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	<title>WIRL Project &#187; Alessandra Macaluso</title>
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	<link>http://www.wirlproject.com</link>
	<description>What It&#039;s Really Like.</description>
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		<title>Thoughts on &#8220;The Scissors&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/thoughts-on-the-scissors/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/thoughts-on-the-scissors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2015 17:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alessandra Macaluso]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health/Fitness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Big Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[boy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Complete]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Complete Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crazy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fun]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Girl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[love]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mistake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multiples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pregnant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scissors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Second Child]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Snip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Surgery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vasectomy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7567</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It wasn&#8217;t until I was in my twenties, that I learned I was a mistake. I was sitting at my parent&#8217;s dinner table. We were just chit-chatting about life, school, and other, you know, normal, non-life-altering conversations that could make you re-think your entire being, when it casually came out. &#8220;A mistake?&#8221; I said. My dad looked at me like I had ten heads. Then, in his thick Italian accent, and very matter-of-factly, he said: &#8220;Well, we had-a four boys. Then, we finally had your sister &#8211; our girl!&#8221; He paused, put his hand on mine, looked right into my eyes and said: &#8220;Why de fack would we want another one?!&#8221; I stared at him blankly, wide-eyed and slow-blinking. My mother piped up, in her strong New York accent: &#8220;But we&#8217;re so glad you&#8217;re HEA!&#8221; Umm, what &#8220;de fack&#8221; just happened?! Anyway, I&#8217;m thinking of this a lot today because I am 18 weeks pregnant, and yesterday was the day we found out what&#8217;s cooking. Turns out, it&#8217;s a BOY!! One of the first things people have said to us over the last 24 hours after hearing the news is &#8220;Yay, now Greg can go get snipped!!!&#8221; I think this is funny, and totally get why people say that &#8211; it makes sense that someone would want a boy and a girl. Maybe we never looked at it like that because I am the youngest of six children; 4 boys, then my sister, then me. My husband is one of four children; an older brother, a twin brother, and a younger sister. So I guess our parents kind of took the concept of a &#8220;complete&#8221; family and ran with it. And this extends beyond our parents; one aunt and uncle had six kids, and another had four. There were so many first cousins running around on any given family party that I don&#8217;t even know how anyone kept track. Our families didn&#8217;t have babies, they had litters. In our case, our choice to have another baby was not a mistake; we knew we were ready to grow our family. Truth be told, Greg actually wanted another girl, and we both really were convinced that a girl it would be. It&#8217;s not that he has anything against boys, it&#8217;s just that he is a little worried about what kind of boy he would produce. Him and his brothers were off the walls growing up, so he is a bit terrified. But it doesn&#8217;t matter &#8211; we&#8217;re having a boy! A little boy!! So yes, one and one. For now. Because we never even talked about, you know, the snipping. I mean, what if we&#8217;re not done yet? What if, after another year or two, I&#8217;m not ready to hang up the &#8216;CLOSED&#8217; sign? What if our upbringings get the best of us and one day, after I finally begin to feel like myself again, and the two miraculously are sleeping and eating and on manageable schedules, I drink too much cheap wine, go bat-shit crazy and decide I still want to birth a litter under the stairs? THESE ARE THE THINGS I JUST DON&#8217;T KNOW YET. I have no idea if that will be the case, or if it would even be possible. Maybe two is our magic number. I do know that, after having Penelope, as much as I love her, there were moments where I couldn&#8217;t even imagine entertaining the idea of having a second child in the first place because WHAT WAS I TAKING CRAZY PILLS?! I thought of women who had multiples and was in awe. I still am. Because babies are a lot of work. I mean, I knew it, but you don&#8217;t reeeeeeally know the ins and outs, the messy, tired, repetitive, taxing parts of it until your little one is here. Of course, you made the decision to have a child. Of course, you are going to do your best to take care of this tiny human with a fierce kind of love and determination you never had before, the kind that trumps getting poop on your finger, spit-up in your hair, and makes you constantly second-guess if you are even doing this right, for crying out loud. My mother had all six children within eight years. That&#8217;s not a typo. Let&#8217;s just say it &#8211; she is a special kind of crazy. I often ask her, &#8220;What were you thinking?