This is a series I’m doing using everyday situations to help kids explore science – particularly ecology and biology – more in depth.
The opportunity
PokemonGo, which is massively popular, is based on the idea of capturing wild animals and fighting each other for “research.” As a trained ecologist, I call shenanigans on the scientific validity of this method. But this fun game can help spark conversations about how real wildlife biologists study animals, including trapping them.
Where’s Sprout?
I started a new job this week! I don’t talk about my professional life here much, but it’s a great opportunity to do science communication with some fantastic co-workers. Other than immersing myself in articles relating to my new position, I’ve been reading about family biking, pre-natal health, relationships, and dinosaurs.
Some parents have “trick babies” – babies that are just so darn easy that you want to have another one right away. I literally cannot imagine a baby that simple – neither of my kids have been that easy. On the other hand, Little Bird does have some characteristics different from Sprout that I now know to be grateful for.
Trigger Warning: Racism, police violence
“I’m here mommy, don’t worry.”
One of a parent’s greatest fears is that their child could experience something so traumatizing it would scar them for life. Diamond “Lavish” Reynolds, the fiancé of Philando Castile, experienced that last week. She watched her fiancé bleed out in front of her while her four-year-old daughter sat next to her in the car. A police officer shot him at close range during a traffic stop during which he was following directions. She watched him die because of our country’s screwed-up policing system and screwed-up systemic racism.
In the two years of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, many white people have been crying out, “This is horrible. What can I do?” One answer I’ve seen over and over from black people is for white people to get their own houses in order. The white supremacy systemic in our society can only exist and continue if white people let it. While I’ve talked about what I’ve done to try to raise my sons as anti-racist peacemakers, I haven’t discussed what I’ve done myself.
So for the sake of that little girl and all of the little black boys and girls like her, along with their mothers and fathers, their sisters and brothers, here is how I have confronted my own racism:
My heart and eyelids are heavy tonight after so many events of the last few days. In addition, it was my last day at my current job, so there was a bit of melancholy as I cleared out my office. But I have to believe that we can find some beauty despite the storms of our society, just as the rain cleared on July 4 just in time for the fireworks. I think I need to read my own post again from a few weeks ago on maintaining hope. This week, I thought a lot about #BlackLivesMatter, feminism, and solutions to parenting challenges.
This is a new series I’ll be doing using everyday situations to help kids explore science – particularly ecology and biology – more in depth.
The opportunity
Baby bunnies are nesting under the slide at my son’s preschool.
The scientific context
Finding baby animals in the wild provides a great opportunity to teach kids about animal behavior and life cycles. Babies are adorable and wild animals are inheritantly engaging.
To the woman begging in Target,
I’m sorry for my downward glance, my mumbled “I’m sorry” when you asked me if I could help. At first, I thought you had mistaken me for a staff person even though I lacked the tell-tale red uniform. But when you showed me the hand-written index card saying, “Please help my family…” I immediately understood.
“The tree is my friend.”
For some reason, I’m watching Match Game hosted by Alec Baldwin right now. I blame Chris – he turned it on. In other news, I finished The Happiness Project, which I think could have referenced more research, but was otherwise interesting and had lots of inspirational ideas. And now, the articles for the week, on how to raise a kid who includes others in conversation, achieve work/life balance (or not), allow your kid to roam the neighborhood, mysterious ancient earthworks in Kazakhstan and more.
Nope, these aren’t my kids. I don’t like sharing photos of them, so stock random boys it is!
Returning to work, one of the first questions people ask is, “How is [Sprout] doing?” And my answer is consistently, “He really loves his brother. But he’s a bit aggressively affectionate.” While I’m grateful that he adores his brother, sometimes the ways he shows it aren’t very appropriate. Oddly, even though we’re freaking out, Little Bird hardly ever seems to mind.
Here are a few of the things he does that are sometimes adorable, sometimes a Very Bad Idea and most often, both.
When a baby is born, all of the adults gather around, ooohing and ahhhhing. Inevitably one of them says to the parents, “Oh, they look just like you!” This is obviously not true. Babies look far more like each other than their own parents. In fact, my baby has actually reminded me of a variety of animals far more than me or my husband. With Little Bird having recently moved out of the newborn stage, here’s an inventory of things he reminded me of: