Category: family & friends

marriage, motherhood, family, friends

Instead of Hot Dogs

I used to be a good cook before I started blogging.

better homes gingham cook books
trinity of gingham

My cookbook collection is outfitted with three shades of Better Homes gingham and Seduced by Bacon. I’m of Italian heritage, and I married into a Midwestern farm family. My stockpile of recipes is hearty. Well-loved. Often made. Until I started blogging.

When I write, my time flies out the window.

Some of you think my mind goes with it, but that’s just the blood sugar plummeting. I’m hypoglycemic; it’s not pretty when I don’t eat.

A couple weeks ago, I realized I’d had hot dogs for lunch three days in a row. I don’t have anything against hot dogs. I like hot dogs. Eating hot dogs once in a while should be a requirement for all good Americans. Right up there with voting. By the way, have you registered yet?

corn dogs
how about corn dogs?

I digress. Back to lunch. It’s time to get off the hamster wheel of writing all morning, stopping to lunch too late only to discover there’s nothing in the house to eat except hot dogs. On Facebook, I joked that grocery shopping had moved to the top of the to-do list. But I know my problem is bigger than that.

I like to write. I like to cook. I need to eat. I can pick two of the three.

Wait a second. I know a lot of women who blog about cooking. They write, cook, and eat. But how?

I asked some of them for help. What sweet salvation they delivered. During the next few weeks, my family will be cooking and eating seven eight of their best recipes. These recipes are easy to make with ingredients that are easy to find.

Explore their sites, preview the recipes, then come back to see the results of a good cooking revival at my house. This promises to be one delicious series!

the way to cook
the way to cook

Tex Mex Lasagna by Nancy at The Wife of a Dairyman 

Southern Greens with a Kick by Justine at A Half-Baked Life

King’s Hawaiian Roll Ham Sandwiches by Leah at Beyer Beware

Spinach and Chick Peas by Simona at Fuel the Body Well

Cheeseburger Pie by Chef Nusy at And Cuisine For All

Mac and Cheese Bites by Dana at Mastering Mommy Brain

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff by Tiffany at She Cooks!

Potato Gratin by Carrie from The Adventures of Dairy Carrie*

For the despondent, every day brings trouble;
for the happy heart, life is a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15 NLT

The Hot Dog Song by Mickey Mouse and the Clubhouse.

What’s your favorite toppings on a hot dog?

*This post was revised at 1 p.m., 10.8.12, to include the Potato Gratin. It has bacon in it. Need I say more?

Posted on by Aimee 14

What I Did All Day

Kim Drew Wright
Kim Drew Wright

Welcome wickedly witty guest blogger, my sorority sister Kim Drew Wright. Today Kim shares a glimpse of the Real Wives of Richmond, Virginia.

He opens the door, takes off his jacket and gives me that look. The one that says, “Why is the house still a mess? Why isn’t dinner ready?”

Instead he says, “What have you done all day?”

I’ve: gotten the kids out of bed, scrambled eggs and poured milk, let the dogs out, made pb&j sandwiches to put in plastic, let the kids help even though it would have been quicker if I did it myself, reminded them to brush their teeth, cleared the breakfast dishes, been saddened by the morning news, braided hair, mediated an argument, picked out clothes, nagged that they are going to miss the bus, yelled to go brush their teeth, tied shoes, found jackets, walked to the bus stop, told them to have a good day, hauled dirty laundry downstairs, unloaded the dishwasher, wiped down the table, loaded the dishwasher, scrubbed stains from shirts, thought about calling my mother before it’s too late, let the dogs in, put laundry in the washer, sent an email about a PTA fundraiser, counseled a friend having marital issues, volunteered at the school library shelving books in order, put the clothes in the dryer before they mildewed, wiped pee off the bathroom floor, forgot to eat lunch, tripped over an abandoned babydoll, tried to remember a conversation from 1982, cleaned up dog puke, ran to the store for miscellaneous items you needed, joked with the cashier to make her day easier, ran into a friend who wanted to do lunch sometime—I think she’s having marital problems, put my tennis shoes on and ran around the neighborhood because according to you a woman my age has to exercise an hour a day just to stay the same weight, gave the dogs a treat, folded laundry and carried it upstairs, took a shower, shoved my skinny jeans aside, answered 11 emails about the fundraiser, considered getting a job with a paycheck, petted the dogs so they would know they are loved, walked to the bus stop, gave our children hugs, gave them a snack, reminded them to wash their hands first, shuffled through school papers, encouraged them to learn from their mistakes, signed up to bring in cookies for a class party as soon as I got the note so the teacher would know I appreciated her, sorted through the mail, swept under the table, screened calls from telemarketers, picked up socks, shoes, jackets and backpacks forgotten in the foyer, listened to our children, reminded them to do their homework, updated Facebook with something cute our children said so I would never forget, yelled for them to turn off the TV, was ignored, took the trash out and, just now, sat down with that book I’ve been wanting to read for 3 months.

