Mother's Arms

"Australia, January 25: Baby Kipenzi, who was born on January 15, sits in her mother Kriba's arms at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Western Lowland Gorillas are on the critically endangered list. Image via Getty." -Jezebel.com

The Gas Station

"Mom took me to Boston when I was starting my residency. She was quite sick at that time, but she was bent on taking me to Boston to shepherd me through finding a place to live. It was our last trip together as mom and daughter, and we slept in the same room in this bed-and-breakfast. After we got in bed she said to me, 'I want you to know a few things.' And it was very clear that she wanted to give me advice before she died.

So when we were in bed, she said to me, 'When you have children, always remember that a parent should be like a gas station. The children can come to you and then go out into the world and do their things and then come back for more. But be careful that the gas station stays in one place. Don't run after your children. Just stay there in the gas station to give them support.' That's something that I've always governed myself by. Whenever I see myself running after one of the kids or trying to control what they're doing, I always try to stop myself and say, 'I'm just the gas station.'"

Leah Haseley, From "Mom: A Celebration of Mothers From StoryCorps" by Dave Isay

Truth Passes

All truth passes through three stages.

First, it is ridiculed.

Second, it is violently opposed.

Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

Arthur Schopenhauer

German philosopher (1788-1860)

The Love

"Mama, do you know what my favorite part of your whole body is?"
"What?"
"The love."
-Imogen, 4½

Hearty

"The Shape of Love"

A Model Mother

Model Miranda Kerr breastfeeds newborn son Flynn Bloom.

The New Face of 40

Gwen Stefani is the new face of L'Oreal Paris at 41. I love it!

Cymbeline

See "brave Princess Imogen" in action. The Seattle Shakespeare Company is staging a chamber production of Cymbeline through January.

"One of Shakespeare’s last plays, Cymbeline is a fairytale come to life. A banished princess, a wicked stepmother, a faithful servant, and long-lost brothers all dwell in this storybook adventure. After brave Princess Imogen is falsely accused of adultery and exiled from her father’s court, she sets forth on a treacherous and miraculous journey to reclaim her place in society and reunite with her true love." -Seattle Shakespeare Company
Photo: Erik Stuhaug | The Seattle Times

These Dear Little People

Read David Horsey's excellent essay on parenting,
"Good families are what's right with the world."

Imaginative Play

"SARAH WILSON was speaking proudly the other day when she declared: 'My house is a little messy.'

Ms. Wilson lives in Stroudsburg, Pa., a small town in the Poconos. Many days, her home is strewn with dress-up clothes, art supplies and other artifacts from playtime with her two small children, Benjamin, 6, and Laura, 3. 'I let them get it messy because that’s what it’s here for,' she said.

Ms. Wilson has embraced a growing movement to restore the sometimes-untidy business of play to the lives of children." 

Hilary Stout, "Effort to Restore Children's Play Gains Momentum," The New York Times

Sunny, Santa-Dress Saturday

Law of Fashion

Laver's Law was an attempt to compress the complex cycle of fashion change and the general attitude towards any certain style or period into a simple timeline. -Wikipedia

Chart: monoscope.com

Too Much Soap

Here's a good NYT article on using household detergents.

There's every reason to use less.

"Most people use 10 to 15 times the amount of soap they need, and they're pouring money down the drain," Vernon Schmidt, repairman & author, to The New York Times

The Unexpected

Did you read "Parents Are Junkies" on Slate.com?

More Than Ourself

"We love each other more than ourself." -Imogen

Happiness

“You make a lot of decisions based on how you think they will make you feel in the future…The evidence is pretty clear, though, that big positive and negative events don't have an enormous impact on people's happiness.”

-Art Markman, Ph.D., “Your future happiness depends less on the present than you might think,” Psychology Today via Jezebel

Indie Mom

"An 'Indie Mom.' Yeah, I could be that. I can DIY my life. I could give myself permission to live a life that's beyond the picture of what's 'normal' in our culture. Not as an angry outsider (ugh, nothing worse than a self-proclaimed rebel), but as someone who relishes that she can build the multi-faceted, beautiful life she wants even as she colors outside the lines."

-Debra Goldstein, "Invention of an Indie Mom," The Huffington Post

Go Dutch

Photo: bloesem kids

Read this enlightening piece on the lives of women in the Netherlands.

Preschool Musical

Another Door Opens

When she comes to a dead end in a maze, Imogen just draws a door and goes through it!

I like that kind of thinking.

Maze: activitypad.com

Only A Test

Imogen came out of the library the other night with a pencil and paper. She was acting like a teacher. "Now," she said, writing something down, "it's time for your reading testicle."

