A new company, Goldie Blox, is taking the internet by storm with its new ad campaign marketing their STEM products to girls. With a disproportionately low number of women in STEM fields (making up only 11%), the campaign, with its girl power attitude and video set to Beastie Boys music seems applaudable....on the surface. I... Continue Reading →
Hitting Out of Fear
Today is National Spank Out Day, I'm sad to say. In a society where we speak out against the hitting of women, against the hitting of racial minorities, against the hitting of animals, against the hitting and bullying of anyone, there are still a large number of people who think hitting children is perfectly acceptable... Continue Reading →
Strong Female Characters – Not Just for Girls
Children's literature abounds with books full of strong males, so much so that I actually get excited when a new book comes out showcasing a strong female just for the fact that there s a strong female in the book. It shouldn't be that way. Our species has a general 1:1 gender ratio, changing a... Continue Reading →
Georgia Bottoms
Georgia Bottoms is your typical Southern Belle - poised and confidant, a regular church goer, and great at organizing. In fact, she has all of her secret lives methodically hidden away from the others. 9/11 changes that and her carefully juggled details begin to collide with one another. Mark Childress has reached a new level with... Continue Reading →
My Son Wears Girls’ Shoes
As we were looking for sandals for this year, I grabbed a couple of pairs of blue sandals and showed them to my three year old. My only thoughts in the process were that they were the same brand that he had worn last year and liked and that they were various shades of blue... Continue Reading →
Foreskins are Functional
Foreskins are functional. Most parents wouldn't knowingly cut off a functional part of their infant's body. In fact, it's illegal to cut off the majority of infant body parts, excluding foreskins. However, most people aren't quite aware of the function of the foreskin, assuming that it's just a piece of skin. What they don't realize... Continue Reading →
The Care of Newborn Babies
Newborn babies are wonderful. They are snuggly and tiny, elliciting kisses and cuddles from their parents. Surprisingly enough for such tiny little people, they also are capable of making remarkable messes. Parents gingerly hand over these new little bundles to eagerly awaiting relatives with the warning to watch out for spit up. Many is the... Continue Reading →
To Cover or Not to Cover: A Choice
Last year I wrote a blog post entitled a matter of choice... I had originally written it after a question from my then 5 year old daughter about a woman we saw who wore a head covering. Since I knew that Nursing Freedom was gearing up for the Carnival of Nursing in Public, I saved the... Continue Reading →
Tearing Others Down
A woman struggled with finding balance for her family, not easily fitting her desires with her reality. Posting to a group of other mothers looking for support about how to make the reality of her situation work for her, she was given many insightful responses. Inevitably though, the finger pointing began from someone. It wasn't... Continue Reading →
The Wedding was Short
The wedding was short. Ultimately, the bride, dressed in white playsilks, was unwilling. She repeatedly signed all done while saying "ah duh." The groom was unfazed by her lack of commitment, seemingly self-absorbed in his LEGO constructions. The officiator tried to hurry the process along, in the vein of The Princess Bride, quickly saying "Man... Continue Reading →