All the baby books, websites, and ads for childbirth prep classes that I read tend to harrumph, “Many expectant parents spend more time decorating the nursery than they do planning the birth!” Well not us, holier-than-thou websites, because Emilio and I spent last night putting together the birthing mix we plan to play while I’m…
pregnancy
When Holidays Attack
As is probably clear, given that this blog is devoted to rituals, traditions, and rites of passage, I thoroughly enjoy a good holiday. But I was just forced to acknowledge that there are certain holidays that cause some of us to run screaming in the other direction. I’m not talking about the holiday blues that…
Math is Hard
That’s a misquote of the elusive “Teen Talk Barbie,” which was recalled by Mattel in 1991 after public outcry deemed her shallow drivel (which included “Party dresses are fun! Do you have a crush on anybody?”) antifeminist and damaging to children. What Barbie actually said was not “Math is hard” but “Math class is tough!”…
Almost Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is a good day to be pregnant. I would like to think that sounds poetic, like the first line of Leonard Cohen’s poem, Days of Kindness, which begins, “Greece is a good place/to look at the moon, isn’t it?” But I fear it just sounds simplistic. Yeah, mother’s day celebrates moms and…
The Grincha Who Stole Cinco de Mayo
There are so many things I love about our Miami Beach apartment–the mermaid mosaic on the stairwell wall, the starfish tiles in the palm-tree-filled courtyard, the flamingoes on the wrought iron gate, and the perfect location, a block away from pedestrian Lincoln Road, and three blocks from the beach. When my not-yet-fiancé and I visited…
Pregnancy–the Most Liminal Stage of Them All
I’m a walking waiting room, a human transition. I’m 20 weeks pregnant, halfway to becoming a mom. It’s beyond exciting–and a little surprising, given that I got pregnant a month after getting married, and at what doctors like to call the “advanced maternal age” of 36. Actually, I lied. It’s been more than a little…
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