2011 Goals

So now that I've accounted for all of the great things I managed to do in 2010, it's time to think about the year ahead. This was a topic on the OList chat earlier this week, too.

Here are some of the things I'd like to do in the next year, in no particular order:

Cultivating the Virtues

• Record and release more podcasts, on a semi-regular schedule if possible. This is tough for us to coordinate, given our crazy schedules, but I think we can do it. 
• Deliver a speech at SNOWCON! :)
• Teach a class at ATLOSCON in May.
• Teach some local classes--either the 7 week training class we're supposed to do for the certification or some other kind of class.
• Revamp the website.
• Explore other products, such as webcasts.
• Incorporate as an LLC.
• Make some money!

ATLOS

• Get LLC/non-profit status squared away.
• Help with ATLOSCON.
• Revamp the website.
• Launch our new promotions strategy/theme.
• I'd love to talk to someone at ARI about ideas I have for community groups (who?), because, well, I think everyone could benefit from my opinion.
• Have fun and get new events and groups going under the ATLOS heading.

Health

• Experiment a bit with the paleo (though I'm hesitant to do anything wild and crazy until Sean is fully weaned) to see if I can jump start some weight loss again.
• Figure out what's going on with the thyroid thing (which might help with the weight loss, too).
• Keep up with CrossFit (the better to kick your ass with, my dear) (kidding).
• Do some kind of "fun run" with one or both older kids--I have a verbal commitment from Ryan. I think it would be super fun to do.
• In January, the kids and I are doing a Burpee Challenge (one burpee on Jan 1, two on Jan 2, etc.). :)

Blogging/Writing

• Write more LTEs.
• Keep going with the blog. 
• Yup, that's about it.

Family

• Get back to true Date Nights with Brendan--as our finances have become limited, we are going out less often, and tend to do big group things. We should reserve at least one night a month for the two of us.
• In that vein, both Brendan and I need to get back to our special one-on-one dates with the kids--trips to a coffee shop, breakfasts out, a movie, etc. 
• Keep up with the Family Conferences.
• Do some kind of semi-regular family field trip, like a hiking day or something.
• Get Sean on the potty plan at some point.

Homeschooling

• Set up a few Peopleguy Tours.
• Help the kids with their various projects (blogs and science projects and reading).
• More read alouds! We need to make this a priority, because it's so much fun, and beneficial too.
• Regular piano lessons with Morgan. We're writing it on the calendar!
• Get Morgan going on violin if financially feasible.
• More field trips.
• Start involving Ryan (and Morgan if she wants) in the cabin business, as I plan to train them up to take it over in a few years.
• Explore money-making opportunities with Ryan, and help him launch something. If it makes money, get him a checking account.
• Get both R & M on some kind of learn to program computers website, and get them typing, too.
• I'm thinking about acquiring some of Joy Hakim's science books and doing those as read aloud/discussion starters. 
• Visit the "library" upstairs (aka, all of the books up in Morgan's room that we need to sort through) and choose which books we value and which we can send along to someone else. I have a feeling we could spend days up there getting lost in all of the fun things to read. Mmmm...sounds like fun!

Cabin

• Hopefully this property management company will not go out of business. :) 
• As money/time permits, get a dishwasher installed and get quotes for the downstairs carpet.
• Get quotes for painting the house and deck.

House

• We need to seriously, for real and I'm so not kidding about this, clean the basement OUT and make at least part of it into useable living space. It's a total waste not to be using this space, and the kids get only bigger and their toys only come with more and more pieces.
• And while we're at it, we need to do something about the backyard. It's rather tragic back there.
• Shovel out Ryan's room and install a loft bed.
• Move Sean and Morgan into a bedroom together (they both like to snuggle up to someone at night and it's time they snuggle with each other instead of me and Brendan). This will include a re-do of both kids' rooms.
• Declutter, declutter, declutter.

Finances

• Now that the big pieces are in place, it's time to tweak the budget on a smaller, more penny-pinching scale. 
• Pay off as much remaining debt as possible.
• Live within our means.
• Become a miser. (kidding) (sorta)

Miscellaneous Stuff

• Improve my GTD useage so that I have a prayer of getting any of this stuff done.
• Do our normal yearly things like The Messy Party, and birthday celebrations, and go swimming, and visit the pumpkin patch in the Fall. Because all of those rituals add rhythm to each year.
• Big trip to Wisconsin (and possibly Illinois) in June for my brother's wedding. We'll be celebrating Sean's third birthday up there, too.
• If we can swing it financially, go to the wedding of a college friend in Aspen, CO in early June, and maybe OCON. OCON is looking less and less likely, even though it's so close to us in 2011, because of finances and my brother's wedding. But I'd like to try to get down there and at least visit with people a bit.
• Keep up with knitting! I'm really enjoying it.

Would you believe that I wasn't sure I'd have very many specific goals when I started writing this post? Also, if you are a P on the MBTI, you probably shouldn't read any of this very closely or stress about it. When it's time for you to do my bidding, I'll let you know--until then, live happy and free in Non-Planny Land. :)

What are YOUR goals for 2011?

2010 Year in Review

Every year I pick a theme, some particular thing I was focused primarily on for most of the year--a new baby, for example. This year had so many goals and my attention was split among many different projects, I wasn't sure what the theme could be (apart from "AWESOME," naturally). But, as you'll see, I found a pretty good theme after all.

2010: The Year of Meeting People

January

• I have no idea what we did for New Year's, which leads me to believe that we had a night quiet family evening at home. My favorite kind of New Year's Eve.
• I managed to get pink eye and tonsillitis during the same month. Super fun!
• I cut wheat out of my diet, and sugar, too.
• My mother-in-law came for a visit (yay, Nonnie!).
• Ryan got his blue belt in TKD.
• I started talking to the peopleguys at OClubs about ideas for getting an Objectivist community group up and going here in Atlanta. And I'm forever grateful for their help!
• And I met: Jane Nelsen! She came to Atlanta for a lecture and workshop, and I got to meet her and have lunch with her and it was so much fun! When I told her who I was, she grabbed me and gave me a hug, wasn't that sweet? :o)

February

• We got new floors installed in the house, and survived the process.
• The two big kids got their very own library cards.
• We had friends over for the Super Bowl.
• The kids participated in a Science Fair and it was really lots of fun for all of us.
• Don't think I met anyone in person this month, but DRUNK HULK commented on my blog, does that count? :o)

