Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Whole Mama

I have to confess...I don't read a lot of mom blogs. I used to, but then they made me a little crazy and I had to stop. Do they make you crazy too? Is it just me? It's true that I am teetering on the edge of an abyss of self-doubt and insecurity for most of my waking hours. All I need is that little nudge of someone honking at me in traffic or reading an especially perky mom blog post and I'm free-falling into a state of paralyzing mom guilt and low mom-esteem. So, I've taken to not reading the mom blogs so much anymore. I keep thinking that it would be fun to do a parody of a mom blog that captures the essence of what drives me crazy about this genre.

So here goes...I'm about to bust out a parody. Hold on tight.

We'll call my fake mom blog: "Whole Mama"

Today was an especially chaotic day. First little Thelonius decided today was the day that he simply had to go potty on his own for the first time. I know it seems kind of early seeing as he's only three months old and everything, but we've been practicing Elimination Communication since the week of his all natural, unattended home birth in the river behind our farmhouse and I think he is really starting to get the hang of things. He had been lying on his back staring at some French flash cards that I had knitted for him out of some old organic hemp I had laying around. Then Thelonius started to kind of stretch his legs out and scrunch up his face, which is one of his cues that tells me he needs to eliminate. I made the sign for potty for him and he made it back to me and then he made the sign for "thank you." I don't know about you, but I was pretty impressed with my little man. Such manners! I removed his cloth diaper and positioned him on the potty. He made the sign for "sit up" and then proceeded to take care of business sitting up all by himself!!!! WOW!!!!!!

Then Zooey comes in and wants to know why I'm clapping and cheering so much. "Thelonius just went potty all by himself!" I cried. Sweet Zooey went straight to her art studio and started to sketch a picture of Thelonius on his potty. Some people say three-year-olds can be a pain, but I don't know, I'm pretty head-over-heels for my little Zooey. I'm teaching her to knit and we're planning on opening our own etsy store soon. More on that to come in future posts!!! Zooey has the cutest design sense. She was making a new sweater for her Waldorf doll "Antoinette," her only toy apart from a basket of pine cones we bring out for playdates. Antoinette is like a member of our family! Zooey has sewn her so many dresses and knit her so many sweaters, she is going to need her own closet soon! Anyway, Zooey was knitting her sweater and she was trying to decide if the sweater should have cables or not. I try not to be too over-bearing and so I asked Zooey what she thought Antoinette would like best. After giving it a lot of thought, Zooey decided that Antoinette wasn't really a cable-knit sweater kind of girl. She decided to knit the alphabet in rainbow colors instead! What a fashionista!!

Meanwhile, I was wondering what Laertes was up to. I hadn't heard much from the backyard where he had been playing this whole time. It was a little too quiet out there if you know what I mean. I decided to put Thelonius in the sling and go see what was going on out there. You'll never believe what I found! I nearly freaked out!!! Laertes had gotten into Whole Papa's tools and was working away on a pretty amazing project. I asked him what he was building in my most non-judgmental voice, despite the fact that his little five-year-old hands contained a jigsaw and a nail gun. Do you know what my sweet Laertes told me? "I'm building you a yurt, Mama. For your yoga." Is that not the sweetest thing you ever heard in your life? I told him that Mama was very proud of her handy man, very proud indeed. I'm going to love that yurt. Not just because I'm a whiz at yoga either, but because every time I go in there to meditate, I'll think, this is the yurt that Laertes built. I get misty-eyed just thinking about it. I'm going to have to nurse my little builder extra long tonight as a special treat!

So, wow, that has been my day so far and it's only nap time. Whew! I have a lot of work to do while the kids are resting, so I'd better not waste any more time on the computer. I've got to go feed the chickens and our maple trees aren't going to tap themselves now are they? As I've been typing this I've been kneading the bread for tonight's dinner with my elbows, so at least that's one thing I can check off of my ever-growing to-do list! Geez!

In my next post I hope to share my latest locavore recipes broken down by city, state and continent... I've almost finished the northern hemisphere! We''ll see if I can get that done and hang the clothes out to dry this afternoon! A mama's work is never done!

16 comments:

Tan Family said...

