verdemama — green around the edges

Resolutions

by verdemama on June 6, 2010

I did yoga the other night for the first time in AGES and it felt so good, I almost cried. I had made a New Year resolution to do more yoga (among other things), and then—poof—six months had passed, and I had done approximately zero yoga. Until now. I’m not sure what I’ve been waiting for. Oh, right. TIME—the crucial missing ingredient.

I really do love being a mother, but lately I’ve been mourning the loss of my former self. The one that had time to do things for herself. The one that exercised regularly, showered daily, slept in on weekends, read novels, danced at concerts and lingered over coffee and a crossword puzzle every Sunday morning. It’s with a sort of wistful contentment that I’ve relinquished (temporarily, anyway) certain aspects of my true self. But every once in a while, I catch a wisp of memory of who that person was, and I miss her.

Before I had Orion, I took fabulous, amazing, loving care of myself. I ate very healthfully, I went to the gym or did yoga or bicycled or took a long walk daily (and sometimes I even did several activities in one day). In retrospect, even though I didn’t think so at the time, I was in fantastic shape. I had flat abs, tons of energy and a clear mind. I loved my job as a magazine and web editor, and was in such a motivated little groove that I could exercise daily, get all my work done, eat healthfully, and get to bed by 10:30 every night. Everything in my life just clicked so well. I was in charge. Life was my bitch.

Now, I’m absolutely not the one in charge—every minute of my day is dictated by a toddler’s whims. I’ve let my bod get a little flabbier than I like, I have perma-dark circles under my eyes, and I read almost exclusively baby books and parenting magazines, rather than the literature, news and political analysis I used to love.

But I’m not quite sure I’m ready to accept my fate as milkmaid/walking napkin/baby jungle gym. Uh-uh, no way.

I’m here today to vow to myself, and every pair of eyeballs reading this blog, that I’m reclaiming my life as my own. (Okay, at least partly.) I’m promising to clear aside the piles of baby books and toys and make some space for myself, starting with daily exercise.

I’ll let you know how my journey back to my old self goes. I’ll keep you updated on all the downward dogs, the miles bicycled, the novels read, the summer concerts, crossword puzzles and lazy Sunday mornings.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an old friend to catch up with.

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The A.M. Blues

by verdemama on June 2, 2010

I took Orion to the park bright and early today, in all my slobbish, just-out-of-bed glory, thinking surely it would be early enough that no one else would be there. Wrong. As my luck would have it, the place was teeming with showered, makeup-ed, cutely dressed mamas and their equally cute toddlers. How do these women do it? Haven’t they heard that it’s just a random Wednesday morning at the park? Tone it down a little, ladies. You’re making some of us feel bad.

Unless I get up at 6am, which I never would because I value the little bit of sleep I do get WAY too much, I often don’t get that all-important morning shower before Erik goes to work. Therefore, I usually spend the first half of the day looking like I just got back from a camping trip. Eventually, hopefully, the child will take a solid nap in the afternoon and I can hop in the shower. But that doesn’t always happen either.

I’m at this weird point in my life where even taking a simple shower feels like the ultimate luxury. Pathetic? Perhaps. But most days it’s worth the sacrifice. And other days I just put on a hat and sulk a bit.

At least Orion looks cute in the mornings.

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Babe About Town

by verdemama on June 1, 2010

To pho or not to pho? That is the question

I know there will be some people out there who think I’m nuts for this, but I’m a firm believer in bringing my child with me when I go to restaurants. Orion is a champion restaurant eater—he’s well mannered, laid-back and reasonably tidy. He’s been dining out since he was a week old, and he’s been a babe about town ever since. There’s no denying that his easy temperament is partly to thank for his ability to not embarrass us in public eateries, but I also think it’s because we expose him to restaurants, and he’s learned how to behave in them. Not only does he behave, but he usually gets tons of praise—from staff to random people alike—on what a good baby he is.

Granted, we have had our moments where Orion falls apart and we would have to scarf down our meals so we could bail early, or one of us would have to eat solo while the other takes O for a walk around the block, but 95% of the time, we have some fun, a nice meal and we don’t feel deprived of our nights out on the town. It helps that we know to keep it appropriate—we don’t take him to a white tablecloth kind of place at 8pm on a Saturday night—and we clean up after him if he makes a mess (and besides that, we tip very well).

We definitely prefer dining at home on a regular basis, but once a week or so it’s fun to keep the oven off and let someone else do the cooking for us. And we take the little man with us. What do you think? Are we crazy for braving restaurant meals with a toddler? Or do you take your wee ones out on the town with you, too? Tell me what you think!

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Here Comes the Sun(screen Guide)

by verdemama on May 28, 2010

Just in time for the unofficial start of summer, Environmental Working Group (creator of my beloved cosmeticsdatabase.com, which rates the toxicity of all our favorite personal care products) has released its annual Sunscreen Guide for 2010—dishing the dirty deets on which sunscreens are friends of skin and which should never see the light of day. Quoth ewg.org: “EWG’s research team found that 92 percent of brand name sunscreens either don’t sufficiently protect skin from sun damage or contain hazardous chemicals — or both.” Uh, great.

