Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

Abstract

p id="db15">For example, my husband put a stop to my way of trying to get our son to eat his meals and stop being fussy because it just wasn’t working. After a certain period of time of him implementing his own way of doing things, which was firmer and stricter than I would’ve liked, I started to see some changes in my son and how he would sit down to eat the entire plate of food in front of him.</p><p id="21fa">Now, Andriel looks forward to sitting down next to his parents and mostly eats his entire plate, including the veg. My husband was right, and I was wrong — at least for a period of time (because no one knows the future and kids are unpredictable!)</p><p id="60fc"><b>But my husband didn’t say “I told you so”.</b> He didn’t discredit me as a mother, even if I did question my own decision making. He understood that being wrong is not a bad thing, and also, that <b>I wasn’t “wrong” to begin with</b>. Some things work, and some things don’t work for our children. And some things work for a while and then need to be changed. And that’s OK.</p><p id="4e9d">Parenting, while continuous, is flexible.</p><p id="ec93"><a href="https://readmedium.com/how-to-successfully-wing-it-d39222a3d808">And we are all winging it.</a></p><h1 id="101b">Lowering Expectations Is Empowering</h1><p id="cde5">I have this constant need as the main caregiver to simply know what to do and get it right — especially after all the research I do on many aspects of parenting. But the thing is, it is only because of my own expectations that we get upset when things don’t work out. We paint a picture of how things will go, and when they don’t go our way, we self-criticise.</p><p id="3b33">Recently, I have been struggling to make the decision of whether to send our son to daycare. Because of the recent lockdowns, I feared that he wasn’t getting enough social stimulation and he needed to spend more time with other children. We decided to send him to a local nursery two mornings a week.</p><p id="fec8">But that wasn’t my only reason for wanting to send him there. I also needed more time to really step up my game as a writer, begin marketing myself and really work on my book.</p><p id="fa4a">But I’m tired of questioning myself, and <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-to-get-what-you-want-1973fd008ecb">since taking the road to self-care</a> in order to be a better mother and person, I decided that my reasons were as good as any to send Andriel to daycare at the age of 27 months.</p><p id="d466">It has only been a few weeks, and so far, he does not look forward to going there. I feel in fact he has become shier and clingier than usual. This makes me question once again whether what I am doing is right, and whether the caregivers at the centre are doing right by my son.</p><p id="93a8"><b>I’m ready to assign blame and judge because this is what we do as people growing up in today’s society.</b></p><div id="5778" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/learning-to-enjoy-motherhood-guilt-free-966e7fa38d58"> <div> <div> <h2>Learning To Enjoy Motherhood Guilt-Free</h2> <div><h3>undefined</h3></div> <div><p>undefined</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*o44YftcYVXjSo_va)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="d0f8">But I have to remember that it will solve nothing. I need to readjust my expectations and remind myself that everything takes time and that obstacles are all part of the journey, including my son’s settling in time at daycare.</p><p id="1231">He will get there because he is a strong and sociable little boy. He will be fine because he will still have an abundance of love at home waiting for him when he gets back and throughout the rest of the week. But I cannot decide how and when he will be running happily into nursery in the mornings — that’s a picture I need to let go of, but treasure if it happens.</p><p id="b15a">Sometimes, it