March

• I hired a new property management company for the cabin, and they are working out very nicely!
• I took the first of my certification classes for Positive Discipline. Super awesome.
• Ryan dropped out of Taekwondo, which I'm still a little sad about, to be honest, since he hasn't returned. Ah well. The teacher is now offering adult classes, so maybe I'll go back myself one day!
• ATLOS had its first monthly Social this month and over 40 people showed up. We were off to a grand beginning! (And I also met Hanah for the first time here, I think, and lots of other neat-o and new-to-me folks here in Atlanta, like John K. and Ken and Garrett and Melissa, too.)
• And speaking of grand beginnings, MiniCon planning was really getting going. Neither Kelly nor I had any clue what lay ahead in terms of just how much work we'd be putting into it (ignorance really sometimes is bliss).
• Kelly and I recorded our first podcast episodes this month. :)
• We started our Family Conferences this month. Hilarity ensued.
• Miss Morgan turned 5, a whole hand! Her birthday party was at a paint-your-own-pottery place, which is a great venue for a birthday party, btw.
• I met Shea and Alyssa and Miranda in person.  

April

• I took the second Positive Discipline certification workshop this month.
• The first Cultivating the Virtues podcast was released! Rock.
• Ryan celebrated his 8th birthday in Dahlonega, panning for gold. My in-laws all came and we spent a night at the cabin that weekend, too.
• I met Keith and Pari and Ben very, very briefly, one afternoon at a coffee shop in midtown (I think that was the same weekend my in-laws were coming for Ryan's birthday and the day the podcast was released!). Keith is one of the aforementioned OClubs peopleguys, Pari is his wife, and Ben is another Objectivist I'd been eager to meet. :o)

May

• Having completed both of the introductory workshops, I formally submitted my application to the Positive Discipline Association to get the certification underway. I'm now a Positive Discipline Trainer Candidate and have a few more steps to complete before I am fully certified.
• My sister came for a visit and we went to the Marietta Greek Festival!
• I'd made good progress in losing weight and bought new clothes for the summer, a couple sizes smaller. :)
• Brendan got an iPad for his birthday and I haven't seen him since (kidding).
• We took advantage of our homeschooling status to use our neighborhood pool often while the rest of the kids in the neighborhood were still in school. It was fun, but cold as I recall.
• It was somewhere around this time that I became buried in MiniCon and didn't come up for air until mid-July. And Kelly had it worse than I, I think.
• I don't think I met anyone this month, did I?

June

• MiniCon. MiniCon. MiniCon. That's pretty much all I worked on or talked about. I think Kelly and I spoke on the phone about 78 times a day, for 30 seconds to 2 minutes at a time, conversations going like this: "Did you..." "Yeah, I did that, but have you..." "Nope, not yet, but I sent you the..." "Okay but what about..." "I can't think about that right now, ack!" "Okay, talk to you later bye." 
• What else? Oh yeah, for some reason I cooked a turkey this month. 
• We got our share of a grassfed cow. Yummy.
• Ryan had an ultrasound of his knee and everything was fine, though the stress of it just about killed us both.
• Sean turned 2 on Father's Day, and my parents came down for the occasion.
• Brendan and I got totally serious about revamping our finances, and closed on a loan this month as part of the effort. We also finally dropped cable and switched to Netflix and Hulu and that's it.
• If I met anyone new this month, I don't remember, but that's mostly because I don't remember much about this month at all. :)

July

• MinCon! OMG, MiniCon! It happened and it was so much fun and such a big success, and totally worth all of our hard work. And it absolutely made up for not being able to attend OCON.
• Kelly and I taught two Positive Discipline classes at MiniCon and it was SO much fun. I can't wait to teach more classes, something I am hopeful we'll both have time to do in 2011.
• My blog hit 100,000 visitors and 5 years (though not on the same day).
• I said "no, thank you" to the visitor from the Census Bureau.
• We swam and played and were generally lazy for the rest of the month.
• We filled out an application to refinance our house. 
• I met a bazillion new people this month (and please forgive me if I've left you off the list, just drop me a comment or something): Lynne, Stephen, Antonio, Andy, Bob, Julian, Earl, Tom, Dawn, Dwane, Rory...and more I'm sure. Please remind me if I'm spacing out on this.

August

• We went to the Outer Banks and saw dear C. August and his family. I'm sad that we're not going to make it in 2011 (too many other things going on, not enough vacation time). 
• While in OBX, we met John and his family, who happened to be vacationing there at the same time! That was fun. :)
• I made lists with Ryan and Morgan of the things they want to learn in our happy little homeschool.
• Homeschool co-op started back up, too. By the way, school starts up way too early in Georgia. Whatever happened to Labor Day - Memorial Day? 
• Sean participated in a study at Georgia State about conceptual development of young children. It was fun and he got a prize.
• ATLOS started our play group and a letter-to-the-editor workshop.
• Kelly and I applied to do a class at next year's OCON, but we didn't get in. Still, I'm glad we tried.
• I saw a doctor about all of the hair I'd been losing all summer (among other symptoms). Turns out, it wasn't stress from MiniCon, but thyroid-related. I got some fun pills to take.

September

• My mother-in-law and brother-in-law came for a visit over Labor Day weekend and we went to Chickamauga. Totally fun, but I don't recommend driving there and back with bickering children in the back seat.
• We listened to Earl give a lecture about architecture (sponsored by ATLOS), and then went and toured the home he's been working on up in Tennessee. Super fun.
• As part of our financial cost-cutting measures, we dropped the cleaning service. It's worked out much better than I'd imagined, plus, with the money-saving.
• Our first two closing dates for the re-fi came and went, and the loan processor apparently disappeared off the face of the earth. I was not happy.
• We sold Brendan's car as part of the financial cost-cutting, too. It was sad.
• I started up with CrossFit.
• I bought all new clothes for the fall, a size even smaller. 
• Several of us ATLOS members met Yaron Brook for lunch! :o)
• The best part of the Tennessee house tour was meeting Trey in person! After knowing him many years online, he was the person from the internets I was most eager to meet and it finally happened! He is just as awesome in person and is one of my favorite internet blogger peopleguys ever.

