http://www.rationalmoms.com Rational moms of the world unite! Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:00:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en You are, of course, interested in teaching your kids about evolution. But how? They don't cover it in schools much lately. You can't find any toys that are based on it in toy stores. And when was the last time you saw a children's book about it? So what is ... http://www.rationalmoms.com/2009/01/05/charlies-playhouse-blog-toy-store-resource/ Elyse over at Skepchick has posted this excellent article that is a wonderfully soothing, reassuring, uplifting and funny letter to all mothers-to-be on how to be rational, relax, enjoy your pregnancy, and not listen to bonehead advice. She tells some refreshing truths that you might not find in your ... http://www.rationalmoms.com/2009/01/03/great-advice-for-rational-moms-to-be/ This is a recent anecdote I wanted to share. It opened my eyes, and stirred up some bitterness as well. 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 ... http://www.rationalmoms.com/2008/12/21/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 ... http://www.rationalmoms.com/2008/12/19/to-change-preschools-or-not-to-change-preschools-thats-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 ... http://www.rationalmoms.com/2008/12/14/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 ... http://www.rationalmoms.com/2008/12/14/ive-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 ... http://www.rationalmoms.com/2008/12/07/we-love-the-zurich-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 ... http://www.rationalmoms.com/2008/12/05/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 ... http://www.rationalmoms.com/2008/12/04/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 ... http://www.rationalmoms.com/2008/12/01/the-myth-of-the-%e2%80%9csugar-high%e2%80%9d/