Grandma and Grandpa Parsons are in town to celebrate Charles' 75th Birthday. They have spent much of their time playing ball with Nathaniel... Nathaniel, as you will see, does not always hit the ball. As Marjorie noticed, however, this does not seem to bother him. You just simply say "Strike one!" in a cheerful voice each time, and he's as happy as if he had hit it. We've posted a little video of Natty and Grandpa playing baseball.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Angola Prison Rodeo
On the one hand, the story about the annual Angola Prison Rodeo on Morning Edition today was sort of uplifting (the inmates were proud of their accomplishments, expressed their cultures through creating food for the rodeo, and clearly were having a rare moment of being treated with dignity). And the Angola officials interviewed seemed rather like benevolent captors. But somehow I came away from the story really, really depressed.
I think it was two things, both related to statements made by these officials, no-doubt well-intentioned. The first was one of the officials' (I'm assuming the head of the prison) statement that he considered himself to be the prisoners' "Daddy", since they never had one. Now, I'm sure that if that is really is attitude, the prisoners prefer it to many alternative attitudes he could assume, but, first, is it really true that all of the prisoners never had Daddys? And do even those many who no doubt lacked a strong paternal figure really want to identify themselves a a child of the prison? Do they owe gratitude and deference to prison officials and the guards who enforce their rules? If I were in prison, even for life, I think I would want to insist that I fundamentally belonged to some family other than the prison family. But maybe I'm wrong about that. The real problem, for me as a historian, is that he sounds very much like a plantation owner: they were always insisting that they were more fathers than owners to their slaves.
The second thing bothered me even more. The other official gave a brief history of Angola, and in the process lightly pointed out that it used to be a "slave breeding ground." Now, as a historian who has been working on race relations in the South for some time, I have no idea what she is talking about. There is, to my knowledge, no evidence that attempts to force slaves to reproduce ever got past the level of forcing individual slaves to marry and live together, and treating slave women who failed to reproduce to the satisfaction of the master poorly. This is certainly bad enough, of course, but it is a very different thing from the image that "breeding grounds" evokes in the mind. If there were breeding grounds, historians really need to come to terms with that. If, however, Angola was not a breeding ground, as I very much suspect, I very much wonder if the myth of the breeding ground isn't the product of some sort of sick eroticization of the sexual violence of slavery on the part of the prison official, which can't be good.
I think it was two things, both related to statements made by these officials, no-doubt well-intentioned. The first was one of the officials' (I'm assuming the head of the prison) statement that he considered himself to be the prisoners' "Daddy", since they never had one. Now, I'm sure that if that is really is attitude, the prisoners prefer it to many alternative attitudes he could assume, but, first, is it really true that all of the prisoners never had Daddys? And do even those many who no doubt lacked a strong paternal figure really want to identify themselves a a child of the prison? Do they owe gratitude and deference to prison officials and the guards who enforce their rules? If I were in prison, even for life, I think I would want to insist that I fundamentally belonged to some family other than the prison family. But maybe I'm wrong about that. The real problem, for me as a historian, is that he sounds very much like a plantation owner: they were always insisting that they were more fathers than owners to their slaves.
The second thing bothered me even more. The other official gave a brief history of Angola, and in the process lightly pointed out that it used to be a "slave breeding ground." Now, as a historian who has been working on race relations in the South for some time, I have no idea what she is talking about. There is, to my knowledge, no evidence that attempts to force slaves to reproduce ever got past the level of forcing individual slaves to marry and live together, and treating slave women who failed to reproduce to the satisfaction of the master poorly. This is certainly bad enough, of course, but it is a very different thing from the image that "breeding grounds" evokes in the mind. If there were breeding grounds, historians really need to come to terms with that. If, however, Angola was not a breeding ground, as I very much suspect, I very much wonder if the myth of the breeding ground isn't the product of some sort of sick eroticization of the sexual violence of slavery on the part of the prison official, which can't be good.
Great Learn-to-Read Site
I know this blog gets, um, limited readership, but FWIW, I thought I'd link to the wonderful, free website that has been really helpful in Charlotte's reading.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Accomplishments
No real good picture to go with this, but thought I'd mention here that Charlotte is really making progress with her reading (she can sound out words, even some with vowel combinations, consonant combinations, or multiple syllables (when she sees a long word she says "let's chunk it!" and plunges right in) and Nathaniel is, as of this week, pretty much daytime potty-trained.
There is a little story about Nathaniel's potty-training... we have potty trained him sitting down to pee, since we knew that two year olds aren't tall enough to pee standing up. But of course, Nathaniel IS tall enough, and he knows that the big boys pee standing, so when there was a new teacher at his day care center, she asked him whether he sat or stood to pee and he said that he stood, and proceeded to do so. That was all fine and good, and once we figured out that he could in fact pee standing, we let him continue to do that. The next day, however, when it was time for him to have a bowel movement, he just turned around and stood with his back to the potty...
There is a little story about Nathaniel's potty-training... we have potty trained him sitting down to pee, since we knew that two year olds aren't tall enough to pee standing up. But of course, Nathaniel IS tall enough, and he knows that the big boys pee standing, so when there was a new teacher at his day care center, she asked him whether he sat or stood to pee and he said that he stood, and proceeded to do so. That was all fine and good, and once we figured out that he could in fact pee standing, we let him continue to do that. The next day, however, when it was time for him to have a bowel movement, he just turned around and stood with his back to the potty...
And I Still Haven't Mopped the Floor
I've told some of you this anecdote already... a few days ago, while I was making the kids breakfast, I noted aloud that it was probably about time to mop the kitchen floor, as it was looking pretty bad. Charlotte commented that she though we had mopped the floor pretty recently, meaning two or three weeks ago. I said "Well, Charlotte, most people mop the floor every week or so, so that it can always look clean." Charlotte kind of scrunched up her forehead and said "And do you want to be part of that group of people?" I can't put my finger on it exactly, but that seems unusually wise for a preschooler...
Charlotte's Playdate
Charlotte had quite a playdate over Easter Break with Taylor and Caroline. I have to say that this is a particularly formidable group of little girls. The playdate was not always harmonious, but it was always fascinating! (And yes, in case you are wondering, I am in fact a supermom who helped each of them make their own pizza)
The Easter Series: The Baskets
Charlotte went around excitedly informing people at church that she had received a chocolate bunny for Easter, as though perhaps they had never heard of such a thing. It was all very cute.
The Easter Series: Coloring the Eggs
There really is something fascinating about watching the little color tablets fizzle in the vinegar...
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