All These Things That I've Done

On Mondays, I typically participate in Monday Listicles, which I love.  However, today's theme of things found in your closet....my closet is a tiny hole in the wall.  I live in an old house.  There's not much in there of interest--mainly hanging shirts and a pile of shoes on the floor.  But, I'm still going to participate with a list, just one of a different topic.  I hope you'll forgive my bending of the rules.

Do you have a constant internal dialogue discussing all the things you need to do or should be doing? I do. And yet, there is so much that I have done.

Yesterday I came across an inspiring list created by Kerstin Auer honoring the things she has done. She was prompted by a blogging link-up by Andrea B  Now, I’m inspired.



In lieu of the closet, here's a few things I've done:

*Attended a presidential rally. Forward!

*Saw my favorite rock icons in concert: Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, and U2.

*Traveled from coast to coast to over 25 Dave Matthews Band concerts.

*Met my significant other online—MySpace to be exact.

*Survived two C-sections and was rewarded with two beautiful daughters.

*Survived the terrible twos, twice.

*Put my foot down and said “no” to my daughters several times, surviving the excruciating pain of knowing they were disappointed.

*Watched my oldest daughter star in her middle school musical (oh, the nerves. She did so well).

*Listened in amazement to my younger daughter practice her clarinet. She’s so talented.

*Read many poems of praise written for me by my daughters.

*Tucked in my girls at bedtime most every night for 14 years. 

*Visited Las Vegas three times.

*Traveled to London, Paris, Nice, Florence, and Lucerne.

*Taken the 3 1/2 hour boat tour around Manhattan.

*Saw Bebe Neuwirth play Velma Kelly in the musical Chicago on Broadway.

*Had “the talk” with my daughters. We aren't done, it is ongoing.

*Was runner-up in Junior Miss Ohio in 1987, which allowed me to go to college with the scholarship awards.

*Graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Early Child Education in 2012.

*Have had many jobs: cocktail waitress, daycare worker, fitness center manager, pizza server, telemarketer, wardrobe consultant, retail merchandiser, and stay-at-home mom. My favorite has been stay-at-home mom.

*Confronted my perpetrators. I am a survivor of child sexual abuse.

*I've asked for help.

*I've received help.

*Gained and lost 60 pounds.

*Danced with a professional dance company.

*Danced in my living room.

*Gained and lost ten pounds.

*Recovered from an eating disorder.

*Had two photos selected by the Columbus Museum of Art to be included in their Photo Hunt installations.

*Was honored as a BlogHer 2012 Voice of the Year.

*I've been a wife and an ex-wife.

*Lived in Chicago, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Louisiana, Northern California, and now Columbus, Ohio.

*I've done punk rock karaoke.

*I've been to Bonnaroo, twice. And I want to go back!

I leave you with one of my favorite songs, so apropos:

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If My Daughter Had Time

Within one year, she quickly moved from a budding fashionista to a promising musical theatre performer.  Now she just wants time to turn the music she loves into movie soundtracks.  Becoming a D.J. also interests her.  However, high school academics are demanding.  After hours spent at school she has hours of homework.  Just the other night she said, "Mom, I just want time to curate my music, learn how to edit and mix music, finish reading The Catcher in the Rye, write a screenplay, and play with my hamster.  But I never have time with all this homework!" I have been lobbying to homeschool her, but she gives much resistance.  I know that if I could provide her education at home, she'd have time for the things that interest her. Her interests would be incorporated into the curriculum.   Maybe someday soon I'll figure out that I am the mom and her education is ultimately my decision.  I am conflicted because I also want her to be happy.  I fear she'll resent my demand for her to be homeschooled.   In the meantime, I'll capture the moments (pictured below) wherein she is experiencing joy, free from the academic pressures of traditional education.  These moments are extraordinary, maybe not to her, but to me they quietly scream she is an amazing woman in the making.

Sophia, age 14, enjoying her music.

