Sam spelled “job” today. She sounded it out and spelled it. Cool.
You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2010.
Ok, I have to take one moment to tell you that the washing machine did last the day, but the hot water heater did not! Well, we still have hot water, but it’s leaking and it was on its last legs anyway, so it’s time for a new one, and it’s urgent. Really, it’s quite shocking what went on in this house today.
The good part is that I surprised myself today by researching and purchasing a new dishwasher online in 3 hours – it will be installed on Wednesday. Maybe the hot water heater will only take 4 or 5, and maybe I can get it by the end of next week. (I’m going to check out the tankless kind.) I usually take a month or so for a project like that. I also finished the design and purchase of the closet shelving today, got 4 more paint samples and slapped them up on the wall, paid all the bills, changed the filter in the air furnace (which is how I noticed the leak), and kept my e-mail inbox at zero. I actually feel pretty good about this day.
Two observations: 1) Everything is so much easier now that we are not under as much financial strain. 2) You can really get a lot done when your child watches TV all day. (She’s still sick, but ok, in case you were worried.)
I guess I can’t stop blogging after all. I only meant to write the first sentence.
I’m going in to lockdown mode. Sam is sick (which means I’ll be sick soon too), we’re in the middle of moving her to a new bedroom, I need to design, buy and install shelving for her new closet, we have to finish painting the room, we need to buy a mattress and set up her new “big-girl bed,” we have to move all her stuff (much of which is in the hallway right now), we’re having the whole main level of our house painted starting on Sunday and we haven’t completely decided what colors we’ll use yet, one of the kitchen cabinet doors broke and needs to be glued, the handle on the dishwasher is not working right and I know that at any moment it will not open at all so I need a new dishwasher NOW, and I just went down to move laundry from the washer to the dryer and found the clothes in a tub full of water – again. If the washer goes and I can’t do laundry, I might have a nervous breakdown.
It’s 11:41am and I haven’t even considered eating anything and Sam is planted in front of a movie.
And before all of that, I was already too busy. I keep cutting more and more, but now I have to cut out the blogging until I can regain control. Wish me luck!
Sung to the tune of the Kit Kat candy bar song from the 80′s commercial:
Listen and do
Listen and do
That’s how we cooperate
Me and You
I’m not crazy about the obedience aspect in this song, but Sammy really responds to it. Sometimes, she just needs a reminder to “tune in” to me. These little songs always lighten the mood, which is sometimes all that is needed.
And I can’t believe I’ve never published my potty success song. It never really worked as a motivator, but Sammy and I both enjoy it. There is no tune – it’s more of a cheer:
You put it in the proper place
You put it in the proper place
The potty
The potty
The potty
Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Check out this week’s Objectivist Round Up, hosted by Titanic Deck Chairs.
A few of Sammy’s latest funny quotes:
[Seeing a fat man at Target]: MOMMY, LOOK! THAT’S A BIG BELLY! BIG BELLY, MOMMY! BIG BELLY BIG BELLY BIG BELLY!
[Inspired by the song "Fast Monkey," which tells of someone who is faster than a fast monkey, slower than a slow monkey, louder than a loud monkey, etc.]: I’M MADDER THAN A MAD MONKEY!
I HAVE A SWEET TOOTH BUT IT FELL OUT AND NOW I’LL NEVER FIND IT AGAIN.
I’ve found a good way to help remember if I’ve taken my vitamin for the day. (I have to take the vitamin with food, and I don’t eat regularly enough to simply take one with a particular meal.) I keep the bottle in a cabinet and, on even-numbered days, after a take the vitamin, I turn the label facing out. On odd-numbered days, after I take one, I turn the label facing back. This requires an adjustment on months with 31 days (or a February in a leap year), but that doesn’t seem to be a problem. Actually, the biggest problem is remembering what the heck the date is. But I like my system.
Not all of my Little Things are about Sammy, you know. Little Things are minor, everyday actions, objects, and experiences that add up to a life full of deliberately chosen values. I used to think that if you spent your time applying your mind to the acquisition of these Little Things, that you’d necessarily be sacrificing your higher values, but this is wrong. It’s true that we all have a limited amount of time, and even a limited amount of room in our conscious minds, so we have to have a hierarchy of values. But the sum of all the Little Things in one’s life does add up to a great whole, and our pursuit of these things can bring great meaning and fulfillment to our lives.
Maybe it’s just because I’m in the middle of reading a draft of my husband’s latest work-in-progress, which is a defense of intellectual property on the basis of Ayn Rand’s theory of value (!), but yesterday was a day of lessons for Samantha about the value of work. I didn’t plan it that way – it just happened.
