Disney Princesses

Has anyone noticed how sexed-up Disney has made its Princess line of toys?  For those who don’t have little girls, the very popular Disney Princess theme toys have images of characters from their movies, namely, Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine, Beauty, and Ariel.  For example you can buy a Disney Princess Tea set with pictures of the princesses on them.  

I’m a big fan of some of those movies, particularly the older ones, but I am not pleased with subtle changes that have been made in the current renditions.  The characters (with the possible exception of Snow White) are often posed a little provocatively, with come-hither eyes.  Beauty and Cinderella now have a little cleavage, but had none showing in the original movies.  Belle shows a lot of cleavage, and her dresses are more off the shoulder than in the original film.  Jasmine and Ariel weren’t wearing too much to begin with.  Now this is nothing like the appalling Bratz dolls, but I still find it all discouraging.  Why can’t we let little girls be little girls a little longer?  This stuff is very popular with the preschool crowd.  What kind of message is this sending?  Grow up to be a sexy princess and you’ll find a prince to take care of you?  None of these characters go to college or get job-training.  Of course, that would not be keeping with the original fairy tales.  Fine.  But neither is sticking your bosoms out.  

Waffles and Whipped Cream

For Sunday supper, I made whole wheat waffles with strawberries (from the freezer) and whipped cream, something I do from time to time when I don’t feel like cooking a “real” meal.  I was sure it would be a hit with the girls – they both like waffles.  Sophie eats off the cream, requests more cream, and refuses to eat anything else.  That was no big surprise, after all, a three year old knows what’s good, and she has previously done the same thing.  But the weird part was after she pushed her plate away and left the table she came in the kitchen and grabbed a plain waffle off of the cooling rack.  Calling it a “square” she then ate most of it.  Go figure.  I think plain waffles are rather unappetizing, and am surprised she would choose that over the cream and strawberry-soaked one on her plate.

At the tender age of twelve months, Kate also figured out the whipped cream was the only good part.  She picked it off, and resisted all my attempts to get anything else in her mouth.  She was so cranky we got her out of her chair and put her in her pjs.  Convinced she had to be still hungry, I made Jeryl hold her while I fed her bits of grapes and . . . you guessed it . . . plain waffle, which she was happy to eat.  What is wrong with these kids?

Soldiers Burn Taliban Fighters' Bodies

There is more to this story than meets the eye, according to Jason Coleman and his sources. Check it out if you are interested in learning that the soldiers may not have been as guilty of wrongdoing as some media sources would have you believe.

White People Should Be Exterminated

So says a Dr. Kamau Kambon to a Howard University Law School panel. My question is what on earth is Howard doing letting a nutcase like that speak at their law school? My next question is why isn't this getting the attention that Bill Bennet's foolish remarks did? Not that it should get much attention, as it is also very foolish (as well as some other things).

Going to the Library

Ever since my oldest was born, I have looked forward to taking my children to the library and sharing its magic with them.  My own mother took my siblings and I to the library often, and for many years I wanted to be a librarian (actually, I still do).  I consider the public library to be a very important parenting tool.  

However, it is not so easy – at least when kids are this young.  Don’t get me wrong – they love the library, but not exactly for my reasons.  Sophie is mainly interested in playing with the toys and puzzles in the children’s area.  It is a very inviting children’s area, and I suppose half the battle is getting PlayStation, MTV addicted children in there, but I do wish there were not so many toys.  She will occasionally grab a few books off of the shelf, none of which are usually age-appropriate.  I realize that at age three I just have to choose for her.  Kate is just a wrecking machine in there – pulling books off of shelves, trying to crawl out the door, playing with toys, etc.  We all went as a family this afternoon, and it was all Jeryl and I could do to contain Kate.  I am not going to attempt it anymore on my own as she is getting so active.

Once we get home, Sophie is always anxious to read the books I’ve selected for her, and I guess that’s what counts.  In a few more years, she’ll be more interested and capable of making better selections.  Often, I go in the evening by myself to get books for them.  That’s the only way I can choose anything for myself also.  When I was a kid, my mother often went and got us books while we were at school.  I never understood why then, but now I do.

On a side note, who can tell me what libraries have for adults in lieu of toys and puzzles?  Movies!  I’m disturbed at how libraries seem to be turning in to video stores these days.  Again, I’m sure they do it to get you in the door, but I observe a lot of people who come in only for the movies.  

