This is a Post About Elmo

For those of you who don't know my daughter personally, there's one thing you should understand: she's absolutely head over heels with a fuzzy, red monster whose name starts with a capital E.

Now just in case there's a horror movie out there whose antagonist is a slasher named Earl with a skin disease, let me clarify: we are talking about Elmo.

As most of you know, I'm not the biggest fan of kids watching TV. I tend to dislike all cartoons, even down to the so-called "classic" Bugs Bunny. I make an exception for Disney movies and The Simpsons. However, I don't like it when kids watch tons of TV because I think they're not doing, not engaging, not experiencing. And because I'm so busy I verge on manic, we all know I'm big on experiencing.

But for the most part, I've been pleased with what Charity learns from Elmo. She wants to watch him, particularly one DVD she got for Christmas, over and over again, but I've seen her vocabulary and her problem solving skills grow because of her close watching of the DVD, taking in the instruction, and actually interacting with it, as well as trying to apply the lessons Elmo teaches her elsewhere. For instance, she often talks to me about "pride," one of Elmo's keywords on the DVD. (OK, she still thinks pride is something she can eat and frequently asks for it alongside a cookie, but at least she's becoming familiar with the term.)

However, there was one part of each Elmo movie or episode that never sat right with me. At the end of his shows, Elmo usually says, "And remember, Elmo loves you!"

But a fictional character can't love.

So will this scar children? Will they wonder why Elmo wasn't there for them when they broke their legs or lost their first teeth? Will they compare others' love the the faux-love that Elmo gives them. Love is the basis of what makes us human--it's something children need to develop the capacity for and understand at a young age. Could Elmo confuse them enough to send them into therapy for the rest of their lives?

And that's when I realized--Elmo is telling kids he loves them for just that reason. Because some of these kids who watch Elmo don't come from happy homes with parents who love them and friends and family who feel absolutely blessed to be a part of their lives. Who knows what kind of horrible things these kids have to deal with on a daily basis. But if their parents just turn on the TV, then for a while, they at least get to learn, they at least get to see what happiness is, and they at least get to hear that they're loved.

In the last few weeks, I've heard a lot about the Republican's fiscal bill, which, in the name of the national debt, completely cuts funding for public broadcasting. That's not why I'm writing this blog. Those of you who know me know that, when it comes to politics, I walk pretty much in the middle of the road, just staying enough to the left to avoid getting hit by oncoming traffic. My husband, a convicted Republican, says PBS doesn't need government funding to keep running Sesame Street, that it's worth millions. He might be right. At least, I'd be inclined to believe it based on the percentage of our annual household income that is earmarked for Elmo merchandise.

But when we think about taking away something like Sesame Street, we need to think beyond people like Charity, who, if Elmo were to suddenly disappear, would still have a village of people telling her they love her each and every day. We need to think about why Sesame Street was really created--in the hopes that, someday, a world population might understand the importance of learning, sharing, loving, and sunny days. So far, it's been unsuccessful--wars are still being fought because grown men and women can't learn to share. But I'd like to think that Elmo, Big Bird, Grover, and the gang convict us all a little when our behavior doesn't reflect the values of Sesame Street.

I guess I don't mind so much that Elmo says he loves Charity. In fact, maybe Elmo does love her; you'd have to have a whole lot of love in your heart to write something as pure as Sesame Street.

So, Charity, Elmo loves you. And so does Mommy. And so does your village. How lucky we both are to know that so certainly.

Quick Kindle Comment

I'm working on a longer post about a radio program I was listening to yesterday, and Charity's and my trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. But now I just need something to distract me from finishing my Writing for Information Interactive Media Paper.

I've picked, why I chose the Kindle over other e-readers, even those that allow you to read children's books in color.

1. Kindle for PC automatically syncs with my handheld Kindle. When I write papers, I can just bring up my textbooks on Kindle for PC in order to pull out quotes, etc.
2. The Kindle has almost every book that I want to read and/or need for class. Sony, etc. does not. 
3. For me, digital books are a great asset because I already have to multitask like I majored in it, but for my daughter, the process of actually flipping through a book is one of the greater appeals.

And now back to the paper... :)

The New Internet Psyche Facilitates The Brain of the Busy Grad Student/Parent

As most of you know, my research focus has recently shifted to technology and writing. Although I'm in the middle of updating attendance for my ENG 100 class, adding employees to my English SI section, and creating a survey for all ENG 100 students about my SOWI Project, I'm going to give a brief update of what I just thought about, which is sort of the point of this post. How unclear was that sentence? Hopefully things will begin to clarify a bit here as I go on.

