Being a parent

Jonathan tells me, "Human or animal, being a parent is all the same:"

"If I were to guess," he adds, "it's a baby boy cheetah."

#90sgirl

I just found myself explaining the difference between Babysitters Club and Sleepover Friends to Jonathan.  I was actually rather passionate.  I remembered all the characters with accuracy and detail.

He looked at me like I'd sprouted antennae.

Sigh.

#80sboys.....

CA, kids, and gender hypocrisy

There is way more truth to this image than I'm willing to admit. :)

The photo is titled "Judgments."  Read the article that accompanies it for a more in-depth analysis.  

I chortled.

Our intense youngest boy.

Quote of the day, from Xander: "When God paints the sky, the wind blows and it's like a giant eraser!"

And last but not least, image of the day:  I get home from the Board of Trustees retreat, and ask the kids what they did.  Xander was feeling sick so Daddy let him watch some TV, he said.  And then he starts summarizing the plot of how Twilight Sparkle the horsie helped all her friends in Equestria and saved the world through friendship.  My jaw dropped and I looked over to Jonathan, his grimace confirming my suspicion... yep, Jonathan spent his afternoon watching My Little Pony.  The boys apparently loved it!

Best part though, was when he told me about his illness, "If you're a lot sick you go to the hospital, and if you're a little sick you go to the doctor.  But I was just a little bit sick... so all I needed was love and I got better."

In honor of my grandmother

From an email she sent me last night:

"Today, January 24th, 2013 marks the date of my arrival in Israel as a new immigrant 36 years ago. It's where I belong."

I am so in love with the White House right now

I'm not even getting into politics.  (I have plenty to say on it, but this is not the venue.)  No, I am in love with the White House for a much more shallow reason: their carefully constructed response to the following petition is AMAZING.

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016.

Those who sign here petition the United States government to secure funding and resources, and begin construction on a Death Star by 2016.

By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense.

Created: Nov 14, 2012

Issues: Defense, Job Creation, Science and Space Policy

TOTAL SIGNATURES

34,435

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE RESPONSE TOSecure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016.

This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For

By Paul Shawcross

The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:

• The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
• The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
• Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

However, look carefully (here's how) and you'll notice something already floating in the sky -- that's no Moon, it's a Space Station! Yes, we already have a giant, football field-sized International Space Station in orbit around the Earth that's helping us learn how humans can live and thrive in space for long durations. The Space Station has six astronauts -- American, Russian, and Canadian -- living in it right now, conducting research, learning how to live and work in space over long periods of time, routinely welcoming visiting spacecraft and repairing onboard garbage mashers, etc. We've also got two robot science labs -- one wielding a laser -- roving around Mars, looking at whether life ever existed on the Red Planet.

Keep in mind, space is no longer just government-only. Private American companies, through NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office (C3PO), are ferrying cargo -- and soon, crew -- to space for NASA, and are pursuing human missions to the Moon this decade.

Even though the United States doesn't have anything that can do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, we've got two spacecraft leaving the Solar System and we're building a probe that will fly to the exterior layers of the Sun. We are discovering hundreds of new planets in other star systems and building a much more powerful successor to the Hubble Space Telescope that will see back to the early days of the universe.

We don't have a Death Star, but we do have floating robot assistants on the Space Station, a President who knows his way around a light saber and advanced (marshmallow) cannon, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is supporting research on building Luke's arm, floating droids, and quadruped walkers.

We are living in the future! Enjoy it. Or better yet, help build it by pursuing a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field. The President has held the first-ever White House science fairs and Astronomy Night on the South Lawn because he knows these domains are critical to our country's future, and to ensuring the United States continues leading the world in doing big things.

If you do pursue a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field, the Force will be with us! Remember, the Death Star's power to destroy a planet, or even a whole star system, is insignificant next to the power of the Force.

Paul Shawcross is Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget.

