Today I was speaking with my brother-in-law’s girlfriend (BIL’sGF), and CNN was on in the background. We both stopped at one point when they were reporting about some horrible thing happening in the world. No, I don’t remember what it was, since after awhile all of those news stories just blur together. Why can’t they add a few more happy stories to the news? Ah well, that’s another post entirely.

Anyway, BIL’sGF then said, “I don’t know if I’d ever want to have children in a world like this.” This comment made me look at Cordelia and wonder if Aaron and I really thought about the world we’d be bringing our child into.

I know the state of the world pretty much sucks right now. Terrorism, wars, religious clashes, school shootings, rape, young girls being kidnapped and killed…the list goes on and on. Add to that the greater than average number of natural disasters over the past year, and it would make anyone wonder if someone or something really thinks humanity should just be wiped out entirely. How could I be so selfish as to create another life and introduce it to the cruel and evil world we have now?

But then, I don’t really think things are necessarily the worst they’ve ever been. There have been plenty of moments in history that could make the short list of People Behaving Badly. Some refer to the “good ol’ times” when children had respect for their elders, families were together more, people knew and talked with their neighbors, and kids walked uphill in the snow both ways to get to school and were happy for the bags tied around their feet for shoes. I think these people are still stuck believing the spin of the 50’s. It wasn’t all Happy Days, people – they just wanted you to think that.

I mean, there are plenty of problems with today’s world. Yes, kids need to learn to show a little more respect. But who is responsible for teaching them that? The village can do all they possibly can to raise a child with values and morals, but if the parents of that child aren’t teaching and reinforcing those values, it’ll be lost on the kid. I realize you could debate the “who’s responsible” argument until the end of time, but most people agree that the parents share at least part of the responsibility.

So why did we bring a child into this mad, mad world? Because we plan on teaching her those values and morals to make her a good person. We choose to take the roles of parents very seriously, and even though we don’t have total control over how she’ll turn out, we can do our best to make sure she’s one of the “good apples” in the bunch.

Personally, I commend many of the parents I’ve seen online and in person. Those parents who clearly see the task ahead of them, and choose to face it rather than hope that society will do most of it for them. For parents like these, I say that you did a good thing by bringing a child into this world. The more dedicated parents we have, the more good people will hopefully come from it, and then just maybe those children will grow into adults who will change the world for the better. Even if Cordelia doesn’t grow into the person we hope she’ll be, we have to cling to that hope and do our best to teach her right from wrong and to be an independent thinker. And when the day comes that she sets off into the world on her own, we’ll know it was all worth it.

Hi, I’m Christina. I currently reside in Columbus, Ohio. No cow-town jokes, please – I’ve heard them all before. Sharing this house with me include my husband, Aaron, and our two children, Cordelia (7) and Miranda (4). A couple of lazy, heat-seeking Siamese cats are often seen near the fireplace, too.

My background:
Long before I was a mom, I had dreams of being a professor of history, with my focus on Elizabethan England. For 10 years I played the reality show version of the Renaissance as a performer at the Ohio Renaissance Festival, where I met my husband. Grad school didn’t go how I wanted it to, though, and soon I was working from home as a tech writer. Life was pretty good.

Enter parenthood. I soon quit my job to pursue a part-time job at a local university and a larger role as a mommy. Two years later, I became a stay-at-home mom when Mira was born.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that once I switched to part-time, I also went back to school for nursing. I graduated in June 2009 and became a labor & delivery nurse as soon as I got my RN license. I now work for a call-in service that helps new parents with questions about caring for their baby.

Why blogging?
Starting my blog was an attempt to not only chronicle my child’s life (the empty baby books still taunt me), but also to find other moms who could reassure me that no, I’m not crazy, and yes, whatever my child is doing has happened to someone else, too. Since then, blogging and social media have brought me a wealth of new friends, and a community that is sometimes scary and awe-inspiring in how unified and supportive it can be. Has my life changed because of blogging? Yes, and in most ways for the better.

More?
I can be reached at amommystory [at] gmail [dot] com if you’d like to send me e-mail. I love mail, as long as it isn’t spam or a message telling me how much I suck. I’ll admit that while I try to keep up on my e-mail, it’s hard to respond to everything. And sometimes that response comes slowly. (Sorry, mom. I swear I’ll e-mail you again soon.)

You can also find me on Twitter, where I’m @mommystory.

If you’re interested in my opinions on products and services relevant to parents, check out Mommy’s Must Haves. PR folks, please direct your inquiries to that site. I’m currently accepting offers of products for reviews, although due to my full time nursing job, I’ve cut down the number of products I’m reviewing at any given time.

Those interested in advertising opportunities with this site should contact me at amommystory [at] gmail [dot] com for more information.

Last night, at approximately 8:45pm, my husband Aaron completed the NaNoWriMo challenge and finished his first novel! On November 1, after reading about the challenge, he decided to try writing something longer than a character sheet for an RPG. He had an idea that he had been pondering for awhile, so he set his mind to writing that story. And while the challenge asks for 50,000 words (which he hit before Thanksgiving), his word count is somewhere close to 80K.

Some of our friends have been reading it while he wrote it, and are very impressed with the work. It’s kind of a cross between a superhero novel and Call of Cthulhu. The next step is for him to edit it, then pass it off to a friend to edit. This friend is working on his Master’s degree in English (creative writing), so he should be a good editor. After that, it’s off to be submitted to publishers. I’m excited about all the possibilities for him: his current job is beyond awful, so this gives him a creative outlet and lets him find some happiness in work. Oh, and this is only the first of a trilogy for him.

Now, if they only had a NaNoReadMo challenge. Then I could claim to be a winner as well – it’s the first novel I’ve managed to read in only a month since becoming a mother!

Congrats, dear! You did it!

It’s approximately 1pm here, and Cordy is currently awake, having just finished lunch, and is watching the Wiggles, enraptured. There has been no nap yet.

Cordy has never been big on naps. Once she finally worked out a night sleep schedule around 5-6 months, we tried to establish a nap schedule as well. At home, we were lucky to get 2-3 naps out of her. When she was in daycare, they would often tell us as we walked in “She only took one 15 minute nap all day – we really think your child is a mutant, because babies this age should sleep more.” This statement was repeated often, with more and more frustration in their voices as the months went on. We often refer to her condition as “afraid she’ll fall asleep and miss the pony rides.”

Around her first birthday, she decided that 2 30-minute naps were too much trouble (because, after all, a toddler has places to go and things to see!), and she dropped the afternoon nap. Luckily, this lengthened the one nap to 45 min. or even an hour! A friend of mine told me last week that her son also only takes one nap a day – a 3 hour nap. The envy coming from me had to be visable.

But today, we’ve had two aborted nap attempts, and she is showing no signs of slowing. I wish I could explain to her that while she may not need the downtime, I need it. It’s my one break for the day – one of the few “me” benefits I still have in mommyhood. A chance to recharge and rest and not be on duty. A nap makes her a happier child and me a much happier and tolerant mommy.

UPDATE(3:10pm):
I finally convinced her she was tired and Cordy took a 35 minute nap. It’s not a long break, but wow did it help both of us.

What happens when you leave a toddler visually unsupervised near a box of tissues for 5 minutes?

This: