BACK TO COOL

     Something is wrong. I’ve been used to going for a late-night dip in
the pool just to cool off. But tonight it’s just too chilly to entertain
the thought. And I noticed the grass isn't growing so fast. It must be
back to COOL.

     Back to SCHOOL (at home or away) always accompanies back to COOL.
Change is in the air. The summer routine is suddenly abandoned. I’m never
quite ready for that. Heck, I was just getting used to letting my grass
grow long and allowing the world to spin all on its own. Now the little
voice within me says, “Enough!”  But it’s like pulling yourself out of a
soft recliner after a watching a good movie. Back to COOL.

I learned a few things this summer: 

1) The road to a tidy garden in my backyard is sure paved with amazingly
good intentions.

2) It’s almost impossible to stay awake during all of The Blair Witch
Project movie.

3) Never, ever take your teenagers to Washington D.C. for your vacation.
(Consider never taking them anywhere, even if they say they want to go
with you)

4) If you want to start a very lively discussion on a Web bulletin board,
just bring up the topic of home-schooling.

5) As much as I love summer I always get a tingling sensation in my
stomach when I think about Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

6) I’ll always confuse Memorial Day and Labor Day. One starts summer, the
other ends it--that’s all I know for sure.

7) The 4th of July parade in a small town always ends with fire engines
and their sirens.

8) I’ll never be able to convince the electric power company that I should
get a discount instead of an increase in my rates because I don’t use air
conditioning.

9) Telephone solicitors never take a break. (The next time one calls you,
tell them you are very busy but you really want to know the details about
what they are offering. Ask them for their home phone number so you can
call them back <wait for confused reaction>!!)

10) Never, ever take teenagers to Washington D.C. (Did I mention that
already?) Keep reminding yourself they will recover one day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Special Delivery: Mother-Daughter Letters From Afar
http://www.compleatmother.com/special_delivery/main.htm 

I promise that you will be captivated by the mother/daughter relationship
as it unfolds in real letters centering on the daughter's decision to have
a home birth in New Zealand.

I read this book over a couple of afternoons this summer and I know you
will be as captivated as I was. I'm always anxious about what my children
will do when they leave our home and start their own lives. This book
gives me a clue--if we've done our job correctly. This is a book you will
certainly pass on to your mother or your own daughter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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We’ve got some interesting articles and stuff on the Web. Below is a
sampling (there’s always more....)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turn It Off
http://www.compleatmother.com/tvoff.htm
by Lisa Reagan
But how can I live without The Simpsons?


If Men Could Menstruate
http://www.mum.org/ifmencou.htm
by Gloria Steinem
If you haven't seen this before you are in for a treat! 

Changed to the Core
http://www.compleatmother.com/core.htm
by Kathleen Harrah Sturm
How one mother's journey through a C-section led to her enlightenment.
(Ed. note: highly recommended)

Is "I Love Lucy" Educational?
http://www.compleatmother.com/lucy.htm
By Jan Hunt
"Clearly, Shakespeare's plays were written with the intention of
entertaining a mass audience, just as many TV sitcoms and dramas are
written now."


Why Doesn't My Mother Understand Me?
by Amy Rawson
http://www.compleatmother.com/understand.htm
"When I began speaking to my mother again after 13 years, she was appalled
at my parenting."

A Heart From The Heart
http://www.compleatmother.com/mothertomother.htm
by Catherine Young
Not quite an Editorial, but, well, you decide. The story of a heart
transplant on an infant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GREAT GIFT IDEA!

Special Books from Rodale Press
http://www.compleatmother.com/books_rodale2.htm
Please take a look at these books (shown on our site). They come with a
21-Day Money Back guarantee and with a free gift just for examining them.
I've handpicked some books which I think YOU will enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hall of Shame
Some new entries here.
http://www.compleatmother.com/hallofshame.htm

Jock Doubleday's response to Susan Gerhard's article in Salon about her
"botched homebirth."
http://www.compleatmother.com/jock2.htm

Birth Change
http://www.compleatmother.com/birth_change.htm
Nice birth story with pictures.

Actual Unedited Doctors' Notes on Charts!
http://www.compleatmother.com/eternally_pregnant.htm
On the 2nd day the knee was better and on the 3rd day it disappeared
completely.

You know you were a little girl of the 70's if:  
http://www.compleatmother.com/gloria.htm
1. You wore that rainbow shirt that was half-sleeves and the rainbow went
up one sleeve, across
your chest and down the other.
(combined with: You know you were pregnant in the 70's if:)
(Ed. note: a must see if you are in this age group)

HEP V and My Vaccine Damaged Son
http://www.compleatmother.com/litters2.htm
I was required to have my children immunized against Hepatitis B.  The
literature stated that "no
known serious reactions have been associated with the Hepatitis  B
vaccine".   I made what I
thought was informed decision based on this information.

****************SPONSOR BREAK*************
Pookie Doos is a mom-owned business which has cloth diapers and
accessories, cotton menstrual pads, herbs, organic nursing bras, Mother's
Milk & Goat Milk Soaps and lots more! Natural Products from Pookie Doos ~
for Mom and Precious Baby too!
Visit our site for secure online ordering: 
http://www.pookiedoos.com/compleatmother.htm   
*************************************************

I Wish They Were All Like This
http://www.compleatmother.com/wish.htm
What your good nutritional habits mean to your newborn.

Nasty Nestea
http://www.compleatmother.com/offtheline.htm
Buy a cleaner bale from Catherine instead.

At the Pool
http://www.compleatmother.com/litters2.htm
One woman's persistence wins the day for breastfeeding rights at the
public pool.
by Liz Fry

Breastfeeding Reduces Obesity in Children
http://www.compleatmother.com/obesity.htm
Obesity is the most frequent nutritional disorder in children and is an
important risk factor for
cardiovascular disease in adulthood.

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discreetly nurse your baby. From bathing suits to business suits -- knits
to nightgowns, Mom's Tops has you covered!

MENTION "THE COMPLEAT MOTHER" AND GET 10% OFF YOUR ORDER!!

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********************************************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


May the wind be always at your back.

Greg Cryns
online editor: The Compleat Mother Magazine

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