I Drink...Raw Milk!!

I drink raw milk!! I do. Not only that, but...I...give it to my children!!!

For more information about raw dairy, read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

Still Time for Monster Poll

At left you can still see the poll I put up a few days ago about which is the definitive monster family. I wrote a post about it, but didn't tell my preference--I don't want to lead the discussion here. Not completely any way.

Is it The Munsters or The Addams Family? I think they're both classics in early 60s television.

Both series ran for two years, from 1964 to 1966. The Munsters had higher ratings and made 70 shows, the Addams Family made 64 shows. The Munsters were canceled after the full color Batman blew them out of the water with its higher ratings. Powww!!!

Holy Nielsens Batman!

OK. Go vote in the poll. It's silly. It has nothing to do with anything I think is truly important. Does it have anything to do with who will select the next supreme court justices? No. Does it raise people's awareness about poverty and frivolous consumption and pollution? No, it most certainly does not. Does it conjure up the times for this suburban woman when she was a suburban girl and it mattered which family you thought was the coolest? Yeah, it does kinda.

Go vote--Munsters or Addams.

Also, I'm an idiot in that it's not Adams, it's Addams. I'm off to correct the poll.

Rock the Vote!!

P.S. I can't alter the poll in any way now because someone has already voted in it. Just keep in mind ADDAMS, not Adams, OK? Kind of cool that you can't change the poll once the data's coming in.

Weren't there some exit polls that got changed after the fact to reflect the incoming election results?! Hmmmm....

Kudos to whoever can tell me more about that!

Killing Monsters

One of the best workshops I went to at the recent homeschooling conference was presented by Gerard Jones who has written the book, Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence. His premise is that when kids play in violent ways, when they play good guys and bad guys, when they play rough and wrestle on the floor they are actually releasing and processing the primal violent parts that are in the deep recesses of everyone and are actually improving their ways of handling dark and scary stuff. It is normal and healthy and good. Furthermore, Jones made the point that the "nice" kids, the sensitive ones, the rule-followers are even more likely to play this way when they are pretending as a counter to what they are not. It's all the dark stuff that they are not, but need to work out and try on and pretend to be.

When Jones said all of this, the room breathed a collective sigh of relief. Clearly, we all had monsters and bad guys at home and needed to know that they're not going to end up on the top of a clock tower somewhere--they're normal and healthy!

Jones started out his talk speaking about kids playing super heroes and rescuing and how this type of play allows kids to feel more powerful than they really are in their lives. It allows them to be in charge and have mastery over objects and ideas. Then, what if your kids are the monsters? Yes, what then?! Well, as he said, you can't play good guys and bad guys, if you don't have bad guys. And this is where nice, normal kids are trying out the things they will never be. THEY'RE PRETENDING!!

Aha. Duh! How do we not know this stuff already? Some wise souls obviously do, but a lot of us are disturbed by violent play and think it means something dark and awful about our kids and of course it doesn't. Another presenter, Ren Allen, explained in a workshop about children's creativity that her son ate his toast into the shape of a gun. He's a nice kid. Does he really want to kill or maim anyone? No, he does not. Nor does my son. Nor does my daughter. Nor does your son, and neither does your daughter. They want to play with the dark side and have fun and try out the things they will never do in real life and learn what the boundaries are and roll around with their friends.

Maybe they'll save a runaway train or two also. Our kids are monsters and superheroes and can control all sorts of things in the world. They are strong and powerful and wise. My two have saved me on a regular basis. Thanks Superman! Thanks Supergirl!

Hello-is There Anyobody Out There?

Above, you see a map of viewers to my blog. It changes from day to day, but this is fairly representative.

Hello all of you. I know you're there because I see my stat counter and the map it generates. Hello.

When I started this blog I had hoped that it would all become a conversation about how we consume in this country and whatever else was the subject matter at hand. Enough of you either like what I write here, or are curious about our homeschooling lifestyle, or like my take on the political wrangling going on this election cycle that you return--day after day after day. You've even answered polls, sometimes, rarely, you've left a comment or two (thanks!).

Lately, the lack of comment on your end has been getting to me. You are not obligated to leave a comment. Sometimes there's not an obvious opening for a comment or it's simply not thought provoking enough or I've summed it all up so brilliantly that there's really nothing to add...or, something. Some people never want to leave a comment even if they have fantastic ideas and could really add something to the conversation...But, this blog is anonymous. You don't have to sign with your real name. You can just float an idea out there.

I just think this whole blog thing would be more fun if it did become a lively conversation. I'm turning to you for some ideas about how to make it more so, and then the irony of that makes me smile a little bit--I can hear the chirping of crickets. Listen. OK. That's you guys not talking. Hello! You are letting the chirping crickets do all of the talking. Well, I do all of the talking and then the chirping crickets answer me. You don't want chirping crickets to shape all of the conversation do you?

Come on. Pipe up!