Freedom IS free

By kate on October 21st, 2008

This thoughtful guest editorial in today’s P-I gave me a new perspective. I hadn’t thought to challenge the right-wing mantra that “freedom isn’t free,” but this Iraq war veteran counters that “everybody is free… at the simple price of being born as a human.” Here’s a short excerpt. I recommend reading the whole thing.

The nature of freedom apparently is too abstract for some people to grasp; at its dialectical core is a built-in paradigm that holds life as fundamentally sacred, and liberty as a God-granted right. Rights do not cost, only politics do. By charging for something that is free, politics has created a new form of “freedom capital,” to be measured in blood and body counts and to be spent at the polls.

Filed under: current events, justice | Comment now »

Open Letter to my Twitter Friends

By kate on October 4th, 2008

Dear Twitter Friend,

I follow you because I know you and want to keep up with what’s going on in your life. I’m glad you’re on Twitter (especially if you joined in response to my arm-twisting). I have a problem, though. My friends’ tweets are getting to be too much for me to keep up with, and I need your help.
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Filed under: relationships, technology | 4 Comments »

Babysitter info sheet

By kate on September 10th, 2008

We love having a babysitter. I think it’s important to our relationship and our lives to get out of the house without Ruby from time to time, and it’s good for Ruby to be able to thrive without us (and know she can). Plus, a babysitter offers a kind of active, engaged play that us busy parents can’t always provide. I can’t stress enough to new parents that you should get a babysitter at least semi-regularly.

Several different people babysit Ruby (from old friends to people in our parents group to a teenage babysitter). To make things easy for them and us, I created a little information sheet that I fill out and leave on the table (next to the phone and a pen) whenever we go out. It has important info like our address and contact details, plus things like Ruby’s bedtime routine. It has empty spaces for where we’re going, when we’ll be back, and additional info.

I keep a few of these sheets in a drawer so they’re ready to go at a moment’s notice. It frees the babysitter from having to scrupulously remember everything we quickly chatter on the way out the door.

It occurred to me that the sheet might be useful for others, so I created a template in Microsoft Word that you can download and use. Just replace everything in brackets with your information (e.g., changing [Child] to Ruby), and customize for your child’s needs.

(click to open or save)

Filed under: parenting | 1 Comment »

What he said

By kate on August 29th, 2008

MetroDad is my favorite parent blogger, and I’m fully in agreement with his most recent entry:

Last week, I was at daycare with the Peanut when an older boy came over and grabbed a toy out of the Peanut’s hand. When she kindly asked for it back, the boy pushed her. The Peanut then turned to the boy and said, “Please don’t push me. I don’t like being pushed.”

The boy’s mother witnessed the whole thing and gently admonished her son, saying that it wasn’t nice to push one’s friends. What does the kid do? He hits the Peanut and pushes her again! Before the boy’s mother can do anything, I calmly turn to my daughter and say, “You know what to do, kiddo…”

I don’t want Ruby to be a bully or aggressor, but you bet I’m planning to teach her to stand up for herself when necessary.

Today at the playground, Ruby was playing with a large wheelbarrow toy in the sandbox when a boy her age decided he wanted it. He tried to get it from her with a combination of pulling and angry grunty noises. Ruby quietly stood her ground, gripping the toy, until the boy’s mother swooped in and redirected him. Two things about this made me proud:

1. Ruby didn’t look to me to mediate. It’s an important life lesson that you need to take control of your own situation, and that your parents won’t always be there to save you. I observe so many parents hastily and constantly interceding for their children (with other children, not adults). I really think that, rather than helping, this causes weakness and dependence.

2. She didn’t react violently. Maybe it’s because both her hands were engaged in holding onto the toy for dear life, but she didn’t hit the boy or yell at him, just quietly defended her ground.

I haven’t had any explicit conversations with Ruby about this subject, but it’s probably time. I’d like her to operate from the same position of power as MetroDad’s Peanut (calm and polite, but able to back it up with force if required).

Filed under: parenting | 3 Comments »

New use for old boots

By kate on August 25th, 2008

Ruby has a pair of rain boots that were getting too small, so I bought her some new ones today. Ordinarily, I’d give away the old pair, but they had developed some tears because we had to pull so hard to put them on. I just hated to throw them in the trash, so I came up with a great idea to get a little more life out of them: turn them into garden clogs!

With kitchen scissors, I cut off the tops of the boots, then the heels. I put a little contact cement around the new top edge to stick the boot’s fabric lining firmly onto the rubber.

As boots, they were almost too small to wear, but with empty space around the heel, Ruby can fit her foot in easily. Now she has clogs to keep on the back porch to quickly slip on when needed.

Filed under: handiwork, parenting | Comment now »

Parenting and semantics

By kate on August 5th, 2008

Sometimes you can bang your head against the wall to get an idea across to your child, and in the end getting just the right turn of phrase makes all the difference. My brilliant husband has a real knack for coming up with small ideas that really get through to Ruby and make our parenting easier. Here are a few recent examples:

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