From the monthly archives:

June 2009

The gift of 'princesses', no batteries needed

June 19, 2009

My mother gave Rio a bicycle for her birthday. A purple bicycle covered with Disney Princess decals. Safe to say, this was her dream bike, long awaited. She spent many winter afternoons sitting on Nana’s lap fantasizing about the bike that would magically appear to her when she turned five. So of course my mom [...]

Tagged as: bike, family of origin, princesses, rio

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Princesses

June 18, 2009

What parent has not worried about the impact of Disney’s princess marketing juggernaut on their young kids? It’s ubiquitous, poisonous and almost impossible to avoid. Today, a good friend sent me this link to Fallen Princesses, a photo exhibit by Dina Goldstein. She is, apparently, a mom and a photographer, and these photos are her [...]

Tagged as: attachment parenting, news, parenting, photography, princesses, rio

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Strawberry Jam!

June 17, 2009

The kids and I made half our haul of strawberries into a tasty jam this afternoon. Rio and Serena were both great helpers, as was the morning preschool gang. They washed the berries, cut the tops off them with a safety knife, and put them into bowls for mashing. Rio even helped stir the sugar [...]

Tagged as: food, homeschooling

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Serena helping in the garden

June 17, 2009

IMG_4206.JPG, originally uploaded by MzMuze. Serena, like most toddlers, loves to mimic everything Mommy does. Especially the things Mommy does that are not generally available to toddlers. Like operating a spray bottle full of cleaning chemicals, or using the garden tools. Today was her day to do it all, just like a grown-up. A few [...]

Tagged as: food, garden, green, parenting, serena

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Strawberry Picking!

June 16, 2009

Today the girls and I went to Red Fire Farm, the organic farm that provides our vegetable CSA. The bulk of the CSA comes to us in the form of a weekly drop-off at the Growing Center, but we also have an open invitation to go pick some crops at the farm. It’s a long [...]

Tagged as: food, green, homeschooling

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The Compact

June 15, 2009

I started doing The Compact about a month ago. The Compact is simple: for one year, buy nothing new. There are exceptions of course. These things were written into the Compact as exceptions: perishable goods (food, cleaning products, personal care, medicine) underwear and socks I’m a generous sort, and I think five is a nice [...]

Tagged as: frugality, green, money

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Biking with kids: what bike to choose

June 14, 2009

So all the discussion of biking with kids has given me some exciting new options to consider. Right now, I have a two-seater Burley trailer that I use almost every day to haul my kids around, and a tag-along tandem attachement for Rio. I think these two things will get us through the summer. But [...]

Tagged as: bike

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Serena on the edge of two

June 13, 2009

Seriously, kid. How did you get so cute? In addition to cute, Serena has been coming powerfully into her Will lately. She’s strong, she’s clever, and she knows what she wants. She’s a far, far cry from the tiny little baby who slept so peacefully through her own birth and the months that followed. Sometimes, [...]

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Healthy meals, from a kid's perspective

June 12, 2009

The girls are playing house. Rio is the mommy. They are apparently getting ready to go for a picnic, and are packing their lunches. Rio-as-mom, “You have to show me what you packed so I can see if it is healthy for you.” Her friend/baby shows her. Rio, “No, no, no. Just gum is not [...]

Tagged as: food, humor, rio

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Dangerous cycling: the controversy continues

June 11, 2009

Regular readers of this journal know that I bike with my kids. A lot. In traffic. This is a more controversial subject than I would ever have imagined. I have spent a lot of the past 24 hours discussing it politely. At the end of all that polite discussion, I took my five-year-old to pick [...]