This project is simple and it’s a lot of fun. Best thing is you don’t need any fancy equipment, it’s cheap, and it can be reused multiple times! My kids obviously love bubbles, but for some reason I had never heard about snake bubbles before. If you haven’t either, be prepared for this awesome activity.

### Facts

*   **Preparation time**: 5 minutes

*   **Age range**: 2 and older (they need to know how to blow or you can blow the bubbles for them)

*   **Degree of parent involvement during activity**: medium for the little ones and none for the older ones

*   **Entertainment time**: 30 to 60 min, my kids like making snake bubbles multiple times a day/week

*   **Level of success**: very hight

### Materials

*   Water

*   Soap

*   A container for the water and soap, e.g. a Tupperware

*   An empty plastic bottle

*   A sock (it can be a recycled one or you could keep using it after)

*   Scissors to cut the plastic bottle

### Steps

**Step 1**. Pour some soap and water in a container. It has to be big enough that you will be able to dip the plastic water bottle in it. I played it by ear but the more soap you use the more and smaller bubbles you’ll get.

**Step 2**. Cut the bottom of the plastic water bottle and remove the lid.

**Step 3**. Put the sock on the bottle like this:

![](/images/snake-bubbles-step1.jpg)

**Step 4**. Soak the bottle with the sock in the soap and water and blow. The snake bubbles will make the floor get wet, so I’d recommend playing outside if you can:

![](/images/snake-bubbles-step2.jpg)

One tricky thing for the little ones is how to avoid getting soap in their mouths. My 2 year old can surprisingly blow a balloon but couldn’t really make snake bubbles. She tries to breath in with the bottle in her mouth and ends up with soap in her mouth. So instead, I make the bubbles for her and she still loves to play with these big chunks of bubbles.

![](/images/snake-bubbles-step3.jpg)

My almost 5 year old also ran into this problem the first few times but she got it right after a few tries and now absolutely loves making snake bubbles.

![](/images/snake-bubbles-1.jpg)

I’m sure you and your little ones will have lots of fun making snake bubbles. Let me know how it goes!


Snake Bubbles

My friend shared these 3 posters with me the other day and they’ve been a huge success in our family. I’ll tell you why.

I like to start the day with some physical activity with my kids. Both for them and for myself. I find that it’s a nice way to get warmed up for all the activities and learning time that awaits us, and also because it feels nice and gives us positive vibes.

I have tried different things (with different levels of success), but the problem is basically always the same. I rely on a YouTube video for yoga, exercise, or dance practice, and the moment I try to turn off the TV… my almost 5 year old starts complaining and demanding more screen time. If I don’t turn on the TV, she doesn’t even remember that it’s there.


As you can imagine, these posters are perfect because they not only are screen-free but also fun- they come in three different flavors: ocean, superhero, and calm down- and because they’re challenging enough that will last for a while without us getting bored of the poses.

They can be downloaded for free from the [Kids Yoga Stories](https://www.kidsyogastories.com/free-resources/) website.

My kids are almost 5 and 2, and we all have lots of fun trying to do these even though we don’t know what we’re doing. The other day we finished our session trying to do the turtle pose and ended up becoming a train of turtles slowly dragging themselves around the living room.

Try it out and let me know what you think!


Yoga for Kids

This makes a nice little home made gift for your friends or family members. You can even personalize it writing their names on the glass.


This is an activity that I absolutely loved when I was a kid. My mom confirmed there are still some of these jars with rainbows in what use to be my bedroom at my parents' house.

### Facts

*   **Preparation time** (recommended for 3-4 year olds if you don’t have ziploc bags): 15-20 min

*   **Age range**: 3 and older

*   **Degree of parent involvement during activity**: high for the little ones, and none for 7-8-9 year olds

*   **Entertainment time**: 30 to 60 min

*   **Level of success**: high- they loved it! But since my kids are 2 and almost 5, the level of parent involvement was pretty hight

### Materials

*   Salt – Alternatively, you could also use sugar

*   [Chalk](https://geni.us/9sHhaj8)– Make sure you don’t get the dustless type, you want the dust

*   A piece of paper (or several ones)

*   Scissors or [ziploc](https://geni.us/Rpmr) bags – You only need one of the two, ziplocs are more suitable for smaller children

*   A container of glass with lid. You can recicle bottles and jars from tomato sauce, jam, or any others that you may have at home

### Steps

**Preparation**. If don’t have ziploc bags- or just want to avoid using them-and your children are small, I recommend doing some preparation. I didn’t do it and it was fine, but they get more anxious to participate so I will definitely will be doing it next time (because there will be a next time).

