Tiny GrassTiny GrassAn unschooling family moving to Costa Rica 
Articles
The F Word
2008-06-07 03:05:00 A conversation with M (age 5) the other day: Me: F@ck! (I can’t remember what I was cursing about). Me: M? You know that some people think that the word “F@ck” is a bad word, right? M: Yeah. I know. Me: I just wanted to make sure. I think if you said that word in front on your grandparents, ... More About: Word , The F Word
Climbing Trees
2008-06-06 16:38:00 I’ll tell you something that I do occasionally that never ceases to amaze the local kids: I climb a tree. I do it just for fun, usually on the spur of the moment, when the mood strikes me. I’ve seen Arp do it too. But I have yet to meet another local ... More About: Trees , Climbing
Life - Kids = ?
2008-05-30 16:36:00 This is my entry for the May 31st 2008 edition of the Thinking Parents Wiki. The topic for this edition was: What Would You Be Doing Right Now If You Had No Kids ? It seems to me that one way to rephrase that question would be: What would you be like today if parenthood had not changed ... More About: Life
Co-Sleeping - Be Counted!
2008-05-29 16:37:00 Are you currently co-sleeping? Have you ever co-slept with your children? Of so, take this quick and easy survey. It’s a way for all of us co-sleeping parents to stand up and be counted. The “official agencies”, along with crib manufacturers, have been trying to label co-sleeping parents as neglectful for ... More About: Sleeping
Major abdominal surgery
2008-05-28 02:18:00 “Any physician who picks up a scalpel and does major abdominal surgery, which is what a C-section is, because that doctor is afraid of litigation, is not practicing medicine but is practicing fear and greed,” So says Marsden Wagner, perinatologist and former director of Women’s and Children’s Health for the World Health Organization, to the Washington ... More About: Surgery , Major
Trampolines: safety & liability
2008-05-26 21:56:00 One of our neighbors recently got a trampoline, something that I believe to be too risky an activity for children. It’s one of those things where I read something about it ages ago, made the decision and don’t remember the specifics. So the only logical thing to do is to research trampolines - to both ... More About: Safety
Shedding the past
2008-05-22 21:53:00 I’ve been a packrat my whole life, but apparently I want to move to Costa Rica way more than I want my Stuff. Like a stash of old t-shirts - at some point, they were all so precious to me that I couldn’t part with them. A Catholic grammar school t-shirt and a ... More About: Past
What could have been the most embarassing Home Depot trip?
2008-05-20 19:38:00 Today we’re installing the new sink & vanity. This was supposed to have been done last week, but as anyone who doesn’t pawn their kids off daily knows, nothing ever gets done on time when you have to parent 24/7. At least I have all the supplies, the worst of it being super-toxic and nasty-smelling ... More About: Home , Trip , Home Depot , Embarassing
Book Review - ?Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering?
2008-05-14 22:36:00 For Mother’s Day, I asked Arp to get me a copy of Dr. Sarah J. Buckley’s book, Gentle Birth , Gentle Mothering. I actually didn’t know much about Sarah J. Buckley until I had the joy of seeing her in a pre-screening of the new film Orgasmic Birth. So I checked out her website ... More About: Book Review , Review , Book
Schools: killing creativity
2008-05-13 05:22:00 This was fantastic to listen to. I’ve no idea who Sir Ken Robinson is (and haven’t the time to Google), but he’s right-on. Share This More About: Schools , Creativity , Killing
Unschooling - Day in the Life
2008-05-12 18:29:00 I got an email from a friend recently asking about unschooling. Her concern was whether it was really possible that her 2-3 year old would ever become interested in all the amazing things there are in the world (besides the current interest: animals). For parents of two-year olds, it may indeed be hard ... More About: Life , Unschooling , Day In The Life
Between leaving and going
2008-05-09 15:14:00 Right now, I’m in a gray area, between my past life, where I was immersed in US life and my future life, where I’ll be navigating Costa Rica, dealing with culture shock and all that. Where I am right now is a little hard to pinpoint. Mentally, part of me is in Costa ... More About: Leaving
This week in food - Beets and Rhubarb
2008-05-05 12:19:00 It is out with the old and in with the new here. Out (hopefully) with the beets that are still sitting in my fridge from winter. I generally hate beets, although we got a ton of them from our CSA this winter. I’m always trying to figure out what to do with ... More About: Food , Week , Beets
Is college worth the money?