Options

is our expectations that need change, not our circumstances. We have to be OK with hiccups in parenting. Rather, we need not see them as hiccups, but as part of the process of bringing up children. After all, we are only human.</p><h1 id="7806">Takeaway</h1><figure id="facf"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*0ZLtDIAU40LQtOeo"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@drezart?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Andrae Ricketts</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><p id="f3a0">I believe in a mother’s instinct, but I don’t believe in the expectation that it will be there when we need it. If that expectation isn’t met then we will be more than ready to assign blame, and it won’t help us grow as parents or as individuals. In fact, I think that the constant need to meet these expectations is what causes us to feel like a failure at some point in our lives.</p><p id="b5d4">Instead, I recommend a more supportive plan, where advice can be handed out without coming across as all-knowing and dismissive of the parent. We can learn not to feel offended at others’ suggestions in the same way that others can learn not to be judgemental. I advise that others do get involved in taking care of kids, in a non-judgemental “I-told-you-so” way when the main interest is that of the child — not of themselves.</p><p id="1680">Most importantly, we have to learn that <b>mistakes are normal</b>, and most of the time, they’re not life-threatening. We are all human after all, and that makes us susceptible to countless errors over the course of time. In modern parenting, most parents are learning not to scold their kids when they make mistakes because it’s detrimental to their confidence building. <i>We should take that same approach with ourselves and other adults.</i></p><p id="93d5">So, let’s cut ourselves a little slack, and lower that pressure to get it right. Nobody is born a parent with experience.</p><div id="2a67" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/redefining-the-concept-of-happiness-16e5524c2b2d"> <div> <div> <h2>Redefining the Concept of Happiness</h2> <div><h3>How I’m learning about fulfilment from my toddler son.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*6xDaJcMnjn9r6Bow)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="88c4" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/my-battle-with-anger-as-a-parent-24e7837c5fac"> <div> <div> <h2>My Battle With Anger As a Parent</h2> <div><h3>Ensuring our son feels loved regardless of our feelings.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*Me4slkvdZGGCbsbjqQ_7bg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="c95b" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/my-husband-is-a-damn-good-father-de20d1ef2217"> <div> <div> <h2>My Husband Is A Damn Good Father</h2> <div><h3>And he deserves praise.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*Oqw-YSI_IVOLn-k0)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="7dcc"><b><i>Sylvia Emokpae, thinker and philosopher, is passionate about self-love, relationships, and motherhood. <a href="https://medium.com/@sylviaemokpae">See more work like this</a>.</i></b></p><p id="f728"><a href="https://twitter.com/SylviaEmokpae"><b>Follow her</b></a><b> on Twitter.</b></p></article></body>

All About Cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula

More than just tourist attractions

The geological origin of the Yucatan Peninsula

The Yucatan Peninsula (YP) is a massive limestone platform located in southeastern Mexico that is most famous for its karst and its submerged cave systems.

The formation of the YP back to around 2 to 65 million years ago (Ma) when the continent slowly rose from the seafloor of a shallow ocean [1].

**Yucatan peninsula location (green).** Image by Kaldari. Taken and modified from commons.wikimedia.org via Creative Commons.

Most of the younger cave systems were formed during the Pleistocene as a result of the changing climatic conditions between the interglacial and ice age periods.

During interglacial periods, the sea-level rise and there was an accumulation of large amounts of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) due to the presence of coral reefs that gave rise to the limestone platform.

During ice age periods, the sea level dropped and the platform was exposed to the surface erosion processes. The rainwater and the vegetation that grew on the platform allowed the production and transport of carbonic acid that slowly dissolved the limestone rock.

The planet’s cycles of cold and warm periods occurred at intervals of approximately 40,000 to 100,000 years and allowed for the continual formation and dissolution of limestone, eventually giving rise to today’s huge subterranean cave systems.

**Karst landforms** **are created by a chemical breakdown of calcium carbonate by carbon dioxide enriched water.**

What is a cenote?

The sinkholes (dolines) are locally known as “cenotes”. This word comes from the Spanish transformation of the Mayan word dzono’ot, which can be translated as “water-filled cavity”.

Caves and cenotes are similar geographical features. Local people can use the term cenote to refer to a cave entrance or any water body that may, or not, be inside a cave.

From a physiographic viewpoint, a cenote is defined as any karst landform to which the water table has reached. And so, if a cave is filled with water, it can be considered a cenote [2].

**A close cenote.** Photo by Mathilde Langevin on Unsplash

Cenotes are naturally produced by the collapse of limestone bedrock and can be classified according to the stages of their formation between cave-type cenotes (jar-shaped or cylindrical) and open cenotes (plate-shaped) [2].

