My 6 year old says about her art:
I like to imagine pegasus flying in the sky. I made a drawing of a girl and she is thinking of helping her mother….holding the baby, feeding the dog, how fancy she could be as a princess, loving others, and seeing the bright star when Jesus was born.
More art from the peanut gallery! Gotta love Usborne books for great ideas!
Art by my 5 year old who loves to draw…I just love the curls!
My children seem to suffer from maternal teleflamesis…every time I get on the phone they burst into flame!
The other night after dinner I let my kids watch a bedtime movie so I could clean the kitchen. First we chose a Jim Carry comedy about a superhero, as the kids had heard it was really funny. I gave a hesitant ok and popped in and out of the living room to make sure it was suitable.
At a certain point there was scene in a lounge with a female singer in a sparkly dress “purring” a little to confidentially to the men in the audience. My 9 year old daughter said right away, “Mom, her dress is too short.” “Yeah, kinda more like pajamas,” I agreed. “She’s being inappropriate,” stated my 7 year old bluntly, as the woman continued in the manner of an overly friendly cat, rubbing up against people. “Let’s change it,” concluded my 9 year old. So we did.
Figuring it would be a safer bet, especially for the younger ones, we switched to a cartoon. An adventure story about archeologists. Surely this would be fine, right? Again I popped in and out to make sure while tidying the kitchen. I came in to the following scene:
A slightly nerdy looking guy, the main character, having a discussion with a slim woman with glasses and a pony tale. There was some dangerous adventure to be had, and he objected to her going alone. Then from the other room she asked if he was offering to come along. He hummed and hawed until she reappeared, now in her “archeology outfit” which consisted of little jean shorts and a small, revealing tank top. Her glasses were also removed. All his hesitation disappeared, and no surprise: of course, he was coming!
Perhaps kids won’t really notice this subtly sexual joke, likely put in there for the adults watching, but what message does it actually send to girls? Guys won’t be willing to make sacrifices for you because of your friendship or your brains, but you can be sure they’ll do anything for your boobs. Great! And we really think feminism has advanced so far…
Whether or not women’s bodies are being presented as sources of power and control over men (again, this is a manipulative rather than healthy message), the fact is what seems to matter about women is their parts…the pieces of their bodies that interest men. Perhaps brains are also presented as a good thing, but only as long as they come in a pretty package.
Parts. Packages. Juicy bits. What are we talking about here? Cars, internet bundles, steaks? Things. We are still talking about women as if they were things instead of people. This is objectification. Do we want our daughters to be objectified?
What really matters about women is that they are people, and like men, each one of them is unique, irreplaceable, and worthy of love and respect. Tell me Hollywood, when are you going to grow up enough to share this message? It is one of true beauty and of hope for relationships that actually respect each person as a person, and just not a set of spare parts to be used for fun…until a better model comes along.
Here is one more awesome post from Kate from Australia, whose blog I love. Her “Fail” posts are ridiculously funny. I wish she could come over for tea. We could sort socks together (ha!). She’s a fellow crazy mom blogger, and here’s her promised post on why writing at home works so well. Enjoy!
I used to think I would have to wait for my children to grow up a bit before thinking about becoming a writer, but now I realize I’m exactly where I need to be. Here’s why:
1. You will be desperate for a creative outlet
There are only so many lullabies you can sing and pretend cappuccinos you can sip before you start craving a use for your brain. Harness this hunger and write!
2. It’s the ideal set-up
If you were trying to write on weekends whilst working full-time, you might struggle to get yourself into the right frame of mind. If you took time off work to focus on your writing, you would have to face the unbearable pressure of producing something good and printable to validate your choice. When you’re a stay-at-home-parent, you have the luxury of writing for fun. If you ever get to the point…
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Let’s just say I couldn’t sleep, so this is the random silliness I got up to to distract myself from thinking about being awake. A friend’s mother gave us this giant Scotty bathroom tissue stuffed creature. At first I thought it was straight to the give away pile, but my brother and I laughed so hard over thinking about stupid things we could do with it, that it’s still here, exploring the world and having adventures.
Since I’m frequently up at night in the bathroom (gotta love the squished, almost 9 months pregnant bladder), I may as well have some fun with the Scotty creature. Someone’s gotta have some excitement!
Thank you to my sweet brother who bought me this fun pen for my iPad!
Perhaps doing kindergarten style art will convince my body it’s way past bedtime and help me sleep… here’s hoping! 😉
Maybe then I could have enough brain power to actually finish the drafts I’ve been working on about leadership in learning and fostering peace in a warring world…but for now, it’s the adventures of Scotty, and me dreaming about soft pillows and happy sleeps.
After living in the jungle for quite some time, I have been able to make a detailed study of the little known creature called the pregosaur. Here are my findings.
Pregosaurs are large, sleepy beasts with ferocious appetites and dreadful tempers. Neither nocturnal or creatures of the day, pregosaurs sleep in small fits throughout the day and night, and frequently wake to roam in search of food.
After feeding, they often fall asleep, but are prone to waking up shortly after belching gas and roaring terribly. Other wildlife wakens them at risk of their own lives, due to this peculiar crabbiness.
Pregosaurs have difficulty getting comfortable, perhaps in part due to their distinctly shaped body, which includes a large protruding stomach, so it takes them a long time to settle in their nests. Their belly appears swollen, and seems to have life of its own as it ripples about in strange movements when the pregosaur is resting.
Their skin is rather like that of a chameleon, capable of taking on the shades and patterns of the jungle around it. Thus you will find floral pregosaurs, spotted pregosaurs, striped pregosaurs, etc. It is quite the sight to behold a pack of them socializing. They communicate through a variety of sounds from growls and moans to what sounds like hysterical laughter. They like to carry each other food in their claws and eat it together as they interact.
Some go together to the steaming mud pools to drink herbal soups or that dark sludge called caffeinus perkius, which seems to make the pregosaurs a lot more cheerful.
After nearly a year in this strange stage of development, pregosaurs morph into a new creature: the Momosaurus Reck. But that is a topic for a future study!
Just East Of Crazy Land 