“Nothing important,” I say and get up to start dinner.

She carefully watches everything in her household
and suffers nothing from laziness. Proverbs 31:27 NLT

Presenting Steven Tyler and his little band Aerosmith with Crazy… because that’s how we feel on days when we do nothing important.

Steven, Tyler
Crazy Steven & Tyler

What did you do all day?

Kim Drew Wright is a freelance writer, devoted wife, and frazzled mother of three. Most notably, she has excellent taste in dogs.

 

 

Posted on by Aimee 8

Pumpkin Patch Peril

Last week my son had a day off school, so we trekked 25 miles to meet some of his school mates at Walter’s Pumpkin Patch.

pumpkin arrangement
pumpkin arrangement

This is the first fall in my son’s life we won’t be pumpkin and apple picking at America’s largest, family-owned, pick-your-own orchard, Eckert’s in Belleville, Illinois. We’re mourning the loss of Pumpkin Jamboree weekends and phenomenal fried chicken. But this year Eckert’s is 458.78 miles away.

Yes, I MapQuested it.

corn maze exit
maze exit

Walter’s isn’t the same as Eckert’s, but it’s still a blast. We were there on a weekday, so we had the place to ourselves including paddle boats, underground slides, an in-ground trampoline, corn maze, people-sized hamster wheel, giant seesaw, tree houses, and of course pumpkin picking.

Now my son has never struggled with separation anxiety. From the moment I dropped him off at nursery school, he’s not been one to look back. There are places to go, things to do, people to see. Mom? Mom who?

Walter’s was no different. He jumped head first into the activities, oblivious to my whereabouts. After lunch, he took off with his friends on their next adventure, leaving me in the dust.

I walked over to the country store to to chat up the owner. Turns out she knows the Eckert’s people. We discussed the finer points of Walter’s transformation into a destination farm.

As I strolled out of the store, I saw a small, lonely figure standing a block away from me on the driveway. Was that my child? Was he crying?

“What’s the matter?” I said as I got to him and held him. “Are you okay?”

“I couldn’t find you,” he said. “I thought you left me at the pumpkin patch!”

“Oh, no,” I said, “Mommy will never leave you.”

It was a promise I couldn’t keep, and I knew it the second the words came out.

“Mommy will never leave you at the pumpkin patch,” I said as if that clarification somehow helped.

Life is full of changes and loss. There will come a day when I will leave him—not by choice, never by choice. Death comes at the most inconvenient times.

Or he may leave me first. I pray not by death, but by growing up. His father and I are raising him with the goal that one day he’ll be independent of us. However, I can’t promise I won’t follow him if he moves away. Don’t you want me to be your daughter’s mother-in-law now?

We dried the tears and talked about how we both needed to tell each other where we were going to be, especially in strange, new places.

The school counselor’s words often haunt me, sloshing big buckets of guilt: “Moving is one of the top five most traumatic experiences for a child.”

Oh, Lord, what have we done.

“I miss Eckert’s,” said my son. So do I, baby. So do I.

pumpkin arrangement
pumpkins on porch

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV

Brand new from an album due to release in January 2013, please listen to Need You Now by Plumb.

How do you deal with loss? How do you help your children deal with it?

