My Favorite Things This Month

posted on: Tuesday, June 25, 2013

 
 
1. Surprise packages in the mail from a friend in Iceland who we will finally get to meet in only a short 45ish days from now!
 
 2. Children in tiny swimshorts and sprinklers
 3. Sleepy babies in oversized t-shirts
4. Date nights with this guy
5. Seeing this and laughing so hard I was crying
6. Green goddess tacos at Barrio
7. The first lightening bugs of the summer
 
but most of all...
 
8. KEYS TO OUR NEW HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 


Can you hear the angels singing?

On Being A Feminist

posted on: Friday, June 21, 2013



A friend posted a link on my facebook feed yesterday (thanks, Meryl!) to an article about a student run feminist society at an all girls school in the UK. The link is here and I really think everyone needs to read it. Besides being appalling and disgusting the article was most of all, heartbreaking. But at the same time I was so proud of those brave girls for standing up for themselves and having the courage to proudly claim their feminism in the face of such ugly backlash. Articles like that and this one and this one run across my facebook or twitter feed every single day in passing, like it's no big deal.

What the hell, you guys? Is this not 2013? Are we not better than this, still? After all these years? This is a big deal, it's a really big fucking deal.

Why are more people not stepping up and saying quite matter-of-factly that this is simply unacceptable?  How do you mothers and fathers of daughters face the challenge of raising women in an environment that is still so overtly sexist?

This topic has been simmering in my (admittedly overflowing) pot of worries ever since the Steubenville rape case and after yesterday's article it finally reached a boiling point. The Steubenville case was as sickening and awful as all rape cases are, but the most disturbing part to me was the complete nonchalance the boys showed regarding their actions. Freely tweeting pictures of their victim and boastful, joking texts about what they'd done because they DIDN'T THINK THEY HAD DONE ANYTHING WRONG. It apparently never crossed their minds that what they saw as a night of partying and hilarious jokes could possibly be an actual crime. And that, my friends, is what horrifies me.

I sympathize for you parents of daughters out there, I really do. But me? I have sons. And after all of this I fear I may have the bigger task after all. How do you raise conscious, empathetic, respectful young men? How do I make sure they don't become the next Trent Mays or Ma'lik Richmond? How do I make sure they know right from wrong and that "NO" means "NO" not "do whatever the fuck you want to do anyways"? (And seriously, if the person is unconscious, it's a "NO" by default, ok?)

I don't have the answers yet, I hope I find them. I do know my boys have good examples in their father and grandfathers. I do know I plan on having very candid, yet apparently necessary conversations with them about women and sexual boundaries. I know keeping an open dialogue and using examples like these to teach them right from wrong should help guide them as they form their own values.

Today I am starting by standing up and proudly stating, I AM A FEMINIST.

And I need feminism because I am raising sons and I want them to be feminists too.



Father's Day Twenty-Thirteen

posted on: Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Some people can take a simple little holiday like father's day and do a post with a few nicely edited photos, a couple sweet sentiments and call it a day. I am, obviously, not those people. But you already knew that. So don't act shocked by the fifty-ish photos below ;)

We started father's day morning off right with a silly photo shoot and presents for our favorite daddy.

He loves them. Even after a swift kick to the groin (which happens more often than you'd think.)
 Wes drew Yoda on the inside of Josh's card! (He calls him Yoga.)
We headed out to Tremont for breakfast at Grumpy's Cafe and killed time waiting for our table around the corner at  Lincoln Park. As a bonus the crew for Captain America was across the street setting up to film inside a church. It's pretty fun to just stumble upon movie sets when you're out and about in Cleveland these days.
After breakfast we popped over to the north shoreline so we could check out a special Rolling Stones exhibit featured at the Rock Hall since they're one of Josh's favorites. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is extremely cool. The exhibit was also very cool .Going there with two year old Oren Henry though? Not quite as cool...
The boys were a little bored with it, but what can you do? It was Father's day after all and we were there for Josh. I, on the other hand, was there hoping to see some of Prince's tiny sexy costumes and high heels but alas, none were to be found. I should have know he wouldn't want be any part of the establishment.
After all that excitement it was time to wind down the day with dinner at my dad's house. We bought the stuff and he cooked. Abby made desserts, of course. I am still dreaming of that strawberry lemon-curd tart. Seriously, some of her finest work.Total game changer.
It was a pretty great father's day, in my opinion, and I think the fathers felt the same way. To my dad and Josh, we are so lucky to have you and I hope you know how very loved you both are. And to Jeff too, he gets honorary father's day props for being an excellent quad-parent and letting the boys do this to him every time they see him. That's love.

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