It sounds to me like the American media has decided to clamp onto the "Mommy Wars" thing like a chihuahua on a cuff ... you know, SAHMs vs working mothers, duking it out over who's the better parent and just what sort of birthday party meets the present criteria in suburbia. This article is one of those blathers about blather being blather because it's blathered about ... if you get my meaning.

Basically, the topic appears... more

I love the age we live in.

Actually, I have to say it's MY time I love. Although it verges on past in the geologic sense, 1951 was a very good year to be born. Being a kid in the '50s was storybook stuff ... a hopeful, post-war world where the new suburban streets were safe and neighbors looked after each others' kids, TV shows were blandly entertaining and mildly educational, and vaccination had moved polio off the summer agenda.

(Yes, I do know that bad things happened in the '50s, but that's not where I'm going right... more

Many of those digging through history may now be able to trace their roots back farther than they ever expected, and some will run right into ancestors who were orphans. A new website, "Ancestors On Board", went online last week and is providing information on passengers who left Britain bound for Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA, and I've found a fascinating article... more

Should freedom of religion mean that parents can refuse medical treatment for their children?

This is certainly not the only place this question has been posed, and the debate is bound to rage ... waxing and waning as circumstances arise ... well into this new century and longer. The focus at the moment is on a family in Canada, and the issue is fragile babies and blood transfusions.

Canada's first set of... more

I've come across a few interesting links lately, and since I'm so far behind on my work today, you're getting them for a blog post. I hope you find them helpful, if not interesting. First ...

No surprise in this story out of a "A Mother-Daughter Role Modeling Summit" ... a mother's habits are a powerful role model.

Well, I should hope so.

The role that's modeled here, however, is the one that eats:

--... more

I figured I'd better get a photo of this double-dish-action while I can. I'm not counting on it lasting much longer than Cj's toddlerhood, at least not voluntarily. Right now, pushing her chair up and giving a hand is a favorite activity, and when it's Dad she gets to help there's even more reason to rejoice.

It's beginning to become clear that it will be Cj, not Sam, who'll be Mark's fishing buddy in the years to come. Mark has fostered visions of father/son fishing trips for most of... more

It's the end of the month, so time for me to clean off my desk and dish out the information I've been hoarding lately. For starters, if you've been thinking about adopting from China, but now will no longer qualify due to their upcoming new restrictions, there's a new Yahoo group for you.

Here's the description from their home page:

Ineligible to adopt from China? Welcome. Already have Chinese children but no longer... more

This is continued from an ongoing tale of the life and times of me and mine. The last post can be found here.

My visitors left on the morning of the 25th, and by that same afternoon Catherina and Richard had finished moving in. Over the weekend they hung curtains where there have never been curtains before ... me not being into a lot of extra hoo-has, but happy enough for them to do the place up to their liking ... and the few items of... more

Continued from here, where we've been catching up with some news ... I know this isn't going to sound very PC, but I'm not one bit disappointed to learn that the South Dakota Legislature just killed a bill that would have required five to seven-year-olds to ride in safety seats... more

The LaLeche League is celebrating its 50th year.

With breastfeeding rates dropping almost 20% in 1957, the League started up with a mission to, "help mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education, and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother." Adoption and politics... more