Sunday Blogaround - 9.22.13

Hello! And welcome to another edition of the Blogaround!

It was another fantastic week in the blogosphere. I'd tell you all about it, but then I'd be taking valuable reading time from you instead of letting you get to these spectacular pieces.

Enjoy!


"Our Land- The Water Lily" - Finding Ninee
Frequently when we hear stories about special needs kids, because they're special needs kids, it's sad things. Bullying, abuse, a lack of intervention, lack of access to care, unanswered questions. A guest post from the Tao of Poop gives us a different kind of story. This is a story about the many facets of a single label, and what happens when all children are given the opportunity to grow.


"Dear parents, you need to control your kids. Sincerely, non parents." - The Matt Walsh Blog
This is not a letter to parents from non-parents. This is a letter to a single guy, who insulted a mom in the grocery store with a screaming kid. This is a love letter to that mom. This is an anthem. This is the pat-on-the-back I need whenever being a good parent trumps being quiet. Bravo.


"Quiet is Good" - Fortuitous Sometimes, quiet is good. But not the quiet that tells you your kids are painting your living room with nail polish. The quiet where you exist together, peacefully, enjoying the day or the company or just... quiet. A lovely break from the rest of life.


"Bed Time Poem" - Ask Your Dad Normally, I am not a huge fan of this kind of thing. I started reading it, and I was all ready to just post him the link to "Go The Fuck To Sleep," when it took a turn. As parenting so often does. It's not so much a bed time poem as it is a plea for understanding from parents and children alike. And a reminder that with little kids, it's moment to moment. Some are good, some are bad, some are easy, and some aren't. Lovely.

"Character Assassination Carnival: The Very Hungry Caterpillar" - Mommy Needs a Martini
As anyone who's spent a lot of time with small children knows, sometimes you read a book one too many times. And sometimes, no matter how fond your associations with it, you want to throw it out the window. And sometimes, those books are ripe with comedy gold.


"Dan and Matt and a Woman Friend" - Theresa Basile
This is an old friend of mine from way back in the day. She's a comedy writer, among other things, and now she's writing for this web series that you DEFINITELY should watch. Being a feminist blogger (as I said, other things), she was a perfect candidate to describe whether or not the Dan and Matt Show is a feminist show. And who says feminists don't have a sense of humor?


"At Least Albert Finney Doesn't Mention His 'Rocks'" - 649.133
Along with those books that we love but love to tear apart, there's those movies. I love Annie. I love that my kids love Annie. And yeah, there are some huge freaking racist problems with Annie. But there are also so many spectacular jokes in there for us, the adults. My personal favorite is Bernadette Peters asking what Carol Burnett is "incinerating" and then looking hard done by as Burnett removes her string of pearls from Peters' cleavage.


"Sticks and Stones Aren't Shit Compared to Words" - Writer B Is Me
This. When I was a teenager, I also got messages about my body everywhere. Not so much from my mother, but I assumed that she was oblivious, or somehow stupid, not to notice how fat we all were. Here's the thing, we weren't fat. We were just never skinny. While my older sister jumped in and out of anorexia, shedding dozens of pounds and packing them back on, I silently stared at myself in the mirror, hating what I saw. And every word cut.


"You Must Not Worry About Santa" - Letters of Note
This letter is one of the most adorable things ever. A little girl heard that the Russians were going to test nuclear bombs at the north pole, and she panicked, writing a sweet letter to President John F. Kennedy. And he wrote her back.


"Watching the Waves" - Daddy Knows Less
More on the subject of quiet, and then not. DKL has written quite a bit about the Jersey Shore, and there have been plenty of things to write about lately. This is a lovely story about his grandfather, and learning to appreciate the things that are both free and eternal.


"Gush" - Finally Mom Normally, I don't really post links to other people writing about how spectacular their kids are. Normally, I figure that's the kind of thing that we mostly keep to ourselves, to our own blogs, to our own lives. But this was just too sweet, too tender, and too honest not to share.


"Boys" - Mamalode
Jenni Chu  shares this pearl with us, about rape culture and raising boys. This is the story of something horrific, and rare- a home invasion sexual assault. But that's only a brief interlude, because this is a story about something we all need to consider, that we can all relate to. The way we raise children, and the way we were raised. This is rape culture. This is what we can fix with our children.


"Antarctica. Srsly." - Antarctica. Srsly
My friend Brendan is back on the ice. And his photographs are WONDERFUL. So if you want to take a few breaks from your autumn and remind yourself that you're not really cold, go look at his spectacular shots of ice floes, penguins, seals, and science station hijinks.