First, I told her a Little Bear story. I tell her stories based on the Little Bear TV show all the time. I use the characters from the show, but make up stories on the fly. Sometimes I use these stories pedantically, but sometimes they’re just silly. I usually don’t know what the story will be until I’m telling it. Yesterday, she asked for a story about Little Bear’s sweet tooth and a piggy bank shaped like a cat (??). Here is the story I told:
Once upon a time, there was a Little Bear. He lived with his Mother Bear and his Father Bear, in a cozy cottage in the woods. [This is how the story starts each time.]
Little Bear loved sweets. Mother Bear said that he had quite a sweet tooth. He could eat sweets all day long: cake, cookies, candy, ice cream, pastries, chocolate, pie, hot cocoa – you name it! One day, Mother Bear said, “You eat too many sweets, Little Bear. You’re eating me out of house and home, and it’s not good for you.”
“What’s ‘out of house and home’?” asked Little Bear.
“It means that I don’t have enough money to buy so many sweets for you. I have an idea. From now on, I’ll make dessert for the family on occasion, but if you want your own candy and other treats, you’ll have to buy them with your own money.”
“But I don’t have any money,” whined Little Bear.
“Hmmm. That’s true,” said Mother Bear. “I have another idea. You can work for the money. You can do jobs around the house for me, and I’ll pay you money. That’s what money is for, you know. It’s a trade. If you do this for me, I’ll give you money, and you can use that money to buy something that you want.”
“Yea!” said Little Bear.
“Now,” said Mother Bear, “I can only pay you a small amount of money for each job, say, folding the laundry. You might have to save up your money for a while to have enough for a treat like a candy bar. I’ll pay you five cents for a simple job like folding laundry. A candy bar costs twenty five cents. Do you know how many loads of laundry you’ll have to fold to have enough for a candy bar?”
“Hmmmm,” said Little Bear. [And then commenced a counting exercise.]
“But where will I put my money while I’m saving it?” asked Little Bear. Mother Bear replied, “I’ll buy you a piggy bank. I’ll use my own money this time.” [And then commenced a trip to the store where Little Bear picked out a piggy bank in the shape of a cat.]
So for five nights, Little Bear folded laundry. He took the nickels Mother Bear gave him and put them in his piggy bank. When he knew that he had five nickels, he opened up the bank, took them out, and went to the store, where he bought his favorite treat: a chocolate bar.
“Mmmmmm,” said Little Bear. “It’s soooooo good. My sweet tooth is happy.”
It was the best chocolate bar he had ever eaten – because he had earned it.
The End.
We’re in the process of moving Sam into a new bedroom. She is going to get the bigger bedroom of the two kids’ rooms on the top floor. We figure that when SS (Sammy’s Sibling) comes along, the older child should probably have the bigger room. Adam was putting on the final coat of paint last night, and Sam was excited to help. (She actually did a great job and didn’t destroy anything, using a miniature roller, and with much supervision.) But before we went upstairs to help him, I called her over, saying that I wanted to tell her something important. I said, “Have you noticed how hard your daddy has been working to get your new room set up for you? All good things take work. Every single good thing in the whole world takes work. And you might want to say ‘thank you’ to your dad for all the work he is doing to make your room so nice.” She did say “thank you” later, but the point about values coming from work was the more important part, I think.
Finally, I read Sammy one of her books she got for Christmas for the first time: The Wishing of Biddy Malone. I didn’t even pick it out for the evening’s reading – she did. Its theme is that things you get for nothing (wishes) have no value. (And by the way, this is a beautiful book, appropriate for children Sammy’s age, but also much older. Check it out.)
I liked Theme Day.
When I was a kid, one of my dad’s favorite snacks was “C’s and B’s,” also known as crackers and butter. He would slather butter onto saltines as an appetizer before dinner and eat them with shameless enjoyment.
I loved C’s and B’s until I bought into the myth of how fat is bad for us and how we need to reduce our dietary cholesterol. Then, I was horrified at my dad’s reckless behavior. How could he eat so much butter? I denied myself C’s and B’s for many years.
But I’ve recently come to see the light and I am no longer afraid of fat, thanks to Gary Taubes. (I’m not afraid of carbs either, though, as he would have me be.) I’ve started cooking with butter and cream, and I use as much mayonnaise as I please.
So when Sammy asked for crackers with butter on them, I didn’t bat an eye. Now, C’s and B’s are one of her favorite snacks. I think my dad will like to hear that.
MOMMY…
I…
WANT…
MORE…
HOT…
[long pause]
[more of the long pausing]
[much patience being exercised by Mommy]
I CAN’T SAY HOT CHOCOLATE! YOU SAY IT!
[If you are a parent, you'll recognize the long pauses as time for the child to think about the fact that she knows the answer will be "no" and is trying to find some way around it. Not figuring out any better way, she simply decides that maybe if she doesn't say the actual words, but tells Mommy to say them, that the answer might be different. But of course, she said the words anyway. Trust me, it's hilarious.]
What do you like best so far, the butterflies or the dinosaurs?
THE BUTTERFLIES AND THE DINOSAURS. THE BUTTERFILES AND THE DINOSAURS ARE BOTH MY FRIENDS.
I haven’t been reading as much as usual lately. I read almost nothing while Adam and I were watching Battlestar Galactica from start to finish because it utterly consumed me. I bought a couple of light fiction books right before I went in for the D&C because that usually helps when I’m down, but I ended up not doing much reading during that period, either. And most of my reading has been light fiction because I’ve not been in the right mind-set for anything serious.
However, I do want to continue to record my reading here on the blog, so I’ll try to recall what I’ve read since my last report. Let’s start with the good stuff, eh?
Chantecler, by Edmond Rostand, (translated by Kay Nolte Smith): (I believe Kay Nolte Smith was an admirer of Ayn Rand and had some relationship with her, but I can’t recall the details. Her introduction to this book is wonderful.) This play is the best thing I’ve read in quite a while. If you like Cyrano, you might like this book, although it is not as focused as Cyrano and its theme is a bit more confused. But I loved it. Chantecler was an intelligent, passionate idealist, and also, yes, a rooster! The characters are all barnyard animals, which is what turned me off from this play for years, but trust me, its theme is as human as Animal Farm‘s. Any fan of Rostand will recognize the witty dialog – it’s just so darned clever! I wish I knew French so that I could read the original because, even in translation, the language and wit was amazing. I’m not sure why this play is not more popular. There were a few scenes where Rostand took the joke too far and it became tiresome (how many pages of peacock-analogy-satire do I really want to read?), but overall, I think it deserves to be a classic. Read it!
Speaking of classics and tiresome passages, I also tried to re-read Victor Hugo’s Ninety Three recently. I’m just not in a place to deal with an author who includes so much extraneous information in his fiction. Although I was fascinated with the plot, I gave it up after about a month of effort. (I was also able to recognize Hugo’s stylistic influence on Ayn Rand, elements of which I’ve picked up in my own style.) I’m sure that I’ll read this book again someday, but I’ll have to be capable of more patience. Maybe after my child(ren) are all grown up.
I read Montessori Read and Write, by Lynn Lawrence. I’m still torn about whether or not to buy this book. I read it quickly from the library and it seemed to have a lot of great exercises. Actually, now that I write this, I realize that most of the pre-reading exercises that I do with Sammy are from this book, so I probably should go buy a copy. It’s definitely a worthwhile addition to any Montessori fan’s reading list.
I read two good books by an author new to me, John D. MacDonald. I read A Purple Place for Dying, and One Fearful Yellow Eye, both of which are part of his Travis McGee series. It’s detective-fiction, and MacDonald is a cynic, but he’s the kind of cynic you like because he’s just misguided, not nihilistic. He writes great stories with a biting style that really fits with his cynical view. I’ll never forget his description of Chicago in “Yellow Eye.” It was such a witty, scathing condemnation that I heard Dennis Miller’s “rant” voice in my head as I read it. Even if you don’t “feel it” as a sense of life experience, you’ve got to appreciate MacDonald’s skill. I plan to read every one of his books.
And now on to the junk.
I read a terrible book called The Water’s Lovely, by Ruth Rendell. I was intrigued by the plot, but by the end, I found that it was just a cheap, TV-drama-style trick, and worse: all the good characters suffered and all the bad characters won in the end. Totally nihilistic. Do not read this book.
I read The Street Lawyer, by John Grisham. God, I’m so sick of John Grisham, but this book was given to me and I needed mindless reading. The book itself was worse than mediocre – it was banal, sloppy, and the main character was not likable at all. But I did get something important out of it. Ayn Rand suggested in The Art of Fiction that, as an aspiring fiction-writer, in your reading you should always be asking yourself how you could make a dull story better. Good premises (in plot-situations, not philosophy) are a dime-a-dozen, but how many times have you been suckered into a movie or book based on a clever “what-if” idea that collapsed into nothing after the basic situation had been presented? Ayn Rand said that thinking about how those dull plots could have been great is a good exercise for a writer, and might lead to original plot ideas. I took that advice to heart while reading this otherwise worthless book, and it led to my initial idea for my own novel. I hate to admit it, but it’s true.