The preparation basically consists of grating the chalk using scissors or a grater. Make sure you crush the little pieces, the smoother the better.

Or you could also just buy [chalk dust](https://geni.us/zSlI7E) and skip the preparation.

**Step 1**. Fold a piece of paper in half and pour some salt. It doesn’t matter how much or how little, it will depend on the amount of that color you want in your jar.

**Step 2**. Pick a color and pour it on top of the salt. Use your fingers to mix it well until you get a uniform color.

![](/images/coloring-salt1.jpg)

An alternative method (which we didn’t use) would be to pour some salt in a ziploc bag, add the chalk, close well, and shake and rub until the salt has achieved the desired color.

**Step 3**. Fold the paper and distribute the salt all over the base or creating little lumps. This is how it looks like (you can see we didn’t do a very good job crushing the chalk, that’s what the little darker spots are):

![](/images/coloring-salt2.jpg)

**Step 4**. Repeat with as many colors as you want until the jar is full. Change the paper and use a new one if it gets too dirty to avoid mixing colors.

Get creative, you can make rainbows, hearts, or anything you want! You can experiment using jars with different shapes too.


Coloring salt with chalk

When I was a kid I loved making planets. I used styrofoam balls and covered them with some sort of textured paint (I can’t remember what it was) and then acrylic paint. It was the best. My oldest daughter name is ‘Mar’ which means ‘sea’ in Spanish but also she thinks she has her own planet: Mars. So when I suggested this idea, she got really excited about it. Since I didn’t have styrofoam balls or a newspaper to make a papier mache one, I decided to improvise with what I had. It turned out pretty good.

### Facts

*   **Preparation time**: n/a

*   **Age range**: 4 and older

*   **Degree of parent involvement during activity**: high

*   **Entertainment time**: 1-2 hours split in 2 different days

*   **Level of success**: high

### Materials

*   A balloon

*   [Paper](https://geni.us/rUG5Ue) – This is the one we used, but I’d say the thinner the better

*   [Kids scissors](https://geni.us/rlBNl)

*   [Mod Podge](https://geni.us/Zgzig) – We used the one with matte finish

*   [Acrylic paint](https://geni.us/goeD)

*   Brushes for the paint and also to apply the Mod Podge

### Steps

**Step 1**. Cut the paper into squares like this

![](/images/mars-planet1.jpeg)

**Step 2**. Inflate the balloon

**Step 3**. Stick the pieces of paper with Mod Podge completely covering the balloon (except the top, so you can still hold it). The paper we used was pretty thick, so we only applied two layers. With thinner paper (e.g. newspaper), you’d probably want to apply three or four layers, but it will also look better (less rough). When we finished applying the layers, we let it dry until the next day. It look like this:

![](/images/mars-planet2.jpeg)

**Step 4**. Once the paper is completely dry it’s time to pop the balloon.

**Step 5**. Paint it with acrylic paint. Get creative, go crazy.

![](/images/mars-planet3.jpeg)

We had a goal in mind, Mars. So we used a picture to get some inspiration.

![](/images/mars-planet4.jpeg)

**Step 6**. Let dry and it’s ready to hang in your room (or wherever you want :)).

![](/images/mars-planet5-fb18f694.jpeg)

We paired this craft with watching a video about [Mars Facts for Kids](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrMo1ohW3Iw). My four and a half year old absolutely loved this activity and we learned lots of new things about her favorite planet.



Making a Planet with Mod Podge

This is a super fun activity and totally worth your time preparing it for independent play at home.


We had a lot of fun making this rainbow rice sensory bin and both of my kids have been wanting to play with every day after we made it. Throw in a bunch of Easter eggs and you have an Easter activity.

