Weather you like it or not...

Since I was a little kid, weather reporting and forecasting always fascinated me. I think it initially had to do with my interest in geography; watching a weather report on TV or looking at one in the newspaper inevitably meant seeing maps and hearing/reading about how each area would be affected by cold fronts and high pressure systems and any resulting storms. Each spring, I'd eagerly view the weekly forecast, growing excited as warmer temperatures crept in. There was nothing more magical than when that first 70-degree day popped up during late May or early June, and convincing my mother that it was warm enough to wear shorts to school. Just the same, each fall I'd welcome the first forecast of snow in November, because it meant the imminent possibility of sledding and building snow forts.

As a teenager and adult, my consultation of the weather report became a mostly practical exercise, although living in a temperate climate with changing seasons often made it a time-consuming one. On the cusp between winter and spring, each day can involve a new combination of numerous articles - shoes (winter boots, rainboots, fashionable sneakers, or comfortable sneakers), inner layers (thin sweater, thick sweater, or sweatshirt), outer layers (raincoat, peacoat, or parka), and accessories (wool scarf, Pashmina scarf, and/or wool hat). It's during this time of year, or the correspondingly confusing time between fall and winter, when my mother used to threaten to move our family to Florida nearly every year.

Since the birth of my daughter several months ago, I've had the same thought several times. Living somewhere perpetually warm certainly beats obsessing over the weekly, daily, and especially the hourly forecast. Sure we spend most of our day inside, but that makes it even more important to determine the optimal interval for a walk in the park or excursion to do errands. And, if we need to venture out at a specific time, I need to know the ideal way to dress and accessorize myself and a tiny human who can't tell me with words if she's too hot or too cold. What if I put her in a full-body snowsuit and she's too hot? Or err on the side of fewer layers and leave her shivering? Her expansive array of layers and accessories often puts mine to shame. Never in my life have I seen so many tiny sweaters, tiny wool hats, tiny cotton hats, tiny wool mittens, tiny cotton mittens, tiny booties, etc., and figuring out which combination to use can be mentally exhausting.

Another wrinkle is whether we'll be venturing out with a stroller, complete with plastic rain-cover if needed, or if I'm better off wearing the baby in a sling or soft-pack carrier. If we're going for a walk and will be outside for an hour, the stroller is the better bet for comfortable transportation.  By contrast, if we're taking a ride on the subway, I'll need to wear her to avoid lugging a stroller up and down stairs or restricting travel to stations with elevators. This challenge involves keeping her warm enough during the short walk, using layers that are easily shed, without taking her out of the carrier, once we take refuge in a heated subway car. (Think big blanket wrapped around the outside of the carrier and tucked inside my coat.) This strategy also applies when going on errands, i.e. ducking in and out of stores and keeping the baby strapped to me the whole time.

An additional challenge with winter bundling is that it's perpetually a sauna in our apartment. This is certainly a blessing when it's 17-degrees outside with 20-mile-per-hour winds. The downside is that as soon as I get the baby all layered up I have roughly 90 seconds to get both of us out the door, lest she become sweaty and irate. Similarly, if she falls asleep during a walk, once we get back inside I'm faced with a dilemma: Do I leave her in her stroller or carrier, unzipping layers as best I can, leaving her sleep undisturbed but opening up the risk of her overheating? Or do I take her out of her transit vessel to fully remover outerwear, but risk waking her up?

In light of the above, I can't help but wonder if our advanced technology - specifically the ability to access the current weather conditions and imminent forecast at a moment's notice - has made things unnecessarily confusing. Plenty of times I'll come up with a loose daily schedule tailored around a forthcoming rainstorm, only to refresh the forecast an hour later and find that the prognosis has changed. On the one hand, it's good to be prepared by keeping abreast of unexpected updates. I'm sure that thirty years ago moms saw a morning-news forecast that didn't call for rain, and got caught without an umbrella in a rainstorm they might have seen if they'd had access to the constantly-updating hourly forecast on Weather.com.  Nonetheless, any adjustments to the midday forecast lead to only small revisions to our daily agenda, as opposed to radical changes. It doesn't really affect our plans or preparation if the chance of rain is decreased from 100% to 70% (I'm going to bring the umbrella and stroller rain-cover anyway), or if the temperature is said to be 33ºF instead of 30ºF (the baby is still going in her snowsuit). I'm inordinately excited for later in the spring, when it'll be warm enough to put my kid in a onesie, pants, and sweatshirt, and call it a day. Then again, I'm sure the warmer weather will also bring its own challenges a la sun protection and how to best transport baby food and formula without being completely weighed down by ice packs.

Does anyone else pay such close attention to the weather? Or are most of you able to look at it once in the morning and move on with your day? Does anyone wish it was a bit simpler? Do you find yourself frustrated when the forecast turns out to be wrong? Or does starting a discussion with readers about weather amount to the ultimate small-talk-with-strangers cliche? Either way, I'd love to hear from you all.

