The circumcision decision: To snip or not to snip?

I remember walking through the grocery store one day while I was pregnant, and a woman came up to me and asked whether I was having a boy or a girl. When I told her I was having a boy, her first question was whether I was going to have him circumcised. Then she told me the story of her son's circumcision. I just wanted to buy bread.

Like most parenting issues, circumcision debate is both personal and polarized. Some parents in the circumcision camp argue that non-cicumcisors (I made that word up) are just setting their kids up for a lifetime of infections and ridicule, while some in the no-snip camp consider circumcisors baby mutilators. The rest of us don’t really care what choices other families make, as long as they are the right ones for them.

It’s a tough decision that every family must make on its own. My goal here is to provide information about circumcision, not to tell anyone that they are wrong. As long as you love your babies and treat them well, I really don’t care whether they have foreskin. Let’s break it down by argument.

More practical projects for the crafty mama

I don't have a whole lot of free time for making large quilts anymore, so I've turned my attention to smaller, practical projects that the baby and I can enjoy. Here are a few projects that will keep baby warm during cold winter months.

I purchased the pattern for this adorable animal hat from Tie Die Diva on Craftsy.com. I love it because although the pattern is officially for the bunny, devil, cow, and bear hats, it's so easy to play around with the fabric and adjust the shape of the ears to make just about anything you want. I made two dog hats as gifts for Christmas by rounding out the ears on the bunny pattern, and I turned a plain old cat into a cheetah (gggrrrr). The pattern is really simple to follow and quick (which is really the important thing, right?). I took one night to cut out all the fabric for five gift hats, and the next night I spent sewing. We've been stopped more than once in the grocery store by old ladies wanting to gush over my little guy in this hat.

Talk about mistletoe!

Boy, I have fun with headlines.

I'd like to say that when I repeatedly mumbled "Jesus Christ" while making these dough footprint ornaments, it was because I was remembering the true meaning of Christmas. But it was because I was covered in flour, my child was crying because he put the dough in his mouth and didn't like the taste, and I couldn't get a good hand print (which is why it became a foot print). But all in all, they came out pretty good--a little large, but they still pass for an ornament. Plus, they have that homemade feel, which I always enjoy.

My husband and I decided that every year, we'd make an ornament for our son until he became old enough to make his own. Last year, I stitched his initials onto a felt ornament that I made, and when my super crafty friend sent me the link to this project, I got inspired for this year's ornament. Making this ornament became extra special when my husband remembered a hand print ornament he made in preschool. He dug it up, and now we have a father/son set.

The recipe can be found at Under the Table and Dreaming. I halved the recipe and still got three footprints out of it, so make a little at first and add more later if you need to. Mine needed to go in the oven for a little longer than recommended, and when they were cool, I sprayed them with an acrylic coating so that the cat would stop trying to eat them.

Crappy weather = Homemade finger paints

Now that the weather has gotten too cold to sit in the sand box for an hour at a time, 'tis the season to explore indoor activities that can keep my curious tot occupied for more than 10 minutes. He loves rifling through the paper recycling, crawling after the cats, and pulling all of his books off of the shelf, but sometimes he needs a novel activity.

Working full-time, staying at home, and everything in between: Part Deux

The New Mama Diaries continues its exploration of women's working statuses and how they feel behind the scenes. Today, we talk to a mama friend of mine, Teri, a stay-at-home mom who just moved to a new city to be closer to her husband's work. Although she loves that everything she needs is within a 10-minute drive, she struggles with feeling disconnected.

1.  What prompted your decision to work or stay at home?

I was let go from my job about two weeks before I got pregnant. I was looking for a job, but I didn’t get any call backs or interviews.  I started to show and I thought "No one will hire a pregnant lady who will need maternity leave in a few months." My unemployment would cover the bills for a while, but wouldn’t last forever. So, we decided that I would be a stay-at-home mom.

Cloth diapers versus disposable diapers: The scoop on the poop

I wanted to give my readers a solid answer to the question, “Which is better, cloth diapers or disposables?” Alas, after much research, I'm sorry to say, there is none. Like this presidential election, one choice does not outshine the other. Rather, you have to pick the lesser of the two evils: Do you want to use enough water to fill two Olympic size swimming pools or send nearly 5,000 diapers per child into the landfill? Tough decision, but some facts with a wee bit (see what I did there?) of experience might help steer deciding parents into the path that is right for them. When deciding which type of diaper to use, four factors usually come into play: environmental impact, health, personal effort, and cost. 

Environmental impact: Most people have the cloth versus disposable debate for ecological reasons, so let’s tackle that first. According to National Geographic’s Human Footprint project, it takes 715 pounds of plastics and 5.65 barrels of crude oil, and four trees to make one human’s lifetime supply of diapers (thanks, Saudi Arabia!). According to “The Poop on Eco-Friendly Diapers,” published by Wired, disposable diapers make up 3.4 tons of waste, or 2.1% of U.S. garbage. And they don’t biodegrade—at least very well, not even natural disposables. According to the Real Diaper Industry Association (yes, it really is a thing), it can take up to 500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose.

Working full time, staying at home, and everything in between

Personally, I think Gen X and Gen Y moms have a unique set of factors influencing their decisions to work or stay at home with their kids. Many of our grandmothers didn't work, but many of our mothers did--not just because they had to to make ends meet, but because they wanted to. Women weren't limited to being teachers or secretaries anymore; they could be whatever they wanted, so they did, and boy have we kicked ass out there.

But the sagging economy and the modern societal expectation that women should work outside of the home have made it difficult for many women who want to stay at home with their children to do so.

Now, don't get me wrong--I wouldn't go back in time and reverse the women's movement that fueled said ass kicking. I'd be pretty pissed if I was expected to stay at home to stitch samplers and make preserves. Women fought to be equals in the workforce, and now we are (for the most part, anyway). The problem is that as we have taken on more responsibility in the workplace, our home responsibilities haven't decreased, and there just isn't enough time or energy for all of it.