Testing The Internet

I am in the throes of producing an evening of music and theatre in which I'm also performing. The short form of that sentence is: I'm busy. But I like putting things up on my blog and hearing what you have to say so when ProfDoc asked, "Is there anything I can do to help, you know, remotely?" I had a light bulb and said, "Yes, content please." So a guest blogger today. Anyone else want to contribute to the cause before my show (info posted here soon) goes up on February 15 & 16?

A little bit of the Mommy Blog, right here at 117 Hudson:

As of today, I have been a Mom for six months. Six months ago today, we met 15 month old ProfDocJr in the lobby of our hotel and he has been ours ever since. Or, rather, we have been his; he is in his 2nd year, after all: "MINE!" So to commemorate these 6 months of parenthood, I catalog the changes.


1. Less sleep. I feel badly complaining about this because PDJ usually sleeps through the night, or Daddy gets up with him, but those weekend mornings lying in bed until 8… 8:30… 9… Gone. And, we stay up later now too, savoring the quiet.

2. More laughter. That boy makes me laugh my ass off. Sometimes with him, sometimes at him. What else can you do when he's so proud that he put his coat on by himself? Upside down.

3. Less down-time and more appreciation for the down-time I have. Which for me is a good thing; I don't sit still well.

4. More Eric Carle & Dr. Seuss & Sandra Boynton. Toddler books rule! Even when I can recite them from memory. Mr. brown bear can moo. Can you, red bird? (ed. note: The Philadelphia Chickens CD linked here is awesome.)

5. More problem-solving. I almost hate to admit it, but this is my favorite part of parenting. Toddler is doing X. Toddler should be doing Y, or at least not doing X. How do I get Toddler from X to Y with the least amount of screaming, hitting, biting, scratching, kicking possible? It's not that much different than being a wife or teacher, really.

6. More homonyms. I go running up the stairs, disgruntled, because he's in his crib yelling "Poo!" When I go into his room and find him pointing across the room, I discover that he was, in fact, yelling "Pooh!" As in Winnie-the.

7. More fun grocery shopping. Never before has the huge cut-out of Tony the Tiger been so exciting. "Tony thinks you're GRRRRReat!" And it's now okay to say the name of every item I put in the cart, or keep a running dialogue of what we need to find next.

8. More appreciation for Daddy. Single Moms, I don't know how you do it. Daddy, you're shouldering at least your fair share of the load and doing a great job (even if I say otherwise due to #11 More stress/frustration/crankiness).

9. Less correct pronunciation. We're probably maiming his linguistic skills for life, but we've taken to adopting his pronunciations of words. Bopen the door, pease. Dank youm. Duckch (as in rubber duckchy). Melmo.

10. More of the same Having heard that being a parent changes you, I was curious about how it would change me. It has -- see #1-9 -- but it hasn't, really. Mommyhood isn't, and likely won't be, what defines who I am; it's just another facet that makes me me.


PS My hidden agenda here is to see how many other parent blogs I can get to link to Kizz. (ed. note: I love this experiment. I bet there are many parent blogs who will think I'm a nutter.)

(ed. note: I'm leaving the signature from ProfDoc's e-mails intact since I love it so. RIP The Class.)
"I'm going home. I need a dry shirt and a chocolate gorilla." (The Class)