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Excuses v. Reasons
One of my pet peeves growing up was that my mother would pile the work on high, and then ask for that one little thing that just couldn’t be squeezed in. “I’ve been hearing your excuses since the day you could talk! You’ve always had a reason for why you couldn’t help out.” This diatribe would ensue after one had pointed out that she demanded straight A’s at a top school with eight classes, no lunch or study hall, while working 30+ hours to pay for all of one’s own expenses, and there happened to...
read moreGoodbye Grandma
My grandmother died this past weekend, at the age of 90. She had been suffering from Alzheimer’s for a long time, hiding it for the first five years, unable to for the last five. She has needed continuous care, in home, for the last few years; her caregiver has helped my grandfather bathe, toilet, dress, and feed Nana. The family has stepped in with regular visits most days of the week, mostly to keep my grandfather connected. My mother, who has easily been the most generous in the care of her mother, says, “If my mother had known...
read moreAm I cut out for homeschooling?
Lately, I’ve been trying to avoid my three-and-a-half-year-old son. Part of it is being sleep-deprived and lazy, but even on a good day, I have a hard time not anticipating his all-day-long neediness and trying to head him off at the pass. I make a big breakfast, put on a Thomas video, and climb back into bed with the ravenously hungry baby. I could nurse the baby in the kitchen and talk to Wolfie about things, thus helping him development more fully. Later, when he’s been fed and his video is over, he either goes to preschool, or...
read moreWhat happens when a jerk has kids?
Well, from my own personal experience…when a jerk has kids, she blames them for her unhappiness, because their constant chattering and neediness magnifies how ncapable she is of coping with what’s really bothering her. But to be fair, here is a typical morning. 6:30 or 7 AM: Zoe wakes up and is frantically hungry. I enjoy nursing her in bed, dozing peacefully. I imagine how great Mother’s Day is going to be this year, when I have made Fierce promise to take Wolfie and go away some place, leaving me to enjoy the baby by...
read moreWhat does sex have to do with being a woman?
The controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh and Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke highlights a major shortcoming in modern feminism, and a major shortcoming in liberalism (I suppose they’re not the same exact thing….). According to Jamila Bey of She the People, “What Limbaugh did — and does frequently — is “slut-shaming,” and it’s no less hateful and derogatory than racial slurs.” This is nonsense. Calling someone racial slurs because he happens to be black targets him for something that 1.) is beyond his control...
read morePeople who hate Dooce
A few years ago, blogger Heather Armstrong decided to strike back at the people sending her hate mail. She posted their horrendous comments on a page called “Monetizing the Hate“, filled it with ads, and let her loyal readers a.) see what she was putting up with from hateful people and b.) generate some ad revenue for charity. She took the site down after a while. I noticed that her comments on her regular site went way, way down after she did this, from about a 1,000 per post to in the 300s, and I think it’s because some of...
read moreMy Brain on Crack
I’m assuming that the unbearable lightness I feel right now, the indefatigable energy may be why people take drugs and claim that they melted teeth are worth it. Wolfie’s at preschool, Zoe is with the sitter, my tutoring clients canceled, but have to pay the retainer fee, which means that I could keep the sitter and do what I wanted. I got more than six hours of sleep last night! (Can’t blame the baby, she was asleep by 9, slept till 6:45. I just like to stay up and roam the house with nobody to ask me to do...
read moreTraining Season
One of my tutoring students had a nervous breakdown, so I am helping his mom home school him. I’ve now gone from working half-time to being full-time. While my afternoons used to be a frenzy of housekeeping and childrearing, they are now spent slyly working housecleaning in while my student does a problem set. I nurse Zoe while I review the correct answers. In the next ten weeks, I will make half of what I earned in 52 weeks last year. I am hoping that this time will not only let me save up for a bigger car, but be a crucible that helps...
read moreThe Almighty Does Great Things For Me
I’m a cynic and when I hear stories about “miracles” that involve somebody with an awful life getting a small bit of something they need, I tend to think, “Hmmm, seems like if God really cared, that person wouldn’t have cystic fibrosis in the first place. Good job, God! You gave a dying girl a puppy! Don’t do ME any favors.” Yes, it is just as bad as it sounds. But, the good news is that God wants to woo me, and he’s figured out how. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, he’s given me a grateful...
read more7 Super Quick Takes
1 Zoe is starting to stretch her sleep out. Last night we were up to 6.5 hours before she needed to nurse. Woot! 2. Wolfie looked so happy when I was reading him a letter he received that I said, “Does it make you so happy to get mail?” and he responded, “No, you make me so happy!” What a three-year-old… 3. I babysat for my 1-year-old nephew today and got to experience life with 3 kids. If I had a high chair set up to plop my nephew in during lunch, I would have found the three of them easier than...
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