Whine.

[rivka]

It has been an absolute pigfucker of a week at work.

I am tired of not being respected.

I have a headache. My back hurts.

I am tired of nursing. And pumping. I am so tired of pumping I can't even begin to tell you. And I'm having trouble keeping up with it, too. And now that Colin is eating cereal I have to pump extra milk for the cereal on top of the milk he takes in his bottles.

It was 90 degrees and 75% humidity today. My glasses kept fogging up every time I went outside.

I am tired of Colin pulling my hair and gnawing on my chin and taking off my glasses. I am tired of being slimed with drool.

I am tired of Alex's incredibly loud and shrill voice, and her insistence on sitting in my lap when it's 90 degrees out.

I am tired of having it be so hot that I can't sit at my computer at home because it's too hot for the boy, especially if he's swaddled for a nap. I am bored with my living room. I am bored with hanging out on the floor supervising Colin's play and rescuing him every time he gets into a position he doesn't like.

I don't have anything to read.

Comments

[redbird]

*hug*

I hope this heat wave breaks soon, and the people at your job treat you decently.

Nothing to read

[hazelchaz]

Okay, this is a crisis. We should start sending you books and things to read. Preferably in short lengths. Who's with me?

Re: Nothing to read

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear!

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

that is not in fact excessive because there is not enough of it to make my computer's memory seize up and die.

i am reading the fourth book in the _the merchant princes_ series by charles stross; i am finding them fun and cracktastic. i also like his laundry books. (um, the atrocity archive is one of them. they're less depressing than that sounds.)

the juggler is feeding me eric flint's 1632 books-- i am finding them patriotic in a treacly sort of way, yet strangely compelling anyhow.

your boss is a dolt. you want i should come let the air out of her tires?

Re: Nothing to read

[spiritdancer]

This is the point where I went to audio books, actually. If you send books, somehow time needs to be found in which to read them :)

[ckd]

I hear you, and hope that things improve for you soon in all of these areas.

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Re: Nothing to read

[hazelchaz]

I've got old mystery magazines and s.f. magazines, Rivka. Would you like them? You can do what you like with them, they'd be a gift freely given.

[janetl.livejournal.com]

When it was 100F, for a week, I found looking at pictures from last winter strangely soothing. That and popsicles.

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind if I just say "there, there" and hope things feel better soon.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

Yes.

I could add to this list, but I don't think I have to. Just know I understand completely.

[laurarey.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this. Sometimes it is easy to believe that you are the most perfect mother in the world. No, really. I'm serious. :)

There have been times that, when I'm supremely tired and complaining, that I think..."rivka wouldn't do this...she would have some rational explanation as to why the baby is behaving this way...and some supremely simple and workable solution." Thank you for sharing this side of yourself as well.

Hang in there.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

No advice or solutions, just <hugs> and a fluffball to cheer you up.

[morning-glory.livejournal.com]

Hugs and sympathies from another working mum with an infant. I come home every day with an utter lotahing of my breast pump. And conversely, the inevitable OMG I am a horrible mom guilt if we run short and Ty might need formula.

[eeyorerin]

YOu were with me the entire time. There are witnesses.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Hahahahaha. No.

As a mother, I struggle every day with impatience and frustration. I also find babies pretty boring. It doesn't take much time gazing in wonderment at the perfect mystery of life before I'm ready to move on to something else.

And I can get very, very angry.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[kate_nepveu]

You don't have to tell me about the being tired of pumping, no indeed.

Sympathies on everything. If there's anything I can do--recommend reading, send e-books for your Palm, etc.--let me know.

[torontoteacher.livejournal.com]

You don't know me, I came here through someone else, but I think that your daughter and my son in a cage match might be satisfying for both of us to watch.

I am so tired of the *demanding* nature of my kids. I just for a couple of days want a couple of those quiet lumpy children. The ones that just sit there and stare. Not forever. Just until the heat breaks.

Hang in there, says one MomZilla to another.

