Liberal Parenting

Sorry

2006-05-10T16:51:00.000-07:00

To my various readers (whoever you are) I apologize for not posting much, if at all, recently. My husband and I are working on a project, which I hope to be able to tell you all about soon. But we'll just have to see how it goes.

For now, though, I wanted to let everyone know that I haven't forgotten about this blog, and these issues mean very much to me.

Thanks!

Hillary in '08

2006-04-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

I'm not big into national politics - I believe that most politics should be personal. By that I mean that how you live your life and raise your children should be your most important political acts, and that the process of voting and speaking out is merely a manifestation of your everyday political self.

All that said, I can't wait for Hillary to finally run for President in 2008. I'm not at all sure that she would win, though. I'm convinced that the fundamental problem that she has is the difficulty that men have in supporting a strong, assertive leadership role for a female in our society. If anything, she might be too right-wing for me, with her support of the Iraq war, although I think that is just to appeal to undecided voters in the center and to mollify the concerns that men might have in voting for her.

Every attack on Hillary is personal, and most of them are simply misogyny dressed up as a political argument. Even her personal life has been exemplary. She raised a wonderful, intelligent, beautiful, and outspoken child. When her husband (sort of) cheated on her - in what must have been the worst kind of humiliation a wife and mother could have been subjected to - she stayed with her husband and tried to work it out. This is the sort of thing conservatives always preach!

She is, simply stated, a survivor. Can there be anything more noble than her continued public service in the face of all the adversity she's had to endure? Hillary serves as a great role model for our young women, and I wish I lived in New York so I could vote for her in the Senate and when she runs for President in '08.

From the Files of the Department of Redundancy Department

2006-03-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

They have a war on terrorism, a war on drugs, and a war on poverty. Why not a war on war? It seems to me that war and hatred are responsible for much of the suffering in the world; if we could make a concerted effort in this country to get rid of war - a war on war - we could really start to make this world a better place.

Who wants to join me and help fight the war on war?

Tails of the Self-Anointed

2006-03-25T06:37:00.000-08:00

The car I drive these days isn't the same as in years gone by...and I no longer find it stylish to use the entire back end of my car to advertise my political leanings and worthy causes.

That said, my station wagon feels relatively naked without more bumper stickers that can raise awareness of my most cherished causes. I am proud to keep the Kerry-Edwards sticker on there, of course, to illustrate that I am not part of the crowd that elected W. And there's my "teach peace" bumper sticker, tastefully displayed on the other side, that shows my inclination to, well, teach peace.

But there are so many other causes that I can raise awareness of, through my humble means of transportation. But I worry that adding more stickers, even though they might raise awareness of other important issues like veganism and animal rights, would dilute the power of my original messages. So I am essentially paralyzed into inaction.

I'm trying to find ways around this conundrum. Any advice would be appreciated.

March Madness

2006-03-18T07:32:00.000-08:00

It's a real shame that the television networks, our colleges, and even grown men are transfixed by the college basketball tournament that appears to be going on right now. It's all so silly - watching people cheer and yell for college students to throw a ball through a metal hoop. And after every game, there's a loser and a winner.

Why this overemphasis on competition? What ever happened to cooperation? It would be a wonderful day if the networks had great ratings for a show that had college students cooperating with each other instead of competing against each other. The new tournament could show the students building houses for the less fortunate, helping care for the environment, and maybe teaching inner-city children how to read.

Then everyone would be a winner!

Thanks for the Mammaries

2006-03-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

Here's my first post, of what will probably be very many, regarding breast feeding, particularly breast feeding in public. There is nothing that highlights the hypocrisy of the patriarchy more than the prohibition on public breast feeding in this society.

Breast feeding is a natural, wonderful bonding experience between mother and child. It is the very purpose that breasts were designed for! And yet, you'll get hard looks the minute you start feeding your infant in the corner of your local coffeeshop.

Of course, it goes without saying that you can't walk three steps without seeing barely covered female breasts on every billboard, in every poster in a shop window, and advertising on the sides of buses in this society. Boobs, boobs, boobs, everywhere. But heaven forbid that you feed your child with those things. Sacre bleu!

Million Mom March

2006-03-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

What ever happened to the Million Mom March? We should try another one, and try to get our voices heard by the decisionmakers in the federal government. With all the issues out there that unite mothers around the country, it seems like there's a lot of things for us to unite around and try to create some positive change through direct action, and shift a few paradigms in the process. It's just a thought.

