Before anyone gets excited, let me note that this pregnancy ended in a miscarriage a couple months ago. I’m not currently pregnant. “Maybe,” then “probably,” and at that point I joined the April 2012 birth board on BabyCenter. I’d fantasized about the moment I found out I was pregnant again. My face got hot when …
Author Archives: cbcabeen
Dirty Hippies
One morning at 6 AM, I tell Rebecca that she doesn’t have enough cat hair on her lollipop yet, and that I won’t wash it off (again) until she does. She’s not eating the lollipop, as far as I can tell, just using it to pick up cat hair. Rebecca loves the drama of messes …
In Lieu of an Actual Post
…I give you the link to a short piece I wrote for my friend Sarah‘s Pagan Families blog.
A Little Knowledge
If, like me, you’re the sort who likes to claim status based on what you know, then motherhood presents a problem. What good is it to know that all last week Rebecca said “aku” when she meant “ice cream,” and that her jelly sandals are more comfortable with socks on, while her brown shoes are …
Boundaries Are A Bad Idea
Don’t tell me that toddlers need boundaries. Boundaries are a bad metaphor, especially where young toddlers are concerned, because most things counted as boundaries would be better conceived as positive expectations. Take for example, “No naked in the front yard.” This kind of prohibition gives the child freedom to put on clothes and be outside, …
Old
I have a piece on dealing with pregnant aches up at Pagan Families. It expands on part of my earlier post about birth prep. If you try it, let me know what you think! As with the sleep posts, it’s geared toward motherhood but applicable to other situations. … I have dried purple roses lodged …
Unmaking Mistakes
My mom used to ask what mistakes she’d made as a parent. When I was in my mid-twenties, I thought her biggest mistake was not insisting that I drive a car regularly in highschool. I’d taken drivers ed at 17 and got my license based on a written test, but I didn’t really learn how …
Mom in Black
When I was 19, Ted and some Skiffy friends dressed up as Men in Black for a movie premier. I dressed up enough to avoid looking out of place next to them, but when it came down to it, I was not a MIB. How did I fit into the group then? Ted decided that …
Minding Bodies
I’m revisiting something old this week, for reasons that’ll become clear by the end of the piece. I started this at the same time as Remembering Tiamat, when Rebecca was eight months old, and all the time references are to summer of last year: I had a conversation stuck in my head all last month, …
Just Like Magic (3)
One Monday morning at the end of January, I was standing at the new espresso machine making myself a cappuccino, when Rebecca came up behind me. She was holding a moka pot and a can of shaving cream, and broke into a huge grin when I saw what she had: Coffee with foam! Rebecca enjoyed …