1. What's So Bad About American Parents, Anyway? in the Washington Post.
"Of course we love our children and want what’s best for them. Our problem is that we’re not sure what, exactly — in our driven, achievement-oriented country — is best. Perhaps instead of snapping up the latest foreign fad or obsessing over every international test score ranking, American parents would do well to look no further than a very American ideal: the pursuit of happiness."
“American parenting is child-centered, expert-guided, emotionally absorbing, labor-intensive, financially expensive and is expected to be done by mothers alone. And it is impossible to do alone,” said Sharon Hays, a sociologist at the University of Southern California. “The mothering you see today in America is culturally and historically unprecedented. We expect selfless devotion to what we interpret as the child’s needs, wants and interests at every moment of the day. And with the vast majority of mothers working, that puts them in an impossible paradox.”
2. Apologies to the Parents I Judged Four Hears Ago in the Huffington Post
"My day-to-day routine isn't what I envisioned it would be four years ago. Some of the things I imagine I'm judged on now are minor, others, a little more major. But mostly they are simple faults and I now know that they don't make me a bad parent. Sometimes I leave dirty diapers on the changing table. My children's socks don't always match. I forget to brush my daughter's hair. I use TV as a way to take a breather. I utilize the fast-food drive-thru. I bribe. I'm sometimes too easy. I'm sometimes too hard. I sometimes make the wrong decision, give the wrong punishment, ask too much, ask too little. But within all these minor and major faults is a singular truth: Most days, I'm doing the best I can. And I honestly believe that's a truth that can be applied to most parents: Most days, we're all doing the best we can.
Because here's another realization I've made as a parent: Everyone's situation is different. There is a story behind every action and inaction. Every parent has his or her own style. Every child has his or her own temperament. What might be a stellar day for my family has been a downright awful day for another -- perhaps the parent's job is in danger, their parent is sick or they just had an argument with their spouse. Perhaps the child is failing math or being bullied at school, or the toddler hasn't slept for two weeks. This can explain the short-temper in the grocery store or the harsher-than-necessary punishment, or the lack of care when it comes to sweets or TV or a late bedtime. We don't know, can't know, someone's entire story.
That said, I believe there are absolutes in parenting so yes, sometimes, I still judge. (And I realize that the irony of this piece is that in writing about not judging others, I'm now judging those who judge.) I know that, for some, it's impossible to provide their children with life's basic necessities: food, clothing and shelter. But I believe we, as parents, must try. I believe we must do what we can to protect our children from harm. I believe we should always love our children, even when, especially when, we don't like their actions, we disagree with their decisions or we're just having a difficult day with them.
But everything else is minor. Everything else doesn't matter. There are children who are abused, who go to bed hungry, who have never known love, and four years ago I was judging the toddler who watched an hour of "Sesame Street"?"
WOW. NICELY STATED.
3. The Good Enough Mother on PBS's website.
"The message mothers take from [society] is that there is a right way to do things, and if you do it the wrong way you will damage your child. Any problem must mean you are doing something wrong, and so it is your fault. To be a good mother, it seems as though you have to be perfect and never make any mistakes.
The trouble with this idea is that even if you were a perfect mother (if there ever were such a person), that's not what would be best for your child. Your child has to grow up to live in the real world, and the real world isn't perfect. A child can't expect always to have people around her who understand her or cater to her every wish. Children have to learn to share, take turns, wait for what they want and realize that other people have needs and moods, too. Having to learn this can be frustrating, so children act up in various ways to show their displeasure. They show their feelings by behaving in ways that adults don't always like, and sometimes lead mothers to believe that they have done something wrong to cause that behavior."
4. Maybe Captain Smith wasn't so incompetent after all, according to this story, the moon may have helped cause the sinking of the titanic.
According to the article, "Greenland icebergs of the type that the Titanic struck generally become stuck in the shallow waters off Labrador and Newfoundland, and cannot resume moving southward until they have melted enough to re-float or a high tide frees them . . . So how was it that such a large number of icebergs had floated so far south that they were in the shipping lanes well south of Newfoundland that night?
An unusually close approach by the moon in January 1912 may have produced such high tides that far more icebergs than usual managed to separate from Greenland, and floated, still fully grown, into shipping lanes that had been moved south that spring because of reports of icebergs. Further, on January 4 1912, the moon and sun lined up in such a way that their gravitational pulls enhanced each other. And, the moon's closest approach to earth that January was the closest in 1400 years, and the point of closest approach occurred within six minutes of the full moon. On top of that, the Earth's closest approach to the sun in a year had happened just the previous day.
This configuration maximised the moon's tide-raising forces on the Earth's oceans."
"To reach the shipping lanes by mid-April, the iceberg that the Titanic struck must have broken off from Greenland in January 1912. The high tide caused by the bizarre combination of astronomical events would have been enough to dislodge icebergs and give them enough buoyancy to reach the shipping lanes by April. . . . The team's Titanic research may have vindicated Captain Smith - albeit a century too late - by showing that he had a good excuse to react so casually to a report of ice in the ship's path. He had no reason at the time to believe that the bergs he was facing were as numerous or as large as they turned out to be." Now we know.
3/15/12
3/14/12
Things to Do - Easy Store-Bought After School Activities
I planned on a longer post for today, but I started reading The Hunger Games
and I couldn't put it down (now I get what all the hype is about). Then T came home early from school with a high fever, poor little guy. So just a quick post on some of our newest easy after school activities. * T likes to paint, but sometimes I can't deal with the mess (especially when cooking dinner), so I picked up this set of hassle free watercolors and though it's not perfect (the kids think of it more as a "cool marker set" than paint, so it doesn't really meet the need in the way I wanted) it comes in handy in a pinch.
* P loves these sticker Dover Little Activity Books Paper Dolls
that sell for only $1.50 on Amazon. There's lots of different options to choose from - click here
to check them out. * Both the girls enjoy finding hidden pictures, so I purchased a few coloring books for them, P in particular likes the Fairy Tale Hidden Picture Coloring Book
.* I also bought the kids Color Your Own Modern Art Masterpieces
, but they didn't really like it much. So I've been using it to work on my own "masterpieces", experimenting with different hues and shades. * And, finally, we all can't get enough of Crayola Color Wonder Metallic Paper & Markers
(thank you, Marina, for the suggestion).__________________________________________
I also think the following items look really fun. I may need to buy them soon. "Need" being loosely defined.
*MoMA Color Coloring Book
*I can't remember where I heard about Kaleidograph Flora
but they look really fun. *And I love these DIY fabric scrap paper dolls (templates included in link).
________________________________________
What are your newest art supplies and toys? I'd love to hear about them.
Labels:
after school,
Things to Do
3/13/12
Things to Make - Paintings with Watercolor Crayons and Watercolor Pencils
A few weeks ago, while attending a Stories in Art class at the National Gallery, F had the opportunity to work with watercolor crayons. I had never seen these before, so I bought some from Amazon for approximately $15 (Staedtler Karat Aquarell Premium Watercolor Crayons, 223M12
) and now we can't stop painting with them. The kids like to combine the watercolor crayons with watercolor pencils, using the pencils for details and the crayons for wide areas. They're really fun to work with - less messy than paint, more creative and colorful than crayons. And I really enjoy that all the kids can work with them, from T at 2.5 years old to F at 6.5 years old. I think I'll bring a set, along with some brushes, on our next vacation, as they seem like an easy art material to travel with. 
We made another banner to surprise Dan when he came back from a long worktrip. The banner also helps conceal that I still haven't purchased counter stools. Ugh, major purchases stress me out (am i crazy for thinking of counter stools at a major purchase? I want them to match the table and chairs that I still don't own. Decorating is hard.).
