Six (or Seven) Things About Me

I’ve been tagged by Amy over at What i Am and by Julie over at Bookworm for the “Six Things” meme. Actually, Amy’s version of it is really “Seven Things”, so if I can think of one more interesting, wacky, or otherwise post-worthy thing about me after I’ve written six of them, I’ll go for the seventh.

1. I am a flutist. I haven’t played with any regularity in years, but I used to be pretty good at the instrument. I went to a fine arts high school on a flute scholarship, and I minored in music in college. I did play a bit in grad school, but that’s going on ten years ago now. I really hope when the boys get older I can find some time to play again.

2. I am also a singer. I didn’t sing in high school or college. At those stages in my life I was convinced I couldn’t carry a tune. But a few years ago my desire to learn something about singing became strong enough to convince me to join a local women’s a capella group (no audition needed). I enjoyed that, so when the women’s group folded, I tried my hand at a larger community SATB chorus. And had a blast. I sang with them when Liam was tiny, but stopped when I was getting to the end of my last pregnancy. I’d love to go back, and as soon as the kids grow up a bit, I think I will. Right now, with the needs of two small boys on my hands, I’d miss too many rehearsals to meet the stringent attendance policy.  But kids grow quickly, I’m having a lot of fun with them now, and choir will wait a few years, I’m sure.

3. I love irises. Actually, I love most of the Spring blooming perennials, but irises are my absolute favorites. My grandfather, who was one of the most loving and strong influences in my life, worked tirelessly in his retirement years cultivating an absolutely breathtaking iris garden. I would love to try my hand at an iris bed, too. I’m eyeing a spot in our front yard, and I may try planting just a few bulbs this Fall to see how it goes. Maybe I’ll plant some yellows and some light purples – as a child I loved the cheery yellows, while Granddaddy preferred the more subdued lavender.

4. I have a long history of owning exotic and just plain strange pets. When I was growing up I had the usual dog, cats, guinea pig, hamsters, and gerbils. But that is not the end of the story. As a result of having a mom who loved animals as much as I do (and who taught at a vet school and so ran into exotic critters fairly regularly), we were graced with, at various times, a Great Horned Owl, a litter of piglets, a red fox, a large tortoise, a group of Red Slider turtles, grasshoppers (we wintered their eggs over in our freezer, so we ended up with several generations of them), and last but now least, Sea Monkeys. All of the stranger animals came to us as orphaned or injured animals. My mom would tend to them until they were ready to go back to the wild, and the ones who couldn’t survive on their own were found permanent homes in safe sanctuaries or zoos. Except the pigs. They moved in with our next-door neighbors and became beloved pets.

5. My professional background is chemistry. I worked as a research chemist for a pharmaceutical house for four years between college and grad school, and then after grad school I taught college general and organic chemistry. Then the kiddos came along. I am a medicinal chemist with a specific interest in antibiotic design and development. But all this is not the odd part. The odd part is that I am a third-generation chemist. Both my grandmother and grandfather were petroleum chemists for the US Government. My grandmother’s elder sister, my Aunt Esther, was also a chemist. She got her PhD in organic chemistry in the 1930′s sometime, and I assume she was one of the first women to earn a chemistry PhD from an American University. And my father was a chemist. He earned his BS in chemistry, worked in industry for a while, and then went to grad school in business. He spent the rest of his career as a business professor with a specific interest in the petroleum and petroleum by-product industries.

6. I love trains. Real trains, toy trains, freight trains, passenger trains, any kind of train. I had a big model railroad layout in our basement when I was in elementary school, and I really hope Liam keeps up his strong interest in trains so that the two of us can build a similar layout when he’s old enough. This interest comes in handy in my current profession of motherhood. I may be the only mom around who knows all the Thomas characters on sight, I don’t mind talking (almost) endlessly about trains, and I’m usually up for playing with trains.

7. And here’s my seventh thing – I love sleep. I don’t get enough of it most nights since I also like to read blogs, read books, and knit. So I made myself a rule – no computer use after 9:00 unless it’s an emergency. Something about screen time gets my brain all worked up, and I can’t fall asleep right away after using a computer. Since I started that rule I’ve been much happier, so I intend to keep it up. All of which means I need to click “publish” in the next few minutes!

1,2,3

Julie also tagged me for the 1,2,3 meme. For this game. my mission is to go to page 123 of the nearest book, find the the fifth sentence, and then quote the next three sentences. At the end of the game I get to tag seven of you lovely readers. Those of you who are tagged get to leave a comment on the blog of the person second from the end on my list and do the memes yourself. Here we go!

Now I must relocate to another room, as all I can find here are children’s picture books. None of them even approaches 123 pages, nor has five sentences on one page. So here we go, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle……

AHA!

I just found my copy of Laundry: The Home Comforts Book of Caring for Clothes and Linens by Cheryl Mendelson.

Non-wool blankets are almost always machine washable and machine-dryable, assuming that your washer and dryer are large enough for them. Blankets should be washed singly, one by one. To be sure a blanket will fit, try it out in both your washer and your dryer before proceeding.

This is a wonderful book that has saved many sweaters, tops, diapers, and items of children’s clothing for me. It is an intellectual’s guide to laundry. It was a fun read the first time around, and now is a valuable reference book. It has a companion book that takes the same approach to the larger realm of housekeeping and is also a terrific read and a great reference.It’s a gigundo homemaking manual, and you can find an answer to just about any household query in its pages. In these days of Google there are not many real paper books that I actually keep handy as everyday references, but these two do reside on an easy-to-get-to shelf in our living room.

TAG!

And there you have it – two memes. As my self-imposed curfew came around an hour ago, I am going to tag some lucky readers and vamoose before I have to ground myself or suspend my allowance for a week.

Hope all of you enjoyed reading these memes, and now – Chichimama, Victoria, Christy, Suzanne, Steph, Lindy, and Kate, you’re it!

I do realize that with two small children I’m going to have less time for blogging pursuits. I recognize that this needy and Mommy-intensive part of their lives is so so short, so so intense, and largely, so so fun that the lack of blogging is not something that will ever be important in the years to come. And that’s OK for the most part, but still I must post more often. I need to write (or post pictures) for the therapeutic and stress-reducing (or laugh and tear-inducing) aspects of the activity.

So I’ve embarked upon a late New Year’s resolution – I am going to post regularly, at least every week, and preferably twice. Hopefully I’ll occasionally  produce a post of substance, but if nothing else, at least a run-down of the week’s noteworthy and ever-so-mundane events would fulfill the memory book aspect of Come, Mommy.

So for this entry I am going to tackle a meme that looks to be ever-so-much fun, and has been hanging around the back of my brain begging to be written ever since Amy over at Crunchy Domestic Goddess sent it to me. Basically, it’s a quick interview composed of five questions, all of which were written by Amy herself. I get to answer them, hopefully providing some interesting and/or amusing words for all of you to read. Then, in the second part of the meme, I get to take on Amy’s role. If you want to participate in this meme, leave me a note to that effect in the “comments” section, and I will compose five unique questions for you to answer on your blog.

That is how the meme goes, so here I go…

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1. You have two beautiful and amazing children. Do you feel your family is complete or can you see more kids in your future?

The trend these days, is to larger families, and everywhere I go I see families of three, four, or more children. I doubt the Menagerie House will ever see more than two children of the human variety, however. I love babies and children, and I would so love to have the amazing birth that I had with Kieran all over again. (I know, I know, I never did write his birth story. I meant to, but time has truly flown by this year. However, his 1st birthday is on Easter Sunday, and I think that would be terrific time to tell the story. So that’s what I plan to do. Hopefully fate allows this plan to come to fruition.)

