Aspirational mom

When I was young and in grad school, I read a lot of outdoor and travel magazines with aspirations of being able to paddle down big rivers or climb mountains. When I was single and working full time, I read a lot of gourmand blogs and lifestyle magazines with aspirations of having a stylish life of eating at cool restaurants and having a well decorated apartment where I threw cool parties. Now that I am am a parent, I find myself reading parenting blogs to kill time. I guess that's all I relate to nowadays. And wow, if I felt deficient that I didn't have time to fly to South America to climb or was always really disorganized when I threw parties, some of these moms really put me to shame. The fact that they can even maintain blogs on top of what they are doing is amazing. There's this blogger, who makes super cute box lunches for her kid. And these bloggers who blog about crafts, activities, and family outings.

It was this blog that planted the seed that I want a crock pot. Will a crock pot be like the electric teakettle that my brother bought us last year, an item that I can't believe I ever lived without? Or will this be like the kayak which I bought, but then only used 2 seasons.

I went through a phase of coveting an immersion blender (one of my friends planted the seed in my head that I could make my own organic baby food, not to mention delicious creamed soups and purees.) And also a sewing machine phase when I thought I could turn my old sweaters into cute felted wool baby dresses (damn you Martha Stewart.) Hopefully this too will pass.

By the way, I still aspire to get on the bay with my kayak. And I still kind of want an immersion blender.