Freestyle Friday- “Mama, I’m so glad you’re BACK!” and LINKS

Last week, after an afternoon where I took 30 minutes out to play and be silly with my kiddos on the trampoline, my 8 year old daughter said:

“Mama! I’m so glad you’re back…” 

I smiled, thinking I knew what she meant, but asked to be sure. She answered, “it’s just… you’ve been nursing, and taking care of Luke, and you were so tired. And then you had to do all the things like cooking, and dishes. Now you’re doing fun things with us again.”

And it’s true.

I’m “back” from the tired-end-of-pregnancy-that-transitioned-into-tired-early-postpartum life. We’ve been bike riding, trampoline jumping, reading aloud, and getting things back in some semblance of order. (WE BOUGHT AN AMAZING Amsterdam-esque, Bakfiets-like CARGO BIKE THAT LETS ME ROLL WITH MY LITTLE GUYS IN TOW… it’s a garage-built one, so it was decidedly NOT the $3000 price-tag they mention. I MAJORLY LOVE my new bike.) 

(Trust me, it looks crazier than it really is. It’s similar to the pace and stability of a jogging stroller.)

The post-partum weeks and months are always a blur, but then, one day, one week, one month, at some point… it’s like you wake up and realize you’re in a new normal.

And I’m still doing plenty of nursing and snuggling and resting, too.  But the fact that he’s sleeping better (we go to sleep around midnight cause we’re night owls & he’s wakes up once around 5/6 am, praise the Lord!) gives me more energy during the day, and the fact that he’s nursing a little more efficiently (he was nursing for about an hour for every nursing session; now he’s down to around 20-30 minutes per feeding) gives me more free time.

(Oh my goodness, isn’t he soooooooo kissable & squishable?) 

 

Anyway, that’s a little bit of a personal update.

On a different note, I’ve been saving up links to share with you all and the list just keeps growing, so here’s a slew of them to peruse:

• A Complementarian Where You Least Expect Her— This story reminded me of me. This is how “modern,” well-educated women come to believe the Bible, yes, even on the issue of gender roles in marriage.
• Writing Fiction: Improve Your Dialogue— a 30-minute interview of James Scott Bell by Joanna Penn (two of my favorite writing-craft authors) all about fiction & dialogue (a personal hobby of mine).
• The terrible things happening to the American Girl doll brand–– American Girls used to be characterized by unique bravery in unusual circumstances. That is decidedly no longer the case. This is what happens in an ego-centric, everyone-is-a-snowflake, even-mediocrity-is-worth-celebrating culture.
• Big Sibling’s BIG INFLUENCE: A good thing for all parents to consider– don’t let your first child ruin the lot. It is miserable to try to see a mom trying to “undo” in multiple children what she should have dealt with with her oldest. Be diligent from the start.
• I Was Ambivalent About Having Kids… Until I Wasn’t-– the thing modern society fails to warn women about… that many/most of us will feel: the drive for motherhood
• The Latte Factor: 8 Ways We Often Overspend— good reminders here of sneaky expenses to watch out for.
• Why the Modern World is Bad For Your Brain— A pithy quote: “Our smartphones have become Swiss army knife–like appliances that include a dictionary, calculator, web browser, email, Game Boy, appointment calendar, voice recorder, guitar tuner, weather forecaster, GPS, texter, tweeter, Facebook updater, and flashlight. They’re more powerful and do more things than the most advanced computer at IBM corporate headquarters 30 years ago. And we use them all the time, part of a 21st-century mania for cramming everything we do into every single spare moment of downtime.”
• Why We Abandoned the “Ideal” of Public School— Great article about one family’s journey from public school to home education.

Hope this gives you some enjoyable weekend reading!