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Terrible tech toy tortures toddlers and tweens

By December 10, 2012
Apptivity Monkey

We don't own a TV, so I don't see many ads. But since I love the NBC show Parenthood, I had to subscribe to HULU Plus to catch the show every week. There, I'm subjected to the every-eight-minutes commercial assault on our minds, dignity, and behavior so central to the TV "experience." This, HULU Plus calls "limited commercial interruption." I call it Hell. Ever since my HULU subscription began a few weeks ago I've been seeing a raft of hideous ads for a slew of unconscionable products … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Consumerism, Economy Tagged With: , , , ,

The real war on Christmas and why it matters

By December 6, 2012
Bill O'Reilly

Christmas season is making me tired. Every year, I get tired of hearing jaunty, NutriSweet-y jingles that sound like they're sung by Hello Kitty touted as "Chrismas Carols" and played earlier and earlier in the fall. "Here Comes Santa Claus" on November 11 — it's a revolting enough song if you have to hear it once. But do we really need to endure this particular brand of nausea for a full six or seven weeks? And I'm just as tired of hearing Fox News announcers sound more and more shrill … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Spirit Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Homemade Halloween

By October 18, 2012
costumes

We're running this piece from 2010 again in celebration of the upcoming Halloween. One of my worst parenting memories happened when I took my daughters trick-or-treating on the vaunted Lawn of the University of Virginia campus one year. The girls were about six and four at the time, and the picturesque associations of the annual UVa. Halloween tradition conjured up by friends made it sound incomparable to other activities. This was easy: show up around 4:30pm and go by Lawn dorms to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Small World Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Explaining police brutality to kids

By November 22, 2011
Pepper cop cherubs

Watch out kid, or I'll give you what for. Photo: PepperSprayingCop.Tumblr.comWhat a quandary we find ourselves in. As parents, we want to uplift and encourage our children, to have them believe with hope and admiration in the founding documents of our nation —the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. The last thing anyone wants is to foster in our kids an early cynicism that unmasks the betrayals in our system, its failures and glaring contradictions. What … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting, Spirit Tagged With: , , ,

Occupy parenting

By November 15, 2011
Mother and child

I can identify with what's said about dying soldiers—that in their last moments they call out for their mothers, seeking, perhaps instinctively, that all encompassing comfort that mothers can give. My mom died quite unexpectedly ten years ago. Late on a Halloween, she simply went to sleep and never woke up again. And though we were very different, and the relationship was more superficial than I would have liked, she definitely gave that comfort that a mother gives when I most needed her. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting, Spirit Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Children in Transition: Art, nature, life

By June 9, 2011
Nature Child

Recently I sat in on a Transition US webinar on Children in Transition with Dianne Monroe. Monroe calls herself an “Expressive Arts Facilitator"—she creates, leads workshops, and mentors in San Antonio, Texas. Her purpose with the presentation was to look at how our interactions with children, as parents, extended relatives, educators, and community members, can help them meet the future. Transition in the webinar title refers to the worldwide Transition Movement founded in 2005 by Rob … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: , , , ,