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Jul 2008

Final thoughts on BlogHer – and links!

I had a few awkward moments at BlogHer. Who hasn’t? I was a total dork when I went up to Linda Lee from Parent Dish, babbling about how I knew her face from somewhere and realizing that it was her pic from the site. She smiled and thanked me for coming up and saying hello, but I’m pretty sure I saw a little bit of fear of ‘teh crazy’ in her eyes. Awkward. Having one blogger introduce me to another by asking if we’d met before. Second blogger said, “No. Hi!” and walked away. Awkward. One other blogger asked two of us (standing near each other) if we knew each other. Second blogger: No. Me: Well, we’ve met at past BlogHers. Her: Well, we’ve met but… Awkward.

Is it possible to have a good and slightly bad experience at the same time? Most of the women were cool, fun to talk to, awesome to be around. A couple of people just simply walked away from me. All these years and I didn’t realize I was that boring. Wow. Or maybe something shiny distracted them? It happens. I’ve been known to lose track of my thoughts and forget what I was doing (oh lordy, what has happened to my brain since giving birth? I swear!). I really just want people to like me and (pretend) to be as excited to see me as I am to see them. And you know what? Some of my friends did just that. So I’m trying not to think about the ones that didn’t.

In some ways I feel like this was my worst BlogHer (not the worst, MY worst – there’s a difference). I felt distracted and disjointed. I didn’t connect with as many people as I wanted to, although I did talk to plenty. I felt I had to keep running to check on the child. And at the parties I just couldn’t get around. It was too crowded to navigate with a stroller. And yes, I felt I had to take the stroller. I didn’t think I could carry around a 25 pound baby all evening long. I desperately wanted to mix and mingle like I did in past years. But it just wasn’t possible. And this year, my mommy duties came first. It was the first year for me that I had to juggle stuff like that and I’m not at all sure I managed to do it gracefully. more…

Category: babbling, meta Tags: blogher, how it went, linky love 4 Comments

Jul 2008

A little scared

By becky

A few days ago we were going about our business, all of us sprawled across our bed, enjoying some family time. We’ve recently started giving the boy a bit of apple juice in his bottle, to help with his, um, bodily functions. Transitioning to solid food can stop a kid up somewhat.

He was lying in between us, holding his own bottle. That’s a trick he’s been enjoying for a while now, although he’s been doing it more frequently in the last couple of weeks.

Something changed, something was different and it caught my attention. He made a strange noise. I looked up and he started flailing his arms, his face turning red. I grabbed him and sat him up and started pounding his back. He spit up some drool and juice.

And then he started breathing again. A little bit after that, so did I.

As I had reached for him, John noticed something off as well, telling me to sit him up right now. We both caught it at the same instant, this feeling that it – that something – wasn’t right. It was only a second or two, but that motion of grabbing him up and smacking him on the back is ingrained in my brain.

I didn’t panic. I didn’t freak out. I just did what I needed to do. It was later, as I thought about it, that I realized the gravity of what had happened, what could have happened. It reminds me that we need to be present and conscious when we’re with our children, and just be in tune with them.

Now that it’s all over, though, I’m glad he’s okay and that it was nothing major. Still, watching your little guy’s eyes go wide in panic when he can’t breathe? Not good times. Having him laugh and smile just moments later like nothing happened? A lot better.