Voting day
And Jeff and I are going to vote now. But I’m disillusioned… I won’t lie. I am only voting on two things- a proposal and one local candidate, and I almost wasn’t going to vote at all. It just seems completely broken to me. Blah. Things are just so much more broken than we realize. I often feel like I’m putting a band-aid on a gaping wound, just so that people won’t think I’m a hypocrite. It’s complicated.
Yesterday we went to the county clerk to get Asa his birth certificate. It was a fine experience, but Jeff was fairly convinced that we were mildly discriminated against because we’re homebirthers. I wasn’t so convinced, but I guess it’s a possibility. Basically, when you have a baby in a hospital, the birth certificate stuff just gets taken care of, but we have to go into this office and show our IDs and give them this worksheet from our midwives. Anyway, not that big of a deal, but last time we did it we were able to get the info sent to social security and then just got Vera’s SS card sent to us. We wanted to do that again and the woman just said no. We asked why, and she just said "No. We’re doing this first." even though there was a check box right there on the form for it to happen like that. It was kind of weird, how short she was with us, and she never gave us an explanation, just told us we had to go to some other building on the other side of town and work it out there. Plus they were definitely snickering back in their cubicle, shaking their heads and looking at us. That part was what really stood out to me. I thought maybe they were snickering about our form, but they didn’t tell us there was any problem with it. Anyway, Jeff said that someone he knows told him that there’s one woman that works there who you want to get for this kind of situation, and that the others just don’t like homebirthers. In the end, Jeff thought that they were sending us on an extra errand just because. I don’t really know, I think maybe they don’t release the information to SS anymore and just haven’t changed their forms, but they were definitely kind of abrupt with us. I guess I’d like to assume the best. It is weird, though, to be looked at in that way. I hate that people don’t have the information about homebirth. I try to empathize and think about it like some people really think I’m selfishly choosing a trendy birth experience over the safety of my baby/self. Based on everything I’ve seen and learned, it was the safest place I could be. Anyway, I just want to focus on having an open mind. You never really have all the information, and some of the information you do have is bound to be wrong…
Anyway. Today I’m stationed outside in the shade with this basket. Diapers and gardening books and bag makings… (thanks 
It’s amazing how easily occupied I am just in my backyard. So much going on. The open air, the people walking by… Not to mention the beautiful chickens. They barely go through their feed because we give them so many scraps/weeds, which is nice because we opted to buy organic feed which is three times more expensive than conventional feed. But it’s worth it. I don’t want to feed them any cheap GMO crap.
Lovely eggs. We always get at least two eggs a day, often three. But- I forgot to mention this here- on Asa’s birthday we got 4 eggs! I felt like it was a birthday present for him… so special. Amazing how much more grateful I am for eggs now that I have chickens.
She’s got this thing about small round coin-like things. She gathers them up and calls them her "lucky penny". This was a lucky penny she was showing me. 🙂
Tomatoes are turning color! Thankfully I did some research and found that the tomato blight we’re dealing with is somewhat manageable by just removing the affected leaves and rotating the crops next year. I hope that does it and we can get a decent harvest this year. Looks like the "late blight" is much more severe, and you basically have to kill your plants and send them to the landfill.
Nasturtium. Soon to be pesto. 🙂
I’ve really got to get cracking on garden planning/planting/storage/recipes/etc. It’s all going to sneak up on me otherwise.
And a baby in a basket. I love him more and more every day, little bean. He’s such a good baby, and he’s already sleeping through the night (just nursing every couple of hours). I know that might change, but I’m counting my blessings right now. I can’t wait to see him round out and wake up a little more… I just am dying to see who he is. Vera goes up to him multiple times a day exclaiming "Ooooh! Little buddy!! My little brudda!" and kissing him firmly on the head a few times. So much fun, this having kids thing…
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I’m heavily disillusioned and jaded about voting.
I often feel like I’m putting a band-aid on a gaping wound, just so that people won’t think I’m a hypocrite. — I feel exactly the same way.
Yum! fresh eggs and tomatoes!
I love that Vera is showing love and affection to her “brudda” soooo cute! I love your beebs m’dear, just love them!
Also, super duper whack that the birth certificate folks treated you so poorly. From what you describe it sounds like they were overly rude to you based on their own shitty assumptions. Yuck.
I know, right? It’s a tough issue, because I don’t want to slack and just point the finger, but at the same time I just give them my ballot and roll my eyes on the way out… ah well. At least I have my garden! 🙂
That stinks about the county clerk’s office. We had no problem at all when we went in to do Henry’s birth certificate. However, I do find it ridiculous that you have to jump through the hoops to do what someone just does seamlessly in the hospital (both parents being there with the baby, etc).
I’m starting to think of voting as an illusion.
Yeah, I am hoping it wasn’t anything and we were just being paranoid. It didn’t help that Jeff had heard there were people there unfriendly to homebirth. I’m deciding to give them the benefit of the doubt! 🙂
Hey, at least you went and voted! Jake and I neglected to do that. We had a couple proposals on our ballot for the library and EMS but other than that I wasn’t concerned about the primary voting. I’m not affiliated with either party, so I’m not even sure I could have filled out that portion of the ballot.
The clerk’s office makes me ‘hmmm’. What if you weren’t planning a homebirth, but (as it sometimes does) the baby just came too quickly? Would they have snickered and given you a hard time then? Probably not, because an unplanned homebirth is transferred to hospital afterwards and they would have taken care of the whole birth certificate thing.
