Ladies, Grab Your Boards

I recently made a pretty radical move. M and I rented our house out and downsized to an apartment across the street from my work. We also hired a nanny for Cam. Now I have no commute, less clutter, and more time for family. How is it, then, that at noon on a Thursday I can fantasize about finding the exit door from my daily responsibilities?

Being a mom is tough shit.

I had a revelation today that made it all better, at least for this evening. Working and raising a kid is like surfing. It can be crazy fun and exhilirating...wait, what are we talking about here? Seriously, being a working mom makes me feel fabulously nimble, accomplished, and in the moment. And the key to feeling that way is not fighting the waves. You have to know when to duck dive, how far past the break to hang out, which waves to catch, and which ones to let go.

The trouble comes when you feel like you're getting pounded. You're right in the break. Nanny gets sick. Taxes are due. Mortgage is due. Cell phone stops working. Work speeds up. Dog eats pacifier. You shift into victim mode, throw your hands up, and lose your board, or your mind, whatever the case may be.

Then there are the days when you get sucked under and thrown around like a rag doll in a washing machine. You get thrashed about in the competing demands of career, motherhood, and humanhood.

You don't want to be there.

Where you want to spend your time is on top, with everything in perspective. So at noon on this Thursday when I was feeling pounded, I washed up on the shore of my 2-bedroom apartment and spent my lunch break nursing and rocking my baby. By 1 o'clock I was back in the water heading past the break to choose my next wave.

That's where we all want to be.
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Whose Baby is the Best?

Is it just me, or does every mom think they lucked out and won the baby lottery? Tonight, Cameron spit up in my face. But, no matter—I truly believe it doesn't get any better than this.

Delusional or not, I can't get enough of his contagious smile, his gorgeous blue eyes, and his tri-colored blonde hair that looks just like mine. You should hear him squeal when his dad tickles his ribs, and watch his tongue flutter back and forth when he's hungry. He's the most sociable, contented baby ever (except, of course, when he's hungry or tired or needs to be changed or wants attention). He's astonishingly advanced for a toothless 7-month-old who can't seem to get the hang of solid food. He crawls like a fish out of water and is already pulling up, falling down, and crying about it. I never have to change his sheets because he hardly ever sleeps in his crib. He's developed this adorable little habit of falling asleep on my head or kneeling beside me with his cheek resting on my side. He loves hanging upside down and throws his arms over his head to let me know he's ready for a whirl. He can woo any poker-faced stranger in line at Starbucks and the babysitter at the gym does the happy dance when Cam waltzes into the playroom. To put it simply, he is nothing short of magnetizing.

Doesn't everybody wish they had a baby like mine?

Flu shots, schmloo shots

Last year I went on a couple rants about the flu shot. I never did get one when I was pregnant because I didn't think the strength of the research warranted exposing my fetus to the risk of a vaccination. So it may surprise you to learn that Cam and I each got a flu shot this fall.

My reasoning was that I don't see strong evidence for or against the flu vaccine. Whether or not it works depends entirely on if the scientists accurately predict the strain of flu that will be circulating in any given year. I figured I'd place my bets on the scientists this year and give it a shot.

Fast forward one month, and I came down with the flu for the first time in 5 years. What I thought was food poisoning on my first night in Hong Kong turned out to be flu. M caught it 48 hours later, and 48 hours after that, our nanny caught it.

Thankfully Cam never caught it. If he caught what I had, I have no doubt he would end up in the hospital. It's possible that the flu shot afforded him some protection. It's possible that it afforded me some protection because my symptoms were nowhere near as severe as M's...but then again that's usual. My immune system is tougher than M's.

What I think is more likely is that Cam was nursing the whole time I was sick (yep, between trips to the bathroom), so he was getting steady doses of antibodies from my breastmilk.

Has anyone else come down with the flu this year? Are you planning on getting a flu shot? How 'bout your little one?