Labels:
paint,
painting,
Things to Make,
watercolors
3/12/12
Places to Go - Two New Children's Plays (One for Younger Kids and One for Older Kids)
For Children 18 Months to 5 Years
Last Thursday, P (age 5), T (age 2.5), and I attended Arts on the Horizon's newest production, Out of the Box (for children 18 months to 5 years old). We really enjoyed Art on the Horizon's first production, Drumming for Dishes (click here to read our review, accompanied by info about the theater company) so we had high expectations. Luckily, Out of the Box exceeded them all.
First of all, the new space is fabulous - toys (including a soft toolbelt), chalkboard tables, books, hats of all different sorts - the theater has successfully made their "waiting room" a destination in itself. Regarding the play, Out of the Box doesn't stray far from its predecessor, in that the plot is simple and silent - just a girl playing with boxes, accompanied by a bass player and three stuffed animals who operate as "friends" and costars. Despite the sparsity of the set, Out of the Box manages to make the simple enchanting - the audience waved our hands while the girl's box/boat sailed through our imaginary waters. Later in the play a large white sheet swooped through the room, which somehow seemed magical. And P's whole face lit up when given the simple task of shaking a cardboard box. Although slow at times, Out of the Box's interactive nature kept everyone involved; a huge crowd of 4 year olds COULD NOT stop laughing; and T seat-danced to the tunes from the bass. A lot of the play's magic has to do with the casting of Tia Shearer, who plays the "girl." We've attended a few plays where an adult portrays a child, some more successful than others (and some more expensive than others) but no actor is as convincing and enchanting as Shearer.
Although Arts on the Horizon's plays are obviously written and directed for children, one should not discount their message to adults. In a gentle, nonjudgmental tone, you can almost hear the theater company whispering "look how much fun this is. and look how easy. you don't need fancy toys or a lot of time. just play with them. they're little and precious and they can teach you so much. just find a box and play. enter their world for a little while." After watching an Arts on the Horizon production I find it almost impossible to not want to jump in right away, to leave the production and just "be" with my kids for awhile.
As wonderful as I found the play, Arts on the Horizon really scored a home run with its "after the play" activities - an easy take home art project and a few "surprises" in the lobby created a place so fun that my children literally WOULD NOT leave. "Three more minutes, PLEASE. just three more minutes." Shearer came out out to meet the audience and P could not stop smiling. When asked on the way home what she loved most about the play, P replied "everything. absolutely everything." While I'm not positive that her statement is entirely correct (during a slow part P asked me, "when is this going to end?"), P's excitement serves as a great indicator of exactly what Art on the Horizon has managed to accomplish, - they've created a space and a play so interactive and engaging that everything flows together - from the toys in the lobby to the actress on the stage. And my kids refused to dissect it, they don't know exactly what they liked, but they know they wanted to stay. On Friday morning, T asked "another play today, mommy? please!" So, who knows, we may attend another performance of Out of the Box. And another.
The play runs through March 18th at Landmark Mall in Alexandria. The production moves to the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington DC from March 20-25. Tickets are $8 for children and adults (children under 12 months are free). Click here for showtimes and additional info.
For Children 4.5 Years and Up
On Saturday afternoon, P (age 5), F (age 6), and I checked out Encore Stage and Studio's production of The Magical Lamp of Aladdin. Prior to the performance, the Arlington Youth Orchestral Program mesmerized us with Aladdin-themed tunes. I'm by no means an expert on orchestra, but to my ears these kids sounded amazing. So much talent. A great way to lead in to the play.
Regarding the production itself, all of the characters are played by children, aged fourth grade through high school. The girls seemed amazed that kids could accomplish such a big task and we spent much of the car ride home discussing how hard it would be to memorize lines and convince an audience that you were really someone else. The play dragged in parts and some actors were definitely better than others. Meghan Mack, who played the royal executioner, Chop Chop, wowed us all and the girls have spent a little too much time mimicking her role (their stuffed animals live in fear). "She's just so funny, mom, so so funny." I particularly loved the monkey, played by Eva Gary, who never broke character and kept us kept us all continually engaged and amused.