 

Posted on by Aimee 10

Parenting Through the Election

Syndicated on BlogHer.com

A version of this post was syndicated by BlogHer on October 9, 2012.

Engaging your children in the electoral process can be filled with teachable moments.

yankee doodle
yankee doodle

This week I let my son stay up and watch some of the Republican National Convention speeches with me. To balance things out, we’ll watch some of the Democratic National Convention speeches next week.

We tried watching on the networks and PBS, but my son quickly tired of the commentators.

“Who is that and why do they keep talking?” he said. Good question.

Are we not able to discern the themes and validity of the speeches for ourselves?

We clicked over to C-SPAN where the coverage ran uninterrupted except for a ticker line of tweets across the bottom of the screen. A much better fit for us. We got to see all of the speeches and videos of the convention, not just the parts the media decided we should see. And without the commentary.

Media literacy is practiced in our house. 

We don’t sit there and take whatever the media gives us; we talk back to the TV, radio, and internet. We control the feed. We turn it off if these “guests” overstep their bounds.

Admittedly, my house leans conservative though I remain independent of party affiliation. I lost count of how many times during the course of the speeches by Chris Christie, Condoleezza Rice, Clint Eastwood, and Mitt Romney my child heard me speak to the screen.

“Amen.”

“Bless your heart.”

“God bless you.”

“That’s right.”

Next week, he’ll hear me speak, too.

I anticipate a lot of questioning and disagreeing. But I’ll take care to be measured in my responses. To explain to my son as best I can why some citizens see things differently than his parents do and to reiterate our beliefs. To stress to him how imperative it is we respect all our countrymen and the office of the President, even if we disagree.

Children think in all-or-nothing terms sometimes.

I corrected my son quickly when last night he said, “I hate Obama.”

“No,” I said. “We don’t hate Obama; we just disagree with him. And we respect him as a person and as the President.”

“But I hope Mitt Romney wins, Mom,” he said.

At the end of this process, someone will win, and someone will lose. And there will be more lessons to be taught. How to win and lose gracefully. How to stick with your values and beliefs regardless of the outcome.

The presidential election offers a chance for us to explain to our children what we believe and why. We get to show them the ropes of how we choose our elected officials. We have the chance to demonstrate to them wisdom and discernment. We’re responsible for developing their citizenship.

It’s up to us to plant the seeds of engagement that will influence the future of our country and culture long after we’re gone.

And so, my children, listen to me,
for all who follow my ways are joyful.
Listen to my instruction and be wise.
Don’t ignore it. Proverbs 32-33 NLT

Teach Your Children by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Do you engage your children in the election? How?

 

Posted on by Aimee 9

Field Trip to Visit a Baseball Blogger

Jeff White, Cardinals Blogger
Jeff White

My friend Jeff White asked me if I’d guest post about baseball to help celebrate the first birthday of his St. Louis Cardinals blog Born Bleeding.

Wasn’t sure how that would go.

I enjoy baseball, however I’m not a diehard fan like Jeff. He writes his passion for baseball, and I’m proud of him for it. Plus his wife is the dearest person on earth and one of my favorite friends. I was honored to accept the challenge.

Well, I wrote the post and I loved it! It may be one of my favorites.

Please visit Jeff to wish him a happy blog birthday, share your baseball memories, and read my post:

Baseball America

baseball close up
Click to go to Born Bleeding and read Baseball America.
Posted on by Aimee 4

Where’s the Beef? New 2012 School Menus are Lean on Meat

Syndicated on BlogHer.com

This post was syndicated by BlogHer on October 12, 2012.

where's the beef
where’s the beef

 

As the school year begins, public school menus across America have been adjusted to align with new federal standards from the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

President and Mrs. Obama advocated for the passage of this act. It’s federal policy. To be reimbursed by the National School Lunch Program, schools must adhere to these rules.

The new federal standards are designed to promote healthier eating and reduce childhood obesity with choices based on food components rather than nutrients.

Translation: lots of fruits and veggies, not so much meat.

My friend Katie blogged about the new federal standards and why they don’t work for her family. Other women began blogging about the standards, too. They started a Facebook page called Sensible School Lunches to dialogue.