October

• We all met up in Orlando to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday. We all had a really fun time, and saw Harry Potter Universal Studios, too. My grandmother amazed us all, walking all through the parks like nobody's business. She rocks.
• Also, my brother proposed to his girlfriend while we were all in Florida, and it's a go for next June.
• I completed the Fundamentals of CrossFit class and eagerly resumed self-ass-kicking when we returned from Florida. 
• I'd also lost so much weight that I had to get my wedding rings resized down!
• The re-fi was just about killing me at this point. I especially enjoyed having to dig up documents and information while on vacation with my family in Florida. Not.
• We received a surprisingly large refund from the IRS. That was nice.
• ATLOS events began to take off, with a couple of study/discussion groups forming, and a Fall Family Picnic and other things. Yay!
• I got my passport! I'm so excited and am dying to go to England one day.
• There was a trip to the pumpkin farm.
• And Halloween (and an uncooperative HOA)!

November

• As I approached my 40th birthday, I took a minute to review my life by decades.
• We finally closed on that $#@^%^*#$@ re-fi. I survived, I'm pleased to report, but I wonder if the toll took a few weeks or months off my life span. The good news is that our mortgage payment is ridiculously low, only about $20 more than the rent at our last apartment twelve years ago.
• Two of our friends were getting married the day before my birthday, so I spent much of the beginning part of the month at the mall, looking for a dress and shoes and a handbag and a shawl and pantyhose, etc. It's fun looking for dresses in the regular section, not the Women's section. :o)
• After the wedding, a bunch of us went to a bar and I got to turn 40 in front of about 40 people. We all cheered and drank beer!
• I met some nice new people at the wedding, including Mark and a couple of other nice guys whose names escape me now. It was nice to see Amy and Adam again, and many other people (some of whom are mentioned earlier in this interminable post).
• I began to hit my stride in CrossFit, and noticed that I feel fitter and am stronger.
• Though not everything was super rosy with CrossFit, as I sometimes developed headaches/migraines during or after workouts. I found a family practice I liked (finally), and saw a great nurse practitioner who sent me for an MRI. The MRI was clear (yay), and during the procedure I talked myself out of freaking out by reminding myself that I'd survived 3 c-sections and the Lumberjack 20. I got some fun pills to take if the headaches happen again, which they haven't, as clearly all the Powers That Be in the 'verse wanted was for me to drop $500 on a co-pay for an MRI. I'm not (really) complaining though--I'm happy to be headache-free.
• Because Ryan wanted to learn to knit, I decided to take up knitting again (I taught myself a few basic stitches in 2001, and that's where it ended last time). It's fun!

December

• This month, I chewed out some jerky kids at a shopping mall.
• I got a henna tattoo.
• My brother-in-law came for a visit!
• Not having a mortgage payment this month (because you know you get to skip a month after a re-fi) worked out in our favor--I used that money to buy Christmas gifts for the kids and ourselves. Yay!
• ATLOS had a very fun holiday party, and Trey came down for it! I also met Joshua and Andrew and Michael at the party, and I hope that they continue to show up at future ATLOS events.
• I created a Facebook page for the Objectivist Round Up.
• My parents came down for Christmas, and it snowed all day long. Beautiful.
• I just sent out the paperwork to make ATLOS into an LLC. :)
• We're invited to the home of our friends for New Year's Eve, but I think we'll probably stay here and play games and watch movies and drink fizzy grape juice at midnight. 

Okay, so this post was really only a much longer version of my 2010 Achievements post, but I like having everything in the proper order.

And do you see what I mean about meeting people this year? Famous people even, like Jane Nelsen and Yaron Brook! I'd never considered myself a super social butterfly kind of person, but I am really enjoying getting to know others (in person and online, too) who share some or all of my values. Nobody is more surprised than I am--in my 20s I cynical and grumpy about meeting people--I felt I was doomed to be disappointed. It's not that way at all! These new friends are the result of my opening up and being friendly and giving people a chance, and the result of the work I've done to create the kind of world I want to live in. So yay for that. :o)

And with that, I bid a mostly awesome 2010 adieu, and am looking forward to what lies ahead in 2011.

SNOWCON!

Oh hey, did you see the big announcement at NoodleFood? They are having a SNOWCON (inspired by the one ATLOS put on last summer)! Kelly and I really hoped that other community Objectivist groups would organize their own MiniCon events and we are super excited that the Front Range Objectivists are hosting one.

But even better than that--did you see who is going to be speaking? Kelly and me! Kelly and me! Woohoo Woohoo! Kelly and me!  (jumps up and down a bunch of times)

We won't be the only speakers, of course, but we're on the schedule--as the keynote! (kinda freaks a bit from the intense pressure)

For those of you who are not parents and don't plan to be, we think what we have to say will still appeal to you. We are going to do a basic introduction to the principles of Positive Discipline, but our main focus will be on the communication techniques we use with our kids. And these are the very same communication techniques that are useful when talking to your spouse or friends or coworkers or managers or employees or customer service peopleguys.

That's all I'll say for now--don't want to give too much away (especially as we're still working on our talk)--but I wanted you to know that this will be a more general talk than the ones we've done in the past.

So needless to say, I'm double-thrilled! I'm so happy that another group is throwing a MiniCon, and I'm happy to be a part of it! Though there's a possibility I might have to bring my nursling if he isn't totally weaned by then--but I know the OEvolve/Modern Paleo people out in Colorado will understand. :)

And I'll finally get to meet everyone in person! YAY!

Speaking of MiniCons--our second one is still scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend in 2011. We have a new name--ATLOSCON (get it? ATLanta Objectivist Society's CONference?)--and are in the planning stages now. Hope to see you at both events (hint hint)!

White Christmas

My parents are here an extra day due to the winter storm that hit us on Christmas Day (the first time in over a hundred years there's been snow on Christmas in this part of Georgia). They live in DC, and the storm snowed all over their route home. In other words, we're still celebrating.

Some memories from this holiday:

• Snow! (of course)

• A snowman (Tilty the Snowman didn't last too long--next time we'll spend more time on the foundation)

• Most excellent standing rib roast (I'd make this more often if it wasn't so darn expensive)

• A very Thomas the Train Christmas for Sean

• And he also got a guitar! (love at first sight)

• Morgan had a very Zhu Zhu pet Christmas, both regular Zhu Zhus and Kung Zhus (complete with snake pit for battles, and I am not making that up)

• She also got craft projects galore (including Shrinky Dinks!)

