Category: Month of May: Mothers

Month of May Mothers: Marge

marge-simpsonMarge – the glue that holds America’s families together. I’m sure smarter scholars than I have already analyzed and evaluated the iconographic placement of the Simpsons, but I’m still going to spin my record on this:

Homer represents greed, gluttony, and misguided intent of Americans. Every time we go through drive through, super-size something, crunch a car fender, or spend too much time away from our families, we are tapping into our inner Homer. But like Homer’s hero, Odysseus, he loyally finds his way home.

Bart is our id, our lizard brain, with a touch of an archetypal “Jack” – mischievous, physically talented, and emotionally manipulative, he is a master of masking his inner insecurities, and frustration with being intellectually second-fiddle to his little sister, Lisa.

Lisa is our intelligence, our nerd, our awkward, empathic, tree-hugging but still wanting a pink pony sweet, smart girl. Allows herself to take the high road, and although succumbs to smugness once in awhile, rarely allows superiority to rule her heart.

Maggie is the silent observer–perpetually watching from the sidelines, showing her emotions and opinions through facial expressions, just like most of us can give our opinions in a sea of loud voices and boorish oafs. It’s just better to hang on, and relieve stress through sucking it all in.

Now Marge – Marge is our abilitiy to keep it all together. Our inner Marge is how we are able to have drag-out debates over politics, policies, and ideologies, and still be able to smile, bake some cookies, and work together at a PTSA meeting. She is creative, concerned, and appreciates all of her children for their foibles and gifts. Thanks, Marge.

Month of May Mothers: Momma Crocodile.

My students know that I can be a bit, um, cranky sometimes. Last week, faced with state testing, exhaustion, and lack of fresh, hot coffee, I was a bit snappy. When one of my warm and sunny students said “You’re being a little snappy…Momma Crocodile!”

How could I not smile?

crocodile

To see a real momma crocodile caring for her hatchlings, check this out:

http://animal.discovery.com/videos/rumble-in-the-river-a-caring-crocodile.html

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/animal-planet/33474-a-caring-crocodile-video.htm

Month of May Mothers: Fostering a family.

I am going to break the writers’ cardinal rule: never write about something you know nothing about. I know nearly nothing about foster parenting or adoption. But there is a lot of information about foster parenting. My only opinions are based on stories I’ve read in the news, and my own instincts that being a good foster mom would be, in some ways, more challenging than a birth mother. Helping take care of a child whose own parent, for whatever reason, cannot take care of them, and then letting that child go back to a situation that may or may not have totally healed seems near impossible. Conversely, the damage done by bad, incompetent, or downright evil foster parents is inextricably vile.

My maternal grandparents were foster parents. I need to ask my mom about the details of the situation, but at one time they took in a teenage girl, a few years older than my mom at the time. My mom’s the oldest of three. My mom recalls this foster sister with great fondness. It seems a little surreal to me in some ways, because stories of my grandparents are peppered with love and bewilderment. They weren’t perfect people, let’s just say that. But they did have a great capacity to love without pity, to treat others with dignity and compassion: a rare force for good.

They did teach me that we make a family where and when we need to. We define and redfine ourselves as we seek love, acceptance, and yes, dignity.

Foster Care Statistics:

Trend Fiscal year 2000 Fiscal year 2005
Entering Foster Care 293,000 311,000
In Care 552,000 514,000
Exits 272,000 287,000
Parental Rights Terminated 73,000 67,000
Waiting 131,000 115,000
Adopted 51,000 52,000
Served 811,000 800,000

 

For more information on why there’s a photograph of a hippo and a tortoise, click on My Happy Rainbow link: http://halpey1.blogspot.com/2010/05/owen-and-mzee.html

Month of May Mothers: Mother Goose.

Mother Goose is a collection of nursery rhymes from the 1600s. Many scholars have researched and analyzed the poems, and some do have darker meanings.

All cultures have their songs, poems, and rhymes they tell to babies and children. The repetitive and deceptively simple nature of these rhymes are how babies learn to talk. Many of us will memorize a favorite book or poem before we actually learn to read. Decoding and memorizing are important skills in building the foundations of communication. Do not underestimate the power of the Goose.

Old Mother Goose,
When she wanted to wander,
Would ride through the air
On a very fine gander.
Jack’s mother came in,
And caught the goose soon,
And mounting its back,
Flew up to the moon

For a history lesson on Mother Goose: http://www.rhymes.org.uk/mother-goose-origins.htm and http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Mother_Goose

Month of May Mothers: Kick-A** Moms.

Terminator-2When faced with the potential of a post-apocalyptic landscape, or saving the world by possibly sacrificing your only son to be the world’s savior, what’s a mother to do? These archetypes don’t come cheap, you know. And if you’re part of a James Cameron franchise, you buff up, get some cool shades, and take care of business.

Moms that kick fanny do not have to fight off titanium-numb-skulls with vengeance agendas–they fight off stronger, more deadly foes: ignorant teachers, abusive husbands, low wages, sugary cereals on the bottom shelves in grocery stores, and high fructose corn syrup in EVERYTHING.

