Motherthink

Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?

2008-09-26T11:44:00.001-05:00

This YouTube video has a pretty clear explanation of how we got in this current mess, AND which party is the most to blame.

Funny Satire Blog

2008-07-29T19:41:00.001-05:00

I just found this hilarious blog - it's probably not so funny if you've never lived in Utah, but check it out anyway. It pokes fun at Mormon mommy blogs (in a nice way).

Evil

2008-07-07T12:11:00.004-05:00

It's happening everywhere - women being killed without remorse for the supposed honor of their families. Obviously, it happens frequently in the Middle East and the Muslim parts of Africa. After my experiences in Europe, I'm not surprised that it is happening more often there either. And now these evil philosophies of the devil are finding their way to America. I wonder how much play this story is going to get in the major media outlets? Will there be the same coverage that Stacey Petersen got? Or Lacey Peterson? Or that girl vacationing in Aruba (can't remember her name)? I bet not.

Satan sure has many different ways of attacking the family. Encouraging men to treat women like dirt has got to be one of the worst.

Blue Potatoes

2008-07-07T09:16:00.001-05:00

Look what I found at the Stuarts Draft farmer's market - new blue potatoes for 99 cents a pound! They're actually purple on the inside. I roasted them with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and they were very tasty. I poked around online, and found recipes for red, white, and blue potato salad. They also had new Yukon gold potatoes, which are super good, too.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary or Testing the Limits

2008-07-02T12:30:00.004-05:00

Last night at bedtime:

K: I wanna go to bed.

Mom: Okay, let's go brush your teeth first.

K: Nooo, I don't want to brush my teeth.

Mom: (feeling rather tired) Okay, just go to bed.

K: NOOOO, I don't want to get cavities and have to go to the dentist.

Last Day of School

2008-06-05T12:10:00.003-05:00

Every year on the last day of school, the teachers at the elementary school across the street give a very enthusiastic good-bye to the kids. Our neighbors brought out some watermelon, and we all sat under a tree and enjoyed the send-off.

2008-06-04T11:41:00.000-05:00

Went to Target this morning. M is turning out to be a bad shopper. Lots of crying, cause she wants to get out of the cart and run away from me. So by the time we got out to the car, and I got everyone loaded in, we were ready to be home. Then I realized that I had left my purchases inside the store. Grrrrr.

Sniff, sniff

2008-06-04T11:38:00.000-05:00

I have a great sense of smell. There's not much that escapes me in this department. When I was a kid I would smell the clothes that I opened up on Christmas morning and know which store they came from. I really ought to figure out a way to get paid for this talent of mine. I'm sure if I lived in a big city I could get a job testing perfume or something, except it would probably bother my allergies.

Anyway, about a week ago, I went visiting teaching to the home of an older couple. We went down in their basement, cause I had the girls with me, and they have a cool playhouse down there. So as soon as we get down the stairs I smelled an obvious smell of natural gas. I commented on it, and suggested that they call the gas company, but I could tell they didn't quite believe me. I know that sometimes older people lose their sense of smell, so my next plan was to talk to some of their children and get them to get on their parents to get it taken care of.

Well, last night she calls to tell me that she was thinking about what I said and decided to call the gas company. Sure enough, the gas man found three or four very small leaks. He couldn't smell them either, but his detector picked up on it. He told them that I must have a very good sense of smell.

Motherly Sympathy

2008-06-03T18:56:00.002-05:00

It's possible that I don't have enough of it. Yesterday the girls and I were out in the yard, and S was barefoot, as she often is (I am totally in favor of letting kids go barefoot). She comes limping over to me at one point crying about her foot. So I take a look, and see a little thorn, and pull it out. She continues to whine and cry about it for about an hour, and beg for a band-aid. Now S used to be a very tough kid who could shake off most any injury, but lately she has turned very whiney - perhaps it's a five-year-old-thing. Anyway, that's my defense. So I continue to tell her to be brave, that it's no big deal, etc.

Then, I notice that our lawn, which consists mostly of clover, has quite a few bees in it . . . . and I realize that she had stepped on a bee! That explains why the thorn looked so odd - it was really a stinger. Oops!

Food Court Musical

2008-04-03T08:11:00.001-05:00

This is so funny!

Our Society and Culture Today

2008-04-01T18:48:00.000-05:00

FOXNews.com - 3rd Graders Plotted to Kill Teacher

I'm so glad I'm not in the classroom anymore. There is no pay raise big enough to compensate teachers for the way they are treated.

Garden Time!

2008-03-19T19:06:00.003-05:00

I love this time of year! After anxiously studying the ground for days, today I finally saw some little teeny plants coming up. They're either kale or spinach - I can't remember which I planted where, and they're too small to tell the difference. It's been raining all afternoon, so by tomorrow there should be lots more stuff popping up. I cannot wait to eat some yummy homegrown lettuce (buttercrunch is our favorite), and peas. There is just no comparison when it comes to the taste, especially with peas. No matter how much you are willing to pay, you cannot go to the store and buy fresh peas picked that day from the garden. I've never seen them in a farmer's market either, although I suppose it's possible. So even though peas take a ton of space for what you get, we grow them. They taste like heaven! Last year I had to fight the girls to keep them from eating them all straight out of the garden. Someday, when we have a big yard and big garden, maybe I'll let them!

Digging around in the dirt is therapeutic. It's hard to feel depressed if you're on your knees with your hands in cool, dark soil tending to plants. I think the key to enjoying it is to not have more garden than you can handle, because then it just becomes a chore. We use the square foot method, which is so much easier than the traditional row method. It takes up way less space, no rototiller is needed, and it cuts way back on weeding. Who wants to spend all their time weeding? Uggh.

Here's a pic of our garden last spring. This was probably about a month after I had a c-section, so I was doing NOTHING outside related, and J didn't have much time to spend on it either. But it still looked good! This year, I am so happy to be in good health and able to get outside.

Praying to the Porcelain God

2008-03-14T15:16:00.002-05:00

There's nothing like the stomach flu to make mundane household tasks seem positively exciting. It also gives me a reminder not to take good health for granted.

Time Change

2008-03-10T19:31:00.003-05:00

I really hate time change. I'm ready to move to Arizona, or wherever they don't do it, except I don't want to move there. I think it is so unnecessary, and even detrimental to be messing around with everyone's internal clocks twice a year. I think they've even done studies on it, but I don't need to read about a study. All I have to do is observe my children. Tonight, K threw one raging tantrum after another. Really, they blended so seamlessly I'll have to call it one giant tantrum. She was so out of control for so little reason that Jeryl and I couldn't help but laugh. I even took some video of her, but she only had her underwear on, so I don't think I'll post it.

Tetris

2008-03-07T12:58:00.002-05:00

I just got to level 20 on Tetris, with 169, 799 points! Level 20! Now I feel a sense of pride mixed with a lot of shame.

Sick of Suess

2008-03-05T18:08:00.003-05:00

Took the girls to storytime at the library time. I was disappointed to see that the theme was the tiresome Dr. Suess. I should have known, since the newspaper is full of the annual Dr. Suess birthday celebrations throughout the community and schools. I'm tired of it! He's not the only children's author out there! Why does his birthday get so overcelebrated every year? I mean, come on, EVERY YEAR? It's not reasonable. It's boring. Even if I actually liked his books, it would still be too much. It's kind of like if the Relief Society had a birthday party celebrating its founding every year. Oh, wait, we do . . . and now I'm in charge of it.

Sleep

2008-03-04T20:00:00.003-05:00

M took two naps today. They both were at an appropriate time, and were of an acceptable length. For both of these naps, I did NOT have to breastfeed her to sleep, and she did NOT cry. I laid her down and she went right to sleep! Bedtime also went perfectly. None of this should be anything to brag about, since she is ELEVEN months old, but sadly, it is a big deal! I think that this is the first time that it has ever happened! Not counting her first few weeks, when she would not wake up, even to eat, (and wasn't gaining enough weight, and I about died of stress), she has been the biggest stinker about napping! I had my other two on such good schedules, and they went down happily to nap, but M has really tested the limits! It's hard to believe that she is the same baby who wouldn't wake up as an infant. But the last few days, I have seen a gradual trend towards more normal sleep behaviour. Of course, time change (a big pet peeve of mine) is coming this weekend, and will probably ruin all of my efforts.

Now if she would just sleep through the night tonight . . . That's the next big battle.

