Oops, They Did it Again

Okay, maybe they didn’t insult a frillion mothers by equating them with drunken babysitters this time but don’t worry, the Today Show still managed to insult females in general.

Did anyone happen to catch the Today Show on Monday 1/29? While the hosts were doing that lame stand-in-the-street and chit chat routine, I believe it was Ann Curry who remarked (in a voice over) on an upcoming segment about the merits of learning to build this one particular type of model airplane.

And I quote:

“That’s a great thing to have your little boys learn how to do…because what a great study in physics and mechanics. I mean that’s a pretty fun thing.”

Yeah, anything related to physics and mechanics is definitely a boys activity because you know, math and science are, like, hard. Boys are just better at all that smart stuff anyway…

Thanks a lot, Ann.

(If you’re looking for the cocktail playdates post, click here)

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It’s Perfect Post Time!

I awarded today’s Perfect Post to Wordgirl for her post “One Thing“. I loved Wordgirl’s account of her husband’s happy, carefree way of experiencing day-to-day life. For me it’s a reminder that each day is special, no matter how mundane it may feel.

Check out all the other Perfect Post’s over at Suburban Turmoil and Petroville.

I Call Bullsh!t

By now you may have seen or heard about the Today Show segment about moms who have a cocktail or other alcoholic libation (as in ONE) while attending or hosting a playgroup. Featured was author and mother Stefanie Wilder-Taylor in the first part where she states, and I paraphrase, that making an issue of the aforementioned partaking of an alcoholic beverage at a playdate is just another way for women to judge women. I agree. Mothers are held to a totally different standard than anyone else.

The second part of the segment involved Meredith Vieira interviewing Melissa Summers of Suburban Bliss and Janet Taylor, a guest “expert” on something or other. My honest, trying-to- be-objective opinion is that Vieira and the “expert” pretty much ganged up on Summers and more or less demonized her with hardly an opportunity for her to clarify her points.

I totally got what Summers was saying and I thought Viera was rather unprofessional with her leading trick questions and obvious bias and when Vieira ask Melissa if she would be okay with her babysitter drinking while watching her kids, I was floored. That was clearly designed to make Melissa squirm while attempting to answer a question that falls squarely into the “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” category.

I played the segment for my husband and we were both snickering at the “expert” and her premise that imbibing in front of the kids will set a bad example because we both recalled numerous occasions here in our home when we had alcohol in the presence of our children because hello? Do you really think we would host a small party for 6-7 adults and an assload of our collective children without some alcoholic beverages?

Additionally, Husband and I both recalled our childhoods in the seventies where alcohol was pretty much a staple. My husband’s parents even had a cocktail hour every evening where the whole family would hang outside at a large table with the neighbors and all the adults had a drink. And let me tell you, there is not a more normal, well-adjusted, loving, stable, non-dysfunctional family on the planet than my husband’s.

I remember that beer was consumed by my father, IN MY PRESENCE, at the watching of most football games and certainly while BS-ing with the neighbors after a hot afternoon of yard-working, car-washing or garage-cleaning. And bearing in mind that this was the seventies, beer was always consumed while we were out on the boat and cocktails started at about 3pm when we went to my grandma’s house. Both of my parents drank freely in the presence of myself and my older sister and I would never classify either of them as having been alcoholics or problem drinkers.

What really chafed my ass the most, however, was the subtext that mothers are *and should be* held to a higher, stricter standard. The responsibility of being tee-totaling paragons of virtue instead of actual human beings is on OUR shoulders while our husbands can, as my pop used to say, “crack a cool one” while watching the game at home OR purchase alcohol and drink it without any stigma at a sporting event, and have a drink after work or basically any damn time they want to, regardless of the presence of children.

I call BULLSHIT! on all of it and I applaud Stefanie for being so direct with her opinion and I applaud Melissa for holding her own while being attacked, however politely, by both Vieira and the guest “expert.”

Oh, and in case you assume that my husband and I must be big lushes because of our views on this hot-button issue, I can assure you, unequivocally, that we’re not. We drink very infrequently, mostly because we’ll fall asleep after one of anything unless we’re entertaining or at someone else’s house (and that’s only because it’s kind of impolite to be snoring and drooling when you have company or snoring and drooling on other people’s sofas.)

