Saturday, May 16, 2009

"Why do I have to be the one to do this?"

Nande watashi ga yaranakya ikenai no?

We're trying to teach the Pumpkin Princess to pick up after herself. Today, I told her she couldn't blow soap bubbles in the bathroom until she put her Legos away. She did, but not without saying the above.

Thank you to the mommies that wrote comments about their bottles and laundry. I think there is surely a special place in Heaven for mommies who sterilize 14 bottles a day for several months. I'm not sure how much danger a breast fed baby drinking things out of a bottle washed in soap and hot tap water would be in. My (semi-) educated guess would be some where between miniscule to nonexistent when said taps are located in the United States. I can understand the need for special baby detergent, but yes, it's funny that a special baby detergent, supposedly devoid of unnecessary substances, would be scented.

One more week, and I'm back to part time motherhood. I hesitate to write "working full time" just yet, because I got a call yesterday telling me that they were expecting me back but not exactly counting on me 100%. That is, I'll be on a kind of probation type situation for a week. This suits me just fine because the last time I was away from work for 14 weeks, my brain stopped processing the information placed in front of my eyes the way it used to before the break. It took at least a couple weeks to get back into the swing of things.

On the agenda for next week: making sure I have enough decent looking shirts and pants that fit (I think right now the ones that look all right don't fit, and the ones that fit look quite worn), and getting my hair colored and cut.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

How do you do it in your household?

Otaku de ha dou shite imasu?

During Golden Week, my brother's family of four visited my parents at their house and stayed pretty much the entire duration of the holiday. They have a 4 year-old boy and an 8 month-old boy, the most beautiful, robust, happy baby boy you've ever seen (second only to the Pumpkin Prince, of course :P).

While they were there, they did laundry a few times. My brother and his wife wanted to use baby detergent. I don't know if they have this in the Americas and in Europe. It's a special detergent just for babies, made from milder ingredients and devoid of bleaches and brighteners. Parenting magazines in Japan tell you to use this exclusively for babies, at least until they are a few months old. They also tell you to do the baby's laundry as a different load from the rest of the family. I did this for the Pumpkin Princess until she was about six months old. For the Pumpkin Prince, I toss everything except the poopy stuff in the laundry with everything else. Have any of my fellow mommies heard of "separate laundry and separate detergent" for babies?

Another thing the Japanese parenting magazines (and health care providers) tell you to do is to sterilize the baby bottles and nipples by steaming them or boiling them in hot water. Again, I did this for the Pumpkin Princess's bottles and breast pump parts until she was six months old (and continued with the breast pump parts for the duration of their use). For the Pumpkin Prince, they just get tossed in the top rack of the dishwasher with the rice bowls and coffee cups. How many of my fellow mommies sterilized the baby bottles and nipples? How did (do) you do things in your household?

Saturday, May 9, 2009

"You're right!"

Sono toori!

During the drive home from day care, the Pumpkin Princess said, "Kenny says that boys are strong and girls are weak, but that's not true, is it? Both boys and girls are strong!"

I've taught her well, haven't I?

(Name changed to protect the ignorant innocent)