Thing 1: This cycle, my irrational baby product obsession is over slings. (I blame bizarrogirl.)  A December baby would have been perfect for the Kangaroo Korner fleece pouch, but if I end up with a summer baby, that’s not so hot.  So, now I think a Hotsling would be great (the Maya and other ring slings really don’t appeal like a tube/pouch sling does) to start out with, and a Mei Tai type would be a good next step up.  (And, okay, it’s closed for custom orders, but the textile junkie in me is drooling over the fabric selection at the babyfairies site.)  I also think I could probably make my own Mei Tai/ABC easily enough, since I can do a straight line and such on a sewing machine, and choosing my own fabrics would be ideal. Especially if I could figure out how to make different ones for different occasions. The formal sling, the manly sling for Dave, the sling that goes from the office to evening wear with just a few accessories, the sling that guarantees getting hit on at the bar . . . .  anyway, that’s the newest obsession in this here 2WW.

Thing 2:  In talking to Amy, I figured out what it is that bothers me about the way the young un’s are handled at family events. It’s not that the kids are misbehaving, but that the parents are mis-parenting. I also figured out why they think my nephew is such a tremendous father, when he seems to be misparenting most of the time: he’s there.  The bar for fathers has been set reallllly low in Dave’s family, in that Dave never even HAD a damn father, the other kids’ dad was pretty much an asshole, and also not present, and one SIL (nephew’s mom) is on her 3rd spousal-equivalent, who is parent to none of her kids. (Both kids have different dads.)  The one father figure that Dave had growing up was his BIL, who is still married to SIL (and Good Niece’s dad) and THAT’s the guy that takes care of kids when there’s an event, because he IS so awesome at it.  When nephew shows up WITH his children, that alone is enough to make them think he’s a really involved dad.  In our world, though, involved goes beyond simple physical presence, and moves into the realm of active parenting and emotional interaction with your kids. (As it is, when Dave and I do conceive again — knock wood– it will be the first baby in three generations to be conceived in wedlock on his side of the family. Not that being married is the end-all, be-all of good parenting, but it’s an interesting statistic, nonetheless.)

Thing 3:  Lulu left a comment on my entry that had the pics defacing the religious propaganda:

I don’t know, Gretch, would you have posted this if it were about
Allah? Or Buddha? Or if the people had been Jewish? I know that it is
the pushiness that is annoying and irritating in this particular case,
but I have to admit, I am a bit dismayed that you’d post this.

and this was my response:

You know, I would have if it was any religion or even any random
doorknob-spam that lent itself to mockery.  I used to collect
these propaganda pamphlets because they often are so ridiculous in
their claims (there was one sect at my first college that insisted
wearing white tshirts would send you to hell – no joke — and plastered
the campus with their fliers. It’s how I met Aton, actually, he was
collecting them from car windshields as fast as the Friends o’ JC – as
they called themselves — were laying them down.)

I’m sorry that it dismayed you, but I don’t see it as that bad.

There’s just been a LOT of proselytizing going on around me lately,
that I haven’t written about — [Edited to remove some stuff about work], so I’m feeling especially …. whatever, lately.  Just
flying that agnostic flag, you know?  I’ll probably c&p a bit
of this for the journal to explain, but I really am sorry to offend
you. It’s just one of those religious/not things: I get offended when
Bangor Baptist sneaks videos and propaganda onto my porch, or when my
views aren’t considered valid (I’ve discussed this before, heh), and I
guess my reaction to those events can be offensive to others. *shrug*

I looked for where I’d written about this before, and I think it was on diaryland.  Basically, being in an area where cultural diversity is about zero, I’ve always had issues with the automatic assumption that we’re Christian.  My old entry went into my frustration by being wished "merry christmas" or "happy easter" when there is no visible reason to wish me such things. I don’t wear a cross, I’m not in a church lobby, I’m not buying some religiously themed thing.  My coworkers would ask "How was your easter?!" and I’d respond with a "It’s just Sunday in our house." Because, seriously, NOT EVERYONE IS CHRISTIAN.  And in such a place as homogenous as Maine, people tend to just default to "great, thanks." And a few years ago, I made it a point to NOT default to that, because it continues to propagate the idea that everyone is christian. And they’re not.

Our values, my values, are to do good to others, and if there is a heaven and a god and all of that? Then maybe we’ll get in. If not, oh well, we did well by humans while we were on the planet.  I have seen too many christians think that by sticking a jesus fish on the back of their car ensures them a safe trip to heaven, and they slack on that whole "do good unto others" part of the faith.  So, yeah, I mocked a piece of unrequested propaganda.  But I’ve also done a lot of good for other people in my 30 years, as has Dave, and we will teach those same values to our kids.  I feel certain that if I were to get hit by a bus today, my actions would be remembered as mostly good deeds, despite the tasteless jokes we sometimes make.