In younger cenotes, the water is well interconnected with the aquifer through cave passages, fractures, and dissolution features. In older cenotes, there is a slow flow and turnover due to sedimentation and blocking of the water source.

**Formation of cenotes, from early stages (a, b, c) to late stages (d, e, f).** Light blue corresponds to the freshwater layer, dark blue corresponds to the saltwater layer, and the pointed line corresponds to the halocline. Illustration adapted from Hall 1936 [3].

The ecohydrological role of the submerged cave systems

Since limestone is highly porous and permeable, rainwater passes quickly through the ground into the aquifer. This makes the YP one of the largest groundwater reserves in the world [1].

Cave systems are crucial to the health of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, as they are regional freshwater drainage conduits that are involved in moving large volumes of water inland to the Caribbean Sea.

The YP aquifer not only supports the highly diverse terrestrial ecosystems such as mangroves and rainforests, but is also the second-largest barrier reef ecosystem in the world [4, 5].

The ecological importance of cenotes

Cenotes can be found in large numbers throughout the YP and are important components of the landscape as they have distinctive vegetation and aquatic diversity [2].

Since there are no surface rivers, cenotes become the primary freshwater source for wildlife and humans.

They can be seen as an oasis inside the jungle that provides the water needed for many different terrestrial species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and birds [2, 6, 7, 8].

**An open cenote.** Photo by Hayley Titheradge on Unsplash

Caves and cenotes are used as habitats for many species. For example, predators can use them to hunt.

Jaguars (Panthera onca) take advantage of their night vision and wait in the darkness for unsuspecting prey, such as peccaries (Dicotyles tajacu), that go into caves looking for some freshwater.

It is very common to find animal footprints and bones in any cave of the YP.

**Jaguar.** Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

**Collared Peccary.** Picture by Cburnett. Taken from commons.wikimedia.org via Creative Commons.

The caves are also refuges for many species of bats that provide different ecosystem services such as pollination, pest control, and seed dispersal.

The vegetation associated with the cenotes is an important feeding habitat for insectivorous bats, which are crucial for agricultural activities [9, 10].

**Pteronotus personatus**. Photo by Bernard DUPONT. Taken from flickr.com via Creative Commons.

Bats are also important components for the transport of energy and matter from the surface to subterranean ecosystems. Bat guano sustains fragile underground food webs that have little or no primary productivity.

Submerged cave systems of YP are home to many unique aquatic endemic species that are strictly subterranean (Stygobites) and have a relatively high diversity of crustaceans compared to other regions of the world [11].

There are more than 43 different species of stygobiont crustaceans and two species of blind fish [12].

**Typhlatya spp.** Photo by Olinka Cortéz (posted with permission).

Ecological issues of the Yucatan Peninsula

Cave systems took a long time to form and have been there since before we became established as a society (or even a species).

The development of caves continues to occur nowadays even if we do not perceive it. This, in turn, represents several challenges for the people who live in YP.

It is difficult to build large structures on limestone because it is so brittle. Practically every year a new cenote is born on the highways due to the collapse of the floor [check out this new].

**Walking through the streets of Mérida.** Photo by Ivan Cervantes on Unsplash

Limestone also makes groundwater resources vulnerable to contamination since the soil has little or no filtering effect. In some parts of the YP, such as Mérida, aquifer pollution is already an alarming problem [13, 14].

Along with these problems, there is a need to rethink our vision of development so as not to compromise the integrity of natural resources and the well-being of the people who live there.

You can find more information about the cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula in the following links [1, 2, 6, 9, 10].

Let me know your opinion in the comments.

If you enjoy reading stories like these and want to support me as a writer, you can follow me on Medium.

You can also get your Medium Membership through my referral link.

See also:

The Groundwater of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula

Paradise under threat

medium.com

Problems With the Sargassum in the Mexican Caribbean Sea

How should we deal with these massive algal blooms?

medium.com