Sweet friends, it’s 05.10…so, it’s time for another installment of 10 on the 10th. Today we’re talking about motherhood. Fitting, don’t you think, seeing as this is Mother’s Day. So glad you stopped by!
This is the 4th edition of 10 on the 10th I have hosted. In February, we shared 10 lovable things our significant other. You can learn more about my PC in that post, here. Then in March, we responded to 10 questions all about spring. Find my answers, here. I am alternating the themes between Q&As one month, and a set theme the next. Last month we posted 10 favorite quotes, Bible verses or songs.
Following that pattern, June’s 10 on the 10th post will be the 10 best things about summer. Hope you will start pondering your list now in order to join me.
Now with all of that paperwork out of the way…let’s get to the theme of today’s post: 10 Q&As about motherhood.
10 Q&As About Motherhood
When I came up with this theme, I knew I wanted to include questions for fur baby mothers as well as human baby mothers. Caring for a pet can involve almost as much time, energy and devotion as caring for a child. Maybe without the same sense of responsibility but it is still a big job. And one that is done from the heart!
FIRST 5 QS:
- Did you have pets or siblings as a child? Do you have pets or children at home now? If so, tell us more about them.
- My dad was a cancer research scientist, working at St. Jude when he retired. When we lived in Boston, Dad brought home 2 lab mice for pets. My mom was less than impressed knowing how prolific mice can be. But he explained they were both males and so we didn’t have to worry about that. Then one mouse put on a ‘whole lot of weight’ in his stomach. And a few weeks later, we had babies. Ten of them. First recorded case of a male specie getting pregnant and having babies.
- I have 2 siblings. My sister Valerie who lives in Houston and my brother Kevin who lives in Lexington. I love them both very much.
- PC and I have 2 fur babies now. Purrsnickitty, a tortoiseshell and Purrsimmony, a calico.
- When did you first own a pet that you were pretty much responsible for? What was the pet and how did you come to own it? What age were you when you became a mommy for the first time? How many pets and children have you had as an adult?
- Chim-chim and Estrella were 2 stray kitties given to me by family in the interior when we lived in Panama. They were my first real pets.
- After several years of trying and a round of fertility drugs, we bought Polo, a Siberian husky. Because I was sure we weren’t going to get pregnant. And then I did!! At 23 with my daughter Brennyn Alexis. We bought a second Siberian husky about a year later. And shortly afterward I was pregnant again, at age 25 with Lauren Allegra. Who knew that Siberian huskies have that kind of power!!
- What is your favorite type of pet? Have your pets been rescued? Found? Purchased? Purebred or Heinz 57? Are your children biological or adopted?
- Although I have kitties right now, I am more of a pup kinda gal. Purrsimmony was a ‘found’ kitty. And Purrsnickitty was an adopted kitty. My huskies were purchased; purebred AKC registered from breeders in Panama. But every other pet has been found, rescued, or adopted.
- Probably my dearest pups were Cici, Cheyenne, and Rusty the Pig Dog. Paid $35 for Cici…best money I’ve ever spent! Cheyenne was in a litter of pups our neighbor’s dog had. Rusty was adopted through animal rescue.
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- My girlsies are biological. Bren looks like a clone of her father. Lauren looks a bit more like me.
- If you have children, did you deliver them naturally or with pain meds or by C-section? Have you ever helped a pet have babies? If you adopted a baby, how old was it when you brought it home?
- I had natural delivery without anesthesia – nothing at all – with both girls. They were born in military hospitals and at the time, it was their policy to only provide natural childbirth.
- I have helped a number of kitties and my Siberian husky Princess have babies. And at one time, I found 2 litters of newborn kittens, 10 babies in total.
- Purrsimmony was about a week old when we got her from a teacher friend. Purrsnickitty was about 5 weeks old when we adopted her.
- Tell us about pets you have had as babies. Have you raised a litter from birth? Have you had to bottle feed an animal? Did you breast feed or bottle feed or pump for your human babies?
- In Panama, before I had Brennyn, I found 2 litters of newborn kittens, 10 babies in total, on the same day. One litter was mewing from an abandoned building where they were laying in a puddle of water. The other litter was brought to me by a little neighbor boy who knew – somehow – that I loved animals. Had to bottle feed both litters until they were able to eat on their own. I think I lost one who had ingested too much water into its lungs. But found homes for the other 9.
- The girls’ father would not let me breast feed my daughters so I bottle fed them. It was a shame because I had milk galore for weeks with both babies. They were both hearty eaters, too. And I introduced them to cereal then real food long before it was ‘acceptable’ to do so. Guess what? They survived…even thrived!!