After seeing an ever-increasing number of friends and family have to deal with melanomas (and I, myself, having a few suspect moles removed from my lilly white bod), I’ve come to consider myself somewhat of a sunscreen freak. Unfortunately the years of teen tanning are starting to leave their wrinkly roadmaps across my exterior, and while I know I can’t undo the damage that’s been done, I’m definitely not down with picking up any more. SPF me, baby!

I was glad to see one of my fave and most-used sunscreens, JASON Natural Cosmetics’ Sunbrellas, was given a pretty great rating on EWG’s Sunscreen Guide. I like JASON because it feels good and moisturizing (using natural ingredients), smells great (coconut-y) and keeps me from getting too roasty toasty. I’ve also been a fan of the JASON kids’ sunblock, but it looks like it’s got a little higher toxicity rating than I find necessary. I think for Orion I’ll switch to the California Baby SPF30 (a great brand—I’m a fan of their Calming Shampoo and Bodywash).

How does your sunscreen rate?

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Into the Wild

by verdemama on May 25, 2010

Can I just say, WOW, what an interesting family vacation we’ve had. Our little threesome, plus my mom and stepdad, embarked on a seven-day cruise to Alaska and, oh!, what a time we had.

Let’s jump right in, shall we? I’ll try to hit only the highlights, because Alaska-sized adventures are hard to confine to a simple blog.

We cruised out of Seattle, and after the first woozy day and a half at sea, we docked in Juneau, AK—an itty bitty burg that I CAN’T BELIEVE IS THE FRICKIN’ CAPITAL OF ALASKA. We decided to forgo the half-hour $400/person glacier-viewing helicopter ride (which no doubt would have been awesome, but that’s seriously expensive) in lieu of exploring the town on foot.

[continue reading…]

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Vacation, All I Never Wanted

by verdemama on May 24, 2010

…aaand, we’re back! For the past week and a half we’ve been on an Alaskan cruise, bookended by a few days in Seattle. We returned home Saturday night, and then? I got a terrible cold. And the flu. Simultaneously. The flu has mercifully passed, but the cold is still kicking my ass. I had a massive photo recap of our trip to Alaska planned for today, but I think I need to take off my overachiever hat and simply rest for a bit. I’ll be back tomorrow (or hell, even the next day) with all the details and pics of our trek to the last frontier.

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Going Places

by verdemama on May 13, 2010

Pardon us while we duck out for a week or so. Be back soon!

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Happy Birthday, Erik!

by verdemama on May 11, 2010

Today is the 30-somethingth (mumblemumble) birthday of my dear husband, Erik. In honor of his special day, I thought I’d take a moment to tell you all what a great dad he is and publicly bestow him with gratitude for all that he does for our family. Here goes.

Not only does Erik devote many hours each week working for the man in his incredibly demanding job, but when he comes home he still musters the time and energy to entertain Hurricane Orion while mama “relaxes” by making dinner (I do so with wine or beer in hand—so by that point in the day, yes, I consider it to be relaxing). This alone rocks, but there’s more.

I’m also appreciating more and more his unique dude-esque approach to parenting. He uses some tactics that I, at first, think would never work in a million years, but then he tries them and… they work.

Case in point: After Orion finishes a meal, I might take his cloth bib and gingerly dab the food off his face, resulting in a screaming, writhing Orion and a full minute or two of frustrating struggle to get the job done. Erik, on the other hand, has a different approach. He will grab a towel from the kitchen, maybe get it wet, maybe not, then grab Orion’s head in one hand and smoosh the towel on his face with the other, giving it a good rub as if polishing a bowling ball. The result? A fuss-free clean face in about two seconds flat. Orion never knows what hit him.

Another example: Some nights Orion fights going to sleep no matter how much I rock, shush, soothe or sing to him. I’ll storm out of his room after an hour of trying to soothe him and call in the reinforcements. Erik will basically walk into Orion’s room announcing (semi-sternly), “Orion. It’s time to sleep. Good night,” and walk out. And then? Orion falls asleep. Just like that.

Erik is a great dad and husband and I’m one lucky girl to have him around. Happy birthday, sweets!

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And Just Like That…

by verdemama on May 11, 2010

And just like that, Orion’s obsession with playing in the car every day ebbed, and he wanted to go back to the park. And that we did. And lo, it was good.

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Beautiful Day

by verdemama on May 10, 2010

Mother’s Day 2010 pretty much rocked. I got to sleep in for the first time in ages, was made breakfast and got to take an embarrassingly long shower. Then we hit Griffith Park to ride the kiddie trains, which wasn’t exactly a mother’s fantasy day but Orion loved it and that’s all that matters. I loved it, too for that reason.

What a difference a year makes. Last year was my very first Mother’s Day, and I was still buried deep in that new baby haze. This year? I’m like the Arnold Schwarzenegger of baby mamas (ala Terminator, not Governator)—I’m kicking ass and taking names. Okay, so I’m still exhausted most of the time. But a lot of the fear has subsided, we’re in a good routine and I trust my instincts more than ever.