Siri, are you there?

The other morning I was home with Lil Sis while Big Bro was at preschool. I was following a Facebook conversation about possible times to get BVTMB portraits taken for those of us who missed the latest writers meeting. I could go that same day or over the weekend. My weekend was already booked so I made a quick decision to go that very day.

I rushed to make myself presentable for my portrait, get Lil Sis dressed (it had been a lazy morning up until then), and pack snacks since lunch would be delayed due to this last minute trip.

I got the directions to the portrait studio in a town 45 minutes away using Google Maps. Lil Sis and I picked Big Bro up from preschool and began driving to the studio. I turned on Siri to recite the directions as I drove just to be sure I wouldn't get lost. I didn't really need Siri for most of the way but I was being lazy.

5 minutes later my phone battery died so Siri was gone, my map was gone, I couldn't call the photographer for directions and I had no car charger.

Boy, did I feel like an idiot. A technology dependent fool.

Thankfully I had't gotten far before this technology malfunction so I drove the 5 minutes back home to charge my phone enough so I could study the map. I wrote the directions and the studio's phone number on the back of an envelope too. How 1990s, huh? But I couldn't take any more chances with my barely charged cellphone.

We made it to the studio just fine. We weren't even late.

It's easy to forget how dependent we have become on gadgets and devices to do simple tasks for us--things that we used to do automatically like study a map or write down directions! It's potentially very risky business if you think about it. Sometimes a little low-tech methodology can save the day. I know I will be more careful in the future, and buy a car charger too.

The solution at hand

It's official! Vermont now has its first chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby! CCL – Burlington to be precise. 

CCL – Burlington is made of a small, but dedicated group of climate pragmatists.  We are always looking for more members. We had our group start up workshop yesterday. One of the big things we covered was CCL's proposed legislation: 

Revenue- neutral carbon fee and dividend. It is the fastest and most efficient solution to the climate crisis.

What is a carbon fee and dividend? Here are the five basic points:

1. A fee would be charged on all fossil fuels at the source of extraction such as mine, wellheads, and at the border for imports.

2. The fee would cost $15 per ton of CO2 emissions and increase by $10 every year. The fee is structured to meet emission reduction targets set forth by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to avoid catastrophic climate change.

3. Knowing that energy producers will pass on this fee to customers, the dividend portion of the program would return 100% of the fee revenue to American households to help them pay for increased fossil fuel based energy.

4. Economists have been studying the carbon fee and dividend and estimate that two thirds of households will break even or receive more in their dividend check than what their increased energy costs will be. This protects the low and middle classes. Wealthy households, which typically consume the most energy, will pay the highest fees and see less return.

5. A carbon fee and dividend will level the playing field for energy sources. The fee will send clear market signals to invest and innovate in clean, renewable energy.

These are just the basic points of the policy, you can find many more statistics and details at citizensclimatelobby.org

I will go into further detail in future posts.

Baking an All-Nighter

A few months ago I wrote about my disappointment with Big Bro's preschool for not communicating to parents very well. The school has made good effort to improve communication, which is great. Only trouble now is, any lapses in information or tasks is now purely my own fault.

This week is a school bake sale to raise funds. About a week ago I signed up to bring something to the sale on Friday. 

It is my first time participating in a bake sale in at least two decades, and definitely my first one as a parent. I planned ahead and bought a brownie mix and even put a reminder in my phone's calendar to make it with Big Bro on Thursday afternoon.

But Grandma offered to take Big Bro and Lil Sis for a few hours on Thursday afternoon. The timer alerting me that it was time to bake brownies was promptly ignored as I leisurely puttered around the house.

Around 9:45 PM Dada of Ma'at called me on his way home from his boss's retirement party. We chatted about our days and he described the lovely dinner he enjoyed with his co-workers including a delectable dessert. 

Suddenly I realized I never made those dang brownies. 

So here I am in my pajamas and bathrobe in the kitchen at 10:15 PM waiting for the brownies to get out of the oven. At least now I won't feel like a kid who forgot to do her homework when I show up for preschool drop off in the morning. And this is only the beginning of  a 16 year career as the mother of school-aged kids.

Note the time on the oven clock.

Dear Editor

I wrote this letter to the editor in response to a recent Burlington Free Press article. Who knows if it will get published but even if it doesn't I wanted to share it here. 

*******************

The March 25th article "Climate Report Warns Warming Actually is Hurting Humans" provides the evidence to support what many people already suspect: climate change is not just a problem for polar bears. 

