# 0027: Breast Feeding

Don't we all have kind of a love/ hate relationship with breast feeding? When it comes right gown to it I love it, but there have been days when I just kind of hate it. For me those days took place in the summer of 2011 due to a yeast infection in both breasts. I wouldn't wish that on anybody! 
There are painful experiences that sometimes go along with this labor of love. There are some annoyances and some inconveniences. But the good outweighs the bad doesn't it? We've all been through the classes and we all know the many, proven benefits of it (some they tell us are life long). We can see for ourselves the immediate blessings of saving money not buying formula or the baby weight melting off. Some of us really enjoy the sweet, quiet time with our very appreciative babies. The lactation consultants preach the necessity of its immunity giving qualities. They touch on the bonding aspect briefly, of course because nobody wants to push the idea that bonding with your child could ever be more important than- well anything- Bonding with family is hardly a must, let alone worth it! *sarcasm* 
Yes, I def believe breastfeeding is the way to go. I'll encourage anybody to breastfeed. Just try it for the first 2-3 months. It gets better and easier. But if you try and it just doesn't work for you after awhile- it's okay. It's really okay.
Maybe you got sick and dried up. Maybe it was too darn painful, maybe you just messed up somewhere along the way, or heck, maybe you just don't like it. It's okay. Whatever happened or didn't happen- it's okay. Breastfeeding does not make or break you as a mom. It's not the end all, be all. I know when you're just a few months in, it seems like breastfeeding is what makes you a mom, your ticket to mother of the year, the cornerstone of your relationship with your baby, but the truth is there is more to being a mom than feeding one end and wiping the other. I know it doesn't seem that way those first few months because that's about all you're doing, but the day that they do both of those things by themselves comes quicker than you know. This world of caring for an infant only lasts a few short months. Your beautiful face, angelic voice and warm hugs are what that little baby will take with him as he moves into toddler- hood and beyond. You bond with your baby just by taking care of your baby's everyday needs. That little baby sees you as the one who meets its every need all day and he or she doesn't care how it' done. I take that back- they would prefer their needs being met with a smile, and maybe throw in a song, too. 
Moral of the story: yes, I love breastfeeding my babies and encourage everyone to at least try it with theirs, but Fact: there is more to being a good mom than breastfeeding.

Please don't be discouraged about breastfeeding. It's worth learning everything you can about it. It's worth suffering through at times. It's worth the inconvenience. It's worth the extra mile. But it's not worth feeling down and depressed about. There is so much more to do for your baby! We have so much more access to so much information and support today than they had 25 years ago. Take advantage of the classes (sometimes they are free) and all the books out there. But don't be hard on yourself if it doesn't work out. Breastfeeding is not a free pass to great-mom super stardom and not-breastfeeding is not a sealing of your fate to a doomed motherhood. Don't those two things sound ridiculous in the context of breastfeeding? There's so much more to being a mom. So. Much. More.
Well, how's that for a pep-talk? I didn't even get out what all I love about breastfeeding. I still have another 4,974 posts to go!

Here's a book about breastfeeding I thought was really good: The Nursing Mother's Companion

# 0026: Mondays

I love Mondays! I really do! For right now anyway. Monday is laundry day at our house, catch-up-day, clean-up-day, put-things-away-day, get-ready-for-the-week-day, recover-from-the-weekend-day.
We are not in a hurry on Monday. We RARELY leave the house on Monday. People take extra long naps on Monday.
What's not to love about Monday? The house gets put back together, things get cleaned up, "reorganized" and "planned" for (light on the organized and planned).
I'm sure I would feel differently about Monday if I had somewhere I had to be... like next year, when I take the big girl to school. But for now, we're making menus in our pajamas and only going as far as our mailbox.
Yep, it takes me a whole day to get ready for six more. Simple.

Now I've got the days of the week song in my head (to the tune of The Adams Family theme): Days of the week (snap, snap). Days of the week (snap, snap). Days of the week. Days of the week. Days of the week (snap, snap). There's Sunday and there's Monday. There's Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. There's Friday and there's Saturday. Then we start again! Days of the week (snap, snap). Days of the week (snap, snap). Days of the week. Days of the week. Days of the week (snap, snap). 

# 0025: Little Excuses

This post may come back to bite me one day...
Does anybody else use their kids as excuses? This girl does! ("Oh, kids are sick- we can't go." "Shoot! Kids are too tired. We'll just stay here." "What? Can't hear you! Kids are too loud and outta control today!")
Most people figure out this goldmine of excuses early on in pregnancy and master it within the first trimester. The excuses during pregnancy are as many as there are stars in the sky! You've got forgetfulness, tiredness, foggy headedness, all sorts of pains and discomforts and basically anything you do wrong you can trace back to the baby inside you. It's really nice to have such an adorable little scapegoat that no one can be mad at. Even when the guilty party arrives, you've still got pregnancy hormones! Thank goodness, because here's my opportunity to blame all of my grammatical mistakes in this blog on lingering pregnancy hormones. Sorry!
But seriously, there is some truth to that "Pregnancy Brain" stuff.

Kids make great excuses to get you out of things. I'm not saying that's the only reason to have them, I'm just saying it's reason # 0025.

# 0024: Cleaning Grout

My sister told me about a grout cleaning recipe she found on Pinterest. I mean, we talk about other, way cooler things usually... really, really cool things... usually...

Anyway, since I own grout now, I thought I'd try it.
I tried it. I was down on my hands and knees scrubbing the grout in between the tiles on the kitchen floor. It wasn't too long before my son joined me with the extra rag I had laying on the floor. He knew just what to do. He really concentrated and wouldn't look up from his work. We scrubbed and scrubbed all around the kitchen. Then, his sister joined us. So, I got a rag for her. We scrubbed and scrubbed that grout. I don't know why this held any interest to them at all. Wait- I don't know why it held any interest for me in the first place.
There's not much to this story, but I like cleaning grout now. I don't do it very often, but I always think of those two little grout cleaners who helped me that day. I love how they joined in with whatever I was doing. It didn't matter what it was; we were together and it makes me smile to picture the three of us crawling around on the kitchen floor with our grout scrubbing rags (oh! and I was 40 weeks pregnant at the time- a little funnier).

It kind of makes me think of this article: http://powerofmoms.com/2010/04/whats-the-point-of-housework/.

Oh, and that grout cleaning recipe is:
• 7 cups of water
• 1/2 cup of baking soda
• 1/3 cup of lemon juice
• 1/4 cup of vinegar