One of the Best Parenting Articles I Have Ever Read

I just read this and was so touched by it I had to come here and post so you could read it, too.

http://www.danoah.com/2010/09/you-just-broke-your-child.html

This is written by a father who witnessed something heartbreaking in Costco and was inspired to write about the crucial influence of a father's love or lack of it. It brought tears to my eyes and inspired me to want to do better and be better.

I hope all of you will hop over and read it, and share it with your partner, and then hug your children and feel inspired to change. I know I need to - ever since Moira was born, I have been overwhelmed and taking it out on the kids and on Bryan. Sometimes you just have to stop, take a deep breath, and hug everyone.

"I'm going to be blunt. People see my relationship with Noah, and quite often put me up on a pedestal or sing my praises for loving him more than most dads love their own kids.


Damn it. I don't understand that, and I'll never understand that. Loving my son, building my son, touching my son, playing with my son, being with my son... these aren't tasks that only super dads can perform. These are tasks that every dad should perform. Always. Without fail. There is nothing special about me. I am a dad who loves his son and would literally do anything for his well-being, safety, and health. I would gladly take a rake in the face or a jackhammer to my feet before I cut my own son down or make him feel small.


[sigh] I am far from a perfect dad. And I always will be. But I'm a damn good dad, and my son will always feel bigger than anything life can throw at him. Why? Because I get it. I get the power a dad has in a child's life, and in a child's level of self-belief. I get that everything I ever do and ever say to my son will be absorbed, for good or for bad. What I don't get is how some dads don't get it...."

An Open Letter to Other Drivers

Dear Moron In The Other Car:

1. Please stop tailgating me. I do not possess one of those magical cars that can drive through the car in front of it, and I'm not going to start speeding and endanger my life and the life of my young children because you were too lazy to get your arse out of the house 10 minutes earlier.

2. Please do not honk at me to hurry up and turn already. Those cars zooming by me aren't some of those magic cars, either.

3. There's no such thing as a fantastical "fast lane" where it's suddenly okay to speed 20 miles over the speed limit. That's actually a passing lane.

4. If I slow down and come to a stop at a crosswalk, it's probably because a pedestrian is trying to actually cross in it. Do not honk at me, skid around me, and speed through the crosswalk, barely missing the mom pushing the stroller, because if you actually hit someone with your car while I am present, before comforting my own children, before calling for an ambulence, and before checking to see if that person needs first aid, I will exit my car, pull you out of yours, and beat the crap out of you.

5. That green arrow one lane over does not apply to you. YOUR light is that red circle that hasn't turned green yet. When I honk at you to warn you that you are about to kill yourself, don't slam on your brakes in the middle of the intersection, flip me off, suddenly notice the cars turning in front of you, and then plow through them, narrowly escaping with your life. Next time, just go ahead and get hit by one of them.

6. When you hear sirens and see an emergency vehicle (or three) coming up in your rear view mirror, pull the fark over. The rest of us haven't just stopped on the side of the road to let YOU through, your highness.

A bonus message to the cyclist who ran the stop sign, making me slam on my breaks and spill my kids' drinks. The next time you think traffic signs don't apply to you, and you cut me off, I'm going to slam on the gas instead.

Handmade Newborn Cloth Diapers For Sale, Used 3 Weeks

She outgrew these as I finished sewing them, of course! Made of cotton sherpa, with attached external soakers. The two cream colored ones have double-length soakers for night time and made from a hemp/cotton blend. These are fitteds, which means they are not water-proof and need separate covers, which I also have for sale and will be posting soon.

$5.00 each or best offer.