I pay taxes that support public schools and these programs. So do you. We pay regardless of whether or not we have children enrolled. The well-being of the children in a community is important to the community as a whole.

That makes us all stakeholders in this.

The new federal standards recommend children in kindergarten through fifth grade receive more than six cups of fruits and vegetables for lunch per week, but only eight to 10 ounces of meat or meat alternative for lunch per week.

You read that right. Per week.

That’s roughly two ounces of meat per lunch.

Two ounces of meat per lunch didn’t sound like much to me, but I wasn’t really sure. My son and I headed to our local market to find out.

Two ounces (.125 pounds) of raw ground beef is about one meatball. Enough for a small hamburger or a portion of spaghetti sauce. Not bad.

2 ounce meatball on scale
2 ounce meatball on scale

Consider the chicken leg. It’s overweight at .31 pounds (4.96 ounces).

chicken leg on scale
chicken leg weighs more than 2 ounces

Two slices of bacon is fine, but a two-slice limit wouldn’t go well at my house.

2 ounces of bacon
2 ounces = 2 slices of bacon

At another store, we determined one hotdog would pass.

ballpark beef franks
ballpark beef franks, 1 hotdog = 2 ounces

So would a package of lunch meat like this.

oscar meyer chicken
2 ounces of oscar mayer chicken

My son enjoyed our investigative reporting. But as I snapped photos of Oscar Mayer, I wondered what the menu changes meant in real life.

I consulted the USDA’s sample menus.

Will children really eat 1/4 cup of jicama and 1/4 of pepper strips as suggested for the Monday menu, assuming they know what jicama is? How about Tuesday’s suggested 1/2 cup of broccoli and 1/2 cup of cauliflower?

Who are these kids? We try at our dinner table. We really do, but it’s a win if the child ingests more than one green bean.

please do not climb on cow
please do not climb on cow

By the time Friday rolls around, the weekly allowance of meat on the sample menu has been depleted. Cheese pizza is the suggested fare. Why not front-load the week with this deficit and participate in Meatless Mondays?

I jest, but there are American ranchers who are not amused.

The new federal standards also prohibit whole milk or flavored milk, a fact highlighted in Joslyn Gray’s post Seriously? 15 Things Schools Have Banned So Far in 2012. By 2014, the only grains allowed will be whole grains.

Let’s say a child eats his veggie-rich lunch of jicama and peppers with two ounces of turkey and one cup of fat-free milk, but is still not hunger-free. How will that child perform in class?

What if that child’s only meal for the entire day is school lunch?

Sadly, this is the case for many students. The 2010 Hunger in Our Schools study concluded hunger remains a problem in the classroom with a large proportion of students relying on school meals. It’s the main reason some kids come to school.

cow statue at airport in vermont
cow statue at airport in vermont

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act updates public school menus for the first time in 15 years. It’s a commendable start.

The emphasis on fruits, veggies, whole grains, and low-fat milk is terrific. Still there are questions that need to be addressed for these standards to succeed in real life.

Giving local schools more say in what works best in their communities with their students makes the most sense.

Local schools are also better equipped than the federal government to network with area farmers and ranchers to supply foods, another goal of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

There’s work to be done. Please contact your elected officials. Visit Sensible School Lunches to learn more and to dialogue. Bloggers, consider writing your story about this topic and sharing it there.

He always does what He says—
He defends the wronged,
He feeds the hungry. Psalm 146:7 The Message

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for. A link to the Wendy’s commercial that inspired this post’s title: Where’s the Beef?

What’s your take on the new menus?

Posted on by Aimee 10

Stay or Go, God is There

I’ve been known to stay long past the bitter end, forever and ever, amen. But as I age, my impulse is to run.

crosses
crosses

Running seems more efficient. The minute the malaise sets in and my gut says maybe everything in this situation (or friendship or outfit or whatever) isn’t going to be okay after all, I’m set to fly. Don’t usually act on it, but I want to.

God in His wisdom paired me prone-to-bolt with a husband who is built-to-stay.

