5.10.2005

I almost died laughing just now

Currently listening to: Electronic's Raise the Pressure album
Reminds me of: Hanging out at Jon and Nate's place in Park Newport on summer nights (drinking with all of the Biola alums)

I don't have a lot of time at the moment, but I had to open all your eyes to this hysterical video clip. Nathan just came home from work and showed it to me. If you're one of those people who thinks that any funny video involving animals is abuse, then don't look. But I'm of the opinion that animals were put on earth mostly to nourish and amuse us, so I think it's funny. The same way I think it's funny when you spin around with a cat in your arms for a while and then put it down on the floor and watch it try to walk. Come on, like you've never done that. It's also funny to put a strip of tape down a cat's back and watch it run low. The other night Nathan put his watch around Payasa's neck (don't worry, it was plenty big enough - she's a small cat and he has big wrists) and she was our watch cat for a while. Problem was, she wouldn't walk. Maybe a smaller watch would work.....

5.01.2005

Too Much Information

Currently listening to: The Queen is Dead by The Smiths (the song The Boy with the Thorn in His Side might be my favorite Smiths song ever)
Reminds me of: Highschool. I had a friend when I was in highschool who lived right around the corner from me. His name was Nathan (not the one I married) and we carpooled together. He was kind of a recluse, but we'd hang out at night sometimes. One night I was sitting on my bed right in front of the open window writing in my journal. I was also listening to a Smiths album. The tape stopped playing (yes, it was a tape), but the singing kept on going. I squinted out the window and there was Nathan, sitting on the ledge singing. I went outside and we spent the rest of the night wandering the neighborhood, talking. He was one of the strangest friends I ever had...

Yesterday we stopped by Borders so I could pick up yet another book about child-raising, this one on how to develop good sleep habits in a child. I read the parts that applied to a baby Judah's age, and came away discouraged because he doesn't seem to follow the patterns described, and also the book didn't outline very well how to put a sleep plan into effect. I wound up the evening in tears (again).

Who are these people that write these books? How do they know it all? And how are they all so sure that their method is the best? There are tons of books out there and they all have different ideas, and they all have all these testimonials about how their method works every time. Demand feeding or scheduled feeding? Apparently, both work equally well. So the only conclusion that I can come to is that all methods work, unless the parent is a complete idiot. I read a story of one woman who said that when her baby was eight months old he was still waking up EVERY TWO HOURS at night to eat. A couple of questions: first, wouldn't you realize that there was something horribly wrong with that schedule when most babies that age are only eating about 4 time a day and sleep 12 hours a night? And secondly, how was that poor woman not dead from keeping up with the feedings? I would be strapping myself into a straight jacket.

After last night Nathan gave me an ultimatum: "No more books. They make you cry." I think he's right. From now on, I'm just calling my mom.