### Facts

*   **Preparation time**: 15-20 min (plus 30-60 min to let it dry before playing)

*   **Age range**: 2 and up (younger ones may try to eat it instead of playing with it)

*   **Degree of parent involvement during the activity**: low

*   **Entertainment time**: My kids (2 and 4) will play with this rainbow rice sensory bin between 30 and 90 minutes at a time.

*   **Level of success**: high

### Materials

*   6 cups of [rice](https://geni.us/Ek4Oy6)

*   [Plastic storage bin](https://geni.us/Ypgeoys) (or any box without holes)

*   [Food coloring](https://geni.us/AE5GZ)

*   [White vinegar](https://geni.us/iMfBCtW)

*   An empty container with lid (to make the mix). We used an empty yogurt container

*   [Kitchen paper](https://geni.us/hHp5)

*   [Measuring cups](https://geni.us/axg1Z) (or small cups or spoons to play with)

*   [Easter eggs](https://geni.us/ZJlJnD) (optional)

### Steps

\*\*Step 1. \*\*Add 1 cup of white rice in the container to make the mix

\*\*Step 2. \*\*Add 1 tsp of white vinegar

**Step 3**. Add as much food coloring as you wish
![](/images/rice-sensory-bin1.jpg)

**Step 4**. Close and shake well. Open and be surprised

![](/images/rice-sensory-bin2.jpg)

**Step 5**. Lay the rice flat in a piece of kitchen paper. Let dry for at least 30 minutes or 1 hour

![](/images/rice-sensory-bin3.jpg)

Repeat steps 1-5 for each color of the rainbow or for each color you want to make.

**Step 6**. Mix dry rice in the box, add measuring cups and toys, and play!


Rainbow rice sensory bin 🌈

The [Coronavirus](https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus) is traveling fast and this week there has been a case for the first time in my hometown, Barcelona. The patient is 36 and the case doesn’t seem too bad, she traveled from Italy and most likely brought it from there, and 25 other people are preventively being kept at home for two weeks.

So far, the Coronavirus has caused  80,000 infections and 2,700 deaths. The good news is that [children seem less vulnerable to COVID-19](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/20/807483553/coronavirus-is-contagious-but-kids-seem-less-vulnerable-so-far), but with two little ones at home, it’s never a bad idea to get ready for a potential Coronavirus outbreak in our area. If nothing happens, we can always still use the stuff or donate it, and if it does, well, then we’ll be prepared.

The main motivation to stock up on food and meds is not because there’s going to be a shortage- although there may be- N95 masks are already currently unavailable on Amazon in my area- but to avoid crowds in order to reduce your chances of getting infected.

**Food**

*   [Crackers](https://amzn.to/2HZIjxa)

*   [Canned soups](https://amzn.to/2vbgJKB) or [ramen](https://amzn.to/2PphnuE)

*   Snacks for the kids like [Goldfish,](https://amzn.to/393s6Tb) [Cheerios](https://amzn.to/2Tii6PB), or [fruit and veggies pouches](https://amzn.to/2VBR2O7)

*   Canned veggies like [green beans](https://amzn.to/2T1P0EW)

*   Canned legumes like [chickpeas](https://amzn.to/2Tcn1RO) or [beans](https://amzn.to/2Tn0Mch)

*   Other foods like chicken (you can freeze it)

*   Canned [tuna](https://amzn.to/3cb863d) or [spam](https://amzn.to/2vjUkus)

*   [Bottled water](https://amzn.to/2wR9zeS)

*   If you have pets, don’t forget their food!

**Cleaning supplies & other supplies**

*   [Bleach](https://amzn.to/3chxy7l) or [alcohol](https://amzn.to/2TnFVVY) will most likely kill the virus, so clean, clean clean!

*   Wipe down all surfaces, even if it’s only with [soap](https://amzn.to/3a9vKLs) and water

*   [Sanitizing wipes](https://amzn.to/383i1oj)

*   [Masks like N95 ones](https://amzn.to/2HZMNDL) and [plastic gloves](https://amzn.to/2T29Gwx) are a good idea if you’re sick, to prevent others from catching the virus

*   If you have a baby, you may want to stock up on [diapers](https://amzn.to/2T2dluj) and [baby wipes](https://amzn.to/391XMZe)

**Medicines**

*   If you take daily medications, make sure you have enough for 2 weeks

*   Fever reducers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen

*   Hydrating drinks such as Gatorade and Pedialyte for kids

Hopefully, you won’t need this list, but if you do, you’ll be ready.