He does not easily move. He possesses patient, long-suffering stick-to-itiveness. Comes from growing up on a farm, I think.

There’s a lot of waiting on a farm. You wait for the weather to change. Wait for things to grow. Wait for the prices of your crop to go up. Wait for the costs of your implements to come down. Wait for homemade dinners. Wait for trips to town to get supplies.

In the suburbs where I come from there’s very little waiting. We devour instant gratification. Malls, 24-hour grocery stores, fast food restaurants, extreme makeovers at your choice of salons. Want to satisfy a craving? Change your life today? Walk-ins welcome.

This isn’t a contest between farm and suburbia. There are pros and cons to both. Just like there are times to run and times to stay put.

Mercifully, God is there no matter what.

When the pregnant Hagar ran, she saw God.

When the fugitive Moses ran, God met him in a burning bush.

When David ran, he sang to God Who was with him: I will take refuge in the shadow of Your wings until the disaster has passed.

When Elijah ran from Jezebel, he heard God whisper.

On the other hand, when Miriam stayed among the bulrushes of the Nile, she saw God save her baby brother’s life through the hands of an Egyptian princess.

When David stayed to fight Goliath, this was his battle cry: All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.

When Jehoshaphat’s people stayed in the face of destruction at the hands of their enemies, they heard the echo of David’s words: Do not be afraid because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

When Jesus stayed and did not run from the Roman soldiers in Gethsemane, He set in motion the work of the cross.

I’m thankful for people in my life who ground me from flight. I like to think they’re thankful for people like me who bid them to fly once in a while.

Queen Anne's lace
Queen Anne’s lace

I’m astounded by a God who remains steadfast in spite of us.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, You are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there Your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:7-10 NIV

Me Without You, new from TobyMac.

Are you prone-to-bolt or built-to-stay?

Posted on by Aimee 4

Field Trip to Visit an Inspiring Friend

It’s that time again for a field trip on the blog. Our itinerary takes us to Pinke Post for a special story from my friend Katie.

Pinke Post
Pinke Post

I roomed with Katie, Leah Beyer, and Nancy Grossi at the BlogHer conference earlier this month. Katie, a discus thrower in college, vowed to be my tall, blonde bodyguard should the need arise in New York. Thankfully, I didn’t have to take her up on that offer, and we went shopping instead.

Katie has blogged at Pinke Post for five years. She is the mother to three beautiful children and the wife to her prince charming. In her professional life, she works in agriculture for state government.

Today she breaks her silence about her time as a food stamps mom.

Katie Pinke in Tahari
Katie Pinke in Tahari

It’s an inspiring story from a beautiful woman with great determination, incredible work ethic, and the blessings of family and faith—the stuff of real hope and change.

Plus she can rock a Tahari dress like nobody’s business. Please give it up for Katie Pinke and her true story Food Stamps Mom Breaks Her Silence. 

She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks. Proverbs 31:17 NIV

Don’t Give Up, snappy new tune from Kevin Rudolf.

Click, read, and meet my friend Katie Pinke.

 

Posted on by Aimee 4

Challenge: It’s a Good Thing

My what a difference a week makes.

blogher nametag
my name tag

First syndicated post, first blogging conference, first trip to New York City in almost 20 years, first opportunity to meet several online blogger friends in real life, first time seeing THE Martha Stewart speak live and in person.

My brain is full to overflowing. 

I can quit or press on. Give up or give it my all. Be afraid or be brave. Cave to other people’s ideas of who I should be or reaffirm who I am and continue to be that person. Keep writing in series of lists—my favorite literary rhythm—or learn to break it up a bit.

I’ve been challenged in more ways than I could have imagined a week ago. In the words of THE Martha, it’s a good thing.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:5 NIV

Aaron Shust sang the perfect rallying song on the radio as I drove home from the airport yesterday: My Savior, My God.

How have you been challenged lately?
Will it defeat you or inspire you?

Posted on by Aimee 4

BlogHer ’12 Tips

I’m excited to be headed to my first BlogHer conference next month.

New York purse
look! it’s me & Ella in New York!

