Old Sturbridge Village

In our local area there is a museum called Old Sturbridge Village, the largest outdoor museum in the Northeast. It's a literal village built and run like a typical village in the late 1700's to early 1800's. As school children, the Knight and I took many field trips there to learn about our country's past and what life was like for our ancestors. Along with the 40 original buildings from that time period, the village also offers a staff of history interpreters, who wear authentic costumes of the time period and answer any questions that the visitors may have.

I have a lot of fond memories of my many trips to Old Sturbridge Village, from field trips as a student to bringing our foreign exchange students to the museum so they can experience our history as well.

Luckily for us, the Knight's company offers a free weekend at the museum to all its employees and their families. This past weekend was the free weekend, and although we were very busy, we made sure to squeeze in some time to take the girls. The museum often hosts "homeschooling days" for those families in the area who homeschool, and we can't wait until the girls are old enough where we can take advantage of that great program.

We had a lot of fun, although the Mermaid received her first bee sting. She was a real trooper about it, and at least we are pretty sure that she is not allergic. Here are some pictures:

Oxen, with one of the costumed "history interpreters."

The Mermaid was afraid to pet the oxen.

She felt much more confident when there was a fence between her and the animals

In one of the original buildings

The gazebo, overlooking the lake.

Here the Mermaid is helping to "clean" the clay before it goes onto the potter's wheel. She is powering the mill that churns the clay, causing all the rocks and other debris to sink to the bottom of the barrel. The potter then takes the clean clay off the top.

My favorite picture: our little prairie girl.

It was nice to be able to take the Guppy as well. It reminded me how last year when we went, I was pregnant with the Guppy and the Mermaid was only around 18 months old! :o)

Old Sturbridge Village

Trip to Boston and Salem

About two weeks ago the Knight's best friend came up from Arkansas with his new wife to visit. We spent the day visiting with them, we went to Boston and Salem.

Before I post picture of our trip, I must say this:

Living nearby to Salem, I've had many opportunities to study the witch trials throughout school. In college, I wrote a term paper on the witch trials for my History of Witchcraft course. I took many trips there before, both in field trips through school and with friends just to hang out. However, it was my first time going in October, during the Halloween season.

I always avoided Salem at Halloween simply because I really don't feel comfortable with the way they "play up" the fact that the witch trials occurred there to the tourists during this time. They close down Main Street and everyone goes crazy with Halloween fever. They have haunted houses, tours, witch exhibits, etc. Having done extensive research on the trials and reading about what actually occurred, I really do feel that this is disrespectful in a lot of ways to the people who were prosecuted during the trials.

I mean, come on. Women (and one man) were accused, thrown into prison, and killed for crimes they never committed. They trembled in fear while being led to their deaths. Their families and friends wept at their graves. The women in the town lived their days in fear of being the next accused.

Now, every year around Halloween, their deaths are made into a mockery, an excuse to get together to celebrate. People trounce through the cemetery and the other historical sites without a thought into what actually happened there, what it actually meant. Somehow it all seems so....disrespectful.

However, since our friends wanted to see Salem at Halloween, we went with them. But while they went into the Haunted Houses, we visited the cemetery to pay respects to those who were executed. And I was so very glad to see that some people thought the same way I did; for there, on each of the graves of those who were executed during the trials, were beautiful white roses.

The bar that inspired Cheers

Boston Common

Salem - Nursing the Guppy

Trip to Boston and Salem

Picture Time!

Built a tower
Loves her blocks
Wild Turkey passing through our yard
The Guppy playing
Oh geez, ma!

Picture Time!

Long Winded Rant Ahead!

To the rude woman that I met in HellMart yesterday,

You seemed nice when you first struck up a conversation with me while we were waiting in line. You asked about the pictures that I had developed and were waiting to pay for. When I told you that they were of the birth of my second child, you went on and on about how you loved your elective cesareans and would never have a vaginal birth because women who have vaginal births are "loose".

