FOMS

Friend Of Moms, aka FOMS
I was having coffee the other day with my friend and co blogger, and her adorable little toddler. I enjoy having coffee with the two of them. We talked about the upcoming one hour lights off, the depleting rain forests and just how the heck a bunch of math majors allowed the sub prime mortgage fiasco. And that was my discussion with adorable, toddler child. Mom and I talked Lilly, Petunia Picklebottom and a few, vague recollections of what life was like when we were young and single.

But back to adorable, toddler child and me. She drew me her opinion as to how the sub prime mortgage fiasco began. She had two large circles and a third, smaller one that she connected with a bunch of eratic lines. I agreed. Greedy lender and greedy brokers obviously were represented by the larger circles, with the smaller circle representing the guy that desperately wants a home but can't really afford the house he wants, unless the two big greedy circles convince him that he can - for a brief time. Then the eratic lines appear when the rates jump to near usery levels. Now, this adorable, toddler child is the product of a very intelligent gene pool so I am not surprised that she grasped the whole mess and was able to convey it so precisely in such short order. But I suddenly became very aware that this child was very comfortable sharing her opinions with me. After all, this was a potentially dicey political subject and she didn't really know my right or left leanings. She just trusted that she could have this discussion with me.

That's when I started to wonder if our relationship would continue on this trusting journey as she and I grew older. Would she confide in me which boys in her class she thought were the cutest? Or maybe she'd seek my counsel on how to tell her Dad that she might not want to be a Nittany Lyon. Maybe she'd ask my advice on some things she didn't feel quite comfortable talking to her Mom and Dad about. Afterall, we all know that when we were teenagers our parents didn't know anything. But did our Mom's friends know anything?

What kind of Friend of Mom will I be? I hope that I am the kind that can support my friend and her adorable, toddler child. (Even when this child is seventeen, she will still be an adorable, toddler child to me) As I get closer to bringing my own adorable, toddler child home to parent, I hope that my friends will do the same for me. I don't know if this is the Village it takes, but I do find comfort in the thought that a Friend of Mom may be there to fill in the cracks so that no adorable, toddler child falls through them.

Schmaltzy? Oh yeah. But keep in mind I was drinking mocha java.

Decorating the Nursery

As you know from a prior post, my husband and I are adopting a baby/toddler girl. As a true princess, she is already draining our wallets, and she's not even here yet! We are starting to get her room ready. Not an easy task.

This requires a contractor to come in and put up a wall, changing a pass thru bedroom (stairway in the room leads to a third floor room), into a smaller room next to an extended hallway leading to stairs to a third floor. Hiring and working with contractors, and contemplating parenthood at the same time brings me to certain Biblical conclusions. Precisely, I can see why God wanted his only son to become a carpenter. They set their own hours, don't feel compelled to meet deadlines, aren't constrained by those things called arrival times that the rest of us deal with, charge a fortune, and have clients (me) that bring them fresh coffee and make them lunch!

Anyway, I degress. The point of this post is that I have a deadline. The one where I now have to make a decision as to which decorating theme and bedding to choose. I've been up, down and around the block a few times with my choices. Here are four of them. Check them out and give me some ideas of your own (please)

English Rose Garden: www.newarrivalsinc.com/index.asp?PageAction=ViewPROD&ProdID=1580

Ooh La La by Kimberly Grant: www.babysupermall.com/main/products/kmg/kmg615033.html

Angelique Toile D'or linens: www.rosenberryrooms.com/232-angelique-toile-d-or-linens-four-piece-set.html

Bibi's Kittens: www.bibisbabywear.com/pages/001445.htm

Mom, you were .....

My husband and I are adopting a baby. Or possibly a toddler. She'll be a she. A little bundle of attitude, just waiting to grow up and tell me that I'm wrong about everything and I don't know nothin'. I know she'll do this because my mother said she would. My mother has been saying this for years, since I was thirteen at least. Mum would say "You wait. You'll grow up and have a daughter and she'll tell you that you don't know what you're talking about. And then you'll know that I was right". So, I've been anticipating this event.

Not so much the event of having a child. Or having a child that tells me that I'm wrong. The event that I will have to admit to my mother that she is right. So Im gonna start right now. Publicly. (I'm safe here, because my mother doesn't know how to use a computer and will likely never read this blog) OK. Here goes...."MUM. YOU WERE RIGHT. I am going to have a daughter and she is going to grow up and tell me that I'm wrong about everything and I don't know nothin'".

(But I'm also really excited that we're gonna have a baby)