Another Friday Flip Offs

Welcome reader type persons - its time again for Friday Flip Offs, the brain child of Gigi at KludgyMom, and the bestest way to release the weeks stresses!

To teeth - hurry up and grow into my sons mouth already! He's been drooling and rosy-cheeked for almost 2 months now and Monday i discovered a small slit in his gum. Wednesday there was a second slit. Today there is two tiny white caps showing in those slits. All week my son has been wailing, crying his poor little lungs out. So, for God's sake, hurry up and pop all the way up so he can get smiley again - only this time with teeth. Otherwise, why dont you just FLIP OFF!

To cold mornings - you suck. It has been well noted that i very much dislike winter and cold weather in general, therefore i was not impressed with it being -3 degrees celsius when i had to get up this morning. -3 degrees? Yea .... FLIP OFF!

To bragging mums - either those who like to brag about what their children can do, or those who brag about what their children have. I'm all for being proud of your children but you can do that without making other children, or mothers, feel/look bad. It should be more " Look what my child can do! " not " Look what your child CANT do! ". You know? And for those of you who like to think that buying an $80 piece of plastic to help your child learn to sit up makes you awesome.... it doesnt. If you want to spend money on things like that ( and yes, if you havent guessed, i'm talking about a Bumbo ) then thats great, but just because i dont, or cant afford to, doesnt make me a bad mother. For the record, we dont have a Bumbo and my son can already sit on his own - because i sit on the floor with him and practice. So there - FLIP OFF!

To the old man who pulled out of his parking space without looking and almost hit me - i have a baby on board; you have mirrors. Use them, dude, use them. Lucky you didnt hit me or you know what you would have got? A great big FLIP OFF!

What Is Wrong With Some Women?

So - there has been a report in my local media this past week that 30% of women think its okay to drink alcohol whilst pregnant, despit knowing the risks. What the?

Where were these women during physical education classes at high school? And for those of them who have children, where were they when their doctors and midwives were explaining the do's and dont's of pregnancy to them ? Its absolutely mental to me to think that some women can't put two and two together - alcohol is not entirely good for adults, let alone tiny, growing baby-type persons. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy may induce fetal alcohol syndrome, which can result in deformities, low birth weights or even brain damage. Why take the risk?

And what i cant believe is the amount of women who DO take the risk. For example, i have an aunt who is due to give birth in the next two weeks. I'm not going to mention her age but suffice to say she falls into the " older " mother category - this, of course, brings its own complications. However this, coupled with blood clots in previous pregnancies, hasnt stopped her having a tipple or two at functions during her pregnancy. I wanted to scream at her that she has so much to lose and so many risks with her pregnancy already, why was she pushing the envelope? But its hardly my place to tell a women who already has children whats best for her and her pregnancy, me being a first time mum and all. And i have a Facebook friend ( who isnt actually a real life friend, just a girl i went to school with and was scared of... ) who is pregnant with her 3rd child and every second Facebook statu update is " Blah Blah is having a smoke " or " Blah Blah is getting her drink on ". Why?????

Admittedly, i run a few risks while i was pregnant - i ate deli meat and soft serve ice cream because i hadnt been told not to. But when i did find out, i stopped. It didnt hurt me to go without, even with cravings. But more importantly, it didnt hurt my baby. And is that the important thing?

Poetry - Past or Present?

Erin from Motherhood Y'all commented on this post that i had " writing talent " when it came to poetry. It was a nice compliment to receive and it got me thinking about all the poetry i have written in the past. A select few poems have been published ( but only in those Readers Digest anthologys that no-one actually reads... ) but most of my writing was for my eyes only. Back in high school and early adulthood, when i was all bleak and depressed, and back before my blog, poetry was my way of getting thoughts and feelings off my chest and out of my head. My poetry was borne out of pain, loneliness and a dark, dark place. Even so, after the comment on my so-called talent, i felt the need to go back and read some of what i had written. For example ( and for more examples, try searching " Amy Louise Wells " at http://www.poetry.com/ ):

Sonnet

Like holy Mother Mary meek and mild
I'm but a supporting player in this scene.
Why do you treat me like a lowly child?
As if my hopes are nothing but a dream.
Each night at rest my heavy eyes I close
And sleep does visions of my future hold.
And in sleep I am depicted as a rose,
A character both beautiful and bold.
But upon waking I am just a thorn.
At least thats how you often make me feel.
Perhaps I was just better off unborn
Then all of this for us would be unreal.
And so in theses last words I tell it true:
In fact I'm better off not here with you.


Reading it over, i immediately remembered what kind of headspace i was in when i wrote it. I still feel an attachment to every line i've written, even if so much of it DOESN'T relate to my life anymore. There are poems from days i felt abandoned; days i felt angry; days when, living overseas, i felt homesick. There is nothing written out of happiness. I'd never felt the pull of poetry when I was happy. Til now. Til that post last week, when i wrote a poem about my son. Its strange that, of all the thoughts and feelings that this little man has inspired in me, that he should bring me back to poetry, which was always a refuge in a dark place.

Perhaps that means that dark place may have finally seen some light.....

Food, Glorious, Food!