Linking up with ladies holiday Photo Friday photo (top) credit: Myxi via photopin cc

10 Best Movie Quotes

I am thrilled to be participating in my first Monday Listicles of 2013.  There was one last week, however, I did not have myself organized enough to get one together.  This week, I barely was able to cut my list down to 10.  The topic is 10 Best Movie Quotes as suggested by Ally at Just a Normal Mom.  Great topic, tons to choose from, and very timely being it's awards show season.

As a bonus, I mixed in my daughters' favorite movie quotes.  Within the list, there is one favorite from Antonia (age 12) and one from Sophia (age 14).  Find their choices among the 10 and let me know your guess in the comment section.

10 Best Movie Quotes  

(in no particular order)

*"I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me." ~The Departed

*"Hurt people hurt people."  ~Greenberg

*"Losers are people who are so afraid of not winning, they don't even try."  ~Little Miss Sunshine

*"He's the cheese to my macaroni" ~Juno

*"Our good fortune allowed us to feel a sadness our parents never had time for." ~Beginners

*"Sometimes, I guess there just aren't enough rocks."  ~Forrest Gump

*"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends."  ~Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone

*"Just keep swimming." ~Finding Nemo 

*"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void." ~You've Got Mail

*"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'."  ~The Empire Strikes Back

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Sperk* 2012 Favorites

The 2013 clock is ticking, I know.  

It’s always a good idea to reflect on the past in order to change the future.  However, some things get etched in the mind as our favorites, things we wish would never change.  These are the snapshots we print on acid-free paper and tape into the scrapbook.  If I still did scrapbooking, the following are the things you would find in mine from 2012: 

Favorite 2012 Movie: I see movies late, when they enter the realm of cable television.  For that reason, my favorite flick of 2012 was released in 2011: The Big Year.  It’s charming, funny, hopeful and I can watch it with my kids.

Favorite Album: Pound of Dirt by Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds - I came across this band while perusing Songkick for an opportunity to go out on a Friday night.  This band is hot and I predict they are going to blow up.  Meaning, if you can see them in a small music venue near you, do so, and soon.  If you wait, you’ll be smooshed in a crowd of sweaty people at a summer music festival, unable to see who’s tearing up all those instruments.

Favorite Song: We Are Never Getting Back Together - I’m a closet Taylor Swift fan.  Yes, I am.  It helps me relate to my tween and provides good conversational material for my teen: “Mom, how is it that Taylor Swift can be such a player and not get any flack?  I mean, if I went through that many boyfriends. . .”

Favorite Tweeter: @brainpicker – Maria Popova – Because her tweets contain the most interesting links.

Favorite Blog: Angela Shelton – Inspiring, creative, funny, intelligent.

Favorite TV Show: Enlightened – I watched the entire first season two times while the kids were gone over Christmas break.  It’s the first show I could relate to as a 40 year old woman.  Love it.  Season 2 begins on HBO in three days.  

Favorite Instagramer: @northwestmommy  - That boy, that dog and that scenery, oh my.

Favorite Moment: Too many to choose from.  I consider myself lucky and easy to please.  However, if I have to choose, the first day of school (pictured above) was pretty stellar. My oldest went to high school.  I think we are going to make it.

Favorite Conference: AFC North – I’m a die-hard Steelers fan.  (You know I’m talking NFL, right?).

Favorite Viral Video: Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic freefall from 128k – How can one not be inspired by this?

The Breath of Life

I feel I have been absent as of late, not just from Sperk*, but from something indefinable.  However, I won’t bore you with examination of the vague and give only the concrete.  Certainly there has been movement.  After months of a plague of depression, there has been forward progression even amid costly inconveniences:  Scruffy had his tail amputated after nearly chewing it off, the main drain to the house was clogged and filling the basement with feces, and my front tooth composite finally crumbled after many months of gingerly eating and cementing it with toothpaste during the night.  These were all financial setbacks, indeed, and at the most inopportune time of the year, the holidays.