How to prepare for a Coronavirus outbreak

First you’re a daughter. And your parents tell you “you’ll understand when you become a parent”. And you get use to hearing it and you think you know everything including what that sentence means. But the truth is you don’t. Until you become a parent.

When I became a mother, the realization that a new tiny and fragile human being depended solely on me (and my partner) hit me in the worst possible moment of my life: when I was at the hospital all sored and exhausted because I had just pushed a brand new human being out of my vagina.

## Becoming a mother

My daughters are one and three, here’s a picture of the three of us after having brunch with my parents. My mom took the picture.

![](/images/mar-mama-layla.jpeg)

It wasn’t until relatively recently that I realized that tiny humans depending on you and your partner wasn’t all. They also look up to you. You’re their role model, and I’m also their most important female role model. No pressure. They have curiosity and thoughts and opinions, and they are watching. All day. Every day.

If I work from home (which I do), will they think I just stay at home and do nothing all day? If they see me having a fight with my mom (which you know, it happens sometimes…:P), will they think it’s ok to yell at each other? If I’m feeling tired, will they think I’m not hard working? If I cry in front of them, will they think I’m weak?

The first time I cried in front of my three year old, it felt like the end of the world. I obviously wasn’t in my finest moment (I’ll blame the pregnancy hormones), but seeing that look in her eyes and how she asked me if I was ok, just broke my heart. I wished I could go back in time, just a few seconds, and hold those tears. But I could not. Then I thought, being vulnerable in front of her is not the end of the world, there’s nothing wrong with my daughter knowing I have feelings, is there?

So that moment taught me it’s ok to show my feelings in front of my children, I want them to be able to see and get to know my real me. And I believe this is part of the deal if I want to really connect with them and develop a strong, meaningful relationship. It also taught me how they can learn to handle difficult situations by themselves even at an early age. And I felt so proud of her.

But you know what, they’re also watching when you’re happy, and pumped about something that you achieved at work, and singing while driving them to school, and getting excited about their legos, or about that new book which you both loved reading together. 

## Becoming a different daughter

So all this made me realize… I never thought of my own mother as my most important role model, but looking back, she certainly is. It’s a little bit scary to see how everyday I am more like her. I guess it’s not a bad thing.

Only in my adulthood have I been able to see through her eyes and understand how vulnerable and fragile she was. She has always been that strong pillar to me, that rock that no matter what would hold everything and everyone together. It’s like all these years I’ve known the facts but I really haven’t been paying attention to her feelings (and she’s never blamed me for it).

I didn’t realize it’s not she didn’t want to hang out with her friends (did she have friends?), it’s that she did not have the support or resources needed in order to be able to balance family life with “me time” and friendships. It’s not that she didn’t want to buy me another book, it’s that they really couldn’t afford it and it break her heart every time I asked.

My mom doesn’t have a college degree, but she’s very smart. She has always worked really hard, and until she retired last year, I have never known her without a job. I’ve seen her juggling between two different jobs, but not unemployed. So for me the ‘normal’ was that both parents worked, and I never thought it wasn’t supposed to be like that. 

To be honest, I’ve always been very proud of how my parents raised me, but now that I am a parent myself, I realize how hard it must have been to always let me make my own decisions and support me no matter what. As a daughter, the good thing is I had lots of freedom; and the hard thing was being accountable for things when none of my friends were. As a mother, the hard thing is trusting your children and letting them make their own mistakes.

> As a daughter, the good thing is I had lots of freedom; and the hard thing was being accountable for things when none of my friends were. As a mother, the hard thing is trusting your children and letting them make their own mistakes.

My biggest fear these days is being able to raise two kind and smart human beings. I hope my partner and I manage to do so and I’m sure we’ll learn a lot along the way.