You know what? As ignorant and rude as you sounded, I respected the choices you made for your births and just smiled politely.

But then you had the nerve to criticise me for the rest of the twenty minutes that we were in line simply because I had a homebirth. You went on about how I was "crazy" and how it "wasn't natural". I'm sorry, but how much more natural could it have been? Even when I turned my back to you and ignored you, you still went on to the people around us about how crazy I am, how stupid I was, etc.

And while I ignored you at the time, to answer some of your rude comments and questions: no, it wasn't crazy. And no, it wasn't overwhelmingly painful (in fact, my hospital birth was more painful). And yes, I am one of "those mothers" who breastfeeds their children. Yes, my older daughter was present for the birth, and no, she isn't "ruined for life" because she witnessed it.

You were the one who felt the need to discuss your births with me. You apparently have lots of unresolved issues with your "wonderful" births, so much so that you became terribly rude and defensive when facing someone who did things differently. Just like you are not comfortable giving birth at home, I am not comfortable giving birth in the hospital. Different people, different choices, end of story. This concept is easy enough for my three year old to grasp, but your idiotic mind could not wrap itself around that idea. And so, twenty minutes later (thank you so much, Hellmart, for only having one cashier open!), I finally left the store, red-faced and feeling like a freak as everyone stared.

I am angry. Not at you, little ignorant and rude woman, but at myself. I should have told you off. I tried to be nice and not make a scene, but I should have turned around and knocked you down with my awesome verbal powers. I should have kicked your ignorant butt with statistics of homebirth safety, statistics on c-sections, forceps deliveries, episiotomies, etc. until you were so confused all you could do is drool.

If I had done that, I would have come home happy, and went about my life and forgotten about you in an hour. Instead, I'm sitting here and typing, wasting more time on you, simply because I didn't take the chance to stand up for myself when it was appropriate, and now I feel like the situation was left unresolved. And it is driving me crazy.

This I know to be true: as soon as I hit the "publish post" button, I am going to get up and go take my girls outside to play. And I will continue on with my life. And you will be forgotten in an hour. Because this is my choice, and I choose not to waste anymore time on you. I have better things to do. End of story.

Sincerely,
That homebirthing goddess you harassed in Hellmart because you sensed that her life was more fulfilled than yours and you were jealous (and you were right, it is).

Long Winded Rant Ahead!

The Mermaid in the News!

The Mermaid made the news back in September and I finally found the video. I wasn't able to snag it but you can view it here. She's the little girl who is chowing down on the corn :o)

The Mermaid in the News!

The Official Start of Homeschool and Other Thoughts

Today I took the girls to their first official homeschooling event. A new homeschooling group was started up in our area for children under six years old and I decided to go.

While I'm not sure I made a great first impression, I really liked all the other ladies and children that were there. They were all so kind and welcoming and really just interested in teaching their kids. While most meetings involves a more "structured" activity, today we had a Montessori School type of set up, with different activity stations set up around the room for the kids to work in. The activities were really engaging and encouraged the children to work together in order to accomplish their goals. We also had snack time, story time, and circle time.

Throughout most of the meeting I did have a horrible migraine coming on, so I wasn't too interactive. Hopefully at the next meeting I will make a better impression.

I also just wanted to put up this picture of some diapers that I made for the girls:

I'm also in the process of knitting some longies, but I haven't had much time to work on them lately.

I'm also attempting to get myself and the girls on a more organized schedule. Getting back into the FlyLady process and establishing routines are also going to help with that. Hopefully I will become more organized and therefore have more time to do things I love, such as sewing and knitting.

One other thing I did today was that I hired a nanny. I am not happy about leaving my girls with someone, but it is necessary in order to run my businesses. The woman is very nice and experienced, and my instinct says that she is a good choice. I will still be home with them most of the time, and mostly they will be there no longer than three hours.

