#gaymarriage / #beingparent

Today I have many things on my mind so i will split this blog into two topics.


#GAYMARRIAGE

So... the oh-so renown topic on gay marriage.

Back in the day gay marriage was frowned upon due to principle and religion.

Today most people are feel much more comfortable and have all their support groups and have an easier time expressing themselves.

In my opinion it is very ignorant to tell others what they can and can not do; what can and cant make them happy; why they are they way they are. Honestly it drives me crazy to read people post about how gross it is to be gay. How would you feel if all marriage was dictated? No one could get married and all relationships were determined based on what one person thought was right.

I especially hate reading posts that are written by straight individuals that say people are pretty much gay just because its a phase and they are rebellious. HOW IN THE WORLD can you determine why something makes one person happy when you don't like that same thing.

If you're not gay you should not have an opinion on being gay.

In the end we all have our opinions on everything but they are just that. #opinions not #facts.

Let's not forget that we are all entitled to our opinions and we are all different so we will all like and dislike different things.

#BEINGPARENT

Recently someone on my facebook tagged me in a post including the following picture:

http://some.ly/1e8NyEw

It says something along the lines of "let's fucking party! Oh wait, im a mom."

The was a little offensive. I understand that there are parents that find parenting to be a burden but I'm not one of those people.

People these days seem to take for granted the blessing that children are... your children didn't ask you to bring them into the the world that was your choice. My life wouldn't be any better without my son so it saddens me to see people so ungrateful.

I know many individuals that are unable to conceive and would give anything to wake up to a crying baby in the middle of the night or have deep red stretch marks knowing that they are their for only the best reasons.

So when I hear people say that after you have children you need to cover up your postpartum belly.... that's great you don't want kids, cool. Don't have them.

It also hurts me when parent feel the need to tell their offspring how much they "had to give up" just to raise them; because no one has to give up anything if your baby was such a burden seriously why did you feel the need to have them? It's selfish. And again may would give anything to have a baby.

#Pro-choice

#pro-adoption

#liveandletlive

Lastly, be grateful for all you have and know things could always be worse. You might have a bad day but it doesn't have to be a bad life.

Life is what you make of it.

"Spring break"

Oh the life of a young mother…

While I was in grade school every year for spring break I would go visit my sister in Denver. Spring break always falls very closely to her twin daughter’s birthday so that was an added bonus. We typically would plan our trips around the weather. Sometimes it was nice out, other times we were stuck inside thanks to the blizzard that was out running amuck.

The times that it was nice out we would spend our days at the zoo, aquatic center, shooting, shopping, and so forth.

Here is just a small chunk of our great big family:

Well, this “spring break” being a new mother and a full time student I decided to camp out at a friend’s house for the week while I hid from my grandmother who came into town to visit.

Yeah, yeah, I’m a terrible person for hiding from my family big deal.

This semester for some reason my teachers also decided to take their spring breaks on different weeks so I, in turn, didn’t really get a break.

BUT hiding out turned out to be really nice. Every night after I put my little one to sleep my friend and I would sneak off to the hot tub, blast some music, and spend a couple hours talking about who knows what. And even though now I am still trying to catch up on my sleep it was definitely worth it, especially with this sunset every night.

I even got to spend  lots of time snuggling with my baby boy!

and creeping on my wifey (:

Next spring break will be a whole new adventure! I will start making more memories with my son; perhaps we will go visit family, or go hide out somewhere just the two of us. I will definitely be taking advantage of these times that he still wants to hang out with my while I can before he grows up and hides from me at his friend’s house! 

Next spring break will be a whole new adventure! I will start making more memories with my son; perhaps we will go visit family, or go hide out somewhere just the two of us. I will definitely be taking advantage of these times that he still wants to hang out with my while I can before he grows up and hides from me at his friend’s house!

All in all, spring break has never really been where the parties at, at least not for me. It’s always been about the summer break where the word ‘break’ actually means break.

Summer has always meant baseball, four wheeling, water fights, bon fires, late nights, and real vacations.

In July we would go see our Rockies play.

One year we took a spontaneous trip to Las Vegas, NV (but because my mom didn’t go with us we don’t have any pictures, go figure!).

 I’m sure for the years to come I will spend my spring breaks getting in all the quality time I can with Jaxon and save most of the adventures for the summer time; with the perks of being a teacher I can actually do that too!

Blogs For Mommies / Momming today

I know that just about all blogs have been tough of when it comes to parenting and momming so I will try not to beat it to death.

Parenting today is so different now from when I was little, and far more different for each generation before mine. When my mom was a little girl, car seats were just shallow plastic buckets with a thin piece of plastic covered foam; today car seats are heavy duty, crash tested contraptions decked out with a five point harness for safety guaranteed. Even play grounds are so different.  Then playgrounds were metal or wood on top of grass; today they have all kinds of safety nets on top of a nice foam landing just in case.

