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Learning  All  Around^tm
Information    For    Mindful    Family    Living

The newsletter of Wears The Baby^tm, distributing cool and useful goodies for nurtured children and mindful family life.

Volume 1, Issue 3, January 1998

Inside this issue
Feature Article
– getting it out there
Still Thinking
– book excerpts to consider
Papa
– views on fatherhood
Site Seeing
– cool web sites
Buy, Sell & Barter
– goods ‘n’ services

AND MORE...

Who is the New Homemaker? She is the person who has discovered that having both partners in the work world is not "having it all." Children, elders and the community have been sacrificed for a generation to the crazy notion that households can run themselves.

You may be wondering right about now, "What's so new about homemaking? It's as old as, well, homes." Absolutely. But look around.

Domestic skills that were once common are now rare. Don't believe me? If you're under the age of 40, bake a loaf of bread, or, if this mystifies you, sew a pretty blouse, knit a sweater--or even get a really tough stain out of the toilet. Then show your friends. Chances are they'll make a huge fuss over your amazing ability, one that most women born before 1950 took completely for granted.

In a generation, we have lost hundreds, maybe thousands of years of domestic knowledge. Girls are raised now with no idea how to run a household; it's assumed they'll never have to. And besides, their own mothers probably don't know how to run a household now themselves.

We had feminist mothers who didn't believe in domesticity. We had domestic grandmothers who didn't know about feminism. The former threw the baby out with the bathwater in their zest for self-realization. The latter were too busy scrubbing the bathtub to think about self-anything.

Why would anyone want to return to the home? Isn't it boring, self-sacrificing, old-fashioned? Those are the base assumptions of our culture. But our culture's unchallenged assumptions about both partners working, when examined, may turn out not to reflect your values, or even your best interests. These are assumptions we hear every day: You can't make it on one income. You'd be bored at home. Your career will suffer. Daycare is good for children. The schools are raising your children just fine.

I can refute each and every one of these assumptions easily and in detail, but I'll sum it up in one popular phrase: On your deathbed, as you look back over your life, would you really turn to your children and say, "Gee, I wish I'd spent more time at the office"?

Increasingly, something is just giving in people; they've had enough. One too many breastmilk pumping sessions in the toilet stall at work, one too many microwaved TV dinners, one too many requests from a wistful child for more of a parent's time--or worse, one too many reports of problems with a child from a teacher--and families start to reassess their priorities. More and more young families are looking around and realizing that much of what's wrong with American home life today is that NO ONE'S HOME.

Single-income families are the fastest-growing segment of the American population. In ever greater numbers, one of the family adults is choosing to stay home and keep house--to care for and even school children, to care for elderly relatives, to care for the partner working outside the home, to care for the surrounding community, and any combination of the above. That adult can be male or female, but is usually female. She's taking responsibility for her own family instead of expecting other people to do it, either for pay or by government mandate.

But this much is true: Homemaking can be a lonely, thankless task, especially when you feel like you don't know what you're doing. And that's where TNH comes in. Our goal is to provide the resources, tools and support you need to create the home you want, with no condescension.

Today's homemakers must take the best from what our foremothers have to offer us--both the independent thinkers and the shy housewives--and create something new, a homemaker who knows the value of her work, respects herself, and gets respect from the rest of the world. Every person who puts his or her family's best interests first, as people have for centuries, is now a rebel, reclaiming an America that might never have been except in our minds and hearts, but that deserves to be born.

Homemaking is a craft, an art; make it your job, because it's the most important job in the world. Study it. Improve yourself. Respect your work. It does get easier.

--Lynn Siprelle, editor, TNH

Still Thinking...
good books

From It's Easier Than You Think, by Sylvia Boorstein

    The Second Noble Truth of the Buddha is that craving anything is suffering. Often it is translated as "the cause of suffering is craving," but I think that misses the point. Cause sounds like something happens first and produces a particular result. It could be construed as "crave now, suffer later." I believe it is "crave now, suffer now."
    I once heard someone say that a sign of enlightenment was the ability to say (and mean it) in any moment, "Well, this isn't what I want, but it's what I got, so okay."
    My son Peter's mother-in-law not only tolerates unpleasantness with grace, she often can appreciate it. She is the only person I have ever driven with on Los Angeles freeways, with cars whizzing in and out of lanes arbitrarily, in snarly, congested, smoggy traffic tie-ups, who says, with genuine awe, "Wow! Look at all these people going places!"
    It's a big step, of course, from freeways to famines to wars, but it's wonderful to have confirmation that spacious acceptance is humanly possible. Spiritual practice might be discovering that potential in ourselves and enlarging it. The Third Noble Truth says it is indeed possible.