I laughed so hard when I read this! I especially like the kids' names. I agree that it can seem overwhelming at times to read others' blogs, especially when it seems like everyone is doing so much more than I am. Although I still self-doubt at times, I'm getting better at reading them quickly, leaving a nice comment, and taking away one good thing that inspires me. And, I try to stick to implementing just one-two new things with the kids per week that I found on a blog. Otherwise, it's just too much! BTW...love the yurt idea.

Christiana said...

"I'm building you a yurt, Mama. For your yoga."
-- I actually snorted out loud when I read this line...Elizabeth, you should send this in to some place somewhere...it is great. It is how I often feel reading other mom's blogs...I sometimes fall into the trap of wanting to impress other moms...how stupid is that? Why do I feel like a bad mom when I realize that my friend's kid is eating with a fork and my kid is still eating with her hands and throws the spoon on the floor for the dog to lick. I actually bought utensils for Neva yesterday because I thought she needed to catch up. My pediatrician had to tell me that it was time to take Neva off the bottle yesterday. Oops...
For what it's worth, I think you have to coolest kids and you are a wonderful mother. I love reading your posts.

Laurie said...

What a great place for the children! And how lucky to be near a river.

We started infant pottying at 3 months with our third and really enjoyed it, much preferred it to traditional delayed toilet training.

Here are some links for further ec info:
http://www.TimL.com/ipt
http://www.pottywhisperer.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_potty_training_method

book: "Infant Potty Training: A Gentle and Primeval Method Adapted to Modern Living"
DVD "Potty Whispering"

Cheers

Elizabeth said...

Thanks for all the nice comments! Tan Family, I'm glad this made you laugh. That is the best compliment! Christiana, I may try to send this somewhere. Thanks for the suggestion! And "yurt" is an inherently funny word. You just can't go wrong. Laurie, I'm flattered that you thought I was serious, but I am unfortunately not nearly this together. I don't live by a river and my 15 month-old is not potty-trained. : ) I am happy that my little joke was that believable, though. I'll have to check out your potty-training links. I do use cloth diapers, so I'm hoping that will facilitate early potty training with my little guy! We'll see...

: )
Elizabeth

Anonymous said...

Loved, loved, loved it!!! This was the best laugh I have had in days. The thought of kneading while typing actually caused me to spit out my drink (luckily not on the laptop keyboard as I have already had to replace one after spilling coffee on it). Thanks again for the moment of pure fun.
Stacey

Suzanne said...

You've made false modesty an art form! I love it!

Duana Welch said...

LMMBO (laughing my momma butt off)!

"She was making a new sweater for her Waldorf doll "Antoinette," her only toy apart from a basket of pine cones we bring out for playdates."

HI-larious!!! Thanks for the laughs.
(BTWay, the implication that little Laertes, or whatever-his-name-is, is still breast-feeding, nearly sent me to the hospital!)

April said...

I read this out loud to Jeremiah as he laid out giant adult fish sticks from Costco on our teflon-coated (if you can call it "coated" with all those scratches!) cookie sheet to heat up for dinner. We'll be feeding the kids this with some ORGANIC macaroni and cheese that only expired last December (since when is there an expiration date on powdered cheese?!). Needless to say, we had a good chuckle - almost as much fun, really, as we're gonna have in about thirty minutes when we retire from the family dinner/living room end table to play a little Super Mario Bros Wii while Jackson digs around in the Tupperware cabinet. Ahhhhh, Friday night!

Elizabeth said...

You had me at giant adult fish sticks...

Anonymous said...

This is the most hysterical post yet. I loved it.
Sarah

Brooke said...

Elizabeth this is so stinkin hysterical!! Just promise me you didn't get the yurt idea off my facebook post?? lol
You are such an amazing mom, don't let the fakers out there get you off course!!

Katherine said...

You made me smile, my friend!! :) Thanks!!

The Fearless Formula Feeder said...

So glad I found your blog through SheWrites/Twitter... this was a much-needed laugh during naptime today. Sadly though, I bet you could post this and not tell people it was a spoof and they would totally buy it. Sigh.

Anonymous said...

I think it's interesting how this post reveals your ideals, you know what I mean? My parody would be more full of genius intellectual children and a perfectly coiffed working mom. Very funny! Have you tried funny in your writing? Might be a good way to go!

Brooke said...

I think you could get quite a following by creating parody posts. Hilarious!

Grant Fuller said...

amazingly funny. brought tears of hilarity to my eye. thanks!