School Violence

We see yet again the challenges our schools are facing. A tenth grader in Maryland attacked his biology teacher with a baseball bat on Wednesday. I'd be willing to bet that administrators tried to avoid spreading the news around to the students, but that the whole school knew about it within one hour, and that little to no real learning took place anywhere in that building for the rest of the day. How are teachers supposed to teach in those kinds of environments? No wonder schools are having a hard time finding teachers these days. When I taught I always had a mental plan of what to do if faced with a classroom intruder or attacker. I didn't feel that paranoid, but the thought was present all the same. The kid "faces expulsion and possible criminal prosecution." Possible? Come on. If you commit an adult crime, you should face some adult criminal prosecution."Jerald Newberry, a health expert at the National Education Association, said cash-strapped schools across the country have been forced to cut health and counseling services for students, weakening an important line of defense against students with violent tendencies. Newberry said veteran teachers also report "more aggressive" student behavior than was the norm 15 or 20 years ago." A lack of health and counseling services is not the real cause here. We cannot let our children continually immerse themselves in violent video games and movies and expect it not to have some kind of effect on them. Additionally I'd be curious to see what the young man's family and home life were like. I bet it wasn't very good, but will the news media have the courage to report on it?

Phone Etiquette

Why do kids have to act so ornery when one is on the phone?  My mother calls this afternoon, and I am trying to have a nice conversation, but my two offspring suddenly have urgent needs to be met.  Of course, my mother probably thinks all is in chaos (she’s only partly right).  I pick up Kate, feed her animal crackers (she’s already had too many today), but she still continues to fuss.  Sophie hears me discussing my sister’s soon-to-be-delivered baby, and decides that she wants to go the hospital right now.  Later she fusses about something else and I ignore her.  When I get off of the phone, she informs me that she has just peed on the floor!  Honestly!  She almost never has pee accidents anymore.  I would almost say she did it on purpose.

Now I need to stop writing and get this messy house in order!  

The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have

In the above Washington Post article the author makes some interesting points about prenatal testing, abortion, and society's opinions of the disabled. She has a Down's Syndrome daughter herself, and carefully avoids saying if she had had the testing. I was surprised how many negative vibes and remarks she has received over the years regarding her daughter. I have always thought that if I did end up having a disabled child, Down's Syndrome would be one of my top preferences, not that I really know that much about it. I did have the prenatal testing done with both of my pregnancies, but not because I was planning on aborting if there were problems. I just would want to know ahead of time so I could prepare myself.

Trip to the Pediatrician

I took the girls to the doctor for their one and three year old checkups.  I scheduled both at the same time trying to be efficient, but in the end it probably wasn’t worth it.  It was too distracting to keep track of them both at the same time as listening to the doctor and trying to remember my questions.  

It’s just such an ordeal: bathing and dressing them, getting them there and in the building, getting my insurance card (out-of-date, but I didn’t tell them that) out while holding Kate and the diaper bag, waiting with too many other people in the waiting room (including a friend of mine who was there with four of her six children – don’t I feel guilty for complaining), waiting in the examining room, putting clothes and shoes on and off, waiting at check-out, etc.  When I had scheduled the appointment I picked 11:00 on purpose to not interfere with Kate’s naps.  So naturally, this morning she refused to take a nap.  Kate didn’t want to be held while the doc was examining Sophie, and in the end I had to let her crawl around the examining room floor.  She spent a fair amount of time examining the none-too-clean doorstop.  What the doctor must have thought of me.  Sophie was very leery of the whole thing, but we managed to get her on the scale.  After that she calmed down.  Kate only had one shot.  They both are healthy, so that’s the main thing.

Arizona Teachers Face Tough Testing

I'm all in favor of higher standards for teachers. The tests I took (PRAXIS I and PRAXIS II, I think) were ridiculously easy. I've also known teachers that struggled to pass them! So kudos to Arizona for making teachers pass some tests before giving them a provisional certificate. However, after that the plan gets out of control. Required teachers to pass national board certification sounds good to those who know little about it, but in reality it is a nightmarish, time-consuming monster that few new teachers have time for. In my four years teaching at one school, I only knew one teacher who was undergoing the process. There were plenty of other excellent teachers there, but no one else wanted to go through all of that paperwork. I think the national board should streamline its certification process, while maintaining academic rigor.