Second 5 Qs:
- Have you potty trained animals or babies? If both, which was harder? Did you use diapers with your pets? Cloth diapers or disposable diapers with your babies?
- I have potty trained more than my fair share of animals. And it would be just fine if I never have to do that again. Ha!! Although, all of my pets learned to ‘go’ outside or in the litter box pretty quickly. Hallelujah.
- I used cloth diapers for a short time with Brennyn. But we didn’t have a washing machine. And I went to work full time when she was just 4 weeks old. So, the cloth diapers had to soak…yuck…for a week until I could wash them all on Sunday at the laundromat. No bueno. We soon switched to disposable diapers. And went straight into disposables with Lauren, 2 years later.
- Taken pet training classes with your fur babies or prenatal and parenting classes for your human babies? Homeschool or public school or private school for your children?
- When Daniel and I bought Polo, our first husky, we decided to ‘show’ him at pet shows in Panama. So, Daniel did take a few classes to learn how to show our pup correctly. And Polo won – best in class!!
- I took Lamaze classes with my mom before Brennyn was born. And just used the same technique with Lauren. I do believe Lamaze works but wouldn’t have minded a little local anesthesia in time for the episiotomy. Just sayin’.
- How did you determine names for your pets? What is the significance of your children’s names? If you could pick another name for yourself, would you? What would it be?
- Polo was named for Ralph Lauren Polo clothing. Daniel was wearing polo shirts with great abandon at the time!! Princess was just that…our little princess. We wanted a female husky and she was going to be our baby girl, our princess.
- Cici’s name was Chocolate Chip but that was a mouthful to say in a hurry, when you were trying to get her to get off the dining room table!! We shortened it to Cici and Cease. Cheyenne was very shy as a baby. We watched her being born and loved her from Day One. But she was always a little shy toward everyone but us. Rusty came named when PC adopted him. But we called him Piggy because he grunted like a piglet.
- Purrsimmony was named for my teacher friend Brenda Simmons who found her in the rain when she was about 3 days old. Purrsnickitty just sounded good with Purrsimmony! And Snick is a crazy kitty.
- Daniel and I had a terrible time agreeing on a name for our first baby. He did not like any name I suggested. Truly. One day, an old movie came on TV in Panama starring Walter Brennan. I mentioned the name Brennan and Daniel agreed. We would use Brennan if the baby was a girl or a boy. My mom suggested the Y in Brennyn for our Irish ancestry. At the time, in the mid ’80s, Alexis was a popular gender neutral name. So we added that for the middle name.
- Lauren was named after…wait for it…Ralph Lauren!! At the time I was wearing Lauren perfume. I loved the script font spelling out the name Lauren on the bottle. And – wonders never cease – Daniel agreed to it. Her middle name is Allegra. Daniel wanted to spell it Alegre, the Spanish spelling. But I argued (and hoped) that we would be living in the States and no one would pronounce Alegre right. Somehow he was persuaded.
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- Ever traveled with your pets? If so, how and when? If you have children, did you travel with them as babies? Did you use daycare for your pets or children? Play dates? Doggie parks? Do you take your pets to stores and restaurants with you? Your children?? Oh, have I traveled with pets, pets and kids, and kids. All variations. Wish I had pictures!!
- Flew from South Carolina to Panama with the huskies and Brennyn when she was 1 year old.
- Drove from Tennessee to Texas with 3 huskies in a little trailer behind our car.
- A few years later flew back from Panama to South Carolina with both girls and Princess (Polo had died).
- Bought a van with the specific purpose of driving with our crazy dog Cici to visit our parents in Ohio and Tennessee.
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- Have driven our current kitties to Albuquerque more than once.
- Barely survived a 21 hour ordeal flying from Panama home to Tennessee with both girls when they were 1 and 3 on a military airplane without seats, temperature control or bathrooms. Had an unexpected 8 hour layover in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. Shoot me!
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- My baby girls did go to daycare but not for long, any of the times that I registered them for it. The last attempt was when Brennyn was 4 and Lauren was 2. They had to be in separate classrooms. Lauren cried all day everyday. When they would let the kids go outside there was a chain link fence keeping one class separated from the other. My babies sat at the fence and held hands between the links.
- And lots of other flights, road trips, too.
- Both of my daughters are introverts and kind of shy like I am. “Play dates” weren’t a thing back then but we wouldn’t have done them anyway. They did play with neighbor children, mostly at our house. And when they were in elementary school we bought a pool. That way I kept my girls under my watchful eye. And could supervise who they were playing with, too.
- What is one lesson you have learned or one take away from being a pet owner and/or parent?