You’ll understand when you become a parent

A couple of weeks ago we went shoe shopping for the summer season. When Mar was 2,  [I wrote a blog post of why we love Native shoes for the summer](https://teenymunchkins.com/2017/08/15/native-the-best-shoes-for-the-summer/), and we still haven’t changed our mind and keep buying them every year. Last year we had purple, but this year Mar really wanted the red again.

While at the store, we spotted some really cute shoes and we immediately fell in love with them. Please meet the [Mini Melissa Campana Zig Zag](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01080ZAQU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8\&camp=1789\&creative=9325\&creativeASIN=B01080ZAQU\&linkCode=as2\&tag=teenymunchk07-20\&linkId=08a3f750a1f4623c662c5b2b9c26a806). They felt and looked so soft and comfortable that I almost want to buy a pair for myself. Mar, of course, was convinced even before trying them out just because of the glitter. You could see the sparkles in her eyes.
![](/images/mini-melissa-campana.jpeg)

The fact that we had three weddings to attend this season helped, since the Mini Melissa Campana are not only comfortable and easy to wash, but also elegant and perfect to dress up a bit.

## Pros and cons of Mini Melissa Campana Zig Zag shoes

I’ve already talked about the pros, but there are more:

*   Breathable, no sweaty feet

*   Easy to put on and go with a velcro strap that seems it’s going to break but it’s really good quality. Easier than the Native, I’d say!

*   Waterproof, my favorite quality of any summer shoe

*   They smell really good, as they are infused with a signature fragrance

*   Lightly padded, super comfy and flexible

*   Soft, soft, soft

*   Cute, cute, cute

*   Never have to argue with my daughter, she always wants to wear them and they go with everything!

If I had to find some cons though…

*   They’re a bit pricey, look out for deals!

*   I almost don’t want her to wear them every day because she’s going to wear them out much faster than I’d like

## Looking for a more affordable alternative?

[Old Navy’s jellies](https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=347659032\&CAWELAID=120299900002248504\&CAGPSPN=pla\&CAAGID=59094349869\&CATCI=aud-517951778339:pla-530767650645\&tid=onpl000000\&kwid=1\&ap=7\&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2IrmBRCJARIsAJZDdxAX45UjU0QtNcx57vRLiPbDH5NaWRRq_POM3nknCarCEOlicjup9NwaArpcEALw_wcB\&gclsrc=aw.ds) are definitely not the same but a good and more affordable alternative for everyday summer shoes that your kid may or may not wear every day to go in the sandbox.

We got Mar a pair of these and are pretty happy as well.

![](/images/campana-old-navy.jpeg)

However, I’ll admit these would have never worked for me as a kid with my weird shaped and sweaty feet, since they are less breathable and not so soft.

They also have a nice fragrance, not so nice as the Mini Melissa’s.

And they’re approximately one fifth of the price.

If we keep finding nice shoes for the summer I guess we’ll have to start making decisions because the summer is not long enough to wear so many nice shoes. Right now, I can’t think of a better combination than Mini Melissa jellies and Native to meet all of our needs: park, swimming pool, beach, playground, water, and special occasions. We’re maybe missing something for hikes, but I guess we’re not there yet.


Mini Melissa Campana Zig Zag shoes

As you know if you follow my blog, I’m a Catalan living in the United States and as such, I like to expose my children to American traditions, but also to Catalan and Spanish ones. I’ve written about some of our other [traditions](https://teenymunchkins.com/category/tradition/) here.

Sant Jordi is one of my favorites. For Sant Jordi, Catalans go out to the streets and celebrate both the [World Book Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Book_Day) and Sant Jordi.

## Books and roses everywhere

For Sant Jordi, it’s a tradition to give each other books and roses, symbols of culture and love. It’s the day that Catalans celebrate their Valentine’s Day, and also a day to claim the Catalan culture.

Men started giving red roses to women in celebration of love in the fifteenth century. Only in the 1930’s, women started giving men books, in celebration of the World Book Day. In the modern times, both men and women give each other books and roses as they wish.

As an avid reader, I’ve always loved Sant Jordi. My favorite part of the day was after school or after work, wandering the streets of Barcelona and browsing through piles and piles of books. In the same streets, people sell roses and everyone celebrates love and culture. It’s just beautiful.

