Parenting from Scratch

One thing I LOVE about my job is the moat at the office. Yes, you read that right: a moat. Okay, so it’s not a true moat, because it doesn’t go ALL the way around, but it does go most of the way. And the best thing about the moat is the wildlife, especially right now. So far, I’ve seen heron, geese, turtles, fish and ducks.

Yesterday morning I found a mama duck’s nest, and I’m a little worried (because, you know, I love a good worry) about her eggs. When I first saw the nest, one of the eggs looked a little rough. Maybe the duckling was jus. Taking a break from hatching. But… I don’t know how these things go. It kind of looked a little tampered with to me. Like maybe something had gotten to it. Anyway, when I checked on it later during the day, it looked like it had rolled down the bank of the moat a little.

I think, pre-Sadie, I would have been a little worried about the mama duck and her hatchlings. But I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about this little duck family. Hopefully my worries are unfounded, and the mama duck has tucked her hatched ducklings somewhere other than her egg nest (which is pretty cool looking–I’d never seen one). Maybe one day soon I’ll see the whole gang floating around together.

So I’m on watch: Duck Watch.

Duck Daddy-o.

Nest. You can't see the egg that rolled. There are also some shell fragments in the nest, as well as under the building ledge.

In the past week, some of Sadie’s birthday party plans have become more solidified.

• We’re definitely going to have it at our house, and we’re not going to limit ourselves to the number of people we invite. This will be a “the more, the merrier” sort of party, even if it is hectic and crowded and kids are tripping over each other. Of course, her birthday is the day before Easter this year (or, I should say, Easter is the day after Sadie’s birthday this year… as Sadie’s birthday will always be the same), so who knows if our friends will even be around to help us celebrate. I hope so.
• What kind of cake Sadie will eat is still a bit up in the air. But my college roommate and dear friend, Leah, has offered to make the party cake (I might still do a miniature healthyish cake for Sadie, or I might just give her a reasonable piece of the cake Leah makes for the rest of us and quit worrying my silly little head off.). I am super excited, because Leah did the groom’s cake at our wedding.

• And speaking of that cake, I think it is going to be the inspiration for any decorations we’ll do. Sort of an “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” theme. Or whatever. That is, unless Leah’s got some other fantastic ideas for cakes (she’s getting back to me about that next week or so); in that case, we might head down a different road entirely.
• We’re settled on having it mid afternoonish, and hopefully Sadie will get in a good nap or two beforehand. If not, it’s not like she doesn’t go ALL DAY sometimes without a nap at daycare, seemingly no worse for the wear.
• For the food, I think we’ll do some dips from my brother’s restaurant (hummus, spinach, etc.) and some veggies and fruit. Not going to fork over a ton for a caterer, but also not going to stress about making a ton of food myself.
• The “in lieu of gifts” bit… I’m pretty decided on having people bring–if they want–items that can be donated to the Humane Society of Pulaski County. We’re all animal lovers here, and I’m sure Sadie would approve if she knew how. And who doesn’t want to have some way to get rid of their old towels, right?
• One place I do think I want to spend some money is on having greener party supplies. I found this website the other day, and I think it’ll be a good compromise between our desire to be environmentally-responsible and our desire to not wash one thousand dishes while dealing with a cranky, hopped-up one-year-old.
• Also on a green note, I’m foregoing my wish of sending out darling snail-mail invitations. First of all, we’ll be inviting more people than I care to pay postage and printing for. And second, I just don’t have time to round up everyone’s mailing addresses. Should I use evite? Facebook? regular email? something I’m not thinking of?

Any other ideas or suggestions?