** On being included**We had a play date today at a big bounce house type place. I was there for a while before the girls I was meeting arrived. Another mom’s group was also there.
You may not know this, but I’m what you would call an extrovert. An outgoing type person. It’s usually not at all difficult for me to walk up to a total stranger and introduce myself. New situations, new people don’t make me feel uncomfortable, just curious, and sometimes energized.
I spoke briefly to one of the moms from the other group when we were at the check in together, but once the other moms got here, I just hung out with my kids, because it’s been my experience that moms groups are generally (hopefully inadvertently) exclusionary, and there doesn’t seem to be much of a point trying to talk to them.
Imagine my surprise, when not one, not two, but THREE of the moms came up to me separately to introduce herself and invite me to join them. That’s what it should be like! Since I’m nearly always on the introducing/extending end of meeting people, I truly had no idea how good that felt to be invited and welcomed.
**On bleeding**Several articles in Mothering made me really think. One was about making your daughter’s menarche (first period) a wonderful rite of passage. It never even occurred to me to celebrate this transition to womanhood, or do anything special at all. I wonder what that could look like.
One was about cloth pads. I never really thought about that before, even though we part-time cloth diaper. A woman will produce 300 pounds of menstrual waste in her lifetime. I may have to buy some or make some.
One was about tilted uteri. I was told I had one when I was about 19, and that I might have trouble getting pregnant. That was all. My mom said she was told the same thing, but she never had any trouble at all. We did try for a long time (to us) for Aviana, but didn’t have any problems conceiving our other babies.
But not one of my practitioners in my history, ever mentioned any other problems a tilted uterus might cause. These include headaches/migraines, painful periods, chronic constipation, lower back ache among a host of others. Most of these problems I have had have been immensely helped by nutrition, but it would have been nice to know this before now! There is an interesting massage technique that has been shown to help many, many women.
(the above links are just ones I found relating to the topic)
**On math** I do not have a mathematical mind at all, but I think my oldest does. I want to provide her with an empowering math program, but I am completely stymied on what to get. I know it’s just primary math. I know I can switch if we don’t like it. I know it’s really not that big of deal. But still. I seem to be paralyzed in choosing. Something. Anything.
**On Canada** The Canadians are no longer being forced to have a Cesarean for a breech baby like American women are. Go Canada!
I'm always the one doing the asking so it's so nice when someone comes up to ask me to do something. We all just want to be liked!
I was home schooled starting in 10th grade. I really liked the way Saxon Math was presented. Have you ever heard of it?
Also, thanks for the info regarding tilted uteri. I didn't know mine was tilted till I was pregnant with my second baby.
My comment is two-fold: I talked with several of the moms for a long time too – especially Amy. They were very nice and I gave her my e-mail so they can send me info on their Moms group outings, etc. They were very genuine and friendly – very comforting to meet people like that! (I also had a good time talking with Laura and getting to know her better too!)
Also, it took us awhile to get pregnant the first time with Emma, so imagine our surprise when we got pregnant with Molly when Emma was only 7 months old and I was on birth control! Love those good surprises though! 🙂 I really need to read this Mothering magazine – so many people have told me good things about it!
Math: Math-U-See by Steve Demi is amazing. I did Bob Jones and Saxon up till I failed Algebra 1/2 (Saxon's PreAlgebra) in 7th grade. I transitioned to Algrebra 1 & Geometry from MUS and continued to float in the 80s-90s range through that, Algebra 2, and Trigonometry. At the same time my mom transitioned all my siblings to this program – 2 of them are in scientific careers, where they really need the skills (they are more scientifically gifted). My other sister and I are less scientifically gifted, but still managed to have good grades.
The big plus is that I stopped crying about math every single day. Math-U-See is designed for visual and tactile learners. (I'm visual). Hope that's helpful!
And GO CANADA on vaginal breech deliveries! I loved mine! 🙂
I have a tipped uterus as well and have also never been told about the possible effects. I never had a hard time getting pregnant either.
Have you checked out The Critical Thinking Co. for math products. http://www.criticalthinking.com/getProductDetails.do?code=p&id=03904 I've gotten some for Gabe, really cool stuff.
I'm glad you had the chance to feel the joy of being invited for a change. As nice as it is to be inviting to someone else, being on the receiving end is nice too.
That was a good Mothering! I really liked the article on menses as well. It went a little to far for *me*, but I think it is a very empowering thing to honor the female body. Especially at that age.
Cloth pads are great, I switched a few years ago, but I would urge you to go one step further and look into menstrual cups. They are easier, less mess and hassle, and I often forget I'm even using it! I'll never go back, check them out!
Yay for Canada and friendly moms!!
Sarah Norman
Hey, how do we get America to not force c-sections for all breech births? I asked for my birth with CJ and they just told me the doctor's aren't trained to handle it. The thing is they believe they should have to assist in that. Because, what if a woman comes in in labor and doesn't know she's breech and it's too far along. Then in an emergency situation they are not equipped to handle the birth. Now in all honesty I'm not entirely sure that I would have had a good outcome with a vaginal birth with my son since he had the cord wrapped around his neck twice and I definitely do not regret my decision to not have a version since that definitely would have caused me to have an emergency c-section with a 36 week baby and I didn't want that. So given my choices I know I chose the right one, but the 3rd option would have been nice to have.
Go Canada indeed!!!
And a math tutor (even a high school volunteer) would be great! Not sure of any programs.