Some people think that the turn of the century will bring chaos. In fact, a growing number of people think so. We are worried about the Y2K threat to the world’s computer chips and how it will affect global trade and our ability to get everything from food to electricity to money. There is also the perceived threat of apocalyptic fanatics. A couple of years ago, the movie Twelve Monkeys came out which depicted one scenario of doomsday. And in the news the other day, a group of people were arrested in Jerusalem who had been planning some manner of terrorism to induce the end of the world.

Let’s imagine the extreme case: worldwide depression sets in by mid-January as economic systems fail and trade shuts down. There are explosions and attacks at least daily in the ten largest cities in the world. In America, grocery stores can’t get food delivered because the packing plants in Nicaragua, Taiwan and Mexico are shut down. People lose their 401(k)s. By March, the country is destitute. People have forgotten the English language, resorting to hand gestures and grunts. Small campfires with huddles of dirty, hairy people wrapped in burlap and duct tape refuse to let wanderers into the circle of warmth. Everything looks like a black-and-white movie – Dorothy’s Kansas before OZ.

For me, I am putting stock in my family relationships. I will still be a son to my father and a father to my sons. I will still be a husband. Since becoming a father, I have gradually, but nonetheless profoundly, changed in the way I view our world.

What has changed? Several things. The nature of my fears have changed from will I make it? to will they make it? I used to fear outside things like will I get all of the stuff I need? Now, I fear things like will my wife leave me or will my sons get along like I do with my brothers? And my courage has changed. I used to think I had to feel courageous. Now, I must simply act courageous, regardless of how I feel. I see with my sons how my words and posturing mean very little. They see what I do.

The turn of the century is a very powerful time. We are all somehow more awake or, at least, called to be more awake. How thrilling it is for me to recognize that my fatherhood calls me into action. I feel a surge of power and meaning, and a sense of leadership that I attribute to it. In some measure I have been scared by my fatherhood, too – the responsibility, the challenge, – because where most activities are continual, fatherhood is continuous. There is not a time when I am not a father. Ultimately, I think, fatherhood calls me to be at my best. And while I know I will fail myself from time to time, I also know I will prevail – which is, perhaps, the most significant change in me since becoming a father.

Like the coming 21st century, there is no turning back.

Activisim in a minute

Click here to take a vote on breastfeeding.  It will ask you if you nurse, nursed or plan to nurse, and for how long.  The introduction refers to the widely believed myth that a significant number of women can't breastfeed.  Speak your mind about this too, by adding a comment after your vote.

The DK Letter Page
Great books and software for children and adults...

I recently began distributing the really cool books like the ones you see here at Dorling Kindersley's Online Store.  As a distributor, I can offer them at a better price, and am also able to have TONS of beautiful books in my home as a part of my job.  Let me know if you'd like more information about distributorship, or would like to receive a free catalog. DKFL offers great employment opportunities and hundreds of titles exclusively through distributors, and many other titles found in retail stores and on the web are offered through me at a discount of 10-30%.

January Specials!

January is a pretty amazing month for DKFL specials on books and software.  The books that are marked down include children's and adults' titles on:

Yoga, Tai Chi, World Religion, Egyptions, Ocean Life, Knights and Castles, Ancient Civilizations, Rocks and Fossils, Birdfeeders, Flower Gardening, Homeopathy, Inventions, Geography, Cooking, Baking, World History, Nature Experiments, Weather, Seasons, Family Life, Disabilities, Pregnancy and Birth, Spanish language, Music, Vacation Activities, Games, Outdoor Activities, Prayer, Art, Insects, Earth Science, Plants, Robots, Machines, Animals as well as atlases, dictionaries and encyclopedias.

As usual, DKFL doesn't allow me to post book and software titles on my web page, but I can send you an email of the January Specials, including exact titles, sale prices, and usually URLs at Amazon or DKOnline..  If you would like me to do that, send me an email with "DK-January" in the subject line and I will send it off to you.  If you would like to receive the specials by email each month, sign up below.

If you have considered hosting a DK Book Look, now is the time...

From December 12 to January 11, you will receive a 40% Host Award!  For example, if the guests of your party order $350 in books, you get to choose $140 worth of books FREE.  And for the remainder of January, the host award is 30%.  Beginning in February, it is the regular 20%.

Ask me about long-distance book looks if you would like to earn free books and software and don't live near Cincinnati.

Site Seeing
sites we like...
 

Sixdegrees is a fun site for exploring the notion that we are connected to everyone in the world by six degrees or less.  In other words, I am connected to Jerry Garcia because my aunt's step-son has an employer whose daughter met him backstage.  And you could be connected to the Dali Lama in that his assistant is the uncle of your neighbor's best friend.  We don't need this web site to know that we are all connected, but it is fascinating to see it in action, and an inspiration to remember that our every word and action makes a difference.   (sixdegrees.com)
 

Daddy a Go Go
click here...

This is a small site featuring the happy music of a couple of dads.  It is very silly, and sure to have you dancing.  They have their CD for sale, but also have many clips you can download and hear for yourself.   (daddyagogo.com)
 

Clean House Clean Planet
click here...

Features the book, Clean House Clean Planet, by Karen Logan.  This is a wonderful book containing many environmentally safe, and wonderfully smelling house cleaning recipes.  She has some of the recipes listed on her site for your use, and has free labels that can be printed and applied to your bottles of natural cleansers.   (cleanhouse.com)

Buy, Sell, & Barter
goods ‘n’ services
 
Jodi Harris - Cincinnati - 513-731-7013
Offerings
Knitting and other craft work instruction
Wishes
Roto-tiller
Internet instruction

Rose Vanden-Eynden - Cincinnati - 513-956-7827
Offerings
Licensed Massage Therapy, Energy and Spiritual Healing, Intuitive readings and psychic consultations, Classes in mediumship development
Wishes
Astrological charts and interpretations for the family, Custom picture framing, Wallpapering and house painting services, Bean/water table for children, Train table for children

The Scott Family, Cincinnati – (513) 631-2694
Offerings
Gymnastics instruction
Internet training
Proofreading
General computer help
Resume consulting
Wishes
Car repairs and maintenance
Periodic housecleaning
Dance lessons for children

Melissa Fannen, Cincinnati – 531-3009
Offerings
Nutrition consulting
Wishes
Toys made from natural materials, new & used

The Robeson-Jacobsen Family, Cincinnati – (513) 792-0144
Offerings
Healthy homemade bread and other baked goods
Graphic design services (bus. cards, brochures, etc)
Puppet shows for birthday parties
Organic produce
Wishes
Red checked picnic table cloth
Beeswax candles
Haircuts
Used clothing–adults and children

Wears The Baby^tm now has a new feature -- the "Family Issues" Page.  You can see it here!
Included so far are articles on discipline, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, birth plans, and toddler sharing.
Please feel free to comment on the articles, submit articles to be added, or ask for additional information on a listed topic.

Specials for December and January  

Any order over $50 comes  with a free gift. 
 
Buy a sling, get a kidsling FREE!  
 
Nursing Memories Journals $18.99 (regularly $24)   
 

Educate Before You Vaccinate
from the Concerned Parents for Vaccine Safety Home Page

"What's in a shot?"

These are just some of the ingredients used to make a vaccine:

Ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
Phenol also known as carbolic acid (this is used as a disinfectant, dye)
Formaldehyde a known cancer causing agent
Aluminum which is associated with Alzheimers disease and seizures also cancer producing in laboratory mice (it is used as an additive to promote antibody response)
Thimerosal ( used as a mercury disinfectant/ perservative) can result in brain injury and autoimmune disease
Neomycin , Streptomycin ( used as antibiotic) have caused allergic reaction in some people

These vaccines are also grown and strained thru animal or human tissue like monkey kidney tissue , chicken embryo, embryonic guinea pig cells, calf serum, human diploid cells ( the dissected organs of aborted human fetuses as in the case of rubella, hepatitis A, and chickenpox vaccines)

The problem with animal cells is that during serial passage of the virus thru the animal cells, is that animal RNA and DNA can be transferred from one host to another and undetected animal viruses may slip past quality control testing procedures as in 1955 thru 1961 with SV40 which stands for simian virus#40 (meaning the 40th virus found) which has oncogenic properties (cancer causing) What other viruses could be slipping by that we don't know of?

TO FURTHER EDUCATE YOURSELF ABOUT VACCINATION, SEE THIS PAGE OF LINKS TO OTHER HELPFUL SITES.