2008-04-30 17:33:00 For many - if not most - it’s not. The cost now is obscene - $160,000 for 4 years. If the goal is not a professional degree or the plain pursuit of knowledge, it’s a waste. A few years back a college acquaintance told me he was going back for an MBA. ... More About: Money , College , Worth
Talking Over a Prophylactic
2008-04-26 12:20:00 The other night, as I got out of the shower, M is going through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. I wasn’t concerned at all. He mostly just likes to look at the after-shaves and the perfumes and the band-aids. But I forgot that we recently relocated our condom stash in that ... More About: Talking , Prophylactic
Talking about Orgasmic Birth
2008-04-25 23:46:00 Was your birth orgasmic? If not literally, was it wonderful and life-changing? Were you ecstatic? I’m not talking about the part where you get your baby. I’m talking about the process of going through labor and birth, and then holding your baby. Was that amazing?! It sure was for ... More About: Talking , Birth
a Tackleberry haiku
2008-04-21 14:05:00 a big heart, a bigger gun his pride his joy his mom gave it to him Share This More About: Haiku
Encyclopedia Britannica available to bloggers - for free
2008-04-20 18:05:00 I remember getting an encyclopedia as a kid - it was a big deal. We couldn’t afford an Encyclopedia Encyclopaedia Britannica and got Grolier’s instead (I guess it’s the difference between Harvard and a state school). My dad’s first job in America was selling encyclopedias door-to-door, and I wondered whether the industry would survive the ... More About: Free , Bloggers
Friday Five - Hobbies and More
2008-04-18 21:59:00 (Thanks to Tammy for the idea!) What are your 5 favorite things to do that aren?t homeschooling or parenting related? My 5: Gardening. I was just out digging in the compost heap, taking out the black gold, and getting the area ready for a new influx of debris. My perrenial herbs, especially my chocolate mint, are ... More About: Hobbies , Friday
finally - warmth!
2008-04-18 18:41:00 Today is the first day that it’s warmer outside (79) than inside (74). Warm weather is a joy, and I hope we have seen our last winter in cold. Share This More About: Finally , Warmth
Costa Rica monthly family budget (from Al Dia)
2008-04-17 00:09:00 Insidecostarica.com translated an article from the Costa Rica n daily newspaper Al Dia. It’s still quite reasonable, but doesn’t take into account the kind of expenses an expat with different habits might incur. Overall, it’s quite promising but we still have to consider health insurance and broadband internet - both of which can add ... More About: Family , Budget
Old friends, old habits
2008-04-15 00:10:00 Some friendships are habits - things you just do because you’re used to doing it. Habit: A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition; An established disposition of the mind or character; Customary manner or practice: a person of ascetic habits; An addiction, especially to a narcotic drug. (from www.thefreedictionary.com) You wake ... More About: Friends , Habits
Budget blog hosting review - ANHosting, 1and1, DreamHost & MediaTemple
2008-04-07 22:23:00 Finding a good host can be tricky - there seem to be a lot of great deals out there, but you never know whether they’ll deliver or not. In the past 16 months, I’ve used 4 different website hosts. I don’t have any qualms about switching hosts if their service is lacking. ... More About: Hosting , Review , Blog , Budget , Dreamhost
Coatimundi
2008-04-07 13:36:00 We saw this critter by luck after driving back from the Baldi Hot Springs. Coatimundis are utterly adorable, and we saw another one on a separate occasion. They have that raccoon mask action but they’re a lot cuter. They are one of the more popular species to become roadkill there. Aside from the ...
Arenal Hanging Bridges
2008-04-05 21:30:00 Our trip to the Arenal Hanging Bridges was one of the highlights of our trip. It was a great hike through through some utterly gorgeous rainforest. It was definitely worth the $40 ($20 for us adults, kids free), and we look forward to doing it again. It’s kinda cool that we didn’t update the blog ...
Arp on TV?
2008-04-02 14:57:00 On Monday, Mo Rocca stopped me in a park in the East Village. I noticed him standing with a cameraman, pointedly trying to ignore me as I walked towards. I realize that my sexiness knows no bounds, and Mo being a fragile human, he had a hard time looking away. As I walked past them, he ...
5 reasons NOT to move to Costa Rica
2008-04-01 14:02:00 There are tons of websites that show Costa Rica to be an absolute paradise. Gorgeous weather, beautiful land and prices that make you think you can live for a king on a pauper’s budget. They’re not wrong, but they’re not telling the whole story either. It’s not something you want to jump ... More About: Reasons , Move
When ?intelligent? means ?you must think like me??
2008-04-01 00:04:00 I read a political post on another blog the other day from a supposed free thinker who believes Bush has actually done a good job and McCain is the right choice this fall. Silly me - I took his Intelligent comments welcome ending to mean that he actually welcomed intelligent comments. Seemingly ...
How to herd ducks
More articles from this author:2008-03-30 14:45:00 Since this is duckling season, I thought I’d put up a video demonstrating how to herd ducks. Before I got our ducks, that was one of my biggest worries. After all, I live in suburbia. I had visions of quacking, flapping ducks going everywhere except into their pen, including the neighbors’ yards. ... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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