Fire Restaurant Therapy

2008-02-27T13:24:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago we splurged and took the girls out to eat at a local Japanese restaurant, Massaki, where they cook the food in front of you on a large grill. The chef tosses knives, juggles eggs, and even has flames shoot off the grill five feet high. It's an entertaining show. We thought the kids would enjoy it. Well . . . S liked it, Marina was indifferent, and K was terrified. She was fine with everything but the fire. He only did it twice, but that was two times too many for her. She was crying so hard I had to take her out twice to try to calm her down. Fortunately, the place was almost empty. She ate one shrimp, one bite of rice, and spent the last half of the meal cowering under the table sobbing. I felt kind of bad about it, but we weren't about to leave and waste all that money!

Ever since then, she talks about it a lot, as in, "I don't want to go to the fire restaurant anymore." No worries. We won't be doing that again anytime soon.

Well, right now she's got her toy food and dishes out, and is playing restaurant. She says she is a cooker-man, and is pretending to make fire. I pretended to be a crying child, much to my daughters' amusement.

The Biggest Criers

2008-02-26T21:55:00.002-05:00

Just watched The Biggest Loser. I've never seen so much crying from a bunch of men. These guys were sobbing like babies. Pretty impressive, really, especially considering that it's all in front of cameras. I wonder how much flak these guys are going to get when they're back home with their buddies.

Wild Monkey

2008-02-25T19:33:00.003-05:00

I took S to the doctor this afternoon. As visits go, it was average. I've had much worse. Had to wait half an hour - most of it in the examining room (the worst place to wait). S and K's behavior was decent. But M is at the worst age! She was dying to get down and crawl around, and so the whole trip was a wrestling match between her and me. It was like holding a wild monkey. I'm not that paranoid about dirt and germs - I don't mind kids crawling outside if they're in old clothes. But I'm not too keen on examining room floors at 4:30 in the afternoon. Who knows how many gross things have been spilt, leaked, or dropped on them in the course of the day? Plus, I didn't have her in old clothes, because I always feel like I have to make an impression of motherly competence on the doctor.

I know when I take her back for her one year check up I'll have to give and let her explore; today was about all I could take. She kept head butting me in the chest. Hard. In case you don't know how that works: baby leans forward, bending at the waist, and then quickly slams her head back on you.

I've seen parents holding babies and toddlers older than M is, who are content to just sit on their parents' laps. It just amazes me. Once I saw my friend Missy hold her little boy, who was over one year at the time, on her lap for over an hour. He hardly even tried to get down. I could hardly believe it. None of mine have been that way.

Starting Young

2008-02-24T20:51:00.001-05:00

As the missionaries were leaving our house this evening, K opens her arms wide, and says, "Hugs and kisses!"

Stinky Gas

2008-02-22T10:31:00.002-05:00

No, not that kind. I'm talking about gasoline. I've heard some people actually like the smell, and I know some "headed-for-a-life-of-underachievement" adolescents like to sniff it, but I detest the smell of the stuff.
Last night, I went to get gas (in the aforementioned snow "storm") and stepped in a puddle of gasoline someone had spilled. Then without thinking, I grabbed the pump handle, which was also covered. I had to throw my glove away, and suffered with smelly shoes the rest of the evening. Next month, I wouldn't be surprised if the people we visit teach won't let me come back! I'm sad about the gloves; they only cost $1, but I really liked them.

Southern Drivers

2008-02-21T21:14:00.002-05:00

Why are people so darn afraid to drive in a little bit of snow? This evening I went out visiting teaching, and my dear friend (who shall remain nameless) was very uneasy because it had begun snowing/sleeting. Just a little dusting. It wasn't sticking to the roads. And if snow does start to stick to the roads, it usually takes at least a few hours before it becomes impassable, and you're stuck and forced to eat the crumbs in the carseats to survive. At least that's the way it is in Virginia. I'm well aware that there are parts of the country where conditions can become bad quickly. But this is Virginia. It's been years since we've even had a decent 12 inch snow. But an awful lot of people around here, who are old enough to have had some snow driving experience, are convinced that they will slide right off the road as soon as snow sticks.

I was born and raised in Virginia, and in a part of the state that gets less snow than here, but my parents are Northerners. I guess they imparted their "don't let a little snow stop life" attitude to me. So people, listen up: If there is some snow on the roads, don't panic. Just drive a more slowly and allow plenty of braking room. (Ice is a different story, however, so learn to tell the difference between the two.) Think of the millions of people who live farther north, and still go on with work and school even when it snows! If they can do it, so can we!

Not again

2008-02-21T11:47:00.002-05:00

Apparently, we may get yet another ice storm tomorrow. For some reason this winter weather has been happening on Fridays a lot, which means S misses her dance class. She's missed two already, and she gets so disappointed. Hubby and I aren't thrilled, partly because we don't like to see her sad, but partly because we paid an arm and a leg for these classes! We want our money's worth!

Sisterly Love

2008-02-18T21:02:00.002-05:00

My two oldest daughters are only 3 and 5, and they have already had their first fight over clothing! It was partly my fault. Back before Christmas, their grandmother gave me some clothes to give the girls for Christmas. One of the items was a fancy looking skirt. I thought it would fit K, so I wrapped it up for her. I was wrong; too large. She wore it once, and it kept falling down. So yesterday before church, S needs something to wear, and I pulled out K's skirt and asked her if S could wear it. That was my mistake - I should have never had such a crazy idea involving love and sharing. K had a fit, shrieking that it was hers. S, wanting to wear it, starts wailing because K doesn't want her to. In the end, I got K to give in, and everyone was mostly happy.

Even though I have five sisters, I never had to share clothing, since we were so rich my parents bought us more clothes than we could wear. Oh wait, that was just my fantasy. Really, my next youngest sister is six years younger than me, so I was out of the house before she caught up to me in size.

Baby Blue Jean Blues

2008-02-15T08:28:00.002-05:00

Grumble! Once again, I have a child who is changing sizes mid-winter. And of course, the stores have all switched to spring clothing. In February. She needs long sleeves and pants! And the size that I need is 12 months, and apparently that is more scarce than say, 3T or 3 months. Like at Target, they have infant clothing that goes from 0-9 mths, and then they have toddler clothing that goes from 24 mths - 5T. There's not much in that mystery land of 12-18 months. Why not?! So I am having great difficulty finding anything for her to wear. At Target last week, I literally saw a father put two pairs of 12 m pants in his cart. The last two in the store! Wal-mart has two tables of boys winter clothes marked down to $1, but nothing for girls in 12 months. If only I had had the foresight last month to get her some stuff when I caught the fabulous Jan. clearance sale at Old Navy. But she's a slow grower, and I didn't think ahead . . .

So last night, after a hospital visit, J and I rushed in to Old Navy in Charlottesville before they closed. They did have a few winter things left, and even a few spring things in long sleeve. The prices weren't quite what I would have liked, but beggars can't be choosers. And now back to the title of this post - they mostly had just shirts. I found one pair of sweats that don't match that well with the shirts, and there were racks and racks of adorable baby blue jeans. WARNING to new parents: blue jeans might look fetching on the rack, but they are usually a poor choice for babies. Fat, chubby babies need soft, elastic waist, easy-on, leggings or stretchy pants. Jeans end up looking funny, are hard to get on, and are stiff and uncomfortable. But I bought a pair anyway, out of desperation. Tried them on this morning, and I could barely get them over her fat roly-poly thighs. Then I could hardly get them snapped. The length was just right, so going a size up wouldn't work. Back to the store they go.

Maybe we'll have an early spring.

Valentine Cake

2008-02-15T08:13:00.003-05:00

No need for a heart pan. Instead of baking two round layers, bake one round and square cake. Cut the round in half, and place the halves on the sides of the square, and you have a heart shape. I had to trim it up a bit, but that meant there were scraps for snacking.

The pink sugar kind of hides the lettering, but it gave my little helper K something to do.

Matching Food

2008-02-14T12:37:00.003-05:00

Here's what I fixed the girls for lunch today:
leftover pork loin roast
buttered whole wheat bread (homemade)
apple slices
fresh blueberries

Not a bad spread in my opinion, even if it is a little different. It covers the food groups. And I rarely buy blueberries, so that was a treat. But S informed me that "it doesn't match" and would only eat the fruit!

Valentines and Lollipops

2008-02-13T15:27:00.002-05:00

At story time today, the libarian asked the children what Valentine's Day was all about. "Lollipops!" shouts out my three year old. Ah, the simple life of a child.

During all of my single years, I think that I was dating someone only once on Valentine's Day, and by that point I was dying to break up with him. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until I was getting ready to go out with him for the evening, and I noticed that I was dreading seeing him! I didn't have the heart (haha) to dump him on V-day - how cruel would that be. So I suffered through the date. We went to a lovely, expensive, little French restaurant in Georgetown. It would have been so wonderful if I had just been with someone else! How terrible of me to say that, I know. I really don't miss those single years of disappointment much.

I'm so special.

