I can't like this, but this makes me feel better. I know it happens to lots of kids, I just felt horrible and helpless watching her fall. I don't want to be that hovery parent that doesn't let her take any risks, I just wish it didn't involve so much splatting. :/
Should I tell you I was once so un-hovery that I accused DS of faking a foot injury. Actually it was a stress fracture that required casting ;-)
I can't find the happy medium yet.
I remember that! But to be fair, it did totally seem like he was faking it to hang out with your husband.
NCU So one of my students is a student athlete and is falling behind because of the pressure of the season. Well, they played in the conference championship game tonight and FFTC the instructor in me actually wanted them to lose so this kid could focus on his classes. Well....they won and are now on to the NCAA tournament. I teach for my alma mater so I'm happy as an alumnus but ugh at the same time. I do not like feeling pressured to make exceptions for student athletes. Like I told him in an email, some of his classmates work full time and are raising a family and still get their assignments in on time, it's doable. Not to mention he's supposed to be doing service-learning hours for this class, too. Back to my stack of grading....
@officedronette I'm so sorry you guys have had to join the curly slide incident club. I think you'll find yourself in good company. I tend to be hovery on the playground, and I'm not really a hovery mom. They were made for bigger kids (for the most part), so we're not really hovering so much as enabling our children to play at a more advanced level with supervision
But seriously, thank goodness toddler are made of rubber. I'm proud of your L for getting back on the slide. My L will go down any slide except for THE slide now.
@ceci8876 I do agree with you - I think this strike really lacks focus, and it absolutely is a luxury to even be able to strike at all. And "if you have to go to work, wear red instead" is a lot like the "wear a safety pin" thing, in that it's really just a gesture to make yourself feel better. I think they tried to organize it to land on National Women's Day, but it wasn't enough time to really figure out what they wanted to accomplish and make that goal clear.
That being said, I'll still wear red tomorrow, and I could not go in, but it would be an inconvenience to myself and my students, so I'm choosing to work. Worst striker ever.
I won't participate in a day without women because I'm on maternity leave. I'll be curious to see what my office is like though, since my department is almost all women. I do think it speaks volumes that men aren't worried or making contingency plans for tomorrow. Kind of like when I threaten to stop doing everything I do at home lol. I guess not letting everything go to complete shit is a womanly flaw? I can't wait to hear from the ladies that do participate or go to a march.
@ceci8876 I have many feelings on your post. Many of the things you mentioned, phone drives, writing letters, etc are things that are already a part of the platform of the women's march. The push to get more women involved in politics whether it's helping a campaign, running for office, or volunteering is unlike anything I have seen in my lifetime.
Another thing to consider, the women who wore white, are working their butts off every day fighting a sexist fuck and his combative administration. They are on the front lines, too. I was moved by seeing them wearing white. Resistance comes in many forms. It comes in the form of symbolism and action. I know so many women who are doing both.
Another thing to consider, since it isn't 1950 anymore thank God, women hold a higher place in the job market. Many of us are breadwinners of our families. Right now (not for much longer because my H got a promotion) I actually make more than him. My job is also important to me. I've been on a project (Kalahari Waterpark in the poconos) since I started there in 2014. We just finished phase 2 and are onto phase 3, but a big part of my job is closing out projects and it's important to me to not miss a day because I am in the middle of closing out the multi million dollar contract that is Kalahari. My boss and I were brand new and given phase 1 by the CEO, and we kept getting awarded more work. It's important to me.
I don't think it's okay to make a broad sweeping generalization on why some of us won't be missing work today. I will still be calling my senator, donating to planned parenthood, and writing letters to elected officials.
Protest comes in all forms and we all come from different walks of life. Let's continue to support each other as women, our choices, and lift each other up.
catladymeow my jaw hit the floor. Just the amount they offered above list would get you a very very nice house here. That market is unfathomable to me.
Ok, now I'm even more upset about this school closing issue, @ceci8876 . My dear friend was just pink-slipped yesterday. She's a third grade teacher in her NINTH year of teaching in public schools. It feels really wrong for teachers to be walking out to the point where schools are closing (and therefore losing state and federal funding). The trickle down effect is only harming students.
Ugh this hit me like a gut punch. Your poor friend. I'm so sorry.
