January | 2013 | 4 0 2

January 11, 2013

Day 48: The Ordinary Baby

Colleen, one of my most amazing friends, recently had an amazing thing happen to her. She had a kid. Since she’s so amazing and her family’s story is so amazingly lovely and inspiring, I asked her if I could interview her for this blog. She said yes.

The Family
Colleen is a dedicated proponent of the arts, one of the kindest women I know and is beautifully tall. Chris is not taller than his wife (even though I always think he is), and is thoughtful, smart and a true gentleman. Colin is seven months old. He likes avocados, hates peas and has really strong feet. He also has a huge family, as Colleen puts it, “by blood and by friendship.”

Parenthood
I asked Colleen how parenthood has changed their lives. Her response:

“I could probably be more profound with this if I could remember what I was like before. All the clichés are true—you become less selfish, the world has more meaning and you have a whole new prospective on everything. You use a new vocabulary, and at times it feels like you are speaking a new language. It’s also challenged us in a way we never really understood before—and that challenge begins anew every day. I’ve always been sensitive, but parenthood has amped my sensitivity up by about 1000%.

And although I’ve never been particularly crafty, I have a newfound interest in crafts. The idea of forming memories and traditions through an act of creating something with my family has become even more important.”

In addition to being one of the coolest babies I know, Colin also has Down Syndrome.

Colleen and Chris received the diagnosis right after Colin was born and the news shook their little family quite a bit. Reflecting on Colin’s birth, Colleen said, “It hurt so badly in the beginning. While it’s embarrassing and humbling to share, it’s okay now because we made it. And it is so good.”

Colin and the bear.

Down Syndrome
From Colleen: “I never in a million years thought this would happen to us. And my preconceptions of what ‘this’ was were based on my own misconceptions. Colin is just like any other baby. He will grow into being a toddler like any other toddler, and will grow into a young adult just like any other young adult. He will have the same feelings, thoughts, happiness and sadness that you and I feel. Having Down Syndrome just means he might reach milestones later than his peers. It doesn’t mean he won’t live, love and fulfill his dreams just like any other person who is given the opportunity.

And I don’t say that with blinders on because I’m his mom. I say that because I see it every day. I had so many doubts at first about all of this, and about my family’s ability to live in this world where people use words like ‘special needs.’ However, I can say at this point that our world is no different than anyone else’s, except now we have a little man with big hair.”

Colin, his big hair and my sunglasses.

The Zoo
I asked Colleen what she and Chris are looking forward to doing as a family. She said:

“In addition to building our own traditions, we want to do what everyone wants to do. Travel, go to the zoo (Chris said that; I hate the zoo), Halloweens, Christmases, Sunday hangouts with our friends and family, etc.”

I’m happy to say that Colin and I already have a parent-approved date scheduled for his second birthday. I picked his second instead of his first mostly because I need a year and a half to plan (I was going to take him to the zoo).

To read more about another family raising a beautiful kid with Down Syndrome, check out the blog Enjoying the Small Things.

Colin, after he defeated the bear and my sunglasses and escaped into the Christmas tree forest.

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January 10, 2013

Day 47: Getting Ready

On Saturday, I’m leaving my beautiful, snowy state (by “beautiful,” I mean a specific brand of beautiful… like, that-snow-used-to-be-pristine-but-now-it’s-brown-and-gross kind of beautiful). While I’m away, I’ll be in the sweltering foreign land of Australia.

Needless to say, I’m incredibly excited. My best friend from college currently lives there and will be serving as my travel friend and tour guide.

BF and I spent many a college night eating Easy Mac and coming up with fake stories about fake versions of ourselves. We were the funniest fakers on campus, as was evidenced by our slew of fake friends. I’m anticipating a delightfully fun fake reunion, followed by a real one, followed by days and days of hiking and snorkeling. And possible poisoning.

My dad pointed out that most of the world’s most poisonous species of animals live in Australia. I made the mistake of Googling all of them. My advice to you is to never do that.

Big Fish

That’s my BF and Giant Nemo (not poisonous) in Australia earlier this year.

In preparation for my trip, I’ve made a preliminary packing list:

Swimsuit (obviously)
Backup swimsuit (Since I didn’t already have a backup swimsuit, I quickly bought one on clearance from J.Crew. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a pretty color for under $10/piece, so I bought a suit the exact same color as my skin, covered in white polka dots. I’m not sure why it was on clearance.)
SPF one million sunscreen
My seven-year-old laptop (How else will I blog?)
At least eight pairs of shoes
A bunch of hardcover books
Advil for when I hurt my back carrying all those shoes and books
My blue ‘Go Fly a Kite’ fanny pack

I will continue to refine my list as the date approaches. Until then, feel free to let me know if I’m missing anything.

