National Spank Out Day: Violence Begins in the Nursery
Today is national Spank Out Day a day to give widespread attention to the need to end corporal punishment of children and to promote non-violent ways of teaching children appropriate behavior. In honor, I’d like to share a story by Astrid Lindgren author of the Pipi Longstockings books. She received the German Trade Book Peace Prize in 1978 and in her acceptance speech she shared; “When I was about 20 years old, I met an old pastor’s wife who told me that when she was young and had her first child, she didn’t believe in striking children, although spanking kids...
Read MoreSweet & Salty Cherry Almond Bars (Chewy too!)
I’ve been experimenting with various granola bar recipes in order to save some money! The ingredients in something like a Nature Valley bar are a no go and we really like the Cascadia Farms Granola Bars but at $6.19 for 5 that’s $1.24 per bar! However, most of my attempts were either too crumbly, too hard, or too soft and melty. What magic was at work with the retail bars?? Then I came across this great recipe from Betsy at The Green Phone Booth called Chewy (Not Crumbly) Granola Bars. This got me on the right track but I still felt they were a bit sweet and soft. After...
Read MoreMake Your Own Mayo and Never Look Back!
Seriously, once you see how fall-off-a-log easy it is to make your own mayonnaise you will never buy the jarred stuff again. Plus, organic mayo is so expensive but by making your own you can use organic eggs, oils, etc. and make an affordable, organic mayo. What makes this method easy? An immersion blender, also called a “stick” blender. It looks like the one to the left. It is only $24 on Amazon and I really think it is worth it! If you don’t use a stick blender then good luck. I avoided making mayo for years because it is a delicate and arm-aching process to get...
Read MoreAre Women Really Divided Into SAHM and WOHM?
So, in case you live under a rock (or don’t live in the US) feminist Hilary Rosen recently started a firestorm by saying of Mitt Romney (presidential candidate)’s wife that “she never worked a day in her life.” I understand what Rosen was trying to say while I disagreed with her wording (and her wording on her follow up post where she calls staying home a “luxury”). Regardless, everyone is in an uproar about which job is harder, which job is more worthy, and which job is the most maligned by society. Sigh. Women against women really makes me sad. Having...
Read MoreWhat I Learned in School
I’m preparing a series on “how to” unschool (which should be funny if you are familiar with unschooling at all!) but it got me thinking about what from my public school education I really learned. Not learned in the sense that I memorized it and then got an A on the test (which I was good at) but learned as in had an impact on my whole life and my formation of self identity. I had a “successful” public school experience. I was in the top 10% of my class and I went on to get several college degrees. However, the things I have “learned” that have...
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