Last night was the last night of our baby classes. Because we didn't get into the one-day Lamaze class at Hutchinson, we did the Safe and Sound classes at Erlanger. As it turns out this was a much better choice for us.
(Click here to see some people who are really happy they did Lamaze.)
Here are some things I think I picked up from the class.
1. Babies are basically indestructible. There is not much you can do to hurt your baby, and even if you do they are very resilient and probably won't remember to tell anyone.
2. Lamaze classes are for fru-fru wannabes who will most likely end up caving on going "natural." Birth is a major medical procedure, which can be done naturally, but just because you could have a root-canal or hemorrhoidectomy without anesthesia, doesn't mean you should.
3. Dr. Lamaze was a sado-masochist who hated women. Yeah, I know, people a hundred years ago and in the third world today squeeze babies out without drugs. But, God gave us the ingenuity to manipulate our environment to make ourselves more comfortable. Whether it be general anesthetic or injecting barbituates directly into the spine, as long as a doctor does it its OK.
4. Most of the things for babies at the stores are completely unnecessary. In contrast to number 3, I think if people 100 years ago or in the third world today don't need wipe warmers, travel systems, or nasal aspriators, we don't need them either. Needless to say, we already have all these things.
5. How you choose to have and raise your baby is YOUR choice. Don't let anyone look down on you for not doing it the way they did. Tell Grand -ma, -pa, or whoever, This was the best choice for us.
So if you want a no bull, to-the-point, How to Have a Baby for Dummies class, Erlanger's Safe and Sound is for you. Plus, you get a free car seat and the classes are free.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. First Things First came by and went over 10 reasons why single mothers and divorcees should feel bad. It was actually 10 ways to make a marriage work, but with a couple of Moms going it alone in the audience, I thought it was pretty rude. I do agree with most of their ideas though..
So my primary purpose in creating this blog was the baby. Jackson Christopher Willis is due September 1st (Labor Day) and we are anxiously awaiting his joining us. We actually have some stuff now and are starting to feel somewhat ready. I am very, very sick of people telling us, Your life will never be the same, You don't know what you're in for, or You've never known how much you could love someone until you have kids.
First of all, I'm sure these are all true--they're just so obvious, like telling my wife how huge she is right now. We can usually just say, Yeah, well she's pregnant, what's your excuse?
So I have vowed not to be the kind of parent that goes on and on about their kid, who tells childless friends how meaningless their lives are, or who goes nuts about parenting books with timeout techniques and mumbo-jumbo. The way I see it, we're not on Springer, we are fairly intelligent and even-keeled, so we should be way ahead of the game from what I can tell.
Of course I'm setting myself up to eat humble pie later, when I renig on most of this, but thats sort of the point. I don't want to forget the way I feel about all this now in case I forget in the drudgery and joy of parenting.
Funny how when you never watch a sitcom, but the two times you see it, it's the same episode.. Or maybe thy're all just so terrible?
I found this article really disturbing. Thank you Megs for pointing it out. And for your question, What does the Bible say about this? About a gay high school, asks Dale? No, about being gay.
I would say the Bible condemns homosexual sex, as it does with certain heterosexual sex, both pre- and extra- marital--marital is still OK. So how about gay marriages? Mark 10:7 "A man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife." But what about this verse? 1 Cor 6:9 - "Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind."
What's wrong with being effeminate? I used to argue that one could not be born gay, but now I'm starting to concede that one could be born extra macho or even effeminate. Doesn't seem to be anything wrong with that to me. What did effeminate mean to Paul? Cross-dressing? Is being effeminate being gay?
Does God condemn the homosexual lifestyle, in addition to commiting homosexual sex? Signs point to yes.
So it turns out that SW Galaxies is a very stupid game. At least it has been for me, as an FPS gamer. I can stand around and chat with real people, just not kill them. Was fun being a wookie though..
I talked for years about a game where you could run around in giant maps, fly between different planets, and interact with thousands of human players from around the world, and when it finally gets here I hate it.