I seriously do not like shoes that light up. Ever since I worked in a science museum eons ago running the Electrostatic Generator Show and had to always remember to ask people if their shoes had batteries (as in "Before we start I want to make sure you don't have anything with batteries like light up shoes or a hearing aid or pacemaker .....")
Plus I find them annoying and well, kind of ridiculous (but I digress)
Anyway- last week was a trip to the shoe store and they had not only light up shoes, but Star Wars light up shoes and not only Star Wars light up shoes but Star Wars: The Clone Wars light up shoes. When he told me that he would rather get the shoes than go to the Lego store (keep in mind that since he had a gift card he had already picked out what he was buying a month ago) I knew he was serious.
So we bought the light up shoes.
The morning after the purchase this is the sight we awoke to...
I think that he didn't actually wear them to bed but I wouldn't swear to it
(On the plus side it does make him easier to find in the dark)
Our local Families with Children from China hosted an Autumn Moon Festival celebration. It was great fun. We were able to sample Moon Cakes (the kids chose to forgo the traditional moon cake, and instead chose Moon Pies)
D's Chinese language teacher hosted a "dance party with the kids
Getting ready for the lantern parade.
And ending the evening with a lantern parade, complete with glowing lanterns
D is finally old enough to play soccer (she missed the cutoff by three weeks in the spring)
Some of the shots from the first game
(at least from the time she was on the field- there were some tears as the game began- Apparently half the team started the game either crying or refusing to go onto the field)
Yesterday was our local Enkutatash (Ethiopian New Year) Celebration. The celebration is hosted by a group that provides supports for Ethiopian immigrants in our area, and serves not only as a celebration of the holiday, but also as a fundraiser for the group. Several of my friends- fellow adoptive moms and dads- are also involved with the group. Two of them are photographers and donated their services for the event. In exchange for a donation to the group, they took photos. So we tried for a photo with the kids together.......
To set the scene- large room, somewhat crowded and the photo backdrop is by the door so there is a stream of people walking by. Music playing loudly throughout the room (so A is completely overstimulated), K and D both want cupcakes (which they can't have till after photos) and they had fallen asleep on the way to the celebration so were still cranky from waking up and X who LOVES the photographer is too busy fooling around to actually listen to what he is being told to do. I feel like I should have doubled (or tripled) my donation and his patience with my kids was legendary. Hopefully when we get the photos back from him there will be something good ('cause he tried like crazy to get a good one)
Until we get the "official" photos- here are the "outtakes" from the photo shoot
I think we will keep looking for the photo for the Christmas card this year
"The ideal of a color-blind society is a pale imitation of a greater grander ideal: where our skin will be neither a badge for undue privilege nor a sign of social stigma. But we can strive for a society where each receives his or her just due, where the past in all its glory and grief is part of the equation of racial justice and social equality. Then we won't need to be blind to color, which in any case is a most morbid state of existence. Then we can embrace our history and ideals with the sort of humane balance that makes democracy more than a distant dream."
I found this video of D from right before she had her p-flap surgery. I really have not noticed a big difference in her speech (although EVERYONE else does) but watching her here I realize how much the surgery has improved her speech. I will try to get her to perform an encore so you can see the difference. But what she lack in articulation she makes up for in cuteness and enthusiasm
Today is Ethiopian New Year so Happy New Year, Everyone. Our local celebration is actually next week but as today is the official New Year's Day (for at least a few hours more) I wanted to wish everyone Melkam Addis Amet!!
For more on the Ethiopian calendar (and if you like puzzles you will love this)
From Wikipedia:
The Ethiopian calendar also called the Ethiopian Ge'ez calendar, is the principal calendar used in Ethiopia and also serves as the liturgical calendar for Christians in Eritrea belonging to the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, Eastern Catholic Church and Lutheran Evangelical Church of Eritrea. It is based on the older Alexandrian or Coptic calendar, which in turn derives from the Egyptian calendar, but like the Julian calendar, it adds a leap day every four years without exception, and begins the year on August 29 or August 30 in the Julian calendar. A seven- to eight-year gap between the Ethiopian andGregorian calendars results from alternate calculations in determining the date of the Annunciation of Jesus.