&#8221; and each time, she shrugs her shoulders and her response is always the same: &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t!&#8221; When I ask her how the heck she handled all of us, she just says that she still has no idea, and that you just do it, you don&#8217;t have time to think about it. My aunt Angela had an entirely different response than the norm when I shared the news. Instead of reaching for the scissors, she said: &#8220;Yay! Then next time, whatever it is will be a sibling of the same for him or her!&#8221; Wait &#8211; what? Next time?! &#8220;We&#8217;ll see how two goes first,&#8221; I said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how you guys did it!&#8221; But she gave me the best response. She said: &#8220;All I can say is, if you like it, it works, no matter how many there are. Don&#8217;t think of it as work, it was a lot fun. Nothing is like a house full of little kiddies. I would have had two more.&#8221; At this point, I&#8217;m just thankful for happy and healthy. I feel so content with Penelope, and all I can think about is watching this tough little cookie give her little brother a run for his money. This, to me, right now, feels complete, but we will see what the future holds. My point in this little rant in which we run to put the scissors away, is this: a &#8220;complete&#8221; family is exactly what that is &#8211; to you. Maybe it&#8217;s a boy and a girl. Maybe it&#8217;s two little girls, or two little boys. Maybe it&#8217;s one child. Maybe it&#8217;s ten. Maybe it&#8217;s none. Maybe it&#8217;s you and your husband, maybe it&#8217;s you, your wife, and two dogs; maybe it&#8217;s you and your non-wedded partner for life; maybe it&#8217;s the two of you, your pet iguana named Fred, and a boat. Maybe it&#8217;s simply, beautifully, YOU, living your life to its fullest and doing just fine, thankyouverymuch. &#8220;I would have had two more. Don&#8217;t think of it as work, it was a lot of fun.&#8221; I&#8217;m raising my non-alcoholic beverage to you, putting the scissors in the drawer, and saying that, no matter what your situation, let&#8217;s make it fun. &#160; This post was originally published by Alessandra Macaluso on Punkwife.com. ]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>What Motivates YOU? Here&#8217;s My Story of What Motivated Me.</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/what-motivates-you-heres-my-story-of-what-motivated-me/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/what-motivates-you-heres-my-story-of-what-motivated-me/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Apr 2015 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alessandra Macaluso]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Style/Beauty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work/Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brides]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wedding planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weddings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[writing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=4925</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; This is my story of what motivated me. I felt like I didn&#8217;t have a choice, this needed to come out. What motivated you? What&#8217;s something that you didn&#8217;t pick, but instead IT picked YOU? After my husband proposed I remember feeling blissfully happy; sharing the news, celebrating with friends and family, and walkin’ on clouds, viewing everything through my bling’d out, rose-colored glasses. What I also remember is being really surprised at what I hadn’t prepared for when it came to actually planning the wedding. We attend weddings, but don’t see “behind-the-scenes” until it’s our turn. When that curtain cracks open for us and we excitedly peek behind it, out of nowhere – BAM! – we are hit with a giant sandbag swung from the rafters full of financial stress, pressure, and relationship challenges. And when I say ‘relationship challenges’, I’m talking about alllll your relationships: family, friends, business (because get ready, you’ll have lots of contracts to sign), and the postman, who is already a) assuming he’s invited and b) requesting you “don’t seat him in the nosebleeds”. There were many stages of wedding planning during which it became glaringly obvious to me why people elope. The race to measure up, keep people happy, stay financially stable, and balance all the moving parts can cause a slew of unforeseen obstacles and tricky situations, and most of this will naturally fall on the shoulders of the blushing bride-to-be. When the wedding planning began I suddenly felt that I’d stepped onto a malfunctioning factory conveyer belt that seemed to get faster as it progressed, operated by individuals who had apparently slugged one too many mimosas. People were standing by at their stations along the assembly