Friday, August 31, 2007

A Vacation to Nowhere

The BusyBee's daycare is closed this week, so Mr. Bee and I were forced to take a few days off. We haven't had much of a break since our trip to California in April, so it's been wonderful.

Yesterday we visited Spectacle Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands. Taking the ferry from the Long Wharf pier was easy, but the beach there was a little disappointing (very rocky). Mr. Bee enjoyed a hike and the wonderful views of Boston though.

I squeezed in a haircut this morning, which is also something I haven't done in months. It was great to do it first thing in the morning and get to enjoy how nice it looks all day today.

Then we made a giant trip to IKEA. Now that the kitchen is done, we're working on outfitting our office, and then we'll move on to BusyBee's room before tackling Jelly-Belly's (our baby boy, arriving in January, aka "Buggy") room. We're using the delivery service for the first time, which seemed particularly worthwhile given that everything will be carried into the room it needs to go in, a real blessing since I'm pretty useless these days. We always have a good time at IKEA, and today featured a special highlight: BusyBee's first completely eaten ice cream cone. :)

The amazing thing is that I still have three days off! We'll be heading to Storyland in New Hampshire for one of them, but no specific plans for the rest of the time yet. How truly wonderful to take a break from work and not feel even more structured than usual!

Friday, August 17, 2007

Getting Tired

I hate to say it, but I am getting tired.

No, I don't mean the physical exhaustion of being almost 20 weeks pregnant, though there is lots of that too.

I am getting tired of reading about the "mommy wars" and, sometimes, just parenting issues in general.

Throughout my life I've been a reader of topics close to my own experiences at the time. I devoured the Babysitters Club series as a kid, and loved the whole chick lit experience when I was just starting my own relationship and career. Since my pregnancy with BusyBee and in the years hence, I've read far too many personal accounts and fact-based articles about parenting to number. With the Internet, it's just become too easy. I realized this was a problem when I tried to mention something on a blog to Mr. Bee, and he pointed out that I read so many parenting blogs that he couldn't possibly know which one I was referring to. I was going to counter back that I read just a few, thinking of maybe three. The number is actually closer to 10.

But lately, I'm not getting as much out of it. There are still some columns I read with excitement and anticipation (I've been a fan of Catherine Newman's columns, now at Wondertime, for years), but mostly it's begun to feel like a chore. I want to be entertained and a bit informed, but I've seen so many postings on the Mattel recalls that I want to vomit. I have yet to find one website, or even one article, that I can truly agree with on matters of working moms and balancing it all. I realize that this is because no two people have the same experience anyway, but these articles are written in such a way that they are meant to be universal. For every point where I'm in agreement, there's another where I want to shout back at the screen.

I realize, too, that this blog has a lot about my life as a parent and the experiences I have. Being a mom is obviously a big part of my life, and I like the idea of documenting some of these things. I think some day it will help my children understand a little bit more about me. But when large media outlets sensationalize my favorite topics, it makes me want to curl up in a ball and get away from it all.