Androgynous Progeny?

I read an article recently about Egalia, a Swedish preschool that refuses to use gender identifiers when referring to the children enrolled in their program. Instead, children are referred to as "friend" and visitors, such as a firefighter who recently visited as part of a series on careers, are referred to by the made-up pronoun, "hen", instead of the Swedish "han" and "hon" (the equivalent of "he" and "she" in English).

On first thought, I found it kinda weird, but not necessarily a bad idea. The underlying theory is the children are released from the standards and expectations placed on them by society because of their gender. Girls are pretty and boys are strong. Girls wear dresses and boys wear pants. Girls play with dolls and boys play with trucks. These rules do not apply to children at Egalia preschool.

Jack Kevorkian - Death of controversy? Or controversial death?

A controversial man is laid to rest never having completed the work he sacrificed his career for. Jack Kevorkian, nicknamed Dr. Death by the media, died at 2:30 a.m. on June 3, 2011, almost 21 years exactly after he gained notoriety for helping Janet Adkins end her life in the back of his van in a quiet park in Detroit, MI. He spent his life as an advocate for physician-assisted suicide and described it as a compassionate act and a mercy that eased the suffering of terminally ill patients.

Happy Memorial Day? Hmmm… maybe not

As is usual, I posted my daily Quote of the Day on my Facebook page Monday (a thoughtful quote on freedom by our former president, Ronald Regan) and at the end, wished everyone a Happy Memorial Day. After all, it was a holiday and that is what you do on holidays, isn’t it? Then a reader and long-time friend of mine responded and made me think. (That is one of my favorite things about my readers!) 

Is it appropriate to wish others a “Happy” Memorial Day?

Hitting The Mark... Jason Pinter

A friend recently gave my husband and me a copy of The Mark by Jason Pinter. I had never heard of him before and had not had the opportunity to read his work, but he has quickly become a delightful addition to my regular list of authors. His style is easy to read and reaches through the pages to pull the reader into the story. Henry Parker, an ambitious young New York journalist, is a well-developed and believable character with a self-deprecating style that endears him to the reader within the first couple of pages. I was even more excited when I realized The Mark was the first in a series of books following Henry as he inadvertently finds himself smack in the middle of some hairy situations.

THINK! - Looking for someone to blame?

Katie Granju is a popular mommy blogger, author and activist who lost her son, Henry, to a drug overdose last year at the tender age of 17. Henry struggled with addiction throughout his teen years. He attended rehab programs with the support of his family but still could not seem to kick the habit. He was attacked and severely beaten and he overdosed on drugs before being taken to an area hospital where he died on May 31, 2010.

The Death of Osama bin Laden

Here we are nearly a decade after the al-Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and the United States is celebrating the death of the mastermind behind the attacks. Nearly three weeks after the raid that killed the al-Qaeda leader, the dust has settled, the flood of news reports has subsided, and the American people are moving on to the next order of business. I can’t help sit back and consider the implications of such a momentous event for America and the effect the behavior of our government and society at large has had on me. 

Do You BLUE?

My husband, Michael, and I just celebrated our second wedding anniversary. We are a combined family of five children and one grandchild. My husband works full-time and I have a home office, attend school full-time online and stay home with our youngest child who just turned one. Needless to say, we don’t get out much. This year, Michael decided he wanted to do something special and get us out of the house for the evening. He made arrangements for his mother to babysit, sent me shopping for a dress, and took care of planning the rest of the evening. The result… A fabulous dinner at Mamma Maria’s in Boston and tickets to BLUE MAN GROUP!