Chicago Moms Blog

It's Never too Early to Advocate

When my son entered kindergarten, I gave a head's up about my special son to his very experienced teacher. She ignored me. Whenever I asked how he was doing, she told me he was just fine.

Fine, I've since learned, means your child is not causing problems. Fine means your child behaves reasonably well. Is compliant. Fine does not mean your child is happy, growing academically, or making friends.

Indeed, by first grade, it was clear that none of these things were happening. My son grew increasingly anxious and depressed about going to school.

Gift Giving 101

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who are good at gift giving and those who aren't. In fact, there are two other kinds of people in the world: those who are good at receiving gifts and those who aren't.

Gift giving and gift receiving are both subtle arts, as evidenced by the recent brouhaha over the gifts exchanged by President Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Seems the 25 DVDs of American film classics that Obama presented to Mr. Brown did not quite compare to the ornamental pen holder made from timbers of the HMS Resolute, the sister to the ship that yielded the wood for the President's desk in the oval office. Oh, yeah, and a framed commission of the of the HMS Resolute. And a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert. We won't even get into the kids gifts.

If it is truly the thought that counts, it doesn't seem to me that a lot of thought went into the DVDs. As British columnist Iain Martin told NPR's Robert Siegel, "We do have television and DVDs over here." 

Spare Change

A very wise man (my husband) called me out recently on my wanting to "start new, start fresh, start over" all the time.   It's become a thing with me.   He suggested that I just fix it.

Fix whatever it is that isn't working for me instead of always starting over.

I guess in my mind I thought that starting over was fixing things. But I'm finding that lots of starting over really doesn't get you very far.

I found this picture in Carter's school notebook after the election.

 

Grant Park 2008: I was there!

I had planned to throw a pizza party on Election Night, but on Monday two of my coworkers volunteered their plus-one passes to the rally in Grant Park. I spent my lunch hour finding a babysitter, retracting my  party invitations and logging onto CNN and Huffington Post for the latest news.

I voted early Tuesday morning and spent the day at work giddy with excitement and the caffeine from my free cup of Starbucks coffee. My downtown office closed early so I was able to spend time with my kids before begging our neighbor's teenager to come over soon so we could make it to the rally. We'd planned on meeting my friends at 8:00 since the gates were scheduled to open at 8:30, but the rally organizers started letting supporters in a little after six.

Josh and I jogged to the El and made it downtown around 7:30. Finding Casey, who is 6 feet tall, is usually a cinch, but we struggled, text-messaging and calling, through the tightly packed throngs before finally meeting up near the front of the line.

Security wasn't as tight as we'd heard it might be. Although we were asked to have them out and ready, IDs weren't given more than a cursory glance as we moved from one gate to the next.

I Voted!

And when I say "I" voted, I mean we voted: me, my husband and my two youngest (ages 10 and 12) were up at 6:20 a.m. and at our polling place by 7:06. The boys were so excited, and I was gratified to see a line. In all the years I've been voting at this same spot, there has never been a line. In fact, the last time I voted there it was early evening and I was the 76th voter for the day. This morning, at 7:06 a.m., I was already voter #103.

The political discourse surrounding this election has also encouraged me — at least the discourse in our household. My children have raised many important questions on vital issues, including: What is the difference between an opponent and an enemy? Can we solve the energy crisis and protect/cleanup the environment? Why haven't we ever elected a woman or an African American or a Jewish American to be President or Vice President? Can I push the buttons on the touch screen?

The Dawn of Politics (In My Little World, at Least)

I have never been ‘political.’ I grew up in a house where we never spoke about politics, where my parents never told who they voted for, and where we never had any kind of debate about real issues. I guess it would have just made things too uncomfortable.  Some of us even (cringe) didn't vote in some elections.

This election has changed that. I finally know my family members’ political views. And we are discussing them, and debating. Sort of. It is way out of my comfort zone, but I’m convinced it’s necessary. It’s been so easy for me to assume what someone else is thinking, and be baffled or angry by it. (That’s how I’ve felt about half of our country over the past 8 years.)  How can someone think so differently than I do? Especially when it seems so obvious that my opinions are well fleshed out, that my candidate is the most rational and able, and that voting for the other person would just be ignorant. Okay, I’m joking a little, but honestly, I’ve found myself really dismissing others’ opinions after only a few comments. And I don’t want to do that, because I don’t want to dismiss someone just because they disagree with me.  (And who’s to say they aren’t thinking the exact same thing about me?)  More importantly, though, this week, I'm afraid of someone, anyone, voting without well thought out, well discussed, non-prejudiced, reasoning.  For either candidate.  And so I'm engaging my family in a little political debate.  Emotionally, though, it’s been a little hard for me to keep it all in perspective.

   

I'm done poking fun at Sarah Palin

I'm no fan of Sarah Palin's. She and I have opposing views on everything from a woman's right to choose what happens to her body to a woman's right to hunt wolves from a helicopter. And her nasally dialect grates on my nerves.

Palin's lack of big city and big government experience are glaringly obvious. And I shudder at the thought of her being one pregnancy heartbeat away from the presidency. So, yes, I've eagerly joined in the chorus of her snarky critics. I've laughed at videos like Head of Skate and Tina Fey's Saturday Night Live skit.

But no more. I've put an end to my mean-spirited teasing of Palin. Why?

Governor Palin? Knock, Knock. Who's There? MomsRising.

....cross posted from our sister site, DC Metro Moms Blog.

Yesterday, I joined MomsRising's co-founder and Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner and 13 other moms to hand deliver a letter to Governor Sarah Palin's state office in The DC.  The letter had been signed by over 21,000 mothers and others.  None of this was supposed to take much time, I mean how complicated could it be go into an office building, take the elevator up to the third floor and drop off a box on someone's desk?  Quick In n Out then off to grab a bite to eat. Yes?

NO! Here's how it actually went down.  I arrived at the appointed time just as the local ABC News , Channel 7,was wrapping up an interview with Kristin. More moms arrived. We posed for a group photo  Kristin asked us to walk into the building where, she had been instructed, we would all be required to sign in at the lobby desk.  Again, nothing unexpected.  With the exception of the security guard who was less than thrilled to have 15 women in her lobby. Yes, she actually referred to it as her own lobby. Lobby ownership aside, we were told to wait for the news crew to return from upstairs.  Which we did.

Click HERE to continue reading this post on DC Metro Moms Blog.....

Sarah Palin is a prime candidate...for urinary incontinence

Sarah Palin is a prime candidate for uterine prolapse or urinary incontinence. I know, this seem like a hit below the belt-way below the belt if she wears mom jeans. But now that Sarah Palin has a very platform from which to discuss special needs children and teen pregnancy, maybe her time in the spotlight can also be used to highlight something that affects about half of all women- urinary incontinence.

I don't want to focus on her specific lady parts, but, my gosh, she's given birth to four five children, and there's no denying that those very natural processes mess with those delicate parts. Seriously, you can't fit something the size a watermelon inside your body even once for a just a few months without rearranging your internal geography a bit.

Palin: The ultimate working mother?

Yesterday Senator and Republican Presidential nominee John McCain announced that Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska and mother of five, would be his choice for Vice President.

Looks like somebody was a little intimidated by the rousing success that was the Democratic National Convention and needed to steal a little thunder with a completely unexpected Veep nominee!

But before we moms get all choked up about a mother of five (With a teenage son about to go to Iraq! And a new baby with Down Syndrome!) being one heartbeat away from the Presidency, we need to take a closer look at Sarah Palin.

Is she with us on women's issues? No. Not only is she pro-life, she doesn't even believe in abortion in the case of rape or incest. That's extreme.