Climate change is already causing extreme weather including severe droughts, heat waves, and superstorms, and yes, even the "Arctic bombs" we have experienced this winter. These events are putting pressure on human systems like agriculture and public health. Vermont farmers have firsthand experienced dealing with more frequent floods, invasive pests, and intense rains (source).

We need to do more to adapt to extreme weather and we need to demand that our politicians find innovative ways to quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A revenue-neutral carbon fee and dividend is a sound way to put a price on carbon dioxide, the most abundant man-made greenhouse gas, and help us transition away from fossil fuels to a clean, renewable energy economy. Our future depends on it.

*************

Climate change is such an important issue and it desperately needs to be addressed. We, as ordinary people, need to make some noise. Consider finding your own way to speak out.

You know you're a parent when...

1. Toddler speak is part of your daily vocabulary. Granola bars are "bar bars," mittens are "mitt mitts," bananas are "nanas," you get the idea.

2. You hear music on the radio and start singing the Sesame Street spoof version lyrics instead of the real ones.

3. You are way too used to wiping other people's butts.

4. You have to start getting ready at least 15-30 minutes before you want to leave the house to deal with getting your preschooler to use the bathroom first or maybe deal with a last minute (and poorly timed) soiled diaper on your infant/toddler. Then there's the hats, coats, boots...."No, not those mittens! The blue ones!!"

5. You wake up not knowing if you're in your own bed, or your child's bed. You're also not sure where your spouse ended up after a night of wakeful kids. A good night's sleep with everyone in their own bed for the whole night is a triumph.

6. You stash snacks in coat pockets, the car's glove box and your purse to stave off major meltdowns due to constant cries of, "I'm so hungry!" You're always hungry, kid!

7. You endure a never ending battle with dirty dishes, laundry, and toys all over the place.

8. You are overwhelmed with pride at every little accomplishment your child makes from sitting up to scribbling, first words to ABCs & counting, and sharing a toy and making friends.

9. You get the best smiles, hugs and snuggles from the cutest being(s) in the world.

10. Despite the challenges and exhaustion, you wouldn't trade your little monsters, er, I mean, angels for the world.

Party Planner/Yell Monster

Big Bro is turning four in just a couple days. He decided weeks ago, if not months, that he wanted a Wild Kratts themed party. If you've been following my blog, yes this is a brand, but it's PBS and educational so that somehow makes it better. Plus all our props were homemade minus Big Bro's party shirt.

Even though Dada of Ma'at and I knew this, we procrastinated doing the actual work for the party. The ideas were conceived in our imaginations about what we would do, it was just the execution that we were lacking.

The week before his party we had three evenings where one of us was at an evening meeting (we both serve on local boards), which didn't help. I spent several nights and days that week making a piñata for the party. That was fun because it reminded me of being a kid in Odyssey of the Mind (OM). It was a big project, but only a small part of the overall party.

Another night I spent printing and cutting out "creature power disks" to be used as party props. I had plans to make something so the kids could play "pin the power disc on the Kratt brother's creature power suit," but that never happened.

Saturday was spent cleaning the house. This included digging out one of the countertops from all the junk that is always there. This counter is actually called the junk counter in our house.

Sunday, the day of the party, the morning was also spent cleaning and preparing and setting up. The kids whined and clung to me as I tried to get things done. I found myself yelling at them (well, speaking sternly?) to just go play because I needed to get x,y,z done!

Why are we doing this again? I asked myself. The point of a birthday celebration is not to be stressed out and yell at the child you are celebrating! I should have planned better. I should have done more ahead of time.

But in the end, the party was fantastic. Dada of Ma'at came up with a great last minute animal toss game to replace the missing "pin the creature power disc on the Wild Kratt brother's suit." I think the game had a better flow to it too because it needed almost zero parental aid. The food was set minus the cute signs I was going to put with it. But hey, most of the intended audience can't even read yet! The piñata worked well. All the kids had fun with the creature power disks and animals set up around the room. Episodes of Wild Kratts played on a screen in a corner for guests who had never heard of the show.

All in all the party was a big success. I spoke with another mom who has a child older than Big Bro about my struggles to get ready for the party. She confirmed that yes, after years of kid parties, she has learned to start everything far in advance (including the cleaning), and she's gotten better at it each time. So I guess I will just chock it up to yet another one of those parenting learning moments. 

Confessions of a Climate Hawk

I am a climate hawk yet I:

~drive a gasoline powered vehicle

~Still burn heating oil despite my best efforts to cut down my use through insulation, solar panels, and a pellet stove.

~ flew on a jet-fuel powered plane to go to a climate conference 

~ do not live in a walkable/bikable community

I can't judge myself, or you, for these types of activities really. Our system of mildly incentivizing the "good" carbon neutral behaviors has proved itself to be not enough. We need to penalize the "bad" (fossil fuel burning) activities so that we will do less of them.

What is the easiest way to do this? A carbon tax, of course. Similarly to how we started taxing cigarettes once we were sure that cigarettes caused cancer, we need to put a tax on fossil fuels because we are sure they are killing our civilization.

Citizens Climate Lobby, which I am starting a Vermont Chapter of, has a good proposal to do just that: A Carbon Fee and Dividend. 

Fossil fuels would be taxed at the source of production. Fossil fuel companies would predictably pass on that cost to consumers. Over several years the tax rate would increase at predictable levels to send a clear price signal to the market of the need to change our energy markets and meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets set forth by the International Panel on Climate Change.

The tax is revenue neutral so all the proceeds from it would be returned to households at tax return time. Households would use this money to offset their increased energy costs if they are still using fossil fuels, and incentivize them to switch from things such as heating oil furnaces to perhaps geothermal or other clean, renewable sources. "Under this plan 66% percent of all households would break even or receive more in their dividend check than they would pay for the increased cost of energy, thereby protecting the poor and middle class."

Just today news broke from oil giant BP's Sustainability Report 2013 that a carbon tax is indeed needed if we are to reduce carbon emissions substantially, (http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/climatesnapshot/bp-calls-global-carbon-price-avoid-worst-impacts-climate-change).

if fossil fuel companies know this reality, what is holding us up? I'm looking at you, Congress.

A New St. Patrick's Day Tradition

On St. Patrick's Day morning my family just barely remembered to wear green to show our Irish-American pride before heading out the door to work, preschool, and music class. I say Irish-American pride because the actual Irish don't celebrate the holiday.

We did all managed to scrounge up a green shirt, or pants in Lil Sis' case, to celebrate. The highlight of our St. Paddy's Day celebration was the S.D. Ireland truck parade. This is a tradition that has been going on for as long as I can remember. S.D. Ireland is a local cement company with shamrocks painted on its trucks as its official logo. Every March 17th the trucks drive throughout the region with a police escort honking their horns to spread Irish cheer and pride.

We learned from a friend that the best place to watch the parade is from the center of the biggest local traffic circle at 3 pm. So we went, 3 moms with 8 kids between us, to watch it in all its noisy splendor. The trucks do a few laps around the circle so you really get the full effect. The picture below is a screenshot from a video taken by MWG. You can see all us moms and kids if you look carefully in the upper right corner of the traffic circle.

And here is a video someone posted on YouTube of the parade:

The sun was warm and the temperature wasn't far below freezing so we were comfortable for the 15 or 20 minutes we were out. We followed the parade up with hot cocoa topped with green whipped cream, and pumpkin bread at a nearby coffee shop. The kids were so good, and other customers doted on us as we juggled getting chairs, drinks and bread from the counter to our table. One even remarked that our preschool party was more fun than the party at the bar down the block!

The kids had so much fun eating their treats and playing with colorful green beaded necklaces one of the moms brought. 

I think we have found a new St. Patrick's Day tradition that is more enjoyable (in my humble opinion) than the newest trend of being visited by naughty leprechauns who mess up the house or classroom leaving green food coloring, glitter and chocolate coins in their wake. Since when are leprechauns a messy version of the Easter Bunny?

The day was complete with a traditional Irish-American boiled dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma had lots of green accessories for the kids to enjoy. All in all a great day.

Jumping off the Brandwagon

We have been thinking about getting Lil Sis her own twin-sized mattress. She seems to be outgrowing her toddler bed, and she loves Big Bro's mattress and all his big boy blankets. 

So I started the search to find something for her. I did the same thing for Big Bro when he was about two years old. With him it was easy because he loved trucks and it was easy to find truck themed bedding for him.

However there was no obvious and generic theme that I thought Lil Sis would like. She does love Dora the Explorer though, so I found some cute Dora sheets that weren't all pink, plus a comforter that had a giant Dora and was very pink, but there were no other choices. I showed them to my husband and he expressed what had been nagging me in the back of my mind all along. 

"They're cute and I know she would like them, but they're kind of commercial, aren't they?"

Yes. They are very commercial. 

