November 2, 2007
I don’t have time to watch a lot of TV but one of the shows I do watch on a consistent basis is Grey’s Anatomy. I know it’s a night time soap opera of sorts. I know it’s not a real depiction of life in a teaching hospital, and I know that most doctors aren’t that good looking, but I still get caught up in the drama.
In the November 1, 2007 episode, Dr. Cristina Yang said something quite simple yet quite profound to Dr. Meredith Grey. First a little background for those who do not watch Grey’s Anatomy. Dr. Yang is a brilliant surgeon who expresses little to no emotion. It’s clear her entire goal in life is to become the world’s best cardiothoracic surgeon and nothing will get in her way. She is very direct with people and she rarely takes time to listen to other people’s problems. It’s all about her and she has recently been faced with experiences that are making her evaluate her approach to life.
Dr. Grey is also an outstanding surgeon with serious relationship/personal issues. Her dad left her when she was a kid partly because her mother was cheating on him and partly because she was so focused on her career. Her dad never came back to see her. He married another woman and had two kids with her one of whom is Dr. Lexie Grey, who has just found her way to Seattle Grace hospital as an intern. Needless to say Meredith and Lexie have an awkward relationship.
Meredith’s mom, Ellis Grey, was intensely focused on her own medical career and was a highly accomplished surgeon and pretty much resented that she had to take care of Meredith. She often told Meredith that she did not want to have children and consequently was extremely critical of everything Meredith did (or did not do). So now Meredith has tons of personal issues but somehow has won the heart of Dr. McDreamy (Dr. Derek Shepherd), whose character in the show is one of practically a saint among men because he is there for Meredith no matter what she does or says!
Meredith almost drowned in an episode last season. She could have saved herself but instead gave in to her self pity and crossed over to the other side for a short while. Somehow she comes through after being unconscious for several hours and awakens to a different perspective and awareness of who she is and where she fits into the world. This perspective soon fades and she begins to involuntarily inflict her insecurities on those she loves and on those who love her once again. She doesn’t want to, but she does not know how to accept or give love because she was physically and emotionally abandoned by the people most important to her as a child. Despite these childhood traumas, most of the rest of the world would classify her as a functional adult (i.e., she is smart, has a career, has friends, etc.).
In one scene Meredith asks Cristina why she just can’t get past all of this stuff and move on now that she’s aware of her issues. Cristina says “being aware of your crap is not the same as getting over your crap. They are two very different things.” Meredith knows she’s right and stares off into space.
This post is dedicated to a good friend of mine who is dealing with crap of her own right now. I worry about her. I wish the best for her. I can relate a tiny bit with what she might be going through, and I pray that the gap between her being aware of her crap and getting over her crap decreases exponentially day by day!
August 3, 2007
Kimberly recently reached out to me to tell me about her new venture TheGoToMom TV where she publishes a series of videos for parents. She has some great stuff on her site. We chatted on the phone for a while and we discussed each of our business goals. I will be checking out her site from time to time to learn new things about parenting.
I found that the most compelling reason to visit her site came from my phone experience with her. The entire time she was on the phone I barely heard her baby in the background. She told me that she has her baby with her all the time and most people don’t even know it because he is so quiet and keeps himself preoccupied. Wow! I think his great behavior might have something to do with his personality because I know that if I’m on the phone or trying to do something on the computer, my kids find every excuse to come ask me things and whine about something. OK…do I have to admit that I might have something to do with that?!? But just in case she has some advice on how to accomplish that feat, I’ll be sure to watch her videos. She even has a video called Stop the Whining! 
About The Go To Mom:
www.TheGoToMom.TV is a How to show for families with young children (newborn to 6). The ‘Go To Mom’ addresses parenting issues, discipline strategies, development activities and much more. The show also presents cutting edge research about the development of the young child’s brain. Call into the Talk Show and get your parenting questions answered live! Various specialists will be featured periodically. Los Angeles based, former preschool teacher and licensed child development therapist, Kimberley Clayton Blaine, is the Go To Mom.
Kimberley is dedicated to teaching parents how to adopt a positive child-rearing stance and to use their authentic self in deciding what type of parent they would like to be. This last decade, Kimberley’s main research efforts have been focused around the Impact of Trauma and Aggressive Child Rearing on Childhood Brain Development. Kimberley currently teaches Early Childhood Brain Development and Positive Discipline Strategies at UCLA Extension Education Department.
Kimberley is well known for her warmth, ingenuity and willingness to reach out to families in need of state of the art child rearing resources. In her own words, “I am here for children, every time I try to branch out I end up back in the preschool classroom – that is were I’m destined to be.”
Kimberley Clayton Blaine, MA, MFT
www.TheGoToMom.TV
May 24, 2007
On Wednesday, May 23, 2007 Baby Manager was the featured Cover Story on KEYE-42, the local CBS news station’s 5:00 pm news. Originally they were scheduled to do the interview on Thursday, May 17 but as luck would have it, they had to reschedule. Thank goodness, because as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, my son was home sick Tuesday-Thursday of last week. They ended up coming out Monday, May 21 which gave us time to clean up the house 
and make sure everyone was reasonably in good health.
It felt good to be back in the limelight again even if for a few minutes and it felt even better that the reporter, Elizabeth Dannheim, did such a great job producing the story! For not being a parent or a PDA/Smartphone user, she asked very relevant questions. She and her team did a wonderful job at pulling the whole story together. Maybe by the time she decides she wants a baby we will have convinced her to get a Smartphone. 
To me the most amazing thing about the interview was that our kids behaved nearly perfectly. They wanted some shots of me playing with the kids and the kids cooperated wonderfully. They were polite and took turns playing with the toys….often it’s a grab fest with each of them shouting ‘it’s my turn!’ Their good behavior (for me) was the highlight of the interview. I was thankful for the exposure for Babble Soft and Baby Manager but I was even more thankful for looking like a ‘mom whose kids listened to her’ (i.e., a good mom) for a little while (on TV no less) and that feeling was priceless! Maybe we should have a TV crew in our house all of the time.
Needless to say, I gave them a bunch of hugs & kisses and promised them some ice cream after dinner. When dinner time came around, our son reminded me that I had told him he could have ice cream and my daughter started getting the illness that our son had last week so she was home sick two days this week. The wonderful ups and downs of parenthood…. 