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January 9, 2013

Day 46: Cats and Dogs

I started a super cool new contract position at a creative agency yesterday, and will be spending the next few months learning more about cats than I ever dreamed I would know.

Yes, cats.

In the process, I’m sure I’ll learn a bit about dogs, too—but mostly cats. In perusing the brand voice files yesterday to learn more about a particular cat and dog food company, I came across a really interesting chart about the differences between cat and dog pet owners, and how they view their relationships with their animals.

Which made me curious about the differences between my cat and dog-owning friends.

If you have a cat or a dog, why did you choose the animal you chose? And how do you view your pretty pet? As a friend? A child? A sibling? What were you looking for when you found and/or adopted him or her?

I realize the relationship distinctions above require thinking of your animal in human terms; but thinking in human terms is how we make sense of all of our relationships, so it’s not that strange. I freely admit that I view Brian Boitano as my independent roommate (except when he needs food or clean water—then, he’s my little buddy). He’s my company when I come home and he is decidedly not warm or snuggly.

If my lifestyle supported a furry friend, I always imagined I’d run around with a dog. But with all the interesting things I’m learning about felines, I can no longer be sure. I’ll have to discuss it with my new four-legged co-worker, Waffles (pictured).

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January 8, 2013

Day 45: Two Sides to Every Story

Remember that post I wrote about Jill Bolte Taylor and her “Stroke of Insight?” (That’s okay—you can find the post here and watch her TED Talk here.)

Last Sunday, Robert Klitzman, M.D., Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University, posted a Huffington Post article inspired by Dr. Taylor’s remarks and warning against the tendency to simplify how we think about the brain.

I’m certainly no brain science expert, but I do find myself drawn to deconstructions like the below image, pulled from a Mercedes-Benz advertisement (it wasn’t directed at me; I drive an adorable little Hyundai).

Klitzman writes that the right brain has been romanticized as the seat of creativity and freedom, pitted against the logical and analytical left side. He says that in normal brains—in which the connection between the two halves is healthy—“the two sides work closely together.” So close, in fact, that our simplification of the brain into binaries “ignores critical intricacies, challenges and unknowns, doing ourselves, and our brains, a disservice.”

It will be exciting to learn more about the galaxies of the brain as science uncovers the mysteries. Perhaps Klitzman is right, and we are currently doing ourselves a disservice by creating a mythical two-sided brain creature.

But perhaps that’s just his left brain talking.

January 7, 2013

Day 44: We All Do It

Here are six things you probably do and think no one else does (but they do):

1. Not-so-quietly call everyone ahead of you in the airport security line an “amateur” and then proceed to be the worst prepared traveler ever.

You usually remember to put your liquids in a plastic baggie, but it’s buried somewhere underneath the five-pound bag of trail mix you need to sustain yourself on the two-hour flight. And last time you were in line, you double-knotted your shoe laces and made everyone behind you wait while you tried to untie your shoes with one hand and unzip your laptop case with the other.

2. Sing in the shower because you think other people do it and not because you actually like singing in the shower.

Nobody likes singing in the shower (except maybe the professionals).

3. Pretend you’re asleep.

Maybe you haven’t done it since you were five years old and wanted your dad to carry you from the car to the house (driveways can be very long). Or, maybe you did it yesterday when you heard your partner and/or housemate come home and you knew s/he wanted you to organize the junk drawer. Pretending to be asleep is oftentimes the perfect avoidance maneuver. The only problem is that we all do it, so we all know you’re pretending.

4. Realize you’re wrong during an argument and keep arguing anyway because you don’t know what else to do.

You know the moment—when you’ve been passionately making a point and you realize you either meant to make the opposite point or you actually don’t know what you’re talking about. At that moment, there’s really no turning back, so you keep going until both parties are confused by your vehemence.

5. Say you watch less TV than you actually watch.

We’ve all seen the research about how TV rewires and/or rots the brain. But one half-hour, once per week? Please. Downton Abbey counts.

6. Envision doing something inappropriate at a really inopportune time.

Whether it’s reciting the last scene of Die Hard during your niece’s baptism or unsuccessfully attempting the tablecloth trick on that couple sitting next to you at dinner, you maintain a high (but stifled) potential for inappropriate outbursts at any given time.

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Month: January, 2013