January 16, 2012

The Things You Think You Know

The Listicle topic for this week was chosen by Greta at Not Enough Patience and Never Enough Jewelry:
Oh yeah, I can do this.  I used to have all kinds of preconceived notions about all kinds of things, especially raising children.

I once said, but eventually ate my words:

1. I will never watch, let alone enjoy, a football game. Girls don't like football!
When I fell in love with a man who was a football fan, I decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em".  I didn't want to be a "football widow".  Turns out, it doesn't suck.
AJ was born the year the Seattle Seahawks (with Sean Alexander - Alexander is AJ's first name) went to the Superbowl against the Pittsburgh Steelers (the Seahawks were robbed!)

2. I will never breastfeed in public. Not that I think there's anything wrong with it - for others. I would just be too self-conscious.
When you have a screaming infant in need of milk and you're breastfeeding, you'll do it wherever you have to.  I once managed to nurse my daughter while walking around Costco.

3. I will never own one of those fancy-shmancy "cadillac" strollers.  Why the hell do you need that big of a contraption just to cart your baby around?
Turns out there are very legitimate reasons for those strollers.  You really do need a cup holder, a bin under the seat for crap, a sippy or snack cup holder for the kid and little hooks on the handle for your bags.  Moms already don't have enough hands.

4. I'll never give my kids apple juice because I don't like it.  How can I give it to my kids when I can't even stand the smell?
What my kids like and don't like has nothing to do with me!

5. I'll never be that mom in the store whose child is tugging on her pants saying, "mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy..." without responding.  What kind of mother just tunes her child out like that?
It's actually quite easy to tune your children out when you listen to them all.day.long.  And it so happens that in the store, you purposely ignore them because all they want is to ask you to buy something.  It doesn't mean you're being a bad mom.  It means you're sparing the child your wrath.

6. My kids will never have a video game system.  Playing video games is a mindless activity that eats brain cells.
We have both an Xbox and a Wii and my kids love them.  And I won't apologize for or feel bad about it. One of the factors for having them is where we live.  Can't kick the kids outside all the time around here.  Also, Mark spends good quality time playing video games with them.  And anyway, what's wrong with a little mindless fun?  We Americans are too uptight.
Playing Kinect

7. I will never move back to Washington. California is so cool, why would I ever want to leave?
I was born in WA, lived here with my dad until I was 12 then moved to South Lake Tahoe, CA to live with my mom.  Lived in Lake Tahoe until I was 19 and moved to the SF Bay Area where I met Mark and we lived there for 9 years, before relocating to WA in 2003.  I really never thought I would live here again.  I loved CA, thought it was the most amazing state in the union. But things priorities change when your husband's transplant fails and you have a small child and could really use some support. You start to worry about schools and medical care and raising your kids in a family friendly environment.  The Bay Area was not us; too much of a rat race with no real connections made in the 9 years we lived there (or rather, the connections we did make moved away too).
Little Cami

8. I will never scrapbook. I can't see well enough to do that, and what's wrong with simple chronologically organized photo albums?
Scrapbooking is so much better than just photo albums!  It's personal and creative and tells a story.  When I moved here and met some moms and saw their scrapbooks I oohed and aahed. They patiently worked away at my stubborness until I allowed them to buy me some things to get started for my birthday one year.  I've been on a serious hiatus from scrapbooking for (eek) a few years now, but I'm interested in exploring digital and photobooks. But my stubborn side is determined to traditionally scrapbook the pictures I have sitting in my photo box!

9. I will never knit or crochet. Who does that?
Knitting? Crocheting? What? Do people still do that? Why? Because it's cool to make stuff!  It's nice to always have something to do with my hands....making things, all the options, the yarn and needles....and how the hell did someone figure out that you could make pretty things this way?? It's fascinating!

10. I will never own a house.  It's so much easier to rent and have a landlord to be responsible for repairs and such.
I was a huge scaredy-cat about home ownership.  I don't know, I guess I felt like it would be too big of a responsibility and we had enough to stress out over anyway. Also, never thought we'd actually be able to afford our own home. But then the real estate market tanked and President Obama decided to give first-time home buyers an $8,000 incentive and, well, I caved. Turns out I kind of love paying a mortgage every month even though it really is more expensive to live in your own home. We got to paint before we moved in and completely transformed it into OURS. It's not spectacular; it's just enough room for the 4 of us and a cat. But it's our home and I'm proud of that.

Yes, I really did say and/or think all of those things at one time or another.  But I said them all before I learned about being open and all that stuff I've been talking about a lot lately. Do I sound like a broken record yet?  I'm sorry if I do. It's just that it has taken me nearly 38 years to learn some pretty big stuff. Have I mentioned that I can be stubborn sometimes? I think that's one piece of crap I'm shedding, though.


  1. All I can do is PRAY I never utter the words, "I'll give you something to cry about!" to my darling daughter!

  2. I can relate to #10. We bought a house a few months ago - lots of work!

    1. It is a lot of work, with lots of ups and downs.

  3. I said I wouldn't breastfeed in public either, but seriously, when that kid is crying for food, all modesty went out the window! And #5 cracked me up. I know those days are comin'!