Decided to go on a whim. Not sure how it happened. One email led to another, and soon I’ll be on my way to New York City.

I’ll be an itty-bitty blogger among the big guns at the BlogHer conference. Martha Stewart is a keynote speaker. THE Martha Stewart. Somebody pinch me.

The last time I was in New York was 20 years ago. Now that I’ve lived in Chicago and St. Louis, I’m ready to make strudel out of the Big Apple!

Lucky for me I’m rooming with two wonderful women who make killer strudel in real life. Katie Pinke of Pinke Post and Nancy Grossi of The Wife of a Dairyman are gracious to pull me in at the last minute.

Amy Heinz
Amy Heinz, Using Our Words

I look forward to meeting other online friends at BlogHer like Leah Beyer of Beyer Beware and Amy Heinz of Using Our Words and Disney Baby. Amy’s been to BlogHer before. She was kind to answer my most burning questions:

Q: You mentioned business cards are a must. I have a very simple business card, and I’m worried it won’t be flashy enough. Do I need to redesign and reprint cards?

Amy: No doubt whatever you have is fine. A simple card with your name, blog, and website is plenty. A lot of sponsors will collect cards so they can email you. I highly recommend being sure it’s really a brand or prize you care about before dropping your card in a bowl.

Q: What do you do at this conference? Do bloggers just go around meeting each other, exchanging cards, and talking about their blogs? I better get my 15-second interview answers ready!

Katie Pinke
Katie Pinke, Pinke Post

Amy: Last year they opened with an activity where you had 30 seconds to talk to people and exchange blog info. I probably got to about 10 people. It’s really smart to have a 15-second description. There are other opportunities for meeting people like meals, smaller sessions, hallway chats.

Q: Are you expected to read and follow all the bloggers you meet? What’s the etiquette?

Nancy Grossi
Nancy Grossi, The Wife of a Dairyman

Amy: You’ll meet a lot of people. Too many to follow them all. I recommend giving yourself a system. Put a dot on the cards of people you meet who you think you’d be most interested in reading and following. Make notes about your conversation with each blogger on their business cards.

Q: I signed up for the Thursday sessions. What are they like?

Amy: I haven’t been to those, but my friend who went Thursday last year loved it. I think it’s great to get there early and dive in.

Q: Can I choose which sessions to attend at the big conference?

Amy: Yes, you can go to whatever you want and pop in and out of the sessions. It’s very low-key. Some sessions are really popular. Map out what sessions you’re interested in beforehand on the schedule.

Leah Beyer
Leah Beyer, Beyer Beware

Q: This is the most important question. What should I wear?

Amy: It’s business casual. Be yourself and be comfortable. I usually bring casual dresses because they’re so comfortable and easy to pack.

During the day, wear layers and comfortable shoes. It can be really hot outside and really cold in the conference rooms. The sponsors alone take up multiple floors, so there’s a ton of walking, just within the hotel.

For evening parties, wear cocktail attire or a step up from daytime dresses.

with love from New York DKNY
with love from New York

Q: Anything else I should know?

Amy: It’s fun to dive into a world where people think what you do is really cool and oh-so important. See you soon!

Thank you, Amy. Read more from Amy at Using Our Words and Disney Baby. And be sure to visit the blogs of all the talented women featured in this post.

A gracious woman gains respect. Proverbs 11:16a NLT

I can see your face in All the Right Places, by Zach Heckendorf. Smooooth.

What tips do you have for getting the most out of industry conventions like BlogHer?
What are your must-dos when visiting New York?

Posted on by Aimee 15

The MOB Confronts Cattiness Against Boys

meangirlstshirt
my skills make boys run

Walking through Target when a t-shirt catches my eye in the girls’ department.

Excuse me?

I’m a proud member of the MOB (Mothers Of Boys). I don’t see a shirt in the boys’ department reading, “My Skills Make Girls Run.” That would never be tolerated. As a grown-up girl, I’d be unhappy if it were.

Then there’s the sign I saw in Kirkland’s.