I don't want to have my kids to have a commercial childhood. It's hard though. Looking at the bedding sets offered online for girls there were boring florals or themes like: Disney Princesses, Sophia the First, Barbie, Dora, Doc McStuffins, and other overly pink (and purple), bubblegum colored bedding sets. Then there were ones that were even worse like Lalaloopsy themed ones with their creepy button eyes (they remind me of the movie Coraline where children's eyes are replaced by buttons after they have been brainwashed), and Sweet Monster High themed bedding depicting creepy, overly-sexy, teenage vampires.

In the end, I did a search for "gender-neutral bedding sets" and that's where I found the more generic but appropriately themed bedding. We picked out a woodland themed set with trees and cute animals including owls, deer, and foxes on it. It has some pink but not too much and none of the animals are featured in toys, movies, or television shows.

It's not that I mind all those commercial kids' characters in moderation (with some exceptions). I just don't want my child's room or clothing to look like an advertisement for those franchises.

I'm jumping off the Brandwagon in favor of a less commercial childhood for my kids.

Cruel Joke or Glimmer of Spring?

In Vermont the spring forecasts (aka March and April) put us on a roller coaster of emotion and longing. About one year ago (March 13, 2013 to be exact), my Facebook friends were complaining about the snow showers falling from the sky. My son and I went outside and found crocuses popping up from the ground. "Despite the snow flurries spring is on its way!" I posted in response to their seasonal sadness. 

This year everyone was howling about snowstorm "Vulcan" and the feet of snow that it dropped on our region last week--the same week as last year's crocus photo sadly. Spring will definitely be later this year. Not only is there tons of snow, but the daily temperatures are significantly colder then we normally expect for this time of year. This morning as my husband went outside to feed the chickens it was 2° below zero, Fahrenheit! He also saw that yesterday was the coldest St. Patrick's Day since 1885.

The first day of spring is Thursday, March 20th. Tomorrow!? I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry.

Towards the end of this long and trying winter, I take heart in those days where we do get some (relative) warmth. This past Saturday it was 42° and we actually got to go outside and play without worrying about windchill factor and temperatures too cold for little ones.

We threw snowballs, made a snowman, snow angels, went sledding, and climbing on the giant snowhill at the end of our driveway. We were outside for a good half hour at least.

The sap was running again finally, and the snow was getting wet and slushy. We could've stayed out even longer except that our clothes were getting soaked.

The forecast for this week certainly started out rough, but it is starting to look a little better-- more like what it should be. Maybe the first day of spring tomorrow won't be so painful or depressing after all. Maybe, just maybe, spring really is on its way. I won't hold my breath until I see that first crocus though.

Responsibility Is Cool

Despite the loud complaints of climate change deniers that taking action to combat climate change will kill jobs and hurt companies, many companies are already finding ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. 

"Compiled by the nonprofit group Climate Counts, the survey of 90 big American companies found that most were addressing the issue, either by cutting their energy use, measuring their output of greenhouse gases, adopting policies to reduce emissions or pushing for federal legislation to do the same."  (source: http://climatesolutions.org/news/u.s-companies-confront-climate-change)

Turns out taking steps to fight climate in your business model pays too:

"A Goldman Sachs report found that leaders in social, environmental, and governance policies outperformed their peers by some 25%." (source : http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/04/27/5-companies-profiting-while-fighting-climate-chan/ )

Some of the notable companies who are reducing their emissions include Coca Cola, Nike, Levi Strauss, UPS, and PG &E.

Sadly investors are slow to pick up on this information, (source: http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-24/climate-friendly-companies-have-more-in-common-than-carbon-cuts.html)

Thankfully, even in the absence of a Federal carbon tax or other climate strategy, companies  (plus some states and cities) are taking action on their own. 

Just yesterday I was grocery shopping at Hannaford, which seems to be emerging as a regional company leading in green initiatives. They have had signs outside their stores for years now reminding people to bring in their reusable bags. Just recently they have added stickers on their freezer cases highlighting some of their energy saving strategies and encouraging shoppers to help them save energy too.

Check them out:

Go, Hannaford! Yet another reason I prefer them to other grocery stores.

Up All Night

Did you hear about the 30 Democratic Senators who stayed up on the Senate floor from 7pm on Monday, March 10 until 9am on Tuesday, March 11 talking about climate change and the huge failure of Congress to address it? (Though they aren't addressing anything really these days are they?)

