Small Things

Nothing sweeter than a Mama's boy

Time for a regular Mommy post doting on her sweet kids. Tonight as I'm getting dinner on the table, Jimmy tells me, "Mommy, I'll always follow you. Wherever you go, I'll just go with you."

What a sweetheart! He loves me soooo much! Then he adds: "I won't ever get married. I'll just have girlfriends, so I can live with you."

Now that gives me pause. We worked out an agreement, he can get married and live in his own house someday, as long as I live in the same neighborhood. Nice to know that makes him happy now. Let's hope we don't find ourselves living an Eveybody Loves Raymond life with me as the mother-in-law.

The Today Show, Drinking Moms, and Penis Jokes

I don't usually post twice in one day, but I absolutely have to send you all to read this mom's story about being blindsided by the Today Show. It's hilarious, infuriating, ridiculous, and hysterical all at the same time. Basically, this witty mom-blogger was invited on the show to discuss mothers having a drink while their kids play, and it blew up into this fantastic drama that's now all over the mom-blogosphere. The mom herself, Melissa from Suburban Bliss, writes about it in a post that had me falling of my chair, I was laughing so wildly. Here's a sample:

I wish I'd brought up the socializing with alcohol my husband and I do together and questioned why my husband has never been brought to New York to be shamed for having a drink in front of his children. No one has ever asked him "What that drink represents to him...." No one has questioned his ability to be a parent after having a glass of wine. I like to picture Dr Janet Taylor replying, "Well, men have a penis." and Meredith Viera shaking her head in agreement, "Yes, yes....a penis!"

Best thing I've read all year! Thanks, Suburban Bliss, I'll be stopping by regularly!

From my lips to the APs ears?

A week ago I wondered why we don't see "a headline or two tolling the number of insurgents dead, the number of terrorists killed" . And today the AP offers this headline Iraqis: At least 200 insurgents killed . Wow, I guess I need to be careful what I wish for.

I still don't know if this equals progress. Those 200 people were about to launch a deadly attach on a Shiite community during religious celebrations. So we stopped that attack, that's good to know. I guess what I really want to know now is, is the tide turning? Will these 22,000 more troops turn the tide?

What are the odds that next week the AP writes the headline, "Iraq: Troop surge will turn the tide" ?

This military wife is getting mad

Today, the TV is full of bad news from Iraq. Car bombs kill 75, and Helicopter crash, all 12 dead. Both tragic stories, and it makes my heart ache to think of all those people, and the families of those people. One of them hits closer to home than the other.

I read about the helicopter crash on Saturday, not too long after it happened. As always with first reports, there were no details, like the model of the helicopter, or even which branch of the military it was. I'm sure they wait for family members to notified, as they well should, before releasing identifying details like that.

So my mind was whirling for a few minutes. Trying to figure out what time my husband had last emailed me. Rereading the little bit of info in the news for any details, like where it went down. What kind of mission it was on. Anything to help me eliminate the possibility . . . . Suddenly every car that went by the house made my heart stop. I called our friends, another helo pilot family, who pointed out a convincing reason it probaby wasn't one of ours, and so then I could stop shaking. I still needed to hear from Jamie before I'd be able to sleep, and fortunately he called later that night.

But ultimately, they're all "ours." The relief of knowing it's not my family is always followed by sadness that it's someone elses family.

And I am getting really mad now. Our people are over there trying to bring them security, stability, healthcare, education, and democracy, and these people are shooting us down and blowing up their own! That is making me steam.

And it makes me wonder, what portion of the Iraqi population are "insurgents"? And how big a portion makes up all the people gratefully accepting the schools and hospitals and police force and government we are helping them build? The amount of attention the media gives to each is surely no way to tell. Not by the headlines, anyway. Our headlines love to toll the number of Americans killed, the number of civilian Iraqis killed. Those losses are heartbreaking, and take a toll on anyone's will to keep at it.