So of course now of days there are all kinds of different resources and new ways of doing things.

As soon as I discovered I was pregnant Pinterest became my go-to for EVERYTHING. I’m not one for reading blogs… they make me feel nosey. But, during my pregnancy I found quite a bit that were beyond helpful to me so here they are!

Cloth Diaper blogs:

http://cgmrb.blogspot.com/2013/10/cloth-diaper-washing-myth-busters.html?m=1

http://nickisdiapers.blogspot.com/2012/08/getting-most-from-your-best-bottom.html?m=1

http://just-making-noise.com/homemade-natural-baby-cloth-wipes/

http://oneorganicmama.blogspot.ca/2013/04/keeping-poop-out-of-your-diapers.html

cloth diapers then and now:

I loved these blogs- I knew from the beginning I was going to be a cloth diapering mama. There are so many benefits to cloth diapering. For starters it is cheaper by far, your babies are much less likely to be allergic to them, supposedly they also make potty training easier, they are super freaking cute, and it’s better for the environment.

If you think, “oh gross I don’t want poop in my washer!” well just remember that back in the day, there weren’t washers and moms were washing those poopy diapers BY HAND. So what’s grosser? Also, if you plan on having more than one or maybe two children, that’s a lot of money, you’re throwing away using disposables. You could spend all that money on other things… just keep that in mind.

Storage blogs:

Though babies really don’t need a whole lot, they come with a whole lot. You’ll want everything organized in an easy way so that putting everything away isn’t too difficult or out of your way. These were blogs I used.

http://12oaksblog.com/2014/01/29/the-nursery-reveal/

http://onethriftychick.blogspot.com/2013/09/quick-fix-closet-organization.html?m=1

http://www.organizinghomelife.com/my-favorites-friday-3-toy-organization-storage/

The fun stuff:

Be fun. Do all the fun things, it may get messy but you can always clean a mess. Don’t let them grow up too fast. Here are some awesome blogs that have great ideas that I can’t wait to put to the test when my little bug gets to be big enough!

http://littlecrunchymama.blogspot.com/2011/12/getting-crafty.html?m=1

https://familydaystriedandtestedblog.wordpress.com/2014/03/18/family-days-50-things-to-do-before-or-after-youre-11-34s-a-tried-tested-guide-to-making-childhood-magical/

http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2012/03/outer-space-themed-bath.html

Play grounds then and now:

Today you can figure out how to do just about anything, it’s important to use all your resources. Take advantage of all the things you can do now as a mom like making glow in the dark bubbles, bath tub crayons, cloth diapering made easy and the amount of organization we have available to us. It’s still okay for your child to fall too, even though we have the elaborate padded play parks it’s okay to stop and take a ride on the old death trap marry go round

Perhaps Italy?

Recently I have been presented with the opportunity to move to Venice, Italy for the next three years. What a chance of a life time!

I was born to two very young parents. My mother being only seventeen and my father at nineteen, growing up this meant we pretty much got by but typically didn’t get to travel much. Luckily I had grandparents who took me to various states within the U.S. to visit family but aside from things like that places such as Disneyland, let alone another country, were a no. Most of my high school career I spent learning German. Let me tell you it is hard to maintain a non-native language! Fortunately each of the years I spent in the class there was one or two exchange students which in a way helped. My sophomore year I made friends with girl named Reena. I had the best time teaching her how to drive, going shopping, learning about German traditions, and so forth.

So now being given this chance to experience the world of course I want nothing more than to jump into it! I think right now the biggest thing holding me back from committing 100% is my family. I’m afraid that if I go they will be very upset about me taking their newborn grandson on my big adventure (they aren’t very understanding with things like this). Another thing is I’m not really sure what to expect when it comes to government, weather and the types of crimes there.

On the other hand how amazing would it be to travel through Europe? The answer is freaking amazing! It would be so wonderful to be able to give my child things I wasn’t able to have at his age. If I chose to go, I think that the thing I am most excited about is learning and being a part of other cultures. In Europe you can jump on a train and go to France, Germany, Spain, or Romania and so many more places for a new diverse culture. I believe that these are experiences to help better individuals and help their understanding of one another.  

Pros:

• -          Touring Europe
• -          Gaining a new perspective and understanding of the world (being a better parent because of it)
• -          Perfecting my German
• -          Learning other languages (being able to add that to my resume)
• -          Getting  a visa

Cons:

• -          Isis
• -          Not the United States (less security)
• -          I would probably get lost constantly
• -          Difficulty communicating
• -          May be too “touristy” (disliked)
• -          Upset parents
• -          Uhm ISIS hello that’s a huge one

Would you go?

Have you been?

What would your pros and cons be?

One last thought, as I have been debating this the past few weeks, I was watching the news a couple of nights ago and they were talking about bombs being pointed at, or dropped near Italy. That’s such a horrifying idea! This world can be such a beautiful place and it terrifying to think that if we wanted to travel across to the other side of it we would fear for our very own lives!