Right now, I'm sitting in the PCS teacher's lounge because I am going to meet, at lunch, with students who are working on a drama that will be performed Friday. This means that I have about two and a half hours to work. I decided that I would begin by sending an important e-mail, then recording attendance for my ENG 100 students, so I opened up Blackboard and Outlook. Out of a course of habit, I also opened Gmail and Facebook. As I deleted Gmail messages, I noticed that there was one I had never responded to concerning my daughter and an activity she is in. I began to respond to the e-mail stating that I couldn't meet at the date requested because I was taking my daughter to the museum. In the midst of this, I thought about whether I wanted to record grades online or offline, so I went of to Blackboard, and made a couple of selections to open the online gradebook. Then, I went back to the e-mail and began to finish, when I realized I might be able to make the meeting depending on the train schedule, so I pulled it up on Google. I then thought about how potentially significant this might be, so I decided to write a blog, link to SOWI, etc, all while still checking that train schedule. (Looks like I can just make that meeting!)

What does this all suggest (other than I have way too much to do)? It means that the Internet is either changing our thinking--immediate gratification; we forget less because we don't have to stray too far from what we are doing to accomplish our to-do list; in a sense, it's nullified the to do list--or facilitating a thinking that was always a bit scatterbrained. (When you have to juggle shoe sizes, college course plans, Introduction to literary theory, and swimming lesson schedules, I don't know that you have a choice to be anything but scatterbrained!)

All and all, it's interesting. Now, back to trying to respond to that e-mail!

The Test of Twilight

I've chosen to break my three-month-long blogging fast with a meta-summary of the recent conversations I've had regarding the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. After a few years of not really caring to read the books, my decision to give them a chance was inspired by three factors. First, I got three out of the four books for $1 each at the public library book sale. Second, a number of fellow English teachers and writers recommended the books, even noting that they should be taught in the classroom. And third, I ordered the first two movies on Netflix, and I wanted to test the theory that the books were, indeed, better than the movies, which I considered horrible. 

After deciding to read the books, I wanted to be as neutral as possible, and to consider my reading an experiment or test. I read all four Twilight books in succession. The first three books took me 2-4 days each to read, while the fourth book took me all of a week, maybe longer. The time it took me to read the books was a result not only of length, but also of the fact that I was teaching three and taking two classes while reading. 

I read the books through the eyes of a concerned parent, as well as through the eyes of a writer and teacher of literature. However, I also tried to put myself in the place of the teenage, preteen, and college age girl who swears loyalty to the story. I wanted to determine what the draw was, and this is what I found.

There are some aspects of the novels that are very good. I kept reading, didn't I?

Pros

• The books are suspenseful. They keep you turning the page. You want to find out what happens to the characters, and each book includes the first chapter of the next at its conclusion. These first chapters are very effective marketing techniques. They always allude to some catastrophic event which does not end up occurring because of the last-minute, "happily ever after" rescues.
• There are a number of allusions to classic works.

My list of cons was so long that I decided it would be more practical to divide it into subheadings.

Literary Cons

• The book is poorly written. There are a number of serious word choice issues, and an even greater number of contradictions. The allusions to classic works are sometimes so obvious as to make them more statements than allusions. 
• The characters are unbelievable. This is especially problematic considering that the books are written in first-person from the point of Bella, until the final book, at which point the story is told from the perspectives of both Bella and Jacob.
• Much of the "mythology" is incredibly contrived and unbelievable. 
• The characters assume that only three options exist to resolve their conflict. To readers who tend to see many solutions to a problem, this behavior is unbelievable and frustrating, and when alternate options are discussed toward the end of the novel, readers don't feel relieved and hopeful but rather intensify their negative opinions of the main characters. 

Parent Cons

• The book is one of the most anti-feminist texts that I've ever read. Bella cannot exist on her own. She does not derive her own happiness, and goes into a stupor when the two men are not around. 
• Bella's family life is a mess, and for most of the novel she appears to be the caretaker of her parents, which might intensify teens' delusions of grandeur.
• There are a number of very dark scenes that made me uncomfortable.
• I could see this book very quickly leading to teens spending time with people who are bad influences or taking infatuation to a new level. 

Although I can see why people enjoy the Twilight books, I think they are, for the most part, a marketing ploy to sell movies, dolls, clothes, etc. I give Meyer the credit; the story is captivating, but these books don't have the merits to be taught in high schools. Why? The literary and moral objections certainly play a role, but in reality what should be the test of Twilight is the thinking test. Why do we ask students to read literature? Because through it they learn to analyze, to question, to criticize, to think, to apply, and to consider. In other words, they learn to Think About It! And to think about it meaningfully. The true test of Twilight should whether or not it is remembered. I read this one-act play yesterday; it means something, and I keep dwelling on it to think about it, to figure it out, to apply it. I read this short story over 10 years ago, and I couldn't get it out of my head. (Neither, apparently, could Fleetwood Mac.) But the only time I think about the Twilight books is when someone else asks me my opinion. Next time, I'll just send them to this post!

