A Shot in the Dark: The Vaccine Imbroglio
2008-06-14 06:00:23
Multiple choice:
A) I will not vaccinate my child because, as I have carefully gathered information, I view the risks in immunizing my child to be far too great, and the benefits being uncertain at best.
B) I will follow a full-course of the prescribed vaccines for my child [...]
Smart Options for Dumb Times
2008-06-05 13:00:17
Growing up in Los Angeles, you kind of take car culture for granted. As a child, I remember frequently piling into the Chevy to literally drive around the corner to pick up a half-gallon of milk. Sure, we could have walked, but the prospect of feet to pavement was never presented as an option, so [...]
Read more: Smart
, Options
, Times
Kiddie Meals
2008-05-29 14:00:03
On my mother’s most recent visit to check on the progress of my young son, as well as my parenting style, we all decided to head out for a twilight dinner at one of the area’s better restaurants. The menu was impressive on paper; with all matters of carefully selected ingredients to accent premium cuts [...]
Read more: Meals
Diapers: The Process of Elimination
2008-05-22 06:00:48
According to a Mother Jones article from May/June 2008, “A typical baby goes through 3,800 disposable diapers in her first 2.5 years.” Visualize this for a second. If a 34-count pack of Seventh Generation diapers (unused) registers as too bulky to pack in a sizable suitcase, try to get a handle on the landscape imprint [...]
Read more: Process
, Elimination
Pollan Count
2008-05-15 16:00:56
“Once our personal connection to what is wrong becomes clear, then we have to choose: we can go on as before, recognizing our dishonesty and living with it the best we can, or we can begin the effort to change the way we think and live.”
–Wendell Berry, author and environmentalist
Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s [...]
Parent Traps
2008-05-13 16:00:40
The other morning, I was invited to one of those indoor gym facilities that cater to hyperactive toddlers and stir-crazy parents. There is a loose sort of structure to the gymnastic mayhem, but don’t be mistaken, it is mayhem of a toddler-colliding, primary-colored, off-gassing plastic mat sort of order. And I couldn’t help feeling at [...]
Read more: Parent
, Traps
Getting Unstuck: Trashing your Teflon
2008-05-08 13:00:29
As far back as I could remember, Teflon
(AKA non-stick cookware) seemed too good to be true, and my lasting associations with the non-stick mythos were always tinged with cynicism (anyone remember the 1980s when Patricia Shroeder called Ronald Reagan the “Teflon President.” But as a kid, Teflon was everywhere and the benchmark of [...]
Keeping Off the Grass-like Turf
2008-05-06 11:00:11
Yes, I realize that my last posting was on a similar topic: Replacing the front lawn. So, I thought it most appropriate to follow up with a cautionary tale on the road to a suitable lawn alternative with this timely news flash:
Hazardous substance found in New Jersey!
Maybe not a shocker to all, but the hazardous [...]
Keep off the Grass: Parenting at the Crossroads
2008-05-01 19:00:32
As a relatively new homeowner, I have grown to hate my lawn. And as we know, hatred quickly turns to neglect as neglect turns into an expanse of dirt where there once was a verdant carpet of grass.
Yes, I unintentionally killed my lawn (for the record, it was a weedy, crab grass, shag of a [...]
Read more: Parenting
, Crossroads
Introducing Parenting at the Crossroads
2008-04-29 15:00:52
As individuals, it appears to be within our power to change our behaviors, habits and choices to better reflect and impact our growing environmental concerns and societal obligations. Buying locally produced foods, refraining from needless car trips, switching out wasteful technologies and generally cutting back on our consumption of plastics and other landfill-clogging items are [...]
Read more: Parenting
, Crossroads
, Introducing
Lines in the Sand
2008-06-27 13:00:35
A few weeks back, in preparation for summer’s humid dog days and toddler boredom, I made the wise decision to rejuvenate the weedy, and neglected play structure lumbering in a state of paralysis in my backyard. This is/was a multitiered process that required purchasing a few hundred pounds of sand for the sand box. Simple [...]
Read more: Lines
No School Left Behind
2008-06-24 09:00:38
This morning I ran into a neighborhood woman accompanied by her school-age daughter. Niceties were exchanged, and simple banter revealed that this woman is actively home schooling her two children. She mentioned it as casually and confidently as someone would reveal their love of pancakes or vacation time. Upon hearing this, I felt a conflict [...]
Read more: School
Traveling Light
2008-07-16 09:00:38
This summer I have made the choice to keep my radius to a tight 300 miles. I will be limiting car trips, riding my bike, walking and steering clear of airports all together. This is not for lack of desire or opportunity.
I have always been an avid traveler and have elected to turn down [...]
Read more: Traveling
Bad Words
2008-07-09 09:00:28
My child has now entered the age of language. He is a sponge, a parrot, an interpreter, a lyrical dabbler, and beginning to understand cognitively that words are simply a collection on sounds. The act of speaking is this big, mysterious, unfolding puzzle that contextualizes the vast bulk of experience and, to a child, fine-tunes [...]
Read more: Words
Killing Bugs
2008-07-30 06:00:47
My child loves bugs of all kinds. I have never seen him greet the site of an insect or spider with anything other than glee and fascination. To him, ants are industrious, Chaplinesque characters that bumble about his room. Spiders are stealthy, gravity-defying acrobats that are always celebrated with enthusiasm. Moths are clumsy obsessives making [...]
Read more: Killing
Noise Annoys: Second-Hand Television
2008-07-23 08:00:10
As if we really need another reason to shut off, unplug, and bury the television, a University of Massachusetts study has revealed that the din of background noise coming out of a television provides significant disruption to your child’s concentration and play.
The study looked at children, from ages ranging from 1 to 3, who [...]
Read more: Noise
, Second
, Television
Meatballs for Secular Humanists
2008-08-13 19:00:21
I had a photography teacher in high school who was a devout Christian, who quietly and gently liked to preach the word of God amidst the red light glow of the dark room, while his students carefully printed photographs. Considering the fact that this was a public school, these conversations were highly inappropriate, and could [...]
Read more: Meatballs
, Secular
You Say Potato, I Say CSA
2008-08-06 09:00:45
By far, the most ethical, most economically sensible, and rewarding changes I have made in the past year has been to join, and support, my local CSA. For the uninitiated, CSA is short for Community Supported Agriculture, and works on a subscription basis where individuals are asked to contribute in advance, or on a monthly [...]
Read more: Potato
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