2008-02-12T13:21:00.000-05:00

I must be a very important person. Cindy McCain called me twice last night (different topics each time), and John McCain called me today. Of course, I had already cast my vote for him by the time he called, but still it was kind of him to think of me.

Voting for a Boat

2008-02-12T11:39:00.001-05:00

Today was Virginia's Primary, and so I bundled up the girls and we walked to our polling station (local church) to do our civic duty. Just like last time, after I'm done, and we're leaving, K wants to know where the boat is. "Next week, let's go to see a boat on water," she says in such a sweet, polite voice. I had explained before we even left the house that there would be no boat, but I guess she didn't believe me. S had the same disappointment when she was three years old too. But now she's old enough to start to understand what it's all about - not boats, but picking the person you think will do the best job. It's cool to see her start to see things outside of her own little world.

Let's Have Some More Meetings!

2008-02-10T20:11:00.000-05:00

I got to go to a Relief Society Board meeting after church today! Yes, that's right, I was excited to go. I've been looking forward to it ever since I received notice of it a few weeks ago. Why? Well, by staying at church, I got to miss that whole take three tired, cranky, hungry children home from church thing. I hate that hour after church. Everyone's shrieking for food (myself included) and usually I don't have the foresight to have anything decent prepared ahead. Coats, shoes, and tights are strewn everywhere. The kitchen is still a mess from breakfast. The baby is always desperate to be nursed. It's all a real joy. For the past few years, Jeryl has had monthly after-church meetings, and sometimes been in the choir, and so I have had to do it all by myself.

But not today! My husband had to take the kids home by himself this time, while I got to stay and have a lunch meeting. I must say that I ate better than my family did, for there really was nothing much to eat (other than our food storage, of course). But Jeryl did really well. When I got home, everyone had been fed, and he had even done all of the dishes, which I usually don't get done so quickly.

2008-02-09T14:34:00.001-05:00

How come I keep losing my links and stuff on the side? Very annoying.

On Time

2008-02-08T19:40:00.000-05:00

Ever since sandal weather ended and coat and socks and shoes weather began, we have been late to S's Friday morning dance class. It starts at 10:00. I don't know what I'm going to do when she has to be at school by 8:00 next year, but I'll worry about that later. It's harder to get there by 10:00 than it is to get to church by 9:00. It's not like we sleep late either. And I'm normally a punctual person. Maybe it's because that extra hour gives me a false sense of security, and I start doing other things I don't do on Sunday mornings, like check my email . . . . The cold weather gear really does slow things down, too. That's what I hate most about winter.

Anyway, I hate rushing in late, and S even said recently that she didn't want to be the last one there anymore! Ouch. So this morning, I told myself that we had to leave the house at 9:30 (it's about 3 miles away). So we left at 9:45, and arrived early. S was confused! She could see the 9:30 class in progress on the waiting room tvs, and kept trying to go in with them. She had totally forgotten what it was like to not be late.

I'm melting . . .

2008-02-06T20:12:00.000-05:00

At the park today, it looked like it was about to rain, and since we walked, I told the girls we were leaving so as not to be caught in a downpour. K became very alarmed that it might rain on her, and walked the entire way home trying to protect her head with her hand.

It didn't rain after all. I wonder what she would have done when she found out that one hand won't keep you dry.

West Virginia McCain Supporters

2008-02-05T19:06:00.000-05:00

Today, WV delegates at the Republican convention saw that Romney was poised to win. Huckabee was second and McCain was third. So McCain supporters struck a backroom deal and all voted for Huckabee, and thus propelled him into first place, costing Romney a win.

I am disgusted!! To vote for someone you don't support just to keep someone else from winning shows a complete lack of integrity. How can people be so low? If Romney loses the nomination over these delegates, I'm just gonna be sick. I can hardly imagine how he would feel about it.

2008-02-05T13:15:00.001-05:00

I'm frustrated that I don't get to vote today! Why doesn't Virginia get with the rest of the pack? The race outcomes will likely be decided by this evening, without many Americans having had a say. I would like to have more than two candidates to choose from on Election Day.

Did you really mean to say that?

2008-02-04T13:33:00.000-05:00

Question: Is it ever a good idea to say to your eight-months-pregnant wife, "You know, your butt has gotten bigger."

Is it unreasonable to expect your wife to understand that you were paying her a compliment, because you like what pregnancy has done to her?

Well, gentle readers, it has been over five years since that ill-considered remark was made, and the matter is still under discussion. The husband now says he understands that it was a mistake to have said it, but still tries to defend himself. The wife should have known that her behind was so small before, and that there was no way that it could get too big. The wife thinks that her husband was insane to say something like that, and thinks that she showed remarkable restraint in only shedding a few tears about it.

This is Serious!

2008-02-01T12:36:00.000-05:00

Oreo quality has been compromised! They have taken out the transfats!!!

First, let me just say that I am actually quite opposed to transfats, and have been for years, even before it was the trendy. I haven't bought Crisco or margarine in years.

******power outage that lasted all afternoon**********

Secondly, I am a dessert snob. If I'm gonna eat high calorie food, it had better be good, and I don't think that 98 percent of what's sold in the store is good. Homemade-from-scratch is so much better! Not that I won't eat store stuff if it's around - I'm weak. But I try to save my calories for the good stuff.

But, Oreos, they're the other 2 percent! How delicious! How scrumptious! What melt-in-your-mouth goodness! There's some indefinable tastiness that makes me say every time I eat them, "WHAT makes these so good?!" I know it's the hydrogenated fat, but who cares? It's worth it! Definitely the best sweet you can buy at the grocery store (not counting ice cream - I am only counting desserts that you chew). I can eat a whole package in . . . a very short period of time. I pretty much have had to stop buying them very often, because I have no self-control.

But yesterday my husband bought a package on his way home from work. It's probably been months since we've had any. After supper (can't believe I waited that long), I bit in, and disappointment followed. That special something was gone. I mean, they were good, but nothing special. I grabbed the package, read the label, and sure enough, the hydrogenated oils are gone! Not even the trace kind that most manufacturers put in, and still round down to "zero transfats" on the label. And they're just not the same.

2008-01-31T20:18:00.000-05:00

Is it wrong of me to say to the girls, "Daddy's home!" when I know that really he's not? In the time that it took them to run to the living room window to look, I was able to get the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer, without so many people underfoot (M stayed - she's too little to run). And he did come home just a few minutes later.

Funny Cartoon

2008-01-31T14:40:00.001-05:00

The other day, the Waynesboro News Virginian ran a hilarious editorial cartoon. Unfortunately, I can't find a link to it online, so I'll have to try to describe it.

It showed an evening news anchor saying, "Good evening. In his State of the Union address, President Bush didn't mention our next president, Barack Obama, once. And that ends our coverage of his speech."

I actually laughed out loud when I saw that! So true! If anyone thinks that the media doesn't care who is elected, and doesn't try to put one candidate above another, well . . . .

Ice

2008-01-31T13:48:00.000-05:00

The forecast is calling for ice tonight and tomorrow morning, to be followed by high wind gusts. Aacckk! I hate ice storms, although they are beautiful. Why can't we just have regular old snow? I hate losing power, having trees come down, and being stuck at home. This will probably make S miss her Friday morning dance class for the third week in a row.

Ten Months Old

2008-01-29T12:17:00.001-05:00

Marina thinks that she is too old to take a morning nap, but I think this picture proves otherwise.

President Hinckley's Passing

2008-01-28T19:53:00.000-05:00

Nothing profound to say, except that I am happy for him! He gets to be with his wife again. Ninety-seven years is a long time to be on this earth, and being the prophet is a heavy burden to bear. I think it's safe to say that he is in a good place. The rest of us will be just fine!

Homeschooling

2008-01-27T20:14:00.000-05:00

If I had a popular blog, this post might get some people riled up, but I don't, so I don't think this will offend anyone. And that is not my intention anyway.

Sometimes for kicks, I check out the Homeschooling Blogs Carnival. I find it interesting, amusing, and even a little sad to read what the various homeschoolers out there are up to. As a former teacher, homeschooling is something that I have thought a lot about. I had already made up mind that I probably wouldn't homeschool, but if I were still on the fence, these other bloggers would have pushed me off the fence into the public school camp. Why?
1. Holier-than-thou attitudes
2. Paranoia regarding the "government monopoly" schools
3. Poor writing skills
4. It seems like many homeschoolers are just flying by the seat of their pants.
5. A lot of them take great pride in reinventing the educational wheel (waste of time).

Additionally, I've known a few homeschooling families myself. Their homes were in utter chaos, and nerves were frazzled. The kids often are just set down with worksheets - not a quality, demanding education. The mother/teachers did not have college degrees. Basically, teaching is a full-time demanding job. You can't do it all. If you have an only child, maybe. But how can you care for a baby, toddler, home, AND teach the older ones all they need to know? Someone will be shortchanged.