I read Extreme Measures, by Vince Flynn. I’ve read at least one Vince Flynn book that I liked, but after this book, I can’t imagine how that is possible. This book was juvenile, predictable, and corny. It read like a parody of what the angry left might imagine as George W. Bush’s wet dream, but it was serious. As much as I despise the angry left, I can’t take this kind of garbage seriously.
We’re at the American Museum of Natural History. We’re walking up this big, spiral ramp that has something to do with astronomy. (As it turns out, we were supposed to be walking down the ramp, which would have taken us from the so-called Big Bang through the history of the universe up until the present day. Oh well.) There is a foreign family trudging up along the ramp near us. The little girl keeps running ahead and her older brother keeps yelling, “Pada! Pada!” Each time he yells this at her, she waits until the rest of the family catches up, and then she takes off again.
Sam watches a few cycles of this, then runs ahead of us and says:
MOMMY. TELL ME PADA!
I yell, “Pada!”
She stops. And as soon as we catch up, she yells, GO, and takes off again. We spent the rest of the painful climb playing PADA and GO.
Observant little creature, isn’t she?
Welcome to the January 7, 2010 edition of the Objectivist Round Up!
This Round Up is a weekly compilation of posts from Objectivist bloggers. In case you’ve stumbled upon this publication for the first time, here is a brief summary of the philosophy of Objectivism, in the words of its originator, Ayn Rand:
At a sales conference at Random House, preceding the publication of Atlas Shrugged, one of the book salesmen asked me whether I could present the essence of my philosophy while standing on one foot. I did as follows:
- Metaphysics: Objective Reality
- Epistemology: Reason
- Ethics: Self-interest
- Politics: Capitalism
If you want this translated into simple language, it would read: 1. “Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed” or “Wishing won’t make it so.” 2. “You can’t eat your cake and have it, too.” 3. “Man is an end in himself.” 4. “Give me liberty or give me death.”
If you held these concepts with total consistency, as the base of your convictions, you would have a full philosophical system to guide the course of your life.
The best source for more information about Objectivism is The Ayn Rand Institute‘s web site, where you can find excerpts from her fiction and non-fiction, a short biography, information about her ideas, and much, much more.
And now, I present the January 4, 2010 edition of The Objectivist Round Up:
Mike Zemack presents 2010 – Into the Political Vacuum posted at Principled Perspectives, saying, “A brief look back … and ahead: In 2010, the political vacuum widens, and so will Objectivism’s opportunity.”
C.W. presents Meltdown by Thomas Woods, Review posted at Krazy Economy, saying, “Review of “Meltdown” by Thomas Woods. A book recommended by Yaron Brooke. Excellent, detailed explanation of the 2008 panic. Good economics.”
Ottens presents Deregulate the Banks! posted at Atlantic Sentinel, saying, “Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is wrong. A lack of regulation did not produce the financial crisis; the Federal Reserve along with enormous government intervention in the American housing market did.”
Rachel Miner presents Sharing Emotions posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, “As Faber and Mazlish state, ‘Children need to have their feelings accepted and respected.’ (A separate issue from the necessary limits on their actions). I discuss why I think the same applies to parents and why, I think it is letting one aspect of the teaching opportunity pass to supress our emotions as a shelter for a child and focus only on the physical consequences, alternative actions, identification / acknowledgement.’”
Trey Givens presents Insurance is not a Coupon for Free Stuff posted at Trey Givens, saying, “I’ve written three posts recently on health insurance that I think are pretty good, but this one came to me in a flash of insight. Apparently, there are a bunch of people out there who think insurance is a discount program!”
Ari Armstrong presents What Are Conservatives Trying to Conserve? posted at FreeColorado.com, saying, “A look at the four strains of conservatism: libertarianism, tradition, faith, and liberty.”
Myrhaf presents 2009 and Beyond posted at The New Clarion.
Pomponazzi presents Digesting Objectivist Principles posted at Pomponazzi ponders, saying, “I explain what the primacy of existence means and use it to refute the false theories of Descartes and Kant.”