So, go on, save the world in an endless back-to-the-future-this-is-your-daddy-and-you-exist-in-simultaneous-universes, but I’ll keep the world safe by reading a few labels and bedtime stories.

Month of May Mothers: Worried moms.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20100511/US.Iran.US.Hikers/

Mothers of 3 Americans jailed in Iran get visas

By JEFF BAENEN, AP

MINNEAPOLIS — The mothers of three American hikers held in Iran said they collected their visas Wednesday and hope to travel to Tehran by early next week to visit their children in prison.

Nora Shourd told The Associated Press that the family of 27-year-old Josh Fattal picked up the travel documents from the Iranian interest section in Washington, D.C., so the visas are “finally in our hands.”

“We’re really over-the-top excited about this,” Shourd said. “I can barely breathe this morning. We’ve waited for this so long. And it’s going to be wonderful to see these kids, absolutely wonderful.”

Shourd’s daughter, Sarah, 31, has been held with Fattal and Shane Bauer, 27, since the three were arrested along the Iraqi border in July.

Bauer’s mother, Cindy Hickey of rural Pine City, Minn., said the families need to coordinate a number of things before they can leave, hopefully early by next week. She said visas were granted to her; to Shourd, of Oakland, Calif.; and to Laura Fattal, of suburban Philadelphia.

Aside from visiting their children, the three plan to meet with the Iranian attorney they hired months ago along with the Swiss ambassador in Iran. Swiss diplomats have visited the hikers in prison since the U.S. has no official presence in Iran.

The mothers have also requested meetings with Iranian authorities but don’t know if they’ll get them, Hickey said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirmed that the visas had been issued and said the families’ travel plans would be arranged by Swiss representatives in Iran.

Iran’s foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said on state television this week that the Iranian government had ordered visas to be issued on humanitarian grounds.

Iran has accused the three Americans of spying. Their families and the U.S. government have denied the spying accusations and called for their release.

The three hikers are graduates of the University of California at Berkeley. They have been held in Iran for 285 days, and family members said recently they were growing more concerned after Swiss diplomats who visited them on April 22 reported that two of them were in poor health.

Shourd was said to be suffering a serious gynecological condition and Bauer a stomach ailment. Cindy Hickey said the families have had no updates on their children’s health since then.

Iran has not brought the three to trial or made clear if formal charges have been filed. In February, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposed swapping them for Iranians he says are jailed in the U.S., raising fears that the three are being held as bargaining chips.

Bauer, a freelance journalist, had been hired to cover the Kurdish elections in Iraq, but his family said the hiking trip was a vacation. He and Shourd were dating and had been living in Damascus, Syria. She taught English and had written for various online publications. Fattal went to visit them after traveling overseas on a teaching fellowship.

Cindy Hickey said the mothers planned to carry small items to the hikers — cards, pictures, handmade gifts “to cheer them up.”

“When I walk in to see Shane, the first thing I want to instill is we love him and the family is doing absolutely everything we can to secure his release and that we won’t stop until he’s home,” she said.

___

Associated Press writers Doug Glass in Minneapolis and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Month of May Mothers: Smart moms.

The old adage, “a woman’s work is never done” feels true for many adults these days. People have always worked, and in most opinions, the phrase ‘working moms’ is redundant – it applies to all mothers, whether the mom has a job outside of the home or not. Staying home with small children is demanding and rewarding, too.

But what if you don’t have any choices or options because of a lack of education?

There are many who disparage the United States’ system of education, and yes, it’s flawed. It’s unevenly funded, it’s overly competitive at a time when we should be working harder to provide access to all, and is harangued on all corners by special interest groups.

But consider the following:

Literacy rates (people who can read and write over the age of 15):

Angola: 67.4% (83% men/54%women)

Bangladesh: 47.9% (54% men/41% women)

Belgium: 99% (99% men/99% women)

United States: 99% (99% men/99% women)

Somalia: 37.8% (49% men/ 25% women)

The infant mortality rate in the US is 6.26/1000 live births. In Somalia, it’s 109.19/1000 live births. I bring up this sad number to draw a possible correlation: countries that support women’s health and education have a great chance of survival, economic success, and prosperity.

Take your education seriously. I realize that in our greedy world we don’t always value what others value, but it is indeed a gift.

somali_mother_baby

Information from the CIA Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

Month of May Mothers: WoW.

WoW

This is a screen shot of my World of Warcraft character and my son’s. He’s a level 80, and helping me level up faster than any Draenei Shaman has a right. He uses this alter ego to protect me, and show me how to be a warrior/healer against some pretty nasty foes. He has been wanting me to play for a long time now, and I just kept putting him off because of work, work, and more work.

Until I hit myself over the head and realized with all the power of a totem healing stone that he would eventually stop asking me.

And then my heart would break.

No matter what I may have imagined when I become a mother, never in my wildest dreams did I know how truly, deeply, and magically it would be so joyful and wonderful.

And that keeps me more powerful and happy than anything in this realm, or the next.