As a kid, I’d often sell roses with my friends to earn money for school trips or gear upgrades for my swimming team.

Celebrating Sant Jordi in California is definitely not the same. Our family has kept the tradition of giving each other books and roses (thank you Ignacio for making it possible even though you didn’t grow up with this tradition), but the part about going out to the streets is just not possible. This year Mar is old enough to understand, so I’m going to try and explain this tradition to her. To celebrate, apart from giving each other books and roses, we’ll also go to the library. I hope one day my kids will love this tradition as much as I do and get to spend Sant Jordi’s day in Barcelona.

## The legend of Sant Jordi

Once upon a time a dragon that no knight seemed to be able to defeat frightened the village of Montblanc by eating all their beasts. Once the dragon had eaten all the caws, and sheeps, and horses, and all of the other animals, the villagers didn’t know what else to feed the dragon with.

The king gathered everyone and announced they’d give the dragon one person to be eaten every day. This person would be chosen in a raffle. The king’s daughter was in charge of the raffle and, the very first day, her name turned out to be the chosen one. Left with no other choice than accepting her fate, the princess went to the dragon.

Then, Sant Jordi appeared ready to fight the dragon. The Catalan version of the legend says that after a tremendous combat between Sant Jordi and the dragon, the knight cut across the dragon with a spear and from the dragon’s blood they started to grow red roses. They’d bloom every year in April, and that’s how the tradition of giving roses as a symbol of love on April 23rd started.

This illustration below is from my friend Cristina de Lera, who’s also from Catalonia.
![](/images/santjordi-cristina-de-lera.png)

If you ever have the opportunity of spending April 23rd in Barcelona, don’t even think about it, just do it. It’s one of our favorite days of the year, and it is like that for a reason.


Sant Jordi’s tradition (the book and the rose)

Us, mommies and daddies, we have superpowers.

> We see things no one else can see. We find things no one else can find. And we do things that, obviously, no one else can do.

We find tights in the undies drawer, jackets in the closet, shoes in the shoe rack, and hair ties in the bathroom. We also find bottles in the kitchen cabinets, baby food in the fridge, and play-doh in the toy storage container. It’s-a-ma-zing.

![](/images/futurama-meme-moms-super-powers.jpg)

My daughter (ok, she’s only 3), my husband, and my mom (who has clearly lost her mommy super powers now that she’s become a grandma), all checked the pantry and swore to me the kitchen bags were not there.

![](/images/kitchen-bags.jpg)

The reason I was given is the blue bags where on top of the kitchen bags box.

My husband is in charge of the laundry at home, but when monkey pants, socks that the girls wear on every day basis, or that dress that our oldest daughter \*really needs\* to wear today, disappear… only mommies and daddies can find them. You’d think it’s easy to resolve those mysteries, but it’s not. If only my daughter’s dress wouldn’t keep moving between the dirty clothes basket and the clean clothes pile.

As mommies and daddies, we’re also supposed to know where everyone’s belongings are. For example, why is that I always know where my husband’s sunglasses are and he doesn’t? I don’t wear them, they’re not mine, the only reason I care is he has already lost two pairs.

We also seem to be the ones that know where the garbage can is. I am handed over all sorts of different residues- tissues, food leftovers, plastic wraps, food that was in baby’s mouth and baby doesn’t want anymore- both by my daughter and husband, so I can toss it. Clearly, they must not know where the garbage is, otherwise they’d be doing that themselves.

Another favorite of mine is spotting ants and killing them. To be honest, our daughter is getting really good at it, and in her defense I have to say we don’t let her use the ant kill products because they’re toxic. However, nor my husband or my parents, or anyone else in the family, see the ants until I point at them. They also don’t see the food that attracts them on the counter or the floors. Sight.

\*\*\*

Before publishing this blog post I read it to my husband and we both laughed about it together (ok, maybe I laughed a little bit louder). In our family of four, I am the person that finds everything most of the times, but I am also the person that goes to the grocery store to buy three things and forgets two (this has actually happened to me), the person that doesn’t remember anything unless writes it down, and the person that keeps losing her phone over and over (that’s the one thing I never seem to be able to find). That is to say that this blog post is not a rant, just an attempt to make you smile in the middle of a crazy day.

