Thinking of Having Kids? Do this 11 step program first!

by Brenna Gray Foster on Saturday, 01 January 2011 at 11:14

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.

2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.

3. Go home.

4. Pick up the paper.

5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.

2. Lack of patience.

3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.

4. Allowing their children to run wild.

5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)

2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.

3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.

4. Set the alarm for 3AM.

5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.

6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.

7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.

8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.

9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.

2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.

3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.

4. Then rub them on the clean walls.

5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.

6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.

2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.

Leave it there.

2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.

3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.

4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.

2. Make a small hole in the side.

3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.

4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.

5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.

6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

 
Of the whipped cream saga, that is.

So if you've been following the blogs, the photos, the video, you know that the whipped cream canister has been an ongoing thorn in my, um, side, since we opened.

There hasn't been an entry about it lately because frankly, we gave up. We've had no delicious homemade whip to serve because funny as the process has been, it's actually been a huge pain in the ass and I'm tired of doubling up my laundry with white gloppy cream. Ya, I said it.

Anyway, yesterday Davina was feeling brave and took another crack at it. Then she did something totally unheard of. She read the instructions.

F*&K!!!!

Ya, we were doing it wrong. Apparently we were supposed to A) attach the CO2 cartridge B) shake it precisesly 4 times and C) remove the cartridge.

The fact that we left the cartridge attached and shook it vigorously everytime we used it is what led to the constant splooging.

In our defense the instructions for this thing are ridiculously long and the portion which actually pertained to us was, like one line buried in the middle.

Oy. I say Oy.

* EDIT *

I just attempted to use it myself. I carefully removed the canister from the fridge. I did not shake it. The whip cream came out liquidy. Oozie even. I gave it a quick shake and voila! Whipped cream. By George, I think we've got it!

 
Amanda Spakowski is the founder of The Nesting Place and she wrote this lovely article for us!

It's mother's day coming up next weekend. It's a day to celebrate you as a mother, but do you know who that is? Many women don't immediately feel like a mother once their child is born, and instead gradually
learn to see themselves in ways that fit with the identity of "mother." In the meantime, the self she has previously known herself to be feels completely out of reach as her daily activities, capabilities and expectations have shifted so dramatically.

Many people understand that life with baby warrants a lot of changes, but what that actually feels like for them is often a surprise. Some women feel themselves drop into the identity of "Mother" right away,
and maybe have even identified themselves as Mothers long before their baby was born. But for the women who do not feel like a mother right
away, the shift in her self identify after baby can be a place of real loneliness or loss, even while at the same time loving their child and new family.

This month we encourage you to explore activities and events that cultivate your self care and nourish the growing sense of 'Me' that evolves alongside your growing children. The Mother's Day Soirée
(http://mothersdaysoiree.eventbrite.com/) with speakers Heather Clark, author of "Chai Tea Sunday" and fashion stylist Rachel Matthews Burton
will feed your spirit and your fashion sense for a total self make-over. Get out more with your baby by attending our free Baby Wearing Workshop (http://thenestingplace.ca/news_events.php#carrier),
where you'll get to try different carriers with your child that'll enable you to get out of the house (or get more done inside the house) hands free!

Some women will choose to honour their life changes through ritual, journaling or creating artwork. On Friday May 11th, Toronto's Doula Care organization is hosting a Birth Fire at Dufferin Grove beginning at 7pm. Parents are invited to bring memories, wishes or items that
they wish to let go of to burn in the fire.

How might you honour your life changes in motherhood?

Or just take a moment to really listen to the inspiring stories from real life parents in your life. Whatever you do, be gentle with yourself as you gradually grow into your parenting feet. Just as your child takes time to learn to walk on it's own two feet, you too will take time to learn to walk on your parenting legs with confidence.

Amanda Spakowski
Owner/Founder
The Nesting Place
Prenatal Classes & Doula Care
www.TheNestingPlace.ca
thenestingplace.blog.com
amanda@thenestingplace.ca
416-722-3814