• Ryan got an erector set (to the chagrin of my dad who had to help him get started on it) and spy stuff and a Flip Cam (he's made about 5 movies of himself talking already)

• Brendan received economics books and a computer server thingie and a date with Morgan to a movie and a date with Ryan to a shooting range

• I received a case (a case!) of my favorite wine. :) 

• Oh! And I nearly forgot--I got a Keurig coffee maker for Christmas (though I got it a couple of weeks ago). I had a very beverage-y Christmas.

• Brendan and I took advantage of the free babysitting (aka Grandma and Grandpa) and saw the Harry Potter movie finally

And today we're hitting Jo-Ann Fabrics (where I will drool over yarn for knitting and my mom will choose fabric with the kids to make them clothes) and lunch probably and then . . . back here for more playing with Christmas gifts. Seanie hasn't even opened up everything yet (takes a while when you're two). And sadly I appear to have acquired another head cold (Why, universe?!?!? Why?!?!?!) so maybe I can have a nap, a rare event for the likes of me.

Bye for now! Have a fun day!

Ho Ho Ho!

We are busy celebrating, and I hope you are, too. Because I can't resist, I give you this spectacular video from all of The Caseys:

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

My new blog template doesn't like embedded videos, and I'm too uninterested to try to fix it tonight (not to mention busy!). I'm sure you'll forgive. 

Have a great weekend, and I'll be back soon!

2010 Achievements

Last night's OList Happy Hour had the best topic ever: achievement. Earl writes:

As we approach the end of the year, I think there is real value in looking back on our individual achievements from the past year, both as a source of spiritual fuel, and as a means of checking one's bearings in contemplation of goals to set for the new year.

And, in the spirit of Christmas gift-giving, what better way to remember the year's achievements than to share them with others?! Which brings us to this week's menu:

Appetizer: What were your major achievements of the past year? Which of your achievement(s) of the past year make you the most proud?

Drink Special: Did you have any achievements that had a particularly significant impact on your life? Was this expected or unexpected? How do these achievements impact your expectations and goals for the new year?

It was a fun chat (by the way, these weekly chats are open to anyone on an OList, lurkers included, I believe). Earl is right--it is spiritual fuel to hear about the achievements of others, people you like and respect. It makes me happy for them, and inspires me to try harder to achieve my goals, too.

I warned everyone in the chat that I'd be making this into a blog post. :) It's fun to think over the past year, all of the good fun and work I've done. And it's ever so nice to be able to do so in a mentally healthy way--which in my case means that I can look back at my accomplishments and feel only happiness and pride--and NOT guilt about the goals I didn't achieve, and NOT beat myself up for what I could have done better (though it's hard not to add qualifiers about what I didn't accomplish). Nope! This year I can say that I clearly ROCKED, and even though I didn't get everything done just perfectly, oh well--that just leaves lots of fun things to work on next year. Look at me, I'm growing as a person here.

So here is my list of achievements for 2010, in no particular order:

• I lost about 40 pounds and 3 dress sizes! (And I know I still need to complete my series of posts about changing my eating premises...it's on the To Do List.)

• I started CrossFit in September and have survived (so far)!

• I worked hard like peopleguys on launching the Atlanta Objectivist Society (ATLOS!). Lots of other people worked hard like peopleguys, too, and isn't it awesome to work hard with great people on a project everyone is passionate about? 

• I worked hard like peopleguys with lots of ATLOS peopleguys on MiniCon! To have pulled off such a successful conference in our first year was no small feat. It was such an amazingly fun experience and I can't wait for our next one!

• I worked hard like peopleguys with Kelly to launch our new Cultivating the Virtues podcast and website and Positive Discipline parenting education business. 

• I took two Positive Discipline workshops, a big step toward my full certification as an official Positive Discipline trainer, and am now a Positive Discipline Trainer Candidate.

• I co-taught two classes about Positive Discipline with Kelly at MiniCon.

• I wrote some pretty good blog posts about many, many topics.

• I wrote a couple of LTEs and I think one even got in somewhere, though I'll have to go back and double check which one it was. (For some reason I have a terrible memory for LTEs--once I got one published and didn't even remember writing it somehow.)

• I hired a new property management company for the cabin, which had another amazing year, rental-wise. 

• Two times I encountered an issue with my health and took care of it right away instead of procrastinating! Go me!

• Brendan and I achieved an enormous overhaul of our finances and are now in much better financial shape than we were last year. And yes, it took all year long, sigh.

• The kids--I am a homeschooling mom, too, and though most of the homeschooling accomplishments rightly belong with the children, I played my part, too. We did read alouds and math and piano lessons and history and trips to the library and trips to museums and a science fair and I think I answered about eleventy zillion questions. Maybe eleventy zillion questions from just one curious little boy even. 

• We established a weekly family conference and have kept up with it. It has been very valuable to all of us.

• I've been getting much better at cooking, too. Not the actual cooking--that part I was pretty okay at already--but the planning meals and buying groceries and actually cooking part. :)

• I'm teaching myself to knit!

• Last but not least--I turned 40! (It's not as hard as you might think.)

Those are just a few of the great many things I accomplished this year. We had house and kid projects all over the place, vacations and celebrations, meeting new people, and much much more. Naturally, much of my time was taken up by Twitter and Facebook.

I would LOVE to hear about your accomplishments, so tell me in the comments, or leave a link to your rockin' awesome blog post.

Coming up sometime soon--goals for 2011!

Good Things (Weekend Edition)

This might not be strictly Good Things, but rather an enumeration of What's What these past few days.

Sick--definitely not a Good Thing. But Ryan is all done with it, I'm all done with it (though exhausted from about 5 days or so of being up with Sean in the night), and Sean is nearly done with it. Brendan went down yesterday morning, and Morgan went down last night. And we had to reschedule our ATLOS Play Group holiday tea again. :( Because I am prone to look on the bright side of things--everyone should be well in time for Christmas and the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa!

My brother-in-law was in town for a quick visit over the weekend. Yay, we love Uncle B. and he and the kids really seemed to enjoy each other's company. I hate that most of us weren't feeling all the way well, but it made for a nice low-key let's-just-catch-up-on-all-the-news kind of visit.

Virtue of Selfishness discussion group yesterday--lots of fun! I've read the essays in the book several times, but this group is a good way for me to get to know others in ATLOS a little better, and the discussions get me thinking about things in a new way.

Knitting! I'm working on a scarf for Ryan--just a plain green-y one, with wool yarn and a smaller needle size. Garter stitch this time, because I'm not worried about forgetting how to purl and because I want it to lie flat. It's trickier than I thought, getting all of those rows even, but I'm improving all the time.

