AMEN, as usual

Raising a Free Range Kid, on Oprah.com

Reading Round-Up

Found a number of interesting posts I’d like to share:

Parenting in the Age of Paranoia: a Small Manifesto

The Real Secret of Feminism

Enjoy.  Feel free to share your thoughts here!

Barbie Update

We have lifted the moratorium on Barbie.  There were several factors, and one of the biggest was kindergarten peer pressure.  Yep.  You read that right.  We just decided our discomfort with Barbie was not worth the tears and stress our daughter experienced over not having some of the same toys as other girls in her class.  Now before some of you go postal on me, let me say: its Barbie.  Not a crack pipe.  We feel that some level of “what everyone else is doing” is actually important to their social lives.  They need to be conversant in certain things like sports, tv shows, music and, yes, Barbie in order to function in their social world.  Just like adults.

Before you cry, “That’s insane!  Adults don’t have to conform!”  I have a friend who loathes sports, thinks most of them are barbaric, and yet knew he needed to keep up with at least 2 major sports (he chose baseball and college basketball) to have conversations with people in his office in order to maintain effective working relationships.  He also knew he had to take up golf because the reality is much of the business he is successful at gets done on the golf course.  Ridiculous?  Of course.  But reality.

Sounds like a crazy parallel, but in reality it is the same thing as my daughter needing to be conversant in Barbie.  Again, we’re not handing her a crack pipe or even a Wii or Nintendo DS.  We aren’t going to give in to her every whim every time she whines about “what everyone else has.”  But Barbie wasn’t a big enough deal for us to take a philosophical stand, like with, say hooker dolls Bratz.

Ok, bring it on.  What are your thoughts?

 

This is So Sad

This seriously makes me want to cry.  Bless this girl’s parents.

Tinkerbelle, Indiana Jones & The Red Dragon Ninja

We’re an eclectic family

posted with vodpod

Halloween Weekend in Woodstock

Such a blast!

posted with vodpod

National Blog Posting Month

While I’m already one day behind, I’m going to make an attempt to post every day this month.  Ha.  We’ll see.

The Need to Stop Micromanaging Our Kids

Can we get an “AMEN“?

Baby Care, Brought to You by the Same People Who Wrote the Warning Label on Hairdryers That Says, “Do Not Use in Bathtub”

hat tip: Jack

Wow, Barbie Really CAN do Anything

Now here’s a Barbie I can get on board with.  You go, girl.

Hat Tip: Frume Sarah

Tefillin

Talit