PS. Hopefully that dress appears soon so no one has to suffer the consequences of not being able to wear it right here right now and the meltdown that will probably go with it .


Mommy and daddy super powers

Or how did I get super offended when I wasn’t given an appointment to see the doctor the very next day after I found out I was pregnant.

Ok, let’s back up a bit. Finding out I was pregnant with our first daughter was one of the happiest moments of my life. Immediately after we found out though, I was like… ‘What do I do now?’.

My friend, who may or may not be pregnant, recently asked me:

**Her** – So, if I’m pregnant, what do I do?
**Me** – Well, it depends. If you’re happy, then celebrate. If not, talk it through with your partner and see what you want to do.
**Her** – I’m going to be happy, I meant practical stuff.
**Me** – Oh, practical stuff.

So here I am.

For practical stuff, it turns out they don’t schedule an appointment until you’re 8 weeks pregnant. WTF. Really? How are you supposed to learn about all the things you shouldn’t be drinking and eating? And most importantly, why weeks and when do you start counting?

## It’s not 9 months of pregnancy, it’s 40 weeks

I’m not even kidding. This is an important one, and in my opinion, not intuitive at all. All my life I’ve heard is nine months of pregnancy. It is not, it’s 40 weeks. But 40 weeks since… when?

I am going to tell you and it’s going to blow your mind: It’s the first day of your last period. I know, you’re not even pregnant then, you have your period. But hey, it is what it is.

## Scheduling your first appointment… at 8 weeks

As I was saying, I got really offended that they wouldn’t see me earlier. I was pregnant! It was my special moment. But no, apparently it wasn’t. They did schedule an appointment over the phone and congratulated me for my pregnancy. They also sent me an email with practical information about what to eat and not, and those things that I already knew because of family and friends being pregnant around me but I really wanted someone to tell me the truth about. It turns out that the truth is different in different countries (in Spain it’s ok to eat salads, in the US don’t you dare eating salads when you’re pregnant), and also different generations (for my mom’s generation: ok to drink bubbles, but not red wine; for my generation, not ok to drink bubbles or wine, darn!).

Once I got over the fact that a doctor wouldn’t see me in another four weeks or so, I started looking up things online. I found out soon enough that there are hundreds of apps that tell you which vegetable or fruit size your baby is each week. What for, that it didn’t say. My husband and I had lots of questions, specially because I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it or not, but the doctor wouldn’t see us in another whole four weeks. After literally 30 seconds of online searches – ok, maybe it was 60 seconds- we were overwhelmed. It was too much.

So we made a decision we’d never regret: we’ll face parenting problems one at a time and only when we actually have those problems. And in that precise moment, we stopped looking up online information about being pregnant or having a baby. Months later, when our baby arrived, there was this one night when she got hiccups. OMG hiccups. We gave in and googled “baby breastfeeding hiccups”. Baby could die (I’m not making it up, there were many possibilities, and this was one of them). We were so worried. We called the hospital in the middle of the night:

**Me**: Our baby has hiccups, what should we do? She’s only a few weeks old.
**Nurse**: What were you doing when the baby got hiccups?
**Me**: Feeding her.
**Nurse**: Has she finished eating yet?
**Me**: Yes.
**Nurse**: Ok, then put her back to sleep.
**Me**: Sleep? With the hiccups? But why did she get hiccups? Did I do something wrong?
**Nurse**: It’s completely normal. Babies get hiccups all the time. They can eat and sleep when having hiccups, not a problem.

Really? That was it? We put her back in her crib and, wait for it, she did fall asleep.

## Pregnancies and delivered babies

When I found out I was pregnant with my second daughter I was equally pumped, but this time I already felt less special. I called the hospital even though I knew the drill. I even knew how to count in weeks and everything.

On that first call, after informing that I was pregnant, they asked me some questions:

**Nurse**: Is this your first baby?
**Me**: No, my second.
**Nurse**: How many pregnancies have you had?

And that one caught me out of guard. What did she mean how many pregnancies did I have, I had just told her it was my second child. And then it hit me. I felt so stupid.

