I go away for one weekend to introduce my baby to her grandmother, and the internet explodes with responses to author Erica Jong’s diatribe against attachment parenting in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal. I mostly appreciate the comments of Madeleine Holler on Babble’s Strollerderby in response to Jong’s piece. But a few things strike me as…
Activism & Politics
Farm to School Week underway!
As I wrote about last week, November 8-12 is Virginia Farm to School week, as made official by the Virginia General Assembly. Today I share more about the efforts in Alexandria and Arlington public schools in my column at the Washington Times Communities Family Today. Click here for my previous post about Alexandria’s George Mason…
Virginia celebrates Farm to School Week — spotlight on Alexandria’s George Mason Elementary
With my son in currently attending a Waldorf preschool that makes all its own food from scratch (from organic ingredients), it’s been too easy for me to ignore what’s going on in public school cafeterias. Next week, November 8-12, 2010 Virginia will celebrate its second Virginia Farm to School Week, part of the greater Farm…
Walking the talk (to slow down)
There’s so much to report on from the Freedom for Family Wellness Summit. But I have hardly had the time to go through my the messy, sketchy notes I took while my baby girl slept in the sling. And as it turns out, I missed a lot of the conference because it was just too…
Peggy O’Mara at Family Wellness Summit
I promised myself I would not stay up late since I have to get up before sunrise to make it back to Reston for the birth panel at the Freedom for Family Wellness summit. But I also will focus better if I can at least share some pearls of wisdom from Mothering magazine editor Peggy…
Blog Action Day: Water!
This Blog Action Day post addresses flouride, plastic bottles, and other issues of safety and environmental awareness related to water.
On the bookshelf… Women and power
A few weeks ago, I went to a wonderful event with Gloria Feldt. She is one inspiring woman! Once a teen mom, Gloria went on to raise three children and to work for 30 years for Planned Parenthood, serving as its national president until 2005. I’ve only made a dent into her book so far…
Happy Midwifery Week!
I just found out that it’s National Midwifery Week! I want to publicly thank the midwives I have worked with who have supported me before, during and after pregnancies. Thanks to the midwives at BirthCare and Women’s Health, to Tammi McKinley, CPM, of Northern Virginia Midwifery, Susan Dodge, formerly of BirthCare, and Marilee Pinkleton, CPM,…
No, I don’t think I’ll become a Bradley instructor
I remember the first time I got a message from the Bradley Method® of Natural Childbirth after my son’s c-section in 2006. The subject heading — “The World Needs More Bradley® Instructors!” — didn’t exactly feel warm and fuzzy to my tender belly and the emotional guts beneath it. But it was the contents of…
CNN report on high fructose corn syrup
The CNN report for which I was interviewed about high fructose corn syrup is now online. View it here! Thanks to reporters Brianna Keilar and Lesa Jansen for taking on this issue! Read more about my opinions on HFCS here.
Wellness events in October
October is a crazy-busy month for natural-minded health and wellness junkies in and around Washington, DC. Pathways, the free magazine you see at massage therapy centers, health food stores, and the offices of alternative medicine practitioners is having its Natural Living Expo on Sunday, October 3 in Adelphi, Maryland. Folks who like to teach their…
Performance workshop for cesarean and VBAC mamas
A year ago, at the Kennedy Center’s Page to Stage weekend, I saw a staged reading of Karen Brody’s play Michelle Obama: Taskmaster. Now the author of Birth: The Play is holding what sounds like an amazing workshop for moms who have had cesarean sections and VBACs. If I didn’t have a newborn and live…
The clothes make the man, but do they make the baby?
I don’t understand why people get so defensive when strangers make the wrong assumption about their baby’s gender. Who cares what other people think? Why is it an insult either way? I’ve heard lots of people complain about ignorant commenters, “I mean, she had bows in her hair. She was wearing pink!” Or “He had…
I had a baby! HBAC story
This is the story of my home waterbirth, a VBAC.
ACOG’s new guidelines in VBAC seek to reduce repeat c-sections
Woo hoo! The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has revised its guidelines to say that “vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) is a safe and appropriate choice for most women who have had a prior cesarean delivery, including for some women who have had two previous cesareans…” Finally! Maybe they were listening at the…
Feedback from Mothering magazine — how we all find our way
Dear Angie Ferrell of Norwood, Ohio and Jennifer M. of Danvers, Massachusetts, Thank you for writing letters (published in the July/August issue) about recent Mothering magazine news briefs on Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). When I first read Jennifer’s letter, I thought she was responding to the piece I wrote in the May/June issue about…
Preschooler’s first movie: Babies
Although we are not media-free, I’ve avoided full-length feature films and had not considered taking my son to a movie before the age of six, at least. It just seems like way too much stimulation, not to mention the whole Waldorf thing about media stifling kids’ imaginations. But when I saw the trailer for the…
Silver Diner supports local food in schools
Who knew diner food could be health food? I had no idea that the Silver Diner – a chain of restaurants in Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey – was on a mission to serve local food and offer healthier choices. When I attended a special evening recently for food bloggers, I got a true taste…
Business as usual on Earth Day
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on April 22, 2010 Business as usual on Earth Day I felt a little guilty when a friend said she was turning off her computer for Earth Day; I had no plans to commemorate the day on my own or “celebrate” the day with my son. I’ve…
Poetry and motherhood
Last month I attended an amazing session on the politics of writing motherhood at the Split this Rock Poetry Festival. Read more about it here in a piece I wrote for Mothering.com