Weekend List!

Sarah's List:

18 Athletes Going to Sochi Alone. P.S. When do the Olympics start? As you can imagine, winter sports don't get a whole lot of press on the continent of Africa.

If you know me, you know that before I agree to watch a movie I have to figure out how disturbing it is. A dog dies? Someone is tortured? A child is unhappy? I'm out. I use the Parent's Guide on IMDB because that means stuff-you-no-longer-want-to-see-in-a-movie-after-you're-a-parent. Right? Check out these great charts on MPAA ratings. 

Photo secrets of modernist cuisine.

Apparently a lot of people don't know how to make a baby.

The art of presence during grief. 

Kid's author Mara Rockliff visited our students in Congo this week! We all read My Heart Will Not Sit Down in preparation for her arrival. A great book about the time a village in Cameroon sent $3.77 to the city of New York during the Great Depression.

Buy it here!

A fascinating read on money and happiness.


And guess the baby...

Photo credit: Robert Maust

Jill's List:

Beautiful photos of life with kids.

My own photo.  Little kid carrot fist.

Have you ever heard of oil-pulling?  I hadn't until I read this post.  And now I'm really curious...

Making this chocolate bombshell.  (In theory.)

Because I'm always almost going to dye my hair.

From this post.

A follow-up on the McDonald's story that sparked some interested debate.  Where should elders gather?  I love some of the quotes in this piece.

Logo from WikiCommons

Leaving affordable, plentiful French school options is going to be so painful.  Maybe we have a shot at a program like this?

We love school in French.  Photo of Lou and Charlotte's Pre-Maternelle class by Sarah.

Interesting doctor perspective on vaccination and non-vaccination. The most compelling idea in this conversation for me is the fact that we are not islands.  My decisions affect others whether it's obvious or not.  I've been on every side of this argument during my parenting years.

Our old favorite picture of me giving baby Ani a vaccine at the supper table.

Eeek.  I need to order our Valentine's Day cards.  I'll probably go with this place or this place.

Last year's edition.

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A Funny Thing Happens...

A funny things happens when you're about to cross the Atlantic. When we get ready to return to the States, we have all kinds of fears. Remember this? And now that we're about to cross the ocean the other way, we find ourselves having completely opposing thoughts about everything. Here are the multiple personalities that develop after one short summer.

On Car Seats

Thought in Congo: Do I really have to put my kids in car seats in the States? They will hate it and scream the entire car ride.

Thought in the US: Do we really go everywhere without car seats in Congo? Eeek! How irresponsible! How do we manage the kids bouncing all over the car.


On Stuff

Get lots and lots of stuff!

  by  Steve Snodgrass 

In Congo: Maybe this year we don't need to buy as much stuff to bring back with us to Congo. We do have a real grocery store now. Paying $5 for a toothbrush isn't that bad. And hey, I kinda like these Turkish diapers.

In the US: 50 cent toothbrushes?! Get 20! And 15 tubes of toothpaste. And enough deodorant for 5 years! And I've never used hair gel, but let's get 5 tubes just in case. How much space is left in the suitcase? Can we pack a few more rolls of toilet paper in there? And I'm not using those damn Turkish diapers!

On Illness

  by  I woz ere 

In Congo: Boy it's going to be nice to be in the States where we don't have to worry about the kids getting sick.

In the US: I can't wait to get back to Congo after the kids have recovered from all their vaccinations. They've both been miserable for weeks. Charlotte is covered in measles or mumps or something, and Ani has developed an allergy to anything that touches her skin. She's constantly covered in hives.

On Safety

In Congo: Things are so safe in the States. Won't it be nice to not have to worry about political instability.

In the US: We're gathered in a public area and no one has gone though any kind of metal detector or security screening. Is this safe? Also, I have a mild heart attack every time I ride in a car. Everyone drives so fast when there are no potholes to dodge.

And finally I know it's time to go back when my thoughts have changed on the cleanliness of public restrooms. Fresh off the plane from Congo I can visit the filthiest bathroom in the States and be impressed there's running water. Now I find myself judging an establishment if the trashcan is too full and the water doesn't get hot fast enough. Don't even get me started on no changing tables. I guess it's time to get reacquainted with changing diapers mid-air.

So, so clean.

  by  loop_oh 

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Bitten by BCG

A few people have wondered about the “disgusting bite” Ani has on her arm. Well it was the BCG bug. Or rather, her vaccine for tuberculosis. The BCG vaccine is kind of a funny one. Ani got it about 3 months ago during our Christmas trip to South Africa. It’s taken this long for her to have a reaction. I'll spare you the details of the extent of its grossness, but I've even heard a certain unnamed medical professional call it gross.

Charlotte had the same reaction, except we were totally taken off guard. Because she was born in South Africa, they automatically give the BCG at birth. You can imagine our surprise when 3 months later this happened to our new baby’s arm.

Our pediatrician in Cape Town didn’t even think of telling us what to expect because the BCG vaccine is so common (outside the US). Thanks. That’s the type of thing first-time parents love having to figure out on their own. Dangerous spider bite?  Nope, just her shot from a few months ago.

So our girls will forever have these funny little scars on the top of their right arms. But don’t worry, as our South African pediatrician told us, “No harm. They’ll just tan a bit different there.” Umm, have you seen their complexions? There will be no tanning over those scars. And then he casually adds, "Oh- be sure not to pick at it, there's live TB in there."

Interestingly, the US is one of the only countries that doesn’t give the BCG. We rely instead on TB testing. Remember that under-the-skin test for a reaction before you work in food service or other TB-sensitive job? Apparently after you’ve been given the BCG vaccine, you’ll always test positive for TB. We’ll see what happens when the girls try to get their first waitressing jobs.

Vaccines are kind of a funny thing when raising babies in Congo. For a variety of reasons we’ve always imported our own vaccines. And when I say “import” I mean we physically carry them in a cooler on the plane. They stay in our fridge until vaccination time and then Jill (or current TASOK nurse) will come over and give them. It’s a funny system, but it works.

For example, here's what we did last night:

And no vaccine anxiety for us. Chances are the disease we’re immunizing against lives a few blocks down the street. So we always think, “Oh! There’s a vaccine against that? We’ll take two!”

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