[bosssio.livejournal.com]

I hear ya. I too get bored with babies, though I find that stage much better than toddlers. Toddlers (preverbal) drive me NUTS.

[aloha-moira.livejournal.com]

Heat makes everything feel a million times worse. Hope you get to cool off (maybe at the library?) soon. :)

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

You need a break. And a girlie drink over ice. I hope you got one of both. I'm sorry that the slog is at a nadir right now.

[ailbhe]

I hope you're feeling a bit better now. I have some Rivka-friendly opinion/advice about the cereal but am not sure this is a good time to be offering advice-like things. Let me know if you'd like to hear it.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

If the advice is not to feed him cereal, I know that cereal is not technically necessary and that lots of people have strong objections to feeding babies grains. But it's higher in calories than pureed fruits and vegetables, and I am motivated to get him on some caloric solids to reduce the pumping burden.

If the advice is something else I'm happy to hear it.

[ailbhe]

No, it's that women who don't express milk otherwise often don't use breastmilk in their babies' cereal. I, for example, never did. It seemed like too much hard work.

I keep hearing that avocado is the most densely calorific thing to feed a baby, too. Certainly I find them very filling for myself. I have no idea whether they are on the current Approved List For Babies though. I think banana and avocado used to be a popular puree?

[rivka.livejournal.com]

What did you mix cereal with? Just water? Soymilk?

Avocado and banana both have to be prepared from fresh. Colin's been eating things that come in handy little organic jars. But they are good ideas, and we do have bananas in the house.

[ailbhe]

I mixed cereal with whatever was handy - Linnea had porridge made with ricemilk or water, and mainly she ate out of my bowl, too. Emer had bits of avocados and banana that I ate the rest of; it didn't need to be blender-smooth, mushing it with a spoon or fork or her own hands worked fine. I never actually mixed them, though, because I didn't want to eat that myself and I get all weird if I have to throw food away.

I didn't buy specific baby-cereals, though I did use various jars at various times. It all depended on what was easiest, really. Emer was mainly self-weaned onto solids, minimal spooning. Linnea was spoonfed a lot, because she was ready for solids before I was ready to give her *solid* solids. In Sweden there are gruels which are mixed with water and served in a bottle; I think they already have milk powder in. They're not a breastmilk substitute at all, they're a separate foodstuff with mixed grains.

I believe that current nutritional guidelines for children who are not dairy intolerant are that they should not use cow's milk as their main milk drink (that is often their main source of nutrition!) until they are 12 months old, but that it's ok in cooking. Some people add butter and cream and yoghurt to a lot of things, for babies under a year old. Here, I'd ask my Health Visitor (actually, I'd ask at least two, because I have a thing about trusting them). Is there anyone you can ask? Do the AAP have guidelines?

[rivka.livejournal.com]

He has a well-baby visit with his pediatrician tomorrow, so I can ask him if a couple of tablespoons of cow's milk would be problematic.

You can't beat the instant baby cereals for convenience; they're tiny flakes that can be mixed up with a little warm milk instead of having to be cooked and cooled. We get two varieties: brown rice, and oatmeal, both organic. I think they're pretty tasty.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

I have a very food-allergic baby, but he's always been fine with rice cereal mixed with bottled water. Also, bananas are one of the only fruits he can eat, but since I'm allergic to bananas* I feed him gerber puree'd bananas, so I can keep it kind of contained. They have added citric acid (like most jarred baby fruits) but otherwise are just banana. Gerber has an organic and I think the other brand that's always organic (I can't remember the name right now, dang) has bananas in their "first" group.

*one of the quirks of adoption is that my large list of food allergies bears no relationship to Charlie's large list, so I have to feed him things that I shouldn't actually be handling.

[tea-dragon.livejournal.com]

I can remember mixing rice cereal with yogurt and fruit purees, both for flavor and calories, once we passed the plain rice and water stage. It might not be bad mixed with avocado or banana.