From the yearly archives:

2008

dumb luck

December 2, 2008

Was it good fortune or bad fortune that, ten minutes before our first date in months was set to begin, Martin’s hand was badly injured and we had to go to the ER? On the one hand, that sucks. On the other hand, we had three hours of unscheduled time and a babysitter already lined [...]

Tagged as: family

Read the full article →

Why I'm not planning to send my kids to public school

December 1, 2008

As a follow up to my last post, and a response to some of the comments there. The most basic answer to why I’m homeschooling my kids for the forseeable future is that they like homeschooling. I believe that kids with involved, educated parents will get a decent education no matter where they go to [...]

Tagged as: education, homeschooling, parenting, rio, serena

Read the full article →

Sell me on public school

November 29, 2008

For those of you who “believe in public school”, why? It’s my understanding that some public schools are good, some are bad, and virtually all are designed to a) teach kids certain academic subjects, b) teach kids to be good American citizens and c) teach kids to be good employees (or, more cynically, factory workers). [...]

Tagged as: rio

Read the full article →

QOTD

November 27, 2008

“Mama, I am smarter than you” “Oh yeah? What makes you think that.” “I am an artist.” “Oh. Well, I am an artist too.” “See?” carefully wipes babies face, and tenderly gives her the Thing she has been fussing for while I try to figure out what it is, with no luck. “I am smarter. [...]

Tagged as: rio

Read the full article →

FYI Santa

November 21, 2008

(this is the e-mail I just sent to my mother. I think I may, after five years, have found a way to talk to her about kids and gifts that will not cause a big fight between us and will not result in my sneakily throwing out a metric ton of broken made-in-china crap three [...]

Tagged as: holidays, parenting

Read the full article →

QOTD

November 21, 2008

“When you’re awake, do you think it really means that you’re asleep and dreaming that you are awake and doing stuff?” “I do not know. No one does.” “I’m going to ask Daddy. He knows!”

Tagged as: rio

Read the full article →

school choices

November 19, 2008

Normally I don’t fret much about what the public schools are doing. It’s Not My Problem; I’m keeping my kids out of the public education system because our family values are a little (ok a lot) too far left of center for them to be well-served by a public school of any stripe, and because [...]

Tagged as: education, homeschooling

Read the full article →

potty humor

November 17, 2008

I’m starting to understand why kids are so into potty humor. It’s because kids and potty are incredibly funny. 1. I walk into Rio’s bedroom in the morning and notice that it smells like pee. She’s got a friend staying over, but it doesn’t occur to me that she would be self-concious about this, because [...]

Tagged as: parenting, rio

Read the full article →

and in the realm of Rio logic…

November 6, 2008

Rio climbs on my lap, and I can’t help but notice she does not smell as sweet as, well, anything sweet. Being her mom, I gently inquire about her personal hygeine. “You smell kind of stinky. Do you need a bath?” “NO. It’s the dirt on my feet. See, my sister walks around the house, [...]