Thursday, June 30, 2005

Opera Improv

Today we listened to Beethoven to help with Matteo's (5 months) "brain" development, Giancarlo (3 yrs) wasn't crazy about until I turned it into an opera, about bad men stealing our horses, then he couldn't get enough, i had to keep it up for like 40 minutes.
Then he recognized a piece that Schroeder plays on a Charlie Brown cartoon and he asked if Schroeder played this, I said yes, but then he thought that he was actually playing the piece that we were listening to.
So due to these factors Giancarlo ended up enjoying classical, which usually doesn't happen.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Save PBS

Click here to take action: http://pfaw.kintera.org/pbs Here's some information on Thursday's House vote to cut funding for PBS and NPR: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/06/17/house_panel_oks_cutting_100m_of_pbs_budget?mode=PFClick this link to take action now!!******************************************************************************
Here's a copy of their form letter, plus what I added to it.

I am writing to request that you oppose politically motivated attacks on public broadcasting. Attempts to abolish the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and kill public funding for PBS and NPR are unacceptable.
Public broadcasting represents quality journalism and an independent voice not available among private media. It is a public asset worth preserving and I expect you to ensure that funding for this valuable public institution continues.

I was born in the 1969, the year that Sesame Street debuted, and ever since then my favorite shows have always been on PBS. There shows are always educational and informative. Being from a family of modest means, growing up I did not have the opportunity to travel and experience the far off places first hand or to go to the symphony, ballet or opera, but through PBS I was exposed to American and world history, nature and science, balanced news and the arts through educational and dramatic shows that have always been of the utmost quality. This helped me to see that it is okay for people to view and experience things differently than I do, and I know that this is one of the main reasons that PBS’ funding is coming under attack.

Now that I have a family I have passed on my love of PBS to two young children, it is truly great to see them learning while being entertained, and to know that the creators of PBS Kids shows are more interested in the development of my children then selling them action figure versions of their shows’ characters.

PBS’ budget has been shrinking since the budget cuts of the 1980s, and I fear that it is nearing a point of no return so far as its quality and ability to inform and educate in an independent manner. My guess is that the majority of those in congress who are planning to vote to cut PBS’ funding can afford to expose their children first hand to the best in education, travel and the arts, so crippling PBS will have very little effect on their families. However, for the majority of the citizenry who either do not live near centers of education and the arts or do not have the means to expose their families to environments that to foster and stimulate enlightened thought, the lost of PBS’ current format is potentially devastating, because it would create an America where dreams are limited to only what a child can see in front of him, and an America where balanced discourse takes a back seat to the agenda of which ever party is in power at the time, and that is bad for people on all sides of the political spectrum.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Is My Child on Drugs?

An interesting dilemma for people who have progressive views on drugs. I personally view drugs like alcohol and don't think children should be using them. Depending on their maturity, sometime between 18 -24 they may be ready to try alcohol and drugs (like weed nothing physiologically addictive), that is if they are ever actually mature enough, I honestly think that a large portion of the population isn't mature enough to use drugs or alcohol for that matter.
The following quote from this article Is My Child on Drugs? gives this doctor some more credibility in my eyes:

Until you know for sure why your son is coming in late, why he quit baseball, why he doesn't bring friends to your house, why his grades are slipping at bit, why he is angry, why he's breaking curfew, or why he's lost interest in college, don't jump to any conclusions. There could be many reasons for these behavior changes. You need to find out for sure what's going on with him and his adolescent life before accusing him of drug use.

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I had wanted to post much more frequently, but as I’ve said before the increase in stress, work and responsibility from one child to two is more of an exponential jump than a doubling of work. It may pay-off when they get older and can entertain each other but right now it’s bewildering.

Now, as every time I sit to post between the hours of 6 a.m. 9 p.m., my 5 month old is screaming and my 3 year old is climbing on me asking if he can help me type, can he watch TV, do I hear the baby crying, singing, etc.
So a higher level discourse is near impossible, the tougher part is that internally, while I’m catering to my kids needs, I do think about issues to discuss here and on my other blogs, but once I step away for a minute they spring into distraction, I mean action. I guess at these ages their only real job is to get their parents to take care of their needs so I can’t really get upset with them, just frustrated.