Due to a variety of circumstances ( My oldest two boys are small-normal size and my third one is BIG, the fourth one is skinny) I have seen some of the same clothes in the closet for nine years. Most clothes are not "resting" except for their off season, and are just passing from boy to boy to boy.
23 October 2009
11 October 2009
Why I am a Liberal, abbreviated version, part one
I grew up in a conservative home, in a conservative geographical area and with my parents (actually just my mom) attended a church that was way right of conservative. My first memories, which take place in the very early 80's, are of a time when conservatism, religion and morality were all wrapped up in Reagan. This was the time of the backlash against the social and societal reforms of the 60's and 70's. I believe everyone felt insecure and as if their life was without moorings, so turned to the security: the Bible and God, particularly the Hebrew scriptures (old testament) fire and brimstone/hell and damnation God.
My parents and nearly everyone I knew in childhood was a Republican, even though the 80's were a time of inflation and working class people suffered from trickle down economics and the slow closing of programs and phasing out of funding that typified that era. I may also add that there was a pervasive anti-feminism sentiment present in the area and that church.
But somehow I was a feminist! Was it from TV or movies? I don't know, but I remember Geraldine Ferraro on the billboard and "ERA" signs in peoples yards which actually a type of real estate agent, but I thought it stood for Equal Rights Amendment. I remember telling my father he was a male chauvinist pig, although I had no inkling what it really meant. We girls can do anything, right Barbie?
Roots and all it's sequels aired when I was a child, and then Queen when I was a teenager. I tried to befriend african-american girls (except they were "black"then) The friendships didn't work out to well, perhaps because they would have been contrived, or maybe because Our Town was segregated, as far as neighborhoods and churches go. It probably still is. When my mother moved to Our Town with her family in 1969, it still had "whites only" and "colored" signs up in businesses.
So how did I end up a liberal who votes democrat but is much more to the left? Was I a micro victim of the liberal media brainwashing me into discarding my families' values? I don't think so. I think for most people, for me anyway, politics and beliefs are internal and inborn. I tried to follow the groove, stay in the lines and parrot back what I was told, but I couldn't do it. Not about religion, not about feminism, not about politics.
I am still a product of the south. I struggle with lingering prejudices, a desire to label and lingering evangelical fearfulness. And I struggle with how to raise my children. I don't want them pointing at those from other cultures openly ( or in secret) as I see people doing and making comments about dress or hair or propensity for stealing. But I want them to respect and acknowledge differences as well. America is a melting pot, after all. Anyone else have tacos, pasta, barbeque and chinese in a given month (or week)? No? Just me?
My parents and nearly everyone I knew in childhood was a Republican, even though the 80's were a time of inflation and working class people suffered from trickle down economics and the slow closing of programs and phasing out of funding that typified that era. I may also add that there was a pervasive anti-feminism sentiment present in the area and that church.
But somehow I was a feminist! Was it from TV or movies? I don't know, but I remember Geraldine Ferraro on the billboard and "ERA" signs in peoples yards which actually a type of real estate agent, but I thought it stood for Equal Rights Amendment. I remember telling my father he was a male chauvinist pig, although I had no inkling what it really meant. We girls can do anything, right Barbie?
Roots and all it's sequels aired when I was a child, and then Queen when I was a teenager. I tried to befriend african-american girls (except they were "black"then) The friendships didn't work out to well, perhaps because they would have been contrived, or maybe because Our Town was segregated, as far as neighborhoods and churches go. It probably still is. When my mother moved to Our Town with her family in 1969, it still had "whites only" and "colored" signs up in businesses.
So how did I end up a liberal who votes democrat but is much more to the left? Was I a micro victim of the liberal media brainwashing me into discarding my families' values? I don't think so. I think for most people, for me anyway, politics and beliefs are internal and inborn. I tried to follow the groove, stay in the lines and parrot back what I was told, but I couldn't do it. Not about religion, not about feminism, not about politics.
