The Working Mom by Kay Luna

Are you worried at all about the controversial chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, that’s been in the news lately?

After doing a little research, I figured out my Babycakes’ bottles — which have been warmed up repeatedly over the past year or so — are ones that most likely include this chemical. Ugh!!!! I ran out recently and found one package at Toys R Us in Davenport that specifically said they were BPA free, and have been using those instead.

Babycakes isn’t thrilled about the change. She was very partial to the old ones. Unfortunately, her old favorites have a recycling code of “7″ on the bottom, which means … from what I’ve read … they most likely have BPA in them.

I don’t know whether to be afraid of BPA or not. I hear conflicting opinions about it.

What about you? Have you gone out and looked for BPA-free bottles for your own babies? Are you concerned at all?

I am so in love with my best friend’s new baby twins, who I wrote about in my last blog entry.

And I am so in awe of their Mommy, for many reasons. Number one: She is breastfeeding … BOTH BABIES AT THE SAME TIME. I’m like, hats off to ya, lady!

I’m also so impressed with how she’s juggling them in other ways, too. Having twins is a first for her, but you couldn’t tell by watching her with them.

Me, on the other hand? I felt more than a little lost watching them both for maybe 5 minutes, alone in her hospital room this morning, while their Mommy and Daddy walked down the hall to get breakfast.

Both babies were in their bassinets. Eric was looking around quite calmly, and Elaina was asleep. But it seemed like the minute their folks left the room, Elaina’s eyes popped open and she started to cry with this little “mew” that sounded like a little kitten. So sweet, and so heartbreaking.

Then, Eric started to ruffle around and cry a little.

Who do I pick up? I’m asking myself this, aloud, as I try to console both of them. They really didn’t want those pacifiers, and I certainly wasn’t the one they wanted in the Mommy department.

But I did get them calmed back down somehow before their parents got back. I looked like a miracle-worker, standing there with those two quiet little babies — like I’d done a wonderful job of keeping them happy. When, really, I just lucked out. As my own husband says about himself our daughter, “I’m a rookie” … at least with twins.

Anyone have any “twins” advice?

How did you know the “right amount” of kids you should have? Is there a perfect size of family, at least for you?

Personally, I always hoped for two, and now that I have them, I don’t have any desire to have more.

But one of my very best friends from childhood, Chasidy, has ALWAYS wanted a big family. Even as a little girl, she would talk about having lots of babies (and I thought she was crazy, even then! ha!).

Well, today, she and her husband, Shawn, officially have that BIG FAMILY. At 7:44 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. today, they welcomed twins — Elaina and Eric — to the world … as their 5th and 6th children.

They have four other daughters, stair-steps in age from 13 down to 2 years old. Beauties, those girls. And the baby of the babies, Eric, is a handsome little man (he’s the one in the yellow hat — Elaina is wearing pink). Chasidy and Shawn feel very blessed, and I’m elated for them.

But I just don’t have the personality … or the patience … for all those (beautiful) kids. I love being their pseudo-aunt, but would probably have a nervous breakdown worrying about that many kids — and that many babies! I thought one at a time was hard enough.

What about you? How did you decide how many kids was “right?” Oh, and please leave a congratulatory shout-out for the new parents!

What woman HASN’T wished she could change something on her body? I know I have, especially after having my last child …

But this is over the top in my book.

A board-certified plastic surgeon in Florida has written a children’s book called “My Beautiful Mommy” (Big Tent Books), which is set for release this Mother’s Day … and it’s all about why Mommy is having cosmetic surgery.

“Naturally, it has a happy ending: Mommy winds up `even more’ beautiful than before, and her daughter is thrilled,” states a story about the book in Newsweek (which I link to above).

Sure, I wish I could suck some fat out of certain places, and put some back in others. But what the heck kind of message are we sending our kids by reading them a children’s book that glorifies turning to surgery to feel “beautiful?” What about loving ourselves for the unique, wonderful people we are already?

