Don't Pee on the Bee

Got Some Heavy Reading Goin' On!

As strange as it may seem, somehow this new year has given me an incredible amount of reading time these past few days!  And I have jumped in with great zeal!  I've updated my book list to show you what I'm reading, but I'll tell you about it too!

 I was given a copy of Thomas Merton's The Seven Storey Mountain for Christmas and immediately dug in.  It is quite the book--part easy breezy memoir, stories of growing up in the 1930's, traveling and living in Europe and New York, but also rather challenging in some of his discussions about philosophy, literature and religion.  I am finding it so fascinating on so many different levels.  And I think slowly but surely, much like "religion" came to Merton, my faith and beliefs are swirling around me in ways that they haven't been lately.  Twice this week, I have found my way to our local coffee shop and sat down in a most comfortable reading chair and sat and read.  Funny how many people have asked me if I am in a book club when they see what I am reading!  They've been quite surprised when my answer has been "No."

My neighbor loaned me her book, The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise.  It is a very thick book and seemed a bit overwhelming, even though I was interested in it.  I'm not necessarily thinking of home schooling my kids, but I am super interested in education and how to ensure that my kids get a good one!  Plus I always did want to be a teacher when I was a little girl!  So I peeked into this book to see what I would find, and several chapters later, I was shockingly "into it!"  I will share more about what I am reading in this later. 

Happy Birthday, Sesame Street!

 
So how could I resist THIS?  Sesame Street is turning 40!  I am one of those original Sesame Street kids, and it was certainly different back then!  Gordon had a big ol' afro and Mr. Hooper ran the store.  (God bless, Mr. Hooper!)    And Oscar originally wasn't green!  I remember being so surprised by the changes when I first turned it on 3 years ago and started watching it with JJ!  Call it naivete on my part, I guess!  All things change, right? 

I remember loving when the baker guy who counted the number of bakery items on his tray would fall down the stairs afterwards!  (This was the part that cracked up JJ when we watched the old versions on the DVD Old School 1969-1974.)  And I still remember the little ditty "What came first?  The chicken or the egg?"  I loved when that segment was on and showed the chicken farm and all the eggs.  And when Snuffleupagus first showed up?  I remember feeling as excited as Big Bird was!  And then when I got a Sesame Street album to play on my little orange record player, I thought that was so cool!  Forty or so years later, when I bought the CD Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music to play for JJ (well, for me!), I still remembered most of the words!  J.R. just looked at me like I had lost my mind.  He doesn't remember watching Sesame Street. 

We all know that Sesame Street was revolutionary for children's TV at the time, so I won't go on and on about that.  But I do love that the FCC chairman at the time called the cartoons that had been the basis for children's TV back then "chewing gum for the eyes."  That paints quite the picture, and I can think of many shows today that fit that description!

So here is my final thought on Sesame Street.  Cookie magazine polled their subscribers and asked which Sesame Street character they most identified with.  34% identified most with Grover while 16% identified with Ernie and Cookie Monster each.  As for me, it's Oscar all the way!  (OK, one more memory!  Driving up the river route to Sacramento from the Bay Area in the summer in a car with no air conditioning, singing "I Love Trash" until my dad finally begged (well, probably yelled!) at me to stop!  Boy, was I happy!)

Playing favorites

Well, here's a dicey topic for the day!  Just finished reading a pretty interesting article from Cookie Magazine's October 2009 issue.  The article Mother's Little Darling by Susan Dominus, a mother of twins, addresses the issue of favoritism by parents.  Well-written with personal statements about her feelings as a mother as well as a child who was impacted by this,  this article also cites studies done on the impact of favoritism on children.  The illustrations, though?  Ouch!  They don't really do justice to the tone of the article.

Dominus talks about her thoughts on playing favorites prior to giving birth and then afterwards.  What I found interesting was the statement that parents of multiples are able to speak about preferring one child over another more easily than other parents.  Dominus states, "I would argue that parents of multiples are accustomed to owning up to all sorts of imperfections in their child rearing.  They confront failure on a regular basis: No mother can simultaneously meet the needs of two babies at all times. . . . Perhaps because they've already given up on the elusive goal of perfection, these parents may be more comfortable accepting favoritism as a reality."  Whoa!  Are they lucky in that they've given up on that "elusive goal of perfection?"  Or are they--I can't even think of what the other word might be!  Unlucky is not the right word.  Enlightened seems too blase in this situation. 

