Cover of the book
Is this really a podcast episode about your period? Why yes it is. Birth control has been in the news lately, which means, in a way, so has your flow. In this episode I give a kind of book report of the 2009 book Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation by Elissa Stein and Susan Kim. Some of the questions I answer include…Do you actually have a period when on the Pill? Is hormonal contraception safe? When did modern femcare emerge? Is PMS a real disorder? Why are we so grossed out by our own bodies? And is menstruation obsolete? I hope I’m not the only one who finds these questions interesting, or, if I am, I have at least amused myself.
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Our daughter was 19 months old when our son was born in November. In other words, my husband, Dave, and I are parenting two under two. Sure, this isn’t as hard as parenting twins or triplets or having more than two children, but it’s new for us. In this episode, we discuss what life has been like the last three months. Why are the children spaced so closely together? What has been hardest? Easiest? What advice can we give, and, more importantly, what advice do we want?
Random Reference to Another Podcast (Slate)
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Baby number two is here and I’m….happy? Obviously, I’m excited by the birth of my lovely son, but am I happier than I was when I had one child or no children? In my first podcast back after a long long hiatus I examine some of the studies purporting to show a decline in happiness as people have children. What can we make of these studies? Can happiness be defined or measured? When will I sleep through the night again (sadly, that last question isn’t answered)?
Sources:
“One baby or two? Study looks at effect of having second child” by Judy Hill
“All Joy and No Fun” by Jennifer Senior
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After a long podcasting hiatus, I’m finally releasing an episode I recorded a couple months ago. My current pregnancy has been about as much fun as my first (code for no fun), so I apologize to Amy for the late release. I talked with her about the process of adopting her son from Colombia when he was 13 months old. We discussed the ins and outs of the adoption process, as well as the emotional and financial realities of adoption.
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I interviewed Adrienne of the popular blog No Points for Style about her special needs son Carter; this interview affected me more than most and may change the way you look at or even judge other parents in circumstances different than your own.
Adrienne talks about the difficulty in getting a single diagnosis and in coming to terms with likely never getting one. She talks about the way parenting Carter has affected her other children and she explains what parents shouldn’t say to someone struggling with a special needs child. Hint: Don’t invoke video games and leave the word exorcism out of your vocabulary.
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In Episode 25 I talked with Amy, mother to a toddler and wife of a deployed Navy officer, about her experiences dealing with deployment. I got quite a few responses to that episode, so I decided to turn it into a three part series. This is Part II of the series and this time I talk with Melitsa, mother of three boys, whose husband is on a one year remote tour. She is half way through this tour, so I asked her about how she prepared her boys, how she handles the day to day stressors, and how this long of an absence has affected her marriage.
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