She Flies Through the Air...

Did you ever want to run away and join the circus? Ever have a huge crush on Gunther Gebel-Williams (no, that's probably just me). Here's the story of one mom whose life really is a "three ring circus."

Mother Nature

This article from The Scotsman begins with a story about a gorilla mother's pain at losing her baby and then delves into questions about animals in human society. Thought provoking whether your beliefs tend toward evolution or creationism.

What is Love?

Author Toni Morrison writes about love, motherhood and writing. And how you can do all three at the same time. This article inspired a conversation about the definition of love our generation inspires. My friend Sara unfairly characterizes herself as not intellectual but she's the one who brought the subject up. I usually just read something and go on to the next thing without thinking about the material in relation to my own life. But I started thinking about the concept. For me, love is believing in my children enough to give them room to make mistakes and not punishing them in ways that crush their self-esteem.

How Well Do You Know Your Mother?

This essay made me think about how much I know about my mother and how much my kids know about me. I've heard stories about my mom's life growing up but I realize I could learn a lot more about who she is now by learning about who she was then. I would tell my kids that among the Duran Duran and Wham posters I had a Paul McCartney picture in my closet (why?) with a "Where's the Beef" sticker attached, Will Ferrell doing anything makes me laugh, I love karaoke and have unrealized dreams of being a superstar and I drive in whichever lane I will be exiting from because I like to be prepared.

Women for Sale

The New York Times has a piece in their Technology section about the buying power of women. They highlight Dooce and her take on what women want, which is probably closer to the truth than what advertisers offer us. The disturbing part of the story is the matter of fact way advertisers and media companies dismiss cerebral content (anything feminist or political) and assert that women want makeup tips and gossip. Maybe the reason women don't respond to heavier subjects (of course using buying power as the only measure is highly dubious) is due to the fact that women are not offered the choice between intelligent and superficial very often. Maybe we need more outlets for smart women.

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Hopping on the Dara Torres Bandwagon

Dara Torres is everywhere these days. Wife, mother, Olympic swimmer at 41. But what does it say about our youth obsessed culture that she is subject to so much speculation about what she has or has not done to get back in Olympic shape? Maybe there should be more forty year olds competing. Maybe our capacity for competition and great feats doesn't diminish after we have kids and pass thirty.

A Dad's Take on Mom's Workload

Finally a father is brave enough to step up and challenge fellow fathers to take on their share of the work. And there's a bonus mathematical formula involved so you can calculate how much your husband does not do.

Routine Parenting

According to The Daily Mail mothers are returning to authoritarian parenting styles in response to the lax parenting of the 60s and 70s. Generalizations aside, when does having a routine for your children equal conservative parenting? Having loosely set times for eating and sleeping make parenting easier. It's the parents who take this to the extreme and cannot deviate from "the schedule" that make parenting seem more like a dictatorship than a democracy.

Parenting as Adults is Hard Enough

Teen pregnancy, after a decline in recent years, is on the rise again. The media saturation of all things teen pregnancy related (Jamie Lynn Spears and the teen pregnancy pact in Massachusetts) would lead most adults to believe teen pregnancy is an epidemic. Teen pregnancy does exist but, as with most things the media tries to scare us with, it is not as widespread as we are lead to believe. However, the problems of teenagers having babies should be addressed. In this New York Times article one teen mom details her life after baby and offers words of wisdom for other girls.

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