I had my tonsils out when I was 20. On spring break from college, I came home for a tonsillectomy. I wanted to be in the Bahamas with my girlfriends, but I had a running case of strep throat that I couldn’t shake. Doctors told me removing my tonsils and adenoids was the only way to get better. 

Immediately, I thought, “Yea! Ice cream!” But my doctor nipped that in the bud. He said ice cream was no longer recommended for tonsillectomy patients because the milk fat generated phlegm. I was bummed, but thought I would power through anyhow.

» Continue reading “Milk, Phlegm, and Tonsils”

Updated to add: This wasn’t clear enough in the original post, below, but we did know he would get religious content at the Lutheran preschool we chose.  (We’ve been listening to the bible verses he has been memorizing all year long.)  The main issue in this case comes not from the mere existence of the religious content, but my concern that  the teacher had gone too far by directly contradicting me in something I taught him, and my surprise to discover that this particular church believes in YEC. Rest assured, LSB is loved and cared for at his school, is being taught his letters and shapes, and other than this incident we have been absolutely happy with the teacher and the school, and with the exposure he has gotten to Christianity.

Here’s some background for you: Little Skeptic Boy is five, has four wiggly teeth, and wants Hulk Smash Hands for Christmas. He loves science, as do I, so the other day we had a detailed discussion about the big bang. Next year he starts public school kindergarten, but for now he attends one of the highest-rated preschools in the area, that just happens to be at a Lutheran church in the bible belt. Then today we had this conversation:

Little Skeptic Boy: My teacher said it, but she’s wrong!! » Continue reading “To change preschools or not to change preschools, that’s, well you know…”

Yep, we’ve been listening to tons of Christmas carols around here, especially of the Sufjan Stevens variety. Man, the guy can sing some pretty songs. And of course, they are super religious.

I feel better about the carols than I do about Santa, actually. Unlike a lot of atheists, I didn’t have to reject religion or ever come to terms with the idea that Jesus might not be an actual historical figure. My dad is a staunch atheist, and so was his dad. » Continue reading “The Christmas Carol Thing”

It’s true that kids are born atheists. In my experience so far, there’s no point when religion naturally comes up (in a child’s development) unless the parents or the community force the issue.

There’s a certain bliss in allowing my kids to remain ignorant of the existence of religion, but they’re going to hear about it from their friends eventually. And I’ve read lots of personal accounts of people whose parents just never really taught them anything about religion either way. Some of these folks — when they finally encounter religion — are astonished to discover that people can really believe such stories are true and real. Others are enchanted by religion (or other woo ) when they first encounter it as teen or adult. So, ultimately, I feel like it’s something I should talk to my kids about in the home.

So far I haven’t fared so well. We taught them a little about their Catholic heritage while visiting their great aunt, a nun, in Lourdes, but (as you’ll see if you read that story ), I balked when faced with trying to explain Jesus to them. More recently, I expected the subject would come up while visiting my own Mormon and Christian family this past summer, but it didn’t. On some level, our situation seems more ideal than Laurie T.’s (where religion comes up in school ), but, on the other hand, it sounds nice to have some natural context (like in Laurie T and LSG’s case ) for the child to bring the subject up.

Anyway, all of that is just background to explain how the subject of Jesus finally came up in our house! » Continue reading “I’ve finally introduced my kids to Jesus!!”

Or, in the words of my five-year-old Léo, “The zoo is my best walk.”

When I was younger, I was conflicted about zoos. It’s interesting for me to get to see exotic animals in real life, but does that justify putting the majestic lion in a concrete jail cell, not to mention the number of animals that were probably killed in the hunt for these poor specimens?

Fortunately, those kind of zoos are becoming a thing of the past. As the Zurich Zoo website explains: “Modern zoos consider themselves to be nature conservation centres and have formulated a common worldwide conservation strategy, which is backed up by the world conservation union IUCN.” And their centerpiece — the Masoala Rainforest at the zoo — is phenomenal!

» Continue reading “We love the Zürich Zoo!!!”

Of course we’re telling our kid there’s a Santa. We don’t have to really deal with it this year, because he’s only six months old. But yeah, we’re on the Santa bandwagon. And it’s a little weird, because we’re telling him some pretty irrational things for parents who consider themselves rational. Yep, there’s a guy who flies around the whole world in one night–well, you know the drill. » Continue reading “The Santa Thing”

Here’s an interesting incident described by one of the bloggers from my ex-Mormon blogroll (Outer Blogness):

While we were in that room with Lucy, looking at the diorama of evolution, some woman walks up and asks Lizz, “Did I hear you correctly when you said that ’some people believe in evolution’?”

This led to the following:

The entire exchange lasted only a few moments, but I distinctly remember that I led Jillie away from the Crazy as quickly as possible. I wanted to smack that lady across the mouth.

The funny thing is that I do, to a certain degree, believe in evolution. I also believe in God. and I also believe that YOU DO NOT WALK UP TO A COMPLETE STRANGER AND CRITICIZE THEIR PARENTING.

» Continue reading ““You do not walk up to a complete stranger and criticize their parenting””

I love sugar. I really really love sugar. I generally think of dinner as something I have to endure to get to dessert. In March of this year I stared a monthly cookie/dessert exchange where my friends and I get together under the pretext of exchanging cookies/desserts and their recipes but it’s actually just an excuse to sit around with my friends, talk, laugh, and eat a lot of sugar.

After a particularly good Cookie Exchange I updated my Facebook status with “Jessie is loving the sugar high from Cookie Exchange this afternoon.” A couple of my friends commented on my status informing me that there is no such thing as a “sugar high”.

This seemed crazy to me, I thought it was common knowledge that eating a lot of sugar gives you a buzzed feeling and makes you hyper. Kids go crazy and run around like Tasmanian devils at birthday parties and holidays because of all the sugar, right? Wrong.

» Continue reading “The Myth of the “Sugar High””