Another Fall

Today, despite Charity's cold and the unseasonably warm weather, we made our annual trip to Guse Farms for the pumpkin patch. I love this pumpkin patch because there are lots of simple little things for the kids to do there that are free and fun. There's a cornbox, like a sandbox, but filled with dry corn, and there's an old fashioned ring toss, life size checkers, a bean bag toss, and a rubber ducky race manufactured out of water spouts--the Itsy Bitsy Spider kind. Oh, and that's not to mention the little playground with a slide that Charity adored, the train, the snack shop that has a toy train that goes around and around and around, and (of course) the pumpkin patch.

We've been going to Guse farms since Charity was three months old. We always take her picture in front of the same hay bale. Here they are:

She certainly has grown, but it seems her temperament has changed a bit too, lol! Charity really didn't want to get her picture done in front of the hay bale this year, but I just had to do it, and I will continue--here's hoping for 18, 20, 25 or more years of pictures.

Although the picture might not show it, Charity actually had a great time at the pumpkin patch this year. She went right for the cornbox. I was absolutely amazed at her confidence. This is the child who, usually, refuses to go on anything at the park unless I am right there, walking next to her. She just jumped in that box and started to play. She was dumping corn on her head (at my suggestion--couldn't help it), and pretending to sleep in it. At one point, I jumped in there with her, just because it looked like fun. Last year, I had to get in so that she would get in!

Charity also had lots of fun picking out her pumpkin this year. She ran around the patch, tapping every single one like she was checking for firmness in the grocery isle! Oh, and I had to tear her away from this little slide--there was a big and a little slide on the playground, and she refused to go down the big one, but just kept going down that little slide again and again and again--it was great!

I will probably add a conclusion to this at some point, but for now, just wanted to get everything down while it was still fresh. She's still sick, but I'm glad she enjoyed the pumpkin patch!

Re-Organizing

Before I begin, I'd like to let you all know that I have exactly 15 minutes to write this.

I think in a previous post I mentioned that I have trouble being creative when I am surrounded by a mess. This is a big problem, especially because I almost always seem to be surrounded by exactly that. So, to help my creative juices keep flowing and to make my home "nicer" for Charity & Aaron, I've been trying to reorganize, declutter, and re-arrange as much as possible. To that end, one of my recent projects has been re-organizing the "dining area" in my home so that we could get a dining room table. And today we did.

Those gross yellow chairs have been around for forever, and now I'm looking for four or five nice kitchen chairs--anyone have any? The bookcase in the back is going to stay put, but the movies are going to relocate to the shelving I'm putting in my closet, and I'm going to sell that shelf at our garage sale. I think it looks GREAT! I'm very excited. Here are some of the other changes that are happening around here.

This is the butterfly rug I got Charity at the church garage sale. She loves it! She tells me "sitting on the butterfly.

Here is the toddler bed that I will be transitioning Charity to tomorrow (hopefully). I'm going to put it along one of her side walls so she can have the most floor playing space as possible.

That's all for now. Hopefully more later!

Mom (Noun)

What is a mom?


Wikipedia: A mother is a woman who has conceived, given birth to, or raised a child in the role of a parent. Because of the complexity and differences of a mothers' social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to define a mother to suit a universally accepted definition. The masculine equivalent is a father.

In other words, the definition of the word "mother" is so complex that Wikipedia can't even attempt to do it justice, and Wikipedia is the people's encyclopedia. 

 Facebook is full of quizzes that promise to tell me what kind of mom I am:

The soccer mom?

The busy mom?

The over-protective mom?


Sometimes I feel like I'm a bad mom. I'm so busy, and my child keeps doing things I tell her not to do. The more I tell her not to do them, the more she wants to do them, so is the psyche of the two-year-old. And then, of course, there's the fact that the house is a mess, and at least now it is a mess because I'm in the middle of a massive re-arrangement. And if Charity is anything like me, her physical space has to be conducive for creation or her mind won't use its creative space. And nothing is more frustrating than having the tools to create and not being able to make it happen. 

Sometimes I feel like I'm a good mom. I am tasked with a great deal, and at the end of the day, I manage to have it done, or at least almost done. I take my daughter to the park and the festivals. If she wants to dance, she dances. If she wants to jump in a mud puddle, she does. I am all about freedom and natural results---most of the time. In general, I think I'm doing a good job because she always wants to be with me. 

Last week, I asked one of my students to write a poem about her writing process. This was supposed to be something simple, to get her thinking in analogies and to get her writing, but what she wrote was profound. It compared writing to relationships. One of the lines was something like, "First Drafts are like First Dates." I loved it. 


And I think being a mom is a lot like writing too. There aren't really answers. There are just choices we make in response to our situations. We just have to hope we're making the right ones.