Reni

My parenting? well, my parenting says - you should take care of the things you have. you want a new iPod? save your money and get one. end of story. My daughter does have an inflated sense of entitlement (which is troubling) and I see this rampant not only in her generation, but in American culture period. In my household we have an emphasis on reading, creativity, etc - and when my daughter was younger she engaged in creative endeavors and was a voracious reader. Now? Not so much.......as a parent, you do the best you can and while you never give up on your kids, you only have so much cont

all parents should read this book.....

sorry, but I certainly wouldn't put Chairman Mao and the mother of child-centered progressive education in the same boat.

yes. in addition, countless studies show that prolonged exposure to television, video games and other passive forms of entertainment is detrimental to healthy brain development. (that said, I am going to finish watching this episode of Eight is Enough )

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite people in the whole wide world!!

we even offer Emily matching funds for her savings - have tried to help her set up a savings account - come up with ideas how to save, work for extra money, etc so she can get an iPod, laptop, or whatever gadget is top of her list that day......and she just plum won't do it. She says, "why bother? no way can I save that kind of money." I could tell unpleasant stories all day long about my kid - so, I will stop - in all fairness, she does have significant behavioral/emotional issues. However, I don't chalk everything up to that and am quite discouraged about her development, no matter how har

actually my 14 year old is a lot older than I was......doing drugs, smoking, messing around with boys....talking about herpes. oy vey.

Emily got an iPod for Christmas from her Nana (my mom) and took horrible care of it - ended up dropping it in the toilet. It's destroyed. Now, she is angry with us (and heaps loads of abuse on us, thinks we're REALLY unfair) because we won't run out and buy her a new one ASAP.......how's that for entitlement? It is the right of all kids to have an iPod apparently. Or how about this one.....when Emily is grounded she says, "it's YOUR FAULT that I am grounded!" I say, "no, it's because you did ______ that you are grounded. A consequence to your actions." She says, "nope, it's YOUR fault becau

Adolescence is a social construction that emerged with industrialization. Child educator and theorist Maria Montessori said that the best thing for children, at the age of 13, is to send them to work in the fields. I am down with this.

have you been hanging out with our Emily? Sounds pretty spot on. In my experience, a lot of that article is spot on as well - at least among Emily and her friends. Like you, I can't speak for a whole generation.

I'd like to see this.

I have seen the Cardinals one of those

Graham's cousin has a roomba - it seems more trouble than it's worth.

that sounds like a PLAN!!

for some reason that book makes me think of this one..... a social history of air conditioning - heard the author on NPR years ago and have always been intrigued. I should add it to my wishlist.

I have to add that I emailed the author of the Mr. Rogers book last night about a couple things. He emailed me back a very kind note this morning. Wow.

I read the Mr. Rogers book in a day - read most of it in bed last night. It is an easy read, and a really nice book. I do love Mr. Rogers!

woop! woop! Happy Birthday Tamala!! I hope you have a fantastic birthday and I hope to see you soon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lE6Htee0sA

you've seen a lot of the Twins this week!! needed to be re-posted here

Happy Mother's Day to all of the fabulous VC mamas!!! Arise then...women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts! Whether your baptism be of water or of tears! Say firmly: "We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, For caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, Will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs." From the voice of a devas

Just got this for a gift and I can't put it down. I love Mr. Rogers so much!

do you know the Hesston/Newton area?? Mennonite heaven!! I *heart* southeastern Kansas. We go to a Mennonite church - though not in a horse and buggy (sorry to hijack the thread Jenna! )