In wars past, there were headlines tolling the enemies deathcount. A grim statistic, yes, but a visible ticker of progress made. And when I say that, I do think to myself, "death shouldn't equal progress."

And then I remind myself that these people we are killing--I don't need the distance of euphemisms here, no "eliminating targets" or "neutralizing threats,"--because these people we are killing are bombing civilians. They are killing Iraqi men, women, and children, and they are killing Americans for trying to stop them. I strongly believe in the sanctity of life, all life, but there is such a thing as a just war, and I have no problem with this one.

And so if I saw a headline or two tolling the number of insurgents dead, the number of terrorists killed . . . I would think, how terrible war is, what a shame, I might even imagine the wives and children and mothers they had. And yet, I would know that means there are fewer terrorists out there, that there are less people trying to kill civilians and coalition forces trying to protect them. Trying to help them build a nation that doesn't breed terrorists, that instead teaches their young to revere democracy and human rights.

So we all wonder, are we making progress? Would the headlines even tell us if we were? 

If you're planning a baby, you should be taking Folic Acid

Did you know that this week is National Folic Acid Awareness Week? Folic acid, or folate, is the supplement I take to help prevent neural tube birth defects like my baby Hope's. There is an interesting new study, Folate Levels in Young Women Dropping, at Foxnews.com about the fortification of foods with this B vitamin. It's added to enriched wheat products, which has helped reduce the occurance of neural tube defects.

A neural tube defect, like anencephaly or spina bifida, occurs when the neural tube does not properly close, or "zip up" all the way to the top of what will be the skull and spinal column. This happens by day 28 of a pregnancy, so taking folic acid only after you find out you're pregnant is really too late.

I strongly believe this is something all women need to know about, so let me share what I know.

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of folic acid for the average woman is only 400 mcg. That's what's in a standard multivitamin. But for pregnant women and those trying-to-conceive, the RDA is 1000mcg (which equals 1 mg). Since an egg begins developing for release 3 months prior to ovulation, that means women need to start taking daily folic acid 3 months before conception.

For those (like me) who've had a baby with a NTD, the RDA is 5 mg. Conception has a stubborn habit of refusing to follow to our schedules, which is why most married women may want to take folic acid daily for the rest of their childbearing years. That's my plan. For those related (by blood or marriage) to a baby with an NTD, the RDA is 2 mg. That goes for relatives of the mother, relatives of the father, and even spouses of relatives. It is clear that there's a genetic factor, and that may include the father's genes as well as the mother's. So all siblings of the mother and father, whether male or female, have a higher risk factor for NTDs.

You can buy folic acid tablets at any grocery or discount store, but usually in just 400 mcg tablets. You can usually find 800 mcg tablets at health food stores. You can also ask your doctor for a prescription for 1 mg tablets, which is how I get mine. And you can get more information about folic acid and the prevention of birth defects from the National Council on Folic Acid.

Happy New Year, 2007!

Well, I did it--I went a whole year without giving birth! Looks like 2007 will be birth-free, too, since my dear husband has left for Iraq, not to return until April, which leaves less than 9 months in the year.

Saying goodbye to Jamie was sad, but at least I am seasoned enough to know to drop-n-dash. No long goodbyes. Sobbed on my way to the Commissary, though. But life goes on, you still need gas and milk. Walking past the soda aisle made me think of how he'd asked for tonic water just a few days earlier. So I sobbed a bit in front of the tonic water. But I was ok by the time I got home.

Now I am visiting my parents and sisters in Georgia, and getting ready to abandon my children. I planned a get-away with a couple of navy spouse friends, and we are meeting up in Pensacola for the weekend. I know it will be fun, I am looking forward to it. But now that it's the night before, I am getting anxious about leaving my kids. Especially my 16 month old, who still nurses every morning, naptime, and bedtime.

My poor baby will need me! My mommy instincts are shouting at me not to leave my baby, and my heart is already breaking a bit. But the plans are made. My friends are expecting me. And she just might be ok. Without me. Gulp.