Friday, January 17, 2014

Cleaning Out My Post Drafts: 7 Topics You'll Never Have to See in Full Post Form #7QT

I can't take credit for this genius post idea.  It's all Cat's.  But considering I have exactly 78 posts in drafts, I'm thinking it's time to clear some out that, let's be honest, probably aren't ever going to see the light of day.  So without further ado, a quick run down on some posts you might have seen but never will:


1. How to Choose a Pediatrician:
  • Go to "meet the pediatrician" night. 
  • Go with your gut instinct. 
  • Ask questions 
    • Questions to ask:
      • The number one question to ask a pediatrician is what he believes his role is. His answer should be along the lines of working with you to take care of your child's health needs. If the pediatrician thinks that it is his role alone to take care of your child's health, that he is in charge, or that he is there to tell you what to do, you probably don't want to use that pediatrician. The pediatrician's job is to partner with you to care for your child, healthcare is not a dictatorship, and the pediatrician should acknowledge since you are the parent and spend the majority of your child's life with him, you have the most important role in his health. You can spot the signs that something is out of the ordinary through daily interactions while a doctor can easily miss them in a 15 minute appointment.
Hmmm...well, don't know where else I was going with this one, but I suppose that is good advice.  I will add a personal anecdote that I most likely meant to add.  When we went to a "meet the pediatrician" night, the pediatrician leading the meeting asked if anyone planned on cloth diapering.  When I raised my hand, she questioned me about it and told me that parenthood is hard enough without making it harder on myself.  Then, she proceeded to suggest that anyone who planned to breastfeed should avoid seeing any of the male doctors in the practice because they weren't very supportive of it.  Ped office that questions cloth diapers (a non-medical issue) and then doesn't fully support breastfeeding (a medical issue)?  Cross that off my list.


2. The Best Gender Reveal Party

Gender reveal parties seem to be the next big thing.  But I think that the best gender reveals are at birth.

Think that about covers it.  Don't know how I expected to make that a full post.


3. A marriage is made of...

A marriage is not made from the "big moments" - the anniversaries and Valentine's Days, the trips or the fancy nights out - but made from the little stuff.  Laughing at that same ridiculous commercial that comes on all the time.  The difficult years of financial hardship and scraping by.


4. The Mom Haircut, The Newlywed Haircut

Just had a title on this one, but I remember the gist of what I planned to write.  It seems that most of the newly married women and new moms I know got a short(er) haircut.  Part of it is probably convenience - babies pull hair and many women who like their hair short grow their hair out for their weddings.  Part of it has to do with identity - getting a new look as an outward sign of a very important change in life.  I definitely very deliberately did not cut my hair out after I got married or had a baby - I've been growing my hair out since I got engaged in July 2009.


5.  What I've Learned From Frequent Moving

Pack a box easily accessible with necessities - shower curtain and rings, towels, sheets, soap, etc. so you can be comfortable after a long move

Whichever moving truck/trailer you choose, it won't be big enough, so go a size larger than what you think you need

Package children's toys in saran wrap  so the parts stay together (puzzles/toys without lids, etc.)


6. Lulu's 18 Month Photos

Guess I can toss a few up for you:






7. I understand why couples who experience the death of a child are more likely to divorce.

I am not angry, and the hurt is mostly gone, but still I feel great sadness, which I am told by many mothers who have similarly lost children in the womb, will never entirely go away.  So right now, I'm trying to avoid reminders of our child - seeing pictures of pregnant friends due around my due date (why are there so many?), etc.  Every time I see my husband, in his face I see our children - our daughter and the one we lost to miscarriage.  Both happy and sad emotions.  And right now, the sad is still overwhelming.

At the same time, he is the only person, beside God, that I can truly share my sorrow with.  Only parents who have lost our child understand.  Other parents have lost their children and they can understand to a degree, but it is different for each one of us.  Their circumstances, their emotions are unique to them.  The only ones that fully understand are the ones who lost this child: me, my husband, and the Lord, who created this child, who Fathers us all.