Lunar eclipse tonight! Well, technically tomorrow here on the East Coast I think. I'm going to wake up the kids (Ryan at least) to go see it. And honestly, Sean will probably be awake anyway, so he'll get to see it. I wish we could go to the fun science museum for the big lunar eclipse party, but that's just not gonna happen.

BB Gun--Ryan tried out his new BB gun yesterday and did not shoot his eye out. :P Actually, Brendan said he was a pretty decent shot.

Oh! I created a Facebook page for the Objectivist Round Up! We've got lots of fans already, why don't you join us? I plan to post links to each edition as they are posted, and I hope it will be a useful tool for promoting the carnival.

So that's my weekend/week. Got a lot to do to get ready for The Parental Units to arrive. Christmas cards need to go out, presents need a-wrapping (a task that's right up there on my Hate To Do List with laundry), a big roast needs a-fetching from the butcher, groceries need a-purchasing, house needs a-cleaning, and a partridge in a pear tree.

And I have EVER so many great ideas for interesting blog posts--this ALWAYS happens when I'm crazybusy in 3D Land, too. WHY? But not me--I'm not complaining. I'm just sayin'.

TTFN!

Still Sick

Ryan and I are on the mend, but Sean has the cold now. I was up with him throughout the night, holding him and rocking him while he screamed with rage. He doesn't like fevers, you see, and is really mad when he has one.

So we're still sick. Ugh.

And I'm still heartsick, to tell the truth, over what happened to a little toddler up in Nebraska. It took me several tries to be able to read all of Dana's story of the accident that took her little boy's life. They are conscientious parents, like we all are, and they'd checked that dresser to make sure it was sturdy and safe. It was a horrible tragedy, so sad, so near Christmas. His big brother and sisters heroically tried to help him.

Dana ends her post this way:

In the meantime, take a look around your home. Not just at bathtubs and outlets and choking hazards for we always emptied the bathtub and had the bathroom door closed; we cut his grapes and hot dogs in half so he wouldn’t choke; we did everything we could so we urge you take a long hard look at the things you never thought about before. The things you thought were sturdy and secure. The old, heirloom pieces of furniture that seem so very sturdy. I climbed that dresser once to fix a curtain. I never would have thought it would fall. I know you can’t bubble wrap the world, but right now, I’m in the mood to try.

Please, check your homes because the everyday ordinary may not be as safe as you envisioned.

And hug your little babies. I hope and pray you never know how much you can miss all their little mischiefs.

So I did that, yesterday, took a good look at our home. And I found lots of room for improvement--a heavy box sitting on top of an unsecured bookcase, for example. Just stuff that somehow you don't quite think all the way through sometimes. Rather eye-opening. I urge all of you parents reading this to do the same. She's right--you can't bubble wrap the world, but when something like this happens, it does put you in the mood to double check everything in your environment.

Taking care of Sean last night was hard, but I was happy to do it.

Sick Days

Ugh, it's no fun to be sick. Ryan and I are fighting off a cold and he's got it worse than I. Yesterday we all just sat around in our pajamas and watched television. I'm a firm believer in the healing power of lying around in front of movies for many hours.

Today was the last day of homeschool co-op for the session, so we managed to go and attend the chess trophy ceremony. I took a video of the kids in Sign Language class singing and signing "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." If I can figure out how, I'll upload it, because it was SO. Cute. The ASL teacher did a great job!

If we're all feeling better, our Kids' Holiday Tea Party will happen on Friday as scheduled. If not, we'll do it next week. I think it will be super lots of fun for the kids of the ATLOS Play Group to enjoy a little holiday cheer with each other in the form of tea, hot chocolate, and homemade holiday treats. It only seems fair after all of the grownups got to have a party last weekend (which was really lots of fun).

So anyway, that's where I've been, and what's been happening. I have ever so many ideas for blog posts, but I think it's best if I write them after I'm feeling better. That way they might actually be coherent!

In the meantime, here are the kids with their chess trophies:




Morgan got a "Top 3" trophy I think. By a lucky coincidence, it's purple, one of her favorite colors (as you might have surmised by what she's wearing).





Ryan got the champion trophy for the K-3 division this time. He was pretty proud.


And I just noticed that neither one of them had taken off their coats!

Good Things

Today has not been the super funnest day ever. And even so, I have Good Things to appreciate about it.

• A doctor who listens and takes action--definitely a Good Thing (he upped my thyroid meds, here's hoping for improvement!).

• Snuggly snuggly children who rock with you in the Big Brown Chair. Sure, Sean fell asleep at an inopportune time, but considering how the day began, I didn't mind it one little bit. Snuggly boy. And snuggly girl.

• I got my early Christmas present today--a Keurig coffee machine. It's all primed and ready to be used first thing tomorrow. :o)

• Ryan helped clean the kitchen and made himself and the other kids hot chocolate. Yes, on the gas stove. 

It appears that I'm coming down with something, and by the whining currently emanating from the kitchen, probably Ryan, too. So good night!

On Bloggy Friends

I was going to write about something else today, but I can't. I cannot stop thinking about Dana and her family. Her 22 month old son died suddenly yesterday, and so I've been half in tears all day, full of sorrow for a family I've never met in person but feel as if I know.

Dana's blog was one of the first homeschooling blogs I found and subscribed to. I've read her for years now. Though we don't see eye-to-eye on everything, we have much in common beyond just "homeschooling mommy."

I remember when she announced that she was pregnant with her little boy--it was right around the time Sean was born. I remember when she announced his birth. I laughed the other week over her characterization of her "Oatmeal Pollock" and several of his sisters and brothers, feeling camaraderie with her plight, and trying to imagine my own life with double the kids.

The blogging world is an interesting world. I know so many more people today than I did five years ago. I have my Objectivist bloggy friends and my homeschooling bloggy friends and my food allergy bloggy friends and my Rage Against the American Community Survey bloggy friends. Because I have opened up my life a little bit to strangers through the phenomenon (okay, alright, obsession) known as blogging, my life is just that much richer.

And people know me, because I am telling all of this stuff about myself for them to read. And I get to know other people who tell stuff about themselves, too. Yet it's a different kind of knowing--we're not-quite strangers who know all of these personal things about each other. We are internet friends and acquaintances, and though most of us have yet to meet in person, we are connected and sometimes involved in each other's lives. We cheer each other's successes, fret when their kids are sick or have a food allergy reaction, sympathize when they struggle with helping a child work through an academic issue. And we share their sorrows, too.