All in all, my kids enjoyed the production, especially the funny bit parts (like the ex-fiance who carries the umbrella and the jewel-hungry queen). And if they ever did run into Andrew Ruhnke, the actor who plays Aladdin, I'm pretty sure my kids would assume he really owns a magic lamp.
The theater recommends the play for children 4 and up and I would take the age limit seriously. It's a full play (about 1.5 hours) with a 15 minute intermission and the sets, while well done, are simple. Toddlers probably won't "get" it.
The Magical Lamp of Aladdin runs on weekends through March 18th at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington. Tickets are $10 for kids and $12 for adults. During intermission, snacks are available for purchase. For showtimes and additional information, click here.
After the play, I asked the girls to draw some pictures of the performance as "art" for this post. Then T spilled water all over everything. So, unfortunately, all I'm left with is instagram.
Last Thursday, P (age 5), T (age 2.5), and I attended Arts on the Horizon's newest production, Out of the Box (for children 18 months to 5 years old). We really enjoyed Art on the Horizon's first production, Drumming for Dishes (click here to read our review, accompanied by info about the theater company) so we had high expectations. Luckily, Out of the Box exceeded them all.
First of all, the new space is fabulous - toys (including a soft toolbelt), chalkboard tables, books, hats of all different sorts - the theater has successfully made their "waiting room" a destination in itself. Regarding the play, Out of the Box doesn't stray far from its predecessor, in that the plot is simple and silent - just a girl playing with boxes, accompanied by a bass player and three stuffed animals who operate as "friends" and costars. Despite the sparsity of the set, Out of the Box manages to make the simple enchanting - the audience waved our hands while the girl's box/boat sailed through our imaginary waters. Later in the play a large white sheet swooped through the room, which somehow seemed magical. And P's whole face lit up when given the simple task of shaking a cardboard box. Although slow at times, Out of the Box's interactive nature kept everyone involved; a huge crowd of 4 year olds COULD NOT stop laughing; and T seat-danced to the tunes from the bass. A lot of the play's magic has to do with the casting of Tia Shearer, who plays the "girl." We've attended a few plays where an adult portrays a child, some more successful than others (and some more expensive than others) but no actor is as convincing and enchanting as Shearer.
Although Arts on the Horizon's plays are obviously written and directed for children, one should not discount their message to adults. In a gentle, nonjudgmental tone, you can almost hear the theater company whispering "look how much fun this is. and look how easy. you don't need fancy toys or a lot of time. just play with them. they're little and precious and they can teach you so much. just find a box and play. enter their world for a little while." After watching an Arts on the Horizon production I find it almost impossible to not want to jump in right away, to leave the production and just "be" with my kids for awhile.
As wonderful as I found the play, Arts on the Horizon really scored a home run with its "after the play" activities - an easy take home art project and a few "surprises" in the lobby created a place so fun that my children literally WOULD NOT leave. "Three more minutes, PLEASE. just three more minutes." Shearer came out out to meet the audience and P could not stop smiling. When asked on the way home what she loved most about the play, P replied "everything. absolutely everything." While I'm not positive that her statement is entirely correct (during a slow part P asked me, "when is this going to end?"), P's excitement serves as a great indicator of exactly what Art on the Horizon has managed to accomplish, - they've created a space and a play so interactive and engaging that everything flows together - from the toys in the lobby to the actress on the stage. And my kids refused to dissect it, they don't know exactly what they liked, but they know they wanted to stay. On Friday morning, T asked "another play today, mommy? please!" So, who knows, we may attend another performance of Out of the Box. And another.
The play runs through March 18th at Landmark Mall in Alexandria. The production moves to the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington DC from March 20-25. Tickets are $8 for children and adults (children under 12 months are free). Click here for showtimes and additional info.
