Category Archives: the world at large

We Are the Truth

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By now you’ve probably heard of the horrific story involving a Russian boy being put on a plane and essentially returned to Russia by his adoptive mother. We did a special post about it at Grown in My Heart – want to read the opinions of EIGHT opinionated writers? Here’s the link: http://www.growninmyheart.com/russian-children-and-abandonment-current-news

Today (4/15/10) has been declared “An Adoption Blogger Day” by the Joint Council on International Children Services. It’s a day for families involved with adoption to tell their stories. Stories that talk about the day-to-day. Stories that talk about tough adoption issues. Stories that talk about love. Stories that speak the truth.

So here’s our story:

Almost five years ago we became parents through open, domestic adoption and we’ve never looked back. We’ve never regretted it. We had no idea how much our children would change us for the better. We had no idea how much we would love these children. How much we weren’t living until they arrived.

Oh the love……

A Windy Easter Sunday, 2010

I don’t know that there’s a McLinky for today’s event. But if you’re in the mood for some Adoption Truth, I’d start with the GIMH’s list of 101 best Adoption Blogs. And click here to learn more about We Are The Truth A Campaign and Call to Action EDITED TO ADD: Here’s a link to other We Are the Truth posts.

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In Defense of Baby Einstein

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baby_einstein_logoThe other day I saw a tweet linking to how to get your $15.99 back from the Baby Einstein company if you kid hadn’t, in fact, turned into an Einstein by watching the DVDs. I was curious. We have a treasure trove of Baby Einstein products–how much were they worth?!? I clicked through and read the very easy and clear instructions. It looks like, if we really wanted to, we could turn in four Baby Einstien DVDs and net $64. We could use my parents address and get $64 more. But we won’t.

We won’t, because my kids have enjoyed those DVDs more than almost any other DVD we own. I’ve share a few moments here–a desperate moment, a ridiculous moment, and a few shameless-plug moments, sponsored by none other than the Baby Einstein Company. We have shared many more moments than this.

Baby MacDonald got us through a good portion of our road trip this summer. No matter how fussy he was, Junior stopped crying long enough to watch the pigs slide down the slide and into the mud.

Baby Wordsworth, while it didn’t teach my daughter sign language, it introduced her to the concept.

Baby Santa is just fun to watch around the holidays (or anytime, when MAM has her way).

Neighborhood Animals is a great way for Junior to practice his roar (according to him, every animal roars. except for birds. they quack)

All of those DVDs have exposed my children to music they may not have heard otherwise, music that MAM does identify now when she hears it other places.

And do you know what each and every one of those slices of digital magic has done for me? It’s bought me 30 minutes of sanity and quiet.

I never expected the DVDs to concretely teach them much–children need to engage all of their sense for the easiest learning. Parents who expect the television to replace human interaction have seriously warped expectations.

Is the marketing slick? Sure. Do you feel like you are doing a good thing when you buy one of these DVDs? Of course.  It’s Disney. Making you (and your kids feel good) is their job.  And they are good at it.

Totally worth $15.99 to me.

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Post 700: I heart the First Amendment

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What, you say? I’ve had this blog for 4.5 yrs and I’m only on post 700?? Well, it’s not really 700. It’s more than that–I do periodically go back and delete old, random, irrelevant or incriminating posts now and again. But currently, this is my 700th post currently here.

Anyway, I just had a reality check I wanted to share.

Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square–of that bloody, deadly, awful day. There are photos I remember seeing, photos of students, not much older than I was at the time, and photos of tanks moving in on them. I didn’t really understand it, or the politics of China. I still don’t know that I really do.

Twenty years later, the Chinese government has shut down Twitter, YouTube, Hotmail and Flickr in anticipation of its citizen possibly mentioning this upcoming anniversary,possibly trying to commemorate the day the communist Peoples Liberation Army moved in on protesters and killed an estimated 1,000+ countrymen.

Can you imagine living in a country that would a)shutdown the rowdy parts of the Internet and b)not permit it’s citizens to remember something of great importance?

Not being able to talk freely about say, Kent State or Hurricane Katrina, two examples off the top of my head where maybe the government didn’t work in the best interest of the people?

Can you imagine living in a country where the plug can be pulled on Twitter? Or on your own personal blog if you say too much or mention key words?

Just a little reality check. Back to my regularly scheduled program of kidlets, reviews, and ramblings in a bit……

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