Where’s the one reading “Boys Rule: Your IQ Test Has Come Back Negative?” Kirkland’s would be boycotted post-haste if that sign ever made it to the shelves.

chicks rule sorry
sorry. your IQ test has come back negative

The battles for women’s suffrage, educational equality, and Title IX were difficult. Necessary. Admirable.

Today women earn only 77 cents per dollar earned by men working the same jobs. Women hold only 17 percent of the seats in Congress. Women are victimized by domestic violence . Poverty rates are highest for families lead by single women. There’s still work to be done.

Is this how we want to do it? By using little girls to demean little boys?

The notion that it’s acceptable to degrade boys isn’t new. I love the old Schoolhouse Rock songs and often feature them in my posts. My seven-year-old son and I can sing the lyrics to nearly all of them.

But there’s a line in Unpack Your Adjectives that makes me want to crawl under the table. My heart breaks as my son laughs along, unaware of the politically-loaded, mean-girl, angry-woman sentiment behind it:

“Girls who are tall can get taller,
Boys who are small can get smaller,
Till one is the tallest
And the other’s the smallest of all.”

This is 2012, not 1950, 1969, 1975 when Unpack Your Adjectives first aired, or Thelma and Louise’s 1991. The vitriol is overkill.

Women pursue education. They earn more advanced college degrees and bachelor’s degrees than men.

Women join the workforce. More than 70 percent of all mothers with children younger than age 18 work outside the home or are looking for work outside the home.

Women hold power in the voting booth. In the 2008 presidential election, about 66 percent of women voted compared to 62 percent of men; that’s 70.4 million women compared to 60.7 million men.

Girls play sports. A 2008 report from the Women’s Sports Foundation found 69 percent of girls participate in organized and team sports. That’s nearly equal with the 75 percent of boys who participate.

Sisters, hear me when I say I’m indebted to you. Now can we please celebrate the partial victories, keep on keeping on, and leave our kids out of the combat?

chicks rule. you're right. you're not worthy
you’re right. you’re not worthy

Think about what we’re communicating to our daughters. What we’re allowing to happen to our sons. Will this attitude ameliorate animosity or deepen it? Solve inequality or perpetuate it?

Teach respect. Work for equality. Rise above the hurt and the hate. Burn the cattiness with all the gusto once used to burn the bras.

My son isn’t responsible for your pain. No amount of discrimination justifies using our children as pawns in an ongoing, grown-up fight.

And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:16 NIV

Sweet Child O’ Mine by Sheryl Crow.

This is just my opinion. What do you think?

Posted on by Aimee 16

The Very Busy Vacation

In the realm of respite, there are restful vacations and there are very busy vacations. My family gravitates toward the busy.

Montpelier Vermont state Capitol Building
Mr. Whetstine goes to Montpelier

None of us had ever been to Vermont until last week. We were going to make the most of it.

We cruised Lake Champlain, shopped April Cornell’s comeback store in Burlington, visited the state capitol in Montpelier, toured the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury, and witnessed the birth of a goat at Shelburne Farms (timing is everything, folks). That was the first half of the week.

The second half bowed to my husband’s business commitments. He worked while I entertained our energetic seven-year-old in an unfamiliar city.

ben & jerry's factory in Waterbury, VT
this way to Ben & Jerry’s

Our itinerary included swimming, hiking, tree climbing, rock skipping, iPhone games, MythBusters marathons, and a shoreline run to the U.S. Coast Guard station for a band-aid.

We arrived home exhausted, hauling 135 pounds of laundry, a bevy of memories, and one air travel induced backache, namely mine.

A very busy vacation requires a stay in recovery.

“Mom,” said my son, “next time can we just go to Kitty Hawk?” He remembers restful vacations are possible even for us.

We vacation busy because we don’t want to miss a thing.
We vacation restful because we all need time out to recharge.

Lake Champlain, VT
Lake Champlain

Most vacations fall between the two extremes. There are degrees. There is balance. There is a remote, beachfront condo braving the wild ocean somewhere in my future.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from Him. Psalm 62:5 NIV1984

Vacation by The Go-Go’s.

Do you prefer busy or restful vacations? Why?

Posted on by Aimee 11