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:Options
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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:Elimination
, Process
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:Crossroads
, Parenting
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:Crossroads
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, Parenting
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
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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
Palin, Prudence, and Parenting 2008-09-06 13:00:52 My first inclination for this post was to write about the burgeoning controversy surrounding Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who was recently invited to join Republican-nominee John McCain as his running mate.
No doubt this is news, as this appointment of a woman as VP is true history for the GOP, whether it is truly progress [...] Read more:Parenting
Cut the Crap: Repacking the Lunchbox 2008-09-03 11:00:09 In a previous chapter in my life, I was a preschool teacher. This episode was sandwiched somewhere between being an experimental filmmaker and being a full-time parent. It was the sort of job situation that found me, and one in which I immediately established a sense of mastery and harmony with the role.
I have [...] Read more:Lunchbox
Boy Meats World 2008-08-27 11:00:18 My wife is a vegetarian; I am not. As a food writer, I consider my omnivorous predisposition to be an occupational hazard, or at least an occupational necessity. We have coexisted just fine, with a mutual respect and nary an argument.
Once our child entered the age of solid food, the question of what to [...] Read more:World
A Fine TV Ban Brought to You by the French 2008-08-23 07:00:16 As a college student, I used to play a fun little word game on road trips called “another fine word brought to you by the French
.” This was, obviously, a game of my own device, and required all players to come up with a word that was French in origin (or at least French sounding), [...]
Turf Wars: Part 3 2008-08-20 18:00:15 If you have been reading this blog regularly over the last few months, you might come to the conclusion that I have an unhealthy obsession and aversion to grass (turf grass, that is). In the past, I have blogged about my aversion in keeping a groomed lawn, as well as the dangers that come from [...]
Lit Crit: The Giving Tree 2008-09-24 16:00:10 The plethora of children’s literature is nothing short of overwhelming. There is no shortage of fantastic books, both classic and contemporary, that remain beloved dog-eared favorites among those awarded with Newberry and Caldecott Medals. And I admit, there are specific books that I have passed along to my child (albeit in the form of crisp [...] Read more:Giving
Playing Politics 2008-09-20 12:00:27 During an election year political tensions, inspirations, and polarities burn fast and hot, like the smoldering tail of an endless wick. Adults like to chatter, disagree, and grandstand about hot-button political issues, while children either turn a blind eye, or creatively try to make sense of the hullabaloo. Zogby polls, super delegates, and exit [...]
High Fructose Corn Syrup: That Sweet, Sweet Bully 2008-09-16 15:00:32 Quick! What is wrong with nuclear power??! How about DDT??! Or vinyl off-gassing??! Well, your inability to respond quickly, succinctly and in a rapid-fire sound bite has just destroyed your credibility and rendered you ignorant and labeled you as a lefty-liberal whiner. Sorry, you lose!
This is the intended message of a new crop of pro-HFCS [...] Read more:Bully
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Momblocking 2008-10-11 08:00:01 As a father who has been known to lift a finger here and there, browsing through mainstream parenting magazines is a harsh lesson in marginalization and, possibly, an act of spiritual masochism. More often than not, if a magazine or media outlet claims the parenting demographic as its own, you should be assured that they [...]
Green vs. Green: We Need an Environmental Bailout 2008-10-01 19:00:27 As I stand back, watching our financial house of cards crumble in on itself, and hearing the panic and outrage spill forth from the mealy mouths of pundits and politicians, as we teeter on the precipice of economic freefall, I find myself wondering what if this crisis and threat weren’t economic, but environmental? What if [...] Read more:Green
Just Desserts: HFCS Redux and Why Obesity is Just So Delicious 2008-09-27 11:00:07 Children love ice cream like cats love string, and like mold loves bread. And I was no exception growing up in sunny southern California. My sisters and I would ceaselessly nag, beg, and pester my father into hauling us to the closest Baskin Robbins ice cream parlor for occasional treats. Back in the 70s, [...] Read more:Delicious
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Harvesting Lessons 2008-11-01 07:00:16 What did I learn in high school? My most cynical, knee-jerk response would have to be a laconic “nothing.” But I know that there is something, a little morsel of wisdom or trivia at least, that has followed me into adulthood and made life a bit richer and more evolved. But the harder I think [...] Read more:Lessons
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