Small Things

Real nighttime snacking

Am I the only person who is inspired to bake a chocolate cake by a Special K cereal commercial encouraging weight loss?

I have been craving cake every time I see that commercial, where a young thin woman opens her fridge for a nighttime snack, and there on the shelf, nicely presented on a stylish pedestal cake plate, is a triple layer yellow cake with chocolate frosting. She picks up the cake for a second, titillating my taste buds, making me think mmmmm, mmmmm I wish my fridge had one of those sitting in it! Then she puts the cake aside, takes out the milk, and eats a bowl of Special K red berry cereal instead. And does a little jig-step as she happily leaves the kitchen.

Yeah, right. If that were me settling for the bowl of cereal, I would be slumping out of the kitchen with a resentful sneer on my face. But then, that’s not me. Two days ago, I saw that commercial yet again, and was inspired and motivated. I went right to the kitchen, got out my Better Homes and Garden red-checkered cookbook (the one whose back cover is charred from a gas-stove mishap in my newlywed days) and my son and I baked a yellow cake with homemade chocolate frosting.

And it was goo-ood. And for three nights in a row, I have been enjoying my nighttime snack with a big glass of milk. Of  course, I am eight months pregnant, which means I am deep into the trimester of self-indulgence, and have no hope of looking like anything other than a weeble-wobble right now, anyway.

Want to be inspired yourself, but don’t want to wait for the commercial? You can go to the Special K website and click on “Nighttime Snacking” to see a brief cartoon version. The cake isn’t quite so prominent in the cartoon, but if you look in the fridge right as the cartoon begins, you will see a big chocolate cake right there in front of the silly thin woman who pulls out a bowl of Special K. At least it makes a little more sense in a cartoon. No real-life woman would ever pass up a chocolate cake in favor of a rice-flake cereal with dehydrated strawberries.

I’ve got one slice left on my cake plate. It’ll be gone by midnight.

What about the nominee's wife?

One of the major headlines regarding John Robert's nomination to the Supreme Court is that everyone wants his views on abortion and Roe v. Wade clarified. Myself included. Maybe. I think it looks like he probably is pro-life. But if proof of deeply-held pro-life beliefs are publicized, Democrats will swarm and react, so maybe I don't want them clarified after all. Interestingly (to me, anyway), his wife's views have very publicly been clarified. An L.A. Times article about his wife reports that:

Jane Sullivan Roberts is a lawyer and devout Catholic who has been deeply involved in the anti-abortion movement, lending her name, her money and professional advice to a small Washington-based organization that offers counseling and educational programs and in the past has filed legal briefs before the high court challenging the constitutionality of abortion.

That small organization happens to be Feminists for Life, whose webpage I have listed a link to since the beginning of my blog. Feminists for Life's mission is to work for better choices for women, for a real alternative to abortion. For better healthcare and childcare and support so that women don't have to sacrifice their babies for their education or career.

I think I like this Jane Sullivan Roberts. Not that she is the one up for Supreme Court Justice. But the fact that John Roberts married such a principled and strong woman speaks well for him, doesn't it?

Still procrastinating . . .

I've had yet to post about the new internet business I am slowly, agonizingly slowly, starting up from home. It is an idea I've had for over a year now, and once I seriously discussed it with my husband a few months back, he got onboard, too. Actually, he kind of expanded the whole idea to a much bigger idea, and maybe that is part of why I am acting so slowly.

I prefer to keep things small, so small that it is all stuff I already know how to do. He's not afraid to think bigger, and plan stuff we have abslutely no clue how to do. I really do think that is a good thing, you have to get outside your comfort zone if you are going to grow, right? Meanwhile, it all gets a bit overwhelming for me. For me, the hardest part is breaking a huge project down into one step at a time. My nature is to throw up my hands and say "Well I have no clue how on earth to do that, I don't even know where to begin!" So this has been an exercise in discipline and perseverence so far.

Today, I have got to start writing some content for my site. I've been putting it off for weeks. My husband is nagging and guilting me into excuses each night. And yet here I am writing on my blog. And I need to go grocery shopping. And I absolutely have to go exchange that nursing nightown at Motherhood Maternity, cuz you know they have that Nazi return policy with the 10-day-only exchange rule and today is day 10 . . .

I have got to meet some more moms who work from home and find out how they do it. Any suggestions?

Finding good children's books

I stopped by a great blog about children's books today--parents, check out Chicken Spaghetti. There I found a link to a website called Guys Read, a site run by children's author Jon Scieszka, who gives book recommendations for "guys" of various ages. I appreciated the assistance, as I have a hard time finding books that my toddler son likes and that my husband and I also enjoy reading aloud. One of his recommendations I have already pulled up at Amazon, and hopefully Jimmy and I will be enjoying it together soon. It's called Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!and it looks like something little boys would find hilarious.

In favor of school choice

Ever since I spent a year teaching middle school in Pensacola, Florida, I have been a strong believer in school choice. I think it began after sitting in parent-teacher conferences with some of the few parents who made it a priority to come to talk to their children's teachers. They would ask questions about how to help their child improve their work, and provide enriching activities at home, and I would scream in my head, "GET YOUR CHILD OUT OF THIS SCHOOL!"