The girls are well.  My tween who is emerging into a teen is quite gorgeous, like a sprouting tree in the spring, in her entirety, not just in her outward beauty.  My teen of 14 years is a constant mystery and deliverer of stress, but I’m learning to take it in stride with less seriousness and worry.  And last week, I finally put my year old degree to use and gained employment.  I’ll be caring for little ones full time.  It is funny that caring for small humans, during the most significant juncture of human development, pays the least in the field of education.  It is my opinion that early educators should be paid on the scale of professors.  And we should be required to have the same amount of education as college level instructors.  However, if that were the case, I wouldn't have my current employment, right?

The clock says 6:31 am, so I must wake the girls.  Here’s to coffee, cool autumn mornings, and the breath of life that keeps us going.

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What Do Your Kids Know about Election 2012?

After school, I noticed the sticker on my daughter’s sweatshirt and said, “You voted today?”

She explained that other than the presidential candidates, she wasn't familiar with anything else on the ballot in the 7th grade mock presidential election, so she simply voted along party lines and guessed on the issues.  Then she asked me if the president will be chosen by “. . . who has the most votes. . .”?

Although I was pleased that her humanities teacher used the upcoming election as an opportunity for students to experience the process of voting, I thought there were missed opportunities.  I wonder how many Americans know the answer to my daughter's question about the electoral process?  One of our country's biggest problems is an uninformed and/or misinformed electorate.  If we merely show up to the polls and vote based on the information we obtain through campaign ads, we are doing ourselves a disservice.  If we show up and vote party loyal, this is also a disservice. We should not pass this behavior to our children and with information right at our fingertips, we can do better.

My daughter and I spent about an hour talking about the Electoral College, the campaign ads we were being inundated with on the popular radio station she had streaming on her iPod, and how to find out about the rest of the candidates and issues on the ballot.  We didn't get to everything, but she has a better understanding of how things will happen on Tuesday.  (Now, if I could just convince her to join me at Nationwide Arena to see President Obama with Bruce Springsteen on Monday.  She’s more interested in accompanying me to our polling place on Tuesday which will be less crowded.  Smart kid.)

Here are two great sites that will help with talking to your kids about the election.    

Helping Kids Understand the Election

Helping Kids Understand the Election

A special section at PBS Parents provides the basics and can be used for younger through school aged children.  If gives easy to understand answers to questions your children may be asking (Are political parties like birthday parties?) and includes activities like printing your own campaign poster.  This site is appealing to younger children and the information is great for school age children who are just starting to learn about the election.

Election 2012 at Scholastic

Election 2012 - Scholastic

Like the PBS Parents site, Election 2012 from Scholastic has easy to understand explanations and activities.  It also has an interactive map of the Electoral College and On the Road to the White House which tests your knowledge of the political system is one of many great games.  You'll find many articles including information on the Swing States, meeting the candidates, and understanding election vocabulary.  What I enjoy about the Scholastic site is that there are articles written by kids--The Scholastic Kids Press Corps. There is even an interview with the president conducted by student reporters.  This site will keep the attention of school age children and with just a little coaxing to get past the "kid" look of the site, will keep the interest of and be challenging for your young teen.

If  after you've spent time doing all the fun activities on the above sites your older child or teen is still interested in the election, look over sites that are specific to party interests helping him/her identify statements and images that are used to sway voters' opinions.  Then, look up the facts!  In fact, this may be the way to start a discussion with your teen.  It uses media they have already been exposed to on television and online.

How do you talk to your kids about the election?

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Wednesday's Woman: The Door is Always Open

Brandon's House

As I type this, Sophia, my 13 year-old, sits working with her tutor on Algebra II.  Antonia, my 11 year-old, is finishing her homework so that we can make it to a 7:00 pm showing of Finding Nemo in 3D. 

Things have been a bit overwhelming lately. . . .

I was going to fill you in, however, I think you can imagine:  two daughters, one in middle school and one in her first year of high school. 

But just like Dory, I am going to just keep swimming.

Today’s Wednesday’s Woman is from a very special person, my significant other, M.  He chooses to honor someone who was there for him during his tumultuous teen years and continues to be a steady support to him as he approaches middle-age. 