That said, I do sometimes feel the lure of it. I am well aware of the shortcomings of the school systems, and I know I could do so many more interesting things with my kids at home than a teacher can with them in a class of 30. Whenever I'm in the library, I look at all of the books and imagine myself reading them all with my kids. How fun! But really, I would go crazy. There's not enough time in the day to do it all properly.

However, I would homeschool under a few conditions:
1. my child needed special ed services
2. my child was miserable in school and wanted to be homeschooled
3. the school was very low-performing, dangerous, etc. (but we would try to move first)

Hopefully, I won't have to. I'm not opposed to others doing it. Just don't act self-righteous about it!

A Blankie by Any Other Color

2008-01-25T14:18:00.000-05:00

Ever seen a baby blanket that color? Probably not. This is K's precious green blankie, that I washed with a bright orange skirt I bought at one of those Indian stalls at an outdoor mall. Thank goodness I didn't wash it with anything else.

It's one of those thermal receiving blankets that you can buy most anywhere. When she was an infant, I could tell that she was wanting to get attached to something, so I encouraged her to adopt a thermal blanket, since I had several already, and they're so easy to replace. For the first two years she would take anyone of them, which was really handy. Can't find the green one at bedtime? No need to search the house over; just pull out a pink one. Left the pink one at Grandma's house three hours away? No problem - spares await at home. But by the time she was two, she foiled us by emphatically preferring the green one. A few times in the dark at night I was able to pull a switcheroo, but that's all.

So when I pulled her green blankie (or "blan-blan" as she often calls it) out of the washing machine, I was horrified. But it turned out better than I thought. At first she didn't believe me, thinking it was just another second-rate substitute. Then when I explained what happened she cried just a little. For a day, she tried to take a pink one instead. But now, she has gone back to her trusty green/orange favorite, and isn't even mad about it.

Sleep interrupted

2008-01-23T11:03:00.000-05:00

So I have sick kids, and had a bad night last night.

The first sleep interruption was at 12:45.

Then 1:45.

Then 2:45.

So when I was just dozing off AGAIN, and heard M cry, I knew without looking that it was 3:45. But I looked anyway, and I was correct to the minute! Kind of cool, but not really. The last one was at 4:30, so that blew the pattern. But still, it's weird.

Coughing

2008-01-22T08:50:00.000-05:00

S woke everyone up this morning, coughing. Then K started. Then my husband started hacking. What is going on? No one acts sick. It's just random, nasty, early morning hacking, that has already stopped.

The worst part is that I can't stand it. Usuallly I am the cougher. I get coughs frequently, and they last for weeks sometimes. Once in college, I apparently was driving my roommate crazy, because I came home from class one day to find five different kinds of cough medicine and cough drops on my pillow. So I am a big offender in this area, yet when my family coughs for 20 minutes, I about go crazy. I felt like Mrs. Bennett in the A&E Pride and Prejudice movie when she fusses at her daughter for coughing too much.

Klondike Derby Sympathy Pains

2008-01-16T19:42:00.000-05:00

My husband, in his new role as scoutmaster, is going to the Klondike Derby this weekend. I don't know much about it, except that for some insane reason it involves camping in the dead of winter. J has been avidly following the weather forecast, and it is supposed to get down to 17 degrees on Friday night (with snow on the ground). He's not too happy about that, and I don't blame him. But the other day it occurred to me that I will be suffering too! Why? Well, I have a hard time staying warm at night in the winter, or I did when I was single. But now with a warm body next to me, I'm usually fine. So I told him that I will be also suffering from the cold the night that he is gone. The look on his face was priceless! He couldn't even get any words out! I said, "Oh, is that a little insensitive of me to say that?"

Then I pointed out that that's how we women feel when men complain that they, too, suffer during pregnancy and childbirth!

But seriously, I do feel sorry for my poor husband this weekend, and am glad that I don't have to do it!

Christmas

2008-01-16T19:12:00.000-05:00

I'm a little late writing about this, obviously. We had a Christmas miracle, which some would say was not worthy of being called a miracle, but I say that the Lord does care about a three-year-old’s desires. Before Christmas I guided K into choosing a gift for S, and she picked a Disney princess toy cell phone with a little pink plastic case. Cheap and flashy. When S opened it, K had second thoughts, and some tears were shed as she tried to reclaim the gift.
That afternoon we traveled to my parents’ home and opened more gifts that evening. Lo and behold, my mother had bought the identical toy phone to give to K!! It is exactly the same, except that it features a different princess on it. You have never seen such happy amazement on a little girl’s face. It was definitely the highlight of her Christmas (and perhaps mine too).

Tagged - Six facts about myself

2008-01-07T12:31:00.000-05:00

Emily tagged me, so here goes:

1. I really don't like popcorn. Why do people like it so much?

2. I sometimes get a rash on the inside of my elbows. Apparently, it's an allergic reaction to something, but I can't figure out what.

3. I am the oldest of ten children.

4. One of my best talents is reading quickly. It was helpful in college, but I haven't yet figured out a way to make money doing it.

5. I've had three c-sections. Not fun.

6. I'm one quarter French.

7. My mission covered three countries.

8. I've never broken a bone.

9. When I was a kid, 4th gradish, I wanted braces really badly. Everyone else was getting them, and I wanted to be cool, too.

10. I can't stand clutter. I get invigorated just by finding things in my house to get rid of.

Leaky Green

2007-12-08T13:15:00.000-05:00

In the last 24 hours I have had two items crack and leak for no apparent reason. The reason that this is noteworthy is that both are made of hard green plastic, and have no relation to each other.

1. the Christmas tree stand - This is sad, because now I cannot keep much water in the stand, so the tree will die soon. The only way around this is to water the tree small amounts every hour or so, or to completely undecorate the tree, and put it in a new stand. Neither one of those options is gonna happen.

2. A bottle of Gain laundry detergent leaked underneath my bathroom sink, coating other items, none of which are convenient to clean.

Puke

2007-12-06T20:34:00.000-05:00

Yep, K threw up all over a race car shopping cart in Martin's today. That's why you should never put your kids in those things. Do you really think that the store is going to properly clean it off? Hah.

It's partly my own fault, because I'm a doofus. She was acting funny all morning, wanting to be held, and she took a nap at 11:30 am. But she didn't have a temperature, so I figured it was just some minor thing. WHY, oh why didn't stomach bugs cross my mind? So I had to go the post office, even though I had planned on NOT going at all in December. I was just going to put regular stamps on my Christmas cards for the first time ever, and I have no long distance presents to mail. But I accidentally took my father's car and church keys with me when we left their house the other day. Since it's 3 hours away, I had to go the darn post office to mail them back, with 3 kids in tow. Oh, the agony. Coats, shoes, car seats, lines, just to do one little task. I hate it. But I did it (and got Christmas stamps), and figured that since we were already out, we would go to the store.

I figured K might be germy, so my plan was to just keep her with me, and not let her go to the store's babysitting room. She didn't protest - another red flag I ignored. The babysitting was closed, so I to keep S with me too. So with S and K in the race car and M in her carseat in the front, we did our shopping. When almost finished, as I selected milk, I heard suspicious coughing noises. I darted to the front, and yes, she was puking all over herself (coat and shoes included), S and the cart. In a nutshell: long search to find employee and paper towels, lots of crying from K and M, bottom of race car has holes, left groceries in store, stripped her down in parking lot in 30 degree weather, and went home.

Where did it come from?

2007-10-15T19:52:00.000-05:00

I'm in the pediatrician's office this morning, nursing M, while K and S have their 3 and 5 year old checkups. I finish feeding M and put her back in the carseat. Soon thereafter I notice a wet spot on my shirt, near my waist. "Who leaked on me?!" I exclaim. "Or did I leak on myself [breastmilk]?" I mutter. The doctor looks slightly alarmed (note: pediatricians without kids themselves take everything a little too seriously, especially mysterious bruises on 3 year olds). Anyway, I discretely lift my shirt and give a sniff, hoping to smell breastmilk. Nope. It's pee. Gross. I pick M back up, and give her clothing a feel. It's completely dry, and she has a onesie shirt on with pants overtop. There's no way pee could leak out without getting her clothing wet. So where did it come from? Makes no sense to me.

Questions

2007-10-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

Background: S turned five last week, and so missed the kindergarten cutoff. I am going against conventional wisdom, and not sending her to preschool, for various reasons.

