Check out this new website waterfootprint.org.
They discuss worldwide water usage and it's implications. There is a water usage calculator. I use 458 cubic meters per year according to the calculator. That's a lot. It shouldn't surprise me since it all adds up but that's one big swimming pool. One of my big sins is my tea habit. One cup of tea is 30 liters of water in production. Beer is worse at 75 liters for a pint. It gets you thinking which is the point.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
National Registry of Mothers
National Registry of Mothers / Motherhood Museum Initiative
EXCITING NEWS FOR MOTHERS AND MOTHERHOOD SCHOLARS!!!
The motherhood foundation has established a national registry of mothers. The National Registry Of Mothers is the founding project of the Museum Of Motherhood, a project initiated by The Motherhood Foundation, Mamapalooza and The Association for Research On Mothering (ARM).
Everyone who IS a mother, HAS a mother or wants to SHARE a mother story PLEASE REGISTER YOURS. Entries will be archived and be made available as the Museum moves from virtual to real in the Village of Seneca Falls, NY, home of the Woman's Suffragette Movement and Women's Hall Of Fame.
For more information on the National Registry of Mothers or to stay updated on the Museum of Motherhood initiative please e-mail ARM and Mamapalooza at: mommygirlgogo@aol.com, aoreilly@yorku.ca, arm@yorku.ca
EXCITING NEWS FOR MOTHERS AND MOTHERHOOD SCHOLARS!!!
The motherhood foundation has established a national registry of mothers. The National Registry Of Mothers is the founding project of the Museum Of Motherhood, a project initiated by The Motherhood Foundation, Mamapalooza and The Association for Research On Mothering (ARM).
Everyone who IS a mother, HAS a mother or wants to SHARE a mother story PLEASE REGISTER YOURS. Entries will be archived and be made available as the Museum moves from virtual to real in the Village of Seneca Falls, NY, home of the Woman's Suffragette Movement and Women's Hall Of Fame.
For more information on the National Registry of Mothers or to stay updated on the Museum of Motherhood initiative please e-mail ARM and Mamapalooza at: mommygirlgogo@aol.com, aoreilly@yorku.ca, arm@yorku.ca
Writings on mothering wanted
WANTED: Your Stories (& Check out this MUST SEE film!)
MOTHER: THE JOB is launching a national multi-media exhibit in San Francisco this fall. The exhibit is another step in raising individual, societal and political consciousness of the need to value the work of mothers - all mothers - by implementing policies that help today's families live more balanced lives in the work place and in the home.
Your words will live in the "Hidden in Plain Sight" section of the exhibit - an entire floating wall covered with writings by mothers. The writings, placed side-by-side will create a faux mural at first glance, reminding us that the work of mothers is indeed "hidden in plain sight."
The stories will be reprinted from your original works sharing experiences of:
A) Sacrifices incumbent upon women during the child rearing years. This might include anything from career pursuits, to respect, to simply enjoying an hour alone.
B) The unique journey of child bearing and child rearing
C) Being the primary caregiver of a child in the absence of the birth mother.
All writings welcome - if you are a primary caregiver of a child, you are a mother!
It's fabulous! Don't miss it. View it now. To learn more about the entire exhibit log on to www.motherthejob.org.
MOTHER: THE JOB is launching a national multi-media exhibit in San Francisco this fall. The exhibit is another step in raising individual, societal and political consciousness of the need to value the work of mothers - all mothers - by implementing policies that help today's families live more balanced lives in the work place and in the home.
Your words will live in the "Hidden in Plain Sight" section of the exhibit - an entire floating wall covered with writings by mothers. The writings, placed side-by-side will create a faux mural at first glance, reminding us that the work of mothers is indeed "hidden in plain sight."
The stories will be reprinted from your original works sharing experiences of:
A) Sacrifices incumbent upon women during the child rearing years. This might include anything from career pursuits, to respect, to simply enjoying an hour alone.
B) The unique journey of child bearing and child rearing
C) Being the primary caregiver of a child in the absence of the birth mother.
All writings welcome - if you are a primary caregiver of a child, you are a mother!
It's fabulous! Don't miss it. View it now. To learn more about the entire exhibit log on to www.motherthejob.org.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Disciplining myself
I said I'd do another post about my own discipline confessions. I did do some soul searching after my reading and I found 2 areas I really need to work on.
I'm guilty of using vague language. When playtime gets a little rough and I intervene, I shouldn't be saying "Play nice with your friends." How is a 2 year old supposed to know what nice means? Sounds obvious but I've said such words a bunch of times and once I started listening to other moms we're all guilty of that sort of language. Adverbs just weren't designed for little people. So I've started substituting descriptive language. "When we play with the train, it stays on it's tracks" in place of previous nondescript phrase. Harder than it sounds since it's requiring a bit of a phase shift in the mental patterns.
