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So my friend Mandi knows about hair. I need hair help. We all know this now. She sent me her Lilla Rose hair sticks. Check her site and find her on Facebook. We met through the blogging world and I’ve found her to be super sincere and sweet. Back to how she’s totally helping me . . . I have thick, postpartum, almost falling out, still thick, still likes to dreadlock itself hair. Me and my elastic hair binders just are not in a good place in our relationship. Enter hair sticks. Enter it’s out of my face and feels “cute” maybe even “presentable” maybe even “not a mom of three.” Let’s not get carried away here. Let’s just say it can be out of my face. And not in a hair binder. And I could even wear a special pre-baby days coat. Looking not like a mama. Who are we kidding. Easy peasy pudding pie. Yes, that was Blessed Mother Teresa on my teeshirt. Yes, those are the boyfriend Gap jeans Blythe talked about I found on Twice. And then she sweetly sent two pins for SweetPea. This is a girl who rips things out of her hair. ALL THE TIME. But this? She loved. For me? SO pretty, mama!! I’m going to wear it for sleeping time. And then she went on to tell her brothers that she is a sweet flower. No lack of confidence over here, folks. And showing off her fav new dress, a little Joules number…
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Oh, no, I wasn’t offering any. I was asking for help with my greasy hair. Often times I don’t have time to wash my hair. I have loads and yards of it and when I’m taking a bath at midnight {ME TIME!} or with the kids {THEM TIME!} I don’t want to stick my head awkwardly under the faucet and wash. So it can go a week+ and look pretty grease ball. Or maybe it’s okay? Humor me. No. Don’t. It’s greasy. Looking. My girlfriend Natalia over at Ma Nouvelle Mode has a youtube channel with hair help. She’s very very helpful!! And Katie at Wellness Mama has homemade natural shampoo, too. If you have darker hair, I think you can pull of the no shampoo forever and it doesn’t look greasy look. My sister Molly has! She alleges her husband didn’t even notice she hadn’t shampooed. Aron, is this true? But back to me and my make believe blonde–I mean reminding my hair follicles of the color God wanted them. What do I do with greasy hair when I have to go to a party (above pictured), or church (imagine this ^^ dress with a shrug), or a date ^^. ?? Do you like the kids’ bath toys in the background? Me too. Help a girlfriend out. That’s me.
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Most of my friends having babies have support. They have a husband or partner. They have access to childbirth education to learn about what’s happening inside, and how that inside baby comes out. They are supported to be able to breastfeed if they choose it. Yeah, we have birth privilege. ^^ me & my doula, Liz Abbene! What about women who aren’t well enough off to afford birth classes? What about women who are unexpectedly pregnant, who choose life for their babies, or who are recent immigrants and English isn’t yet familiar to them? What about those mamas and those babies? Who’s going to be their educator? Their doula? Their nursing support system? Because let’s be honest. The world looks at low-income pregnant moms and thinks another baby?? The world thinks they’re not worth helping and that those babies shouldn’t be here. The world sees them as a problem, a burden on society. Worthless. To be disregarded, disrespected, and looked down on. My friends Mary and Debby started Everyday Miracles. These women are the real thing. I interviewed them last year. Read it here. This is the kind of work that would make Blessed Mother Teresa proud. They pour out their love, energy, and kindness on moms like the ones I’ve described. They are love in action. This is what Christ meant when he said to take care of the least of our brethren. I’m so blown away by the work they do. I’m so humbled by it. I want to help…
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First off, you’re not alone. Congrats on being a parent who is frustrated with their child of any age. Frustration is a normal feeling that goes hand in glove with joyful exuberance. The one can’t exist without the other. I’ve written about discipline lots before: Taming Your Tantruming Toddler, Helping Emotional Little Boy, Why Fear & Force Don’t Work, Bad Habits, Big Boy Battles: Loving Discipline, and more under the “parenting” tab. We are frustrated when things aren’t going as well as when we are joyfully exuberant about how wonderful our kid is. The baby is so cute. THE BABY IS CRYING NONSTOP. It all switches so quickly. First time parents are dismayed and rather shocked at how much time it takes to figure out how to really truly meet your baby’s needs. How to answer his or her cries for help, a diaper, a deep burp, a hunger, a rough adjustment to life outside the womb. I was. I had no clue about why my baby was crying. Sure, I’d read the books. I’d talked to everyone. But my baby. My baby. What were his needs? What were his little desires? What could I do for him that would assuage his inane relentless crying? Now some babies have acid reflux, and some babies are “colicky.” Mine had/was neither. He just wanted to be held almost all the time, upright, and he seemed to always hide his burps. And he seemed to know when I sat down. It was a hard learning…
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I posted on Facebook today that a big part of why I’m doing this healthy living bundle sale is because I want to empower you. “Empower.” Such an annoying buzz word. Along with “genuine” and “authentic” and “relatable.” I was texting about the way these words are like scraping a fork on a plate for both of us. Ha! Anyway. Back to business. It’s the last few hours for this healthy living bundle I’ve been talking about. The link to buy is here. Or this fancy button: Empower. I sobbed the other day in the car after leaving the coop. (natural foods coop.) I had bought organic crackers again!!! I hadn’t yet made my own!!!! Didn’t I pin those recipes? Couldn’t I save my family the money and make the most wholesome delicious crackers in the world? What kind of natural mother was I??? WAAAAAAAAAA —–reality check! I’m a great mom. And making my own crackers isn’t going to change that. After laughing about this with my sisters and a few girlfriends, I could exhale. I don’t have to do everything from scratch. I don’t have to make crackers. Whew.———— I grew up with a loving mother and father who both worked hard to provide food, shelter in a gorgeous house, plenty of hand-me down clothing, first rate education, amazing trips around the world, and siblings, built in frenemies. But the food. My mother is a baker, not a cook, and it was the 80’s. Food was kinda like science…
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My poor sainted husband. This man. He has to listen to me talk all about my online life, my online friends ((waving)), and now take photos of me in the backyard at 8pm while I’m fake laughing. Bear with me here. {{was I supposed to lighten my teeth? they’re a little yellow. #sorrynotsorry}} It all started when I met the wonderful ladies from Joules at The 100 Event this summer. Joules is a British company, accent included, that offers lovely high end clothing & accessories for your whole family. And boots. Cannot forget the boots. They sent me this beautiful dress (I’m wearing a slightly different version), this handsome men’s polo shirt, and these stellar vests for SuperBoy & SweetPea. At the conference, we were gifted an amazing bag (see more of their selection here), and will be mailed a pair of their famous boots! Remember that if you’re on a budget, they have a fabulous and affordable outlet section too! Scroll down . . . \\\\ for giveaway! \\\ So we set out to photograph them. The dress, the vests, the whole kit & caboodle. I had an impulse to shower after dinner, and then blow dry my hair, apply two layers of lipstick, my face oils, no eye make because HELLO large glasses!, and then make my husband photograph me. Maybe it wasn’t the best timing? The kids wanted so desperately to help. And then so desperately not to go to sleep after. First I leaned up against the…
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