ElementalMom

Jonathan sent me this link the other day, possibly in response to my whining:

Raising kids may lower blood pressure

They turn Dad’s hair gray, but children can now take partial credit for the health of Mom’s heart. A new Brigham Young University study found that parenthood is associated with lower blood pressure, particularly so among women.

…

“While caring for children may include daily hassles, deriving a sense of meaning and purpose from life’s stress has been shown to be associated with better health outcomes,” Holt-Lunstad said.

Fascinating. So they’ve proven that meaning and purpose have health benefits. Can I have a great big fat duh here? But what I find really interesting is that they are taking as written that raising kids does confer that sense of meaning and purpose. I don’t find that to be a given at all, for a lot of parents. What do you think?

I mentioned the other day that Aurora is starting to talk up a storm, and someone asked me what her first word actually was.

It does my heart good, after two prior attempts at gender-neutrality that failed utterly, to let everyone know that Aurora’s first official word was:

Yup. Her word was “truck.” Just the first, my friends, of many, many things that will be as they are because she’s the little sister of two very enthusiastic and generous older brothers.

An interview I did a few weeks ago got published today! Hurrah!

20 Unschooling Questions: Laureen from San Francisco Bay, CA

Enjoy, and please leave comments there.

Photo Credit: Zen.

I’d like to brag up someone else’s kids today.

Today is for Shaye’s Brayla.

I am so proud of her. Not for the topic, necessarily, but for her sheer determination to say what she thinks is right, and to keep pressing home the point, even though she’s not getting the traction she expected in the face of her argument.

Go, little Brayla. Keep right on speaking truth to power. It won’t always go the way you expect, and it won’t always get you what you want, but it will someday change the world.

Hey gang… this just in from Advocate Aaron (who is, believe it or not, cooler in person than online):

The U.S. Senate is set to give legally protected status to pedophiles and 30 other sexual orientations. The Senate refused to define what is meant by sexual orientation in S. 909, the “Hate Crimes” bill. This means that the 30 different sexual orientations will be federally protected classes.

The House has already passed this bill, and the Senate will vote as early as Wednesday. Pres. Obama has said he would sign the bill.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE

Call your two senators today and demand that he or she vote against S.909. Please forward this to all your family and friends. The Senate refused to define the term “sexual orientation,” which means that all sexual orientations are protected. (See loophole below)

To see the orientations that will be protected by the Hate Crimes bill (S. 909) See BELOW. (I am REALLY PISSED)

The Hate Crime law, S.909 (and HR1913), will make 30 sexual orientations federally-protected. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has published 30 such sexual orientations that, because of Congress’s refusal to define “sexual orientation,” will be protected under this legislation. These 30 orientations are listed in the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), which is used by physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and psychiatrists throughout the U.S. It is considered the dictionary of mental disorders. Those 30 sexual orientations include behaviors that are felonies or misdemeanors in most states. See, this is the PROBLEM with our FREAKIN lawmakers.  It’s the stupid loopholes that allow PEDOPHILES to be PROTECTED. (Did I mention I am PISSED)

Go read his whole rant here, and do please call your Senators. Anyone who has ever stood up for a kid, been a kid, or had a kid, needs to scream about this.

Oh, and the title? Nothing to do with swine flu. My grandfather, who died over 20 years ago, used to say “When the virus takes us, we will have had it coming.” I used to think he was overly cynical, but the older I get, the more I quote him.

The Knowing of Practical Things

I wrote this post one day when the demons of doubt were out and large, and one too many people had asked me what the boys were learning. You know, actual school learning. And I snapped.

I was looking for something completely different when I stumbled upon this, on the wild Internet.

Listen, Rush

What I love about this is that even though clearly the First Lady herself had nothing to do with this, it is utterly believable.  Through the course of her husband’s campaign, she set herself up as the sort of woman who would defend what mattered to her against all comers, period. It’s funny… but you know it’s true. And that is something to admire. Go Michelle.

I‘m working on the birthstory, the announcement, and all that good stuff. But for right this instant… I had to post this photo.

I love the “getting to know you” phase. It’s everything babymooning is about.

More later, I promise!