Sweet People

I just stumbled upon this article in People. It's an interview with Harrison Ford and he talks about the son he is raising with Calista Flockhart.

I don't have the luxury of time to read goodies from magazines like People very often, but this link enticed me while I was working (ahem!) and checking out CNN of all places. I thought Harrison's comments were very sweet.

And then I read this other article - again found on CNN. And yes, I found it during Island Boy's nap time and during a narrow window of time in which I had to shower and get tons of work done. Instead of getting a lot of work done or showering I found myself distracted and wandering over to read CNN and then to People for just a bit. Of course, that counts as doing something important too, even if I didn't get to shower. If you don't believe me, read the article. :-)

Single Parenting

Hubby just got back from traveling on business for over a week. While he was gone a number of people asked me how I was enjoying "single parenting".

While I missed him terribly and frequently fantasized about moving back to Ohio to be close enough to get help from my family, I cannot for a second imagine what it would be like to be a single parent. Being without your partner for relatively short periods of time (even if it feels like a relatively long period of time!) is so different from being on your own.

First of all, I knew Hubby was coming back and I knew when he was coming back. What is interesting about that is that Island Boy did not know he was coming back, nor when. It was that fact that made the time particularly challenging for both of us. While I tried to reassure our little Island Boy, he truly loves his Daddy and missed him boatloads (i.e. "this much!!!"). This was made obvious throughout the day every day as Island Boy signed "Daddy" and said "Daddy" when he woke up, when he was bored, when he was upset and at other random points throughout each day. Although he seemed thrilled to see Daddy on Skype, it wasn't quite enough. I could totally relate.

I did wonder what our little boy thought about Skype. He was introduced to Skype on the day we met him, but this is the first time he's really interacted much with it, playing peek-a-boo and doing a few party tricks at Daddy's request. It reminded me a bit of Flat Reed and I wondered if we should refer to Skype Daddy as "Flat Daddy".

I need wonder no more. Daddy is home and we're all very happy about that.

More on Privacy

On a related topic, I heard a bit on the radio a few days ago about paranoia. It was funny because it reflected on how challenging it would be to do a study on paranoia. How do you survey people that are paranoid? They are likely too paranoid to respond to the survey!!

As a few of my readers pointed out on my post about privacy, you can never be too careful. While it's true that many of the folks reading blogs like this one are folks who have been prescreened for sanity, those aren't the people you really worry about.

We bloggers make choices about the level of comfort we have with the information we share. Some freely post names and more. Others add a level of protection by making their blogs invite only. One reader offered another option that some may find helpful.

I don't think there is a right answer, but I do know the only way to be completely private is to post nothing at all and what fun would that be?

Magic Signs

Our sign language instructor told us that if we signed "it's time to change your diaper" to our babies they would eventually lie down and wait for us to change their diaper. I was skeptical.

A few days ago I signed "it's time to change your diaper", turned around to grab the diaper, and viola! Island Boy was lying there as cute as can be waiting for me!! (Of course he got up and ran away by the time I was ready, but that's beside the point...)

He's doing it often now, but it still floors me every time. It is just unbearably cute!!

Save a Life (with less icky mess)

The American Heart Association announced today that CPR without mouth-to-mouth is just as effective in most cases as CPR with mouth-to-mouth. I have to admit that in my (rather extensive) training over the years I learned to be prepared to position myself quickly to be the one giving chest compressions if I ever found myself in a situation where I was one of two people about to give CPR. Why? So I wouldn't be the one having to give mouth-to-mouth (although I did carry my Laerdal breathing mask with me frequently you just know the one time you don't have it is the one time you will need it and no, I wouldn't let it prevent me from helping someone that needed it).

My instructors weren't the only ones thinking twice about the ick factor of mouth-to-mouth on a fallen stranger. The American Heart Association is hoping that the new guidelines (call 911, then give 100 chest compressions per minute until help arrives) will help bystanders to overcome any hesitation they may have had about giving mouth-to-mouth and jump in to assist immediately.

Note that the new guidelines really only apply to adults. Children and infants and adults that collapsed as a result of something impacting the lungs (gas, drowning, etc.) may still need help breathing.

And, by the way, if you haven't already done so...GO GET CERTIFIED TO SAVE A LIFE TODAY!!

Privacy

There was a brief article in a local(ish) paper recently about the issue of privacy and mom blogs. It raised the question about whether or not there should be any security concerns when posting photos and information about one's children and family on public blogs.

The article didn't really answer the question. While it did suggest that some, like us, are being cautious and have elected not to post specific identifying information, it didn't give any examples of anyone encountering any ill effects from blogging. For that I am grateful.

Still, we've trended towards the more conservative end of the spectrum. While we always like to believe the best of people, you just never know.

Don't Say No

Modern parenting means not saying "no" - well, at least not unless things are really getting dangerous.



Any Billy Squier fans out there?