It All Adds Up

Imogen working hard in the veterinary clinic at her school.

Photo by Teacher Susan

Halloween

Scents Of Salt And Seaweed

"America might be losing its connection to the woods and overprotecting its once free-range kids. But, I look at the little ones on the shore. It’s good to see the sights and smells of nature being passed on, how the Salish Sea is soaking into their blood, how the scents of salt and seaweed are being internalized. That will shape their sense of place. These kids might grow up taking it as a given that eagles should soar overhead, that low tide reveals fascinating critters and new worlds."

Knute Berger, Mossback, Crosscut

Full Article

To The Moon

"Mama, when will we get to go up there, to the moon?"

-Imogen, looking up at the night sky recently

Leaving Her Mark

"AI" (or "IA") is Imogen's mark.
It stands for Amy|Imogen.

Featured Artist

Imogen is a featured artist at her pre-school.

Pink Princess

Buildings

Barbie & Barack Obama

The other day, Imogen was talking about Barbie and I was talking about Barack Obama. I first suggested it it would be fun to be one of Barack Obama's daughters or his wife, then I caught myself and said, "I'd just like to be Barack Obama," to which Imogen responded:

"You wish you were a girl and Barack Obama and I wish I was Barbie."

Then:

"We couldn't live together if you were Barack Obama and I was Barbie."

Really Important

"Mama, I don't have to be really important 'cuz I'm just a kid and I don't know anything."

-Imogen, responding to me talking about a social issue she's dealing with at pre-school

The Right Thing

English designer Luella Bartley on ending her “Luella” fashion line:

“‘It’s a difficult thing, being a woman, trying to have a successful business, be creative and do the best by your family. I sold it to myself that I could do it all,’ she told the Times [London]. ‘You can, but not the way my business was set up. It was set up for the old me. Maybe I was moving away from that life without realising it.’

With that in mind, Bartley has since been staying full time in the Cornwall cottage that she shares with boyfriend David Sims and their three children. But despite it being 11 months on, the Luella girl hasn't disappeared she said. ‘My lifestyle changed, but she stayed, which is nice.’

‘To anybody urban and creative, it obviously sounds like a drop-out situation,’ she said. ‘Letting go has been the biggest lesson. I used to think that if someone wasn’t successful, it was because they were crap, but now I realise that if people aren’t successful, it’s probably because they aren’t that bothered…You think that everyone’s going to forget who you are. But I had a chat with Phoebe [Philo, the creative director of Céline], who I admire so much. She took three years out and made sure her kids were secure. Then, when she was ready, she got the deal she wanted. You’ve just got to know what you want. I know I’ve done the right thing. I don’t mourn anything. I loved what it was, but I’m happy to be out.’”

Mdudu, Naomi, Luella Embraces Life After The [Close] Of Her Brand. The Fash Pack. October 12, 2010, from http://thefashpack.onsugar.com/Luella-Embraces-Life-After-Clouse-Her-Brand-11433700

Image from The Fash Pack via Bryan Boy

High Cost of Child Care

"The average cost for center-based care for a four-year-old in Washington state is more than the average cost of tuition at a public university."

MomsRising.org, citing "Parents and the High Cost of Child Care 2010 Update," pg 41, National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies

Original House

Front Cover, Select Pages, Back Cover

Light Bulb Moment

“…Jefferson County and Port Townsend lead the state, per capita, in solar energy projects. Jefferson County had 87 certified projects as of Sept. 1, 2010 – or one project for every 337 residents. The number includes 67 projects in Port Townsend, one for every 134 residents.

San Juan County ranked second among counties at one project for every 434 residents, followed by Klickitat County at one per 466 residents, Clallam County at one per 922 and Island County at one per 1,287.

King County had the greatest number of projects at 479 – or one project for every 4,036 residents.

…Other cities with at least 30 projects include Bellingham at 62, Sequim at 47, Olympia at 45, Redmond at 40, Spokane at 39, and Anacortes at 33.”

From:

(2010, September 30). Port Townsend and Jefferson County are state leaders in solar projects. The Port Townsend Leader.

Retrieved October 6, 2010, from ptleader.com: http://ptleader.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=27831&SectionID=36&SubSectionID=55&S=1.

Local Flavor

Read about the Bremerton elementary school that's offering local food to its students.

Photo: Meegan M. Reid, Kitsap Sun

Two Santas

Family Tree

"Cousins are different beautiful flowers in the same garden."

Study For Local Response

Study for Local Response by Imogen (Front and Back)
Construction Paper, Tape and Marker
Title generated at The Abstract Art Titlegenerator

Owls