You can watch the Today Show segment here. Click the button that says “Launch”

And I’m sorry to say I will probably never, ever get to be a ClubMom blogger now because if my memory serves me, Meredith Vieira is part owner of that fine internet presence. Well, at least I’m in damn good company…

Happy Love Thursday to Hands-on Dads!

Despite my supplying occasional evidence to the contrary, my husband is a pretty good guy and an awesome father.

One little thing that always sort of touches me is the way that he knows all about the kids toys. Like, I can find a little crappydoo somewhere and he can tell me exactly what game or toy to which it belongs. This very simple and seemingly unimportant thing belies it’s significance.

My father, may he rest in peace, was never like that. He wouldn’t have known a Polly Pocket shoe from a Barbie shoe or recognized which puzzle pieces went with which puzzle or known where I left my scissors & glue stick or the name of Strawberry Shortcake’s dog or played pretend games with me outside.

That’s not to say my dad wasn’t there. He was. And he taught me all sorts of things, the most notable being that old favorite “life’s not fair” but also how to fish, water ski, ride a bike and other sundry things. However, he was never dialed into my daily life the way my husband is with our kids. That was my mother’s domain, plain and simple.

So yes, this newfangled modern, involved dad thing is very appealing to me and I’m really happy that my husband and many other dads are so engaged in their children’s lives. Seeing a father caring for his children beyond the traditional bringer-home-of-the-bacon-only role always makes me smile :)

Happy Love Thursday to
Hands-on Dads Everywhere!

PS: Check out the Announcements page (see right sidebar). I’m giving away free ad space to fellow bloggers. Yes, FREE!

The One Where I High Five the Pope…

Given my stance on organized religion, I never imagined I would write a post wherein I praise the Pope but in this case, I have to agree with Pope Benedict XVI in his recent condemnation of violent or sexually explicit video games and animated films aimed at young people.

Yes, my inner Puritan-Mennonite-Amish mom is making an appearance and high-fiving the Pope for addressing this topic. Additionally, I find the whole thing very interesting because how often does the Pope speak out on such a modern issue? Like almost never.

He makes this most excellent point:

“How could one explain this ‘entertainment’ to the countless innocent young people who actually suffer violence, exploitation and abuse?” he asked.

There are a plethora of reasons to oppose the marketing of the aforementioned “entertainment” to young people but the quote above, in particular, speaks volumes to me because it’s a point of view I am ashamed to admit I’ve never even considered.

Crying it Out…Family Style

I haven’t said much about this because babies not sleeping? So normal, so common, right? What about toddlers who abandon their formerly stable and predictable sleeping routines? Still not abnormal and certainly attributable to any number of things. And God knows I’m not alone here, right? Hello Catherine!

Unfortunately, we’re not dealing with a little bit of sleeplessness or the occasional night waking. No. P has decided recently that sleeping and napping? It’s for suckas. And I honestly believe that in my quest to be a good mom, I may have created a proverbial monster.

How on earth did I do that? By always answering every cry or whimper. By never letting him cry for longer than it takes to appear cribside with a ready hug or cuddle or…the wrecker of all sleep habits…the “let’s snuggle for a minute on the big bed while you settle back down”. I know that last one is the culprit because now whenever I go to see what’s wrong, P leans his entire body, safety be damned, towards our bed, pointing and speaking in that mysterious language he prefers over English.

I just want to clarify that the waking isn’t just waking. It’s also the flat refusal to sleep in some cases. Either way, he goes from being perfectly fine to basically standing up in crib screaming like he’s being with poked with an electric cattle prod.

The first thirty or so times, the huz or I would go running in, convinced that he was, in fact, dying. But after innumerable diaper checks, itchy checks (he has a touch of eczema on his arm and sometimes it flares up and itches), considering the possibility of teething (and thus administering some pain relief) and countless bottles of milk (Yes, I said bottles. Shut up), we have concluded that there is actually nothing wrong with him other than his newly developed sense of autonomy, which we’ve decided we pretty much hate (and so does his sister because she can hear him through the walls.)

This means we have to do it. The evil three letter acronym…

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