Sep 26

This Moment: September 26

by Stacey

“Reading should not be presented to a child as a chore, a duty. It should be offered as a gift.”

-Kate DiCamillo

Sep 22

The ‘Last Quiz’

Every few months, I like to take an on-line class at Big Picture Classes. These classes always provide inspiration for blogging or picture taking. This round, I am enrolled in Quizapalooza with Angie Lucas so be prepared for lots of quizzes here over the next few weeks

I love these kinds of posts and I always think it is so fun when a blogging friend is inspired to write their own similar post. I hope to hear lots of your answers in the coming days…

The ‘Last Quiz’

Whom did I last speak to on the phone? I talked to my mother earlier today. We were trying to find a weekend for her to come down and visit. It is truly crazy how busy fall weekends can be.

Who is the last person I hugged? Katherine. She is my snuggly girl!

Who most recently asked for my advice? Caroline. Middle school comes filled with lots and lots and questions.

Who is the last person who cooked for me? My friend Nicky. For local friends, Nicky is the owner of the Proper Kitchen. Two days a week, she cooks delicious meals and delivers them to customer’s doors. Her food is completely delicious and I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing it is to have a home cooked dinner ready to put on the table with no effort after an afternoon full of soccer practices and dance classes. Let me know if you want Nicky’s contact info!

Who went with me to the last movie I saw? Last year, I participated in a great group that showed matinees at our local movie theatre during school hours. I think the last movie I saw in the theatre was Philomena with this group. It seems like I might be due for a trip to the theatre. This is Where I Leave You is calling my name!

Who was my most recent lunch date? I had lunch just last week with my friend Donna. We have known each other for quite awhile now so it is always great to see her and pick up right where we left off, often months before. This visit was especially fun because I was able to see pictures of Donna’s brand new granddaughter.

Who is the last person I apologized to? Katherine is reading over my shoulder as I write this so I asked her if I had apologized to her recently. She said no but that I apologized a lot when she had strep and missed the first two days of school. So true.

Who is the last person I felt envious of? No one specific but at the moment, I am envious of the people who are able to say no. This certainly is not a skill I seem to possess at the moment!

Sep 19

This Moment: September 19

by Stacey

“Perhaps the secret of living well is not in having all the answers but in pursuing unanswerable questions in good company. “

-Rachel Naomi Remen

Sep 17

A TEDx Talk: The Epidemic of Beauty Sickness

by Stacey

Recently, I was intrigued by a link on Facebook to a TEDx talk titled The Epidemic of Beauty Sickness given by Dr. Renee Englen. I am having some issues embedding video on my blog so please click here to be directed to the video.

The video is only fifteen minutes long and I think all women and all mother’s of girls should watch it. That said, if you are feeling a time crunch, I just watched it and would love to share what I learned. Or perhaps I shouldn’t say ‘learned’ because I knew most of what Dr. Englen presented. In fact, just this morning I commented on a blog post written by Shannan Younger of Tween Us titled, “Why I’m an Exhausted Mom Even Though My Kid is as Tween.” In this post, Shannan discusses the bone weary fatigue she is feeling as she steers her tween in to this new phase of life.

So much of the parenting I am doing now is emotional. Gone are the days of chasing a non-stop toddler and here are the days of answering and asking the big questions. Watching The Epidemic of Beauty Sickness was disturbing but it was also validating. I am most certainly not the only one who must constantly remind her daughter that she is so much more than the size of her thighs.

Here are a few take aways from the TEDx talk…

Englen in her work as a researcher has found that no matter how smart woman are, they are consumed by the quest for beauty. They will look at an image of a woman who is too thin and state as much but in the next sentence will say that they feel a need to be like that model. There were 1.2 million plastic surgeries in the United States in 2012 and 90% of those patients were women.

Englen states that instead of looking out at the world world women spend their time analyzing how the world is seeing them. She wonders how women can chronically monitor their body’s appearance and still be engaged with the world.

And the most staggering statistic she presented was from Esquire. It reads, “54% of women would rather be hit by a truck than be fat.” When Englen presented this stat to a room of graduate students, she anticipated great disgust. Instead she received questions like “How big is the truck?” “How fast is it going?” and “How much do you think the truck would hurt?”

As she talks about ways to change the tide, she made a few interesting suggestions. She wonders,

Why not limit ‘mirror time’ in the same way we limit screen time?

Why not tell girls they are generous, hardworking, brave or persistent instead of pretty?

Why not encourage girls to think of their body as a whole that does things instead of parts that are looking at?

Why not indeed?

Sep 15

Twitterature: September 2014 Edition

by Stacey

It’s my favorite time of the month. Twitterature, hosted by the lovely Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy. Below are short, Twitter-style reviews of books I have read this past month.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. An autobiographical novel written in verse about one of today’s most amazing children’s authors. I borrowed this one from the library and am wishing I owned it because there were many, many underline-able passages. That said, I’m not sure this is book that children will enjoy. I’ll be curious to see what audience embraces it.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. Big Little Lies was my favorite read of the summer. A well written and crafted page turner. If you are the parent of an elementary school aged child, this one is a must read. You will recognize many of the characters.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. I am cheating a little bit to put this one my list because I haven’t finished it yet but I have been reading it for so long that it seems like I should be done. While this seems like an anti-recommendation, it really isn’t. While this book is not a page turner for me, it is a great book and well worth the time it is taking me to read it.

Sep 12

This Moment: September 12

by Stacey

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

-Marcel Proust

Sep 08

Hold the Phone? I Don’t Think So…

by Stacey

This morning, I read my friend Kathleen’s blog post titled 100 Things to Do This Fall. At first I was simply overwhelmed by the fact that she had made a list of 100 things. Whenever I sit down to write a list, I tend to run out of steam around #17. And then I got to Kathleen’s #23- “Make more phone calls. Send fewer e-mails. ”

This is a goal I have set and then re-set for myself a few times just recently.

Over the past few months, I have used e-mail more than ever before. This spring I began my time as president of our elementary school’s home and school association. In this role, I coordinate many social events and fundraisers and oversee dozens of committees. Without e-mail, this level of work would be impossible. There simply would not be enough time to talk with all of these people in person or over the phone.

Sometimes though I wonder if this is really the way to go. Already in my short time as president I have had two experiences that would have been so much better handled in person. Experiences where the message just came across incorrectly or things were misinterpreted or misread. There were messages conveyed in e-mails that went back and forth for days that could have been delivered clearly in a short five minute phone conversation.

I wonder what we have scarified for the ease of e-mail communication. We have saved ourselves time but instead of luxuriating in our found freedom, we simply do more. So what have we actually gained? I wonder what would happen if we started making more phone calls and sending fewer e-mails? I can’t promise that I will always find the time to do this but I promise that I will try.

I can’t wait to see what I find…

Sep 05