And this book is supposed to be geared for kids ages 4 to 7, when little ones are so impressionable — and counting on US as parents to shape and mold how they view the world and themselves.

I’m not saying I’m against plastic surgery. In fact, if someone said I’d won a free “Mommy makeover,” I just might take them up on it!

But can’t we give little kids a chance to create a healthy self-image before bombarding them with stuff like this, especially in the form of children’s books!? Am I missing something here?

As promised, here are a couple of pictures of Babycakes on the beach. We’re reliving the vacation at home still, thanks to a board book we brought home, called “Good Night, Florida.”

She gasps with excitement when we hit the page that talks about digging in the sand and playing with seashells! I’m not exaggerating about her lingering excitement. The girl is dramatic … where did she get that from? haha!

I’ve always been a protective parent. Some (as in, my kid) might even say I can be over-protective at times.

And others might even go so far as to say I’m a coddler and a spoiler, doing too much for my kids.

The truth is, I do think kids need some degree of freedom — and responsibility — as they grow up, so they gain the confidence to do things on their own. They need to learn how to handle certain situations on their own, with a level of parental guidance depending on their age.

But how do you feel about this?

A columnist for the New York Sun sparked a firestorm of controversy recently when she wrote about sending her 4th-grader son to ride home alone …. from the Upper East Side of New York City to Manhattan … on public transportation, without even a cell phone to use in an emergency.

She said she thinks kids nowadays should be able to enjoy some of the same freedoms other generations did, and don’t need to be kept “under lock and key.” In fact, she calls that kind of parenting “delibitating.”

Instead, she says her son came home safely — and was “ecstatic with independence.”

She’s even started her own blog, called Free Range Kids, to promote this type of parenting …. giving freedom to kids, instead of hovering like helicopters over them constantly.

I wouldn’t have done what she did, sending a grade-school kid alone on a train in New York City. I always quaked when my kid rode his bicycle to school … in the country. But she DOES have a point about giving kids experiences that help them grow.

What do you think? Do you let your kids roam freely around your neighborhood? What about taking off on public transportation alone?

Hello again! We just got back from a relaxing vacation in Florida … and, ironically, it’s warmer here today than most of the days we spent on the beach there! No swimming for us.

But Babycakes did really well on her first plane flight. She loved the sand and seashells, and actually said “ocean” for the first time.

She also suddenly said “duck” and “cool” for the first time during the trip, which was very exciting (OK, it was, at least, for me! ha!).

No, we didn’t take her to Disney. She’s too little to remember that yet. But we did see a rocket take-off from Kennedy Space Center, saw giraffes upclose at a really neat zoo and spent a lot of time with family down there. We had a lot of fun.

The best part for Babycakes was she got to “meet” Ronald McDonald — and my gosh, you would have thought she had met Madonna! She was starstruck. Even now, if you ask her if she met Ronald McDonald on vacation, she gasps, with her eyes real big and her mouth in a perfect “o” shape!!! So cute.

No, don’t blame McD’s for its kid-oriented advertising. It isn’t the company’s fault. It’s mine … Babycakes has been eating off a McD’s highchair, looking at whimsical pictures of Ronald and friends, every day since she’s been eating solid foods!

When I get back from lunch, I’ll try to add a pic or two.

I’m just getting back into the swing of things here. I didn’t even know until today who was kicked off American Idol last week! For shame! haha!

What’s up with you???

Oh. my. gosh!!!!! I am getting the biggest kick out of this Web site I discovered, thanks to another blog I also enjoy (sarahaswell.com).

The site is called postcardsfromyomomma.com, and you can link to it by clicking here.

It features real-life crazy, funny, random e-mails from Moms to their kids, and I could totally see my own Mom — and myself, e-mailing to Mr. Z — in some of them … I’m even thinking about submitting one from my own Mom, sent to me and my sister (sorry, Mom!! hahaha!):

“I just realized something! When I do the