She has a full-blown case of ask-a-question-a-minute, and has had it for quite a while. She follows me around most of day, firing them off like a machine gun. It drives me crazy most of the time, as ninety percent of the questions fall into two categories: questions to which she already knows the answer, or questions to which there are no answers. I enjoy answering the other ten percent, as I feel that I am actually helping her learn. I do realize that the other questions are developmentally appropriate, and help her make sense of her world, but they are so fatiguing! However, I did have a realization today that helped me feel a little better. If she were at preschool, there is no way she would be getting the same adult attention that would allow her to ask so many questions. So I guess I am doing some good!

Weddings

2007-09-20T19:38:00.000-05:00

Why are they usually so complicated, and so much work? I could answer that question, but I am too tired from helping get ready for my sister-in-law's wedding tomorrow. Heck, I didn't even do that much. Other family members have done much more.

2007-09-15T19:21:00.000-05:00

It's supposed to get down to 40 degrees tonight! I love sleeping when it's chilly. Now, as long as it warms up quickly in the morning . . . . I dug through my 3-6 months clothes, and I couldn't find a little jacket or sweater for M to wear tomorrow morning. How is this my third girl, and I don't have anything like that for her to wear? So it's either a full-on winter dress (I'm not ready for that yet), or she wears a summer dress with a blanket that will be instantly pulled off.

Guilty Conscience

2007-09-13T19:47:00.001-05:00

This afternoon, I got up from my desk to get some housework done. I say quietly to myself, "Alright . . . ," just thinking out loud, kind of like "alright, I guess I'll do some laundry now." S was in my path and heard me. She whimpers and takes off running to the other end of the house! What had she done?? I'll have to try that next time I need some peace and quiet. Heh, heh, heh.

I'm back, maybe.

2007-09-13T19:37:00.000-05:00

It's been a while, and the itch to write is getting to me, so I think I'll start this up again. This time I'm staying away from the politics, and focusing on ordinary, daily items. I'll sometimes change certain details to protect the innocent (or not-so-innocent) children mentioned here. Wouldn't want an 11 year old S to read something here that she did when she was 5 and be mortified.

Why did you give me an "F"?

2006-06-07T19:44:00.000-05:00

I just read a hilarious post on how to give grades to students, and just have to share. Ahh, the good old days of teaching. I'm so glad that I don't have to worry about that stuff now, but it sure is fun to remember. Any current or former teacher will appreciate these helpful hints from ChemJerk. I'm not sure if a nonteacher can truly appreciate it, but do correct me if I'm wrong.

Read to your kids

2006-05-03T12:05:00.000-05:00

For various reasons, I have been slacking lately, but today, thanks to the Carnival of Education at The Education Wonks, I ran across a most excellent post on the role of parents in their children's literacy. No groundbreaking new research; nothing like that. The writer, Brett, expresses so clearly what I and many others have always felt. Children, from a very young age, must be surrounded by books, and read to from those books. Income is no barrier; public libraries abound. Parents who do not do this are not doing their job, and are risking their child's future.

The Allure of Buttons

2006-03-24T11:51:00.000-05:00

I keep a small box of buttons on our bookcase. The box is one of those decorative types, with a picture of an apple on it, that a student gave me once upon a time. It is where I stash all of those extra buttons that clothing manufacturers so kindly give you. I'm not sure why I bother to keep them, because I never actually sew a button on if I can help it. Perhaps it's the nice rattly sound the box makes when you shake it. This morning S. looks up, and requests the box. I, being no fool, tell her no, that it's not for little girls. She, thinking to help her cause, explains what she is going to do with the buttons: eat them!

Stupid Fashion Buyers

2006-03-20T11:18:00.000-05:00

What is up with the clothing purchasers for retail stores? Don't they know that lots of children grow unexpectedly in the middle or end of the winter? My little one has grown recently. It is still cold outside. Actually it is kind of cold in the house too, due to my unwillingness to pay $300 a month for natural gas. So I want to buy her a few long-sleeved shirts to tide her over til warm weather comes. No can do. All of the lousy stores in my area have switched to summer fashions. I even went to Penney's Saturday hoping for some winter leftovers on the clearance rack. Absolutely nothing. Apparently other parents already beat me to it. So she only has like two shirts that fit her, which makes the laundry situation difficult to say the least.

My other pet peeve has to do with toddler pajamas. She has also outgrown those. Of course, there are no more winter pjs left either, but I think I can keep jamming her in her current ones for a while, as long as she sucks in her tummy when I zip her up (once I zipped a smidge of belly skin - she screamed - I felt terrible). But I did want to get her some pjs that are made of a normal material (not the ever-popular fleece) for when the weather warms a little. The stores are full of spring/summer pjs. Tons of choice, and they all looks so fetching. Problem is that they all have short sleeves. Come on, people! You cannot get a 17 month old to keep her arms covered at night. Plus in the summer, we use the A/C, and I suspect many other Americans do. So the little tikes need long sleeve pajamas made out of a thin material. So I think to myself: I could just put her in a long-sleeved shirt for bed. No one will care if it's a shirt and not really pajamas. Oh, wait! She doesn't have enough long-sleeved shirts that fit! Arrgghh.

Word to the wise: Buy toddlers nightgowns at your own risk. They look so deliciously adorable, but they make it awfully easy for the little urchin to get her diaper off. You know what happens next.

Gardening

2006-03-15T16:20:00.000-05:00

Last week we had one of those false spring episodes when the weather suddenly warms, you pull out your short sleeves and sandals, and you get the garden going. Now, of course, we're back in the midst of blustery cold weather, but the garden is still planted with the early spring crops, and some have sprouted. So far I can see carrots, lettuce (a ten-variety mix!), spinach, and onions. We also put in some peas, and for the first time, leeks. I'm not sure how well they will do - apparently they take about 5 months to grow. For anyone not familiar with them, go buy a few at the store, and make some potato/leek soup (poireaux et pommes de terre). It's a French favorite, and delicious.

No fuss recipe:
Wash leeks very carefully. You have to partially slit them open to get out the dirt.
Chop leeks. Chop potatoes.
Put in pot and cover with water.
Simmer until potatoes are as soft as you like.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add a little cream or milk to taste.

Enjoy!

They are not terribly cheap at the store, and I like to use them often, and in other recipes, so I'm hoping to have a good crop. They can be pulled whenever you need them, so I shouldn't be faced with 47 leeks all at once.

Where have all the flags gone?

2006-03-08T16:36:00.000-05:00

Remember after 9/11 when nearly everyone had those magnetic U. S. flags on their cars? Gradually, they disappeared. I was reminded of that brief period of fervent patriotism today when I saw an elderly lady driving by with one afixed to her vehicle. Other than rare exceptions like that, the rest have gone. I am curious as to what went through each individual's mind as he took the flag off of his car. Did some people make a conscious decision that they did not feel patriotic enough to display the flag? I realize that the national mood has changed greatly for some since those post 9/11 days when patriotism was cool, but I know many who are still proud to be American. Or did we just feel that the period of national mourning had gone on long enough? Or did some people simply remove them because they did not want to be the only person on the block with one left on? I ask, because, I am embarrassed to say, that I had never bought one (extremely tight budget at the time), and so never made the decision to remove one or keep one on my car.

First Amendment Ignorance

2006-03-03T15:20:00.000-05:00

I've obviously taken a break from blogging lately, but these disturbing survey results have dragged me back to the keyboard. Only one person out of a thousand surveyed could identify all of the rights that are included in the first amendment. How sad that we are such an ignorant group of people!

Some will be quick to blame schools and teachers. If teachers are indeed to blame, I would be one of the guilty party, for I majored in history, and taught government/civics to eighth graders one year. I remember spending a lot of time on the Constitution and the all of the Amendments. Rather than just make the kids memorize the list, I worked to teach them what they all meant. If you had given my students the survey within one week of that unit, I am confident that many of them would have answered correctly, even though I had extremely unmotivated and disruptive students. Now, several years later, I honestly wonder how many of them have retained that knowledge. I can picture a few faces of kids that probably have, but the rest probably haven't. Why not? As I already stated they were extremely unmotivated and disruptive. Is that my fault? Many people would say yes. When I was in college, full of idealism, I would also have blamed myself. Now, I answer firmly, no. I know that I tried my best to teach effectively, and my "best" was indeed good.

Until we, as a nation, change our culture and values to truly appreciate learning and education, we will continue to see these sort of dismal survey results.

Tolerance Toward Intolerance

2006-02-07T06:45:00.000-05:00

In this jihad over humor, tolerance is disdained by people who demand it of others. The authoritarian governments that claim to speak on behalf of Europe's supposedly oppressed Muslim minorities practice systematic repression against their own religious minorities. They have radicalized what was at first a difficult question. Now they are asking not for respect but for submission. They want non-Muslims in Europe to live by Muslim rules.

