You come to an intersection — a red light means stop and a green light means go. Yellow, well, there are different schools of thought, but the other two are always the same. Around here, we have three “trash” bins — one for actual garbage, one for recyclables, and one for compostables. They’re always black, blue, and green, respectively. There’s never any doubt — food scraps go in the green bin, bottles and cans in the blue one. Doesn’t matter whose house you’re at, you know where to scrape your plate. Unfortunately, not every industry is so considerate.
Archive for the ‘Parenting Issues’ Category
The Color of Milk
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012In Praise of the Plastic Wastebasket
Monday, February 13th, 2012
In my bedroom, we have a nice wooden wastebasket that, more-or-less, matches my parents’ antique dressers. It was a good find at Costco some years ago. For the kids, however, I’m not interested in anything other than an inexpensive plastic wastebasket. Sure, it’s tacky and cheap looking and maybe even bad for the environment, but there’s a very good reason I wouldn’t have anything else.
Grading on a Curve — for Schools
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
Generally speaking, in order to get an “A” grade, you have to demonstrate that not only did you learn the material but that you demonstrated an understanding far beyond what was expected for the course. You could say that someone deserving of an “A” would know the material so well that they wouldn’t even make careless mistakes on a test — the material would be far too simple to provide any wrong answers. In the case of a school, an “A” would mean that the school is turning out students who not only meet the standards but go well beyond them. But what do you do if your schools aren’t performing so well and you still want to say they get an “A”? Well, if you’re the Public Education Department in New Mexico, you redefine what it means to get an “A”.
Who marries who at 3 years old?
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
Marriage is an abstract concept that, frankly, most young children don’t fully understand. For them, it’s usually good enough to know that when grown-ups love each other very much and want to be a family together, they get often get married. There’s no need to discuss the tax implications or workplace benefits or hospital visitation rights with a three-year-old. But is it necessary to limit the concept to the traditional one-man-one-woman definition just because you’re talking to a three-year-old? Even if you, personally, are okay with the idea of same-sex marriage? Even if you live in a country where same-sex marriage is legal? Lisa van de Geyn, writing in Today’s Parent, seems to think so, because talking about same-sex marriage is hard.
The Shallowness of Parenthood
Sunday, September 4th, 2011
Yes, like just about everyone else these days, it seems, I’m on Facebook. Most of my Facebook “friends” are either family, parents of my kids’ friends, or fellow writers from the parenting world. It’s a good way to keep in touch and share ideas, news, and information with them. Sometimes, however, it becomes a source of revelation and insight as well. Such was the case last evening as I was catching up on the day’s posts at bedtime.
Alex P. Keaton and the Fourth of July
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011
I have an early memory — probably from about age four or five — of Fourth of July fireworks. We had gone to see the big fireworks show and I was in bed trying to go to sleep. Back then, however, firecrackers and bottle rockets were completely legal and larger explosives were not uncommon. To a young child, however, the noise was terrifying — I knew for sure that one of those fireworks I was hearing was going to land on our roof and burn the house down with all of us in it. And perhaps that’s why I’m an ultra-liberal these days. Yes, before you head out to that Fourth of July parade or fire up the Independence Day barbecue, you might want to take a look at what a new study has to say about the lasting effects of such festivities.
Caving In To Cars 2
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
Given my fierce opposition to anything violent in my kids’ entertainment and my critique of Pixar’s apparent move away from child-appropriate films (not to mention commenter Tim’s disappointed commentary on their latest film), you would not be out of line to assume that there is no way I would take my kids to see Cars 2. And so you would likely be rather surprised to hear that my kids did indeed go with their Nana to see Cars 2 yesterday. What, you might ask, was I thinking? Why would I allow such a violation of my principles?
An End To Homework
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011
One of the biggest parenting challenges, at least in our house, is homework. Perhaps not so much in terms of having the kids learn and understand the material — although that can be a challenge too — but just getting kids to sit down, focus on their work, and get it done. For us, this involves a lot of whining, wailing, and general gnashing of teeth. And the kids don’t enjoy it either. To make matters worse, my oldest will be entering 4th grade next year and the amount of homework sent home is reportedly kicked up a notch. If we lived in Los Angeles, however, it wouldn’t be a problem anymore.
Inappropriate Marketing
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
So we had swim class in the morning and the San Francisco Free Folk Festival in the afternoon. It was a full day, to be sure, but the real challenge was that the two were 40 miles apart. So while the Junior Partner was practicing his up-faces, I took the older two to a nearby Subway to get sandwiches for a quick lunch on the road. Unfortunately, when I ordered a kid’s meal for the three-year-old, it came in a bag emblazoned with the Green Lantern character from the recent film. A film, I will note, that is rated PG-13 by the MPAA and given a 4.7.4 for sex, violence, and profanity by Kids-in-Mind.com.
Has Pixar Become Too Grown-Up?
Sunday, June 26th, 2011For the last 15 years, Pixar has been known for some amazing animation, ideal, for the most part, for even younger children. Toy Story 1, 2, and 3 were all wonderful films, according to both kids and critics. WALL-E is a great lesson in what can happen if we don’t take care of our planet. And I will certainly admit that I still cry at the end of Cars when Lightning gives up the race to do the right thing. But have recent Pixar films become too violent for young kids?
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