this woman’s work

You are browsing the archives from 2007 March.

We’ve started a spring membership drive over on Get Them Blogging. The person who brings in the most new members over the next month and a half (from now until May 1st) will receive a $25 Amazon gift certificate. We plan to do these membership drives regularly but now’s the chance to get in when it’s easier to win ‘cuz we don’t have a ton of members so competition ain’t quite so fierce!

Remember, the new and improved Get Them Blogging gives you way more control over your profile, let’s you edit it whenever you like AND you can welcome as many blogs as you own. We need to really stock up our database before we can release it to the wild (and start bringing in samples) so please come by and register! Friends-only is ok, myspace or xanga or vox journals are ok — basically if you blog, we want you! So please come by and register and then send all your friends!

Journey to Mom said, “Just wondering if this is something girls are apt to come to earlier than boys. B is just not interested if we’re not talking about a monster truck, or some other thing on wheels.”

I think the biggest thing is that Madison is such a chatty girl and if something is in her brain, it’s coming out her mouth. Noah wasn’t like this and still isn’t. He’s much more private and he’ll mull over something for a long time before he’ll choose to share it. So I think part of Madison’s outgoing personality is that she’s pretty transparent.

If Noah were in the exact same open adoption situation, I can pretty much guarantee that he’d be way less talkative about it. And if I brought it up, he’d probably grunt then change the subject. He’s extremely protective of his privacy.

I haven’t seen that show but there are handsome men climbing around in my trees right now — we’re having them pruned. Makes for a nice view.

We’re waiting for them to finish so we can meet AmFam and duo at the park.

Recently Madison was playing with her babies and said something about one of them being adopted. I said, “What does adopted mean?” And she answered, “It means you go to China.”

I said, “Actually it means that a baby is growing in one woman’s uterus but when that baby is born, she goes to live with another family. That family adopts the baby. Like we adopted you because you grew in Jessica’s uterus…”

“And you got me from the hospital?” she finished.

“Yes, then you came home with us and that means the baby was adopted.”

She is excited about seeing baby L because she likes babies. When my friend came over with her twins for Paige’s baby shower, she sat holding little R with a beatific look on her face. She sat with her for a long time, just smiling about it.

She includes Jessica in conversation now as most definitely part of her family. Like she will say, “You are a shuggadoogdoog!” (It’s a nonsense thing Brett says to her.) And she will run through the family, “Daddy is a shuggadoogdoog! Jessica is a shuggadoogdoog! Nate is a shuggadoogdoog!” Jessica and Nate nearly always get mentioned together the same way Gram and Gramps do and they all get talked about the same way, in the same context. She brings them up when she brings up family and not when she brings up friends (AmFam, her babysitter, Paige). This is all since this fall really, since she first told Jessica definitively, “I grew in your uterus!”

For a time after that she’d bring up Jessica self-consciously or not respond much when I brought her up but now she seeks the discussion out and also is much more apt to bring her up casually than she was even a few months ago. It’s a profound change and I think a very positive one. She is much more comfortable about it and I see this in her real-life relationship with Jessica, too. (She now spontaneously asks to call her. She always starts the same way, “Thank you for the musical instruments.” She does this with the grandparents, too, thanking them for presents whenever she first sees them or talks to them.)

And got to hear L. babbling in the background. I may get to see her later this week if the weather holds!!!

Also I have a new post up at Anti-Racist Parent about the hair texturizer I wrote about before.

Then he has one month’s pay so we’re good ’til April. We have plans to get us through summer but in an ideal world, one of both of us would have a replacement job in April. I’m not quite worried yet; I may be in a couple of weeks.

I wish I could talk more about my job hunt and networking but obviously I can’t. I can tell you that so far it’s all been very interesting and encouraging and I’m meeting a lot of nice people who I wouldn’t have met if I hadn’t been job hunting. I’m also stretching myself a lot in good ways and I think that fall will find us four in better, more lucrative and more satisfying positions. (knock wood)

My parents — both! yes my dad, too! — have been huge supports. My dad has been checking in regularly and despite having a full plate of his own, has been generous with encouragement and (asked for) advice. My mom, as always, is my best cheerleader and recently when I called and asked her if she could loan me some money to professionalize my wardrobe (ten years of full-time parenting has left me with a sad, inadequate array of mismatched work-ready clothes), she insisted on giving me the money instead.

Yesterday I helped judge a regional-level middle school writing contest, which was tons of fun. The woman who invited me is great (we’re teaching a writing workshop together today) and the other guy who judged with us was hilarious. We each announced a winner to the bleacher-full gymnasium (microphone and all) and when I said “my” winner’s name, she squealed and skipped all the way across the gym floor to get her award. What with her reaction and the organizer-supplied free pizza, I’d say that I would jump at the chance to do it again.