Marvelously put by Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff of the German paper Die Zeit. Read the rest here.

One other Muslim rule that leaps to mind is the wearing of the headscarf by women. It will be a cold day down below before I and many other women do submit to that, but I wonder how long it will take before it enters the realm of serious discussion. We're already heard about a few cases of Western women (remember the riots in Australia, where the press somehow made the Australians out to be the intolerant ones?)being assaulted/raped by Muslims, with their lack of covering given as the excuse. From the point of view of the fanatics: they see a lot more women with hair showing in the streets of Europe than they do cartoons of Muhammed. If they are rioting over cartoons that are easily avoided, what's it going to be like when they decide to riot over women's hair? Currently that battle is not winnable, so they aren't going to start it. Yet.

Danish Iman

2006-02-06T17:17:00.000-05:00

Want to learn more about how and when the cartoon outrages began? There's an informative article on the Danish iman behind it all at the National Review Online. If you were not aware that the cartoons were first published months ago, this is a must-read.

Danish cartoons

2006-02-02T15:17:00.000-05:00

I’ve been thinking about the Danish cartoons of Muhammad, and trying to decide where I stand on the issue. On the one hand, I feel like the outraged Muslims are being very unreasonable about what they perceived as a blasphemous attack. On the other hand, as a religious person myself, I am sensitive to the need to be respectful to others’ beliefs. How would I feel if Christ were held up as an object of ridicule and portrayed in a negative light? Oh wait, that happens all the time, even in my own country which has a majority of Christians. So what do I do if I am offended by something? A recent example would be the NBC show The Book of Daniel. Unlike some, I don’t worry too much about the pastor’s crazy family. However, I do find the portrayal of Jesus as a hip, cool, sort of guy next door irreverent and offensive. My solution is to not watch the show. I am not going to take any NBC employees hostage, or kill anyone. Does this just mean that Christianity, unlike Islam, does not produce strong fervor and zeal in its adherents? Hardly so. History is replete with contrary examples (not all of them good). I have a fair amount of fervor and zeal for my beliefs, but it does not extend to violence, or insisting that others act precisely as I do.

So back to the cartoon brouhaha. They were published in a nation where Islam is a minority. Sometimes it’s kind of stinky to be the minority (and yes, I have been a minority). If you don’t like being the minority, work to change things peaceably, or move to where you are no longer the minority. I find it very unreasonable that Muslims in nations other than Denmark are trying to control what happens there. That is clearly a lack of respect for national sovereignty. I also suspect that much of this is just an excuse to incite violence and anger against the West. Take note those of you who seek to apologize for the extremists: they hate us. When I was in Belgium and France in the early 1990s, I was astounded at the hatred that North African immigrants had for Americans. Just walking down the street, it was not uncommon for “youths” to shout vulgarities and other venomous remarks at myself, and any other Americans I might happen to be with. I quickly learned to avoid all Arab and North African men. This hatred is not just a phenomena created by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s been around for a long time, and will not be ended by us changing our mid-East policies.

Update: Oops. My husband informed me that The Book of Daniel has been off the air for several weeks now. My boycott was more influential than I had thought!

No more State of the Union for me

2006-01-31T19:00:00.000-05:00

I used to feel guilty if I didn’t listen to the State of the Union address, as if I were failing to be informed about politics and our nation. No longer do I feel that way. The annual speech is merely unbearable theatrics – worse than even pure politics, although that’s bad enough. The applause, the camera shots of approving, disapproving, and famous faces, and the after-show analysis all disgust me. How many times will TV audiences get to see Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama? Plenty, I bet. Worst of all is the actual speech. I can hardly bear the tone, cadence, and content of most politicians’ speeches, and the State of the Union is no exception. It will be all positive spin, and new programs and “initiatives” that will rarely be implemented. I’m fine with Bush as a president, but even so, I don’t enjoy hearing that kind of talk. Some people must, but why do the speechwriters feel that they have to cater to the lowest common denominator in America? The day that a president speaks honestly, clearly, in a normal tone of voice, and without pausing for applause, is the day that I will enjoy listening to the address.

Strikes on Iran?

2006-01-30T08:48:00.000-05:00

While reading an op-ed by Jackson Diehl on Bush's options with Iran, I learned that both Lieberman and McCain have endorsed military action. That info was incidental to the main point of the column, but interests me nevertheless. Why haven't I already heard about these senators' recommendations? Did they just barely endorse military action, or is there another reason the media hasn't broadcast it more loudly? Or maybe I am just not keeping up with the news like I should.

Too Bad for Asthmatics

2006-01-27T08:01:00.000-05:00

Inexpensive over-the-counter inhalers (which literally save lives) may soon be unavailable due to their CFC propellants, which pose little, if any, threat to the ozone layer.

Palestinians' True Colors

2006-01-26T20:04:00.000-05:00

I had been willing to believe that the majority of Palestinians were desirous of living in peace with their Israeli neighbors, with a minority being murderous terrorists. These election results have been a real eye-opener for me. It's hard to make excuses anymore, or feel much sympathy for them (although some in this country surely will try). I doubt that bypassing Hamas to continue talks through the PLO will come to anything. The majority of the people have made their feelings clear by voting in a party whose main goal is to destroy Israel.

Part II

2006-01-25T21:16:00.000-05:00

To continue my thoughts from my last post – what can be done differently to help those in poverty? Very little was done to help immigrants a century ago, free public education being the major exception. Going back to that low level of aid just isn’t going to happen, even if you think we should. So how can public dollars be better spent? If my theory is at all true (that not-so-bad living conditions don’t motivate people enough to improve their lot in life), then perhaps we need to stop providing “affordable” government-subsidized housing, except on a very short-term basis. More money could be spent on transporting people to job training centers and jobs. But this would be way too radical, I know. Kicking families (or partial families, as it often is) onto the streets just doesn’t sit well. But somehow we need to figure out a way to make living below the poverty line less comfortable. Hunger is a great motivator. Ouch. How uncompassionate I sound! I’m not really that hard-hearted. It’s just discouraging to see how decades of government social programs and handouts have hurt rather than helped so many people. Here’s a sample idea: to be eligible for WIC or food stamps, you may not subscribe to cable TV. But wait, that requires more government regulation – probably a commission to study it, and a whole bureaucracy to enforce it. What a quandary!

Tenement Living and Bootstraps

2006-01-25T12:42:00.000-05:00

Bookworm comments on 19th/early 20th century NY tenement living, and wonders why most of those residents escaped their surroundings in a generation, when so many other people in other bad surroundings do not.

No one simple answer to her questions - but here's one idea. Those tenements were just too awful to be endured for more than a generation. People did whatever they had to do to get out - and were able to because of the freedoms of this country. The slums of New Orleans were not as bad as the tenements. People had more square footage and plumbing. I've been in the projects in France, and while they are yucky, again they are not anywhere as awful as those old NY tenements. So I think that people have less motivation in these latter examples to do the extremely hard work necessary to get out.

Then, in some parts of the world living conditions are indeed horrific, but they do not have the economic and political freedoms we do here.

Along the same lines, I frequently ponder on the enigma of run-down trailer parks and their plethora of mini-satellite dishes. Does the escapism of cable or satellite TV give the residents enough pleasure to lessen their motivation for self-improvement?

Canada's Election

2006-01-24T08:18:00.000-05:00

Back when Bush was reelected, to the horror of liberals, I recall hearing (on NPR?) about how increasing numbers of U.S. citizens were emigrating to our liberal neighbor to the north. Canadian immigration officials were even coming to the Seattle area to hold classes for those interested. I wonder how those former Americans feel now!

Better vocational education as a solution for some

2006-01-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

To continue on the subject of my last post: I was pondering the wisdom of pushing nearly all students to go to college when I stumbled across a Jay Mathews column on vo-tech education. It is mainly an email exchange that he had with an educator who is passionate about improving technical training programs. I found their dialogue extremely thought-provoking. An excerpt:

I am not talking about the old, stand-alone, dumping ground shop classes that are slowly but surely -- and rightly- disappearing from the scene. I'm talking about comprehensive, career prep programs that will culminate in actual professional certification in high need areas that offer solid, middle class $15-$20 an hour wages -- licensed nursing, computer systems maintenance, auto mechanics and culinary arts among others.

There is much more that is very worth reading!

The Trouble With Boys

2006-01-23T11:34:00.000-05:00

Newsweek's cover story brings up the problems boys are having in school these days. Based on my own experiences, this is indeed a big problem in education, and worthy of some attention. Lest some shriek that if we pay too much attention to boys that girls will lose their hard-earned gains, let me point out that disengaged, disruptive boys in the classroom hurt the girls as well as themselves.

