Browsing all posts in VIP.
Happy Birthday!
Today isn’t just Christmas. Today marks the birthdate of the greatest intellect in history. On December 25, 1642, Isaac Newton was born. When Newton was 25, he published the Principia, which laid out the laws of force and motion, gravity, and planetary motion. Newton invented calculus, proved that light is made up of a spectrum [...]
To Science, or Not to Science
I ran across this study this weekend. A bunch of kids in 7th grade (11 and 12) were polled about future career choices. The results were tabulated against parents’ careers, and the student’s own later education. The results show that kids in the 11 and 12 year age range have a pretty good idea of [...]
The Engineer Syndrome
The nice elderly gentleman bagging my groceries this evening spent a great deal of time stacking them just so. Then he rearranged them. Then stacked. Then rearranged. I must have been staring. Or maybe I had that impatient expression of someone who realizes that it’s 4:30 and she’s not getting any younger. He explained that [...]
I Couldn’t Resist–
You all know, of course, that I am a major Anti-Anti-Vaccine proponent. Respectful Insolence, one of my favorite blogs, posted this headline this afternoon: Oprah and Jenny need your–yes, your!–help! Oprah’s production company, whose unflagging idiocy in giving Jenny McCarthy her own soapbox has already flabbergasted me, has now asked for suggestions for topics for [...]
The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth
As the parent of four self-professed, proud and loud geeks, I can tell you that it’s a GREAT time to be a geek.
(BTW: “Geek” is currently preferred to “nerd.” Nerds are the fools who can’t make it in the real world. Geeks are the guys who don’t care to.)
Geeks are currently being celebrated in the popular culture. My kids can watch TV shows like Mythbusters and Chuck. Heroes and role models who wield brains and the scientific method. COOL.
Whose Bright Idea Was It to Let Husbands in the Delivery Room?
Way back, at the dawn of time, motherhood was women’s work. Women not only delivered the babies; they also delivered the babies.
Somewhere around the 16th century, men got it into their little pea brains that they could do a better job, and the man-midwife was born.
It all went downhill from there.
About The Mother, Part II
More about The Mother, including her views on parenting, marital longevity, and Dr. Phil.
Let Me Introduce You to My Little Friend…
According to recent research, as many as two out of every three children has at least one imaginary friend. Some children have quite a few. They actually seem to be good for kids, because those with imaginary friends tend to have better verbal and social skills than those without. In my experience, the actual incidence [...]
No Mother is Allowed to be Sick Alone
In this cold and flu season, I feel as though my kids are passing viruses back and forth, and I’m the monkey-in-the-middle. Except, I always seem to actually catch it. (Twenty years ago, one of the theories of why the HLA antigen system—that pesky set of cell markers that makes transplants reject—evolved was that it [...]
Kids, Chimps, and Altruistic Behavior
A few days ago, I found myself in the unenviable position of asking my teenage son, affectionately nicknamed “The Grouch,” to help me out. This isn’t something I do lightly. There’s a reason we call him the Grouch. Unfortunately, with my husband out of town and kids strewn everywhere, I really needed that second driver. [...]
