When you don't know whether to scream with laughter or outrage...

Wow. I know I'm probably one of the last to see this, but my jaw dropped at the Motrin babywearing ad.

Wow. Babywearing is "fashionable"? And it makes you look like an "official mom"? And it makes babywearers cry more than moms who don't wear their babies? Wow. Way to prove conclusively that you have absolutely nobody on your staff who knows the tiniest thing about what babywearing is all about.

Amazing. I'm choosing to laugh at it because it's funny in a train-wreck kind of way, but I think if I was still wearing my kids I'd be pretty damn pissed off. What a perfect example of utter Fail.

Elizabeth Stone's wisdom

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

::sigh::

Just read the part of On the Shores of Silver Lake where Laura's bulldog Jack dies. Justin was very quiet, then his eyes got a little red, then a tear rolled down his cheek, and then he started sobbing.

Damn.

At least it wasn't quite as heartbreaking and unexpected as the post-Deathly Hallows Bloodbath cry. He'd seemed fine when we read all the deaths - a little quiet over some of them, but otherwise eager to get to the end of the book, and quite happy with the ending. Then a few days later, I'm studying, have fanvids playing in the background, and he comes in. Sees that I've got a Harry Potter fanvid on and happily sits down to watch it. At one point I lift my head, notice which one it is, say something like, "Oh that's the video somebody made for Fred Weasley. There's a bunch of others that are tributes to all the dead characters. I think I've got one that's a tribute to Remus Lupin too."

Justin nods, I go back to studying, he stays sitting, watching the video. A little later I look up again, and notice his eyes are red.

And then he bursts into tears. Howls of misery, crying his heart out and unable to say anything until a few minutes later when he chokes out, "It's just that I got so attached to so many of them and now they're all dead! Especially Hedwig!"

Damn. Felt like a complete failure as a mother at the time; for reading the book to him, for letting him see the video, and for having no clue that he'd been deeply affected until the tears came pouring down.

Well this time at least I was prepared. Still not sure I should've read it to him, but at least I don't feel totally clueless and helpless as well as sad for him. We cuddled for a while, until he was a little calmer, and I asked if he wanted me to keep reading to him, and he said OK.

He did point out that so far, Silver Lake is a bit of an all-around bummer. Mary is blind, the Ingalls are in debt, Laura and Pa are tired and overworked taking care of everyone, and their dog dies. Happy happy joy joy.

::sigh:: My poor little guy :(