We are Moving…

I regret to inform you that pandamoly.wordpress.com will no longer be – WE’RE MOVING TO BLOGSPOT!

I’ve updated NetworkedBlogs and FaceBook, but if you subscribing via FeedBurner, any RSS Feed, or by Email, please head over to…

PANDAMOLY.BLOGSPOT.COM

… and update your bookmarks!

Sorry for any inconvenience… I just like Blogger so much better…

 

I’m working on republishing all of my posts there – a number of them are already up! More to be republished this evening along with some new posts to follow shortly!

Why I Support Genital Autonomy

Here we go… This is sort of a mission-driven, advocacy-related, agenda-ridden post, so please beware!

Image via http://www.stopinfantcircumcision.org

Before I became pregnant, things like circumcision never crossed my mind. Then I found out I was having a boy, which I dreaded because I had to make *that* choice… To circumcise or to leave intact? I was pretty sure from the get-go that I would leave him be – why mess with what didn’t need messing with? I didn’t have a partner to argue with over it. The choice at that point was all mine. I consulted a few friends on the matter – both new parents and peppered pros; both parents who chose to circumcise and those who left their children intact; doctors of mine and my child’s. The following are some of the questions I raised (from hearing of potential problems) and some responses I got; additionally there’s some commentary from me.

When I grow elderly…

… I hope that I will have a good relationship with my son.

I was at the doctor’s office yesterday. I see an Endocrinologist every six months to monitor my Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (it’s an autoimmune disorder that causes an underactive thyroid). While I was waiting (for 45 minutes… but who was counting) to be called back, an elderly woman came in with an older man, who I presumed to be her son (which was later confirmed). She was kind of zany, talking loudly about her dog, then her house, then televisions (her son is going to buy a 42″ LCD by Sony when he needs to replace his).

It was sweet. He was patient with her. Let her talk and stumble between cogent thoughts. Kept up with her ramblings.

I hope that when I’m old and crazy (because you know I’ll be kind of bat-sh*t crazy by then), Kola will be there; to take me to doctor visits where we have to wait an hour to be seen then drive me to the pharmacy to wait for my numerous prescriptions for Alzheimer’s and whatnot; to be patient when I ramble (which he should get plenty of practice in the next 60 years); to listen to me noncoherently chide him for buying a 42″ LCD Plasma whatever-we’ll-have-by-then television/retinal projection unit/space goggles. I’m not worried about the next 20 years – I got that. I’m curious about the next 50. I know that when it comes to it, I’ll do the same for my parents (who may or may not already ramble), and hopefully I can raise Kola equally as well as they did me. I think that the relationship a parent has with their child is most evident after the breach of adulthood. A parent can only do their best, and they can only hope for the same.

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The years teach much which the days never knew.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

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What do you think? What is the measure of good parenting? What are you aspirations for 50 years from now? Share in the comments or on the FaceBook.

Ephemera – 2011 March 18 Partners in Crime

Partners in Crime 2011 March 18

[An attempt to capture the ephemeral moments that quickly arrive and fleet as hastily… No words, just moments to glance upon, moments to be remembered as memories transition.]

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Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were big things. – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

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Have a moment or memory? Share it or a link to it in the comments or on the FaceBook.

 

My Birth Story

Pregnancy and birthing hold a very special place in each woman’s heart. For most, their pregnancies represent an important time in their life; a time for personal growth, a time for interpersonal growth, a time to appreciate life, a time to be amazed with our bodies and innate capabilities. Birthing, likewise, represents a hugely significant experience. Some women are ambivalent about their birthing experience – they were pregnant, it was wonderful, their baby arrived, and they are and have been raising their baby. For some, their birth experience is an empowering experience; they spent nine months nurturing a developing new life, spent countless hours, days, weeks, preparing for their birth weighing the pros and cons of where to birth, how to birth, and with whom. For others, their birth experience was a traumatizing experience; they become overwhelmed, do not make wise decisions or are not permitted to make their own decisions, things do not go as planned and they have a birth they are not proud of. One mother can have a different experience for each birth; growing and learning from one to the next; regressing and becoming disenchanted from one to the other. Some women have a  combination of experiences in their birth, leaving their experience not easily classifiable on its positive or negative attributes. This would be me.

Ephemera – 2011 March 11

Bath Time Baby 2011 March 11

An attempt to capture the ephemeral moments that quickly arrive and fleet as hastily… No words, just moments to glance upon, moments to be remembered as memories transition.]

 

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The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once. – Albert Einstein

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Have a moment or memory? Share it or a link to it in the comments or on the FaceBook.

 

The Pandas’ Top Ten Crunch-osophies

Welcome to the March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Natural Parenting Top 10 Lists

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared Top 10 lists on a wide variety of aspects of attachment parenting and natural living. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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Having a six month old is an exciting time.

Between deciding on which vaccinations he’ll receive, what foods I should be investigating, whose diapers are the best for his growing bum, and what’s for dinner, I am placed with an integral set of tasks ahead. I have been charged with an increasingly-cognizant being, absorbing information, yet unable to recount. Kola has been unresponsive until this point to my talking, reading, noise-making, singing. I can, however, tell he’s been listening. He smacks his lips and clicks his tongue when he wants something, staring it down and clicking more fervently until I figure it out (usually he wants in his Johnny-Jump-Up… crazy kid).

But now that I know that he’s listening… what should I say? We read books. He loves his bright board books, especially in his mouth. He doesn’t seem to mind as I ramble through short stories and novels by some of my favorites. I think he has “read” more Vonnegut than a typical college graduate. I feel that we need to start moving to relevant information, not just recreational speaking and reading. I know he is listening, and I want something good to say. I’m slightly more crunchy than many of my friends (although am considered somewhat soggy to some of the other crunchmasters I am fortunate enough to know). I think it’s best to start these lessons early in life, and with spring shyly peaking around the corner, what better time is there to reflect on the lessons I’d like to impart…

I ♥ My Family: An Introduction

I’ve only been blogging for a very short period of time, but I have yet to formally introduce myself and my little family.

Milestone Alert: Sitting Pull to Standing!

This evening, little Kola surprised me… okay not totally surprised me – I knew it was only a matter of time, but… HE STOOD! He was sitting on the floor next to the couch, I walked away for two minutes, and came back to find him standing against the couch! Yikes! He even did it a few more times for me, even allowing me to capture it on video, as seen below…

I’m enjoying watching Kola mature and develop, and look forward to the advances forthcoming!

♥

“A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.” – Carl Sandburg

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What are your kids doing? Share in the comments or comment on the FaceBook.

Ephemera – 28 February 2011

26 February 2011 – Kisses

[An attempt to capture the ephemeral moments that quickly arrive and fleet as hastily… No words, just moments to glance upon, moments to be remembered as memories transition.]

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Here we are, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why. – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

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Have a moment or memory? Share it or a link to it in the comments or on the FaceBook.