My all time favorite overheard snippet of a conversation happened when I was riding the Tube in London years ago.
I was sitting across from a mother and pre-school age boy.
The boy looked at her intently and asked,

“Mummy what do burrrrds eat?”
“Oh. Worms and bits of things.”
“But mummy!? Why con’t weeeee eat worrrms?
“Because they would make you quite ill.”

That was it. Just a simple little exchange. But so cute, proper and oh so British that it left an indelible mark.

Well Jane Brody’s recent article in the NYT states information quite the contrary to that little boy’s mum. “Babies Know: A Little Dirt is Good for You.”

It turns out not all worms would make you quite ill. In fact some can even boost your immunity. (Mind you they’re talking micro-organism type of worms not the earthwormy type of worms. Not that eating earthwormy worms would necessarily make you quite ill - but yuk! - and I digress.)

The read the article over lunch and it made me feel a little better about all of the times my kids have eaten hairy Cheerios off the carpet or shoveled a mouthful of garden dirt in their mouth.

At the same time it did make me put down my Panini.

Maybe I’ll finish it later…

A few weeks ago Gail Rosenblum wrote on her Facebook status - “Gail is writing about vasectomies and trying not to get in trouble at work as she studies online photos. ” Almost instantly her Facebook friends chimed in with snarky remarks. I rubbed my hands together and quickly called her. “When is this article running Gail? This will be oh so - linkable for Cribsheet.” Then she told me it was not going to be about your typical snip snip. This article was going to be about reverse vasectomies.

So why would a man who’s already made a seemingly permanent decision go in for the incision again? According to her article: Driving the trend, surgeons say, are remarried couples, mostly in their 30s and 40s like the Hills. Many have children from previous marriages but want to have a child or two together. Other times, long-married couples simply have a change of heart and wish to expand their families. Sometimes, the reason is tragic, such as a couple whose child has died. You can read the complete article here.

Anyone else out there had a reversal? Or anyone else out there - you or your spouse who have had it done and are now second guessing yourself?

I’ve mentioned Blooma before in the blog earlier this year. Yesterday there was a lovely article in Variety by freelance writer Sarah Moran on the year old yoga studio in Edina. You can read it here.

Looks like a very nurturing and supportive environment for pregnant and postnatal women and their families - wishing this place was around when I was pregnant. Especially since it was hard to find a place that offered childcare while you take the classes.

Check out their schedule of classes and wellness services. The massages look great to me - my back is still whack after pregnancy, awkward carseat manuevers and solid toddler lifting. I’m hoping to sign up Ben to a Yoga for Tots soon.

Today we have Darcie Gust, a Cribsheet regular, guest blogging for us. She swore she’d never be a short order cook for her family and is now finding out that trying to get her 3 year old to eat is a very tall order.

Before I became a parent, I had a lot of ideas in my head. Thoughts of what I would and would not do when I became a parent. I’d see those OTHER parents out (you know the ones!) and about and say to myself - “That will never be me!!” One of the biggest “Oh no, not me I will NEVER EVER…” issues I’m battling happens during mealtime at our house.

I swore I would never be a “restaurant” for our kids. I spent half my life working in restaurants - I wasn’t going to be serving up a different meal for every person in our house, especially when I was the one making it!! At least that’s what I thought, before I had a toddler.
Introducing solids to our little girl was a cake walk - she’d not only try it she’d eat the whole jar of whatever it was on the menu for that day - (well, except Apricots - she hated those.)
That little girl just turned three and she is very selective in what she eats. I find myself making a meal for dinner for the family - and then something for her that I know she will eat. Typically PB&J, Mac n Cheese, Grilled Cheese or some form of Chicken Nugget/Chicken Fries.
I do still put on her plate a bite or two of what her Dad and I are eating - which her little brother who is almost two will typically at least try, but she refuses…and then follows that up with -
“I can’t eat that - it makes me cough.” A step up from her telling me it would make her throw up which is what she used to do! We’ve gone the bribery route - begging her to try just one bite - I have tried the “This is all you get til morning and you’ll go hungry” approach - and she honestly would prefer to go hungry - and has…Sometimes she makes it through the night - other nights I’m lying next to her as her tummy is growling and she’s crying. How do you not give in to that and let her have PB&J sans crust yet again? Even harder yet is that both of our kids barely register under 5% on the growth charts for weights! I try not to get too wrapped up in the percentiles but I’d love for them to register on the chart at least!!

I once told a friend that I had visions of sitting down at the table eating as a family every night and was very disappointed that I was failing and she reminded me that we could still sit at the table as a family and eat, even if we were not all eating the same thing.

She’s right, and we have since started doing just that…but I wonder - how DO you get these little ones to eat without making them go hungry?

We first met Ann & Zoe at our Cribsheet get together this summer. I am one person who asked the above question “How did you know she needed glasses?” Ann answers that question and educates us below.

My daughter Zoe wears glasses - she has for nearly a year now, since she was 14 months old, which means we hear this question a lot. And here’s the answer: I didn’t. I noticed Zoe’s eyes crossing around 9 months. When we took her in for her 9 month appointment, I asked the pediatrician about it. Now I’m a first-time mom, so by 9 months, I was very used to the following happening at Zoe’s well child visits: I would ask about some random thing that seemed worrisome to me, and Zoe’s pediatrician would very kindly tell me that it was absolutely normal and nothing to worry about. I fully expected that to happen when I brought up her crossed eyes. Instead, she told us that she didn’t see anything, but referred us to an ophthalmologist. It turns out that Zoe has partial accommodative esotropia. Accommodative esotropia means her eyes cross to compensate for being farsighted, which is why she needs glasses. Partial means that the glasses don’t fully resolve her cross, so she had surgery in August to correct the eye turning that the glasses didn’t correct. The surgery went fine, but I’d be happy to never go through that again.
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