Browsing all posts in October, 2009.

She’s a Witch! May We Burn Her?

[This post is slightly out of order. But it is Halloween season, so I couldn't resist.] As the dark ages drew to a close, the Church suddenly got into the medicine business. Which meant that men were suddenly competing with those medicos of the dark ages, the midwife. Midwives in medieval Europe often treated the [...]

Thou Shalt Steal the Pacifier

No one is afraid of an itty, bitty baby, right? I mean, they’re so cute and cuddly. And moms are MUCH bigger. So they win all arguments with said itty, bitty baby. And if you can’t win an argument with a BABY, what are your odds of winning an argument with a TEENAGER? And yet–anyone [...]

And in this Corner–the Teenager

You can’t win. Really. Just give it up. Just when I thought I had a handle on how to deal with teens, I find out I’m DOING IT ALL WRONG. Not that that’s unusual, in any way. But it is a pain in the keester. As faithful readers of my blog know, I am a [...]

Medicine Goes Dark

This is supposed to be a post about the obstetrics of the dark ages. But–nothing happened in European medicine for about 600 years. Nothing. Nada. I’ve been through at least ten histories of obstetrics, and there’s just a sort of blank space. Some of the works of the ancient period did survive–locked away in monasteries [...]

The Care and Feeding of Illness

In the light of the mounting cases of the flu among my bloggy friends, and the fact that, where I live, even DOCTORS can’t get the H1N1 vaccine, I feel compelled to do what I can to make everyone’s lives just a little bit easier during the (nearly mandatory) ten days when the household goes [...]

And You Wonder Why I’m Hypertensive

For eight years, I have had kids in our local high school. Eight years. For eight years, if I had to take the kid out for an appointment,  I sent a note. No problem. Three weeks ago, the Goth tore up his leg. Six hours in the ER. I sent a note. No problem. Two [...]

The Making of Fornication (Or, It’s All Paul’s Fault)

If you are ever in the mood for a lighthearted romp through the history of sex, I have the book for you–”The Making of Fornication: Eros, Ethics and Political Reform in Greek Philosophy and the Early Church,” by Kathy L. Gaca (University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003). Okay, maybe not lighthearted. I’m pretty sure this [...]

There are Some Things Kids Should Just Know

The words to the national anthem, that’s one. There is no scenario possible in which a home grown American boy should not be able to come up with the words. If he’s a singer, he has double indemnity. In light of Jesse McCartney’s historic meltdown over the weekend, The Mother has been pondering what, exactly, [...]

I am a P90X Graduate

[I don't do product reviews. Probably a good thing, since I rarely find a new product that truly impresses me. This isn't really a product review--it's more a patting myself on the back kind of post.] FTC DISCLAIMER: I have no financial relationship with Beachbody Products. I paid full price for the P90X program (well, [...]

Ever Wonder Why Pregnant Women Don’t Fall Over?

Wonder no more. After last week’s bummer post about the massive loss of knowledge that accompanied the dawn of the Christian Era, I thought we might need a tad of a respite before we delved into the early Christian view of women and sexuality, which is also a total bummer. So, we go back to [...]