I am so loving food right now. I'm loving cooking it, eating it, watching it being cooked on tv and i'm loving reading about it. I'm not loving it enough to get hugely, grossly fat though - so no worries about that. I'm just enjoying the rituals of food is all, and how it makes people come together and be happy. ( Most of the time - my failed attempt at soup last night didnt really make anyone happy ).

I sit down of a Friday evening and plan out a menu for the week - i go through my recipe magazines and very few cookbooks that i own and choose the recipes i'd like to make, and write out the weeks shopping list as i go. My mother always did it that way and i always thought she was a bit anal. But you know what? Its so much easier that way! No going to the freezer and/or fridge and going " Uh, what am i going to cook tonight ? " . No getting out your recipe only to find that you dont have any mushrooms/chicken stock/ peanuts ( or, you know, whatever ). I dont plan it down to the specific day though - i just ask Mick in the morning what he'd life for dinner, give him the options, and he usually says " Suprise me! ". Easy as that. This weeks menu includes a beef massamun curry that i'm really looking forward to and my first attempt at beer battered fish.

I'm also enjoying baking. I've baked something almost every week since Flynn has been born, just for that fun of it, and now that we're hosting mothers group at each others houses rather than going to a cafe there is even more incentive to whip up a yummy slice or some muffins. Plus, and i know this is a little big-headed, but i really like getting compliments on my cooking from the other mums. I made a slice a few weeks ago that got the thumbs up all round - i even got asked for the recipe! - and this weeks " Apple and Cream Cheese Friands " scored me a " gee you're a good cook! ". Big smiles from me! And i'm not a baking snob either - i'm totally happy to share my recipes. I know some people are all " oh no, its an old family recipe, i couldnt possibly share it with you " but most of mine come from magazines or http://www.taste.com.au/ so they aren't exactly a secret!

So, in the spirit of sharing, leave me a comment ( if you want ) with your favourite meal to cook, a link to a recipe, or to your favourite cooking website!

Friday Flip Offs

Friday Flip Off time again - as brought to you all by Gigi at KludgyMom.

To 24 hour bugs - especially the one that decided to plague me last Saturday night. It is a well known fact that i hate throwing up, i hate the spasms in your stomach and the pain that comes when you have nothing left in that stomach to bring up anymore. Therefore, i hate you... so flip off!

To Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister - how bout you try giving us a straight answer for once, instead of carefully worded spin? Or how bout you try taking the blame or the responsibility for some of your stuff ups and/or retractions, instead of palming off on someone else? I didnt vote for you last time and i wont vote for you this election either so... flip off!

To people who use their Facebook statuses as a weapon - that is, those people who use their statuses to show off, thus making other feel inadequate. Its just not nice. You can be proud of something, or happy about something, without being arrogant. Sometimes i read your update and want to say " yea? who cares.... flip off!

To the soup i made tonight - you were an fail. Not quite an epic fail, but you werent any good. I've re-read the recipe and i've read other recipes for the same soup - and i think you called for way too much stock. You ended up, somehow, both watery and lumpy at the same time, instead of thick and creamy. Consequently, i threw most of you out.... flip off!

And thats all i have this week - truth be told, i've had a pretty good week. Flynn's been much better, i havent been sick, we had a great day yesterday hanging out with our mums group friends and a great day today over at Grandma and Poppy's. I guess its nice to not have much to Flip Off! But if you do, feel free to join in the fun....

What Am I Reading?

Head on over to Kylies place at A Study In Contradictions to find out. I'm todays guest blogger in her Favourite Book series so if you interested in what i consider to be a good book, stop by and check it out!
Also, thanks to those of you who have voted for me in this weeks Blog This! challenge - looks this week could be my week in the " winners " circle!

Just Keep Swimming

Eyelashes wet with tears
Hot little face
Flushed red and crumpled
Fighting the sleep and pain of teeth
Fat little fist
Curled 'round my finger
Trying to hold on to wakefulness
Not quite succeeding
Whimpers get softer
Eyelids drop closed
Sleep takes over
But Mummy hangs on

Ok, little poetic interlude there people. Lets call that " Ode to Sleepy, Cranky Flynny ". I had to lie down with him this afternoon and help him get to sleep - it took 40 minutes but it was worth it. He might scream and sqwauk and cry for a while but damn is my child cute, with his little chubby cheeks and chubby hands and fluffy hair. That being said, i cant wait to get him into the kind of routine where i can pop his binky in, give him his blanky, put him in his cot and he'll drift off to sleep on his own. I have plans for that, just not quite yet. I think i'll let him get completely over the tummy troubles and comfortable with his solids ( pumpkin rocks his world! ) before i spring anything new on him.

Except swimming. Some of the other mums and bubs from our mothers group have been going swimming for weeks now ( one of the girls in our group is a swim teacher so she's teaching everyone for free ) and i've been too embarrassed to go. I didnt think my swimmers from last summer would feet me ( big baby boobs again.... ) and i didnt want anyone to see my " mummy tummy ". But you know what? Thats really damn selfish of me. Why should i hold my baby back from doing something new, from learning something important, just because i feel a bit fatt-ish? So i'm going to try those swimmers on tonight and if they fit we're off to the pool on Friday. Mick said if i feel a bit self conscious i can borrow a pair of his football shorts to wear as boardshorts - aint he nice? - and the only other thing i have to do is get Flynn some swim nappies.

Look out heated indoor pool - Flynn, his mummy, and her tummy are coming your way!