This week is draaaaaging. Thankful for Hallie's hump-busting list making link up to break up the monotony of another full day at Camp AC.
1. This Meyers Briggs assessment, dug up by the Modern Mrs. Darcy. I'm an INTJ (what the what? I'm not sure I completely concur...), what are you?
2. Mary was right, Comandini is the bomb. You're one lucky new mom or blushing bride-to-be if you are a friend of mine, because I am loaded down with religious goodies galore. For like, the next decade.
3.
Anyway, I figured now that I'm reverting back to full-on American troll it doesn't really matter what I wear in pubic anymore, so long as mah feet don't hurt. I draw the line at running shoes unless I'm running into the gym though. And it's a thick black line.
4. This piece by NCR's John Allen is fascinating. And I think, fairly accurate. I'm always so surprised when I read his stuff because it's so good and so balanced, and yet...he works at the National Catholic Distorter. Go figure.
5. Simcha's piece yesterday was kind of slap-yourself-obvious, but in a helpful way, because why on earth haven't I put some of those brilliant observations and self insights into practice?
I definitely have a handful of mom blogs I click over to occasionally but cannot subscribe to because, just as she described, they make me want to punch somebody after reading. I'm glad your house looks that way, truly I am. And I love your DIY chevron pillows and that hand-crafted size 0 maxi skirt you're sporting in your third trimester. Now excuse me while I go berate myself in front of my empty, disorganized closet before wallowing in a bag of salted peanuts.
Furthermore, I had another 'aha' moment while reading about wanting to punch people while reading things: this is how I feel about reading natural birth stories. My husband is probably going to be immensely relieved to discover that I have at last hit upon the answer to 'why can't I have a baby that way like everyone else on Youtube/Facebook/this article/this friend?'
Because you're not them, honey.
That answer, while true, has never ever been sufficient. But yesterday I realized that what makes me feel so awful about it is the fact that I continue to read things that make me feel awful about it.
Oh, okay.
Well then. If I could just turn my attention from all the very helpful and (I'm sure) uplifting to somebody "I labored in my own bedroom using nothing but lavender essential oil on my pulse points and breathed the baby down into my husband's loving hands in the wading pool in our dimly-lit living room to the soothing tones of Enya with nary a tear to tell about it" tales, I'll be a much easier preggo to live with.
Because I need drugs to push my huge babies out, they're always sunnyside up until we're well into stage 2, and while I am very much aware of the redemptive power of suffering and the beauty of the Cross, begging my doctor to kill me in the delivery room doesn't seem like the height of Christian perfection.
Anyway, got favorites of your own? And do tell on the personality evals, I love to know other people's temperaments and MB types. Battle scar of a psychology major, I guess.
I agree about the Birth Stories! I was profoundly disappointed when I didn't get the natural birth I wanted. I know it is not nice but I get bitter reading about other peoples perfect home births. Ha. I will have to pray about that one a little more.
ReplyDeleteGreat list, in particular #4 ~ that exactly: I enjoy his writing but can't help feeling a bit uncertain given the paper.
ReplyDeleteThere was a period of time when I tested as an ISFJ, but I was always weak on the S and now always come out as INFJ. Which sounds about right for a melancholic with a healthy streak of choleric running through her. (I really, really love the four temperaments--moreso than MB types--and keep meaning to someday sit down and hammer out which types pair with which temperaments, although that might be a useless and futile exercise in frustration!)
ReplyDeleteAre you a choleric? That's what most INTJs I've known have been. :)
guilty as charged. 90/10 choleric melancholic. Basically a ruthless tyrant. :)
DeleteIn college, I tested as an ENTJ, the tyrant that's even louder, think Napoleon and General Patton. These days, I've softened to an ENTP...at least that's what the test tells me, but allegedly, John Stuart Mill, Machiavelli and Barack Obama are also ENTPs so I'm not sure that's an improvement.
DeleteI remember finding out my choleric/melancholic temperament. I so wanted to make myself a sanguine phlegmatic...how very choleric/melancholic of me!
