I just read an interesting blog from my friend, Kate.(www.mammacake.com) She was reacting to a blurb in her son's elementary school newsletter encouraging parents to read to their children. Yay, we should read to our children. I think so, and Kate thinks so. The reaction-worthy part of that blurb was where it then began to tell which kinds of books boys would like and which type of books girls might like...stereotypically speaking. I would generally dismiss an ignorant statement and move on, but not Kate.
Upon reading her somewhat visceral reaction, I realized two things.
1. I am generally apathetic toward anything the school system generates.
2. I was generated by the school system.
While it is frustrating that some cronies are still unwittingly forcing career paths according to gender, some efforts to encourage (or push) girls to "excel" in Math and/or Science and many heretofore male-dominated careers implies that not striving toward post-secondary education and a lofty career is a cop-out. It most certainly is not, because everyone is not THE SAME.
Case-in-point: I, too, was pushed along under the college prep umbrella... Unfortunately, the message I received was ...you can be anything you want if you just go to college, get an education, get a job with benefits, make money, save money...etc, etc, etc. Who would admit to the belief that a person's value is solely dependent on his (or her) income ??? Mother Theresa would not approve, yet I perceive this to be the prevalent message to the up and coming generations of young women(and men).
I would never discourage any of my daughters if their heart's desire was to be a rocket scientist or a dentist, but I certainly wouldn't discourage it if their heart's desire was to be a wife and mother, either. I feel like I knew deep-down I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but it was counter-culture in my family of origin...and being a "smart kid" at school...I was guided by "counselors" to take a bunch of classes I really had no interest in or desire to take. Did I stand up for what I wanted?...no...I wasn't really sure how life worked at that point.
I crunched these numbers just for fun...
In 4 years of high school, I took eight semesters, with 7 classes each...lets see that's 56 classes. Among those 56 classes I took the required English and History, PE and Government/Econ., for the upper tier classes: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Algebra, Geometry, Analytic Geometry and Trigonometry , and a smattering of electives, mostly business-oriented. I never once took a "Study Hall" which I obviously needed but didn't have room for in my schedule. Also, there was a class called "Childhood Development" that I would have probably "enjoyed", but didn't have room in my schedule. And...out of all those classes, I can only think of ONE that I actually benefit from almost everyday...KEYBOARDING 101. Ironic.
By the way, I have a Bachelor's Degree, too...blah blah blah.
But, now that I am "just a mom", I have undue self-esteem issues. I think they stem from not being employed in the field that I was trained for and not being fully trained for what I am doing. Domestic skills are taken for granted...I didn't really learn many, and my constantly cluttered house and running in circles methods are tiresome. Here is what I do know...in case you might ask...there isn't anything I would rather do than just be here so that I can try to meet my family's needs. I'm thankful everyday that God (and my husband) values that.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Does this make my butt look big?
I'm starting a list of banned items.
1. Archer Farms Butter Crunch Peanuts from Target
2. Coca Cola placed in the freezer for exactly 76 minutes
3. Bailey's French Vanilla Coffee Creamer mixed with coffee in a 1:1 ratio...basically turning it into coffee-flavored creamer
4. Any flavor of Edy's ice cream
5.Pringles
6. Chick-Fil-A
7. Chocolate Donut Balls from Donut Bank
8. Any dessert baked in a 9 x 13 pan
9. Thomas's brown sugar and cinnamon bagels with cream cheese
...
I'll have to finish this list after my pillsbury chocolate chip cookies come out of the oven...
1. Archer Farms Butter Crunch Peanuts from Target
2. Coca Cola placed in the freezer for exactly 76 minutes
3. Bailey's French Vanilla Coffee Creamer mixed with coffee in a 1:1 ratio...basically turning it into coffee-flavored creamer
4. Any flavor of Edy's ice cream
5.Pringles
6. Chick-Fil-A
7. Chocolate Donut Balls from Donut Bank
8. Any dessert baked in a 9 x 13 pan
9. Thomas's brown sugar and cinnamon bagels with cream cheese
...
