Full Spectrum Culture » Family Relating to Neighbor

How my mother’s fanatical feminist views tore us apart — Rebecca Walker, UK Mail Online

Ben — Mon, 26 May 2008 14:47:56 +0000

Judge: “Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children“ — Kevin Aylward, Wizbang

Ben — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:47:34 +0000

‘Meanest Mom on the Planet’ — Jim Addison, Wizbang

Ben — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:50:45 +0000

Christians would rather move than hear evolution — WorldNetDaily

Ben — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:39:08 +0000

‘They have to obey the law in educating their kids,’ official says.

Fifteen Christian families from a tiny community of only about 1,300 people are making plans to leave their homes and work behind so that their children will not be forced by the Canadian government to attend “sanctioned” schools where evolution is taught.
A report in the Vancouver Sun said provincial officials have threatened the families with legal action, including the potential loss of their children to state control, if they do not abide by the mandatory education curriculum.
But leaders of the Mennonite families say they’ll leave Quebec before giving up their children to the state indoctrination.

In the proud and wicked tradition of Napoleon, the silly french officials are butting in where they’re neither needed or wanted and insisting everyone do it their way. They can go jump in a lake (of fire) as far as I’m concerned.

Next time a politician or any agent of a government school tells me, “We have to do what’s right for our children,” I will get right up in his/her face and tell them, “They’re not ‘our’ children. They are your children and my children. Mind your own damned children, and leave my children alone.”

Not Wallpaper — Devona, Love and Blunder

Ben — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 21:10:59 +0000

“…I think every nursing mom has learned how to blend in with her surroundings. Lean back, space out, and don’t dare make eye contact with anyone. You don’t want to notice when they avert their eyes. Just accept the fact that your adorable child who usually has enough charm to start a conversation with anyone in a thirty foot radius has now transformed the two of you into the social equivalent of a leper…”

The Importance of Books — Jesse, DadBloggers

Ben — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:17:33 +0000

Mom should take over running school’s discipline effortOverton, ZeroIntelligence

Ben — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 21:33:11 +0000

Evangelicals intensify calls for parents to pull kids from public schools — AP in USA Today

Ben — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 21:03:59 +0000

See Also: Take back the schools? From Whom?
Tammy Drennan, Alliance for the Separation of School and State

Even dead people can’t escape AOLDavid Sheets, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Ben — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:58:13 +0000

China: imprisoned blogger Hao Wu freed after 140 daysXeni Jardin, BoingBoing

Ben — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 00:56:50 +0000

May was the month of the Jack-alanche.

Ben — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 01:25:50 +0000

[Note: Also published From Wits End] Wow, what a month! As all of you should know by now, My son was born on May 9th, and his appearance on the world scene definitely made waves on this little corner of the internet. Behold, the Jack-alanche! For the day… …for the month… …and for the year… As you can see, we had about 850 hits for the month of May. It’s a great tribute to all of you who cared for us and prayed for us through this past month as we came through the real Jack-alanche with colors flying high, a “promotion” for each member of the family (”Hey Mom, have I ever told you how Grand a Mother you are?”), and our numbers increased by one sweet little boy. Thanks again for all your support, and thanks for helping to welcome my son into the Wide World (Web).

Third time’s a charm , a day at home as a family, & More Pictures!

Ben — Tue, 23 May 2006 02:40:13 +0000

Rachel went into surgery one more time this morning – hopefully for the last time — to get her stitches replaced because the old ones weren’t doing the job. Ellie Stager came over early in the morning to take care of Jack while we were at the outpatient surgery clinic. Jack didn’t sleep very consistently or happily at all last night, so when he finally settled at 5 o’clock this morning, we knew he would mostly sleep while Ellie was taking care of him.

The morning went by quickly in a haze of daze and medical advice for both Rachel and I, but it ended well, because we each got a smoothie for lunch: hers was chocolate, banana, and yogurt; mine was chocolate, banana, & peanut butter. When we got home, Ellie said that her Deacon & our Jack pretty much took turns sleeping, so the morning went by really smoothly.

The afternoon was so quiet and wonderful! Rachel and I each figured out semi-independently that in order for tonight to go better, we should try changing our approach to Jack during the day. So we woke Jack up every two hours to change him and feed him. In between feedings, Rachel mostly rested and slept, and I mostly puttered around the house taking care of things and working on this new version of our personal website. At one point, though, I wandered into the guest room and took one of the deepest naps I have taken in a very long time for about an hour and a half.