If you have an extra half-hour to kill, read this post

"What trials unite not only Harry Potter or Frodo Baggins but many of literature's most interesting heroes? And what do ordinary people have in common with these literary heroes? Matthew Winkler takes us step-by-step through the crucial events that make or break a hero."
-----Watch to see a fascinating take on the archetype of a hero.  


"What is the difference between "a hearty welcome" and "a cordial reception"? In a brief, action-packed history of the English language, Kate Gardoqui explains why these semantically equal phrases evoke such different images."
--- My English major heart goes pitter-patter.


The difference between archery as a sport, and archery as a combat technique.  This guy does things with a bow and arrow that people say are impossible.
--- Click here for new insight into the forgotten art of historical archery.
(You should know that both J and I found this video amazing in light of J's new hobby: he spends once a week at Swordfighting school!)

This article describes how the current educational method is based on Henry Ford's assembly line, moving students through in order to get results.  The one-room schoolhouse was mixed-age groupings and based on the apprenticeship mastery model, where students learned until they were done, not what was considered to be age-appropriate.  Wonderful food for thought.  And it reminded me of Montessori!

And on a lighter note.....

I need to visit Chicago.  It possesses an ice cream shop that uses liquid nitrogen to make amazing flavors and colors.

Hilarious parody of LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It" - "I'm a Daddy and I Know It!"  This video made me very grateful to have children two and half years apart.  Two older ones and triplets, oy!

Fabulous fan parody of the changes in Star Wars, set to Gotye's "Somebody I Used to Know."  (To understand context, this is Darth Vader speaking to George Lucas.)

Also, the reason why I haven't been posting many book reviews?  Because days are fulfilling but long, and the only recommendable book I've finished lately has been the ballet and sister-centric novel The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey, that I read at the conference.  It was an insider's perspective of the world of ballet, with a good dose of family angst thrown in.  Of course, I have been reading other things, but truth be told, they've all been pure escapist romance novels.  If you really want the recs for those, you can email me. :)

Notes to self

1) Never, EVER give children prune juice unless it's an emergency.  Even when you're out of grape juice and you need juice to put in the kiddush cup.  Even when you think the amount they will actually drink is negligible.  Apparently prune juice does its job no matter how much you consume, even if it's barely enough for a ritual.

2) All one's parental guilt can be alleviated with a stray sentence.  Another parent told me today that when the religious school teacher asked, "When do you feel safe?" Xander answered, "When my mommy tells me she loves me and I tell her I love her before I'm going to bed."  Squeeee!

3) Be more careful on explaining the thank you/you're welcome thing.  Ari is now convinced that you say "you're welcome" when you receive something because whenever we first gave him an item, or did something for him, we said, "Thank you, Ari," trying to prompt him to say it too.  It backfired, because since he knows that "you're welcome" is the response to "thank you," now he says that first!

4) These articles are really, sadly true: "For the Love of All That's Holy, You Don't Lose Your Identity When You Become a Parent, You Lose Your Minutes," and "How to Stop Mommy From Sleeping Through the Night" (thankfully, this article is now less relevant!).  I was talking with my sister at 7pm the other night, and she was all dressed up to go out, saying she was meeting someone in half an hour.  I almost couldn't compute it.  Going out of the house after dinner?   But... it's dark!  It's practically bedtime!  And then I remembered... in my 20s I used to regularly meet people for dinner at 8pm.  Now dinner's at 5:30 or 6 and by the time 8pm rolls around, I'm already in my PJs.  It doesn't even occur to me to make plans after 5pm anymore.  The evening's just gone.

5) And closely related to the above... Naps have pros and cons.  Pros: You get a break in the middle of the day.  Cons: Kids go to sleep later.  Today, for a variety of reasons, Ari only got a 20 minute nap, and Xander had none at all.  It was an exhausting afternoon.  On the other hand... Ari fell asleep at 7:24, and Xander was in bed at 7:52.  I almost don't know what to do with myself.  But whatever it is, I do know that it will involve Haagen Dazs. :)