The Knight and I have also decided to step up on our house hunting. Next week I am viewing twelve houses over a period of three days. For numerous reasons, it has become apparent to us that we need to get out of my mother's house as soon as possible, so we are taking steps towards that direction. Wish us luck!

The Official Start of Homeschool and Other Thoughts

Update and Now in Business

I know it's been a while since I've last posted but things have been a little hectic around here.

To start with we lost power at our house for a few days so we had to temporarily move in with my In-laws. It's a long story but the good news is we have power again and were able to move back in over the weekend.

Another thing that has been taking up a lot of my time is that I finished my Doula training and I am now officially in business! My Doula training was one of the most wonderful things I got to experience in my life and I'm so glad I made the decision to follow my dream. This week I've been working on officially launching my business by ordering my business cards, setting up my website, etc. I published my website this morning, it's not fully completed yet but all the basics are there. Please check it out and give me feedback, I would love to hear from you all! :o)

Maternal Goddess Doula Services

So between those two things and running my other business, I really have had limited time but hopefully I'll have more time to post in the coming week. Both the girls and the Knight are doing great and we are still house hunting so hopefully we will be in our own house soon!

Update and Now in Business

Infant Development: Tummy Time

During my Doula training class this past Saturday we had a wonderful woman come in to talk to us about infant development. The information she gave us was astounding.

Apparently in this country there is a real epidemic of children that have no tone in the front of their body, or flexion. This is from lack of tummy time. Babies are now sleeping on their backs, in the carseat and stroller on their backs, etc. and more and more parents are not being informed of the importance of tummy time. This can lead to developmental issues with crawling and walking.

Another problem that is prevalent in this country that is a result of lack of tummy time is that parents are now "prop sitting" or "prop standing" their infants more and more often. What happens then is that the children learn to prefer to sit or stand before their body is physically ready to do so. This can lead to back problems later in life, problems with the hips and pelvis, arthritis, etc.

The best thing to do for baby's development is to encourage flexion by always holding that infant in the "baby ball" position. That is, with knees tucked to the chest, head bent slightly in, arms tucked in. Hold the baby in this position when passing the baby over to someone else as well (instead of holding him or her under the armpits and letting his or her legs dangle). When putting the baby down on his or her back in order to play, or to change a diaper, or to sleep, first put the baby down in the baby ball onto his or her side, then slowly roll that baby onto his or her back by moving the hips, not by grabbing and pulling on the arms. Better yet, swaddle the baby into the baby ball position. Same thing when practicing tummy time: start off with the baby on his or her side in the baby ball position then slowly roll the baby onto his or her tummy; then get down and interact with baby during tummy time to make it fun. As soon as baby shows discomfort, slowly roll him or her back onto her side or back, and then pick the baby back up in the baby ball position.

Encourage the baby to take one developmental step at a time. Nature intended babies to follow a certain course: lifting his head, then pushing up on forearms, then rolling, then bell crawl, then side lie, then sitting, then pushing to all fours, then crawling on all fours, followed by kneel-sit, then kneel-stand, then bear-stand (standing on his feet with hands on the floor and behind in the air), followed by standing, then side stepping (or cruising), and finally walking. By encouraging baby to stand, sit, or walk too early through propping of the baby, the baby's body is not able to keep up with each developmental milestone and that is where problems can develop. Instead, focus on encouraging your baby to improve at whatever step he or she is currently at. Give lots of praise and encouragement at every achievement. Allow the baby to go into the next step of development at his or her own time, with a little encouragement from you. This way, the baby's body has plenty of time to develop flexion and and when baby does learn to walk, he or she will be able to walk properly and with confidence.

You can learn more about infant development at AlmaJoy, where director Lenore works with both healthy children and children with developmental issues to achieve their highest potential at whatever stage they are in. She also has a great booklet available for parents that is filled with advice on how to encourage flexion and proper development.

Infant Development: Tummy Time