DeleteGod gave me a husband that cannot handle me to try natural childbirth. He always chooses eating pizza over rubbing my back with a tennis ball or laughs at me when I am trying to cope with contractions by reciting the colors of the rainbow. I nearly resorted to violence. True story. So, naturally, it's always his fault. And, I will check out that MG test but in past years I scored INFJ but cannot live up to it because Mother Teresa was also that personality type. Dwight Eisenhower is also an INTJ. And I couldn't read the "Temperament that God Gave You" book because it made me feel like a failure. I was every single type! Ha! Does that make sense? I nearly threw the book at the wall but had to return it to the library in decent condition. I am rambling about all the stuff I cannot do... eek... Love you girl and headed for those links when the kiddies aren't looking....
ReplyDeleteYou should read Personality Plus and do her test - you won't be all 4!! It's a great read, very anecdotal, and WAY less intense than The Temperament God Gave You!
DeleteOh, yeah, and those flip flops will last you forever. I have two pairs and one is in fantastic condition and purchased in 2002 when I was a camp counselor!
ReplyDeleteI came up ESFJ, but barely on the "s" and the "e". When I've had it "professionally" done, I'm usually ENFJ. I was a psych major, too, so I love that stuff. I echo the comment above about the 4 temperaments - my favorite! I can't get enough of Personality Plus - chloleric/melancholic here! And here's my two cents on the childbirth - first, every person is different, so you do what you have to do to get that baby out. Second, drugs were invented for a reason, so use them if you need them. Third, I had one with an epidural, one without an epidural by accident, and the last two without an epidural by choice, because I have SUPER easy labors, generally, and I knew I could do it. My first, however, was SOOOOOOO long and he was sunny side up until he started down the birth canal. Back labor is THE.WORST.EVER and I'm here to tell you if I ever had a single, tiny twinge of it again, I would be all over the epidural ASAP. Thankfully, my other three were not, and came out super quick, so I was able to do it naturally.
ReplyDeleteESFP. Hmmm.
ReplyDelete"Breathed the baby down into my husband's loving arms" - best line ever. All I can say is, I'd rather be sitting peacefully in my labor room with a nice epidural, watching tv with my hubs, than holding back curses while trying to envision myself on a beach.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was ENFP when I took the test in college, but I'm curious to see if I'd have the same outcome now.
Hysterical! I have the same reaction to homebirth stories or any discussion of choosing a doula. I just comfort myself knowing that they will never know the profound joy of my epidural during 2 1/2 hours of pushing my 10 pound sunny-side up son whose head circumference rivaled Megamind!
ReplyDeleteI was ENTP in college and the same when I just took the Myers-Briggs with a group from my husband's school last fall. My hubby of 22 years was told by the tester, "I guess you don't get along with your wife very well!" Bwahahaha!
Epidurals are my #1-4 Favorites with #5 being the deep, satisfying sleep I get once I have one.
ReplyDeleteHahaha amen!
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ReplyDeleteI am an INFJ . . . I have not taken that test,so cannot compare, but I am totally an INFJ.
ReplyDeleteBirth stories . . . totally agree. I have had three c-sections and feel like I cannot relate. Which also plays in to what Simcha wrote . . . I feel totally inadequate when I read home birth, easy birth storis. Those are NOT my reality, and as hard as I try to not blame myself, I read stories about women who have babies so easily and they are walking around 20 min later, and I think "What is wrong with me."
And, if you are ever in the DC area, you can visit my house and see all the non-matching, old furniture, kids in dirty clothes and food still on the tablefrom breakfast when it is 10 min before lunch time . . . life is messy here!
