Sunday, January 20, 2008

the princess and the pee

Yes, this is what has become of my blog. I can't hide the fact that my child's hazardous waste output is fascinating to me. Especially last night, when we had our first diaper "blow-out" and saw what many parents have affectionately called "shitting up the back". For future reference, Oxi-clean worked really well to get that stain out of a white onesie. Oh yeah, and I learned that rolling a baby sideways to clean her back can be hazardous... she peed over the side of her change table.

OK, new topic.

My students are so cute. For those of you playing along at home, I teach teen classes at our synagogue. I've become particularly close with my oldest class, and on Friday four of them came over after school to make us shabbat dinner. One arrived with a frozen chicken in a mini cooler ("mmm, locker chicken!" I exclaimed), others came with potatoes and vegetables. Most notably, the one who brought the chicken turned to me, packaged chicken in hand, and said, "um, how do I prepare a chicken?" In the end the chicken was fabulous (I left them to their own devices and they invented a recipe), and they even made us challah. What a mitzvah... I'm very proud of them.

Today I unpacked a whole bunch of the presents we received for Kali. I've organized them according to size, and I'm trying to figure out whether we need to exchange anything for larger sizes... but I can't get past the organizing stage. How do I know how many of each thing we need? Little help?

Our days have very little structure, built as they are around Kali's 3-4 hour naps. The only constant is that after her morning feed, I put her back to bed and go take a shower. I'm inordinately proud of the fact that even though I have a new baby, I'm showered and dressed by 10 every day. Okay, now I'm ducking to avoid the eggs being thrown at me.

It's freezing out today. The in-laws want to see us, and we don't want to take Kali out in -21 degrees (celsius, windchill included) so the only remaining option is for them to come here. Dammit. They have a habit of overstaying their welcome... our second day in the hospital they came and visited... for three hours. Not exactly restful, especially with their discomfort with silence and their need to make inane small talk. You can probably see why I'd rather meet them anywhere but at our house - at least we'd be able to leave when we want to. I wonder how long after the birth I can legitimately excuse myself for a nap, claiming that I'm still tired and recovering? And does that excuse not hold water when I've been out and about with the baby every day?

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I would say you can use the excuse until she has moved into her own house. Kids are tiring!

Aurelia said...

What awesome students! I would be very proud of them if I were you. they obviously have a great teacher.

And yes, you can excuse yourself and go for a nap. Doesn't matter if you've been out and about. They cna coo over the baby.

Anonymous said...

I hope you survived your in laws ok.

Your students are so sweet. I bet the challah wasn't near as pretty as yours is. I still want my bread braiding class from you!

I am still waiting for pictures of Kali. I will wait patiently for a little while longer . . . (hint, hint)

Rachel Inbar said...

I agree. The excuse holds. If you don't mind them watching Kali you can also say how happy you are that they can be with her for a while when you go take a nap (or do something else you don't usually have time for).

Your students really are sweet :-)

ms. c said...

You're a natural mom! You sound so amazing... Please come visit in March and teach me how to do it!

I am laughing my ass off at the poo introduction... I was talking with a friend the other day and she siad (oh so serioulsy): "Wait til the baby poos while you are changing him- poo will go flying everywhere!"

Your students are amazing- that is so wonderful that they prepared Shabbat for you guys.

As for the in-laws and having nothing to say... Mine don't even speak English, so there IS nothing to talk about! I hope you were able to excuse yourself with a nap. I use that excuse ALL the time, so it should hold some water for quite a while!

Anonymous said...

I can't email you. It keeps coming back to me and it isn't the first time I have had this problem. I even replied to your email.

What I wanted to say:

Kali is beautiful!

Thanks!