Moxie

Steaming Mad

So I go away for a few days and what happens? That horrible fetus-protection bill gets passed. (What's next, the "Womb Requisition Bill"? As soon as a woman has sex she is sent to a holding pen until the HPT can be administered. If it's negative, she gets to go home, but if it's positive, she's held in a concentration camp where she can be monitored and controlled during the pregnancy. When it's time for the baby to be born (as determined by a doctor, natch) she is given a C-section and sent home with the baby exactly 48 hours later to sink or swim as she can.)

This fetal-rights thing makes me completely terrified and incensed. If you are feeling this way, too, perhaps you would like to help me with a project I'm doing.

I'm helping raise funds for a PAC called WE LEAD (Women Engaged in Leadership, Education, and Action in Democracy www.weleadusa.org). They have two goals: 1) to raise money for the democratic candidate for President to help get W out of office, and 2) to raise enough money from small donations from women that WE LEAD becomes a respected PAC that brings women's issues to the table. For me, at this point, the second goal is the most important. The number of Democratic congresspeople who voted for the fetal-rights bill was appalling, and I want to make sure that Democrats know that they need to do what women need.

I have committed to raising $1000 for WE LEAD in the next few months from small donations from women. If you could give $50 it would be amazing, although $20 would certainly help. If anyone can afford $100 or more (up to a limit of $2000) it would go directly to fighting the Bush administration and bringing women to the table.

To give, you can go to the WE LEAD website and print out the form and send it in with a check (www.firegeorgebush.org/contributenowmenu.htm) or you can give with a credit card through PayPal by clicking through the button at the bottom of that page. Please put the name "Moxie" in the space for "Referred by" on the form or PayPal transaction so I get credit toward my goal.

We now go back to cute stories about El Chico.

Right.

El Chico: Mama, kiss my... kiss my... kiss my...
Me: Grits?
El Chico: Yeah!

Hrmph

I'm feeling kind of, well, stalled today. Like nothing's moving in the right direction. I was feeling fine yesterday, but today just seems like I've lost momentum.

This is even a boring post.

Maybe the day will improve after tonight's meeting. Some other parents in El Chico's playgroup and I are forming a co-op playgroup/preschool program for the fall. We decided to opt out of the crazy NYC preschool admissions game by hiring a teacher and finding a space and doing our own thing with kids that all know and like each other. The only tasks remaining are to find a teacher and a space! Hence the meeting tonight. We're settled on a philosopy, though, and that's major. I'm very into educational reform, and particularly free democratic education, so I didn't want to do anything with El Chico now that wouldn't be a bridge to that for when he's old enough for full-time school.

Oh.

Yesterday I was on the bus, and I saw a woman walking down the street pushing a stroller who looked just like a woman I used to work with. I started wondering if it really was her, and how old the baby was, and thinking it was funny that we'd have so much in common, even though we hadn't seen each other in 7 years. Then I remembered that Colleen was killed in the Trade Center.

Yeah, you know me

El Chico (after dinner and before bath): I want to get down with nakey!

Next stop: OPP.

Deceit or Just Repackaging?

For the last four months, El Chico has refused to wear his winter coat. That's all of winter with no heavy coat on. Instead, we've had to stuff him into one, two, or three sweaters underneath his beloved red windbreaker. Highly frustrating, and a waste of money for the coat.

Yesterday, when it started really snowing here, El Grande asked El Chico if he wanted to go outside in the snow with his "snow coat." El Chico got really excited and couldn't wait to go outside in his snow coat. And then again today he wanted to wear his snow coat. He loves his snow coat. "I'm wearing my snow coat!" He almost doesn't want to take it off.

El Grande is a genius. An evil genius.

Hee Hee

Yesterday, as we were walking from the bus to our apartment, El Chico says, "I'm going to my house. Are you going to my house, too, Mama?"

Hee.

Ice Cream Castle*

So El Grande and I went to the big supermarket near our apartment last night to get some ice cream. It's been months since I went into the store (it's overpriced and the cashiers are dumber than dirt and slooooowww) and I don't think I've ever been to the ice cream aisle before.

What I found in the ice cream aisle was Jerry Seinfeld's wet dream. Rows upon rows of ridiculous excess. Brands of ice cream I'd never heard of. And the flavors--don't get me started. WTF is "Chocolate Rainbow"? There's vanilla, and there's chocolate, or you can go for vanilla with fudge swirls. For years these three points on the grid of chocolate have been enough for us. Do we really need a "rainbow" of chocolate flavors? Who *are* these people?

And let's not even talk about the new Ben & Jerry's "carb conscious" ice cream. I counted four (4) different artificial sweeteners in the list of ingredients. Apparently this is ice cream for people who like brain tumors coming at them from all possible angles. People, you can eat ice cream *or* you can go carb-free. It's a binary choice. Have the courage to choose one or the other, instead of mocking your own taste buds and bodily health by snarking down a vile concoction of potentially lethal chemicals.

The strangest thing I saw, though, was the notice on the front of Edy's Orange Sherbet and Vanilla Ice Cream (swirled together, of course). It said "A Good Source of Vitamin C." Huh? Since when is ice cream a good source of vitamin C? But then I checked the label, and, indeed, half a cup of the ice cream provides 20% of the USRDA of Vitamin C. Frightened by this discovery, I skulked away to the register with my quart of Edy's Limited Edition Girl Scouts Tagalongs(R) Cookie ice cream. Girl Scouts and ice cream--puuuhfect togethuh.

For the record, I still swear by my favorite chocolate ice cream ever, Stonyfield Farms Organic Chocolate ice cream. It has a smooth, rich, deep chocolate flavor and a truly silky texture, but without the oiliness (or ridiculous spelling gimmick) of Haagen Dazs.

*Did you know that the first record album I ever bought for myself was Ice Cream Castle by Morris Day and The Time. I bought it when I was 12, because I really liked the songs "Jungle Love" and "The Bird." However, the album has some truly dirty-ass songs (most notably "If The Kid Can't Make You Come") which were decidedly Not Appropriate for a 12-year-old. I can remember thinking, "I don't think I should be listening to this." I wonder whatever happened to that album. It's probably still in my parents' basement.

Impressive

I have always been completely scornful of Spokesmodel George W. Bush, but I've got to hand it to him now. Anyone that can manage to piss off both Howard Stern and the Log Cabin Republicans is a true multi-tasker.

Hooray for you, W. You've come a long way, baby.

This Bites

In recent weeks, El Chico has begun biting when he feels frustrated with other kids. He used to be able to yell "no!' when another kid grabbed the toy he was playing with, but now it seems he just goes right to biting first. This all came to a head this morning at our regular playgroup. I stopped him from biting *at least* a dozen times. Despite my efforts (and those of the other moms), he still managed to bite two of the girls there, hard enough to leave marks (but not enough to break the skin, thank goodness).

I am so disheartened. He's such a happy, generous child, but this biting thing is just out of control. Each time he tries to bite we talk about yelling "no!" or "stop!" at the other kid, but it's not sticking. Maybe I need to buy a special stick or doll for him to bite when he feels like it. I certainly understand the urge to bite, but I'm losing it from trying to stop him from biting the other kids all the time. I'm beginning to understand why parents resort to hitting their kids or giving them time-outs.

So I think we can't go to playgroup for awhile. This is making me very sad. We've had this playgroup for 18 months now, and the only times we've missed have been when we're on vacation. The moms in the group are my good friends. But I can't think of what else to do. If only I could coat all the other kids in that stuff to stop people from biting their nails...