The Three Rs
Posted by Erin
Yesterday, I threw away a soda bottle. I just threw it in the garbage with no thought to where it came from or where it would end up, whether or not it began its life as a tire or if it would end up as a disposable diaper. I just didn’t care. Except that I did! As soon as I shut the trash can cabinet door, that little voice in my head said, “why didn’t you recycle that?” And that voice sounded an awful lot like my daughter’s. Since my children started elementary school, I’ve noticed a distinct shift. When I was young(er), recycling and being “green” was not part of the common culture. Sure, there were always those folks who recycled paper or complained about where all of those old tires would go, but no one in the schools talked about the environment. The hole in the ozone layer [...]
Ladies’ Night
Posted by Erin
Six Saturdays from now is blocked off on my calendar. Well, all of my calendars: the work one, the personal one, and the one I share with my children’s father. There are few details on that calendar entry; all it says is “Ladies’ Night.” It started off as “Girls’ Night,” but then I got a reality check and realized that no one in my motley group of friends could legitimately be called a “girl” anymore, so Ladies’ Night it is. The idea for this night out on the town started approximately six months ago, during one of those rare phone conversations with a friend I haven’t seen in ages. At the end of the call, one of us said something like “we have to get together for dinner and a movie sometime.” That’s where it started, but it’s taken six months to get six weeks away from the actual date. [...]
End of an Era
Posted by Martha
Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported on all the ways you can stream movies and television in the wake of the Netflix change in business model and communications debacle. Two months ago, my husband and I made a huge leap and canceled cable television in favor of streaming movies and television.
It wasn’t a quick decision by any means; months of planning and research and practice drills using hypothetical scenarios involving a new season of trashy reality show that may or may not be available through internet television. And then there’s the airtight strategy to ensure we never miss an NFL broadcast. Gasp.
We now live in a house without appointment television or channel surfing. When the television turns on, we need some kind of direction to go in. [...]
The Fight
Posted by Ward
I was at work yesterday and my phone rings. As most people do, I checked the phone number to see if I recognized it. It was one of those familiar looking numbers that I just couldn’t place. So, feeling like I needed to add a little risk to my day in the office, I answered the call. Turns out it was the principal of my sons’ school. She said, “Andrew was in a fight today and I would like to meet with you, Andrew and his mother tomorrow morning to discuss this.”
My first reaction was to ask if he won, but I stopped in mid-sentence and asked if the boys involved were OK. I kind of already knew Andrew would be – he’s just that kind of a kid.
Andrew is six and actually having a pretty good year in kindergarten, so this was a surprise. And, although he is a stocky, tough [...]
