My dad, passing on the fine tradition to my children of pretending random rocks are priceless arrowheads.
We’re on the edge of a big transition in our house – Little Bird’s first birthday is next week! We’re getting ready for it now, but in the meantime, here are some great articles. Our links this week cover the struggles of getting kids to bed at a “reasonable” time, the challenges of second kids, avoiding burnout in young idealists, and when to bring your baby to the emergency room.
Our house has been dominated by colds, talks of birthdays, and our recent annual visit to the National Aquarium. Pro tip – on busy weekends, the National Aquarium in Baltimore issues timed tickets, which means you may not be able to enter the aquarium for hours after you buy the tickets. Second pro tip – the dragon boats on the harbor fill up with water if too many people sit on the same side. Wacky hijinks galore!
This week’s links include how to bring down the patriarchy on a bike, get a free book each month for your kids, and eventually stop feeling so damn tired as a mom.
And how was your holiday? Ours was full of snow, baby milestones, kids being cute, candy, whining, and way too many presents. We’re getting back on the sleep training bandwagon here, although that’s being hampered by the fact that Little Bird doesn’t want to drink from a bottle and instead just complains he’s thirsty all day. And now for your articles for the week!
For Lent, I’ve gone on a social media fast. No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram (although you can still follow me in the meantime!). While I’ve kept my short, semi-witty insights to myself, I also miss the chance to share some of the excellent articles I’ve read over the past couple of weeks. At the same time, I had been contemplating doing a link round-up. So here’s some of what I’ve been reading, sorted at least minimally by category.
Parenting
Pregnancy Needs to Be Part of the Working Parent Conversation (Mommy Shorts): Straight talk on how pregnancy influences how women are seen at work before and after maternity leave.
It’s Preschool Open House Season, Motherfuckers (Red Tricycle): As you may have guessed from the title, a deeply foul-mouthed and absolutely hilarious satire on picking the perfect preschool.
This is Why You Couldn’t Feel Her Love for You (Momastery): On how boulders keep the river of love flowing from some parents to their children and how it is never the children’s fault.
Social Justice Issues
So Many Ways to Die in Syria Now: Neil Gaiman Visits a Refugee Camp in Jordan (The Guardian): An older article I had bookmarked, but one that’s incredibly moving and important, from one of my favorite authors.
The Dark Enlightenment of Flint (Eruditorium Press): The disturbing connections between Silicon Valley libertarianism and the horrifying policies that led to the Flint, Michigan water crisis.
Don’t Send Bottled Water (Michael Moore): Michael Moore’s impassioned cry to start a revolution to act against the policies that poisoned people in his hometown of Flint.
The Lawyer Who Became Dupont’s Worst Nightmare (New York Times): Dupont’s blatant disregard for the health and safety of people near one of their factories and the lawyer that blew open the whole case.
Fun Stuff
Sorry, kids, but that “astronaut ice cream” has always been a myth (AV Club): Noooooo! It was terrible, but at least you felt cool eating it.
Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know about Ghostwriter (Atlas Obscura): I was totally a PBS kid and loved this show. A lot of nifty facts that make me proud to have actually watched it.
The Deadpool Phenomena and the American Male (New Yorker): I enjoyed Deadpool a lot (and yes, we did go to it Valentine’s Day weekend), but as this essay states, it was way less subversive than it thinks it is. In fact, it provides a lot of insight into what men in America want out of masculinity these days.