Creativating

When I was a child, I could smell everything. I still can. I knew what sneeze smelled like. Do you know what sneeze smells like? Sneeze smells just like the smell of cinnamon gum being chewed by someone right next to you (like on the bus, car, or at the movie theater). Just utterly repulsive. Sneeze is the same smell as wet maple trees in the fall in New England. Like a giant sneezed all over every single maple tree on a rainy day and left his sneeze smell on them for you to enjoy during your stroll home from a long day of teaching. Imagine the third child of three children in three years yelling bloody murder when her big brother sneezed in the car and the windows could not roll (yes manually roll) down fast enough. Then, the whole car would get hot and humid because you live on a tropical island and it is 98F and humid outside. The car's mediocre AC was always better than the air outside for those who were not a lizard as I was. There were also the times when I would sneez...

Here are some key resources that have helped me in my parenting journey. Many of these resources are still in daily use in our family. I thought I would share in case you might be able to use it in your journey. The Smorgie One of our children has been a snacker since her first day on dry land. She nursed every hour on the hour for many weeks and months. I was told by seasoned moms, new moms, and expert parenting books that I needed to stretch out my girl's feeding, let her wail a bit, and then she would eat for longer than 5min. on both breasts together. I let her wail. She ate efficiently for 5min. on both breasts. Then, wanted to nurse again in an hour. Her feeding stretches got longer as she got older but not because I changed anything. A very wise pediatrician friend told me to chill and let her be a snacker because she was an efficient feeder. Soon after, I surrendered to my girl's eating rhythm. While this was challenging along the way, I made it a point to not have f...