I find it odd that they wouldn’t let you do the SS# thing at the same time, we definitely did just last spring! Still, different township, different county, different year. Maybe there are different rules now.
Vera is such a doll. What a sweetheart, giving her baby brudder kisses!
Yeah, I guess it just reinforces the idea that we never have all the information. It’s a good lesson for me- I really didn’t like being looked at like that, and worst case scenario they were sending us through extra hoops just because… but I’m informed and made the best choice, and they just don’t know that. So I’m just going to strive to remember that when I encounter people who are making different choices than I am (especially when it comes to parenting). Isn’t it funny that actually being a parent can teach you that you don’t necessarily know anything about parenting? Ha.
I’m disillusioned with voting, but it’s even worse if we just leave it to the idiots to vote on things. Whenever I can, I vote for third party candidates, just to try and get the attention of the big parties.
I LOVE that picture of Vera in the gateway, with the plants all lush and green behind her. There are so many parents that “protect” their children from dirt and life, that it’s just refreshing to see kids out where they belong. And then to have such a wonderful reaction from her about Asa! You are a lucky mom!
Good point. I think that might be a good route to take- just vote for third party candidates to try to change the system…
I am a lucky mom! And yes, Vera’s been rolling around in it all since she was just a bean, and she’s hardly been sick in her life. It really does feel like it’s where she belongs, I like that you used that word.
Sorry you got such a negative attitude from the town hall people. That’s ridiculous. Our town was a little confused with the information and forms, and we did have to go down there to pick everything up. But they were all so sweet and congratulated us again and again. I doubt they get to do that sort of paperwork very often so I think they thought it was kind of exciting. 😛
Aw that’s so cool that they treated it like a special thing. I wish! The one woman who was dealing with us didn’t even look at the baby. It was just a little weird. I’m glad you were treated well- it’ll be good to have people on your side, I feel like this stuff is starting to come more to the surface and may develop even deeper controversy in the near future.
Love Vera’s shoes! So cute:)
I always really enjoy your posts, so full of lovely vibrant photos of babies, chickens, gardens etc.
Asa is adorable:)
I feel similarly about voting,(though it’s a different country, different system)like the whole thing is so messed up/corrupt that voting really means nothing…but I still do it, for whatever reason.
Do you have to get a SS# at birth in the US? Here, the government really pushes us to get a Social Insurance number,(I’m assuming a SIN is pretty much the same as a SS#) by offering college funds and other monetary incentives, but it’s not required. We didn’t get one for E, I want it to be up to her when she’s older. I didn’t get mine until I was 19.
Sounds like the same thing. Yeah, we can opt out, but I guess we thought it’d be easier to just get him the number because they ask for it everywhere and you have to pay into it no matter what.
🙂
It must be a bit different, because I don’t think E would need to use it until she gets an official job(like, besides babysitting or whatever) that requires her to file her income tax. We don’t have to pay anything for Social Insurance, I mean, besides income tax…but I don’t actually make enough to have to pay income tax.
The town hall people sound really disrespectful. Is there anyway you could complain or at least give some feedback to someone that they weren’t very helpful or professional?
I’m glad you voted. I think it’s really easy to get disillusioned by the whole process but I think it’s really important to do it anyway out of respect for the people living in dictatorships who are literally dying for the right to vote.
Haha, just to illustrate how much of a cynic I am… I just thought about how incredibly likely it is that our country (at least mine) had some kind of active hand in putting whatever corrupt dictator in place… or at least helps ensure that he maintains power to keep our access to their local resources, etc. Gah! My brain!
Not cynical, just realistic. My country may not have been active in doing it but you can bet they’d have been standing alongside yours too!
Not cynical, just realistic. My country may not have been active in doing it but you can bet they’d have been standing alongside yours too!
I’ve found that not considering “the alternative” helps with not feeling like I’m spending too much money on something. For example: Your chicken feed is organic, non-GMO, (and has whatever other specifications). The GMO/non-organic stuff is simply, to you, not chicken feed. Puppy food may be less expensive, but you don’t feed it to your human child. Thusly, you find the product that fits your specifications and THEN start price-comparing it with products that also meet your specifications. Short version: Just because it says chicken feed doesn’t mean it is, and if it’s not really chicken feed then it doesn’t matter how much it costs compared to real chicken feed (as defined by you).
This mentality has helped me a LOT when changing my shopping habits to avoid sugars and unnecessary additives. Sour cream with maltodextrin and food starch added is simply not sour cream. Anything with HFCS is simply not an edible food item–it might as well be glass shards or sawdust in pretty packaging. So it doesn’t matter if the store brand sour cream is 1/3 the price, it doesn’t exist as “sour cream” in my world. And so on.
I’m very glad my colour suggestions could help inspire you. 🙂 Baby in a basket is just toooooo cute!
Also, my boyfriend has peeked over my shoulder a few times when I was giggling over something in your posts, and I read him snippets sometimes. He loves your icon, giggles over it every time, and can’t wait to meet you whenever we manage to get to Michigan to visit. So he says congrats on the baby and he’s glad things are going well for you!
You’re so right. I do that with lots of our own food- I should definitely think that way when it comes to the animals I feed, etc. Thanks so much for that insight! That’s just how much chicken feed costs… 🙂
Hi boyfriend, and thank you for the well wishes! I’d love to see you guys when you come to town- he sounds like a really good guy from everything you write about him. 🙂