Seattle Mom Blogs

My kids have never missed a well-check up, 6 month dental exam and cleaning, or an immunization.

Never.

I did once lose my shot records and had an amazingly incompetent pediatrician who incorrectly marked their vaccination records. The result was two of my childen getting a set of shots over that they probably didnt need.

However, thats the way I roll. I would rather be over-cautious and reactionary and like my peds to be the same. When in doubt, call in the experts, the consults, and lets get lots of tests. My babies are worth it.

I believe in the American medical system.

So much so that I immediately make the next appointment after returning home from the childrens exams. I even take my kids to yearly appointments when the doctor says they are no longer necessary.

Every two years, they say. Nope, well be there. I believe in timely inspection of my posterity.

Honestly, the same is true with my dogs. But me? Do I take care of me? Not a chance.

We moved to the Seattle area in the summer of 2005. I have had one physical and do have a regular physician, but put off the plumbing parts. I prefer having a gynecologist, but have never gotten around to finding one that takes Cigna.

Heres where you come in. Help me find a good gynecologist on the Eastside. I am hoping for someone who takes Cigna. I want a woman doctor. Take away my excuse for not having had a pap smear and breast exam in three years.

You see, this is a reoccurring pattern in my life.

I am anal about the kids and the dogs. Heck, I have a $2000 vet bill for the last three months alone. With vigilance, we found and removed just in time both Carcinoma and Melanoma from my 14 year old baby.

She even got her teeth cleaned, but I once went 2 years between dental appointments when we moved in the Army because I didnt have time. In that time, a cavity turned into a root canal. Nice!

You see, there is something in me that feels selfish for taking care of myself. I feel guilty about wasting time and money on me.

I am someone who would rather buy my daughter three outfits, than buy for myself.

Someone who would rather spend time reading to her kindergartener than working out even though her weight is getting dangerous.

Someone who has three gift certificates for various spas, but cant seem to justify getting a manicure or massage.

Someone who would as soon cut and color her own hair than spend money on it.

Why is this? Why do I think I am not worth the time? Is anyone else out there who feels this too or is it my own form of crazy?

Somewhere along the line of being a mother, Ive equated motherhood with self-deprivation, self-sacrifice, and low self-worth.

Please, help me.

Regards,

Blogging on the Sammamish Plateau at United States of Motherhood Since 06

The thing about having two children is that I’m always sweating. I’d like to attribute this to a change in hormones, the weather, or even the shaggy coat of fur that lines my legs. (come on, yours does, too) But no, I really believe it’s because my children are just. That. Active.

Leaving the house? Twenty minute workout. Putting them to bed? Forty-five solid minutes rendering me without a voice afterward. Breakfast? It’s like a marathon.

And people, I only have two.

I’d have to train for years to have another child and even then, I really don’t think I have the stamina anymore.

So, tell me this, why am I not losing the baby weight? What’s that? You in the back, pipe up. What did you say?

Oh, right, the nightly two glasses of wine and bar of chocolate to keep my brain from exploding after a long day of said sweating.

Right…

That.

So I’ve been reading and she has some suggestions on how to savor food, real food, and still manage your weight. They’re pretty easy to swallow so I thought today would be a nice time to share.

1. Never eat standing up. I know, this is nearly impossible with the kids, the family, the dog/cat/husband/computer/blahblah. But trust me, if you take the time to sit and eat your body will register that you’ve eaten. This will help fend off the hungries later.
2. Cook and eat real food. Also, you say, impossible? No way. All you need to do is plan ahead a bit. Make meals on Sunday when the husband is home to help with the kids, freeze them, and warm on the busy nights. Make lunches the night before. Take left overs for lunch instead of letting them rot in the fridge. See? Already you’re eating better.
3. Treat yourself. Don’t forget that we enjoy sweets or savory foods. It’s OK to eat them. In moderation. (You knew I was going to say that.) But honestly, if you allow yourself to have one or two small bites of chocolate after dinner you’re less likely to binge on the bag of chips after the kids are in bed. Or eat an entire bar of chocolate the next day because you’ve been deprived.
4. Slow down. With the 400 mile an hour schedule you never take time to eat. This isn’t the only thing you’re not taking time for, I’m sure. You’re probably not sleeping, exercising or feeling organized. You would never think of starving your dog/cat/parents/children so why starve your body of the nutrients of fresh fruits and vegetables? Take care of yourself and your body will take care of you.

Diets don’t work. Eat. Enjoy. Eat slowly, on purpose, and make it a family affair. Let your children see you eating and let them know what eat healthy means. For a culture obsessed with weight loss, we’re failing miserably. I’m taking my cues from the French Women, who drink with delight and eat the richest foods, and still manage their weight.