I am quite envious that he had this person in his life during his adolescence and I often wonder if I am a similar presence of unconditional and non-judgmental love for my own girls.  I do know that when he talks about her it is a great reminder to be patient, kind and loving even to those crazy teens that I like to call my daughters.

Wednesday's Woman: Susan Parr

by M.

Susan Parr

Susan Parr is my choice for Sperk’s* Wednesday’sWoman. Susan is the mother of three extraordinary people and although I am not her son, I like to count myself as her fourth. She is married to an awesome man and father Rolf, is active member at her church and holds a master’s degree in counseling.  Susan has devoted her life to helping others. She is the founder and director of Brandon’s House Counseling Center in New Albany, Indiana. While working on her degree, she approached the board at her church with a proposal that they remodel an old house behind the church. The idea was to create a space for a youth counseling center. During this time, a 17 year old member of the church, Brandon Dukes, unexpectedly died from a heart attack. With the blessings of Brandon’s parents, the soon to be completed center would bear his name. Brandon’s House opened in 1993 and to date has helped over 3,000 families by contributing over $2,000,000 dollars in counseling services. Susan’s contributions to the welfare and caring of others reach far beyond my comprehension and ability to count. However, the following story is one small example why Susan Parr is so special to me. It is a story that her husband Rolf tells people about to this day.  

Susan’s middle child, Kevin, has been my closest friend since early high school. I spent many summer days and nights at their house during my high school years. I am sure there were times Susan wondered if I was ever going to leave, although she never let on. I really never wanted to leave.  

While driving home late one summer night, I decided that even though Kevin was in France, I would stop off at his house. I was aware that Kevin was not going to be there, but I was feeling hungry and Parr residence was on the way.  When I arrived, the lights were on so I walked through the front door as I had done hundreds of times before. Susan and Rolf were in the living room watching television. I said hello but did not stop as I made my way to the kitchen and found the refrigerator. I spotted a tasty looking pot of chili. (Susan makes the best chili.) I got a bowl from the cabinet and filled it. While my meal was heating in the microwave, I poured myself a glass of Hawaiian Punch. I always gave Kevin flack for drinking the stuff but I always held a secret love for it.  I took my food and drink to the kitchen table. When I finished my meal, I placed my dirty dishes in the sink, said goodbye to Susan and Rolf as I passed them in the living room, and drove to my parent’s house.

When I spoke with Susan to ask permission to write about her for Wednesdays Woman, she asked me why I came over to her house that night. My answer was because I felt safe. Like what home should feel like. A home where the door  would always be open, a place where I could be myself, a place where help and advice was always there but never thrust upon me and a place where I was accepted and not judged but where subtle caring guidance was a constant. I imagine that she has provided this to the many families and young people who have been to Brandon’s House.

Susan remains a phone call away when life has my mind in a mess and I need someone to talk to. She always listens to whatever comes out of my mouth. Whether I am in tears or in a manic frenzy, Susan always listens. She does not offer unsolicited advice. She does not judge me. She listens and asks how I feel. Susan Parr stands for everything that a Wednesdays Woman is. Just yesterday, she let me know that there was a pot of chili in her refrigerator and that I was welcome to it at any time, day or night. And for this, I love her.

Wednesday's Woman is a weekly feature dedicated to spotlighting women who are role models for our daughters. . . and the world.

 

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The More Things Change

Have I told you how grateful I am for Monday Listicles?  When I get out of the habit of caring for Sperk*, Monday Listicles always brings me back, gently and successfully.  Thanks, Stasha.

Today’s theme is 10 Clues We Are Living In 2012.  But, you know, the more things change, the more they stay the same. 

5 Clues I Am Living in 2012

1.  I have no landline. My home phone is my cell phone.

2.  My oldest is a freshman in high school.

3.  I can go an entire week without speaking to anyone, but still communicate with the world.

4.  Completed my college degree without stepping foot in a classroom.

5.  $100 buys only one bag of groceries.

