tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post116000359616984432..comments2024-03-28T09:10:39.441-04:00Comments on ben and birdy: BenBirdy1http://www.blogger.com/profile/13328557199418095755noreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1163785039456552242006-11-17T12:37:00.000-05:002006-11-17T12:37:00.000-05:00Catherine:I'm trying to get an on-line copy of you...Catherine:<BR/><BR/>I'm trying to get an on-line copy of your wonderful article that appeared in the October issue of Oprah. Do you have one?<BR/><BR/>Thank you.<BR/><BR/>Cheryl <BR/><BR/>Aubin.mail@cox.netAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1161307839220056132006-10-19T21:30:00.000-04:002006-10-19T21:30:00.000-04:00OMG YOU HAVE A BLOG!!!I have been reading your col...OMG YOU HAVE A BLOG!!!<BR/><BR/>I have been reading your column on BabyCenter forevah AND I bought and loved your book. I was sad to see you leave there (becuase I miss your writing!) but I can see that you needed to move on. <BR/><BR/>Your are such an inspiration to me as a parent, you're so real. Your encounters are so true-to-life I would read your column and go "Yeah! That happened to me! She totally gets it."<BR/><BR/>Anyway I never did figure out how to comment on BabyCenter (and you were the only reason I visited there at all - they're so anti AP!) but I wanted to leave you a note to tell you how much your writing has meant to me. Thank you so much. <BR/><BR/>I also have a blog randomoutlaw.typepad.com and you were one of my inspirations for starting it.Lisa C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17794553652067567451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1161307750651744192006-10-19T21:29:00.000-04:002006-10-19T21:29:00.000-04:00OMG YOU HAVE A BLOG!!!I have been reading your col...OMG YOU HAVE A BLOG!!!<BR/><BR/>I have been reading your column on BabyCenter forevah AND I bought and loved your book. I was sad to see you leave there (becuase I miss your writing!) but I can see that you needed to move on. <BR/><BR/>Your are such an inspiration to me as a parent, you're so real. Your encounters are so true-to-life I would read your column and go "Yeah! That happened to me! She totally gets it."<BR/><BR/>Anyway I never did figure out how to comment on BabyCenter (and you were the only reason I visited there at all - they're so anti AP!) but I wanted to leave you a note to tell you how much your writing has meant to me. Thank you so much.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160886522198481732006-10-15T00:28:00.000-04:002006-10-15T00:28:00.000-04:00Happy (Belated) Birthday. (Geesh-I'm comment #112)...Happy (Belated) Birthday. (Geesh-I'm comment #112) I read your wondertime column like it's a piece of chocolate mousse cake- slowly, savoring every paragraph. I just leave my computer screen on your page and corral my husband and say "Read it." (while my eyes are misty from laughter or tears) We (your readers) get so much validation from your words- this is so corny to say, but you really ARE the Dalai Mama! What a perfect title.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160753454977001982006-10-13T11:30:00.000-04:002006-10-13T11:30:00.000-04:00loved your 'other' column this week, the bits abou...loved your 'other' column this week, the bits about the cue cards made me laugh as I've considered the same thing myself with various health professional as my son takes their word as gospel!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160716070925380802006-10-13T01:07:00.000-04:002006-10-13T01:07:00.000-04:00Many happy returns, Catherine. Sounds like you had...Many happy returns, Catherine. Sounds like you had a good day.<BR/><BR/>As someone who blogs about my family life also, I was wondering how you feel about opening up your life and the lives of your children to strangers. You share so much with us, and photos too (not here, but at Wondertime and previously at BC), and I'm wondering if it ever freaks you out - like "who is reading my blog"? I ask because it occassionally freaks me out (like tonight) and makes me wonder if I should shut down my blog, pull everything off the internet, and just go back to living an anonymous life. I really don't want to freak you out too - but I am just wondering if this ever gets to you, and how you deal with it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160709627137470112006-10-12T23:20:00.000-04:002006-10-12T23:20:00.000-04:00Oh, that Ben! This week's Wondertime is lump-in-m...Oh, that Ben! This week's Wondertime is lump-in-my-throat great. And I completely get that sense of being unable to see that what is happening right now (the not sleeping or the biting or the sitting on the potty for 18 hours a day without ever actually managing to go pee in it) is actually A Phase and not The Way Things Will Be From Now On.<BR/><BR/>Thank you, Catherine. I cherish your perspective and your storytelling, your ability to make me laugh and cry with the same sentence. Keep it up! And happy birthday!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160689564189584622006-10-12T17:46:00.000-04:002006-10-12T17:46:00.000-04:00I just finished reading the latest Wondertime post...I just finished reading the latest Wondertime post. As usual your writing makes me want to laugh and cry simultaneously...how do you do it? You always manage to express perfectly how it feels to be a mom...complete joy and sadness at exactly the same time. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for another brilliant post and for another new picture of your kids. If Birdy wasn't sitting right beside Ben I don't think I would have recognized him. He looks so grown up and so handsome.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160684159306916742006-10-12T16:15:00.000-04:002006-10-12T16:15:00.000-04:00Happy Birthday! I think you're probably one of th...Happy Birthday! I think you're probably one of the best writers around. And you have the most beautiful kids! (don't tell my kids I said that). Ben is so gorgeous in the new picture in the hammock that I just have to stare at him (I swear I'm not a dangerous stalker type). Hope the whole week is awesome!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160666579285830232006-10-12T11:22:00.000-04:002006-10-12T11:22:00.000-04:00I just read your latest Wondertime column and I ha...I just read your latest Wondertime column and I have to tell you how much good it has done me today. I have felt like crying most of the morning -- partly due to hormones, since in addition to caring for my two-year old, I have a 5-week old, fussy baby boy. But it's mostly my two-year old. Her screaming fits sound suspiciously like Birdy's and this morning she pushed me absolutely, completely, utterly to the edge. I started crying and whacking her diaper on the ground, sobbing to her "I just want to change your diaper! Is that so much to ask?" Writing that now, I can laugh just a tiny bit (but only a little), as I imagine myself looking in the window at the shrieking mother and her stunned two-year old ("Wow! Mommies cry too!") and the sight we must have made. I know you've been there too, so I just wanted to say thanks for helping me see the larger picture here. All too soon, this will all be a memory.<BR/><BR/>KristinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160621939150871522006-10-11T22:58:00.000-04:002006-10-11T22:58:00.000-04:00Happy birthday!! I just adore all your posts here....Happy birthday!! I just adore all your posts here...few and far between as they may be and I check over at wondertime for the new entries. thanks for sharing such great stories.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160620872288291562006-10-11T22:41:00.000-04:002006-10-11T22:41:00.000-04:00The last Wondertime post is another masterpiece. ...The last Wondertime post is another masterpiece. I feel exactly the same away about being consumed with a phase and then three days later wonder what it was that I was so obsessed about. Usually I then notice two weeks after that Dash's 4 week cough is finally gone and Ryder hasn't smacked me in the gut (as only sweet, sweet two-year-olds can do) to get my attention.<BR/><BR/>And, oh, that picture of the babes. Ben is amazing. Birdy still has a bit of baby, but Ben is all his very "ownself". They're gorgeous.<BR/><BR/>JamieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160612991830921762006-10-11T20:29:00.000-04:002006-10-11T20:29:00.000-04:00Yes, definitely happy birthday.And thanks for the ...Yes, definitely happy birthday.<BR/><BR/>And thanks for the gift of "The Seven Habits". That was old-school Catherine, girl! Had me laughing so hard I couldn't open my eyes to read the end!!!! Even just thinking about it five minutes later and I'm convulsing in my chair!!<BR/><BR/>I've got a passionate little Bird here too, and man did I need that laugh today. And some Excedrin too come to think of it.Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13954985263974184554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160603872397936542006-10-11T17:57:00.000-04:002006-10-11T17:57:00.000-04:00First-Happy Belated BirthdaySecond-I just read the...First-Happy Belated Birthday<BR/>Second-<BR/>I just read the thumbsucking post on Wondertime. As a regular reader since 2003 what I found most striking was what a big boy Ben has become. His face looks so mature -- I can almost picture him as a teenager (and a handsome one at that).<BR/>Then it made me a bit sad. My son is 6 months younger than Birdy and someday in the not-too-distant future his cute preschooler face will be replaced with his grown-up face and my baby will really be gone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160586949850453712006-10-11T13:15:00.000-04:002006-10-11T13:15:00.000-04:00Happy Birthday! Also, in regards to the Wondertim...Happy Birthday! Also, in regards to the Wondertime link...Ben is getting so grown-up. Congrats on the bittersweet end of thumb-sucking! My son stopped cold turkey when he had a cold last year and it kept him from breathing properly when he slept...not having the thumb also kept him from sleeping well for a week (aargh), but after that week he was over the thumb! I wanted to point out just how eerily Ben now looks like Jack White of the White Stripes. Compare this photo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Stripes (look below "history")with the one of him in the Wondertime 10-9-06 blog. Strange, eh? Maybe you've got a rockstar there. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160579192603645072006-10-11T11:06:00.000-04:002006-10-11T11:06:00.000-04:00Oh man, Catherine. Just saw Ben's picture on your ...Oh man, Catherine. Just saw Ben's picture on your new Dalai Mama entry. His haircut makes him look so grown-up! Or maybe it's just that his face is losing that babyish roundness. Either way, it's making me sad... I heart your gorgeous kids.