filling the silence in the motherhood discussion
It always boggles my mind when people use their kid’s photo as their own Facebook profile photo. It boggles it even more when they then send me a friend request.
If they’re sending me a friend request, odds are they’re not someone I see on a regular basis, so how am I supposed to recognize that person from a photo of their newborn or their child’s first day at school?
This blog needs a “sigh and shakes head” emoticon.
Happy Whiny Wednesday. What’s boggling your mind today?
During August, as I enjoy some travel time, I’m sharing some of my favorite and your favorite posts from the past year. I’ll look forward to seeing you again in September. ~Lisa
Today’s post was originally run on 9/26/12
Yesterday I accompanied my friend as she underwent a very unpleasant test for a big, scary health issue. My friend is a lot like me: she has no children and her family is many miles away. No one should go through something like this alone, so I volunteered to be, what she good-naturedly called, her “Biopsy Buddy.”
I’m sure the medical center staff has been highly trained in putting nervous patients at ease, and the nurse who prepped my friend for her procedure did a good job of making safe small-talk. Unfortunately, she latched onto the topic of Halloween, her big plans to go to Disneyland for the evening, and the problems of trying to find a Halloween costume to fit a 7-year-old with extra-long legs. If she was looking to get a conversation started to ease the tension, she picked the wrong, darn subject.
I don’t blame her for going with what she assumed to be a safe bet. I just wish the topic of children wasn’t always the go-to conversation starter.
It’s Whiny Wednesday. What do you wish was different today?
During August, as I enjoy some travel time, I’m sharing some of my favorite and your favorite posts from the past year. I’ll look forward to seeing you again in September. ~Lisa
Today’s post was originally run on 5/29/13
After telling a friend recently that I haven’t had an invitation to a baby shower in years, guess what popped into my inbox last week?
But here’s the kicker: the invitation is from someone I don’t know who’s throwing a shower for someone else I don’t know, who happens to be expecting twins.
I scratched my head for a while wondering how to handle this. Should I point out I know neither the hostess nor the mother-to-be or should I just show up bearing gifts? (Okay, I was kidding about the latter.)
I guess this is the Universe’s strange idea of a practical once, and for once, I’m actually laughing.
It’s Whiny Wednesday. What strange, ironic, or downright annoying things are going on in your Universe right now?
During August, as I enjoy some travel time, I’m sharing some of my favorite and your favorite posts from the past year. I’ll look forward to seeing you again in September. ~Lisa
Today’s post was originally run on 6/13/12
We have a skunk family living under the house behind us. It’s so fun to watch them scrabbling around in the garden with their little tails stuck in the air, all attitude. I’m not foolish enough to get close, but from a distant, they’re terribly cute…
…until they dug up my vegetable garden.
I came out the other day to find my pepper plants all felled, my tomatoes tunneled under, and skunk-sized holes among my Swiss chard. There was dirt and seedlings flung far and wide.
Trying to maintain a good attitude, I am grateful that I even have a garden in my urban environment, and that there are critters that get to share this space. But, as it’s Whiny Wednesday, I’m dropping the Pollyanna act for today. Grrr.
What are you muttering about between gritted teeth today?
During August, as I enjoy some travel time, I’m sharing some of my favorite and your favorite posts from the past year. I’ll look forward to seeing you again in September. ~Lisa
Today’s post was originally run on 4/4/12
Kathleen’s post about mistakes and well-intentioned people got me thinking about people who really ought to just mind their own business.
A few years ago, when I my glorious plans for motherhood were just beginning to come crashing down around my ears, Mr. Fab and I went wine tasting. As a rich, fruity cabernet was hitting my bloodstream and making my crappy world feel better, a woman (whose world was feeling a little too good) leaned over and said, “Should you be drinking?”
I was confused for a moment, until I realized she was peering at my belly. Admittedly, I’d put on a few stress pounds over the previous year, but I was beyond mortified that she’d mistaken my bloat for a pregnancy, especially considering that was the one thing I was truly aiming for.
I’d like to tell you that she realized her mistake immediately, but alas, she had to ask me twice – the second time for everyone around us to hear.
So, while I agree that most people are well-intentioned when they make a faux pas, in some cases, people just ought to keep their traps shut and mind their own damn business.
It’s Whiny Wednesday, ladies. Let ‘em fly.
I am rushing around stuffing things in a suitcase with one hand and trying to finish up all the work I really ought to do before I leave for England to visit my mum.
As I’ll be on a plane and hopefully asleep by the time you read this, I don’t have too much to whine about this week, but please feel free to whine on my behalf. It is Whiny Wednesday, after all.
Last week I went out for a short hike in my local park and decided I felt so good I would run a bit.
So I did.
And I fell.
Again.
Fortunately, this time I sustained only a knee scrape, sore hands, and a bruise.
Until I got up the next morning and realized that the impact of my fall had to go somewhere, and it had gone up my arms, into my shoulders and neck, down my back, and basically into every single muscle in my body.
Never have a felt every single day of my age (or even single ounce of my weight!)
It’s Whiny Wednesday. What are feeling sorry for yourself about today?
I love to receive pitches from guest bloggers, especially from regular LWB readers. I think there’s great value in sharing our stories and points-of-view on a topic that doesn’t get much “air time.”
I’ve included Writer’s Guideline” on the site, so that writers who aren’t familiar with the blog can understand what we’re all about here and offer up something appropriate.
So it drives me potty when I receive pitches like “8 foods to feed your child’s brain” and “Me time for busy moms.”
As a writer, I used to get annoyed when editors wouldn’t respond to my submissions. Now I realize that their inboxes are probably so full of inquiries from people sending out random and completely inappropriate pitches that they just delete the lot.
Anyway, it’s Whiny Wednesday. What’s bugging you today?
Tomorrow is Independence Day here in the U.S.. This means fireworks, barbecues, family gatherings, and food.
As I’m lucky enough to live close to a beach that hosts a public fireworks display, this also means street closures, snarled traffic, drunks letting off fireworks late into the night, trash strewn all over the beach, the park, and my front lawn, and no parking within a four-block radius of my house for the entire four-day weekend.
There’s no wonder we usual get out of town!
It’s Whiny Wednesday. What’s on your mind this week?
Oh, and Happy Independence Day, too!
Last week, I bunked off work early and went to the beach. It was a beautiful afternoon with a cloudless June sky and a gentle breeze blowing off the water, and I realized how lucky I was to be able to be there. I had no one to collect from school and no baseball practice to shuttle to and from. Nobody was counting on me to provide nourishment or even junk food snacks. Nobody needed me to change a diaper or resolve a dispute over a remote control. No one was relying on me for anything, and right then, at that moment, I was glad for it.
So, let’s turn Whiny Wednesday upside down this week. Tell me: What are you grateful for today?
(And by the way, if your answer is “nothing” you’re welcome to come and whine anyway.)
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