By Jessica Watson

Life after loss with autism, preemies and a rainbow baby

  • Work with me
  • Our Autism
  • Hadley’s Story
You are here: Home / Musings of Motherhood / Lost in translation

Lost in translation

By Jessica

Being outnumbered by small children lends itself to a particular phenomenon that I have a hard time putting into words.

Since it’s hard to explain I thought I would give it a semi-creative title, create a barely-fancy illustration and share a story to cover all my bases.

Lost In Translation

kids flowchart

When I had three kids all under age four, a trip to Target provided the perfect example of the Lost In Translation phenomenon:

(Walking through toy aisles to pick out something small to keep everyone happy that usually turns into something gimongous to keep everyone from crying.)

Child 1 (almost 2 y/o): Look Areo!

Me: Oh from The Little Mermaid, that’s Ari…

Child 2 (4 y/o): That’s not Areo that’s Ariolo.

Me: No, her name is A...

Child 3 (4 y/o and perceived expert on the subject): Boys, her name is Areola.

Child 1 & 2 nodding approvingly: Can we get Areola? We WUV Areola!

Child 3: Yes, we want Areola, Mom.

Me (steering towards dollar aisle): Guys, we are not getting Ariel.

Child 3: (Shaking her head at me disdainfully) Mommy, we want AREOLA not Ariel.

Me: U-turn grab Ariel/Areola, exit aisle left straight to the nursing supplies because all this boob talk has my weaning-self leaking breast milk from the toy department to the baby aisle.

If Ariel had absorbent hair I could have used her to mop of the trail up breast milk she was responsible for.

mckenna shopping

Comments

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments

11 Comments Filed Under: Musings of Motherhood


Comments

  1. Lanie says

    August 8, 2013 at 9:26 pm

    Love the creative title. I too did not struggle with milk production. In fact, I tried to donate all the milk I had pumped for Jake but it was not accepted b/c I had a c-section and had drugs in my system.

    Reply
  2. Julia says

    August 6, 2013 at 3:42 pm

    Hehe, love this!! xo

    Reply
  3. Alison says

    August 6, 2013 at 6:10 am

    Tis a great cause!
    And tits a good story!
    Er, I mean, “it’s”. 🙂

    Reply
    • Jessica says

      August 6, 2013 at 1:42 pm

      And it’s comments like this that are why you are such a good writer ;).

      Reply
  4. Erin@MommyontheSpot says

    August 5, 2013 at 8:08 pm

    I love the Lost in Translation illustration. Also, I was not aware of the International Breast Milk Project. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  5. Leslie @ The Bearded Iris says

    August 5, 2013 at 7:53 pm

    This post is sheer perfection, Jessica. Short, sweet, real, and super funny. Love your fierce “I have zero interest in the breast vs. bottle debate” ending too. #badass

    Reply
    • Jessica says

      August 6, 2013 at 1:44 pm

      Such a compliment coming from you (especially the “super funny” part). I hate all the mom-debates, I all for the just do what you need to do to keep everyone happy and healthy method.

      Reply
  6. Alexa (katbiggie) says

    August 5, 2013 at 3:50 pm

    I love this post. Had me laughing all the way through. And that is a great program to promote. I also struggled with production. Literally pumped til I bled one night, but by GOD my babies were gonna get breast milk. I could have used a program like this!

    Reply
    • Jessica says

      August 6, 2013 at 1:44 pm

      I didn’t struggle with production but remember many NICU moms who did. I used to want to offer them some of mine but I thought they might be offended :).

      Reply
  7. that cynking feeling says

    August 5, 2013 at 2:25 pm

    I was one of those moms who didn’t produce milk. I’m not sure if I would have sought out a donor program, but I think this is a wonderful project for those who do feel strongly about breast over bottle.

    Reply
    • Jessica says

      August 6, 2013 at 1:46 pm

      Fortunately milk production was the one thing I didn’t struggle with but I knew many NICU moms who did. I think it’s great to have so many options no matter what moms decide to do.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow me

  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok
  • Twitter

Get By Jessica Watson by email

* indicates required

Click for posts about…

autism tab

grief tab

teen parenthood

My Etsy Shop

Personalized sympathy gifts for the grieving including "The Stone" in cards and print.

The Stone in print

The Stone poster
The Stone poster
by Jessica Watson

Favorite Posts

  • A musical life
  • Always be you
  • It's not permanent
  • My One
  • The Stone

Posts by month

The BEST options for your blog!

Copyright © 2026 · WordPress · Log in