Update on my Brother
My mom talked to him yesterday and he is doing fine and is on his way to Germany. Should be home in either May or June or July or August. (I'm serious, that's what my parents tell me.) The going to Germany thing is good for reasons I don't fully comprehend but have something to do with him becoming an officer I think.
We have had a decent weekend. I worked last night and took an on call tonight. I will work tomorrow though I don't really want to. I am feeling very burnt out of old primips (my pts on friday were 37, 40, 37 and 39) and nipple shields. I think I am really in the mood for some non-English speaking patients and sick teenagers on triple antibiotics. (that is postpartum gallows humor)
Tangent: There is an inverse relationship between age of first baby and amount of baby related knowledge. 16 year olds will fill out our education sheets as having no educational needs and will act insulted if you try to gently suggest anything. They often spend their time in the hospital watching movies and feeding the baby too much formula so it spits up everywhere and leaving half empty bottles all over the room. And they ALWAYS put their baby in brand new scratchy clothes straight from Kmart. They NEVER just use the hospital linens. And their clothes have thirty million snaps and are a complete PIA when you are in the nursery with 3 other babies that also need diaper changes. They also always overbundle their babies with tacky fuzzy fleece blankets piled like six inches high on top of their baby who is wrapped in two blankets.
Old primips, especially successful professional-types take all the classes, read all the books and still know absolutely nothing. They freak out at the slightest provocation and are so anxious that they even sabotage breastfeeding for themselves. This one lady was so freaked out about bf=ing that any time he squeaked she would insist he must be hungry and would just about have a panic attack. No matter how calmly I explained that he really was not hungry yet and the little colostrum he was getting was plenty; she just couldn't trust that her body would work to feed her baby. 40 year olds can make it to their 2nd post op day without changing a diaper. I literally walked a 40 yr old, extremely successful professional through a diaper change, t-shirt donning and swaddling. It took, no lie, 30 minutes.
Even young ones like 20 year olds are a little over-confident and slightly old ones like 34 year olds tend to be more anxious. Infertility increases postpartum anxiety hugely as well.
I have concluded that 23 is the optimal age to have a first baby in terms of not annoying your postpartum nurse. Something far too few people take into consideration when planning their lives and families.
Tangent over.
Took Joss to ballet this AM and we decided that she wouldn't enroll in the third session. She said she enjoyed the Nutcracker but doesn't like the lessons. I don't like the fees, the location or having classes on Saturday (prefer to keep it for family stuff). She has requested to try gymnastics or ceramics so we'll see what works $ and schedule wise.
Took both kids to neighbor kid's birthday party and had an awesome time with my neighbor lady and her friend. Kids also had a great time. Zeff's birthday is tomorrow so I really need to get on throwing a little shindig. Probably on Saturday.
Keian continues to delight and amaze us. He is the enforcer and will go get the kids for us from the back of the house when it is time for supper (you can hear him babble with the patterns and intonations we use when we get the kids) and will bossily hand out boots and jackets when it is time to go. He also is pretty advanced in his block stacking abilities if I do say so myself. He can balance 4 or 5 of our small blocks and does much better than you'd expect at placing them carefully centered so they balance.
I am feeling more comfortable with this unschooling idea. We continue to move through Cal Math 2 slowly and steadily. We are planning some camping trips for the summer and starting to think about a fall one as well. Hoping to see some Laura Ingalls Wilder sites.
Oh Cute Jossy Quote: (We have been discussing civil rights in relation to MLK day and she is fascinated by it.)
J: Hey mom, did you know some people don't treat wheelchair people the same as other people.
Me: Oh?
J: Yeah but that's not nice, who cares if they can't use their legs? They've got arms, right? At least they can't stub their toe.
Me: (Blows opportunity to be good homeschooling mom and collapses with giggles)
She is so cool how she gets into a subject and keeps turning it over in her mind and asking about it. We read a book about Abe Lincoln tonight and I can see that the concept of slavery has really grabbed her attention as she keeps asking questions about it out of the blue. I guess unfairness is a big thing to her. Kids always get mad when things aren't fair and it is a big mind-blower to hear that things can be unfair on such a huge scale.
Well, I have rambled sufficiently, I'm sure. Peace out.