I’m totally bookmarking this for future reference. This is definitely not the same world I grew up in back in the 80s, and I can only imagine all the new ways that will exist for Jackson to get himself into trouble by the time he’s a pre-teen. You gotta respect a mom who uses her kids’ medium — social media, in this case — to teach them a lesson/ discipline them. I hope when ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s daughter grows up, she appreciates that her mother loved her enough to want to keep her safe and teach her to conduct herself with dignity.
by Wendy on May 14, 2012
· in Parenthood
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It’s not an exaggeration when I say that one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and certainly one of the best parent-related decisions, was to start a new moms’ group shortly before Jackson was born. A month or so before my due date, I put a message up on my neighborhood parenting listserv asking if any other women expecting fall babies would like to meet and perhaps continue meeting through the initial months of new motherhood. I expected a few responses, but, within days, my email box was flooded with replies. We set a date and a few of us met for dinner, a gaggle of 8- and 9-month pregnant women ordering pizza and eyeing the wine list longingly.
Two days later the first of us went into labor. Two days after that another one had her baby, and a few days later Jackson was born. Over the next two months, there was another baby born almost every week, and additional women joined our group as word spread. By December, there were over 20 of us (plus our babies) and many of us had begun meeting for weekly lunch potlucks, going for walks in the park on warmer days, getting coffee, going to baby-friendly bars for happy hour, and hanging out at each other’s homes as our tiny children grew from newborns into smiling, laughing, drooling little infants. [Click to continue]
by Wendy on April 18, 2012
· in Essays,It's Personal,Parenthood
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Jackson turns six months old on Monday — the same day his father turns 42. Six months ago, he was a tiny, itty bitty thing — only five pounds! — with thin, wrinkled skin, and nothing where his eyelashes and eyebrows would eventually grow. He almost fit into the palm of my hand and for the first three weeks of his life, I worried that he could stop breathing at any time. At night, instead of sleeping, I hovered over him, watching his chest rise and fall, willing myself to stay awake in case he needed me.
His father, of course, was right there beside us, staying awake through the night, bottle-feeding Jackson and changing his diapers, grinning ear-to-ear through the fog of sleep deprivation. He had waited so long to become a dad and as excited as he was to find me, to fall in love and become a husband, fatherhood was the topping, the thing that gave his life its richest meaning. And, boy, does he love it. [Click to continue]
by Wendy on April 6, 2012
· in Essays,It's Personal,Parenthood
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Drew was born and raised in Manhattan and, as a result, has made it to (almost) 42 without ever learning to drive. When I got pregnant last year, Drew and I had a deal that I would take an introductory class in Judaism and he would get a driver’s license. While I failed on my end of the deal — hey, it’s exhausting work growing a human! — Drew did take three driving classes — not enough to actually learn to drive, but enough to almost run over a mother and child crossing the street and rattle his nerves so much he’s not likely to ever get behind the wheel again. Unfortunately, driving is something that, while I actually have the experience and license to do, makes me a nervous wreck, too, particularly in the city where we live, so much so that I’ve only driven once since moving to New York nearly five years ago. Sometimes this is a terribly disappointing scenario, especially in terms of raising children. I’d always envisioned taking family road trips or driving my kids to the community pool for swim lessons, but if both Drew and I remain hopeless causes behind the wheel, I fear those fantasies may stay just that. [Click to continue]
by Wendy on March 21, 2012
· in Parenthood
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