Am I really the full quid?

Blue milk recently had a very sensible discussion about research into "baby brain", discussing various political implications of this kind of research. There was a lot of indignation at the suggestion that there is something "wrong" with the brains of pregnant and post-partem women, which I don't feel is entirely misplaced.

However, I have to ask myself, is my brain really working correctly when, after being greeted this morning with 2 farts and spit bubbles, I went all warm and runny inside and said "Hello beautiful"? I mean really.

A little more pondering on the serious side of this, though, has made me think of two aspects that blue milk's discussion didn't mention (at least the last time I looked). Firstly, in favour of such research, I suspect many women find comfort in the fact that there is a very real effect on their brain, it isn't their imagination. It's not just an emotional defect or some such. I feel better that there is a reason my near perfect conversation recall has degenerated to be patchy, and occasionally even inaccurate. Before I had kids, I never misremembered a conversation. I might have forgotten it completely, but if I remembered it, I remembered it verbatim. Now I misremember them. A terrible loss. I *like* having a scientific reason for that.

On the other hand, in the interest of defending baby brained women every where, my memory has only degenerated to be about the same or slightly better than most men I know. In the "things women generally do better" category, memory is well and truly a front runner. It is very important this kind of study is understood to be comparing women with their previous selves, and not with the rest of the population. We don't become inferior to men, just slightly less superior. :)

To change the subject completely, last night we had a truly fantastic dinner. Not measured by the superiority of the food, but by family success metrics. We had kebabs made with pork and pineapple, with capsicum added for me, and capsicum and mushroom added for Crash. A marinade based on spare rib sauce provided the flavour. A very, very basic salad accompanied. Ben ate absolutely everything, including FOUR kebabs. Charlie cheerfully ate two kebabs, ALL his carrot and corn and (drum roll please) a piece of cucumber! There were choruses of "Yummy dinner" throughout. It was all healthy, and even Elissa sat (read slouched) in her high chair allowing 2 handed eating on my part. Wow. Good times.