mothers on the verge

Having had no babies in our house for half a decade Alpha and I are in dire need of a refresher course before the arrival of Peanut this summer. So we've been hanging out with as many small babies as possible in an effort to ease ourselves back in gently prior to the Big Event. This is what we've figured out: Babies are really cute. Especially when they smile. And they smell really good. Plus they feel nice to cuddle. And persuading a baby to fall asleep with minimal screeching feels a bit like winning the lottery. But all this is only really great in the context of other people's babies. Because then you can hand them back when they shout or if they've done one of those really nasty up-the-back-of-the-babygro yellow poos. Or if you want to do something nice and solitary, like go for a wee. This is because babies are tiny dictators. Their weapons of choice are noise pollution, sleep deprivation and projectile poo - and they have no moral qualms about launching the...

Reasons why I went AWOL for the last few days (in no particular order): 1. Got gobsmacked by a vicious intestinal illness that left me incapacitated, on the couch, watching Mame, and downing gallons of Gatorade. 2. Had to find chemical cleaner that would remove ink from the toilet after a failed attempt by The Rabbit to clean a balloon she'd written on with washable marker. (Yeah, right.) 3. Finished back to back deadlines on stories that I think are pretty d--m good must say. 4. Planted paper white bulbs in any container I could find turning our apartment into a mud zone. 5. Had to venture into Times Square on a weekend and turned (briefly) into one of those tourist-hating Gothamites. 6. Taught a newspaper writing class to The Rabbit's class. (Which meant teaching the difference between facts and stories about fairies!) 7. Cooked a complete Indian feast for some friends that taught me Indian food is best left to Indian restaurants. 8. Made the BEST apple pie ever made in the h...