Month: May 2010 | Melanie Bates

I don’t know if I’m prepared for motherhood. In fact, I think it’s safe to say I’m fairly freaked out. It’s been thirteen years since I’ve had a wee one romping around the house and let me tell you, it’s a whole new world in the realm of puppy parenting.

My first indication of unpreparedness came when I visited PetSmart for the first time in a decade. I walked into the fluorescent lit store, the white tiles stained yellow from those pups that came before me, and went in search of dog food. It was insane – three thousand square feet of choice. Never before had I seen so many varieties, sizes, and flavors of pup food: organic, all natural, made with real chicken, real beef, real liver, hormone-free, gluten-free. I was overwhelmed. I don’t have this many options when I go to my local grocer looking for a frozen pizza or a bag of lettuce. What would I buy? Things had definitely changed from the days when I went in to a pet store and had the one choice of Purina Puppy Chow. Four hundred dollars later I left the store with “all-natural” kibble, organic pet treats, gluten free chews, and toys made out of “safe plastic”, whatever that is. I had no idea what I was doing or what I was buying. Read more

Dedicated to Jen Lyman – May you find your Selves and gather them together in love and safety and may you wholly heal, both inside and out.

I was told recently that part of me is missing. I wondered, what exactly does that mean? I have all of my limbs, my digits, my hair, though I am short a few internal organs. So hey, perhaps I am a bit disjointed. Aren’t we all? Apparently I misunderstood. I was told instead to imagine that we each have a number of different selves within us determined by how long we’ve lived and depending on our life experiences. Say, for me, I have five selves. (God forbid I’ve left any out.) For example, I have myself as a child, a teenager, a married self, a divorced self, and my current self. Well, unbeknownst to me, my inner child is on the lamb. Read more