line ready to package me up: the dress, the venue, the cake, and the opinions. Oh, the opinions. My head spun. I attended a bridal show, and wondered where the striped tent was above it all because it felt like a circus. “Take this to lose 40 lbs. before your big day!” “Register with us and get your free cake-mixer-slash-nose-hair-remover that you surely can’t have a happy ever after without!” “Your wedding will not be perfect until you get this undergarment designed to help hide all your back-fat! Our must-have wedding day accessory, inspired by Spanx and Satan, will hide away all your – wait, you didn’t know you had back-fat? Well thank goodness you came today so we can save you from looking like a giant sweaty wildebeest spilling out of her dress! You won’t be able to sit down or breathe, but that’s okay, because you will look breathtaking.” (*GUSH*) And the surprises kept coming. Suddenly, certain people whom I never thought had it in them were competing and comparing. My ring became an object of scrutiny and silent judgment. Expectations crept in, along with “to-do” lists. If I was the one getting married, why did it feel like I was throwing a wedding for everyone else? I couldn’t believe how overwhelmed I felt! I was grateful for our wedding, and there was much beauty amongst the chaos. So much beauty, and so much love! But the reality today is that planning a wedding is a pressure-filled, emotional time, and navigating through while keeping your sanity, finances, and relationships intact is like trying to complete a triathlon with no training. You may cross the finish line, but not before collapsing a few times while gasping for air (and maybe losing your wallet along the way). I thought I might have been better prepared – maybe even done things differently – if someone let me in on the “real deal” of what to expect, and it prompted me to write about my experience. What started as a small article that ran in a local magazine evolved into a book, The Bitch’s Bridal Bible, filled with stories from former brides and grooms, interviews with therapists, hilarious anecdotes and nuggets of wedding and marital wisdom reminding today’s bride to slow down, breathe, remain true to herself, and keep the focus on what it’s really all about: celebrating the decision to spend the rest of your life, with the love of your life. That you can in fact do things your way while remaining happy and keeping your relationships healthy, and that there are plenty of alternatives to side-stepping the faulty conveyor belt. If you’re planning a wedding you’ll likely encounter some of the obstacles that are inevitable along the way. But at least now you can enter the race with some training under your belt. I’ll be on the sidelines, cheering you on. I’ll hand you a towel and a bottle of water. And I certainly will not try to sell you a god-awful undergarment from hell. Promise. &#160; &#160;]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Stylish and Creative Storage Solution</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/stylish-and-creative-storage-solution/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/stylish-and-creative-storage-solution/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2015 22:00:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alessandra Macaluso]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home/Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Products/Shopping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Style/Beauty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[decor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toy storage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=4700</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; We used to have a wooden coffee table in the middle of our living room. But once we brought our tiny human home I went from seeing &#8220;beautiful, aged dark wood coffee table with wrought iron legs&#8221; to &#8220;ARE YOU KIDDING ME YOUR CHILD CAN AND WILL FALL AND BUST HER BUTT ON THESE METAL SPIKES OF HAZARD YOU HORRIBLE PARENT!!&#8221; (Not to mention, &#8220;wasted space&#8221;.) We moved the table to another room, but I didn&#8217;t want a gaping hole in the middle of our rug &#8211; I wanted something that still looked nice, was functional, and allowed us to live like normal people once Penelope went to bed at night. Plus, I&#8217;ve learned that no matter how hard you try, with kids, their stuff does start to slowly creep in and take over your space. I also never realized how important it would be for my sanity to be able to tuck everything away easily, and to kick back at night without getting an &#8220;Elmo Goes for a Walk&#8221; book wedged in my butt when I sat on the couch. But I found (somewhat of) a solution! It was inexpensive, looks great, and is functional, so of course I had to share with you. Stylish and Creative Storage Solution The photo on the left you might remember from last week, when I told you how I was coping with my migraines and the things that were only adding to the pain. But the image on the RIGHT is my storage solution &#8211; the 3 bins that all of that stuff goes into at night after P goes to bed: It&#8217;s really nice at the end of the day to toss everything back into those bins and not feel like our house is overrun with toys or clutter. (We also use those cabinets next to the fireplace for some other items, but most of the stuff goes in the bins.) This is the room we use most in our home, so I love the way these bins hide everything! And they are really easy to move around when we have people over. The tops even flip over and you can use them as a tray, or you can keep them as shown and sit on them if you need more seating! I got mine at a place called Garden Ridge, which was since bought and changed over to At Home, so if you have an At Home near you definitely head over to check out what they have. But in case you don&#8217;t, I did a quick search and found some other really cute options on Overstock.com, here: Overstock.com ottoman search. (The above link is NOT an affiliate link.) Did you like this idea? Did you do something similar?]