I’ve subtitled this blog “Lamaze isn’t just for childbirth”. After getting to be a mom of sorts before I ever gave birth, and adding three more girls in just over 5 years, I have lots of experience in needing to breathe. (Whether I remember that in heat of the moment is debatable!)

When we got pregnant with our first together, I made Mike take a childbirth class with me. I remember very little except being adamant that I was not going to have a c-section, and that drugs were an acceptable alternative. And I remember them teaching us to breathe. That might be it. Well, except for the new dad who wasn’t sure where to put diaper rash ointment on his soon to be born baby girl (in or out?) and the family that thought “absolutely no car seats in the front seat” didn’t apply to them.

I never used Lamaze during the deliveries after an unplanned c-section and two planned.

But, I use it (or should) all the time during the rearing of these children. When the teenager returns inside at a restaurant 2 hours from home without locking the car door (the car that has a work laptop, two or more iPods, and the stuff we need for a weekend away) because the key fob didn’t work, you need to breathe. When the 7 tells her teacher that “Mommy can’t cook”, breathe. When the three year old wakes her 1 year old roommate, simply because she can, while you try to get a chore done or a nap yourself, breathe away. And when the 1 year old decide to surf using the footstool of the rocker, you need to breathe.

So – Lamaze may have worked to get through the pain of childbirth (or may not, I have no idea) – but it’s certainly come in handy when I remember to use it as my children age and go through all those stages.

Having said all that – my girls are great kids, and my plans are not to trash talk any of them, or my husband. I will poke fun at the situations in our lives that I find entertaining, I will try to record our little moments, and I will occasionally post my own lists. Don’t look to me as anything other than a recorder of our family life. (I promise you, my expertise lies in anything but parenting).