Browsing all posts in May, 2009.

On Anonymity

I normally don’t read Dear Abby. Not being inclined to accept advice from anyone (see Mothers of Older Chldren), I really don’t care what Abby thinks. My husband does read her, on occasion, just for kicks. Like this weekend. Two separate columns caught his funny bone. Not for the advice that Abby gives–which is generally [...]

Demons, Caves and Death (NefHxMotherhood)

Prehistory is, as its name suggests, before written records. Prehistoric birth rituals, are, therefore, lost to time. Anthropologists look to primitive contemporary cultures, with little or no exposure to Western medicine and philosophy, to try to fill in the gaps. This, unfortunately, is as fraught with hazards as childbirth itself. Even the great Margaret Mead [...]

You Say Tomato…

Being a biologist has its strong points in the motherhood arena. For instance, teaching your kids about sex is sort of natural. You start with yeast and work your way up, and the kids never have that slap-themselves-on-the-forehead, we’re-not-in-Kansas anymore moment. And my kids benefit from the microbiology degree, because I don’t stress about raw [...]

The Blankie

Blankies are the loveys of every tiny tot. And the bane of every mother’s existence. They can’t live without them, so they get carted around, everywhere. Which means: 1) they get lost, engendering a half-day search through the house, the neighborhood, the last fifty places graced with your presence, only to find it under a [...]

The Six O’Clock Parent (Mother’s Day Special Rehash)

You’ve had a really bad day. One child is sick, the other three are getting there. Little ones who are about to be sick are easy to spot—they’re the ones who are completely out of control. They don’t feel good, you see, so they take it out on you. By six o’clock, you are at [...]

The Nefarious History of Motherhood

In the beginning….

The gods were women.

There are still vestiges of this in our modern culture. “Mother Earth.” “Mother Nature.”

Happy Mother’s Day?

I have a love/hate relationship with Mother’s Day. But mostly it’s hate. Every mom has stories of Mother’s Days that have gone awry. The time the kids tried to do something sweet and cook dinner, and the next day your kitchen looked like the sound stage from Gremlins. After the shoot. Or the breakfast in [...]

Galileo was Framed–The Answer (s)

So I asked you, armed with your fresh knowledge of the scientific method, to take a look at this study: Red Meat Will Kill You Spoiler alert: If you didn’t read yesterday’s post FIRST, you will be confused. And it’s not going to be as much fun. This study, in which over 500,000 men and [...]

Galileo was Framed (The Scientific Method)

Once upon a time, scientific progress was made very, very slowly. The people who did it thought of themselves as philosophers. They THOUGHT about stuff. The world, you see, had to be perfect, because it was the creation of a perfect God, so simply thinking about how perfection worked was the way to do science. [...]

Geek does Fashion. Or: Dr Who Shoes

I got to say “I told you so!” again. And I still like it. The Goth just HAD to have this specific brand of shoes. ‘Cause that’s what’s cool. What’s hip. What’s NOW. Being boys, you see, my kids don’t usually give in to fashion trends. And being geeks generally keeps these trends at arm’s [...]