Best,

nylawmom

C-sections, freedom, gender... and how none of it is anyone's business, really.

As a new mom and New York Mets' fan (hold your boos, please), my ear's perked up when I heard Boomer Esiason's suggestion that Daniel Murphy's wife should have scheduled a C-section to better accommodate the team's schedule. I don't want to repeat what's been said in the numerous insightful, well-reasoned articles covering this topic, especially now that the former NFL quarterback has apologized, but I do have a few thoughts to share.

We're fortunate to live in a time and place where numerous life-saving medical procedures are available and performed every day. The important aspect of this issue is that all health-related decisions are a matter to be adjudicated between an individual, his/her family members, and his/her doctor. Some women give birth at home in their bathtubs under the supervision of a midwife with no pharmaceutical assistance; others go in fully expecting to be hooked up to an epidural catheter. Personal preferences and ideals aside, no one way is "better" than another. And I'm willing to bet that there are people (wives of professional athletes included) who have scheduled C-sections or labor inductions for the sake of convenience. Other women not in the public eye may elect to push or delay a C-section or induction so as not to interfere with their partners' work obligations or other commitments. A friend of mine was due to give birth at the end of August. When she remained pregnant on September 8th her doctor scheduled her for an induction the next day... then bumped it to the following day because the labor and delivery ward was full - too many women scheduling their C-section/induced births for the 9th, to avoid delivering on September 11th.

The point, which both Murphy and Esiason espoused in their comments subsequent to the initial discussion, is that the approach to childbirth and decisions about subsequent care are matters of individual choice. As long as someone with medical training approves of and can provide or arrange for any subsequent care, the patient's decision is what governs.

By the way, the same argument can be made for the availability of abortion and the use of stem cells. If these medical interventions violate someone's religious beliefs or personally-held moral ideals, he or she needn't utilize them. But calling for the elimination of the procedures altogether, depriving other people of autonomy in deciding whether or not to pursue those treatments, misapplies the First Amendment's clause protecting the free exercise of religion. In this arena, as in many others, "freedom" means that we get to believe in and practice the principles we choose, but it does not extend so far as to allow the imposition of one group's beliefs on outsiders.

Another angle to the paternity leave issue involves gender itself. Lots of people on Twitter shared the sentiment that, as a man, Esiason was somehow not equipped to make an informed assessment of the situation nor entitled to have an opinion at all because he himself cannot give birth. Nonetheless, I believe that despite being a man, he had every right to formulate an opinion and voice it accordingly... with the understanding that the world would view his opinion with the appropriate grain of salt and react critically. The notion that Esiason's sex makes him ill-equipped to form a reasoned opinion on the subject of birth is insulting to all men, and thereby undermines any attempt at "feminist" argument by being unnecessarily antagonistic toward an entire gender.

What do you all think? Where do we draw the line about who can say what about others' medical procedures? Is this whole ordeal being overblown? Will the Mets ever win a game?! I eagerly await your comments.

Introduction

Oftentimes throughout my life, I’ve found myself straddling two worlds. Always a tomboy growing up, I lacked my friends’ endless interest in performing dance routines and their preference for shopping at the latest trendy store we were all supposed to be obsessed with. When my parents finally acquiesced and allowed me to play ice hockey in a boys’ league, my gender made me an outsider there as well. Similarly, I enjoyed playing my violin since picking up the instrument in elementary school, but when I began attending a performing arts camp, I found that I lacked the passion (i.e. willingness to practice) my fellow orchestra members had for music. A few years later, not wanting to spend my whole life living in New York State, I opted to go to college in Boston. Despite enjoying the city and the college experience very much, I’ve never felt more like a New Yorker than when I lived elsewhere.

This blog represents my latest attempt at reconciling two parts of myself: lawyer and mother. While I’ve been thrilled to take some time off from work to care for my infant daughter, I can’t turn off the part of my brain that craves intellectual stimulation and operates best under discovery schedules and brief submission deadlines. Thankfully, we live in a day and age where balance can be found, and the hope is that running this website (along with doing some flexible part-time work I’ve been fortunate enough to work into my schedule of childrearing) will keep me connected to the legal world while imparting my experiences as a mother.  

In some ways, becoming a parent has only intensified my preexisting interest in policy and regulation. Issues affecting children – education policy, anti-bullying campaigns, toy safety recalls – are now squarely on my radar. However, as any parent of an infant will likely tell you, I also have far less energy in my tank to exercise my vigilant consumer protection reflex. Believe me, I want to research the ergonomic and environmental safety impacts of every single thing we come into contact with, but I also put a priority on practicing daily hygiene, enjoying playtime with my daughter, and having an hour to myself simply to relax at the end of a long day.

Please stay tuned for forthcoming articles. I also set up a Twitter account where I’ll post links to this site as well as comments on current events and such. I hope to hear from readers and engage in spirited dialogue about important issues of the moment.

Thanks,

nylawmom