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Thursday, September 27, 2007 How Mothers Let Linda Hirshman Down  I first heard of Linda Hirshman's and her stance that being a stay-at-home mom was to settle for being less than an adult human being on CNN. She has a quiet, studied voice, with a steady cheerful delivery that would make Dolores Umbridge proud. Hirshman asserts that "the tasks of housekeeping and child rearing were not worthy of the full time and talents of intelligent and educated human beings. They do not require a great intellect, they are not honored and they do not involve risks and the rewards that risk brings." She also goes on to say: Here's the feminist moral analysis that choice avoided: The family -- with its repetitious, socially invisible, physical tasks -- is a necessary part of life, but it allows fewer opportunities for full human flourishing than public spheres like the market or the government." So, in a few sentences, Hirshman has made it abundantly clear that the raising of a child does not require a competent adult. If her argument in meant to galvanize mothers into rejoining the workforce, it also establishes that those that will be given the responsibility of the children while they do so - be they stay-at-home dads, nannies, day care operators, teachers - are people who are neither intelligent or well educated. And I'm not sure what 'public sphere' Dr. Hirshman resides in, but my experience in the market and government spheres is chock full of 'repetitious, socially invisible, physical tasks'. Veronica Mitchell does a great job of breaking this down in her analysis of Hirshman and her work. After making her viewpoints known, Dr. Hirshman then follows the tried-and-true tact of all media pundits today: undermine the opposing view by belittling and discrediting the detractors. In an article in Washington the Washington Post, Dr. Hirshman attributes most of the complaints against her work to religious zealots and bloggers who revel in the mundane drudgery of their lives. While talking to Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, she elaborated: One of the things I've done working on my book is to read a lot of the diaries online. And their description of their lives does not sound particularly interesting or fulfilling for a...complicated person, for a complicated, educated person. It's physical, but it's repetitious. Her supporters, she surmises, are too occupied to talk about their support of her viewpoint: "I guess working women are too busy at work to blog about their lives and are already on their way to their jobs when "Good Morning America" puts me on at 8 a.m. I'm astonished by Dr. Hirshman's real lack of knowledge about how people live their lives today. Dr. Hirshman, working people blog. Sometimes at work. They also post pictures to Flickr, Dropshots, and dozens of other sites - and participate in chat rooms, etc. You'd be surprised at how many people do. I'd be more inclined to believe that working women who support your stance are not likely to come out and support it because the corporate culture they are in already has your viewpoint ingrained in their philosophy, and so there is no point in coming out and affirming what they feel is obvious. At least CNN anchor Rick Sanchez took her to task in his interview. He told Linda that he knows exactly what his job is: a TV anchor. And that it's completely unimportant next to his kids. And he'd quit it in an instant if he needed to to be at home. Well done, Rick. It makes up for the whole taser thing. Labels: Kira, Parker, Punditz, The Great Divide ------------------------------------------------
Sunday, September 23, 2007 Moving Imagination Parker, Kira, and I spent two days at Disney this weekend, primarily to see the Imagination Movers, a children's quartet from the Disney Channel. They had fun at the concert, but their attention was really piqued immediately afterwards, when the group came into the audience to sign autographs. Parker had to tell each of the band members how he had a guitar at home and a set of drums. After had spoken to the lead singer, Mover Rich, I asked Kira if she wanted to go and get her picture with him, as he was still kneeling right in front of us. Kira was clinging to my leg shyly, when all of a sudden, BOOM, she was off like a rocket, and nearly bowled him over with the force of her hug. Rich's face lit up with a terrific smile, and he said that she had absolutely just made his day.    Later that night we watched the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom from the steamboat. It was a lovely trip. Some other gems from the kids:
Labels: Cute Overlord, Disney, Kira, Parker ------------------------------------------------
Monday, September 17, 2007 It's the End of the World As We Know It "Still, some dreams refuse to die. Some souls never know when the cause is lost. Such ignorance can be truly awe-inspiring!" - Jim Starlin, Infinity Gauntlet  End of the world narratives are a dime a dozen. It's always been a popular foray for science fiction writers, probably best exemplified by the 1990s revival of The Outer Limits (I dare anyone to find an episode of this show where mankind doesn;t kill itself off by the end of the hour). This summer I read three separate narratives about the event, each with their own unique take on what the end of history would mean for both man and the world. And nary a Mok in sight. The Road Let me begin by saying that the Road, by Cormac McCarthy, is the most unrelenting piece of horror fiction I have ever read - and this is coming from someone who enjoys the work of Poe, Lovecraft, and Steven King. In a lot of respects, the basic premise of McCarthy's work is similar to that of King's novella The Mist, and although King's novel centers mostly on the dissolution of society that McCarthy only alludes to in flashback, both stories then rely on the concept of a father and son traveling down a road in search of salvation.  Incredibly, King's ending feels far more optimistic, ending with the word 'hope'; there is a chance that there is an end to the all-consuming mist, just down the road. In McCarthy's novel, however, the blasted wasteland of earth continues unendingly, and its hopeful turn at the end feels more like a brief respite than a turning point in the fortunes of the protagonist, kind of the like the false hopeful ending of most horror films prior to that final punch.The Road is an intimate look at the relationship of a father and son, and McCarthy allows us to concentrate on that relationship by stripping the world around it to its barest core. The novel is more than this however; it is an epic journey, and in a lot of ways in reminiscent of the journey of Frodo and Samwise in the Lord of the Rings. However, there is no miraculous rescue on the wings of Golden eagles, nor is there a promise of renewal as Sam regrows the Shire with the boon of Galadriel; there is unremittant spiraling towards the end of the world. This dark conclusions parked a great deal of discussion in the reading group I was part of. Most felt this novel talked about the end of the world, the end of man and all life on Earth, and initially I agreed. Later, however, I came to feel that there was some concept of hope in the novel, a stubborn persistence of life to find a way to survive. Life could still exist in deep caves or deep under the sea under volcanic vents. It is possible that man himself could survive. A nuclear winter has to end, and life will flourish again. The only question that remains is if man is there to see it. In an amazing example or far-thinking, Norway has contemplated such a possible future. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located far north on the island of Spitzbergen, has collected samples of many of the world's plant species, perfectly preserved for planting after an unforeseen global catastrophe. And the son in the novel knows where a boat is. Perhaps the world has provided him a gift from Galadriel, after all. The World Without Us  The World Without Us explores a much different world: a global catastrophe, or alien invasion, or Rapture has eliminated all humans, and Earth is allowed to grow into the spaces once inhabited by man. The book explores how much of what man considers as permanent will crumble away, and rather quickly, and how millions of years hence the primary evidence that we were here will be indestructible compounds, plastics, nuclear waste, and Mount Rushmore. Nevertheless, it is far less bleak that than it is hopeful, showing how nature has managed to reclaim its place in places we've long since abandoned as too dangerous - nuclear contaminated zones, chemical spill areas, etc. Life finds a way, and given enough time can overcome any obstacle.Lucifer's Hammer  One of the comments made in the reading group for The Road was that this novel set itself apart from other post-apocalyptic stories because the protagonist was able to raise themselves to a nobler ideal due to the love of a child. I disagreed with that assessment; the idea that children can influence the hardened veteran of a hostile world is explored in many post-apocalyptic stories. Mad Max was well on his way to becoming like any other survivor of Bartertown until he risked it all to save the children in the wilderness; the Mariner of Waterworld awoke to his humanity thanks to a little girl; Theo Faron finds redemption is saving a pregnant mom in Children of Men.In Lucifer's Hammer however, the main characters are not burdened with young children. In fact, the book is bereft of them. The main character's son is sent off before the impact, and when he is reintroduced some several weeks later, he has undergone a lord of Flies-like transition and rebuffs his father, who immediately leaves him to his own devices. Orphans fostered on another main character are disposed of to another family just some dozen pages later. Bereft of the idea of the propagation of humanity as a driving force to the future, the novel then basically revolves around which characters can sleep with the others, and how nuclear power will save us, but not really (as the authors pull a nasty turn in the last few pages). In a nutshell, the seventies, sans disco. Ironically, in the fortified sanctuary the characters create for themselves, the greatest crimes are punished with verdict of "The Road", in which characters are forced out of the compound and must make their way put of the mountains to the devastated coast. Seems the novels came full circle. I just one of them could have had an Ookla. Labels: And We Are Rather Puny, Anti-Fun, Guitarmaggedon ------------------------------------------------
Carcassone  Parker and I explored via Google Earth the town of Carcassonne in Southern France. One of the few fortified towns of Europe to never be conquered, it was restored in 1853 by the theorist and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, and became a World Heritage Site in 1997. It is one of the most intact examples of a medieval town in Europe today, and one can't help but fall in love with it on first sight. if we ever get back to the Continent, it will definitely be on the itinerary. Although Parker is endlessly fascinated by castles, most castles in Europe today are in some sort of decay or disorder - eventually they were breached, and conservation efforts there are more inclined to preserve it as it is rather than to restore it. Carcassonne would give Parker a better understanding of what architecture and life was in that time more than the crumbling masonry of most of the fortresses of the age. Labels: Homeschooling, Parker, Sheer Awesome, Where in the World ------------------------------------------------