There are, however, certain realities of life that present themselves here. Kevin feels that two children make a complete family for us, and on most days I agree with him. Also, I am not getting any younger, and I am now quite ancient of Advanced Maternal Age. We’ve been blessed with two wonderful, healthy boys, and I’m not sure I want to roll the dice on fertility and chromosomal issues again given my age. I do think, though, that were I to have an unexpected pregnancy I would be quite happy (after I got over the shock.)

And thank you, Amy, for the compliment on my sons. I personally think they are beautiful and amazing, too, but I’m their mom and therefore it is my privilege to be biased. I’m glad you enjoy reading about them!

2. What little known fact about you might surprise some of your readers?

Well, had I written this post in a timely fashion I would have told you about my knitting hobby. But I resurrected it back in January and have already done some posting about it. So, hhhhmmmmmmm, little known fact, little known fact…

Aha! I love flowers and plants. I plan to do a simple garden of watermelons, pumpkins, carrots, and tomatoes with Liam this summer. And I recently discovered the hobby of dried-flower arranging. I got my hands on some dried peonies, rose buds, lavender, angels’ breath, and a variety of seed pods, and I’ve made some simple arrangements for our home. It was fun!

3. Now that we’ve entered into the Waldorf school system with Ava in preschool, I love to learn all I can on the subject. Why did you choose Waldorf for Liam and do you plan to send Kieran there as well?

We chose Waldorf for Liam for several reasons. Part of it is our strong disagreement with the emphasis on standardized testing and grades that is going on in the public schools at the moment. In our local district it is not uncommon for seventh graders to start tutoring for the SAT’s, and even early elementary students spend four or five days a month (some months more) either practicing for or taking standardized tests. I feel strongly that this focus can lead to all-or-nothing thinking where each problem has one right answer. The real world is clearly not that simple. Of all the skills I think tomorrow’s adults will need, being able to think creatively and solve problems with messy solutions will be up there in importance.

I further mourn the loss of art and music in the entire school system, and I worry that the elimination of playtime and recess for the younger children is harmful to them on many levels. Kids have at least one hour of homework starting in first grade here, and I think that is too much pressure too soon for children who have barely reached an age where they can think with some intellectual strength.

Two of the fundamental tenets of Waldorf education are respect for children and respect for their needs. As adults we may feel panicky about the pace of change in the world and respond to that pressure by teaching more and more facts at an earlier and earlier age. But the fact is that children mature at the same rate they did one hundred years ago, and by trying to push them rapidly to adulthood in intellectual and behavioral areas, we do them a great disservice. The results of this for many children are anxiety, perfectionism, or giving up on learning altogether. An adult who doesn’t like to learn and who doesn’t know how to think creatively will struggle in this world of fast technological change.

Waldorf education speaks to the soul, the body, and the mind of each child through movement, art, music, literature, math, and handwork. It supports the entire child as he or she unfolds into adulthood, but does not force the child into mature roles too early. For young children like Liam, this in practical terms means a warm, cozy, home-like nursery school where play is the main idea. The children help prepare and eat wholesome homemade snacks like whole wheat bread, homemade soup, and fruit. Their classroom is full of non-commercial open-ended toys, and puppet shows and nursery rhymes are used as a way of encouraging literacy. Liam has grown by leaps and bounds there in the three years he has been involved with the school, and it really is a perfect fit for a Lemur who spends much of his time in Imagination City.

Assuming Kieran is a good fit at Waldorf he will be attending school there through Grade 8, just like his older brother. All four of us have become happy members of the school community, which serves as a system of support for both parents and children. It’s a warm, cozy fit for all of us, and we can’t imagine sending our children to a different school.

4. What led you to have a home birth with Kieran?

Our area is blessed to have a practice of experienced homebirth midwives. They have thousands of birth between the two of them. Only about 10% of their planned homebirths end up transferring to a hospital, and their c-section rate is an amazing 4%. I didn’t know that much about them when I was pregnant for the first time with Liam, but subsequently I heard all sorts of wonderful stories about their home births from other mothers at La Leche League and at Waldorf. If I had to estimate I would say 30-40% of Liam classmates were home births with these wonderful women in attendance. So I called them up first thing when I realized I was pregnant with Kieran, and the rest is history.