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160578770707855802006-10-11T10:59:00.000-04:002006-10-11T10:59:00.000-04:00Um, who is that teenage boy in the picture with Bi...Um, who is that teenage boy in the picture with Birdy on Wondertime? I have been reading your columns since the beginning on babycenter, and I am just a little heartbroken at how grown-up Ben suddenly looks. My god, what a big kid. They're both beautiful. I guess we'll still hopefully be reading these when his voice changes and he starts driving, and Ava has her first real boyfriend, and I'll have to go cry somewhere. Oh, and happy birthday to you, too :) JoAnnAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160535778319638482006-10-10T23:02:00.000-04:002006-10-10T23:02:00.000-04:00Happy birthday, Catherine.About Birdy and apologiz...Happy birthday, Catherine.<BR/><BR/>About Birdy and apologizing...<BR/>We had the same problem with our older boy until we made a "sorry card." We stick it to the fridge and whenever he needs to apologize and won't we can help him to give the card to whomever the apology is owed. It worked great for us.<BR/><BR/>Good luckAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160535580434336622006-10-10T22:59:00.000-04:002006-10-10T22:59:00.000-04:00Catherine-About Birdy and the impossible apologies...Catherine-<BR/><BR/>About Birdy and the impossible apologies. We had the same problem with our older boy until we made an "I'm sorry" card on an index card. Whenever he needed to apologize and wouldn't we would have him hand over the "sorry card" to whomever was owed the apology. It worked like a charm.<BR/><BR/>Good luck and happy birthday!<BR/><BR/>KatieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160534564374591702006-10-10T22:42:00.000-04:002006-10-10T22:42:00.000-04:00so, okay. I am still laughing about the dentist a...so, okay. I am still laughing about the dentist and Birdy... gotta go to the bathroom before the accident! <BR/><BR/>Okay. I am back. You slayed me on that one over at Wondertime! Thank you. <BR/><BR/>Now on to turning 38-- Okay I just turned 38. Whenever I read your column at the old place, I was always wondering how close the ages of our kids were. It was just weird! My son is 6.5 years, My other son is 3.5 years-- it is really uncanny how exact Gena and Catherine are... it is like an alternate universe. Well, except for the fact that my second child is a boy and your second child is a girl.... I guess that is a BIG difference. <BR/><BR/>You are sometimes just the funniest! Thanks!<BR/>Oh- and Happy Birthday! <BR/>GenaTheLibraryMommahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09394020965135484732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160519609011761632006-10-10T18:33:00.000-04:002006-10-10T18:33:00.000-04:00I have just found your blog, and am enjoying it. ...I have just found your blog, and am enjoying it. I read Ben and Birdy until the final post, but never really gave thought to the literary sacrifice that went along with it (you know, following all those darned rules). I enjoy your blog very much because it feels so free (I bet you could never use the term "wet dream" at babycenter). I have allowed my moments in motherhood to slip past me undocumented, so I am glad that you write all yours down, so that I can enjoy the memories they evoke.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160511380382874082006-10-10T16:16:00.000-04:002006-10-10T16:16:00.000-04:00Congratulations on another year. I've always enjoy...Congratulations on another year. <BR/>I've always enjoyed reading your work. I've been a reader since week one at baby center. My boys are very close in age to Ben and Birdy. This is the first time I've written you a comment. I had to after seeing the photo posted this week at Wondertime. Ben and Birdy in what looks like a hammock. They look so suddenly grown. Especially Ben. I got all nostalgic and I have to admit, I'm really proud of your big kid too. Is that too silly? <BR/><BR/>Your a lucky girl. Happy birthday. <BR/><BR/>Also, thanks for bringing me to Wondertime. I LOVE them! The magazine is fabulous and the website rocks too! <BR/>~MarceyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160501888147465932006-10-10T13:38:00.000-04:002006-10-10T13:38:00.000-04:00I love the plane and turbulance metaphor. I love i...I love the plane and turbulance metaphor. I love it becasue it reminds me of the entry from your babycenter days about the new parents bobbing about in the ocean, not sure if they'd ever make it to shore. It still makes me teary to read that paragraph - I've sent it to every mom I know.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160498459331088182006-10-10T12:40:00.000-04:002006-10-10T12:40:00.000-04:00OMG, I love the new article. I feel the same way ...OMG, I love the new article. I feel the same way (as everyone does, I'm sure). The bit with the dentist is brilliant. Your kids are so beautiful in that picture, I can hardly stand it.pacalagahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12498703982601315908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31773345.post-1160492325183048372006-10-10T10:58:00.000-04:002006-10-10T10:58:00.000-04:00I just read the column about Ben's thumb-sucking. ...I just read the column about Ben's thumb-sucking. That kid never ceases to amaze me. He's so simultaneously wise and innocent - how is that possible? I love that kid.Kristenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02667140531327670081noreply@blogger.com