Outdoor blogging...
It's a lovely day in the back yard. Sarah returned to school today after her week off (and visiting tons of people). I'm glad to have the routine back but also look forward to summer vacation. I think we're going to buy a pass to Independence Lake since it is close and clean and fun. Looking forward to days in the sun, swimming. And also to gardening.
Over the past few days I have hacked down, chopped and bundled what feels like a small forest. Our yard is the breeding ground of impudent maples. I've come to hate them. They're everywhere and very tough to pull up. I also tried my hand at pruning our forsythia bushes thanks to Ypsidixits blog post and words on pruning those beasts. For some reason, it had never occurred to me to prune them. Most likely because one of them is the same shape as a Hostess coconut cake (one of those pink, breast-like orbs), and the kids love to play underneath it. But now that I've pruned them, they look much better and I like them much more. Who knew?
Eamon just made me laugh out loud. He found a bright yellow Peep half-smashed on his little picnic table and said proudly: "Mama! Cheeeeese!" I said, "No, that's a Peep."
"No! Cheese!" Okay then. I think Kraft makes something they call cheese that closely resembles a Peep.
So I'm having thoughts of drastically reducing what is known in this area as a midwife's fee for homebirth full-spectrum care.
I want to do this not to be nasty and competetive to other midwives but rather, because I know a lot of people who would love to have midwifery care and homebirths but can't afford it. It's this conundrum of good, honest folks not being able to afford the care they want. So (as usual), only the wealthy get it. I don't like that. And I don't want to be a part of causing it either.
I want to serve well, people like me. I wouldn't have been able to afford the full fee when I had E. I got the Apprentice's Discount.
So I'm feeling a bit like an anarchist here. I need to talk to some people about this. I'm afraid of pissing off some. I ran it by Greg and he was all for it, which kind of surprised me. He told me to go even lower than what I suggested. We'll see.
All right off to make dinner. I'm making those yummy rice/corn cakes with spicey black beans for dinner. Greg and Sarah are being seasonal carnivores and have been BBQ-ing every day. We go through this every summer, then they're both virtual vegetarians.
posted by Mid-life Midwife at
5:00 PM
2 Comments:
That is great that you can lower your rate, we were lucky enough that my midwife was COVERED BY OUR INSURANCE (gasp. choke.... how did that happen?) In fact she was paid more by our insurance than we would have had to pay.
I have never seen a forsythia, I thought it was a word madeup by the band Veruca Salt... hmmmm must google that!
Thanks for the input on my "tmi" because I was feeling quite crappy about it.
11:48 AM
The name forsythia is so pretty, but it comes from William Forsyth, "American botanist," which isn't such an elegant name. It's not musical, anyway. Always funny to me.
A person needing bright color can cut forsythia branches in January or February and soak 'em a couple of hours in tepid bathwater, place them in a vase, and have yellow blooming flowers inside to brighten wintertime.
As for the outdoor blogging: blissful surroundings and some peace of mind sure suit your writing.
I think you might like to see the new film with Joan Cusack, Jennifer Aniston, and others, playing at the Michigan Theater--and I never remember the title--and chuckle at the part when Jennifer A's character comes down on her price. (I hope it will seem funny under the circumstances.) I wish I knew more about the business end to offer a helpful thought about the whole fee issue. (Okay, one anecdotal thing: my friend told me about his friend, a photographer, who was getting overwhelmed and needed to cut back on work, and he was so fed up he felt he had nothing to lose to do it by raising his rates [considerably, so they were to him sort of ridiculously high], figuring people would go elsewhere. Instead, he got much more work. You're not greedy, and I know you want to give people without plenty of money a way to have a safe, fantastic, midwived birth, but I figured I'd mention it. I don't think the photographer was greedy either, but he was up against peculiar human nature--or U.S. nature?!)
9:21 PM
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