Like the Coptic calendar, the Ethiopian calendar has twelve months of 30 days each plus five or six epagomenal days, which comprise a thirteenth month. The Ethiopian months begin on the same days as those of the Coptic calendar, but their names are in Ge'ez. The sixth epagomenal day is added every four years without exception on August 29 of the Julian calendar, six months before the Julian leap day. Thus the first day of the Ethiopian year, 1 Mäskäräm, for years between 1901 and 2099 (inclusive), is usually September 11 (Gregorian), but falls on September 12 in years before the Gregorian leap year.
The current year according to the Ethiopian calendar is 2002, which began on September 11, 2009 AD of the Gregorian calendar. The year 2003 will begin on September 11, 2010.
"O mankind, truly We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Truly the most noble of you, in the sight of God, is the most God-conscious.
[Quran 49: 13]
For every community (of faith) We have appointed ways of worship, which they aught to observe. Hence, do not let those (who follow other ways) draw you into dispute on this score, but summon them to their Sustainer: for you are on the right way. And if they argue with you, say: God knows best what you are doing."
[Quran 22:67]
"All God's creatures are His family; and he or she is the most beloved of God who tries to do most good to God's creatures."
--- Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him)
"Forgive him who wrongs you; join him who cuts you off; do good to him who does evil to you, and speak the truth although it be against yourself."
--- Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him)
I know we've been talking about race a lot here lately (could it be because it is important???) but I found this on another website and found it to be a graphic reminder about how white privilege shapes the very foundations of the beliefs we and more importantly, our children, have. I would comment more, but quite frankly- the original writer more than adequately explains it.
It's back to school time (amazing how fast summer goes....) The day started with the boys receiving their Schultute (or German school cones). Once you begin Kindergarten at our house, on the first day of school each year you receive a school cone (which is filled with school supplies, candy and a few non school things too) As if D needed one more reason to want to go to Kindergarten
The required "posed" pictures.
Once more with their backpacks
And they are off!!!!
A is off to 5th grade (his last year in elementary school) and X is a big 1st grader now.
I was going to blog, then I decided not to, then after thinking about it for a little longer here we are. And no you aren't going to find answers here cause well, I don't know the answer and in talking to several other people both in real life and online it appears the answer varies based on the person.
For those who didn't hear the situation- you can find it all over the internet (probably with lots of different spin)
There have been lots of very valid points raised in the debate but I have to begin with
What was she thinking????
First of all, the caller wasn't asking for advice on dealing with the people making the racist statements- she was calling asking for advice on how to deal with her husband who was letting his friends make these statements to her and not intervening. But lets set aside that detail and deal with Dr Laura repeatedly saying the "n" word.
There have been a multitude of responses from "Oh poor thing, her first amendment rights have been violated" to "Can you believe how racist she is" and pretty much every thing in between. The comments I have most seen from white people are either along the line that "no one should use that word period" or along the "Black people say it all the time, why can't we" line of thought. And there are certainly African Americans who would agree with the "no one should say it" belief- people like the NAACP and this well spoken 11 year old
There are also many who don't agree. Dr Laura herself pointed out that word is used by some African Americans, although she missed a pretty important point that those same people are actually using the word Ni@@a, and not Ni@@er, which is a pretty critical distinction. Ni@@a is often used by African Americans vernacularly with no offense intended or taken. Ni@@er is derogatory pretty much regardless of who is speaking. In the first case, there are people allowed to say it. Dr Laura is not one of them, and neither is pretty much any other white person out there. In the words of one of my friends- "this is the only example of black privilege- we can say it- you can't."
However, as a white person, this is not an issue I am truly qualified to have an opinion on. If African Americans want to take control of a word that for hundreds of years was used to denigrate and dehumanize them, it is not my place to judge whether or not that is an appropriate thing to do. That is for the African American community to decide.
But what I am stuck on is all my white friends who say "no one should say it" (and I acknowledge that is also a position held by many African Americans too) but I have to wonder if there is more to why white people object to the vernacular ni@@a. For some people, is it that they are so steeped in white privilege that they can't accept there are things they CAN'T say? Probably for some people. But I think more than that we want it to go away because it is a clear and present reminder of the true ugliness of our past- that every time that word is said it harkens back to a time when human beings were property and were treated as such. It is a word that in two syllables reminds us of a horrifying chapter in our collective history and maybe it would be easier to have that blatant reminder gone.
And maybe it would be- I would probably prefer no one say it too- but if no one saying also means that we can whitewash over not only that period of US history but also our current racial reality, then maybe it is better the word still exists, cause racism certainly still exists. Maybe we need that reminder that the work is far from over and while we might not be what we were, we certainly are not yet what we ought to be.
