New Arrival

The newest addition to the family as finally arrived. Caden Bryce Williams was born on January 24, 2011 at 10:05 pm after 24 hours of labour. Mommy and baby are doing very well.

Life has obviously changed a lot since he has arrived. Sleeping more then an hour at a time is a thing of the past, for example. Also gone are luxuries like a quick trip to the store, or a long bath. Soon enough he will grow up though, and I will look back on these days fondly… maybe.

Rome Or Reme?

For those keeping track, the baby is now six days late. Both the baby and I are still doing fine, but I am getting a little anxious. I’m also starting to get a little bored since I don’t want to start any new projects just in case I’m, you know, interrupted by going into labour. In the past week, though, I’ve finished cross stitching two bibs, read all 800 pages of the entire Chronicles of Narnia, and watched both seasons of HBO’s series Rome.

Rome was pretty good, even though it was far from accurate. I really appreciated how they didn’t make the city itself the beautiful marble megalopolis that most of us picture when thinking of Rome. The city wasn’t clad in marble, as it were, until after the series took place. (Octavian used the captured Egyptian treasure to start the transformation.) The city was dirty, the people rude and rough, and life clearly hard for anyone not a patrician. The depiction of Egypt, at least in the first season, was a bit disappointing. I’m not sure where the idea for the ratty wigs and face paint came from. In the second season, Egypt was a little better. However, Alexandra was more a Greek city than an Egyptian one, but that’s me being nit-picky and not appreciating that Rome is about the drama and not about the “copyright-free history of Rome”, as Miss Q has reminded me.

I am very surprised by some of the changes made for the sake of drama, though. For example, in Rome, Caesar’s freedman, Posca (a fictional character), steals Marc Antony’s will from Egypt and takes it to Octavian Caesar in Rome. In actuality, Marc Antony had left his will with the Vestal Virgins, as was the custom. Octavian (or someone in his employ) broke into their home/temple and stoled the will. Much more interesting and dramatic in my opinion. What about Marc Anthony’s wife Fulvia, who is thought to have tried to start a civil war in his name? And as for Cleopatra and Marc Antony’s deaths, more than a little artistic license was taken there. Surprisingly, Cleopatra still used a snake.

I wonder, though, about how genuine it is to set a story in a well recorded historical time, and present it as a fictionalized re-telling of events, and then change so many things. Sure, it is TV and it is all about the drama and the ratings. But how many people are now going to think that Octavia was an adulteress, when in fact she was held to be a paragon of Roman virtue; or that Marc Antony had an affair with with Octavian’s mother when nothing of the sort happened. Maybe in the next series about Rome, the creators will assume that Remus defeated Romulus, and call the show Reme.

Sex Education

I seriously don’t understand why anybody would teach children that they should practice abstinence. Children can’t really help themselves, especially in their mid-teens, when they experience all these new things happening to their bodies and when they get all kinds of urges and want to explore their limits.

This is why everybody should get sex education.

Luckily this is how it worked for me and my sister. Not only did my parents teach us about sex, our schools also had sex ed in their curriculums, usually as a part of biology lessons. We were taught everything from how an egg gets fertilized to how to practice safe sex including putting a condom on a banana.

Of course there are teens who think that they don’t need to practice safe sex, that they won’t get STDs or they won’t get pregnant (and soon realize how wrong they are), but most teens and young adults are smart enough to buy the condoms and get on the pill to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STDs.

I feel that teaching “abstinence only” is like stirring glowing embers of a fire. You tell children that there’s something they should not do, and it’s the only thing they’ll want to do. And when they do it, and have not been taught about safe sex, it’ll turn into a disaster.

Children need to be taught that there’s nothing wrong with sex, as long as they know how to protect themselves and their bodies. And they need to be taught to be responsible to meet the consequences, if something doesn’t go exactly as planned.

I was lucky to be taught all these things, and I grew up to be a responsible, sexually active young adult, and I know the importance of safe sex – lessons I am passing on to Regan.

Reflections On Pregnancy

In just a few more days, Caden Bryce will join Regan and I. So far I am feeling fine, but I am also well aware that things are moving along. Mostly though, I’m tired. I’m beginning to suspect that I’m not going to get that mythical burst of energy before I go into labour. Not that I particularly need it, since the house is clean and everything is ready for the baby. Although, there are all those baby announcements that should at least get addressed soon…

Seriously though, this is an exciting and scary time. I can’t wait to hold my baby, but I’m also concerned about his healthy and happiness, and wonder if we will be able to provide him with a good life. These are things all new parents worry about, I’m sure. Life, I know, will proceed the way it will proceed. The baby will either be colicky or not, he will either happily breastfeed or not. Although he is a helpless being (at least for a little while) he is also his own person. All I can do is provide love and support.

In some respects I am looking forward to the end of my pregnancy. Spending the last nine months carry around a baby has been surprisingly easy (except for two and a half months of Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy [a more severe form of morning sickness]). I’ve enjoyed the closeness that I feel has developed between the baby and me. But, I’m also looking forward to getting my body back, and to eventually eating and drinking what I like again. (I miss sushi!) I hope that I will also eventually find time to return to my spiritual pursuits and reconnect with the Tarot, both things that just haven’t seemed to work during my pregnancy. Oh yes, and it will be heaven to be able to sleep on my back again!

Things will likely be quiet around here for a little while. The baby is due on the 15th, but could show up any time. With some luck, it will be after I’ve managed to get in one more full night of sleep

Winding Down the Year

While both Wiccans and Christians celebrate the rebirth of their respective gods (more or less) at the same time, the lead up to the event couldn’t be more different. To Wiccans, the days between November Eve/Samhain (October 31st) and Winter Solstice/Yule (approx. December 21s) are meant to be a time to slow down and mourn the death of the god. For most Christians, November and December are the busiest time of year, with everyone rushing from mall to office party to family event and back to the mall, and then off to church.

As with all generalizations, though, there are plenty of exceptions. There are those Wiccans who are just as caught up in the yearly gift giving and parting frenzy as anyone else (and I admit to being one until a few years ago), and there are those Christians who slow down during this time to honour what the birth of Jesus meant for humankind. (Just because I’m not Christian doesn’t mean I don’t think that Jesus wasn’t a pretty cool guy.)

Growing up, it was always the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day that was the downtime for the year for me. Presents had been opened, the turkey mostly eaten, and family gone home. Now it is still a nice time to relax. Holiday visiting is done, and Regan is off school for at least a few days more. It is all the more sweet this year, since we are also counting down our last few weeks as our small family – Caden Bryce will arrive sometime before the end of January and make us into a trio. 2011 will be much different then 2010, but the changes will be welcome, even if they bring sadness, but most especially if they bring happiness.