As I've been trying to wrap my head around Dana's unimaginable pain, I've been cognizant of another feeling--deep appreciation for all of the people who write blogs I enjoy and the people who come to visit me here.

So that's all for now. Gonna go spend some time with my kids today. RIP, Mattias.

My (Mostly) Paleo Christmas Menu

Can you believe that Christmas is barely two weeks away? Insane. So far I have succeeded in my quest for a leisurely holiday season, though I have yet to send out Christmas cards (soon) or find stocking stuffers. The kids are provided for in the gift department (they are getting SUCH cool stuff this year), though, and now it's time to turn my attention toward the next-most important part of Christmas Day: the food.

My mom and dad will be here for the holiday, so it will be a small group. My mom always made a turkey or a roast for the holidays when I was growing up--on top of an enormous breakfast, too. I don't mind cooking big meals every once in a while, but I am not quite that enterprising.

And I probably won't be that enterprising at least until the children are a bit older, because mostly on Christmas Day, I'm occupied with taking pictures of The Cute and detaching the toys from the awful, awful packaging (toy companies clearly enjoy their little practical jokes on parents) and occasionally calling a halt to the proceedings so we can clear away some of the rubble wrapping paper. So the food that day needs to be pretty simple. I just can't recreate the effort I put forth on Thanksgiving, a holiday when the children mostly just hang around and watch television with Daddy.


So here's what I'm thinking:

• I MIGHT make something for breakfast. :P Actually, maybe the hubby will scramble up some eggs and we'll cook some bacon, too. I really wonder if we'll need to bother, because the kids won't eat a thing, I'm sure. But bacon and eggs (with coconut oil) is a nice hearty paleo breakfast, and I know I'll certainly need some fuel to make it through the long long long long day (which will no doubt begin earlier than I'd like it to).

And for dinner:

• Standing Rib Roast (not sure how I'll prepare it yet, but it'll be some variation of Slather It In Something & Put In The Oven, and I'll get a huge one so there's lots of leftovers!)

• Roasted Asparagus (in bacon grease, yum)

• Mashed Sweet Potatoes (I think, maybe I'll cheat and just slice them up and roast them)

• My Grandmother's Rolls *

• Flourless Chocolate Cake (that was such a hit last time, and I can make it the day before)

How does that sound? Simple to make and mostly healthy!

*The Rolls. As I wrote in the original post with the recipe, these rolls are not only delicious (and not paleo!), but they are a way in which I remember my grandmother. It's one of my very favorite memories of her, when she'd help my sister and me roll out the dough and roll them up into crescents. Every time I make them, I think about her, what her kitchen looked like, how sweet she was to us. These aren't just any old dinner rolls--they are memories.

So I'm going to make them (maybe the day before) with the kids and tell them all about my grandmother while I do it. I might even eat one, but honestly, the eating of them doesn't sound all that appealing to me now. I don't want to eat them; I want to make them. I want to participate in a time-honored family ritual and pay homage to the memory of my grandparents, and involve my kids in the process.

Come to think of it, while I'm perusing my grandmother's old cookbook, maybe I'll find some good paleo recipes. This is a classic cookbook full of old-time recipes when people made food made out of real ingredients, and not a few of the recipes contain lard. :o)

What are you making for Christmas (or what did you make for Hanukkah)? Do you do anything special for New Year's?

Good Things I'm Reading & Thinking About

• This week's Objectivist Round Up at The Playful Spirit

• Knitting Tips by Judy--so many helpful videos! Oh look, she has a Facebook page, too. I finished my first practice piece/scarf for Morgan. Miranda said it was pretty good for a first effort (thanks, darling!). I'll stick with long rectangles (aka, scarves) for now. Making a green one for Sean or Ryan, then a stripedy Gryffindor one for me! 

• Crossfit--just browsing the site and reading articles. I'm particularly interested in learning about how you're supposed to know when it's time to try heavier weights. Right now I go up in weight when I notice I'm completing the workouts quickly or when I have more than a little reserve energy at the end. But is there some kind of good measure for this? I dunno. My trainer is helpful, but I suspect that I'm the only one who can really know when it's time, and I'm too newbie to know, and then there's that perfectionist thing and whatifI'mdoingitwrong, and also I don't want to get hurt! 

• I'm reading The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen and it's really interesting. Planning to review it for the blog. In the meantime, here's the author's website.

In Which I Stand Up to Bullies

You may have seen my tweets about this already, but I have to share this story here, because it was so weird. And surprising, mostly because I surprised myself.

Last Friday afternoon, I was at a mall with the kids killing time until Brendan could meet us. We rode the carousel a couple of times, got Starbucks, shopped for Christmas presents for Brendan (but we didn't buy because we don't really know what he wants, hint hint), watched other kids visiting Santa (none of mine will touch Santa with a 39-and-a-half foot pole), etc. It was leisurely and fun.

As we were walking along a very non-crowded section of the mall, with me pushing the double "car" which Sean and Morgan were "driving," I sort of became aware of two boys (who turned out to be about 13-15 years old) behind us talking in a loud voices.

I heard: "Nice purse (snort)!" and "What the ?!?!?! Are you kidding? Where he'd get that?" and high-pitched girlie "ooohs" and "ahhhs" and a couple more snarky comments about someone having a 'nice purse.'

Confused, I glanced down at my purse, wondering why in the world two kids would ever be remarking on my purse, as it's not exactly unusual for a mommy to be toting around a purse. And nobody else was around us at all...they had to be talking about me, right?

Then I saw. Ryan was wearing his Epi-pen holder, slung across his shoulder ammo-belt-style. He was wearing gray camouflage pants and shirt (okay, pajamas) with the brown Epi-pen holder across his back. The part where the Epi-pens go happened to be on his back, where the kids behind us could clearly see. The "purse."

All of this happened in a couple of seconds, though. I went from "Why do they care about some mommy's purse?" to "They think Ryan is carrying a purse!" to "They're openly mocking him about it!" to ANGER.

The older kids started to pass us, still commenting and generally acting like complete jerks. Without warning--to their surprise AND MINE--I rounded on them quickly and said angrily and incredulously, "Really?!?!?! REALLY? He's a little kid!"

Why that particular thing flew out of my mouth, I have no idea. I was not conscious of formulating the thought at all--the words came without thought. If I'd thought before speaking, I know I wouldn't have used the phrase "little kid" to describe Ryan, especially right in front of him. But there it was.