To people who live in Germany and Italy it’s probably not a very big deal and they probably feel moderately safe but for Americans it’s sad that we would feel so threatened to experience other parts of the world.

Breastfeeding in Public

As promised, this week I will be blogging about breastfeeding in public. This seems to be such a huge topic at this time; who would have known that feeding your child in public could be so controversial.

Growing up I was a part of a large generation that was formula fed. This wasn’t brought to my attention until my mom asked me why I decided to breastfeed when I was not ever continuously exposed to anyone else that had done so.

In the end breastfeeding is just healthier.

·         Prevents breast cancer for mom

·         Better for baby’s digestive track

·         Helps fight colds, ear infections, and other illness thanks to the specific antibodies that breast             milk has that is not replicable through formula

Never the less, it’s not for everyone and that’s more than acceptable. It’s very demanding and I can honestly say that breastfeeding is one of the hardest things I have ever done; though in the end it is so rewarding.

Moving on, I’m sure we have all seen the posts, the pictures, and the opinions all over Facebook. Everyone is either utterly disgusted with the idea or post pictures in efforts to stand up for nursing mums.

I personally think it would be hilarious to be placed in a situation where another person confronts me about feeding my child. I feel as though I am very respectful when I feed him in public; I do cover myself to the very best of my ability, but any mother who nurses will agree that babies are stubborn and you can either deal with my baby screaming or you might see the back of his head while he eats. Get over it. I, nor any other mom will ever starve our child(ren) for another person’s comfort.  c'est la vie!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU6Olc7BVXw

This video above is actually of a woman encouraged to cover herself while she fed her little one. In the video they also discussed the laws on breastfeeding in Texas which is where this particular incident took place. Watching this urged me to look up the laws here in New Mexico on the subject.

This is what I came across:

 As well as:

In my opinion women shouldn’t be discouraged for doing something so discouraging in itself. Moms who chose to nurse are the ones who wake up at night to assist their child regardless of whether or not they have a spouse.  Most newborns are up every two-three hours to eat. Just try to convince me that waking up every two-three hours to stay awake for 30 minutes and then trying to go back to sleep isn’t hard. On top of that going into public alone is such a task. Having to frequently handle your upset baby while covering yourself, and uncovering yourself all at the same time. 

Breastfeeding alone is hard and all we are trying to do is give our children the healthier option.

Last weekend I went out to eat with my father. I fed my son just before we left the house; thinking that he would fall asleep in the car and most likely stay asleep. Nope. That didn’t happen.  Instead he sat in his seat for a few minutes in the restaurant before he because distressed and hungry, again.  So of course, I put on my cover and fed my son till he eventually passed out. As I was feeding him a lady who was leaving, passed by our table and gave me a thumbs up! Said, "Yeah! Right on! Good for you! Good for you." 

-That was by far the best feeling ever.

Why I'm here.

I'm Mackenzy, and currently going to school for the end result of a degree in special education. throughout middle school and high school I volunteered in many elementary classroom settings; it wasn't until my junior year that I found my calling.
I always thought about the jobs where you make a lot of money, and originally dismissed the idea of being a teacher. When I initially started assisting in various classes I didn't particularly enjoy it. As a few years passed I came to the conclusion that I could never be a teacher because I just didn't have what it took. I didn't have that authoritative attitude, the students wouldn't listen to me and I felt like I wasn't even much help to the teachers. It was shortly after that, that everything began to fall into place. The students began looking at me as an instructor figure, I started to make my own lesson plans, teaching on my own, started being more involved in school/parent interactions, and started to see what teaching was actually about. Every time I walked into the school I started to forget all my days frustrations, and by the time I got to the classroom they were completely gone. After all, look at those beautiful faces.

Now I have a three month old son who is the light of every single one of my days, his name is Jaxon. He is also the motivation of my aspirations, by the time I graduate he will be able to join preschool, but until then I get to enjoy going to school and being a full-time mommy.

Last semester, though pregnant, was pretty easy. It helped that the classes themselves were not difficult. I think this semester is going to kick my butt, but I am up for the challenge!

This blog is for my current English 211 class, it is my first blog and quite honestly I have never considered the idea of making one but now that I am it will be interesting to see what I come up with. So far I think I have decided to write about life as a mommy and a student. We will see how it goes; hopefully I can try to keep my day to day life interesting enough to entertain the populace. I may decide to bounce around on the ideas of the hottest topics for starters I know that my next blog will most likely be about breastfeeding in public! Other blogs may be about the school systems, government, social media, and maybe even other topics brought to my attention by the other courses that I am taking this semester.

Hopefully my peers and I will be able to share ideas with one another and I personally hope that I am not the only one that is terrible with technology and social media like twitter and this blog! I definitely look forward to reading my classmates various blogs and can’t wait to see what else this semester has in store for us. (: