WHY DO WE JUDGE PARENTS FOR PUTTING KIDS AT PERCEIVED – BUT UNREAL – RISK? | npr.org
An interesting commentary that looks at the moral outrage and sometimes criminal charges brought on parents who leave children unsupervised…“It’s not that risks to children have increased, provoking an increase in moral outrage when children are left unattended. Instead, it could be that moral attitudes toward parenting have changed, such that leaving children unsupervised is now judged morally wrong. And because it’s judged morally wrong, people overestimate the risk.”
DEAR MOTHERS: WE’RE NOT MEANT TO “BOUNCE BACK” | revolutionfromhome.com
A mother of four daughters debunks the myth that we are supposed to “bounce back” after delivering and raising children…“We’re not meant to “bounce back” after babies. Not physically, not emotionally, and definitely not spiritually. We’re meant to step forward into more awakened, more attuned, and more powerful versions of ourselves. Motherhood is a sacred, beautiful, honorable evolution, not the shameful shift into a lesser-than state of being that our society makes it seem. The very notion that we are meant to change as little as possible, and even revert back to the women we were before we became mothers is not only unrealistic, but it’s an insult to women of all ages, demographics, shapes, and sizes. It makes a mockery of the powerful passage into one of the most essential roles a human can live into, and it keeps women disempowered through an endless journey of striving for unattainable goals that wouldn’t necessarily serve us even if we could reach them. The world needs the transformation motherhood brings about it us. The softening, the tenderness, the vulnerability, the shift in prioritization, the depth of love — these are some of the qualities our hurting world needs most.”
TO ANYONE WHO THINKS THEY’RE FALLING BEHIND | greatist.com
A refreshing grant of permission to be exactly where we are with our creative selves…“Sometimes the novel is not ready to be written because you haven’t met the inspiration for your main character yet. Sometimes you need two more years of life experience before you can make your masterpiece into something that will feel real and true and raw to other people. Sometimes you’re not falling in love because whatever you need to know about yourself is only knowable through solitude. Sometimes you haven’t met your next collaborator. Sometimes your sadness encircles you because, one day, it will be the opus upon which you build your life. We all know this: Our experience cannot always be manipulated. Yet, we don’t act as though we know this truth. We try so hard to manipulate and control our lives, to make creativity into a game to win, to shortcut success because others say they have, to process emotions and uncertainty as if these are linear journeys.You don’t get to game the system of your life. You just don’t. You don’t get to control every outcome and aspect as a way to never give in to the uncertainty and unpredictability of something that’s beyond what you understand. It’s the basis of presence to show up as you are in this moment and let that be enough.”
20 TEACHERS IN AMERICA SHARE HOW THE KIDS IN THEIR CLASS FEEL ABOUT TRUMP | knowable.com
A sobering look at the effect Donald Trump’s words are having on the next generation…“I have students who are scared about what may happen to them or their family members if Donald Trump because president. They fear they or family members will be deported…even though they are citizens…One of my students gestured at the other brown students in the room and said, ‘If Donald Trump become President, you’re OUTTA HERE! And you’re outta here and you’re outta here and you and you! And me. Because I’m Mexican.'”
‘NO VACANCIES’ FOR BLACKS: HOW DONALD TRUMP GOT HIS START, AND WAS FIRST ACCUSED OF BIAS | nytimes.com
In light of Donald Trump’s recent attack on Hillary Clinton, calling her a bigot, this article reveals a troubling well-documented past of racial bias that Donald Trump and his father engaged in as they built their housing empire in New York City…“Looking back, Mr. Trump’s response to the lawsuit [filed by the Justice Department for racial and prejudice bias] can be seen as presaging his handling of subsequent challenges, in business and in politics. Rather than quietly trying to settle — as another New York developer had done a couple of years earlier — he turned the lawsuit into a protracted battle, complete with angry denials, character assassination, charges that the government was trying to force him to rent to “welfare recipients” and a $100 million countersuit accusing the Justice Department of defamation. When it was over, Mr. Trump declared victory, emphasizing that the consent decree he ultimately signed did not include an admission of guilt. But an investigation by The New York Times — drawing on decades-old files from the New York City Commission on Human Rights, internal Justice Department records, court documents and interviews with tenants, civil rights activists and prosecutors — uncovered a long history of racial bias at his family’s properties, in New York and beyond.”
HILLARY RELEASES 20,000 SPAM EMAILS FROM OLD NAVY | newyorker.com
We can finally put this issue to rest…“In an effort to be transparent, I have gone above and beyond what is required of me by law and released every last e-mail I received from this retailer,” she told reporters. “Now I think we can all consider this case closed.” The e-mails reveal an extensive one-way correspondence between Clinton and Old Navy, as the retailer sometimes contacted her up to a dozen times in a single day to inform her of sales and other offers. “This is one of the main reasons I set up a private e-mail account,” she said. “I did not want spam from Old Navy clogging up the State Department servers.”
HE, SHE, THEY? WHY ITS TIME TO LEAVE THIS GRAMMAR RULE BEHIND | pbs.org
After a vote at the American Dialect Society, a high school English teacher reflects on the red ink he will save now that “they” can be use as a singular gender-neutral pronoun…”Language evolves over time and often social changes bring about modifications in word use. The issue of the missing singular gender-neutral pronoun is one of those situations. That’s why I cheered when the American Dialect Society met in Washington, D.C., recently and voted to make the word ‘they’ acceptable and correct when used as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. The change comes during a time of unprecedented discussion about gender identity issues.”
For NYC families looking to dodge the sticky heat, check out Edgar Degas’s lesser known printmaking career at the MoMA or MADreads at the Museum of Art & Design. Also, for children’s theatre, the New Vic Theater has some incredible shows coming this fall, starting with a fresh production of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea.