Paul Hsieh presents 2009 Front Range Objectivism Media Output posted at NoodleFood, saying, “In 2009, Front Range Objectivists published 57 OpEds, 48 LTEs, and 3 articles, including high-profile outlets like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Christian Science Monitor. Most of this was done by volunteer activists working in their spare time. Americans are willing to hear our ideas — we just have to be willing to articulate them!”
Adam Reed presents A Radical Strategy for Objectivists posted at Born to Identify, saying, “Most people’s New Year resolutions have to do with a new commitment to act in accordance with one’s values, but often too little thought is given to the identification of the course of action that will lead to the realization of one’s values. The principles relating actions to values constitute a strategy for the achievement of values.”
Diana Hsieh presents The Unsoap Experiment posted at NoodleFood, saying, “It sounds crazy, but I’m experimenting with going mostly soap-free and shampoo-less in January — yet definitely not unwashed.”
Ryan DeGoyler presents Toddlers-Selfish or Selfless? posted at The Undercurrent, saying, “Are children naturally altruistic? A recent study seems to suggest so. DeGoyler discusses the assumption that cooperation is altruistic, and presents an alternative explanation for the child’s motives.”
Andrew Dalton presents The soul of an egalitarian posted at Witch Doctor Repellent, saying, “A British intellectual notices that children who attend private schools succeed disproportionately — and proposes banning private schools as the solution.”
Stella presents One good point, and a lot of bad ones posted at ReasonPharm.
C.W. presents Speech by Ben S. Bernanke, Commentary posted at Krazy Economy, saying, “I read this so that you don’t have to. Really, it wasn’t fun. But it was revealing. This isn’t just bad economics, it is a methodological disconnect from reality. Freedom, reality, even money supply are not terms that he would ever use in a conversation.”
Edward Cline presents States’ Rights: Dumb Show and Noise posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, “The Republican Party has reached deep into its armory of political arguments and come up with its best shot against federally-mandated health care “reform.” Citing the Tenth Amendment, they are beginning to claim that Congress is overstepping its Constitutional authority to require individuals to purchase health insurance, thus usurping states’ “rights” to do the same thing. The power is not enumerated; ergo, it is unconstitutional.”
Tom Utley presents Clemson has an Institute for the (honest) Study of Capitalism! posted at It’s My Blog, saying, “This is my first ever submission to this list, but I wanted to share the news to all objectivists because I’m so proud of my Alma Mater!”
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Objectivist Round Up by using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. Next week’s host will be Titanic Deck Chairs.
Technorati tags:
objectivist round up, blog carnival.
A while back I made the unfortunate mistake of teaching Samantha the phrase, “zip your lip.” I didn’t tell her to zip her lip; that would have been obnoxious. I used the phrase as an example of something she could say to express her desire for me to be quiet. I think I was trying to lighten the mood or something by finding a cute way for her to say it, but now the damage is done. You see, she always wants me to shut up. Not only does she resent it when I try to do things for her, she can’t stand it when I give her instructions when she doesn’t need or want them.
So she is constantly telling me: MOMMY, WILL YOU PLEASE ZIP YOUR LIP? As long as she uses a respectful tone of voice, I don’t mind. It’s just her way of saying, I WANT YOU TO BE QUIET NOW. When she wants to emphasize how important it is to her, she asks me to run my fingers over my lips in a zipping motion – another little gem that I wish I had never taught her. But, alas, this is her way of controlling her world and getting too-helpful-Mommy to just butt out. I respect that.
So, when we were at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Sam was totally into the dinosaurs. She was fascinated. I think it took her a while to get the idea of bones; these were the bones of the dead dinosaurs. (We did a lot of explaining beforehand, but that’s a tough concept for a 3-year-old, don’t you think?) But I do think she got some sense of it – that this was all that was left of them. The point is, she really, really loved it.
She was being really good on this trip in general, but at one point I asked her to do something and she started to yell at me. I told her that if she wanted to stay at the museum and see the dinosaurs, she had to speak kindly to us, or we might have to leave. She started to yell again, but then she took her fingers and zipped her lip. Over and over, she zipped her lip, until she was sure that she would not yell at me again. And it worked!
OBloggers Most Recent
- Objectivist Round Up #252 John
- Good Advice is Like a Mirror Gus Van Horn
- In her introduction to Ominous Parallels, Ayn Rand says that the book taught her something about how ideas influence a culture. What did she learn, and were there other things she also learned from you? admin
- An Educational Revolution is Starting “At Our House” Scott Powell
- Food Allergy Awareness Week noreply@blogger.com (Jenn Casey)