, and I bought an Over The Shoulder Baby Holder, or OTSBH, in a green floral pattern. It’s much like the NoJo, only a bit wider and longer. I liked it fine too.

I had heard so many mothers talk glowingly about their unpadded ring slings that I decided I needed to try one. My friend Tabitha made slings at the time and she made me one from a dark grey linen-y fabric. I really liked it and started using it exclusively, until it suffered an unfortunate accident involving being shut in a car door. Back to the OTSBH.

Around the time Gil was born I got a Maya Wrap, another unpadded ring sling (and probably the most common.) I wondered why on earth I had been using the bulky OTSBH for so long. I loved the Maya Wrap but…

I lost my Maya Wrap somewhere, somehow, last year. I’ve been making do with another NoJo, which I actually like (I am in the babywearing minority here as most people prefer the OTSBH for a heavily padded sling,) and for a time I tried to use an Ellaroo wrap, given to me by Pamela (no rings, just ties) but I really missed the versatility of an unpadded ring sling. I felt like I couldn’t get the NoJo snug enough because the adjustability was hampered by the rail padding. Plus it’s huge and bulky. And the Ellaroo eluded me. I was never able to get a good back carry with it, and I found the front carries impractical too.

Abigail traded me her Ergo soft backpack carrier for the Ellaroo wrap last year. I tried the Ergo with Gilbert and liked it fine, but found it to be a sort of constant adjustment war. The straps were slipping off my shoulders, or I’d notice that Gil’s leg had a mark where part of the carrier was pressing in to it, or some other minor inconvenience. It ended up not being used.

So, earlier this week, I went back to the tried and true Maya Wrap. It arrived today, and I love it already. I’ll post some pictures later of the three slingriders in the Gleeson home - the Maya is versatile enough to carry Trixie, Gil or Bede, on my back, hip or chest.

Ah, sling love. For more information on babywearing, try The Babywearer and Peppermint.

In an earlier post, I debated whether or not to go to a chicken pox party so my children could be exposed to the virus and with luck catch chicken pox. Ultimately I decided not to (because of uncertainty about when we might be moving out of this house, and not wanting sick kids while I tried to pack) but I will still look for the pox and expose my kids at the next convenient opportunity.

In the comments made at the time on that post everyone urged me to go. The most recent comment is from Adrienne, who asks:

What is the benefit of getting it do you think? I’m so nervous my 11 month old will get it. My son who is 6 has had the shot but kids in class are coming down with it. I’m scared for the baby. I want to have the same attitude about it that everyone on this page has. To not worry about it! Can you tell me why you all are so relaxed! I really like it.
Thanks
Adrienne

I’ve put this in its own post so all those commenters can see this and give their reasons. My reason for not getting the vaccine is it’s made from fetal cells, and we don’t get any vaccines from fetal cell lines. Furthermore, the disease the vaccine is intended to prevent is a normal childhood disease, which the vast majority of children used to get and be just fine. The reason a vaccine was developed for CP was because it caused too many parents to miss work while they stayed home with their sick kids for a week or so, not because it killed or seriously harmed children. I would rather my kids get CP and have lifelong immunity to it rather than get the vaccine and then get chicken pox in college because it has worn off.

For more information about vaccines and why some people avoid them, see here for a Catholic perspective and here is a medical perspective.

I totally went, like, apespit, on Sean this morning. Our next month and a half will not be so much fun because we’re Moving With Uncertain Funding. You may recall we have recently learned that our landlord wishes to sell this house so won’t be renewing our lease. Come June 1st, we’re out of here… but to where? And, how? With what money? As I rip my hair out I managed to unload all this worry and out of control feeling on Sean. And I was not nice. I hurt his feelings and I was, in short, a Big Jerk.

I’ve apologized to him but I’m doing it again. I’m sorry honey. I hope you forgive me.

I’m short with the kids too, and beyond short. I yell at Faith, and it’s ridiculous things like “STOP YELLING AT YOUR SISTER!” So, here, I will take a step back from it all, and stop. It. Now.

Tomorrow I don’t want to look back on my day and think of all the things I said that I shouldn’t have, or all the things I didn’t say that I should’ve. Tomorrow I’m doing better.

Boo!