Also, I phrase requests to my 2 year old the same as I would to an adult. Good modeling but not so good at getting the actions I want. I start too many sentences with "Could you..." These are often not really requests such as "Could you come here so we can put your shoes on?" A fellow adult would see the need and not bat an eye but a snarky toddler sees the opening for a big debate. I'm trying to rephrase so that he either gets a command or real choices. So it's better when I say "I need you to come here so we can put your shoes on." Much clearer path to consequences and less opening for debate. Or, "We need to put your shoes on. Do you want to do it on the sofa or the chair?" So he gets some control but the shoes get on.
I'm sure in 6 months I'll have to reread all the books to work on a whole new stack of challenges but it at least gave me some things to work on and areas for improvement. I hope it pays off.
I'm guilty of using vague language. When playtime gets a little rough and I intervene, I shouldn't be saying "Play nice with your friends." How is a 2 year old supposed to know what nice means? Sounds obvious but I've said such words a bunch of times and once I started listening to other moms we're all guilty of that sort of language. Adverbs just weren't designed for little people. So I've started substituting descriptive language. "When we play with the train, it stays on it's tracks" in place of previous nondescript phrase. Harder than it sounds since it's requiring a bit of a phase shift in the mental patterns.
Also, I phrase requests to my 2 year old the same as I would to an adult. Good modeling but not so good at getting the actions I want. I start too many sentences with "Could you..." These are often not really requests such as "Could you come here so we can put your shoes on?" A fellow adult would see the need and not bat an eye but a snarky toddler sees the opening for a big debate. I'm trying to rephrase so that he either gets a command or real choices. So it's better when I say "I need you to come here so we can put your shoes on." Much clearer path to consequences and less opening for debate. Or, "We need to put your shoes on. Do you want to do it on the sofa or the chair?" So he gets some control but the shoes get on.
I'm sure in 6 months I'll have to reread all the books to work on a whole new stack of challenges but it at least gave me some things to work on and areas for improvement. I hope it pays off.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Martha meets NASA
This is an excerpt from Yes! Magazine that I thought was so nifty I'd circulate widely. To subscribe or support their work, visit their website http://www.yesmagazine.org.
So, you’ve made the “green” energy-efficiency improvements to your home. Windows and doors are tightly sealed, and extra insulation keeps you in a comfy cocoon. But less drafty airflow can mean stale air at best, and toxic air at worst.
Here’s a “green” solution: houseplants.
Years ago, NASA scientists demonstrated that certain plants break apart the chemicals most commonly released by plastics, paints, synthetic carpets, and cleaning supplies.
Why are they such efficient air purifiers?
Most houseplants evolved in subtropical forests, where they received light filtered through the branches of taller trees. Because of this, their leaf composition allows them to photosynthesize under relatively low light conditions, which allows them to process gases efficiently. Soil and roots also play a role. Microorganisms in the soil become more adept at using these materials as a food source as they are exposed to them for longer periods of time. Their effectiveness is increased if lower leaves that cover the soil surface are removed so there is as much soil contact with the air as possible.
It takes about 16 houseplants in 6- to 8-inch diameter containers to improve air quality in a 1,800 square foot house. Some non-poisonous standouts from the NASA study: spider plant, golden pothos, peace lily, chinese evergreen, ficus, gerbera daisy, and rubber plant.
Various species were tested with trichloroethylene, used in dry cleaning, paints, lacquers, and adhesives; benzene, solvent in gasoline, paints, dyes, plastics, and foams; and formaldehyde, more common and more toxic, used in particle board, office furniture, household cleaners, fire retardants, and carpets.
This is how much of the contaminants were removed by plants from a sealed room in 24 hours:
Trichloroethylene Benzene Formaldehyde
Dracaena Massangeana
70% 21.4% 12.5%
Dracaena Deremensis
50 70 20
Ficus Benjamina
47.4 30 10.5
Peace Lily spacer
50 80 23
Golden Pothos
67 67 9.2
Chrysanthemum
61 53 41
So, you’ve made the “green” energy-efficiency improvements to your home. Windows and doors are tightly sealed, and extra insulation keeps you in a comfy cocoon. But less drafty airflow can mean stale air at best, and toxic air at worst.
Here’s a “green” solution: houseplants.
Years ago, NASA scientists demonstrated that certain plants break apart the chemicals most commonly released by plastics, paints, synthetic carpets, and cleaning supplies.
Why are they such efficient air purifiers?