I like the idea that a few schools are starting to do -- forming some single sex classes within a coed school. That way teachers can better tailor their lessons to their students, but the students still have that important interaction with the opposite sex at lunch, recess, and maybe a few subjects. Plus it doesn't cost anything!

The Left Wing

2006-01-23T11:20:00.000-05:00

The West Wing is going off the airwaves this spring. The finale will deal with the inauguration of the new president. Of course, who wins will be the big surprise, but I know what won’t be a surprise: the Democrats will come out of it smelling better. Even if the Republican candidate wins (just to try to show viewers that NBC isn’t biased), he and his supporters will nonetheless be portrayed with some negativity. That’s my prediction, anyway. I gave up watching the show several years ago, so I’m not the most informed viewer.

Welfare to Work

2006-01-22T19:19:00.000-05:00

Virginia's welfare reform started ten years ago, and is the subject of a quick Times-Dispatch article. The title and first few paragraphs lead the reader to believe that the welfare reform hasn't been that great.

Thousands of lives have changed in the decade since Virginia reformed its welfare system, but one critical factor hasn't: Many former recipients are still poor.

Terrible journalism. That critical factor has changed. Many instead of all of the former recipients are still poor. If you keep reading the article, the numbers speak for themselves. Nationally and statewide, welfare reform has been a big success, unless you would rather have people receive money for nothing instead of money for working.

Fat Country

2006-01-22T15:19:00.000-05:00

Michael Rosenwald from the Post writes about how economics and technology have made us a fat nation. He says it's a tradeoff we pay for living in our society with modern conveniences and jobs where we don't have to sweat for ten hours a day.

In some ways, we are better off in this Fat Economy. Many people work in easier, better-paying jobs, which help pay for their big homes in the suburbs. Women don't have to spend two hours preparing dinner every night; many have risen to unprecedented levels of corporate and political power. Flat-panel plasma TVs hang over fireplaces, which can be lit using the same remote control for flipping channels. But the unintended consequence of these economic changes is that many of us have become fat. An efficient economy produces sluggish, inefficient bodies.

Overweight himself, he does point out the various health problems that come with obesity. Nevertheless, the general tone of the article is that our fatness is the inevitable price we pay for our modern lifestyles. I'm not so convinced. I know it's naive to idolize the "good ole days", but I do believe that we have other problems besides just obesity health-related ones. And even that alone is no fun. I found having 40-50 pounds of pregancy fat just miserable. It really opened my eyes to how uncomfortable it is to be overweight. At that time, I would have gladly changed places with a thin person from the 1940s. So I'm not sure if our current society is a clear winner over the old days - if you are heavy.

Before World War II, if you wanted a french fry, you went to the store, bought potatoes, took them home, washed them, peeled them, sliced them and fried them.

Who is going to go to all of that trouble now on a regular basis? But maybe we should. One of my weaknesses is desserts. So I have an unofficial rule for myself (which can be broken from time to time): if I want sweets I have to make them from scratch. This has stopped me many times from buying junk at the store. Half the time I'm too lazy to make anything. Also, I have developed a taste for only quality, home-baked goods. Thus, when at a party or near a vending machine, I am rarely interested in eating cheap cookies or brownies from a mix. It saves a lot of calories.

True-Blue Colors

2006-01-20T12:57:00.000-05:00

Tim Kaine ran for VA governor as a moderate Democrat, not given to high taxing and spending. Now in office for just a few days, he is ready to unroll his plans for car tax increases, and maybe even gasoline tax increases. I'm so surprised!

Double Booking

2006-01-19T14:47:00.000-05:00

Another exhausting trip to the pediatrician this morning. This time it was just K’s 15 month check-up. The good news is her ears are fine now, and she is healthy. My complaint is that I had to wait for one whole hour before seeing the doctor. When I signed in for my 10:30 appointment, I noticed a baby signed in on the line above for a 10:30 check-up with the same doctor. She probably waited about ½ hour before being called back. This really annoys me. Both appointments were for standard check-ups; mine was made three months ago. I can understand if a sick child needs to be seen at the last minute, but this was not the case. Waiting with two children for an hour in a crowded waiting room and the examining room is no joke. I’m considering switching to another doctor.

Nagin Apology

2006-01-18T08:25:00.000-05:00

It rarely fails. A public official makes inflammatory remarks, and then apologizes. I wasn't that impressed with Nagin to begin with, but am even less so now. Stand by what you say, if you mean it (and I bet he did)! People are too darn sensitive, anyway. Nagin was entirely correct to point to the problem of 70% of children living in a single parent home. The rest of it, well, if that's what you really think, fine. The voters can choose differently if they so desire at the next election. At least they know where he stands, as compared to some politicians who are much too careful about every word that comes out of their mouths.

Painting

2006-01-16T20:48:00.000-05:00

We have spent a good chunk of the weekend painting our family room. I believe painting is a little like pregnancy - you look forward to the results, but you forget how awful it is until you are actually doing it again. I had grand visions of how we would paint like mad for about two days, and be done with it. But alas, I had neglected to factor in my children, and how unenthused I become after a few hours. I also tend to get motion sickness after a while (unfortunately, just about anything will give me motion sickness). So here it is Monday night, MLK day has come and gone, and the room still needs one more coat of paint. It will have to be finished during nap times and evenings this week.

2006-01-15T20:01:00.000-05:00

This shouldn't be news to anyone, but many 20 and 30 year olds are having a hard time financially. This Christian Science Monitor Article details the struggles of various young couples to pay for housing, student loan debts, credit card debt, and groceries. A few lines caught my eye.

Even an Ivy League education is no guarantee of instant financial stability. Jeffrey McDaniel graduated from Dartmouth and his wife, Meghan, from Smith. But in 2002, as they began paying her graduate school tuition and their wedding bills, they did considerable belt-tightening.

Ivy League? If you can't afford it, go somewhere cheaper. I had an school-teacher roommate who had to gone to a $20,000-a-year-tuition college, and was really hating trying to pay back $80, 000 of loans on a teacher's salary. She honestly admitted that she regretted it.

Wedding bills? Aaagghh. Why do people go into massive debt for a wedding? Perhaps it's because at least once a year, the media reports on how the "average" couple spends $19,000 on a wedding (or whatever the current figure is). What kind of insanity is this? Instead of worrying about what everyone else does, people should throw a wedding they can pay for.

New Baby

2006-01-13T12:13:00.000-05:00

Last night I took dinner over to a friend of mine who just had a healthy baby girl. She has two boys also. It is a happy occasion marred by the fact that her divorce will be final in a few weeks. I don’t know the details, and don’t really want to know; it’s none of my business. I’m just so sad for her, and the kids. How awful to have a baby alone. It’s hard enough to raise kids with a husband. I know there are so many single mothers out there now, and they manage, but I wonder how much comfort my friend will get from the fact that she has a lot of company. It won’t make her workload any lighter, or make the kids miss their daddy any less.

Merit-pay for Teachers

2006-01-12T20:21:00.000-05:00

Houston is all set to tie teachers' salaries to student test scores. Whew! What a hot-button issue! Books could be written on both sides, but I will try to be brief. I am not necessarily opposed to merit-based pay, but I am opposed to that merit being soley measured on student test scores, as Houston will do. I have taught in schools where the sole focus is test scores, and the result isn't that great (even if scores do rise). Houston's plan does not offer non-core area teachers the same opportunities to earn these bonuses. But all of that and more, aside, it just seems wrong. How can you determine a teacher's pay based on another human's being's choices? I believe that children do have much personal responsibility for their education. How unfair this type of plan is for the teacher whose children simply will not come prepared, listen, do any classwork or homework, or read the test questions? Don't give me the garbage about how a great teacher will be able to motivate all of her students. A great teacher will be able to motivate most or some, but not all. Plus, let's face it, most teachers are good, but not great.

Here's a possible scenario. Johnny is in 7th grade. He has done little work all year. Despite many parent conferences, Johnny just wants to play in school. Having learned little, his grades are failing, and by April he knows he will be retained. When test time comes around in May, he is well-aware that his teacher has a personal stake in how her students perform. He doesn't like his teacher - too strict, got him suspended twice, always tries to get his parents against him, gives him F's, won't let him sit by his friends, etc. He knows that these standardized test scores will in part determine his placement in the next grade (in some places they don't!), but since he knows he's failing regardless, he decides just to bubble his answers in a fun pattern. Besides this'll be good revenge on the teacher. Johnny's teacher and school have various rewards for the kids who try hard on the test, so he is careful to be very slow about filling in his bubbles, so she'll think he is trying.

Think this scenario is not likely to happen often? Ask any middle school teacher, and they will tell you that they know many, many kids like that.

