Book Review: When Did I Get Like This?

You cruise along in your life, making decisions, getting things done, kicking life’s ass. And then one day you find yourself in a full-on panic because Chuck E. Cheese’s is booked on the day you planned your son’s birthday party and you don’t quite understand why you care so much. Amy Wilson‘s memoir, When Did I Get Like This? asks the very question that will inevitably go through your mind more times than you’ll care to admit once you’ve given birth. Or even thought that maybe it would fun to have a baby. Possibly.

For me it began when, after getting pregnant with scientific precision, I had a miscarriage. For Amy it began when she couldn’t accomplish what seems like a natural, easy thing: actually getting pregnant. Nothing makes you feel more like a failure than being unable to accomplish something 15-year-olds manage by accident in the back of some senior’s Mustang on a boring Saturday night. Except maybe actually having that baby.

I immediately bonded with Amy when I discovered she had the same distaste (pun intended) for What To Expect When You’re Expecting‘s now-defunct Best Odds Diet as I did. All through this book I found myself nodding my head along with her, from breastfeeding hysteria to knowing that something’s wrong with your child and everyone thinking you’re nuts to doing a really good job on something and having it go completely unnoticed and unremarked on (This, I believe, is the essence of motherhood: No one notices when you’re doing it right, but one bad moment and the whole world’s judging you).

The book is totally relatable; I can’t imagine a contemporary mother who hasn’t questioned both her maternal skills and her sanity after being assaulted with as much information and pressure to be “perfect” as we are subjected to on a daily basis. It’s about questioning every decision you make regarding your children and wondering frequently how in the hell your mother managed to get through your entire childhood without a stack of parenting books by her side (Hint: it’s because she didn’t have a stack of parenting books by her side). It’s about wanting to do what’s best for your kids and never really being sure exactly what that is. It’s the recognition that insanity has become the new sanity and none of us seems to be immune.

But what saves Amy, I think, is her sense of humor, her ability to see the insanity and identify it even while indulging in it. It’s the only sane thing to do, really.

Knowing you’re not alone is half the battle. If you’re a mom, go get this book. If you want to be a mom, go get this book.

You won’t be sorry.

Diaper Bag Denial: Bella Tunno Parent Pod

Oh, yeah, I’m about to get hugely unfashionable and do a review of a diaper bag.

I want you to know, though, that I hate diaper bags, and I rarely carry them.  I’ve somehow gotten through five years and two children by converting oversized handbags into storage for snacks, diapers, wipes, and all the other baby stuff mommies are supposed to be carting around with them at all times.  The makeshift mommying hasn’t spared my friends of having to listen patiently as I grumble about the animal cracker crumbs at the bottom of my handbag or the juice stains on an otherwise rockin’ purse.  I assume that this is what made me a likely candidate for a gift of the Bella Tunno Wee Whimsy Parent Pod which as it turns out is less of a diaper bag and more of a cute travel accessory.

Anyway, I got the bag as a present and you’re going to hear all about it.   

You’re welcome.

Made of a durable fabric in a variety of lovely prints, the Parent Pod comes with a trifold changing pad that fits neatly in the bag, a travel case for wipes and also folds out much like a travel toiletry bag that can be hung up on a hook.  I was excited way beyond the realm of sanity about this “hanging up” option because I loathe fumbling through my bag for diapers and wipes while trying to contain a baby in a public bathroom.  Basically, I loved the idea of being able to hang up the bag and being able to access and see everything right away.

Unfortunately, this version of the Parent Pod only adequately accommodates flat items such as diapers and wipes… and um, well, diapers and wipes.  It absolutely will not hold items such as: sippy cups, small containers of cheerios, juice boxes or my overly huge wallet.  In all fairness, I can fit all of those things in the compartments in the bag, but when I try to fold it back up, it basically looks like a I have all my stuff rolled in a lumpy blanket.  Might as well just carry a diaper bag, right?

I will say that this bag is highly useful if you’re traveling and are staying in a hotel or at someone’s house.  My sister in law has one, and while she was staying with us, she unfolded it, hung it up on a towel rack and placed all of her baby’s stuff in there.  It was a nice, compact portable baby center.  That’s most likely how I’ll end up using it, too.  In the meantime, my purses are just going to have to keep doubling for diaper bags in the day to day.

All that said, Bella Tunno’s main site has some of the cutest baby stuff ever and plenty of excellent options for my sisters in diaper bag denial, so if you’re looking for yourself or a friend, it’s totally worth browsing.

On Task On Time Saved My Children’s Lives. Basically.

I first read about the On Task On Time unit over at Work It Mom.

I spent the next 30 minutes figuring out how to get my hands on one, and then sent a barrage of pestering emails to their PR department.

A few days later, FedEx delivered salvation to my front door.

Let me back up.

I have two kids.

Every day, both of these children have to get out of bed, get dressed, get fed, get stuff, and get out the door to school or daycare.  At the exact same time that I have to get up, get dressed, get fed, get stuff and get out the door to work.

It makes for fun mornings – if nagging and crying and threatening and crying and begging and pleading and crying and starting off every day pissed off and crying is fun for you.

(In which case, you need therapy.)

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