Monthly Archives: March 2012

In Memory of my Mamaw

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My mamaw passed away today. She was 80 years old. She had Alzheimer’s and leukemia, and it is with the latter that she likely lost her fight. She was married for nearly 60 years, had 6 children, 24 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren. I am the oldest of those grandchildren, and today I feel so lucky to have known my grandmother for 31 years. Her passing was something that we knew was coming, probably this year, but today, I am not feeling relief that we won’t have to watch her waste away they way we had to with her sister who died of the same disease. I am sad and feeling stuck in New York when I want to be home in Texas with all of my family around me. Continue reading →

Coney Island before Coney Island

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I love Coney Island. I love its commitment to its own ridiculousness. Today, I am here before it becomes Coney Island of the summer. Before the rides open and the people.invade the beach. It’s nice, and a much better time since I’ve brought two kids with me. There is this sense of anticipation and also abandonment. I’m so used to the crowds and noise and piles of trash that today feels like a ghost town.

Kids Know

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I have learned that kids know when you are overworked and underslept, and those are the days when they will absolutely refuse a nap. I have also learned that they will fake sleep for a few minutes in order to trick you. Then they will look up at you with a face that says “I did it!” After which, you get to be the asshole that tries to will them into a real nap. You should really just give in at that point. It is NOT worth it. You may have more practice at stubbornness; they have more will.

That’s it for Today in Nannying. Tune in soon for more thoughts and lessons.

In which I try to explain why evolution makes me unexplainably happy

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A friend of mine posted an article about the Red Deer variant in human evolution and within reading the first paragraph, I found myself so completely joyful that the day’s exhaustion seemed long gone. Being an inquisitive person, I have since been thinking about why it does that to me.  I think it satisfies the scientist, historian and the artist in my brain.

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Faith, Hope, and Love: Why I am Pro-Choice

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In this polarized and polarizing world, the complexities of an identification or a political stance are lost through the need to dig in and position yourself against some other person or some other stance. As I’ve said or as you can tell, I am adamantly pro-choice. I want to take a moment to define what pro-choice means to me, because it may not complicated for me but it comes from a complex and personal space.

Pro-choice means more than just a commitment to keeping abortion safe, legal, and accessible for all women. Being pro-choice for me is a commitment to the health and well-being of women, children, families, and all people. It means I believe in people receiving comprehensive, age-appropriate sex education, in health class and throughout their lives. It means that I believe that injustices that do not seem related to abortion rights actually are, such as economic disparities and societal oppression of women. It means that as I think and re-think through my pro-choice stance, I come to the following words: faith, hope, and love. Continue reading →