Most houseplants evolved in subtropical forests, where they received light filtered through the branches of taller trees. Because of this, their leaf composition allows them to photosynthesize under relatively low light conditions, which allows them to process gases efficiently. Soil and roots also play a role. Microorganisms in the soil become more adept at using these materials as a food source as they are exposed to them for longer periods of time. Their effectiveness is increased if lower leaves that cover the soil surface are removed so there is as much soil contact with the air as possible.
It takes about 16 houseplants in 6- to 8-inch diameter containers to improve air quality in a 1,800 square foot house. Some non-poisonous standouts from the NASA study: spider plant, golden pothos, peace lily, chinese evergreen, ficus, gerbera daisy, and rubber plant.
Various species were tested with trichloroethylene, used in dry cleaning, paints, lacquers, and adhesives; benzene, solvent in gasoline, paints, dyes, plastics, and foams; and formaldehyde, more common and more toxic, used in particle board, office furniture, household cleaners, fire retardants, and carpets.
This is how much of the contaminants were removed by plants from a sealed room in 24 hours:
Trichloroethylene Benzene Formaldehyde
Dracaena Massangeana
70% 21.4% 12.5%
Dracaena Deremensis
50 70 20
Ficus Benjamina
47.4 30 10.5
Peace Lily spacer
50 80 23
Golden Pothos
67 67 9.2
Chrysanthemum
61 53 41
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Discipline discussion
So we had a very disciplined discussion this month.
The reading highlights that I did:
One of the standouts was Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky Bailey, PhD. It really emphasized good, clear communication skills that frankly I'm able to put to use at work as well as with my toddler. I did get a bit bogged down on how she's labeling her approach ie, the 7 powers for self control vs. the 7 discipline skills but within each it was concisely written and helpful. It reminded me of the work of Marshall Rosenberg. His Center for Nonviolent Communication is http://www.cnvc.org.
Mary Sheedy Kurcinka has 2 books I read. I read Raising Your Spirited Child last year and found it insightful. For this group I read Kids, Parents and Power Struggles. There is a fair bit of overlap between the 2 books. She does rely heavily on personality type, trying to decipher both yours and your kids and adjusting your behavior appropriately. I think that will be of more value as my kid gets older.
See my previous post about Playful Parenting by Lawrence Cohen, PhD.
I did read some 'regular' discipline books such as Drawing the Line by Michael Weiss, PhD and Sheldon Wagner, PhD. Their whole book is easily summarized - any behavior you've identified as a problem is solved through as many short time outs as it takes to change the behavior. That just left me with wondering with what happens when your kid is physically too big to carry around? It didn't leave me feeling like it added to my skill set. Also, Dr. Karp's Happiest Toddler on the Block. I was underwhelmed by that one - poorly arranged and simplistic. Besides, I already have the happiest toddler on the block since I have the only one.
A good book list for more ideas is on the gentle discipline forum for Mothering magazine. You can join here.
So after all that reading I'm going to do another post next week about how I'm attempting to transform myself into WonderMom through better communication.
The reading highlights that I did:
One of the standouts was Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky Bailey, PhD. It really emphasized good, clear communication skills that frankly I'm able to put to use at work as well as with my toddler. I did get a bit bogged down on how she's labeling her approach ie, the 7 powers for self control vs. the 7 discipline skills but within each it was concisely written and helpful. It reminded me of the work of Marshall Rosenberg. His Center for Nonviolent Communication is http://www.cnvc.org.
Mary Sheedy Kurcinka has 2 books I read. I read Raising Your Spirited Child last year and found it insightful. For this group I read Kids, Parents and Power Struggles. There is a fair bit of overlap between the 2 books. She does rely heavily on personality type, trying to decipher both yours and your kids and adjusting your behavior appropriately. I think that will be of more value as my kid gets older.
See my previous post about Playful Parenting by Lawrence Cohen, PhD.
I did read some 'regular' discipline books such as Drawing the Line by Michael Weiss, PhD and Sheldon Wagner, PhD. Their whole book is easily summarized - any behavior you've identified as a problem is solved through as many short time outs as it takes to change the behavior. That just left me with wondering with what happens when your kid is physically too big to carry around? It didn't leave me feeling like it added to my skill set. Also, Dr. Karp's Happiest Toddler on the Block. I was underwhelmed by that one - poorly arranged and simplistic. Besides, I already have the happiest toddler on the block since I have the only one.
A good book list for more ideas is on the gentle discipline forum for Mothering magazine. You can join here.
So after all that reading I'm going to do another post next week about how I'm attempting to transform myself into WonderMom through better communication.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Mothering Survey
My husband and I were both grad students once so I'm very sympathetic to student research. A woman, who's also a mom, in the School of Public Health at University of WA (full disclosure - my husband and I both have degrees from UW) is conducting a survey for her research.
Help all womankind by taking 10 minutes for fill out the survey here.
Help all womankind by taking 10 minutes for fill out the survey here.
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