@katechristine18 Kate, my friend, I agree with you that protest comes in all forms and that we have different life experiences. In my opinion, it's important to have activism grow from the bottom up. The concerns of the most oppressed of us should be the driving force. At least that's how I see it. In multi-platform protests, things get watered down. Many things make up womanhood, so I understand why any real change involves many important issues. When the message is vague and widespread, I feel like the low hanging fruit gets picked and those who are really struggling, continue to struggle. The march is done, the stay home day is done and participants can roll around in symbolism. I'm not saying that you specifically are one of those people. It's the vibe that I get from real life conversations, radio programs, and reading a variety of thoughts and responses. Whether you participate or not, it's your call. Whether you have a major project or if you just didn't feel like it was meaningful enough for you, you don't have to explain. I think your work is commendable. No shade for you going to work. A feminist isn't a feminist just because she participates in all activities. Not participating in all activities doesn't revoke my feminist card. My comment was about the stark contrast between women say they "wish" they could make the sacrifice and can- but don't; and the women who say they "wish" they could make the sacrifice and really can't. There's a whole lot of grey area. I certainly would not want my uber feminist brain surgeon to be calling out of work in protest. That bitch betta werk and wear red under her scrubs!
I dug more into the women's march website and I like the 10 actions in 100 days. I REALLY like that. Concrete, definitive and targeted. I hope that they can get more focused and have clear direction. I wish it could be like:
For the next 6 months we are focusing on "insert issue here". We will be doing a coordinated letter writing campaign, a 3 day phone in, sit ins a state houses, launching a youtube video to highlight this issue, a coalition of celebrities will be going on late night shows and talk shows to bring increased awareness.... all on ONE issue at a time. Concrete, definitive and targeted.
We are way further along than we were. I personally have to make sure that I don't get caught up in the "feel good" and be more focused on the "do good"
lawandorder, I'm sorry about your friend. We really do need a variety of approaches. Not everyone can do everything. Some actions will be more meaningful to us than others. A good show of solidarity would be for her female co-workers to take a stand for her. Concrete, definitive, targeted. I hope she's ok.
...I didn't totally proof this. I'm late for a meeting
@ceci8876 Many of us, are going to continue to struggle for a while, I am very much included in that. But these acts, big or small, symbolic gestures (which mean more these days with the power of social media) combined with real action, big or small, it's going to take a lot of that to get where we need to be as women in this society. Especially with a Trump administration in charge. We all know this is not going to be easy. I cannot imagine what women in congress on both sides of the aisle feel having Trump as their President. As I type this, I am thinking about all of the women in Congress who are fighting their asses off to save the ACA, because they realize how important the ACA has been for women. They couldn't come out on the steps of the Capitol today with Nancy Pelosi and the other women who walked out, because they were in there fighting. Those were also some of the same women who wore white to honor the suffragettes during Trump's speech.
The activism I have seen, has inspired me and I do hear what you're saying about it being important to grow from the bottom up, and I guess I see it differently because I actually see a lot of that. I see so many people from all walks of life getting more involved in their communities and politics. I remember watching Barack's farewell address. When he said "grab a clipboard," I truly believe that sentence resonated with a lot of people. So many of us who believe in the Women's March platform, we are just trying to grab our clip boards. We are doing the best we can. Can we do better? Always. And the goal is to continue to be better. To be more involved in our communities. To run for office. To support more women owned businesses. I could go on and on.
The fact of that matter is that women are often left behind in even an economy like that of the United States, and that is the point of the action today, to make sure people don't forget that it's a real fact that we are left behind and it's unacceptable. And if you're unable to miss work for whatever reason that none of us should feel like we have to justify to someone else, there are other ways of action laid out to still be a part of it. Supporting small businesses owned by women and not spending money elsewhere, that is freaking awesome. and clear concise action. I am reading stories today about businesses owned by women being packed with men wearing red and women wearing red. It's stuff like this that gets the word out that we aren't going anywhere and that these issues that the Women's March platform supports are important. We are still here, and Trump and his band of sexist asshats need to be reminded of that as much as possible, which I know you agree with.
So many of us are doing good, yourself included. The days of feel good are over. This has all been a huge wake up call.
@ceci8876, I hear you on so much of this, but agree with @katechristine18 on her points as well.
I think it is a luxury to be able to strike today. Except, in my mind, taking a vacation day is not truly a strike.
It's sort of an odd predicament where the impact would be felt the most, there is also the most harm to people to deserve it the least (children, the ill, the elderly, etc.) because of where women tend to work. Walking out and forcing a business or an office to close would have an impact. But I don't think it's a reality for many people. And for me, taking a random day off during spring break has no negative impact except on myself because I have to work harder to make up the work another day.
I texted one of the teachers at DS' school to ask if they would be open tomorrow. She said yes, none of them are participating because it didn't feel right to hurt the kids and families by closing down. I think my about cousin, a pediatric hematology/oncology nurse, working with 99% women. What if they didn't show up? Or NICU nurses didn't show up? It would be devastating.
It's not simple. This is rambling. I don't think there's a right answer because it feels like the problems we're trying to address are just too big.
Are there no "minimum service" mandates? We're having a nation-wide strike in education tomorrow and the administators are legally required to be there - no one else.
I feel that the point will not get made if we are worrying about who we inconvenience.
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