Every entry I've tried to write has begun with some kind of apology or excuse of self-flagellation for being too busy or too lazy or too overwhelmed to write. (The unpublished entires in my "Drafts" folder attest to this).
But, I've noticed that there is far too much pressure on parents (mothers, particularly) to achieve every ungodly standard for how Pinterest thinks raising a child should look, and I'm not going to feed into that cycle by apologizing for my lack of blogging. It is what it is.
Unapologetic attitude notwithstanding, I do miss writing. My life these days focuses mainly on the small human being I made. Six months after giving birth (a story I fully intend to tell), I have escaped the fog of postpartum depression and self-doubt with sanity intact. In other words, it gets better. I swear to all of you struggling new parents, it gets so much better than those first months of sleepless nights and hazy days when you question every thought you've ever had or decision you've ever made leading up to that point.
I am in the unique situation of raising my first and only child in a country in which I don't speak the language, I am 6000 miles away from my blood relatives, 5 hours away from my mother-in-law, and my husband is gone for 12 hours on weekdays. I am also blessed with a wonderfully chilled out baby boy, who is both happy and low-maintenance, and who has rapidly become the center of my world. It took some time to get to know the creature to whom I gave life, and the bricks of guilt for not feeling the feelings I thought a mother should feel about her baby weighed heavily on me for some time. In retrospect, I was far too hard on myself--just because you don't feel "in love" all the time doesn't mean you don't love your child; quite the contrary. In those early days, love is a verb: it's what you do for your child and it's instinctual. The feelings will come eventually.
Parenting became far easier and enjoyable once Baby started smiling and became more interactive. Now he's almost sitting up on his own, he has two teeth, he enjoys jumping, and he loves people (me, most of all, which is a powerful, amazing feeling). He loves music too, especially when he's in his jump-up, and this brings me to the purpose of this post: quality music for babies and kids. I've come across some excellent resources and I'm happy to share them with all the parents who want an alternative to painfully annoying cacophonies marketed to children.
Really Rosie by Carole King
My mom is a big fan of Carole King and I grew up listening to her music. Written and performed by King, Really Rosie accompanies a book and cartoon special animated by Maurice Sendak. My siblings grew up singing along to the cartoon. According to a review from NPR, the album is "ostensibly educational, with its core songs serving as lessons about counting ('One Was Johnny'), the alphabet ('Alligators All Around'), good manners ('Pierre') and the calendar ('Chicken Soup With Rice')." I remembered this album after my mom sang one of the songs over Facetime for Baby and have put it on for him several times over the past week.
Putumayo Kids
I stumbled upon Putumayo World Music years ago in my local library. I vaguely remember checking out a disc of Asian lullabies as a high school student. Years later, I'm glad I kept that memory as Putumayo has become a wonderful resource for Baby and me. Putumayo puts together anthologies of lullabies as well as more lively selections of music with various geographic themes. Baby particularly loves jumping to Putumayo's Sesame Street CD which "features songs and Muppets from Sesame Streets in every corner of the world... [and] promotes cultures across the globe." As someone who loves travel, I appreciate having Putumayo music as a resource to introduce world cultures to my son.
I have a smorgasbord of ideas for blog posts and products that have made parenting more enjoyable, but I'll save those for another entry. I hope I'll be back sooner rather than later, but I make no promises and bear no guilt for that. Ciao!
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