5 Clues Nothing Has Changed Since 1992

1.  My kids’ school backpacks weigh over 50 pounds each.  (When will technology replace all of those binders and books?)

2.  I get calls from telemarketers soliciting time shares.

3.  Teens still have make-out parties in the basement and think parents do not know.

4.  Watching television is still one of America’s top forms of entertainment.

5.  Moms top the list as the number one most embarrassing thing in the lives of teens.

Who knows.  Some of these things may change.  Our school district will eventually embrace technology.  Kids may have online make-out parties.  But one thing that will most definitely never change:  our kids' need for love and acceptance.  

Go hug your baby.  Or your puppy.  Or go online and feed your cyber-pet.

Go forth into the new week with optimism. . . because I said so.

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10 Things Birthday

My birthday has always been my favorite day of the year.  Even if the day did not turn out as planned or expected, I would still walk around with this strange sort of “awe” floating around my brain.  I was in awe that I was born.

Becoming a mother made birthdays even better.  I loved celebrating the birth of my girls with themed parties, coordinating every detail, even the colors of the M & M’s.  I spent hours finding the perfect activities, biggest balloons, and most unique party favors.  It was exhausting.  However, I wanted my daughters to understand just how incredible it was that they were born.  I wanted them to know they should be celebrated.  And all the commotion kept me from focusing on the fact that each time they had a birthday, they were a year closer to leaving home.

Getting older comes with some fears, but on my birthday, I still am in awe of being born.  And every year I am a little more astonished by how deeply precious life is. I am more respectful of how swiftly time seems to pass. 

My youngest daughter soon turns 12.  I wanted to coordinate party favors, balloons, and decorations to the eVite she enthusiastically created on her own.  Together, I wanted for us to create lovely handmade gift bags and search for the perfect items to go in them.  But she wasn’t interested.  

“Mom, we can just get some candy and put it in bags.” 

The things I used to count on providing me with an opportunity to spend quality fun-time with the girls are changing.  They are growing into young women.  They are uncovering their own understanding of what it means to grow up.  They are making their own decisions on how to celebrate.

Even so, there are things that when I see them, I think birthday.  I think life.  I think celebration.  These will never change.

Today for Monday Listicles, I honor those things that, for me, have come to mean Birthday.

1. Balloons

                                                                                          

2. Party Dress

                                                       

3. Friends

                                                                                        

4. Cake

                                                                                                          

5. Presents

6. Punch

                                                                                                               

7. Musical Chairs

                                                                                                                  

8. Hats

                                                                                                                            

9. Pigs in a Blanket

                                                                                                             

10. Party Favors

                                                                                                 

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The Storybooks Got It Wrong

I switched off her desk lamp, turned to her closet with intent to shut its door and she said, “Leave it open. It helps me to dream.”

I was well aware of her obsession with fashion and her dreams of having a walk in closet the size of our small old house.  Without comment, I left the door to her dreams open and sat next to her on her bed.  I was smiling and ready for our nightly talk.

I listened as she recounted her recent birthday trip to New York City.  She described each Manhattan neighborhood.  SoHo was not what she expected, Chelsea was full of energy, Times Square was unreal, and Little Italy was crowded due to the number in attendance for the street fair.  However, one neighborhood was just right.

She said, “the Upper East Side was everything I pictured New York City to be.”

I was in agreement that the Upper East was lovely.  I added that it had one drawback--exclusivity.

Her eyes opened wide, and she said, “But I want that.  Not for the wrong reasons.  Mom, I can just see myself living there.  Dressing up my kids in cute little school uniforms, getting them into a cab.  I am wearing my Burberry coat neatly tied around my waist.  And everything is just perfect.  A great apartment.  Everything.”

I searched for words that would not sound judgmental, but would point out my concern.  I gently put my hand on her blanket-covered belly and patted it as I said, “It’s what’s in here that determines your happiness.  Don’t ever forget that.”

She said, “I know.  Mom, you aren’t going to cry are you?  You look like you are going to cry.”

I held back my tears and smiled.  I kissed her on the forehead and wished her pleasant dreams and a well-deserved rest.  

