Friday, April 29, 2016

7 Quick Takes about Forced Nostalgia, Funny Pregnancy Memes, and Why Teabags Will Be the Death of Me

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

1


Does anyone know what a stereogram is? If you ever went to a doctor's office in the 1990s, you definitely saw a framed one on the wall.

Perhaps this will refresh your memory:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Ah, now you remember: just unfocus your eyes and see a 3-D picture pop out.

My daughter was reading a Goosebumps book (which totally defined the '90s for me) and looked up to ask, "What's a stereogram?" I had no idea, but once we Googled it the memories came flooding back to me, and naturally I had to get them some Magic Eye books from the library.

Because if there's one thing parents love, it's foisting stuff they remember fondly from their childhoods on their own kids and making them pretend like they enjoy it, too.

2


As I round the final corner in this pregnancy, I am getting SO cranky. I'm just crabby all the time, which can probably be expressed best in the form of memes:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

3


Actually, that was fun and made me feel a  little better. How about a few more?

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files} 
It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
...or I will eat you.

4


Two of the midwives in my practice have recommended drinking herbal raspberry leaf tea to promote going into labor on schedule, and while such a thing sounds awfully hippy-dippy to me (I have a hard time listening to anyone talk about meditation, essential oils, or "chakras" with a straight face for too long) I figured at the very worst, it couldn't hurt.

So I emailed Phillip at work and asked him to pick up some for me at the store on the way home.

This was his response:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Desperate times, man. Desperate times.

5


Actually, let's talk about tea. I don't get tea.

So you put the little teabag in your cup, wait a while until your hot water tastes like hot water with half a hint of something else, and then throw away the teabag?

I hate buying stuff solely for the purpose of throwing it away. It makes me physically ill to buy paper cupcake liners for this very reason, you guys. These teabags are killing me.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
According to the label on the side, this is supposed to "tone the uterus." This is just getting weirder and weirder.

Obviously, I'm not a tea drinker. In fact, this may be the first time in my life I've ever even tried herbal tea so there must be something I'm missing.

6


We finally bought tickets to fly to Phillip's family reunion this summer. Yes, for all seven of us (not counting the baby who can fly as a lap child.)

Apparently we're the first people crazy enough to pull a stunt like this, because on all the major travel sites (Orbitz, Travelocity, etc) you literally cannot buy more than 6 tickets at a time.

As Phillip was filling out the traveler's names, genders, and birthdays, he stopped about halfway through and gasped, "Come on, do we really have this many kids??" It was a little overwhelming.

We're trying not think about the fact that we saw tickets for hundreds of dollars cheaper a few months ago and didn't do anything about it.

7


Right now, I'm sitting in the bathroom supervising my 2- and 4-year-olds in the tub as I finish typing up this post, wondering what to write down for my seventh quick take, when my toddler stands up, starts peeing, and quickly grabs a bath toy shaped like a pirate ship to catch it all while giving me an extremely self-satisfied grin that says, "Aren't I clever?"

And there you have it.

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28 comments:

Catherine said...

AAAaaaaaarkkk, raspberry leaf tea... I have to say, it tastes pretty disgusting, even as herbal teas go (not a big fan over here). I know some people swear by it, but from what I've read, you need to drink a LOT (i.e. several pints) to reach any kind of therapeutic dose...
If you're really desperate, my midwife in France recommended something called "déclenchement à l'italienne" ;-)

Marina @ Parental Journey said...

I was two week pass my due date - that pregnancy meme with gorilla (is it gorilla?), reminded me of those days :D

Rosie said...

I think you can make iced tea out of the raspberry leaf tea, which should end up stronger and you can sweeten it and pretend it tastes good? Also my midwife says magnesium is great for preventing/lessening prodromal labor, which I'm just assuming you have because you've had a bunch of babies like me, and I had killer prodromal labor for weeks last time. Just another crunchy thing to add to your list ;)

Jenny said...

So many memes that I can relate to in one place.

I don't think tea tastes good enough to waste money on either. I tried lemon herbal tea once and never again. Remember thinking "why can't I just squeeze lemon into hot water? There's more flavor that way"

Carolyn Astfalk said...

I love herbal tea. Tried the raspberry tea in late pregnancy, but, alas, no discernible effect. I was induced early with three of my four, so I mostly skipped those last weeks, but with one, I went to 41 weeks before induction. Ugh. At that point, you are just. so. ready. Prayers for a speedy delivery relatively soon!

Unknown said...

Oh my glob, your posts are always so hilarious! Love this.

Anne McD said...

Oh. My. Gosh. So, so funny!

AnneMarie said...

