My Girl Scouts and I recently learned a new method for assessing group opinions so we can work toward consensus. It looked useful in the book (it's included in the Agent of Change Journey program) but it wasn't until we tried it that I learned how amazingly well it works for me! Fist to Five … Continue reading Fist to Five: A way to reach agreement
Think!
The Five-Part Furniture-Finding Plan
It's Works-for-Me Wednesday, so here's the system by which Daniel and I have furnished our home: When there's a piece of furniture you'd like to have, Wait for it to come along. When you can wait no longer, See what you can scrounge from what other people are discarding. Go to yard sales. Go to … Continue reading The Five-Part Furniture-Finding Plan
The Cheap Thrills of Thrifty Fashion
Last night, our three-year-old night owl conked out at 8:00!! Daniel and I did a little dance of glee and launched into an evening of companionable adult pursuits, which of course included sorting through our wardrobes, getting out the winter clothes and putting away the summer ones, and deciding the fate of unwanted garments. What? That's not … Continue reading The Cheap Thrills of Thrifty Fashion
Some Word Games
On the way back from Fairfield to the Chicago train station, we stopped at an Iowa truckstop restaurant called Gramma's Kitchen. One of the puzzles on the children's menu was this: "How many words can you make out of the letters in GRAMMA'S KITCHEN?" I glanced idly at it and thought, gram . . . ram … Continue reading Some Word Games
To You, They ARE Underwear!
This article is part of my Tastes Like Somebody Loves You! series. I wrote it in 2003, but it falls into that category of things I wasn't allowed to say when I wasn't a parent. Toddlers learning to use the toilet used to wear cotton "training pants" that were just like underpants but made of thicker … Continue reading To You, They ARE Underwear!
When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best
This article is part of my Tastes Like Somebody Loves You! series. My son was 12 days old the first time he received a package with his name computer-printed on the shipping label. "What did you order?" I asked him jokingly. "Did you go online without permission?" Of course he hadn't--the package contained a gift. … Continue reading When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best
Tastes Like Somebody Loves You!
Each photograph showed a smiling child, alone in the foreground of an after-school activity: ballet lesson, soccer practice, etc. The slogan said, "Tastes Like Somebody Loves You!" It was an ad campaign for individual pudding snacks. Well, it may taste like it, but that snack doesn't mean anyone loves you, kid. In fact, nobody loves … Continue reading Tastes Like Somebody Loves You!
Linkapalooza
Free Range Kids advocates allowing children to develop the skills they'll need as adults, instead of trying to protect them from everything. It started because of the huge backlash to the author's column about letting her nine-year-old ride home alone on New York City public transit. Bravo! (Over-protectiveness is another thing many people told me I would … Continue reading Linkapalooza
Cloth Diapers
I always knew I would use cloth diapers on my baby. My parents and most of my extended family had, so I was used to the idea and saw it as a sensible choice financially and environmentally. Also, I had babysat for disposable-diapered babies and found their diapers hard to tolerate aesthetically; they just feel so … Continue reading Cloth Diapers
Slaying the Snooze-button Sloth
I had some trouble deciding what to do for Lent this year. We gave up meat in 2002, but since then we've eaten so much less meat that giving it up completely wouldn't make a noticeable daily difference. I toyed with several ideas and started into Lent by reading selections from the Gospel aloud to … Continue reading Slaying the Snooze-button Sloth
response to “The Urban Archipelago”
I just learned that an article several people forwarded to me just after the 2004 election now has its own Website. "The Urban Archipelago" has one very clear, important point: The states of the United States are not as different from one another as the cities are different from the small-town and rural areas. But after … Continue reading response to “The Urban Archipelago”
Anything works better when you know how to use it!
This columnist argues that teenagers shouldn't be taught about contraception because studies show that younger, poorer, unmarried people using oral contraceptives or condoms are more likely to get pregnant than older, more affluent, married people using the same devices. It's an interesting attempt at logic, but it leaves out a crucial point: Any contraceptive method that requires action … Continue reading Anything works better when you know how to use it!
Planned Porcine Hoods?
Recently I received a flurry of indignant e-mails from Planned Parenthood, decrying the refusal of FOX and CBS to air a condom commercial. Not condom commercials in general, just one in particular. Planned Parenthood urged me to contact everyone imaginable, demanding that this commercial must be aired so people can protect themselves from pregnancy and sexually transmitted … Continue reading Planned Porcine Hoods?
The Earthling's Handbook 