1
I gave Miriam a raisin I found on the floorboard of the car. Yes, for her to eat. What can I say? It was either distract her with the raisin or deal with her screaming while I strapped her into the carseat. I choose stale raisin every time.
2
Did you read Jen's manifesto against snacking? I thought it was great. My two cents are that there are two main reasons that snacking is so prevalent. First, my raisin incident. Let's be frank here: food shuts people up. And all too often it's easier to put food in children's mouths than deal with the crying/screaming/whining/talking/singing/burping/"no"/"why" or whatever it is. I generally try to avoid this route myself, and limit us to one official snack per day. But to be honest, Miriam often does get a lot of tastes of whatever I'm cooking for supper, just to distract her enough so that I can actually get supper on the table.
The more important second reason that I think snacking is so rampant: the "science" that encourages people to eat lots of mini-meals instead of three big ones. I imagine there are actual studies somewhere that nutritional advisers are basing this recommendation on, and I get the whole returning to our hunter gatherer roots, but really doesn't it just sound so convenient for the processed food industry? "You need to eat a small amount six times a day - so here are your prepackaged snacks, complete with XYZ health claim!" It's not like anyone has time to cook a half dozen times per day, and how often do you really reach for fruit instead of M&Ms or carrots instead of chips? And then manage to only eat half the amount at the normal mealtime? I know I don't have that kind of willpower. Kudos to anyone who does.
3
Ready for more "science"? Actually, it's real Science. I just read an excellent article about autism and vaccines. (Don't skip to the next take, yet!) I know - I almost didn't bother reading it because everyone knows that there is no established link between vaccines and autism. Remember when we were figuring out which vaccines we should get and which to postpone and which to refuse? At the time I didn't really worry about MMR because I didn't buy the autism stuff.
But this article was so interesting. The author was appropriately cautious to not exaggerate this particular risk or overstate any of the evidence. He is not anti-vaccine, but in fact pro-vaccine. He made a very well-reasoned case for why a particular aspect of some vaccines needs to be investigated, and noted why this unfortunately hasn't happened yet. Here's a taste:
But acknowledging on the one hand that there have been historical episodes of unfounded anti-vaccine hysteria is not incompatible with deeming this particular issue to be eminently worthy of investigation. ...
[T]hose presently framing and perpetuating the narrative that the case is closed – the verdict of safety is safely in – seem not so much to be purely pro-vaccine as they are anti anti-abortion.
If you are at all interested in science, vaccines, public health, or the effects of residual DNA from the aborted fetuses that some drugs are created from, you should go read the whole thing: Autism, traffic, and unstudied vaccine components.
4
While I'm linking to posts that some people will find contentious because it challenges their world views, how about one on contraception, pollution, and taxes? A British (I assume) writer for Forbes explains that women on the pill should pay $1500 more a year in taxes because their pee is polluting the water. I love it when mainstream people actually notice this stuff!
I agree that this sounds entirely absurd, that women who take the contraceptive pill should pay £1,000 ($1,500) a year more in tax, but it is the inevitable outcome of the standard logic that the polluter should pay. ...
We cannot charge BP for killing fishies through pollution if we don’t also charge others who kill fishies through pollution, can we?
Read Women on Contraceptive Pill Should Pay $1500 a Year More Tax. (And if you're interested, I have more info on the effects of synthetic estrogen in our water at this post.)
5
My husband was gone on business again this week. That's three times in the past two months. That's three times too many, for all three of us. I tried to put together a post on the bright side of your husband being out of town, but at the end of the day, the best perk I could come up with was that no one scolded me when I didn't shower for 4 days in a row. What a perk, huh? Thank heavens he won't be traveling again for quite a while!
6
It's amazing how someone who hates her car seat so much can love playing in the car itself so much.
She's actually out there right now as I finish these up. Don't worry, I check on her every few minutes. She laughs hysterically and hurries to the opposite door so I won't take her out.
7
Our first NFP group meeting is tomorrow! Please pray for us!
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