**Cross Posted at Blissfully Domestic. Read more of Leslie’s sarcastic blahblablah at Mrs. Flinger and find podcast reviews, interviews, crafts, events and topics for the Seattle Parent at Mamaspod.Com. If you have questions, anecdotes, or topics for Mom Friendly Fitness, email .

There’s been a lag in my posting because . Oh don’t worry, nothing tragic happened. At least not recently. As you know I was diagnosed with breast cancer nearly two years ago, and I am getting my breasts reconstructed. Last week was my in the reconstruction process. Hooray for foobs!

Anyway, while we were out of town ( is in Oregon) we received the following email:

Dear William and Susan,

I wanted to let you know that I have officially approved you into the US Kids program Congratulations!

Our program coordinators will be in touch with you shortly!

Best wishes,
M.

The email was sent by the adoption processing coordinator at our agency. Our home study has officially been approved! Woo hoo!!!

We thought this meant we were done with forms and papers. ! Two days after that email we got an email from one of the program case managers asking us to fill out more forms. Forms, forms and more forms! Does it ever stop? This must be the adoption equivalent to pregnancy. Instead of morning sickness we’ve got forms up the ying yang.

That’s okay. It’s a small price to pay to bring a child into your life. And personally I’d rather fill out a stack of forms than go through labor. Honestly! But that’s just me.

(Just for fun I looked up the word labor. Definition #7 says “The process by which childbirth occurs, beginning with contractions of the uterus and ending with the expulsion of the fetus or infant and the placenta”. Expulsion? Good God! What a way to describe it! Yes, I’d definitely prefer a stack of papers to the “expulsion” of an infant. Yikes!)

This entry also posted with the . Copyright 2008 Susan Metters. All rights reserved.
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In addition to being a writer and aspiring mom, Susan Metters also carries the distinguished title of Cancer Survivor Extraordinaire. Some of her secret ambitions include meeting Dr. Phil, hosting Saturday Night Live, and rising to the top as a rock star. You can read more about Susans life adventures by visiting her blog with the Seattle P.I., . If you have ideas, questions, rants, or ramblings feel free to email Susan at susan [at] seattlemomblogs [dot] com.

And we have a winner! JenniferB is our winner. I guess we’re not supposed to say winner anymore because it implies that the rest of you are losers. So I’ll simply say that THE GREEN PANS GO TO JenniferB.

I’m hoping to have many more fantastic food-related product giveaways coming up so check in periodically. The writing is always free.

Head on over to Worker Mommy’s place for another great giveaway and to celebrate her bloggiversary. A girl can never have too many handbags, I always say. And books? Don’t get me started.

Today I want to share a great new idea for cooking for your family in greener way. Im not talking about leprechauns or even organic vegetables. Im talking about GreenPans, pans that use 50% less energy in manufacturing than other non-stick pans.

They are also the first line of cookware using a non-stick coating thats free of toxic chemicals that can be released into your food and into the air. They can cook at temperatures up to 800F without releasing anything harmful. I find this awesome because not only do they meet my criteria for healthier cooking, but theyre also dishwasher safe, something that drives me nuts about my current non-stick cookware.

I read about these pans in a magazine this month and was really impressed by them. My naturopath has been trying to get me to stop cooking with Teflon but I was having a hard time finding a solid alternative. At this point I think Ive found it and as soon as I have enough budget money set aside, Ill snag a set. Its not that theyre expensive. In fact, theyre quite reasonably priced. Ive just been spending too much money buying Cadbury MiniEggs lately. Tis the season.

Good news for you though. This week Im giving away one 6-piece set of cookware from the good folks at GreenPan. You can get the pans for free and keep your money to buy as many chocolate eggs as you like.

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment on this post and Ill randomly pick a winner at midnight on Saturday night PST. Good luck and if you win I expect you to let me borrow them!

A co-founder of Seattle Mom Blogs, professional blogger Kathryn Thompson writes too much at Daring Young Mom, The Parenting Post, and anywhere else people are willing to read. She enjoys eating cheese and playing high stakes Uno with 4-year-olds. If youre cute enough, she will probably blow on your tummy unmercifully. You can contact Kathryn by email – kathryn [at] seattlemomblogs.com.

Long before I ever got myself knocked up, I was curious as to my company’s maternity leave policies. I read over their Policy & Procedures manual and all it did was confuse me more. Without causing too much suspicion I even ask the one other mom that worked in my office how it all worked. She wasn’t much help when she told me they made some special arrangements for her based on her position with the company. I knew I would be getting no special arrangements.

My best friend, May, had her first daughter about a year before I got knocked up with my son. May worked for a small company on Seattle’s Eastside and had been there for years. The Washington state FMLA states that you are legally allowed 12 weeks of (unpaid) maternity leave if you work for a company with more then 50 employees. Because of this May went back to work days after having her baby. While her employer was nice enough to allow her to work from home, she was still working, while learning how to breastfeed her baby and recover from an emergency C-section that could have taken her life.

She was stressed. Extra stressed.

While I watched May struggle with juggling her career and motherhood I became more nervous about my own impending juggle. My place of business has well over 50 employees, but still, I knew adjusting to working and learning how to be a mom wasn’t going to be easy. And yet, I made the plunge.

During the 40 weeks I was pregnant, I contacted the corporate Human Resources contact for my company. I reviewed, with her, what my disability payments would be and for how long I would be eligible. I asked question about whether or not I would continue to get sick/vacation time while on maternity leave. I discussed, with my project managers, what my job tasks would be upon my returning to work. I located a good closet to pump my breast milk from.

And I got it this all in writing.

When time came for my baby to be born, he was born via emergency C-section. Which meant, I thought, that I got an extra few weeks off (paid). I promptly contacted my HR representative to inform her of my condition and verify that I would be getting two more weeks of (paid) disability. Yeah, apparently the wording is written so that it confuses you. Or rather, it confused me.

Basically I didn’t get the 9 weeks paid. I got like 7 weeks. Which isn’t 9 weeks…something to do with the first week being unpaid and having to use your vacation time up. Or something. Really, I never was sure what it all meant.

My friend, Vesper, is due to have her first sweet and precious baby this week. Like most pregnant women who don’t plan on going back to work after the birth, Vesper never told her employer she wasn’t coming back. We have to protect ourselves, and this is how we do it. But now, after reviewing their money situation for like the millionth time, Vesper is thinking she’ll have to go back to work. It’s a good thing she never told her boss “take this job and shove it!”, but still, this isn’t what she had planned for.

Like May, Vesper works for a very small company. She really has no legal rights to getting her job back once her baby is born. She’s hoping that her company will respect her and and hold her job for her. But legally, they don’t have to. It’s a scary thing to think about. Of course they will have to find someone to replace her while she’s on leave, but what happens if they like the temp more then Vesper? What is the temp is wiling to work for less money? Or work more hours? Again, it’s scary.

Things worked out for May. She was able to work from home, or take her daughter with her to the office and continue to bring home the bacon. I returned to work after my paid leave ran out and became a pro at pumping my breast milk in a closet on my lunch break. And Vesper will be just fine. Things have a way of working out. The crappy part is waiting for it all to work out.

And in the mean time, it’s good to know what the laws are (and to get it all in writing. Preferably in your native tongue.)
Isabel is a pseudonym for this Seattle-based blogger. She’s been working since the day she realized soda and lip gloss weren’t free. Isabel became a mom in 2006 and continues to work full time, outside the home, since diapers and mortgages aren’t free either. You can read far too much about her personal life at hola,isabel.

If you have questions, anecdotes, or topics for Double duty. One paycheck., email Isabel at holaisabel [at] gmail.com.

This kind ofstory totally freaks me out about the prospect ofsending my child off to school.

Step away from the ‘Buy Now’ button, Angie.

I’ve never been asked to show my son’s passport at the doctors office. Have you? But then, we match. The girl at the front desk should be ashamed of herself.

Happy Anniversary, Kimand David! Ten years is a BIG deal!

I think we all need to send Eve a virtual hug.

Where did the spring go ladies? We had some spring for about a week and it was GLORIOUS! Now we’re back to this.

Playing at the park in our slickers with the kids asking for mittens.

But inside my house spring has sprung. If you haven’t started your easter grass yet, it’s not too late. This is how mine looks after 6 days! I may just plant a little lawn like this year round to keep the vision of green space alive on those gray cloudy days.

My fabulous next door neighbor who Im currently courting to write a craft column on Seattle Mom Blogs is like the all-natural McGyver of crafting. She can take sticks, dirt specks and pinegum and create an elegant chandelier. She can make anything in the world out of sheeps wool and she notices lovely things everywhere she goes and then tames them to decorate her beautiful home.

For Easter she helped me plant my own wheat grass to use as an Easter basket for my little bunnies this year. The project was super easy and looking gorgeous and I think you should all try it today so it will grow in time for Easter.

First you soak a couple of handfuls of wheat in water for 24 hours. Soft white wheat berries are best and you need to get some that havent been stored with oxygen absorber packets. My neighbor purchased ours at Whole Foods for very little money.

Next you fill a pie plate or other dish with dirt about an inch deep. Then you sprinkle the soaked wheat berries over the top of the dirt. You only need about half of the amount of wheat that we used. We went a little overboard.

Water well and cover with plastic wrap until tiny sprouts appear.

After the sprouts start popping up (24-48 hours), remove the plastic wrap.

When the grass is a couple of inches tall, move the container to a sunny location so it will turn green in color. In the picture below, the grass is almost tall enought to move to the window. Soon it should be thick, lush and green.

On Easter Eve, dress like a bunny and place eggs and treats amidst the blades of grass.

How sweet is that?

Ill post more pictures as the grass grows.

Update: Check out the progress.