In a way, this topic brings me right back to all that "Bad Mother" stuff that I blogged about last month.  Perfection?  Imperfection?  Favoritism?  All those words smack of judgment.  Let's give a "Whoop!  Whoop!" for all us moms out there who are just doing the best we can--and still trying to stave off those negative thoughts about the jobs that we are doing!   That being said, I will agree that there are times when I definitely "like" one child more than the other, but it's usually situational!  And once I look at that sweet child sleeping in his or her bed (quiet at last!!!), there is no favorite.  Both are adorable--and asleep!  Hallelujah!

Stomping out parental panic

In the October issue of Cookie Magazine, there was a very thought-provoking article by Cara Natterson, pediatrician and author of the new book, Dangerous or Safe?  Which Foods, Medicines and Chemicals Really Put Your Kids at Risk. Natterson practiced medicine for 7 years and has two children, ages 4 and 6.   She said that while she was practicing, parents were always asking her about product safety information.  She finally decided to quit her job, spend more time with her kids, and research these very issues.  This is her third book, and it addresses 25 current hot-topic issues including BPA, soy and nonorganic sunscreens.

She made a point that really made me stop and think.  She believes that all these other issues become so seemingly important due to the fact that so many parents are better able to provide the basics for their children.  The less time parents spend on covering basic needs like food, shelter and clothing, the more time they are able to worry about other things.    Natterson says:

"It comes from a good place.  We want to protect our kids.  The problem is that people often pull their information from a random website.  I'm not saying you shouldn't  be worried about lead paint on a toy train.  But you need an off switch."

She then uses the example of BPA and the research that was conducted linking it to neurological problems and early puberty.  BPA-free items hit the market and became the new thing.  But, she reminds us, they come at a cost, and if you can't afford them, the Bad Mother police (my words, not hers!) sink their claws into you, and you feel like you're not a good mother because you're not protecting your children.  She reports that the FDA currently deems BPA as safe, AND she also tells us things that ANYONE can follow--not just those with enough money to go buy these things.  (If you have products with BPA in them, keep them out of the dishwasher and microwave since it is the heat that causes BPA to leach out of the plastic.)

The one thing that Natterson is really concerned about?  Very young children being exposed to cell phones.  Her advice?  Put it on speaker, not up to their ears. 

Hmmm . . . is Amazon going to be delivering another book to my house soon???

A cool little website

Check out the website Very Short List, "for never-disappointing daily film, book, and TV recommendations."  (From Cookie magazine August 2009)  They had a very cool graphic for "The Plugged-In Mom's Bookmarks Bar" with some interesting websites. 

I love the venn diagrams
they create to illustrate the works.  Very clever!
  

The book listed on August 5th sounded really interesting!   

Kaylie Jones didn’t have your average childhood—as the daughter of famed World War II author James Jones (From Here to Eternity), she grew up in 1960s Paris surrounded by such glittering literati, and family friends, as William Styron, James Baldwin, Willie Morris and Norman Mailer. But not everything was so glamorous, as she so eloquently describes in her new memoir, Lies My Mother Never Told Me (available 8/25).

James Jones died when Kaylie was just 16, leaving her devastated and ill-equipped to fulfill her father’s deathbed wish that she help her mother stop drinking. Although the term “alcoholic” was never uttered in the Jones household (in spite of the all-night booze-soaked parties), Kaylie struggled with her genetic birthright: a love of literature and alcohol. The book contains juicy celebrity anecdotes (oh, Frank Sinatra!), but its poignancy comes from the journey of a talented woman wrestling not just with her own demons, but with those of her parents, and discovering a strength she once thought unattainable.

A great sounding recipe with a really good-looking picture too!

Still making my way through August's Cookie magazine and saw this amazingly delicious looking picture and recipe for Quick Paella.  See what you think!

Quick Paella

Hah!  While adding the photo, I realized it was actually the picture for Fried Rice that looked so good!  So here it is too!

And here is that recipe. . .

Fried Rice

Hope you enjoy!!!