Rhonna's Hang-ups about Global Warming

Wonderful news in this article from Christian Science Monitor. Apparently there is a movement advocating hanging clothes on the clothesline. They are even trying to pass a law in Vermont (of course it would be Vermont) that communities can not have rules against hanging up clothes. This is down-to-earth environmentalism. We can protest all we want, write letters, buy a Prius, but hanging clothes on the line is something simple and cheap that really lowers the amount of carbon we put into the atmosphere. Kirk is great about almost always hanging Isaac's diapers on the line. I'm much more inconsistent with the rest of the laundry. But this article has inspired me. Let's gather together and hang up those clothes!

Painting our house

Kirk's parents came up for the week to help us out. Kirk's dad painted the house while his mom and my mom watched the boys. The house looks a million times better. . . on two sides. He only had a week after all. At least it's a start.
I apologize for my rant in a previous post about housing. You shouldn't have to hear that. I love our little house and I know it has great potential. We're lucky to have a house at all. If we had waited a few years to buy, we wouldn't be able to afford the house we have.
Anyway, I love the new green paint. We're thinking navy accents. We're also almost done painting the cabinets in the kitchen and Kirk can put down a new floor in October. We're chipping away at the projects

Mommy Wars

I keep hearing about the stupid Mommy Wars! Why can't we all just get along? I am constantly annoyed at how us mothers judge each other and I complain about it constantly. And yet I do it, too. When a friend recently told me about her friend's 48 hour natural labor, I asked with a sneer "Was that a positive experience for her?" How rude!!!

I have been a victim of these wars myself. I tried to breastfeed and failed. . . twice. Don't tell me I didn't try hard enough. Unless you sat up with me as my baby nursed continuously from 9 to 5 two nights in a row and still managed to lose weight, I don't want to hear about it. I would get so mad when people would judge my bottles. Have you noticed that some mothers can say "bottle feeder" in such a way that it sounds like "bottom feeder"? We're all just doing the best we can. Let's support each other and cheer each other on. I won't judge you, so please don't judge me.

I think it's all about insecurity. What we do as parents is so important and we're constantly striving to do the best thing for our children. It's this huge, daunting task and the choices are never clear. Almost all the lines are fuzzy. It's easier to justify a decision when judge those who chose differently.

Enough?

What exactly is enough? This is my constant struggle. I do not envy others' cars, money, clothes, looks, but when it comes to houses I'm pathetic. Even though I have realized that we cannot afford to change our living situation for a few years, I constantly scan the real estate ads. I make plans for expanding our house. I envy friends when they buy new homes, refinish floors, remodeling of any kind. Sometimes.
A good portion of the time I can keep this in check. I look at our 1000 sq. foot 1920's bungalow and admire the coziness of it. I love the colors we have painted most of our rooms. I love the art created by family members on the walls. I love that our friends took pity on us (we actually had a bucket catching the water under the bathroom sink and duct tape holding our tub together) when I was pregnant with our first son and remodeled our bathroom. I love how little it costs to heat and cool. It is a very snug little house.
But. . . it is impossible to remove enough clutter to achieve the calm look I long for. I had a bad day today. I ended up barking at Kirk that I just don't have time to clean and organize. I'm too busy working, playing with my family, organizing birthday parties, and spending time with my friends. I obviously have my priorities completely screwed up. It also probably was not helpful to check out the book The Simple Home. A person has to have a lot of money and time to achieve that level of simplicity. I must go. The boys are in bed so I'm going to paint the cabinets a little. The house will still be a mess tomorrow, but of course it would be anyway.

As long as it's educational, right?

Some recent developments as a post-script to my entry on Buy, Buy Baby regarding branding in advertising and videos for babies. Read this if you're interested in the latest on boyhood. Granted, they're all from Time magazine so bring your biases, take what you want and leave the rest.

SCHIP

I am consistently amazed at our president. In the midst of a health care crisis we have one thing that works. SCHIP guarantees that millions of children receive the health care they need. Bush wants to veto the increase Congress has voted in for this because it goes against the wishes of private health insurance companies. That's just mean. All parents should be able to call up the doctor's office when their child is sick without any hesitation concerning whether or not they can afford it. I have to go. I need to write President Bush a letter. Here's the address comments@whitehouse.gov if you would like to do the same.

P.S. I am a librarian and I was not able to find this address on the white house web site. I don't think the President wants to hear from us.

A change of pace

Having had this book for a couple of years, I'm finally reading Bill McKibben's Wandering Home (thanks Dean) and it's a welcome bit of optimism after reading Buy, Buy Baby and Assault on Reason. Writing about his hike from western Vermont into the Adirondacks of eastern NY, he tells the story in such a way that it almost feels like you were with him. Most days, he is accompanied by a friend who happens to live near his route. He entertains us with the stories of these local folks and the discussions and random thoughts that they have while making their way from town to pond to mountain peak to cabin in the woods.

For now, A Perfect Mess is also on a pile of books to read and I haven't decided whether or not I'll finish Al's book either. I've made it through 2/3 of it and am still only reading about the incompetence of Bush-Cheney and their crusade against any interference to their "mission" - as varied and vague as that may be. I think I'll skip to the end and then send it back to the library so someone else can be Assaulted.