I burst out laughing with #7. That's hilarious, and hey-you are raising a resourceful and creative kid there! ;)

I am a big-time tea drinker, but recently I discovered that teabags just don't make sense, either. I bought a mesh tea strainer/infuser thing, so next time I buy tea, I'm going to go the loose-leaf route. (though there are many uses for used tea leaves and bags, apparently. I googled it once, and it blew my mind! The craziest I've gotten is making my own facial scrub from used coffee grounds, I have yet to try reusing tea for stuff). I've heard that even for tea lovers, RRLT doesn't taste the greatest, but I'm planning to start on it in about a month (I've heard that for some people it works, for others it doesn't), and I'll probably make it into iced tea, since I've found that I really like to have my herbal teas cold sometimes! I hope that your adventure into herbal tea goes well!

Rachel said...

#4 cracked me up, just because I tend to feel the same way about all of the herbal remedies type of thing. Plus, I live in the land of traditional Chinese medicine and if I ever complain of a slight illness I'm given gifts of....interesting remedies. I'm more likely to just take a NyQuil or something.

And I can definitely relate to #6--we had that big family trip to Cambodia for my parents' 25th wedding anniversary last year. It was a party of 11--2 parents, 7 kids, 1 son-in-law, 1 niece (who lived with my parents for a year, and it just happened to be year 25). We had 3 separate airline reservations in order to fit our group in, and checking in anywhere was amazingly complicated. But we all made it there and back again...

Unknown said...

Those 3D picture books never worked on me for some reason. They used to drive me crazy :). I love all the memes! Thanks for the laugh. And that shirt: Feed me and tell me I'm pretty. Priceless!

Jenny Evans said...

Watching my kids try to figure them out was pretty funny. And that shirt? I think I need it, both in a maternity size and a not-maternity size.

Jenny Evans said...

Oh, I can just imagine in China... I'm glad to hear that someone out there is crazy enough to do what we're going to do. And lived to hear the tale!

Jenny Evans said...

I did notice on the box that the teabags are compostable. Good luck with your raspberry leaf tea - it's much better if you put some honey in it or something, but I'm usually too lazy to do that and just choke it down straight up.

Jenny Evans said...

I had that same thought, too! Can we just put the raspberry leaves in a pill and swallow it? Open up the teabag and snort the content? (Okay, maybe not that.) It just seems really inefficient to me. Like I said, I don't get tea.

Jenny Evans said...

I never seem to know when it will happen. My OB kept telling me that first babies are ALWAYS late so I was totally shocked (had no hospital bag, was sort of in denial) when I went into labor 7 days early. My next two were also early by 3-4 days so I was thinking, "I just have my babies early" and #4 took her sweet time and came long 5 days late! So who knows this time around.

Jenny Evans said...

Thanks for the suggestion. Prodromal labor sounds awful, but I haven't had problems with it. In fact, I WISH I were having more contractions now to reassure me that something is going on. I've never really noticed an appreciable amount of Braxton-Hicks before, even though I was somehow dilated to a 5 for a week and a half before my water broke and proper contractions started!

Jenny Evans said...

Two weeks! You must have been dying!

Louise (Little Hearts, Big Love) said...

Chuckling over your final one and I love all those pregnancy memes - so very true. I could never get the hang of stereograms. I'm the same with herbal teas - not a big fan and most of the raspberry leaf tea is probably still lurking at the back of the cupboard!

Michelle said...

I am the same way when it comes to talk of herbal teas and essential oils. Please be quiet and help me find the Advil instead.

The "I was told there would be glowing" meme cracked me up. There was no glowing. FALSE ADVERTISING.

Jenny Evans said...

Nope, no glowing here. If you see anything glistening about my person it's either perspiration or tears at this point.

Jenny Evans said...

That sounds kind of scary. On the box it says I need to drink 4 cups a day and I'm barely choking down 3. I think once it's gone I won't buy any more. I gave it a shot.

Crystal said...

I guess I should have been drinking raspberry tea because my uterus decided it was done with the last two babies and quit working properly. Maybe the raspberry tea would have saved me from those inductions! Loved all the memes!

Queen Mom Jen said...

My husband would think the same thing if I asked for raspberry herbal leaf tea. Good luck on this final stretch. It can be soooo long!

Sarah said...

Oh my goodness. I feel the same way about teas and oils and all that business. I drink lemon tea now and then when I'm sick and have a sore throat, usually because I can't keep anything else down. Good luck in your last trimester. I remember when I was in labor with my first and the nurses told me I was going to have a C-section. They tried to be all reassuring about the next pregnancy, safety, yada, yada. I just stared at the nurse in misery and went "I don't care. Just get this baby OUT." It had been a long pregnancy and long labor. Sometimes you just want that baby out, lol.

Jenny Evans said...

Finished the last teabag in the box today and still no labor, so it ain't magic. I hope my uterus didn't also retire without telling me. I'd like to avoid induction if I can.

Unknown said...

Oh, Jenny. I'm so glad your sense of humor is stronger than ever. I loved the memes, agree with you on tea - except honey makes it WAY better, and you have a very resourceful child. Good luck in the homestretch!

PurpleSlob said...

Funny, funny stuff!

mothers shadow said...

Jenny, just catching up and I LOVE herbal tea! But you gotta do it right girl:) You are such a crack up and thanks for such a funny post, lol.