I'll have to finish this list after my pillsbury chocolate chip cookies come out of the oven...
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Diaper Quest Part 2
So, I thought I should update my status on the whole cloth diaper bandwagon that I was on...to review, I made several cloth diapers in a few different styles hoping to succeed at one method or another. If I had to grade myself on being green, I would have to give myself a C. While I did save at least 2-6 disposable diapers a day from the landfill at first...I'm probably down to an average of using cloth only one day out of the week.
Before Libby was born, I chose to make several "All In One" type diapers, 6 to be exact, and I bought 3(minus the one I lost due to it being placed on a teddy bear and thrown in a toy box), so I was working with 8 of those. I made 12 prefold diapers, returned the Gerber plastic covers, bought 2 cute waterproof covers on "Etsy" www.etsy.com , and made 2 waterproof covers...they don't count because I made them too small. And I bought some "Snappis"on Ebay. Lastly...I had a stash of disposables for night time, and the occasional outing.
THIS IS HOW THE COOKIE CRUMBLED, SO TO SPEAK:
First of all, I used disposables given to me at the hospital and brought the rest home, so I thought I should use them(this was the first concession I made). After that, I immediately went through half my supply of cloth diapers in rapid succession before I decided to start alternating between cloth and disposable (this was the second concession). When baby was all of 2 months old...she had completely outgrown the waist size of all of my diapers and covers...so for a week, I considered myself a failure and relied completely on disposables. After I bought diapers for both of the little ones on the same day, and stewing about the idea of spending nearly twenty dollars on stuff you throw away, I had an epiphany! Make extender tabs for the cloth diapers and you can still use them, dummy! (on a side note, I do not like buying trash bags because you just throw THEM away...but I haven't had any epiphanies on that one, yet.)
THE VERDICT
I keep forgetting to take the extenders off the All in ones before I throw them down the laundry chute, I keep misplacing the snappis to clasp the prefolds, and every now and then a cover goes MIA...when these things happen I default to the Pampers. Libby is almost 5 months old now and I have not mastered any single diapering method. As a matter of fact, I prefer disposables, but my conscience and my budget keep me in the game. :-)
Before Libby was born, I chose to make several "All In One" type diapers, 6 to be exact, and I bought 3(minus the one I lost due to it being placed on a teddy bear and thrown in a toy box), so I was working with 8 of those. I made 12 prefold diapers, returned the Gerber plastic covers, bought 2 cute waterproof covers on "Etsy" www.etsy.com , and made 2 waterproof covers...they don't count because I made them too small. And I bought some "Snappis"on Ebay. Lastly...I had a stash of disposables for night time, and the occasional outing.
THIS IS HOW THE COOKIE CRUMBLED, SO TO SPEAK:
First of all, I used disposables given to me at the hospital and brought the rest home, so I thought I should use them(this was the first concession I made). After that, I immediately went through half my supply of cloth diapers in rapid succession before I decided to start alternating between cloth and disposable (this was the second concession). When baby was all of 2 months old...she had completely outgrown the waist size of all of my diapers and covers...so for a week, I considered myself a failure and relied completely on disposables. After I bought diapers for both of the little ones on the same day, and stewing about the idea of spending nearly twenty dollars on stuff you throw away, I had an epiphany! Make extender tabs for the cloth diapers and you can still use them, dummy! (on a side note, I do not like buying trash bags because you just throw THEM away...but I haven't had any epiphanies on that one, yet.)
THE VERDICT
I keep forgetting to take the extenders off the All in ones before I throw them down the laundry chute, I keep misplacing the snappis to clasp the prefolds, and every now and then a cover goes MIA...when these things happen I default to the Pampers. Libby is almost 5 months old now and I have not mastered any single diapering method. As a matter of fact, I prefer disposables, but my conscience and my budget keep me in the game. :-)
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