The punks teens were shocked at my response, their eyes widened with that "caught" look. Then one of them stared at me in open challenge (the nerve!) and said something about how they hadn't been talking to us. And then they scurried along.

They'd been talking about us, even if they weren't talking to us. There was nobody else around and we weren't walking by a purse store.

Now, to add to all of the surprise, all three of my kids, who had been completely unaware of the taunting, were awfully surprised to hear their mom suddenly speak sharply to two complete strangers. :o) I was fuming, but I managed to tell my children that those other kids had been saying mean things and I didn't think it was nice of them so they stopped when I spoke to them.

Later when Brendan met us at the mall, we spoke about the incident (he'd seen my tweets) a bit. I told him that I didn't think Ryan had heard what they said. When of course my uber-observant (those highly sensitive types--we don't miss much) child piped up with "Oh I heard them saying 'Nice purse' and stuff. I just didn't know they were talking about me until mom yelled at them." (Note: I didn't yell, but I sure spoke, uh, vehemently.)

So he'd heard. He heard and it didn't register that he was the target of their mocking. I felt momentarily guilty about having said anything to the kids, because if I'd held it together, Ryan never would have known what was happening.

But then I dismissed that thought. If I'd kept my mouth shut, those two little bullies would not have been called on their behavior. And I strongly feel that bullies need to be called on their behavior. Also, by witnessing someone standing up for him, I modeled the kind of behavior I'd want Ryan (and the other kids) to exhibit if they ever saw someone being mocked or taunted or bullied.

I believe, as Brendan and I discussed this later with Ryan, I put it like this: "Sometimes bullies do mean things to other people, because they think that making others feel bad about themselves will help the bullies feel better about themselves. But that's just crap and I don't put up with that kind of crap, especially when someone tries to make people I love feel badly about themselves."

So I'm glad I said something. It seems pretty dumb, really, to pick on a kid when his mom is standing right there. It seems pretty pathetic to pick on a kid who is obviously so much younger and smaller (and Ryan is small for his age, so he looks younger than he actually is). It is pitiful, really, that these kids behaved that way, and part of me feels a little sorry for them.

I can't even describe how mad I was (I'm still a little mad, but mostly I'm over the volcanic fuming stage). They made fun of him for carrying a purse. A 'purse' that he proudly and responsibly carries to make sure his life-saving medicine is on his person at all times when we're out in public. He is so responsible these days and generally remembers to bring his Epis out of the house all on his own, without reminders. He thinks the carrier I got him is rockin' cool (they are, go click the link and see how awesome those styles are). He MUST take his Epis everywhere we go for two reasons: to build up and sustain this habit, and of course, just in case. The last thing I want is for him to decide that he shouldn't carry them because he'll be made fun of.

So anyway, there's a bullying story for you. I'm disgusted with those kids, proud that I said something (even though what I actually said was apparently not under my complete control!), proud to have modeled good anti-bully behavior for my kids (not to mention the virtues justice and integrity), glad to have had several good discussions with Ryan and Morgan and Brendan as a result of the incident. And hoping we don't have to have a similar experience again.

Also, apparently, don't mess with me. :o)

By the way, while I'm thinking about it, Barbara Coloroso has a terrific book about bullying, called The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander: From Preschool to HighSchool--How Parents and Teachers Can Help Break the Cycle. It's been a while since I've read it, and I think I'm going to go back and give it a good skimming over.

OGrownups Monthly Summary

Here are the stats for November!

New members: 6

Total members: 265


Topics

• Discovery Toys Fundraiser for the Atlanta Objectivist Society (order by December 13 to receive in time for Christmas!)

• Toy recommendation: Capsella (LOVED these when I was a kid)

• (News) "12 year old Girl Prevents Kidnapping by Pretending iPod Touch is a Phone"

• Parenting Questions on Objectivist Answers

• Hosting an Exchange Student

• (News) Cross-Dressing Kids

• (Blog Post) Handling Lying

• (News) A market for baby foreskins (yuck)

• (News) CPS overstepping bounds

• Physics curriculum for sale

• Teaching the bible for cultural literacy

• (Blog Post) Family Business

• Positive Discipline book recommendations

• Dealing with 19 month olds (oh how I can relate!)

• (News) Marketing Junk Food to Kids

• Book recommendations for mid-level readers

• (News) NPR story about siblings and temperament

• Self-interest and sharing

• Selfishness and homeschooling (with a link to this blog post)

• (Blog Post) Postpartum Depression

Another month of varied and interesting links and discussion. Awesome.

OGrownups is an informal e-mail list for for Objectivists and others interested in raising and educating children well. Its basic purpose is to facilitate discussion amongst Objectivists about child development, discipline techniques, education methods, parenting resources, and more.

Any Objectivist interested in polite and practical discussion about raising and educating children rationally may subscribe and post to OGrownups -- including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, caregivers, and friends. Any Objectivist considering parenthood is also welcome to subscribe and post. Moreover, non-Objectivists are welcome to subscribe to the list, but only as lurkers; they cannot post. OGrownups is not moderated, but members who violate its rules will be subject to moderation, if not unsubscribed.

If you're interested in joining, and I hope you are, the information is on our homepage (linked above)!

Good Things

It's been a little while since I've posted some Good Things. Not because my life has been deficient in any amount of Good Things, but just because I haven't thought to do it. I'm going to try to remember to do this more often, because it's a great way to acknowledge some of the Good in my life, and it provides a nice little record of what I've been doing with my time.

One day many years from now, I'll read all of these posts, and I'm sure I'll care about the more substantial issues I've written about. But I (even if no one else) will also care about these little Good Things. :)

Good Things of Late (I can't limit it to three):

• ATLOS play group yesterday--amazing, interesting women (men are welcome, too!), and fun kids.

• Henna party last night with more amazing, interesting women, and yummy food. And wine.

• Heading up to the cabin today with Morgan for some holiday decorating. Looking forward to a Girls Day with my one and only girl. I've been feeling a need to reconnect with her a bit, as we've been slightly at odds lately, and this will be a good chance for that. Also, I believe I mentioned--the cabin! Always fun to visit. And fun to be working productively, too.

• Christmas decorating will continue here at the homestead, too. Probably tomorrow. I'm ready.

