Two's Company and My Politcal Problems

I've been a little depressed about the state of the world to write much in the last week. This upcoming election has me all worked up and I've been spending too much time dwelling on why I can stand John McCain and Sarah Palin. Rather than turn this blog into a forum for my political rantings, I've just been lying low and planning an international move with my husband and daughter should the unthinkable happen in November.

I did have a chance this week to forget about the election when I took a brief foray into the world of parenting more than one child. I happily volunteered to take my friend's 8 month-old little boy for a few hours while she was classroom mom at her 3 year-old's nursery school. I had no doubt that I could handle this task. Vivi LOVES babies and this child is the sweetest, calmest baby to come our way. Plus, with five younger siblings, I was sure that I had been in this situation before.

Then the baby's dad left, he started to cry, and I had some serious reservations about whether I was truly game for this endeavor. It turned out that the baby had at least three teeth coming in and was just miserable. I tried a cold washcloth but that didn't work. I tried giving him some warm cereal but that was a bad idea. After an hour and a half of crying, Vivi said, "Mama, I think it time for dat baby to go home."

I discovered that the only thing that would keep the baby calm was to carry him and keep moving. So that's what I did. I grabbed the sling, maneuvered it and the baby around my pregnant belly, and we all strolled around the neighborhood. Vivi was an absolute delight- kissing him and showing him all sorts of neat things she discovered on the walk. At home, she tried to make him laugh, laid out a blanket for him, and was a regular mama's helper.

At one point, the baby was rooting around my breast. Vivi quickly noticed this and said, "Mama. You need to give dat baby some of your milk." I said, "Honey, I don't have any milk. My milk won't come until Turtle comes out of my belly." Vivi had a great solution. "Mama, I give him milk from my boobies. I feed my babies."

This experience made me realize that Vivi is going to be a great big sister although I'm sure there will be times that she'll want to send Turtle back. It also helped me feel more confident about being able to handle two kids. It wasn't an easy three hours but knowing the cues of one's own child is a lot easier than trying to figure out what will help ease the discomfort of someone else's.

My feeling of success after the baby and his mother departed was diminished when I logged onto one of my favorite political websites and saw this photo:

Korean war veteran Andy Lacasse posted his homemade sign in the front yard of his Barefoot Bay, Florida home. "I got nothing good to say about Obama," Lacasse told his local news station. "If I see anybody touching that sign, I got a club sitting right over there."

Apparently, Andy is not concerned with being perceived as a racist who can't spell and doesn't have his facts right. With people like this voting, is it any wonder why our country is in the shape it is in?!

Ok, I promise, that's the last of my political rantings for now.