When I was about 12 years old, I became quite a stickler about shutting off unnecessary lights. Suddenly all the adult nagging and public-service announcements I'd ever heard got through to me (I can't recall why) and I began to see how amazingly wasteful it is to leave a bunch of extra lights on, just … Continue reading Tips from The Lightbulb Ninja
fear
Show. No. Fear.
A few years ago, my mom and I saw a toddler having a tantrum about leaving an outdoor tourist attraction at closing time. She wanted to walk--NO she wanted to be carried--NO she wanted to ride in the wagon--NO she wanted to shriek and thrash in the gravel!!! This went on and on and on … Continue reading Show. No. Fear.
More about shyness
My mother just read my article on shyness and suggested a couple of additions. One is an anecdote I'd never heard before: At the last parent/teacher meeting of each elementary school year, your teachers confided how pleased they were that "Rebecca has finally started to come out of her shell." Every year. They were so … Continue reading More about shyness
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!
Nightmare Management
My own child so far has not had much trouble with scary dreams or bedtime anxiety, but here are two ideas--one from my own childhood experience, one from my brother's--that I've never seen in professional advice on getting nightmare-prone children to sleep:I had a tendency to imagine things lurking in the dark. Sometimes I got so … Continue reading Nightmare Management
That’s all.
Just as I thought it was going all right, I found out I'm wrong when I thought I was right. It's always the same. It's just a shame. That's all. These are the opening lyrics to a Genesis song that comforts me when things go wrong between Daniel and me. It's about the frustration of … Continue reading That’s all.
There go the helpers!
One day when my son was a tiny baby, I was walking with him along the main street of our neighborhood when an ambulance went screaming past. Just ahead of us on the sidewalk were a little boy and his mother, and they jumped up and down shouting happily, "There go the helpers!" Wow. What … Continue reading There go the helpers!
How Fear Handicaps Feminism
Women will not be equal until we are not afraid. Giving women options--making it possible for us to hold powerful jobs, to play sports, to exercise the same legal rights as men--is only part of the battle. The rest is getting women to feel that it's okay for us to do these things. The barriers we have to overcome are not only other people's prejudices but also our own.
The Earthling's Handbook 