PregnancyFamilyEducation Blogs
November 18, 2009
The popularity factor
My L. has always been a party-planner. While he’s not a fan of parties in general (too noisy, too many people, too much food), he likes to plan a party, especially when he can be in control of every single detail. But it’s been awhile since he’s shown any interest in planning any type of party, and we’ve been sad about this. Last year was a rough year for him, and he withdrew socially for most of it, and regressed quite a bit. This year is different, though, and we're keeping our fingers crossed, and watching it all unfold. [more]
- Tags: School Daze, Parenting Advice, Parenting, Moms, Dads, Children
November 16, 2009
The family that plays together...
What makes a Sunday morning even better? Flipping hot pumpkin pancakes over the griddle while listening to your kids play Monopoly with your parents. L. loves the game, and could play it uninterrupted for hours if given the chance. When I was growing up my brother and sister and I would set up a game on the dining room table and play and play until we had to clear it all up for dinner. I still love a good Monopoly challenge, but let’s face it, the game goes on forever and I seldom have the time to set aside hours to play it to its completion (who does?). [more]
- Tags: Toys and Games, The Games Kids Play, Parenting, Moms, Greece, Grandparents, Dads, Children
November 9, 2009
Three things from the weekend
Did you have spectacular fall weather like we had this weekend? I spent most of it outdoors, making up for all the sick, couch-ridden days from the weekend before. We raked, finally put away the Halloween decorations (it’s so much easier and exciting to put them up, isn’t it, then to take them down?), and T. and I spent some quality time in the hammock, watching the leaves spiral down from the blue, blue sky. I felt some of my old energy coming back—not all of it yet, but enough to make me feel like myself again, and not some recovering invalid. [more]
October 27, 2009
Irony and indecision
Irony
pronunciation: \ˈī-rə-nē also ˈī(-ə)r-nē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural iro·nies
Etymology: Latin ironia, from Greek eirōnia, from eirōn dissembler
Date: 1502
the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning
OR
Spending weeks and weeks debating whether or not you should get the H1N1 vaccine for your children, making the decision to go ahead and do it, then finding out that you can't get the vaccine anywhere, even if you beg and plead, and wring your hands.
************ [more]
October 13, 2009
Declaration of independence
When I teach the first semester of Freshman Composition, I usually assign a particular reading to my students--one dealing with the question of public space, what it is, how it can be altered, and who alters it. [more]
October 6, 2009
Family-friendly?
If you are a working parent, is your company family-friendly? Take a minute to think about what you think family-friendly really means--in your ideal world (we're not talking reality, here). You can make a list, as I make my students often do in class, whenever I want to challenge them to think about a topic. Some things I would put on my list would be:
1. Good affordable health care benefits for families (including dental and vision)
2. Flexible work time
3. Extended leave for pregnancy/illness
4. Ability to bring children to work on school breaks [more]
October 5, 2009
10 ways you can tell you're a parent (even at a rock concert)
1. You feel smug because your cool low-slung Levis with the hole in one knee still fit and your daughter looks at you and says, "Oh no, Mama! You need to sew that hole!"
2. The only binoculars you can find to take to the concert are your nine-year old son's night vision ones.
3. You bring them anyway.
4. You empty your pockets for security at the concert entrance and find: a kleenex, chapstick, one acorn, and a rock shaped like a light saber.
5. The only chapstick you could find to grab out of the car before the concert was your daughter's cherry-berry lipsmackers. [more]
August 20, 2009
Convergence
This made me smile yesterday:
T.'s take on winter science! The hypothesis she was testing? Whether or not frozen rocks would turn to ice.
********* [more]
July 29, 2009
It was the worst of times, it was the best of times
Not long ago, L. surprised us out of the blue by telling us that the happiest day of his life was when T. was born. He then went on to recount, in great detail, the facts of T.'s birth ending with his first sight of her, as she lay between my legs. He really meant it, too, because he witnessed her birth--right there, up close and personal, while Clifford the Big Red Dog played on the wall-mounted hospital room television. He's never talked much about her birth before. He was, after all, only 3 1/2 years old at the time. We hadn't planned on his being in the room when T. [more]