- Take time to play. I tend to regard my pets as little jobs, responsibilities. And they are a lot of work. But the one thing they really want is just a little attention and love. A clean litter box, fresh water, and food. An occasional bath. And in the case of the pups I’ve had, several daily walks, rawhide chews, and toys.
- Kind of the same things with my babies. Take time to play. I was always caught up with the wrong things. Making sure their hair was done, their socks matched. Their hair bow was the right shade to go with their outfit. That everything was in its place in our home. I wish I had played more. Been more carefree…of course, that’s hard when you are living pay check to pay check and working full time with gigs on the side.
- I am much better at playing and being fun with my grandbabies. Wish I had been able to be that way with my girls. Didn’t get on meds for OCD until they were preteens. So sad that during their younger years, I was an extremely wound tight, anxiety-ridden perfectionist.
Your Turn
Would love to know how you would respond to these questions. Please consider linking up your 10 on the 10th post with us or copying the questions and answering them in a comment below.
Hope each of you enjoyed a pleasant Mother’s Day. It is hard when you can’t be with the babies who made you a mom in the first place. But hopeful there was a little celebration in your Sunday.
Hugs and kisses,
Laura Bambrick
I learned so much about you and your life from this post! If I had known all I needed to do was get a husky to get pregnant I could have save a lot of money a few years back! Haha! I’m so glad there were no issues naming either of my girls! My husband and I were in complete agreement right away. In fact we had Claire’s name picked out before I was even pregnant! I think the only discussion we had was about spelling with both, especially Aveline because there are many variations.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
I love your beautiful daughters’ names. They are poetic and lyrical. After all these years, I love Brennyn and Lauren’s names, too. Music to my ears.
Deb
Siberian huskies should come with some kind of public service warning 😉 What a coincidence! Very impressed that you had no anaesthesia at all, I bet there’s not many that can claim that achievement! I had an emergency C section with Rachel who was breech with her legs straight up and was never going to arrive naturally and with Jon, I had a very posh obstetrician who looked at my previous notes and then said in a voice just like the Queen’s ‘oh my dear, what an awful time you had, 14 hours in labour and then a section? I don’t think we want to go through that again do we?’ Well I don’t know about her, but I certainly didn’t! So I was ‘too posh to push’ 2nd time around and was given the date for the c section at about week 12.
What a lovely family you have!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you for the sweet words. I am sorry you worked so very hard in labour only to have to have a C-section in the end. But it must have been kind of nice to know exactly when Jon would arrive. Everyone I know has had breech babies delivered by C-section. My granddaughter twirled so much that the cord was wrapped around her neck 7 times. They discovered it in a last ultrasound and called for a C-section.
Joanne
I bet you were a fabulous mom; you have to give yourself credit where credit is due. I don’t remember my mom playing with us much either but I think that’s just how motherhood was… I also don’t remember playdates because yeah we played with all the neighborhood kids and my mom told me that breast feeding never even entered her mind since all the doctors and people she knew said formula was just as good. It’s amazing to me how much the role of motherhood (and parenting) has changed. I often try to raise my boys more like I was raised than how many of my contemporaries are raising their kids because I don’t think all our changes have been for the better either. My husband and I get a real kick of watching our parents as grandparents and we both have noticed they’re more fun and easy going and playful but I think that’s the fun of being a grandparent as opposed to a parent!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Oh, being a grandparent is a delight. I am much more easy going as Mimi and Gabba than I was as Mama!! I agree that some of the changes we have moved toward in parenting are not necessarily positive. I remember my sweet sister followed a parenting program that had her talking to my nephew about every little thing he did. Full blown lectures and conversations for the smallest infractions. That didn’t last long. Ain’t nobody got time to lecture a toddler for 15 minutes about burping at the table!!
Dara
I learned a lot about you that I didn’t know from this post. Panama? Wow!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Yeah, Panama!! It was beautiful but very trying living there for 6 years.
Daenel T.
Sooooo… Siberian Huskies have the magic touch? LOL.
The picture of your daughters meeting for the first time – heart eyes – is adorable. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of them as little people. They were and are beautiful.
I started breastfeeding my oldest but my mom kept giving her a bottle and that ended that. With the twins, I breastfed for about 5 weeks, then I fell asleep in the middle of a feeding and a baby was buried under a breast, so The Hubs and I each took a baby and started bottle feeding.
My friend used to say having a dog is like having a toddler forever. So very true. Cats don’t need you until they do. LOL
Leslie Roberts Clingan
So true about dogs and cats. One of our kitties, though, is very talkative. I tend to feed her when she cries but sometimes I think she is just saying hi.
Thank you for the sweet words about my babies – human. Although my marriage to their father was pretty much disastrous, I would never undo it because I was
blessed with the best daughters.