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>DIY Spring Wreath: Easy and Inexpensive!</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/diy-spring-wreath-easy-and-inexpensive/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/diy-spring-wreath-easy-and-inexpensive/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2015 22:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alessandra Macaluso]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home/Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Style/Beauty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[craft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DIY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spring]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=4698</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last year I blogged about the wreath I made for our front door because it was one of the most easiest, cheapest DIY&#8217;s I&#8217;ve ever done. (And there&#8217;s nothing like greeting people who walk into your home with &#8216;easy&#8217; and &#8216;cheap&#8217;, right?) But this is the best kind of easy and cheap because it doesn&#8217;t look it AT ALL. And you can make small changes to it so it goes with every season. I&#8217;m re-blogging with an updated version, because the little changes I made for this Spring make this one my ABSOLUTE. FAVORITE. Check it out! DIY Spring Wreath This is literally as easy as putting the wreath up, tying a wooden letter to it, draping a ribbon, and shoving floral stems into it. That&#8217;s what I love about the wreath &#8211; you can just tuck branches into it anywhere and they stay put. So, to recap our steps: hang wreath tie letter on using string or twine drape ribbon shove florals into it. Then pour yourself a nice glass of wine and admire your bad-ass front door statement piece, you Peggy Pinterest, you. You can get the wreath itself at a low price from any craft store &#8211; mine came from Michael&#8217;s. Or if you&#8217;re feeling splurge-y, you could go for this one I found on Amazon (which I&#8217;m loving and now regretting I didn&#8217;t see it first): Wild Birch Wreath Bases, &#8220;Wild &#38; Woodsy&#8221;, Natural &#38; Hand Tied With No Wire, 14 Inch, Exclusive Then you&#8217;ll want to get your wooden letter for your initial. I painted mine white, because I&#8217;m an idiot who didn&#8217;t realize you can actually order them already painted. Don&#8217;t be like me. Grab your letter, here: White Wooden Letters A-Z Now add your ribbon. I like the  natural style, but you&#8217;ll see when you click on the item it will give you a bunch of different color options: Kel-Toy High Quality Jute Burlap Ribbon, 4-Inch by 10-Yard, Natural Lastly, add your florals and berries! Michael&#8217;s frequently does 40% off sales, so I got mine on a day they were running that deal on the florals and I scored big. I forgot to snap a pic, but it was basically one pussy willow sprig, 1 succulent sprig, and a simple green cluster of florals. I used plyers to clip off all the pieces and tuck them in randomly. Viola &#8211; happy SPRING!! For the first version I made of this, with the full tutorial and pics, go here: DIY Spring Wreath Tutorial]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Best and Worst of Three Prenatal Workouts</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-best-and-worst-of-three-prenatal-workouts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-best-and-worst-of-three-prenatal-workouts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2015 19:00:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alessandra Macaluso]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health/Fitness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Style/Beauty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fitness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pregnancy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prenatal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[workouts]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=3980</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pregnant, avoiding the gym at all costs, and trying to decide which at-home workouts will give you the most bang for your prenatal buck? Well, look no further: I’m sharing with you my three favorite at-home pregnancy workout videos – and I’m going to tell you the best and worst of them both. I’ll answer your burning questions, such as: Which instructor will make you want to punch her because of the effortless, rapid way she moves around while 10 months pregnant? Who