SpinningBabies.com Seriously. Worked for me. Baby #1: sunny side up the whole way out (3 hours worth of stage 2). Baby #3: Sunny side up the day before induction (thank you for telling me Ms. U/S Tech). Did some of the techniques (mostly rocking on an exercise ball + inversions) on that site and voila: Came out the "right" way after only three pushes.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny, I also took a personality test that pegged me as INTJ, but after reading some descriptions, I think INTP sounds more right. Check out this summary -- from what I've seen from your blog, you sound like an INTP too. :)
ReplyDeleteI have totally had meyers-briggs on the brain lately. I'm INTJ and it totally weirds me out to read the paragraph assessment on wikipedia and realize that wikipedia totally knows everything about me.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Simcha/Hallie/Charlotte thing is something I think about all the time. I honestly suffer reading all the Catholic mom doomsday blogs. I want to help them. I want to fix them. I want to grab them by the shoulders and shake them and say "HOW CAN YOU LIVE LIKE THIS?" Because I couldn't. I just couldn't. I need order and happiness around me. I demand it from myself and my family and it's what we have. And I really like it.
It never occurred to me that people might really, really hate reading about a happy family. I haven't had any haters comment on that yet. My taste in movies yes, but not my lack of drama. Please don't punch me.
And I've never had an epidural because the very idea of them horrifies me. Isn't it funny how different people are? I never take serious pain meds (even after surgery) because I cannot stand the fuzzy muddled feeling I get from them. I would much prefer the pain.
Sometimes I try to crop out the toys all over the floor in our house but then I kind of figure... Would anyone even believe it if there WEREN'T toys all over the floor? I do sometimes like reading those beautiful blogs because it's just not the way my mind works - I don't have that need to create something beautiful, mostly I want to create something delicious and look at pictures of beautiful things other people have created!
ReplyDeleteAlso, one reason I only let the babies eat solid food at dinner is because I don't get around to cleaning off their high chair trays until... right before dinner the next day? So yeah, I don't take pictures of that :P
ISFJ. All of them were moderate, but still pretty descriptive of me. I've almost worn out my second pair of Mush sandals - each pair takes about 6-7 years, and I'm not talking about just wearing them on occasion. I love them.
ReplyDeleteGah birth stories get me too! All my kids started out as homebirths and two ended up at a hospital with an emergency doctor (Although I must admit the other one was pretty much the birth you described). I had to stop reading birth stories just to get over it myself. My kids are always posterior and close to 10 lbs, too!
ReplyDeleteWhy do moms feel the need to tear down other moms for the way they parent/ choose to give birth? Cutting at other moms who are also just trying to get themselves and their kiddos to heaven the way they feel best for their families hardy seems like something that will
ReplyDeleteHelp build the church or a greater culture of life. To cut in the name of humor appears that much more snide. With such wonderful writing skills, it seems a shame to use them for devisive means between mothers.
Ahh, the few, the brave, the anonymous...always such a treat.
Deletep.s. maybe read today's post.
DeleteNew commenter, long time reader :)
ReplyDeleteI loooovveee this. I struggle so much with wow I'm so bad at being a mama, wife, size not double digits, bad at crafting, haven't cooked in months type a gal that you are preaching to the choir! So pass the peanuts! My husband finally said to me one day, if you can't find one good thing in their life why do you obsessively read their blogs...ok, smarty hubby.. I did it because for me, it was way easier to feel like I can't do it because they are soooo good at it/obviously fake/overly organized have to have help with kiddos-but now that I know that there are just days to stay away and other where I take something to heart away from it, it's much better for me. Silly husband, he's usually right..
I am an ENFP and a sanguine-choleric. I make decisions in an instant based soley on intuition. The best option, no but it works for me I guess.. Ha!
I'm also a natural birth mama, soothing enya and oils and breathing that babe down! BUT the whole reason I am studying to be a doula is because we are all different and I want every woman to have the birth SHE wants, not that society wants, because birth is a beautiful, life making and changing process and you should be celebrated for being part of it no matter how you do it! Plus you are a rockstar for getting those big babies out!!
I bought myself those exact pair of sandals for this summer! They are perfect for pregnant feet :)
ReplyDeleteI am an ISFJ. :) And while I just recently had my first ever labor experience, you'd better believe I will forever be thankful for the technology and medicine that blessed us with epidurals...and have absolutely no desire to go through childbirth without one everrrr.
ReplyDelete