• Knitting--addictive and fun. Morgan and Ryan are knitting and making yarn crafts, too. I'm almost finished with my big practice piece, a long bit of stockinette that I will give to Morgan and call a scarf. Yes, I know stockinette is a terrible stitch for a scarf, but I wanted to practice both knitting and purling before I started on something that might possibly look better. Also, Morgan won't care (sweetie thing), and is pleased that she is going to be the recipient of my first real knitting piece. Good thing she doesn't care, because there are gaping holes in some of it, the result of trying to knit under the influence of Sauvignon Blanc. Oop.

• CrossFit--I went three times this week and will be slowly ramping up to 3x a week on a regular basis. I have been challenging myself to lift heavier weights and get a little more intense and it's been going well. I think I can continue to add weight to my deadlift at least. And my pushup has improved from Complete Suckage to Standard Wimp, so that's good. Also, no exertional migraines lately, and I can't tell you how thrilled I am about that.

• My family rocks. No, literally. Brendan and Sean have been bonding lately over music, and Sean dances and strums his little hand while he listens to Brendan play guitar. OMG, so cute. 

• Morgan and Ryan have been working hard on their own projects (arts and crafts, music, reading), and Ryan has really been improving in his attitude toward the rest of us, and being helpful, etc. Hooray!

So that's it for now! See you on Monday, I think. Have a nice weekend!

TSA: Let's Play the I'm Gonna Touch Your Junk Game!

If you know me on Facebook, you'll be aware that I'm a little irritated by the new Grope & Scan TSA screenings. And by "a little irritated" I of course mean, "you probably don't want to get me really going on the subject if you have somewhere you need to be in the next few hours."

Of all of the outrageous articles I've read, this is the one that truly chills me to the bone (emphasis added).

Addressing the controversy over pat-downs of children last month, TSA regional security director James Marchand told the press the TSA was working on new practices to make children more comfortable during the pat-down process.

"You try to make it as best you can for that child to come through. If you can come up with some kind of a game to play with a child, it makes it a lot easier," said Marchand, promising to make it part of TSA training.

[Ken] Wooden [a child safety expert], who has testified before Congress on child safety issues on numerous occasions, says he was told by a TSA agent that the practice has been used.

I sure hope that making the screening of children into a "game" has not become part of TSA training as the regional director promised. Because what the child safety peopleguy says is entirely correct (emphasis added):

Telling a child that they are engaging in a game is "one of the most common ways" that sexual predators use to convince children to engage in inappropriate contact, Wooden told Raw Story.

Children "don't have the sophistication" to distinguish between a pat-down carried out by an airport security officer and an assault by a sexual predator, he said.

The TSA policy could "desensitize children to inappropriate touch and ultimately make it easier for sexual offenders to prey on our children," Wooden added.

I'll venture another reason the I'm Gonna Touch Your Junk Game is a bad idea: it has the real potential to encourage kids to just comply cheerfully and blithely with whatever rights-violations the government chooses to impose upon us.

Now, you may think this new screening by the TSA is perfectly warranted and within acceptable limits and is the best way to screen out terrorists and protect our country. But let's leave whether or not this is a good policy (and whether or not we agree on the issue) aside for the moment, if we can.

We all need to jump through government-imposed hoops to live our lives, even if we vehemently disagree with the legitimacy of those hoops. I conscientiously object loudly sometimes, but the truth of the matter is, I have a driver's license, and file taxes for our businesses and personal income, and have never--no matter how many times I've tried--purchased alcohol at a store on a Sunday in Georgia. And you probably shouldn't get me started about the Sudafed thing.

But when I comply with rules and regulations that I find intrusive and invasive and ridiculous and pointless and rights-violating, I do not pretend to myself or others--and most especially to my children--that I'm okay with it. I do not like the rules, and I feel frustrated (or sometimes, complete despair) about having to follow them, and I do not evade that fact. And most certainly, I would never, ever, EVER pretend that it's fun.

It sickens me to think that the TSA guy is suggesting to his employees--and to parents--that they try to make this groping a fun experience for children. Making unpleasant experiences into a game is a great parenting strategy. You do that when the kid needs to get blood drawn. You do that when he's stuck his head between the banisters and you need him to relax in order to pop his head out. You do that when they are afraid of things that go bump in the night. You don't do that to help him pretend that someone he doesn't know isn't touching him all over his body when he doesn't want them to.

The I'm Gonna Touch Your Junk Game does directly contradict any sensible advice about teaching kids how to know about inappropriate touching (of course, the entire TSA groping procedure itself contradicts the standard "only mom, dad, and your doctor should touch you there," too). It directly goes against Gavin de Becker's advice that you never ever tell your child to find someone in a uniform to help them when they get lost (because predators pretend to be cops in order to trick kids into a false sense of saftey).

If getting groped by the TSA feels icky, it's because it IS icky. It's icky to have someone touch your crotch when you really don't want them to. And if a kid doesn't like it, well then I think that's a good indication that his "someone is making me feel uncomfortable" radar is working properly. And that is a radar that you WANT to be in good working order.

But making the groping into a game for anyone, not just children, is more dangerous than the fact that it could impair a child's ability to distinguish between proper and improper touching. Teaching children to "play along" with whatever "game" the government decides to impose upon them affects their minds as well as their bodies. It will encourage them to accept rather than question; comply rather than resist; follow along rather than even think for a second about whether it's worth it to them to accept or comply.

Too many adults do this already, even without having been tricked into thinking it's fun and games. What chance will today's children stand when we've taken this idea one step farther down the road from Don't question it. to It's fun! ?

I have no plans to fly with my kids in the foreseeable future. We have no trips scheduled that require flying (we are choosing to drive over flying though in one case, so there is some lost revenue for the airlines there). I'm not willing to say we'll never ever fly until this policy is reversed--I can think of a couple of situations where we might choose to fly and risk the TSA due to the distance, time constraints, and importance of certain events. I'll do my very best to avoid this as long as I can.

But if we ever do need to fly, I will tell the kids what is happening and what I think about it and we'll probably have lots of talks about it. I will be honest and upfront about what I think is wrong about it and why. I will comfort them if they have any strong negative emotions about it. I will do what I can to help us move past it as quickly as possible and get back to pursuing our values.

I will not allow a TSA person to joke about it with my kids, or make it fun for them. I will step right in and ask that person to be quiet and finish their task. And if my kids scream their heads off or kick or cry, then so be it. I don't really care if the experience is easy on the TSA person.

I will never, ever evade what happened, or teach my children to do the same. There's too much at stake.