makes you wonder if she wolfed down a batch of pot brownies in her dressing room before filming her segment? Who will make you wonder if maybe you accidentally ate some funny brownies before sitting down with her to practice your kegels? And with that I bring you… The Best and Worst of My Three Favorite Pregnancy Workouts]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Day in the Life (Or at Least a List of &#8216;Best Intentions&#8217;)</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/a-day-in-the-life-or-at-least-a-list-of-best-intentions/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/a-day-in-the-life-or-at-least-a-list-of-best-intentions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2015 13:00:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alessandra Macaluso]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home/Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[a day in the life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=3913</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have no idea how to organize my day, because I SUCK at planning. I try, I really do, but it never works out quite like it does in my head. My husband is freakishly regimented by nature and plans things down to THE MINUTE, but that’s just not me. Instead, I try to find a ‘loose outline’ of what the coming week will look like, then I laugh at my ambition as I sip cold coffee on Monday morning and sigh repeatedly staring at the calendar I’ve drawn up for myself. Regardless, I still try, so I’m going to share what an average day looks like for me. (Sort of.) Background: I have a twenty month-old daughter, and am four months pregnant with our second child. I stay at home with our daughter, and am also a writer for my personal blog as well as other outlets such as WIRL (of course), The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, and others. I’m currently working on a baby and toddler cookbook called What a Good Eater! with a partner of mine, Amy, who is also mom to a toddler and pregnant with her second child, and I provide writing services for clients with company blogs. It became very important to me, both professionally and for my own sanity, to carve out time to dedicate to my own writing and projects. Somehow the stars aligned and the trusted nanny of a good friend of mine became available for 5 hours per week. Her name is Violeta. To get the most bang for my buck I hired her to come Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:00 AM – 11:30. While five hours a week is not much time, as any mother knows, we tend to get really good at being efficient in whatever time we can get, so those 5 hours really help me. Here’s what a standard day looks like in our household: 6 AM: Sleep through morning workout. (The best is when I sometimes dream I’m working out, which makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something, until I wake up at 5 minutes to 7 and am hit with realization that it never actually happened.) 7 AM: Rise and shine with Penelope. Diaper change, brush teeth, make breakfast, clean up from breakfast, play with P, check email. Get P dressed and ready for day, attempt to get myself dressed decently enough to be seen in public places. 9 AM (Monday – Wednesday – Friday): What we do in this time block varies. Sometimes my cookbook partner, Amy, and I will get our kids together for a play date and attempt (sadly) to get some work done for our project while they run around like lunatics. If the stars align and we get them to nap for at least an hour at the same time, we down caffeine by the pot-full and ferociously get to work creating recipes, flying through agenda items, and taking care of other project-related tasks. If Amy and I do not meet, this time is spent wrangling my small toddler and running in circles wondering what the hell I am doing, or attending a short meet-up with other friends with children where we also run around wrangling little people and talking about how we don’t know what the hell we are doing. 9 AM (Tuesdays and Thursdays): Violeta comes at 9, I rush out the door to the café down the street, and get to work until 11:30. 11:15 AM: Lunch time for Penelope. While she is strapped into her high chair and corralled for a few moments, I’m usually cleaning up the kitchen and attempting to eat something, too. (If it’s a Tuesday or Thursday, I come back during lunch time at 11:30 and finish up with P.) 11:45 AM: Get P ready for her nap. She’ll nap anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours, so whatever is really important that day I try to get done in that first hour just in case that’s all the nap she needs. It’s either working on a writing project, doing something necessary so that our house doesn’t fall apart, squeezing in a fast workout, or zoning out completely thinking about all the things I have to do as I take turns staring first at the clock and then out the window wondering when she’ll wake up. 1:30(ish) PM: P gets up from her nap. Go-time again. First a snack, then if it’s nice out, to keep her from climbing the walls, we’ll head out to either run an errand, go for a walk, or visit the park. We’re usually back home by 4:30 – 5, then it’s time to figure out dinner and wait for Greg to get home. If it’s crappy out, I have no idea what we do. Puzzles? Patty cake? Play the game where she takes all the bibs out of the drawer one by one, then puts them back in again, or the one where she empties all the drawers in the kitchen? Maybe the one where she attempts to try on every pair of shoes I own? It’s all a blur. 5:45 (ish) PM: P’s dinner time. Regular menu items consist of refusal with a side of floor-wrecking, messy attempts to “do by self”, and demands for “more cheese! Cheese! Pease pease pease!”