I was a first year teacher, filling an emergency vacancy position, in a very poor neighborhood. The school had NO PTA, and my average class size was 38 kids. I spent my day trying to maintain some level of discipline, while all the kids wanted to do was horse around and impress each other. Well, most of them. Some of them made sure to do all of their work and get decent grades, but I knew that the actual learning they were experiencing was severely limited because of the size and chaos of the classroom. And most parents didn't care.

There could be all kinds of debates as to how to fix that school, and my particular classroom situation. But when I sat one-on-one with a parent, I couldn't help but put myself in their shoes. And if I were them, I would want to get my kid into a different school. But none of them could, because this was the public school, and none of them could afford a private school.

That's when it struck me how un-American the lack of choice in education is. I thought ahead to when I would be a parent, and how angry and frustrated I would be if I were forced to send my child to such a school. Mandated by law. And I have been convinced of the importance of universal school choice ever since.

The Nobel winning economist Milton Friedman made the argument for universal school choice over 50 years ago. I just came across an interview with him at Education Week, where he was asked his views on the current efforts towards vouchers and school choice. He predicts:

Fifty years from today, I won’t be around to see it, but I would be amazed if you did not have an almost complete termination of the government running schools. I would be surprised if 50 years from now you don’t have universal vouchers. And the reason I say that is that it seems to me that once you set it down and look at it without bias or prejudice, it’s so obvious that that’s the way to go. Who has more interest in the schooling of a child, the parent or a government bureaucrat? Who is in a better position to decide what school is best for a child, the parent, or whoever happens to be in charge of a government school?

It's a thought-provoking read for any parent, and any teacher. It's an issue that influences my vote, and it's one more issue I will be thinking of when new SCOTUS nominations come up.

Happy Independence Day!

Ever heard the third verse of our National Anthem? I haven't:

O thus be it ever when free man shall stand,

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;

Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven rescued land

Praise the Power that has made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto, "In God is our trust";

And the Star-spangled Banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Finally, Vindication!!!

Ever since the birth of my first baby, I have shared a theory with my husband about why it is that men have nipples. First, let me say I breastfed our son, and because I heard numerous warnings about avoiding nipple confusion, I missed the window of opportunity in getting my baby to accept a pacifier or even a bottle. Now, some may think it’s great that my baby never really used artificial nipples, and yes, I agree the natural kind are ideal. But I gotta say there are times . . . very tired, trying times . . . when a mom needs a break.

It was one of those times that I looked over at my bare-chested husband and came up with my theory. Why weren’t his nipples serving a purpose, too? In fact, there were a few times the baby would be in bed between us, turn toward Daddy, and I would hear a “Hey! No, no, no, Jimmy, you’re not getting that here.” So I don’t see why it’s so unreasonable to conclude that God intended dads to be natural pacifiers. My husband always laughs off my crazy theory.

Imagine my glee when I read this article from Britain, about how men in different cultures share childcare duties. (Pointed out at this Attachment Parenting blog.)

I instantly emailed a link to my husband at work, anxious to legitimize my theory. The phone rang in less than two minutes, and when I answered it, all I heard was him laughing, “You’re crazy, you know that?”

Putting off homework

Last week our financial advisor gave us a homework assignment to do before our next meeting. Each of us, without discussing it with each other first, is to make a list of 30 goals. They can be short-term or long-term goals, and they don’t have to be just financial goals. We should also include personal goals like losing weight or having a baby, for example.

So last night I sat down to do my homework. I quickly wrote down the three things I have been longing to get done for the last few months, ok, maybe the last year. Landscaping the backyard, getting our internet business up and running, and enrolling our son in preschool. And then I drew a blank! I got stuck after number three! All I could think of was the top three items we’ve been procrastinating and failing to take action on. Am I really so shortsighted that I can’t even plan a goal further then what I want right now?

After a few moments, my rigid focus relaxed a bit and I managed to think of other things I want in life, things I think my husband and I should aim for. Important things like getting rid of debt, putting our kids through college, saving for retirement, buying a minivan next winter, having more children (after all, we need someone to spend the college money on.) But I am really struck by how long it took me to think past those first three items.

I have always been a procrastinator. I often tell my husband that I need the pressure of a deadline to really get motivated to work. And I am not the only one in the house who does that—he does his own share of putting things off. We often joke to each other that our house would never get cleaned if we didn’t occasionally invite people over. We need the deadline. It’s amazing how much you can clear away in the hour before the doorbell rings.

Of course, I know there are consequences to procrastinating. We may clear up the clutter when people come over, but I rarely get around to the nooks and crannies our guests won’t see. For a year we have been living with a rectangle of dirt and rocks instead of the flagstone patio and arbor and flowering shrubs we have planned. But this homework assignment made me realize there might be a worse consequence than delaying whatever it is we are procrastinating.

I realized that by procrastinating the things I am currently focused on, I cannot move past them. I can’t raise my focus to the next things I want to accomplish, because all my focus is occupied by the things I am not getting done. I can’t even plan what’s next while I am spinning my wheels on the current project.

I have progressed along on my homework assignment to goal number 23 so far. Though I may go back and cross out where I wrote “learn to make good apple pie” and “learn a needle craft like knitting or embroidery.” I kinda used them as fillers, I should probably come up with something a little more substantial than that.

But maybe I should put the list aside awhile and make a few phone calls to get some stuff done. Because there are other things on the list I really would like to get to. And I really would like to have a patio before we move.