For Children 4.5 Years and Up
On Saturday afternoon, P (age 5), F (age 6), and I checked out Encore Stage and Studio's production of The Magical Lamp of Aladdin. Prior to the performance, the Arlington Youth Orchestral Program mesmerized us with Aladdin-themed tunes. I'm by no means an expert on orchestra, but to my ears these kids sounded amazing. So much talent. A great way to lead in to the play.
Regarding the production itself, all of the characters are played by children, aged fourth grade through high school. The girls seemed amazed that kids could accomplish such a big task and we spent much of the car ride home discussing how hard it would be to memorize lines and convince an audience that you were really someone else. The play dragged in parts and some actors were definitely better than others. Meghan Mack, who played the royal executioner, Chop Chop, wowed us all and the girls have spent a little too much time mimicking her role (their stuffed animals live in fear). "She's just so funny, mom, so so funny." I particularly loved the monkey, played by Eva Gary, who never broke character and kept us kept us all continually engaged and amused.
All in all, my kids enjoyed the production, especially the funny bit parts (like the ex-fiance who carries the umbrella and the jewel-hungry queen). And if they ever did run into Andrew Ruhnke, the actor who plays Aladdin, I'm pretty sure my kids would assume he really owns a magic lamp.
The theater recommends the play for children 4 and up and I would take the age limit seriously. It's a full play (about 1.5 hours) with a 15 minute intermission and the sets, while well done, are simple. Toddlers probably won't "get" it.
The Magical Lamp of Aladdin runs on weekends through March 18th at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington. Tickets are $10 for kids and $12 for adults. During intermission, snacks are available for purchase. For showtimes and additional information, click here.
After the play, I asked the girls to draw some pictures of the performance as "art" for this post. Then T spilled water all over everything. So, unfortunately, all I'm left with is instagram.
3/9/12
Things to Do - F, Age 6.5
I saw something on Pinterest recommending that you interview your children every six months. Seemed like a good idea to me. So here she is, changing every day, in remarkable and unforeseen ways.
FAVORITE COLOR - Blue
FAVORITE BOOK - Do Stars Have Points?
FAVORITE SUBJECT - Art
FAVORITE SONG - Hey Soul Sister
FAVORITE FOOD - Apples
FAVORITE MOVIE - Belle's Magical World
FAVORITE TOY - Cybil Lily
FAVORITE TV SHOW - The Electric Company
FAVORITE FAMOUS PERSON - MLK
FAVORITE MUSEUM - Baltimore Science Museum
FAVORITE SEASON - Summer
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? - Astronaut/scientist/artist
WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND - Cybil Lily
FAVORITE THING TO DO AS A FAMILY - Family movie night
FAVORITE PLACE TO GO AS A FAMILY - Mackinac Island and Grandma's house ("which grandma?" "both of them")
FAVORITE THING TO DO AFTER SCHOOL - Draw pictures and have a snack
FAVORITE GAME TO PLAY WITH P - Play dolls and read books
FAVORITE GAME TO PLAY WITH T - Mommy and baby
HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!
WEEKEND LINKS:
*I attended the Lunafest short film festival earlier this week, with some amazing friends, where I enjoyed a film about a 75 year old nude model, especially the line "there is one thing in life you can give yourself - permission." This film on how to be alone also made me smile, definitely worth a watch.
*We saw a really great kids' play on Thursday, Out of the Box, through the Arts on the Horizon Theater Company. I'll post a full review next week, but we liked it so much I wanted to give it a shout out before the weekend. Tickets are only $8, showtimes are on 10 and 11:30 on Saturday and Sunday at 11:30.
*Japan then and now.
*Mayim Bialik on attachment parenting. I think a lot of the struggles of parenting stem from trying to find what works best for you and your family, so even though I could never parent this way, it's interesting to see how well it works for some people.
*Amazing instagrams.
*Maya Hayuk.
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interview,
Things to Do
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