As I continued my nightly routine of emptying the dishwasher and folding laundry, I clung to her words.  I searched for the source of the tears she witnessed filling my eyes.  I looked around our tiny house and noticed the scratched wood floors, the chipped baseboards, and the water-spotted ceiling.  I was reminded that that I could not afford a plumber.  My body went down with a plop to the couch--the couch I bought 13 years ago.  It was old.  I cried.

Her fantasy on the Upper East Side paralleled life before I divorced her dad:  a lovely home at the end of a cul-de-sac, a pool, and daily commutes to a private school.  The impression of her smiling mom and dad was burned into her heart.  She was not an outsider gazing upon a smokescreen.  For her, the vision was real.  

Was I wrong to desire authenticity and divorce her dad?  In doing so, I destroyed her happiness.  Was she trying to recapture a time of contentment, a time she understood, by creating a picture-perfect life for herself in the future?

Later, as I tried to put myself to sleep, I saw a time when I will not be close enough to tuck her into bed.  I will not be there to listen to her dreams.  I will not be able to comfort her the moment when she realizes the storybooks got it wrong.

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Pros and Cons of Being a Kid

It’s Monday. Time for Monday Listicles brought to you by Stasha, photographer extraordinaire, at The Good Life.  This week’s theme is kids—reasons it’s great to be a child or reasons it is not.  I know I would really enjoy being a kid again.  What about you?  I also know  I really enjoy the Monday Listicles community and I encourage you to check it out and participate.  I mean really, how long does it take to create a list?

Pros and Cons of Being a Child...

Tween... Teen...

Confused Mini-Adult with Toddler Tendencies

Pro: You don’t have to go to work every day.

Con: You have to go to middle school every day.

Pro: You don’t have to do laundry.

Con: Your favorite jeans are never clean the day you want to wear them.

Pro: If your mom feels guilty about your favorite jeans not being clean, you’re most likely going to convince her to get you a glass of milk even though you can get it yourself.

Con: When there is no milk in the refrigerator, you have to wait for someone with cash and wheels to go out and get some.

Pro: You get summers off.

Con: If you act bored during the summer, you’ll be recruited to walk to the store to replenish the milk supply because, “It’s nice outside.”  When you get home, you’ll be recruited to wash the car, clean out closets, and walk the elderly neighbor’s dog.

Pro: You can still get away with playing with your Build-A-Bears.

Con: Your mom blogs about you playing with Build-A-Bears.

Pro: If it's raining, you can contact your mom via your cell and get a ride home after school.

Con: Your mom shows up to pick you up after school in her red plaid jammie pants.

Pro: Your biggest worry is that big math test on Thursday.

Con: Your biggest worries are Friday’s wardrobe decision...who’s going to show up to your party on Saturday...if Mom will get to your laundry on Sunday...Monday’s big zit on the end of your nose...

the big Tuesday surprise of your embarrassing photos from early childhood being posted on Facebook ("MOM, I am totally un-tagging myself!")...

...AND...

wondering on Wednesday if there will ever  

be 

a 

day 

when 

you 

have 

control 

over 

your 

life.

      

 

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The Paradox of Beauty

Photo credit

My girls have hair appointments at a salon somewhat randomly chosen from a list generated by that trusty search engine, Google.  I am nervous about this afternoon’s pending trip to the selected beauty establishment in the Short North, a trendy, artsy neighborhood here in Columbus.  Why be nervous?

First, this means I must style my own hair and find something presentable to wear other than my favorite red plaid flannel jammie pants that I’ve sported all week.  (Yes, my older daughter, Sophia, is planning to submit my photos to TLC's What Not to Wear).  Second, this means I must convince my girls that after five months, they do indeed need their hair trimmed.  For some reason, they think if they get a trim, their hair will cease to be long.  They do not understand that without regular pruning, their long flowing locks will turn into thin frayed wisps.  Lastly, I am not looking forward to meeting a new stylist.  The last two hair experts we’ve loyally employed turned out to be unstable professionally.  Oh, things always started out great. But one stylist stopped listening to what the client wanted for she could not hear over her own talking, and the other refused to return money paid for tinsel extensions that fell out in one hour.