Shit is real. Many people I know or have acquaintance with have gone through a lot to have their babies. Some happy endings some not so happy. No matter if they’re in their twenties, thirties, or forties, miscarriages and IVF treatments are very common. I personally wasn’t aware that it was so common before I started trying to get pregnant myself, but it is.

## Ultrasounds and check ups

This varies depending on the country, your insurance, and a few other things. But another misconception I had before ever being pregnant was how often the doctor checks on the baby. If I remember correctly, they only scheduled a couple of ultrasounds with our first (this was with Kaiser, in San Francisco). The first one was at 8 weeks (vaginal) and the second one at 20 weeks. At the time, that felt like definitely not enough. Truth is, if everything is looking good and the baby is ok, why do you need more? 

However, I ended up getting more ultrasounds. First,  because we had to repeat the 20 weeks one (baby would not collaborate so we could get all the pictures needed). Secondly, because the baby was pretty big and we had to do a growth ultrasound in the third trimester. And third, because I got cholestasis of pregnancy and they ended up monitoring her every three days during the last couple of weeks before she was born.

With the second baby the perception was completely different. Meaning it felt like we did more than enough visits to the doctor. We probably did way less ultrasounds, but it didn’t feel like we were not getting enough attention like it happened with our first.

\*\*\*

I’m probably missing things, but these are some of the most relevant realizations that I had in the days and weeks after I got pregnant. What are some of the things that you didn’t know? Feel free to share in the comments! (And if you do so, thank you for contributing to this blog post).


I’m pregnant, what do I do now

The police truck was pretty impressive, equipped with the latest technology, and the policemen told us all about it. Chase and Marshall (from Paw Patrol, in the improbable case that you’re not familiar with them) would be proud of us.

Mar liked the trucks so much that she almost sneaked in the food truck when I wasn’t looking!

Speaking of which… the ecologic food that the food truck served, the Argentinian empanadas, the water refills, and the free snacks including coffee and home made muffins, were all yummy.

## Ride & Drive

Ignacio spent most of the morning volunteering at the [Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley](https://www.teslasiliconvalley.com/) booth, going on and on about Teslas and the wonders of EVs. Thanks to the EV owners volunteering at the event (at the TOSV booth, but also at EV Charge, Chargepoint, and others), attendees could just show up, get in a list, and ride or drive an EV themselves. This was more for the parents than for the children, but still pretty cool. If you want to read more about it, check out the blog post we wrote for Tesletter.com about [Earth Day EV Ride & Drive in Palo Alto](https://tesletter.com/earth-day-ev-ride-drive-palo-alto/).

\*\*\*

To finish a great day, at home, we watered our new plants. Mommy and daddy have always been really bad at taking care of plants. But my parents were recently visiting  from Spain and had the best time teaching Mar everything they know about the garden, and helping her get started with a few plants. So now we have parsley and hierba buena in our “garden”, and hopefully soon we’ll have roses too.

This is Mar happy watering her plants:

![](/images/mar-watering-plants.jpg)


Last Saturday, April 13th, we went to Palo Alto to celebrate and volunteer at the [Earth Day Ride & Drive](https://www.acterra.org/events/2018/4/14/earth-day-ev-ride-drive-8889w). It was a great event to go with the girls, play, dance, eat, and learn about recycling, and also to spread the word about electric vehicles (EVs).

## Earth Day activities for the children

There were a bunch of activities for children of all ages, plus the weather was great so hanging out, playing, running, and dancing with the live music felt just great.

I liked the games to learn about the planet and win prizes (we got a timer for the shower that Mar loves, so we’ll be saving some water from now on :)), and also the quizzes for the adults.

The older kids could participate in the runs (10k and 5k) and there was also a shorter race for the youngest.

Another cool activity for the older kids was the guided bird walk. Looking forward to doing something like this with my girls in a few years!

Here’s the full schedule of the morning:
![](/images/earth-day-2019-schedule.jpg)

Last but not least, the city of Palo Alto offered some awesome entertainment for the youngest: a real fire truck and a police truck where you could go in and check out by yourselves.


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