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Tuesday, September 25, 2007 Multiplicity I was away this past weekend (my first time EVER away from the kids and hubby for 48 hours!! -- first time ever away from Kira ....), and while I was gone, Jeff straightened the house, removed our bedframe, organized better our bedroom, AND took the kids to Disney Saturday and Sunday!!!! I think he multiplied himself or something. ------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, September 19, 2007 Counting by 10s Jeff and I recently reviewed the Florida Sunshine State Standards for Kindergarten, to see what skills specifically we would need to work on to be sure Parker is "up to snuff" with the expected public school system, and one thing we noted he hadn't done before was the counting by sequence (you know, count to 100 by 2s, 5s, and 10s), though they specify doing it with a number chart. Well, color me thrilled when today, when Parker and I were adding up some numbers (he asked me, "How much is 15 plus 16?" and I made him do it with me), and he started adding 10 to 10, then 10 to 20, etc. all the way to 100. I was so excited, I called up Jeff at work, and had Parker do it for him as well. And we never specifically sat down and taught him, just like we never taught him to read. A child's ability to simply grasp concepts without having them drilled in to them continues to astound me. Labels: homeschooling, math, Parker ------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, September 12, 2007 I Love Our Pediatrician! I was really fretting Parker being put on constant steroids. He has intermittent asthma/RAD/whatever, and the maintenance meds are only intended for individuals with persistent asthma. However, when he does have an attack, it isn't mild, it is moderate to severe. So, he doesn't fit any classification. Many doctors would say, "Ah, put him on it. No harm!" even though that isn't necessarily true. Dr. W, instead, says, "Let's monitor it, and if it is something we choose to pursue in the future, we can do it part-time, during the 'peak season' for viruses only." (You see, Parker only gets these attacks when he's already sick -- it is virus-triggered.) We are really, really lucky to have a respectful, responsive pediatrician who sees himself as an advisor for our team rather than an iron-fisted ruler. ------------------------------------------------
Monday, September 10, 2007 Breaking through! Pretty exciting -- we're going to be doing the redesign for our Chamber's website! It is exciting to see how we're branching out with local projects. (Patting self on back) Labels: Union Design Photo ------------------------------------------------
The Barracks (with only pikes) oral story by Parker, transcribed by Mama The Barracks (with only pikes) Once upon a time, there was a barracks and it had a village and a castle. But then, the village disappeared. And the people did, too. The only people left were inside the barracks and the castle. And they were the only ones left. And the bad guys didn't return again. Ever. The End Labels: castles and soldiers, homeschooling, Parker, writing ------------------------------------------------
The Battle's Fight oral story by Parker, transcribed by Mama The Battle's Fight Once upon a time, a castle with knights inside it had a king coming out. The king says, "The bad guys returned!" "The bad guys are coming in shuttles," said the king. "We must destroy the bad guys and keep them from coming to our planet," said the king. The knights have to go to war and attack them. "They have to go hunting first. Hunting for deer, fish, rabbit, wild boar, and dolphins. After the knights get them all," said the king, "the villagers go to build a village." The people did what the king said. The End Labels: castles and soldiers, homeschooling, Parker, writing ------------------------------------------------
Sunday, September 09, 2007 Like A River ... Following up to how the trio went, it went well, though I apparently wasn't loud enough (wow. I think there are a number of people who will be surprised to read this!) at first. I was honestly so preoccupied with how Parker was doing at home, it was kind of an out-of-body experience. Today was also the Water Communion at Fellowship, and I didn't even pour the virtual waters for our travels. In retrospect, I wish that I had, and will next year, for sure. It was really a neat service, I just wish Jeff and the kids could have been there. Afterwards, money flowed from my pocket at Mother Earth Market, as I pursued nutritional supplements, gluten-free items, and other items (like Bach flower essences for Mama). Very, very expensive trip. Labels: community, health, Kristin, Unitarian Universalism ------------------------------------------------
Saturday, September 08, 2007 Another Asthma Attack This one was pretty scary. Parker was just coughing a little yesterday, so we started preventative nebs of albuterol (2 on Friday), but were woken up in the wee hours on Saturday with Parker in pretty bad shape, vomiting phlegm and mucus, sweating and feeling like he had a fever. He couldn't stop coughing. So, we give him an albuterol treatment followed by 2 DuoNebs, and and take him to the peds office. He was ill on the way there, ill several times there, and is finally on the mend. It was scary for a little while, and Dr. G suggested that they might want to put him on meds for it, even though his isn't persistent. We'll see our regular Dr. W on Tuesday to discuss ... ------------------------------------------------
Friday, September 07, 2007 Step AWAY from Amazon, Kristin I really am a glutton, considering I have a stack of books I haven't read yet already, but I just HAD to get more today (I had an Amazon gift certificate and there was a 4-for-3 special), so I went for it. So, in a few weeks, I'll have added to my library:
Am I a glutton or what?!!? ------------------------------------------------
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