The Problem with "Dream Girls"

Today, I ran across an article that I hoped was an exposition on the many things that are more important that physical attractiveness when choosing a mate. And it was. Kind of.

I should have known I was going to be disappointed from the first two words in the title, "dream girl," but I pressed on and read the article, hoping upon hope that it wasn't going to be the heaping pile of the most insidious type of sexism that it was.

If you ignore the content of Dream Girl: The Difference Between A Pretty Face And A Beautiful Person, the subheadings of the article ring true: I absolutely agree that passion, kindness, and uniqueness - among many other traits - are more important than traditional physical attractiveness in a partner.  Unfortunately, the author takes what could have been a wonderful concept for an article and turns it on its head with his unrealistic expectations and clear consideration of women as the "other."

An Accessible Birthday Party

A few years ago, we attempted our first big birthday party for the J-Rex.  It was, of course, a dinosaur theme, and we had all the typical activities you tend to have in birthday parties.  There was one little problem, though: the J-Rex didn't enjoy the activities as much as her guests because several, such as the coloring station and the dino egg hunt, did not account for her low vision.  Granted, the J-Rex is always a good sport about these things and was more interested in her friends having a good time than her own access to the activities, but it did make me, as her parent, think about how I might have done things differently.  

Last year's birthday wasn't an issue because she didn't really have any friends to invite to a party, being newly moved and newly homeschooled. This year, however, she has a lot of kids she spends time with that she wanted to invite to a big party for her 8th birthday.  I like entertaining, so I'm only too happy to oblige, but I certainly wanted to put into practice some of the reflections I had after the last party and make this one accessible to the J-Rex and all of her friends, many of whom have varying degrees of visual impairment. 

How often does the visually impaired child get invited to a birthday party where they actually can participate equally in all of the activities? As Ghandi said, "be the change you wish to see in the world." I like the idea of the change starting with us and, besides, we want the party to be fun for everyone!

Cultivating an Open Mind by Teaching Forgotten Histories

The other day, in Social Studies, the J-Rex and I were reading about the beginnings of civilization.  As we read, I found myself objecting to the anti-indigenous bent to the way our book addressed the issue, as if all hunter-gatherer cultures were inherently savage and "lesser" than the civilizations that were forming at the time. 

Meditation, Yoga, & the Distracted Child: Sa Ta Na Ma Meditation

A while back, the J-Rex's Occupational Therapist began working with her on a finger isolation technique that involved touching your thumb to each fingertip in turn.  When the J-Rex told me about the exercise, I was immediately reminded of a meditation listed in her yoga book:

A Reluctant Homeschooler: How it all Began

Homeschooling the J-Rex was never something I had planned on doing.  I was educated in the public school system and that is what I had planned for my daughter:

Wobbly Wednesday

Nystagmus

Today is the first-ever International Nystagmus Awareness Day! I am incredibly glad that this condition is receiving some attention, as it is thanks to a doctor knowing about nystagmus that we were able to find out about the J-Rex's eye conditions as early as we did. You see, when the J-Rex was four months old, her pediatrician noticed the movement of her eyes and suggested we see a pediatric opthamologist. After that first specialist visit, the rest is history - a history blessed with us having been able to take advantage of all kinds of early intervention resources and education that we might not have had access to, had our doctor not been aware of nystagmus.

So, in honor of the first Nystagmus Awareness Day, I'm going to throw some awareness your way with a brief FAQ about nystagmus and our family's experience with it: