While we wait...

My mom flew in on Tues. to help us with the new baby. Ever since she bought her tickets. I've been saying Wed. would be the perfect day to deliver. That's a week before my due date, which is when I had the other two. But, Wed. came & went with no baby. Even though a due date is technically an "Estimated date of delivery", the closer it gets, the harder it is not to think of it like a library due date... the exact date an item must be received before penalties apply!

So, while we've been waiting, we've had some fun adventures with the kids (pics. below), taken lots of long walks to encourage contractions, and made a soft fleece cover for the infant car seat. (I've never been fond of the original cover design, but was pleased how our car seat makeover turned out. I'm also including a picture of the cute diaper cake that inspired the design.)

Here's to hoping my next blog post includes a happy delivery story!

Machiavelli Mom

What I worry about most with baby #3 is that as parents, we will be outnumbered. Having studied political science, we understand that demographics can affect the balance of power. The more the peasants outnumber the ruling elite, the greater risk of revolution & chaos.

What, then is our strategy for maintaining authority and order? Well, Machiavelli would recommend a careful balance between being merciful, but firm and being generous, but not overly generous thus breeding greed among the subjects. So, we appease them enough to avoid a complete revolt, but don't appease them to the point of undermining our authority.

So, in philosophical terms, we have a sound strategy.

However, I still worry about how to appease 3 crying children when I only have 2 arms to hold them with. Good thing lollipops are effective at appeasing the oldest... I may have to offer that when my arms are full. More cavities to fill, perhaps, but hopefully most revolts may be circumvented. We'll report on our efforts to maintain the balance of power after baby is here. In the meantime, wish us luck!