The trip to the new-to-us salon cannot be avoided.  Next week Sophia is performing in her middle school’s musical.  She has the lead.  She can’t have stringy Marcia Brady hair and convincingly portray Winnifred the Woebegone.  Antonia, my younger daughter, complains every morning that she hates her hair.  This fascinates me because, although it does need shaped up, she has a gorgeous head of hair with perfect color, texture, and wave.  Are the talks about self-talk failing? 

So, haircuts, here we come.  

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Maybe it’s not the actual experience of the haircuts that I am dreading.  Maybe it’s that I despise the fact that I see my girls beginning to be crushed by the societal standards placed upon women to be pretty.  You know what, my girls are pretty—with hair or bald, new clothes or hand-me-downs, a broken out forehead or clear skin.   I am frustrated that they do not see their own beauty, honor it, embrace it, and give it the merit it deserves.  

This brings me to a heavily debated question.  What merit does beauty deserve?   

If beauty deserves no value, why am I concerned about my jammie pants?  I can chalk that one up to wanting to teach my girls what it means to be appropriately dressed and taken seriously.  Yet, left to be answered is why we celebrate celebrities and movie stars but put down the woman we pass on the street who needs to lose ten pounds?   

Maybe I'll make a statement against the value of beauty by rolling to the salon just as I am, right now, sitting at my kitchen table with no make-up applied, hair wild, and a Chihuahua comfortably cuddled in my lap.  Possibly too extreme.  I will continue to contemplate until it is time for this little dog on my lap to be let outside.  While he is frolicking in the winter sun, blissfully unaware of his beauty, I'll give in to societal standards by applying  my make-up and doing my hair.  The jammie pants?  That's a rough one.

  

Save It for Later Saturday: Teens on Google+, Early Ed, and Picnik

In Save It for Later Saturday you’re getting a brief run-down of the stand-outs from my week's "Read Later" list.  This week, please replace the word Saturday with Monday.  I took the weekend off and watched movies while lounging on the couch with my dogs.  Don’t you love January?  You’ll love the best of my “Read Later” list from Diigo.

There are plenty of opinions on teens and social media.  In Driving Online Without a License I outlined my own opinion and experience with introducing Facebook to my daughter.  In short, I think that teens should use social media. But, just as parents set guidelines for social behavior when teens leave the house, guidelines must be set for social online behavior.  One way to create boundaries for online behavior is to establish rules for content sharing. Last week, Google announced that Google+ will now be open for teens ages 13-18 and created a different set of safety features for the age group.  I recommend going through the privacy settings on Google+ with your teen as she sets up her account.  Any interaction you have with your teen while she is online enhances her media literacy skills, her knowledge of online etiquette (netiquette), and provides opportunities for discussing what is deemed appropriate to share.  You can explore Google+ Features for teens in the Google+ Safety Center, download A Parent's Guide to Google+ from ConnectSafely.org, or read an in depth article by Larry Magid at Huffington Post.  

Speaking of teens, during last week’s State of the Union Address, President Obama proposed that in order to decrease the high school dropout rate, states should require students to attend high school until they graduate or turn 18 (currently only 21 states have this as a requirement).  Increasing graduation rates is good for the economy and I am for anything that helps kids stay in school.  However, as Henry M. Levin and Cecilia E. Rouse point out in the New York Times, the answer to school completion lies in quality early learning.  Additionally, researchers are discovering that early learning is significant to living a successful life beyond one’s school career.  If you are interested in finding out your state’s policy on early education, you can find information in the NAEYC's State Early Care and Education Public Policy Developments: Fiscal Year 2012.

Another announcement came from Google last week that may have upset more than a few.  The popular photo editing tool, Picnik, will no longer be available.  Fear not.  David Byrne, at Free Technology for Teachers offers a great list of alternatives including, FlauntR, GooEdit, and more.  You can find a complete list of Google product changes here.

See you next Saturday.

photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photopin cc
photo credit: kevin dooley via photopin cc
photo credit: Thomas Hawk via photopin cc