. 6:30 (ish) PM: Bath time for P, followed by story time. Current fan favorites are Llama Llama Nighty Night, Ten Little Ladybugs, and It’s Hug Time! Which is the book that accompanies the dancing hippo that sings “I Like Big Hugs and I Cannot Lie” to the tune of Sir-Mix-A-Lot on an endless loop. (Thanks, Aunt Lisa!) 7:15 (ish) PM: Lights out for P. 7:30 PM: Eat dinner with Greg, then either cookbook meeting with Amy (her house our mine), work on writing projects, or fall into a useless heap onto the couch to watch Shark Tank or binge on whatever series we are hooked on at the moment. (Currently it’s Episodes and Better Call Saul.) 9:30 – 10 PM: Bedtime (I’m pregnant, remember?). Sometimes I don’t even make it past 9. Lather, rinse, repeat! It’s sometimes messy, tiring, and taxing, especially while pregnant, but it’s also beautiful, fun, and rewarding, and so fulfilling. No matter the ups or down, challenges or uncertainties, I consider myself very lucky and would not change a thing.]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Being a Parent Makes Me&#8230;Uncomfortable.</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/being-a-parent-makes-me-uncomfortable/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/being-a-parent-makes-me-uncomfortable/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2015 20:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alessandra Macaluso]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=3539</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Strangely, I feel like one of the most comforting things about becoming a parent is when I started to understand that it&#8217;s normal to be&#8230;well&#8230;uncomfortable. There&#8217;s a sense of bizarre security that comes with the realization that no one &#8211; no one! &#8211; has all the answers, and we’re all sort of flying by the seats of our yoga pants. I think it&#8217;s only when we embrace this that we begin to put the trust back in ourselves and stop comparing our lives and situations to others. This, in turn, makes us more compassionate towards others, too. We try to pull it together sometimes, we really do. We put on makeup. We pack our diaper bags, we connect with other moms and dads. Some days we kick ass. Some days, we feel like ass. But we have to show up, because, well, we can’t run from parenthood. (We can try to hide in our bathrooms, but they’ll usually find us.) When you’re running on no sleep, whether it’s because your baby is keeping you awake throughout the night or because you’re pregnant again and waking up every twenty minutes to pee, you’ll be uncomfortable. When your toddler dirties a diaper worse than anything you&#8217;ve ever imagined possible to come out of that little body, or poops on your hand mid-diaper change, you can’t run from it. You’ll be uncomfortable. When she throws a fit in the middle of the grocery store, causing a scene and knocking items off shelves from her seat in the cart, you’ll be uncomfortable. Guests might drop by, such as in-laws or friends without kids, and your house will be upside-down: food on your floor, and your living room will be littered with baby-related items you swore would never take over your home. You might feel uncomfortable. But you know what? Baby shit stories make some hilarious conversations. When you’re sleep-deprived, someone may step up for you and help you by coming over for a play date while you take a nap. For every person who may give you the side-eye in the grocery store, there will be at least one who will sympathize with you, and maybe even give you a hand re-assembling those displays. And as for that messy house? Own it. Your job isn&#8217;t to please your in-laws, and your friends without kids will one day utter a silent apology in your name as they stand amongst their own new baby-induced clutter-bomb that was once their perfect catalog living rooms. As for fellow moms, they can’t laugh with you, if they don’t know. They can’t help you, if they don’t know. You can’t help them, if they don’t share with you. I really believe that opening up about all the REALness of parenthood is the fastest way to finding your village. It’s hard to show vulnerability and let your guard down, especially if you’re someone who likes to plan and know what’s coming next. And it’s not easy feeling like we don’t have control. And yes, there are some mean mommas out there who will judge and take advantage of private information you share with them. (Learn to spot them quick, and run from them, fast.) For the ones who appear like they’ve got it together, realize that you probably caught them on a good day, and that things aren&#8217;t always what they seem. But don’t be afraid to admit when things get rough. Because the process of opening up allows us to let in those who are on our side, who do get us, and who will be there to help us, especially in those times when things get…uncomfortable.]]></description>
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