I'm sure I could make this into a full post, but I just don't have the desire to rehash all these emotions.


Now I have 61 drafts.  My goal is to clear them out entirely by the end of March.  You lucky readers, you.  


For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!





13 comments:

  1. You have such interesting ideas! And, I love this idea as well. And, that thumbs up picture? Adorable!

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  2. Love these, especially the Pediatrician one. I skipped around to 4 before landing with our family doctor for Noah. The first few were adamantly against me breastfeeding because my son was in the 7th percentile. I had three (from the same practice) tell me he was going to be mentally challenged if he didn't gain weight. He'd been that way steadily since birth though and force feeding him wasn't working. So we switched and he's doing just fine. Following your gut I a big one :-)

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  3. This was a great idea for a 7 quick takes, Mandi! Loved it. And what sweet pictures of your girl. :)

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  4. We haven't been married very long but I wholeheartedly agree with love in the little moments. I know so many couples who chase getaways, vacations, anniversaries, and the "big moments" as if those are the life preservers for their relationship. Living for the future is never the key to happiness.

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  5. Adorable baby pictures, and some useful quick takes! I especially appreciate the pediatrician one...though I am about the CHOP my hair so that I can grow it out. Stylists just don't seem to understand that I can't get a haircut every six weeks, and so after that time (though it starts fabulous!) it looks awful. So a bob is coming soon...and then I'm going to let it get really, really long I think. :)

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  6. That pediatrician sounds crazy!!! We don't have "meet the pediatrician" nights around here, but I tend to look for pediatricians who are homebirth-friendly, because even though I've never had a homebirth I know those will be the crunchier ones who won't prescribe antibiotics for a sneeze and won't blink at my cloth diapering & breastfeeding :)

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  7. This is a great idea to clean out your drafts (and a fun post to read!) I have one that has been sitting in my drafts for three years with nothing but a title (and I have NO idea where I was going with it). I don't delete it because it makes me laugh when I see it. "The path to potatoes." ....?

    You could probably do some sort of game or guest posts rwith trading random post titles with forgotten content and having other people try to fill them in!

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    1. The Path to Potatoes? With a title like that, I would have definitely clicked to see where the post was going to go. I like your game idea. I wonder what creative topics people would come up with for your Path to Potatoes post.

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  8. 150% agree with you on number 2... And others too : )

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  9. Great idea for cleaning out your drafts! It makes me feel a bit better to hear that I'm not the only one with a long list of unfinished masterpieces.

    Your experience with the potential pediatricians is crazy!

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  10. #5: I store puzzle pieces in ziploc bags attached to the puzzle frames. I like the plastic wrap idea though!

    #6: What a cutie pie!

    #7: Having a kid with special needs can also really strain a marriage if the parents aren't careful. (Let's just say "personal experience" on this one and leave it at that. *hugs*

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  11. As a pediatrician (and mom) myself, I agree that the group you met sounds... well... let's just say "not in agreement with practice guidelines." That's fairly charitable, right? I (along with the AAP) encourage breastfeeding up to at least a year, longer if mom and baby want-- as long as baby eventually eats other foods too. And why would I care if parents want to cloth diaper?!

    I'd like to point out, though, that not only should pediatricians listen to parents (who know more about their children), parents should listen to their pediatricians (who know more about medicine-- which I hope a isn't controversial assertion). Obviously not all docs are created equal, and you need to find someone you feel comfortable with, and you should of course check their information for accuracy if you have any doubt... but occasionally you'll find parents who don't want to hear ANYTHING their pediatrician has to say. Why go to a doctor at all if you don't think they know more than you?

    Of course I don't think that's what you were implying (with your partial post, no less)! Just wanted to add a perspective from the other side. Sorry for writing a book in your comments section! :-)

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  12. Lulu is such a doll. I actually am so thankful you wrote that bit about pediatricians. I *still* need to find one. Eek.

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