parenting in St. Louis

I've always wondered what kind of jerk parent would take their sick kids to a public place. Specifically a public place where there would be a bunch of other kids.

I tirelessly work day in and day out sanitizing shopping carts, administering vitamins and sacrificing virgin chickens to the gods of children's wellness all to drop them off at pre-school to see some kid with the creature from the green lagoon hanging out of his nose.

I mean, how selfish! Kids spread viruses faster than Lindsay Lohan at a... well... anything – and dropping a sick kid in the middle of a bunch of healthy ones just so you can have a little break just shows a total lack of respect for anyone and everything. Reckless.

Then there was last week.

If we're going to be perfectly honest here, I would guess that I spend roughly 25 seconds of every minute wondering whether or not my kids are normal. The other 35 seconds are usually dominated by wondering what I'm going to have for dessert.

You can call me crazy, but last night as I was hiding in the bathroom pretending like I was vomiting but really just trying to get a moment of peace as I surfed the web, I read an email from BabyCenter titled: “Is Your Baby Normal? Your Top 30 Questions Answered.”

Any mom who has breastfed knows that, well, it's not as easy as it looks. In the earliest stages there can be problems with your baby latching on. It takes an enormous time commitment (on top of everything that is new parenthood). It's difficult to breastfeed if you are going back to work (you'll have to pump, and some workplaces still don't have adequate facilities for pumping moms). And you likely won't sleep for more than three hours at a time for as long as you're doing it.

And those are just the practical concerns. Add in society's seemingly endless enthusiasm for judging new and seasoned moms for breastfeeding in public, and you've got the potential for causing some serious pearl-clutching, even if you don't end up on the cover of a national magazine because you dare to breastfeed your toddler, or make headlines because, horror of horrors, you fed your hungry baby in public.

But given all of this, breastfeeding moms are a resilient bunch, and that's a good thing. The rewards of nursing to mom and baby are significant.

Last week my good friend had a baby boy. In the proud grandma’s first Facebook post announcing the weight, length and name to the world, she added this: “Baby’s fine and nursing well.”
 

I have three children and I must admit when I was pregnant with my first we picked out Pottery Barn bedding, a high-priced swing, crib, bassinet and more! I had no clue what a baby actually needed so anything in the baby section went on the registry. Well, three children later I realized that I made some mistakes. When baby #3 arrived all I really wanted was a few gift cards and diapers.

So what do you really need?

Co-parenting can be tricky for everyone involved. Add to that the barrier of miles and distance when living in two different cities, and it can be quite difficult to manage. It takes a lot of communication, fortitude and planning, but it is not impossible. Co-parenting can work even when you are miles apart.
 
Let’s take my situation for instance.