I am still a product of the south. I struggle with lingering prejudices, a desire to label and lingering evangelical fearfulness. And I struggle with how to raise my children. I don't want them pointing at those from other cultures openly ( or in secret) as I see people doing and making comments about dress or hair or propensity for stealing. But I want them to respect and acknowledge differences as well. America is a melting pot, after all. Anyone else have tacos, pasta, barbeque and chinese in a given month (or week)? No? Just me?
05 October 2009
On the Care and Feeding of Sick Children
This being the 6th year I have had child in school, so I am well versed in illness. But wait, let me back up. Today is my oldest son's 11th birthday, and he was a very sickly child. He started getting ear infections when he was just a few months old. He got everything that went around, sometimes twice. Roseola, 5th disease, croup, hand foot and mouth, strep throat, stomach viruses, pneumonia. From the start, I was very inept with and unsympathetic to illness. Which is unlucky, since I ended up having five children and for some reason, the little buggers get sick a lot! So, over the years, I have developed some strategies to deal with illness, and even prevent it (at little).
First of all, don't be too clean! I can't stress this enough. Overly clean moms have kids who are always sick. And have allergies (which I don't believe in, but that's a whole other day). Why do they do this to their kids and themselves? It just makes extra work and it doesn't help anything.
Next, don't go to the doctor. In appearance, the Dr's office is an overly clean place, but naturally it is crawling with germs, most likely different from the germs your kids have. And you just know the doctor is going to make you wait and wait and wait, and you will go home empty handed with advice on fluids that you already knew. Or, even worse, go home with an antibiotic your child doesn't need.
When your child has already succumbed to some sort of illness don't coddle them. School nurses especially tell the children how sick they are and tell the parents how serious it is on the phone (so the parent will come pick them up). So by the time you get your kid from school, they are probably convinced they're dying. The first thing I do when I pick up a sick kid from school is tell him how fast he will get better in a very matter of fact way. Then go home, and if it's cold outside, open the windows. Fresh air is very good for sickness and germs don't like the cold. Living in the south, we also have our very own natural humidifer and vaporizer--outside! Save money whenever you can, you'll need it for your wine.
Here is some other advice:
Don't let a sick child out of doing chores. They need to learn what life is really like and in the real world you work when you are sick. (Unless of course you are a man and then you lay around and do nothing when you are sick the day after your wife was sick and you claimed to not be able to miss work).
First of all, don't be too clean! I can't stress this enough. Overly clean moms have kids who are always sick. And have allergies (which I don't believe in, but that's a whole other day). Why do they do this to their kids and themselves? It just makes extra work and it doesn't help anything.
Next, don't go to the doctor. In appearance, the Dr's office is an overly clean place, but naturally it is crawling with germs, most likely different from the germs your kids have. And you just know the doctor is going to make you wait and wait and wait, and you will go home empty handed with advice on fluids that you already knew. Or, even worse, go home with an antibiotic your child doesn't need.
When your child has already succumbed to some sort of illness don't coddle them. School nurses especially tell the children how sick they are and tell the parents how serious it is on the phone (so the parent will come pick them up). So by the time you get your kid from school, they are probably convinced they're dying. The first thing I do when I pick up a sick kid from school is tell him how fast he will get better in a very matter of fact way. Then go home, and if it's cold outside, open the windows. Fresh air is very good for sickness and germs don't like the cold. Living in the south, we also have our very own natural humidifer and vaporizer--outside! Save money whenever you can, you'll need it for your wine.
Here is some other advice:
Don't let a sick child out of doing chores. They need to learn what life is really like and in the real world you work when you are sick. (Unless of course you are a man and then you lay around and do nothing when you are sick the day after your wife was sick and you claimed to not be able to miss work).
Tell stories about how children used to die from strep throat, etc. This always cheers my children up.
Tell labor and deliver stories. This will make your child (or son) so uncomfortable, he will want to get better as fast as possible to get away from you.
Most importantly, don't lose your cool, but I have no advice on how to do this, having lost my cool with sick kids many , many times.
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