I’m still giggling at this post over at Partners in Parenting. That’s likely, because I can completely imagine saying exactly the same thing.

Let’s teach the kid empathy, shall we?

…will be leaving before long.

Yesterday morning, one of my dogs bit Maya hard enough that he drew blood. I understand the circumstances (he was cleaning food off her breakfast tray, which was on the floor), and know that particular circumstance is preventable. You know, I could actually wash the tray instead of letting the dogs pre-clean it for me.

Anyway, this is the third or fourth time that he’s nipped at her, but the first time it’s been serious. (And no, it did not always involve food when he’s nipped at her.) After lots of soul-searching, I’ve decided he needs a new home. He’s been growling at Maya off and on for a while, usually just as a “get out of my space” warning. That, I think he’s entitled to, and I’ve told Maya again and again that when the doggy says “no,” she must respect that. Um, you know, a not-quite-2-year-old just doesn’t get that. ***sigh*** Now that he’s learned that biting will get him what he wants (her, out of his face), I don’t doubt that it will happen again.

There’s training we could consider. I can look at ways for her to seem “alpha” to him, so that he’ll let her in his space. I could keep them separated all the time. But the fact is, I’m a single mom who’s working at home AND taking care of a toddler — and I can’t promise to always be right there to prevent a reoccurrance. When it comes down to it, I love my dogs, but my daughter is my priority. I’d never forgive myself if the “next time” put us in the emergency room (and the dog to sleep).

He’s a young(ish) dog (almost six), and charming toward adults. (All of this made me realize that he’s *never* been good with kids — even growls at my neighbor girls.) While Maya was a baby, he adored her as the fount of all spitup. Now that she’s mobile…not so much. Within the coming weeks, my baby boy dog will be finding a new home, either with the ex-bf with whom I adopted him in the first place (he still gets visitation, LOL) or with his breeder (who would likely then place him with a child-free family). He will have a good home. But I will miss him horribly.

I’m soooo sad.

BabyTalk, a pretty mainstream mag, has a breastfeeding infant on the cover of its August issue!

Here’s a bit of the cover article:

You’ve heard it by now: A mom should breastfeed her baby for at least the first year of life, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Today, more new moms than ever try to nurse. In 2004, the most recent year for which government statistics are available, about 70 percent of U.S. mothers reported that they had tried breastfeeding, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s up from 55 percent in 1993.

But then consider this: At 6 months, only 36 percent were still nursing. At 12 months, the number dips to 17 percent — fewer than one in five mothers. While moms know that breastfeeding gives babies the best start in life, legions of them find it difficult — if not downright impossible — to nurse longer than six months, let alone up to the one-year milestone.

You can read the rest on their site here.

According to an article from Yahoo News, not everyone was as thrilled as I am to see this magazine cover:

NEW YORK – “I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine,” one person wrote. “I immediately turned the magazine face down,” wrote another. “Gross,” said a third.

These readers weren’t complaining about a sexually explicit cover, but rather one of a baby nursing, on a wholesome parenting magazine — yet another sign that Americans are squeamish over the sight of a nursing breast, even as breast-feeding itself gains greater support from the government and medical community.

As if nursing isn’t wholesome? Harumph. I don’t get BabyTalk anymore (I let my free subscription run out, since Maya’s no longer an infant), but will shoot them a note of encouragement.

Snippet of an IM conversation with a Male Friend Who Usually Thinks He Knows Everything (MFWUTHKE). He’d just read these two posts on Maya’s site.

MFWUTHKE: interesting stuff on the Maya saying NO on the blog..
MFWUTHKE: sure you “could” just solve it for her.. and let her down.. or give her fruit…
MFWUTHKE: but I like the idea.. of making her have to come to terms with what NO really means
MFWUTHKE: excellent!
Allison: Glad you appreciate it.
Allison: I want her to understand it and know when to use it.
MFWUTHKE: and when to not use it
Allison: She still sometimes uses it inappropriately (do you want down “NO!”)
Allison: Exactly
MFWUTHKE: otherwise.. you are enforcing that old standard that have driven men crazy..
MFWUTHKE: NO means yes!
MFWUTHKE: hahahahahaha
Allison: Yeah, or “no” means “I’m just being coy so you won’t think I’m a slut, but really I want you to do me.”
Allison: Which is how Maya got here. I meant “NO.” He heard the other.
MFWUTHKE: well we’ll solve that one later.. right now… let’s just see if she wants peaches!
Allison: At least, I think that’s it.
MFWUTHKE: (laughing emoticon)
Allison: (tongue stuck out emoticon)
MFWUTHKE: anyway.. cool insight…
MFWUTHKE: I might have just (as MFWUTHKE does) try to solve it for her.. or assume what she wanted…
MFWUTHKE: but after reading that… big fan….
Allison: Yay!
MFWUTHKE: makes a lot of sense…. I like
Allison: (patting myself on the back)

I won’t kid you. Even though *I* know I’m on the right track, it feels really, really good to have a skeptical friend tell me he thinks so, too.

[Mary has well-behaved toddlers in public] by clear communication in advance, by making expectations understood, and by following through with firm, compassionate, consistency. The key to avoiding conflict and acrimony, and to creating a warm and nurturing environment, is good communication.

Mary P. (of It’s Not All Mary Poppins) is part of a new blogging community, Partners in Parenting. Even if you’re not a parent — but definitely if you are — it’s worth a look.

Added:
The next couple paragraphs from the same posting guidelines are worth mentioning here:

We at Partners in Parenting, we aim to create just such a nurturing, safe environment where parents, regardless of their philosophical stripe, may meet, discuss, brainstorm, learn, encourage, and support each other. This means that we have to all agree to play nice.

As I say to the tots all the time, “You may be angry, but you may not scream.” Here at PiP, you may disagree, you may even challenge, but you may not be rude. A variety of approaches makes for a rich experience. We do not all have to have the same opinion, but we do have to respect the rights of others to a) have that differing opinion, and b) express it.

Good, GOD. Again, why can’t adults do that?

(Cross-posted from MM. Groan away.)
Update: I’m embarassed to admit it took me two days to realize I’d written all of this BACKWARD structurally — 7/5/7 instead of 5/7/5. Does that make it KuHai?

Back in my room — woe is me!
My 3am offense?
An obstacle course is mom.

Sharp toes dig into her thighs.
Clip, clip! Tomorrow.
She’s waited long enough now.

A contant stream of babble
Flows from my sweet lips
She covers her ears, oh why?

There’s more (bad poetry) where that came from. I have no idea why haiku seemed an apprpriate way to pass the time until she finally complained herself to sleep back in her room.

What amazes me is that I believe she crawled all over me, carrying on her monologue, for perhaps 30 minutes before I realized what time it was. Since she normally wakes me this way, I initially assumed it was at least 6:30am, maybe even 7…and just stormy outside. Uh…no.

From today’s editorial section, About Breast-Feeding…:

For right now, the science comes down hard on behalf of educating women about the clear advantages of breast-feeding. But that is no license to imply that mothers who cannot breast-feed or choose not to are putting their babies in grave danger. Experts on both sides agree that formulas are safe and nutritious. Millions of Americans have thrived on them and are doing quite nicely as far as we can see.

Emphasis mine. They got the right idea — finally — but it sure took them a long time to respond.