Shopping for Paint

2006-01-12T12:04:00.000-05:00

One of the hardest things about being a mother is how difficult simple tasks become! Today, I took my offspring to the local Benjamin Moore paint store, knowing it would be a challenge. They are only open until five o’clock, so leaving them with my husband and going in the evening doesn’t work. Sophie and I had a nice chat in the car about not touching, not running, and not yelling. All that was quickly forgotten. She immediately starts pulling out the sample cards, and then spent the rest of the time running around the store yelling. Kate was drawn to the display of little sample paint jars, and removed them faster than I could put them back on. She is just too heavy and strong-willed for me to hold for very long. In the midst of this, I am trying to choose between countless shades of cream and ask the clerk (who kept answering her phone) for advice. It was crazy. I settled on “calming cream” in large part because I thought the name might be good omen. I mentioned that to the clerk, but she either didn’t get it, or didn’t think it was funny. Considering the havoc the girls were wreaking, it was probably the latter.

Then we went to Lowe’s to buy all the paraphernalia we’ll need to repaint the family room. Of course, this will be a major challenge too. It’s so difficult and slow to do these kinds of projects with small children around. We have to paint at night or on the weekends, or get their grandparents to watch them. Blocking off the family room for the week that this will most likely take isn’t going to be very popular with the little tyrants either. I try to remind myself that this won’t last forever, and someday I will be able to do things again.

Boy critical after dog mauling

2006-01-11T12:43:00.000-05:00

Stories like this one make me so upset. Why do people feel the need to have such vicious pets? I can only think of two reasons - for protection, or because they are somewhat vicious persons themselves and take delight in teaching a dog to be cruel. I don't think killer dogs are necessary for protection. Most burgulars, upon hearing a dog bark on the premises, will steer clear, even if the dog is just a collie or retriever. As far as vicious people go, well, there's no making them be nice, so let's have some significant punishment for owner negligence.

Burned CDs

2006-01-11T12:20:00.000-05:00

I'm distressed to learn that burned CDs have a life span of only 2 to 5 years! I had planned on storing most of my photos on CDs to avoid having to print them. Plus, I have such a hard time deleting photos, even when I have five almost identical shots of baby smiling. There's plenty of space on a CD, so I can just save them all! Printing them isn't cheap either; those ink cartridges don't last long. So this info makes me sad.

Problems in the ER

2006-01-10T15:59:00.000-05:00

A new health care analysis out says that the U. S. emergency care system has serious problems, namely overcrowding, declining access, and "poor capacity to deal with public health or terrorist disasters." Nowhere does the article mention one major cause of at least the first two of those problems. That major cause would be massive numbers of people who go to the ER for non-emergencies. Some of these people have no insurance, and know that they won't be turned away, so the ER becomes their primary physician. But other people do have insurance, and don't care about paying the higher co-pay so they can receive instant care. All of these non-emergency visits strain the system, and raise insurance costs. It seems to me that I've heard of hospitals that wanted to turn away non-emergency patients, but in the end did not succeed. I will try to find some examples of this and post and update.

CNN.com - Utah megaplex balks at 'Brokeback' - Jan 8, 2006

2006-01-08T17:25:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Utah megaplex balks at 'Brokeback' - Jan 8, 2006
Sigh. It's things like this that give Utah a bad name among certain groups of people who fight for freedom for certain groups of people. However, it is a free country (to quote all middle-schoolers out there), and if the theatre owners don't want to show a certain movie, they shouldn't have to. I'm guessing that there will be much ado about this decision, at least in Utah.

Crime wave in Northern Neck

2006-01-08T17:13:00.000-05:00

Crime wave in Northern Neck - There's nothing like seeing my hometown area featured in the news. Frankly, although rural areas like this one generally have less crime, I often feel nervous in them. If you live several acres or even miles away from the nearest neighbor, who is going to hear your calls for help, or notice suspicious activity? I know the cities are supposed to be more dangerous, but I have always felt more secure knowing that other people are close by. However, I wonder about my perception that cities have more crime. Per capita, rural areas are probably no better than cities. Anyone out there know where to find those kind of statistics?

Chronicles of Narnia Movie

2006-01-07T17:12:00.000-05:00

Hubby and I finally went and saw them much-heralded The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe last night. While not fully capturing the magic and intensity of the book, it was still well-done. I thought the children were well-cast, and the computer effects stunning. Some of the dialogue was a bit slow-moving, though. I try to imagine seeing the film without having read the book, and I believe the film would be a bit flat and even puzzling in its religious symbolism. Anyone who hasn't read the books definitely should, whether or not you plan to see the movie. My favorite book of the series is the first one chronologically, The Magician's Nephew, which would have made a better movie. All of the books are pure enjoyment, though. My mother tried to get me to read them when I was kid, but I wouldn't, as I didn't like fantasy. A few years ago, I decided I needed to read them to be well-read, and was captivated from the beginning.

Foreign-Language Learning Promoted

2006-01-06T08:15:00.000-05:00

Bush announces a new iniative to promote foreign language learning, particularly in Arabic, Hindi, and other languages critical to our national security. It's about time! This problem has been discussed periodically, but nothing much ever happens. Unfortunately, I'll be surprised if any real change takes place now, either. The obstacles to the U.S. becoming more language proficient are daunting. Even if money is available (surely not enough), just where are we going to find all of the Arabic teachers necessary who are willing (and certified) to go teach in elementary school? Most Americans have enough trouble learning the easy languages of French and Spanish, and have little idea just how time, motivation, and effort are required to learn Chinese or Arabic. To attaine fluency instruction really must be started at a very young age, and our current K-12 system is resistant to the massive changes needed to implement such programs.

However, any progress we make is better than none, so let's get the momentum going! This is a big subject dear to my heart, and I feel as though I've hardly given it any time, but my little one is howling at my knee.

The Power of 1984

2006-01-05T08:34:00.000-05:00

In pondering the current fuss over NSA wiretapping, I am wondering just how much of a fuss there would be if George Orwell hadn’t written 1984. Don’t get me wrong; I have enjoyed reading the book several times, and it provides much food for thought. However, I think as a nation we are obsessed with fear that it will come to pass. Bob Barr mentioned Big Brother in his anti-Bush editorial in Time magazine. He had no need to explain the reference – everyone knows because it such a part of our culture. It’s quite a tribute to Orwell’s literary powers, but should we really make national security decisions based on fears driven by a work of fiction?

Let the Blaming Begin

2006-01-04T15:02:00.000-05:00

We're already hearing about the poor safety record at the mine where 12 men died, and rightly so. It's a horrible tragedy. But in an editorial, the Washington Post has the nerve to say that perhaps the culture of the Mine Safety and Health Administration has changed in the past six years (code: it's Bush's fault). There is no evidence that this is the case; even that part of the editorial was full of "mights". I don't know why I even read the Post anymore, other than that I "might" have some sort of obsession to know what the MSM is up to.

2006-01-04T12:38:00.000-05:00

TimesDispatch.com Employee cost of health plans vary
This article is good, as far it goes, which isn't very far. It did at least start to mention that many small businesses don't offer health insurance for their employees, but failed to state explicitly that the reason is that Anthem (Virginia's insurance monopoly) charges small businesses more. Outrageous!

Then there is the usual talk of how various politicians want to help (or require) smaller businesses to provide insurance. This is misguided at best! Currently, if your employer doesn't provide insurance, you can go to Anthem and get a plan for much cheaper than the awful small business rate. I know this based on personal experience.

The Wheels on the Bus are Kinder Now

2006-01-03T12:58:00.000-05:00

Recently at our public library storytime, I noticed a change to popular children’s song. Anyone who’s ever sung “The Wheels on the Bus” knows that after the baby goes, “wah, wah, wah” the parents on the bus go, “shh, shh, shh.” It’s a fun song, at least until you’ve been forced to sing it three hundred times. My girls particularly liked the “shh, shh, shh.” It’s easy for a baby to pick up. Well, at the library, all of the mommies, toddlers (and a lone daddy), are happily singing along when I am startled to hear, “The parents on the bus go ‘I love you.’” No one else batted an eye, and since I don’t attend very regularly, I obviously missed the big changeover. I haven’t talked to the woman in charge yet; so I should reserve my judgment, but I won’t! She’s a nice lady and does a good job. I’m guessing that someone who was a little too fond of the misguided self-esteem movement came up with the idea that shushing your child is too harsh, and wrote a more feel-good replacement. So the library lady heard the new version, and probably thought that it was sweet, and made the change without much thought. But I’m annoyed! What is wrong with a little shsshhing in a public place like a bus? Besides a loving, rhythmic shsshhing can actually be very soothing for an infant. Anyway, kids like the song the way it is. Leave it alone. Has anyone else heard this new version?