There is a lot of controversy about the safety of home births. I’m not going to jump into the middle of that argument here. I can’t speak to anyone else’s view, but I researched this decision up and down before planning a homebirth. The data that I found, when applied to my situation (full-term, healthy pregnancy, experienced , certified homebirth midwife in attendance, hospital with a Level II NICU within 15 minutes drive), indicated to me that if anything, birthing a baby at home would be slightly less risky than giving birth in a hospital. Although the specific threats are different in the hospital than in the home, the risk of serious injury or death to either me or the baby turned out to be lower at home due to the higher chance of infection or c-section in the hospital. So after coming to this conclusion, the choice was easy.

My birth with Kieran was much better and easier than when I gave birth to Liam. I could move or not as I saw fit, eat and drink or not as I wanted, and choose my place and position to give birth rather than being stuck in bed on my back. After he was born we lulled about and nursed at our leisure, I went to take a relaxing shower in my own bathroom, and then Kieran and I went back to bed to hang out with Liam and Kevin. There were no techs and nurses in and out at all hours looking for vital signs or blood from either me or the baby. No one came in to wake us up so that we could fill out the birth certificate forms. And when the midwives came back on the next few days to check both me and Kieran, they called first to make sure it was a good time for them to arrive.

All in all it was an empowering and relaxing birth. It allowed me to really appreciate what the human body can do, and specifically to realize how perfectly our female bodies are designed. And it allowed all of us to start our lives as a family of four while being together in our home – no separations, no interruptions, no muss, no fuss.

It was perfect.

5. Let’s say you are going to be stranded with your family on a deserted island for 90 days. What 3 things would you take with you and why?

Hhhhmmmm, I’m going to assume that this deserted island has drop service from Target so that life’s essentials like food, socks, and Diet Coke don’t have to be issues. Therefore, since I’ve already got Kevin and the boys, then all I need are our pets. I’m willing to let the neighbors feed the fish, but for a trip of 3 months, I’d be taking Casey, Houdini, and Pippi. Just think how much fun two ferrets, two little boys, and a large dog could have tunneling through all that wonderful sand!

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And there you have it – Part 1 of Amy’s Interview Meme. Here are the rules for Part 2:

Now it’s your turn. If you want to be interviewed, leave me a comment including the words “Interview me.” I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions. If you don’t have a valid email address on your blog, please provide one. You will update your blog with a post containing your answers to the questions. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Its content is a bit of a departure from my normal content, but, probably because it is different, I had a fun time writing it. I hope a lot of you will want to play along. It’s always fun to find out interesting new things about our friends, so do think about joining in!

Here’s my Real Mom Story – I mowed the back yard on Sunday. Not that mowing a lawn is anything unusual in suburban USA, but the part of it that only another mom would get is that I did it to get a break from parenting for a bit, and also to help Kevin out. But mostly it was to get some time to myself.

Yes, it’s true. I spent 45 minutes pushing a very loud mower ’round and ’round the backyard just so I cold escape the screaming of the Mighty and Powerful Leonard. He wasn’t screaming in despair, or frustration, but apparently only to test his ability to sound like “a fire engine or an ambeebeelance.” And the sound was about to break the last nerve in my nervous system.

So I got some alone time outside on a gorgeous Spring afternoon. Sure it was loud, and I accidentally sent a lone tulip to its death, but no one was sitting on me, leaking on me, or asking ten-umpty-thousand “Why???” questions. It was great. And Kevin was even impressed with my mighty mower skills.

Anyone need some yard work taken care of? Have mower, will travel.

Real Moms – Finding alone time in very strange places…..

And with this, I tag Chichimama, Rebecca, Steph, Kate, and Jennifer. Have fun, ladies!