Later…

A more structured schedule for Jack during the day seems to be working: as of this writing, he is sleeping through what for the past few days has been his cranky “witching hour” from 9:30-ish to 10:30-ish, and that is a good thing. The other thing that may be helping is what Ellie showed us about how she swaddles Deacon. She uses something called a Miracle Blanket, which seems to work really well to keep her son calm and feeling secure. I took note of the design and function of the thing, and we improvised our own with the materials we had on hand. This also made a big difference today, I think. Jack’s hands have been making like Houdini out of his wrapping and oppressing his poor little face, but this new wrapping style prevented that and helped all of us to be a little more at ease.

The proof of these new approaches remains to be seen through this coming night. Meanwhile, enjoy a small token of this wonderful afternoon with us:

I’m pretty proud of this picture. To see what it is a picture of, click on the thumbnail, download the picture, and zoom in on the very center of the picture.	Kat watching over Jack.

It all begins with me – Mental MultiVitamin

Ben — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 22:37:12 +0000

M-MV talks about the responsibility of being a parent-educator.

Public, Home, and Catholic schools – Bruce Frohnen, NRO CrunchyCon blog

Ben — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 12:17:05 +0000

This is brilliant (emphasis — and colors, of course — added):

I think there is a moral here: there is in fact a permanent, universal good of educating your kids to be good, learned people with the skills and habits necessary to lead good, decent lives. But there is no one, single way to achieve that, especially in a society that is as fragmented as ours. One of the central lessons of a traditional reading of natural law is that the universal is made real in the particular. The good isn’t attainable as an abstraction, unconnected to circumstances. Whatever the activity — education, economics, politics, architecture, — there is no one, abstract, best approach to doing it well under all circumstances, which means making it part of a good life. You have to do the best you can to construct a good life, and anyone who simply says “if you don’t do it this way, you are lazy and immoral” is being silly as well as uncharitable. But if you are not willing to think of education, economics, politics, architecture, and indeed most parts of your life, as part of leading a good life, you are most certainly going to make it harder to raise your children to be good people, and to be a good person yourself, regardless of what you happen to read, where you happen to kneel, or how you happen to vote.

Read it all. The whole blog is worthwhile, actually.

The Secret to Order is Order – Marla Swoffer, Always Thirsty

Ben — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 22:56:09 +0000

“…I’ve got to manage 4.5 people (one of whom is me), their stuff, and 1775 square feet of space, not including our vehicles.”

How to Successfully Homeschool – Chewymom

Ben — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 22:53:01 +0000

“I have known a LOT of homeschoolers. I have seen it done well, and I have seen it done poorly… The theme to my tips is HAVE A GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM!”

One family, set to music.

Ben — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 02:53:15 +0000

Here’s a fun site: A stay-at-home mom (a fellow South Carolinian) shows off well-produced home-videos of her family on Mom’s Brag Vlog.

“What, me organized?”

Ben — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 03:05:50 +0000

Heth from Laundry Pile writes about recent attempts at family organization.

Kids say the darnedest things.

Ben — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 00:02:14 +0000

ChewyMom has a cool category on her blog called “quote of the day“. She keeps track of all the funny little things that her kids (and occasionally her husband) say each day and share it with the world. I particularly like the cute things that her 3-year-old daughter says. Here are a few samples:

What is, “How about if I throw it at you?” DD3, truly wanting to be helpful, trying to give me her pizza crust from the third-row seat in the van. What is, “I already have some of these!” My six-year-old niece upon receiving her birthday “gift” from us. We gave her $6.

There are many more like that. Enjoy… Oh, in case you don’t know, “DD3″ means “Dear Daughter, 3 years old” in family blog-speak. In the same way “DS” means “Dear Son”, and “DH” means “Dear Husband”. An alternative to this method (which TulipGirl uses) is first initial, then age. For instance, if one has a son named Billy that is 5 years old, he would be known as “B5″ on one’s blog. These are two effective methods for talking about one’s family on the internet while maintaining a certain amount of privacy.

Implications of the Roe Effect in 2004

Ben — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Trends are showing that the Roe Effect is affecting who wins elections.