Faster, please

2006-02-24T17:19:00.000-08:00

Why hasn't Volvo come out with a hybrid-powered station wagon yet? I think they'll make a gazillion dollars with it.

Regime Change Begins at Home

2006-02-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

Let's conduct an exercise. Get a sheet of paper and a pen. Close your eyes, and breathe deeply and count to ten. Open them now -

-and write every kind of relationship you can between an adult and a child for the next 30 seconds.

What did you come up with? If it was like mine, there was a teacher/student relationship, parent/child, and coach/athlete, at least. You could probably come up with more.

Did you notice the power relationship? The dichotomy between the roles society has given to the two people?

Adults wonder sometimes why kids act the way they do. We adults need to start acting different also.

Iraq War as Child Abuse

2006-02-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

I was wondering the other day....when the crimes of George W. Bush are tallied in Iraq, why isn't child abuse among them? We all know about the missing WMDs and the lies to the American people, the crimes and misdemeanors, the murder of innocent Iraqi civilians, torture, the theft of natural resources for Halliburton, etc. But why isn't he also charged with child abuse?

I heard on NPR the other day that most of the soldiers, and by that I mean the entry-level positions in the military field, are generally people right out of high school, and they are mostly between the ages of 18 and 21. I was in college after high school, of course - most everyone was, except for the few that had trust funds and/or drug problems. Most importantly, though, we were all just kids.

When you think about it, then, most of the armed forces - at least the entry-level positions - are just kids too, in that same 18 to 21 year old range as my college friends. We couldn't even drink, and neither can they.

As such, the kids in Iraq - the children of our country, are victims of child abuse by their father-figure, George W. Bush. He should be charged with this, along with everything else.

It is a shame that Republicans think that oil is our nation's most important natural resource. I just hope Democrats understand that our children, including those not even old enough to drink, are truly the nation's most important resource.

A World Without Bedtimes

2006-02-23T17:48:00.000-08:00

For the past week or so, I have been trying out a new experiment with bedtimes for my 4 year old. I believe that bedtimes, strictly speaking, are not progressive, in the sense that they limit the ability of the child to make decisions for herself and are an arbitrary means of coercion for the parent against the child.

Has anyone else out there felt the same way?

As a result, I am going to see the effects of removing bedtimes from her nightly routine, and allow her to make these kinds of decisions - for herself. I would like to get some input if any of you have performed a similar experiment, and its results.

So far, I am not sure if the results were exactly as I had anticipated. It seems that she will play with her handcrafted puzzles all night long, and generally fall asleep in the middle of the puzzles and her blocks sometime around 11 p.m. The next morning she will seem somewhat ill at ease, and when I pick her up from the pre-kindergarten co-op in the afternoon, she is fast asleep in the back of the station wagon, and won't wake up until the following morning. Then the process will, once again, repeat itself. And so on.

I am sure that everything is fine, but it seems that this week so far I am only seeing my 4 year old daughter every other day. Even Consuela, our nanny, has noticed a slight change in her behavior.

Does anyone else have a similiar experience? Just asking.

Bumper Sticker Liberalism

2006-02-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

If I've seen this bumper sticker once, I've seen it a thousand times. It reads to the effect of "Wouldn't it be a great day if the schools got all the funds they needed, and the Air Force had to have a bake sale to raise money for a bomber." This is, in my opinion, typical poorly-thought through "bumper sticker liberalism."

Why does the Air Force need any funds at all? And who would buy cookies from the Air Force, anyway?

We need to change the paradigms. With enough education for all the children of the world, an Air Force won't be necessary. Wouldn't that be even better?

Multiculturalism and Me

2006-02-22T19:35:00.000-08:00

I went for a latte at Starbucks (I recommend the mint mocha macchiato, by the way) and noticed that I was the only person of color in the store, excluding the ones working there. And of the three women working there, only one even appeared to be biracial.

Sometimes I cannot believe that I can live in such a hermetically-sealed environment. How can we teach our children about multiculturalism and diversity if there is not the repetitive, daily exposure to different ethnicities and socioeconomic classes?

Mind you, I am not blaming Starbucks, although I do not think this would be as much of a problem at an independently-run coffeeshop. I am beginning to think that it will be a constant challenge to instill the proper attitudes in my children.

Liberal Parenting

2006-02-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

Why should advice on parenting issues be the sole province of conservatives? Here at "Liberal Parenting", I will be providing advice and my thoughts about raising happy, well-adjusted and liberal/progressive children.

Welcome, one and all. You have nothing to lose but your mental chains!