Senators made speeches on the science of climate change, the fact that there is scientific consensus on the science, how climate change is affecting specific states, the effects in general (storms, ocean acidification, loss of jobs), the Keystone XL pipeline was brought up and criticized for being a step backward to a dirty energy future. They noted how dire climate change is for our children and future generations, how the time to act is now. Calls were made for policies supporting renewable energy and a tax on carbon pollution. Both Vermont Senators (Leahy and Sanders) participated. Go Vermont!

The Democratic Senators who participated were, predictably, those who have accepted far fewer political contributions from the fossil fuel industry than Democrats who skipped the event. Those Dems who skipped were, also unsurprisingly, from fossil fuel producing states, including states that take offense to the "War on coal" because their economies are woefully dependent on it.

If you followed the Twitter coverage there were the normal detractors to the conversation: climate change deniers who still argue that there are equal numbers of scientists on both sides of the "debate" on climate science (there aren't, not even remotely close). They deny that US citizens are concerned about climate change (they are) and disparaged the event as a "partisan stunt." They posted links to the Heritage Foundation, a notorious right-wing think tank. Lead Senate climate denier James Inhofe made an appearance at the Senate All Nighter to deny that climate change is real.

Americans are concerned about climate change. This graphic from a Gallup poll shows that most recently 58% of Americans are concerned about it, though it has fluctuated over the years with a high of 72% of Americans being concerned about it in 2000. 

I strongly support the Senators who stayed up to make a statement about the urgency of climate change. I hope their action will be successful in getting the conversation moving again, despite a decades long history of inaction and failed attempts at a solution for the crisis. 

Citizens need to put the pressure on our elected officials now. Mainstream media needs to stop with the "debate" when 97% of scientists agree that humans are causing global warming. In the words of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, 

"...science is not there for you to cherry pick.... the good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it." 

We have already begun to see the effects of climate change, it's time to wake up.

My Tip for "Spring Forward" with Preschoolers

As parents we are always learning. There always seems to be something that we have never done before on the horizon. 

My newest horizon was dealing with the end of daylight savings time a.k.a. "spring forward" with a preschooler. All parents know that daylight savings time sucks, but with a school age child it's a special sort of hell.

When your kids are too young for school, spring forward is the opposite of fallback for normal people. Meaning, your child sleeps later, or at least that's what it feels like because the clock numbers say a later time. Even though you technically lose an hour of sleep, as a parent of young kids it feels like I gained an hour. However, with a school age child, come Monday morning you will be regretting this "sleeping in."

This morning I had to make up my son to get to preschool on time. Needless to say he did not take to it well. Next year I will remember this and be sure to wake him up on Sunday morning. This will at least avoid some of the misery of Monday/school morning.

Daylight savings time, I know you save energy and I'm all for that, but for parents you totally suck.

Hey, who is sleeping in my bed? Oh, and it's time to get up for school.

Me According to Internet Quizzes

Have you seen everyone sharing all their quiz results on who they are from various pop culture books, tv, and movies? The quizzes were created by Zimbio.com and Buzzfeed.com and have been quite popular over the last couple months. I have taken several quizzes since January, and according to them I am:

Disney Princess: Snow White

Star Wars: Queen Amydala

Big Bang Theory: Bernadette

Willy Wonka: Charlie Bucket

Cartoon Dog: Odie

Disney Villain: Scar from Lion King

Harry Potter: Albus Dumbledore

Mythical Creature: Unicorn

Game of Thrones: Jon Snow

US President: Andrew Jackson

Middle Earth Character (LOTR): Ent the tree

City: Barcelona

Country: Lithuania

HIMYM: Robin Scherbatsky

Taking the first description from each I am: "Gentle, diplomatic, small but pack a punch, responsible, loving, intelligent, magical, hardworking, never been given handouts, chill, a little bit of everything, taken for granted, fiercely independent." Hmm, not bad.

Scar: I hadn't saved my result picture, couldn't find the image with description and couldn't handle taking it again. I'm not trying to hard my dark side, honest.

Ent

Barcelona

Lithuania

Oh, Messy House

Back in the day, women were housewives and a clean house was held to a higher standard. Women took time to wash everything, even down to the baseboards. Children were left more to their own devices with little ones being confined to play pens and older ones being shooed outside and told to come home for dinner.

Nowadays, many women are in the workplace and many women and men who do stay home with their children focus on being professional parents instead of housekeepers/homemakers. They focus on teaching their children and providing them with experiences, having fun and learning.

Women still do more housework than men even when they work outside the home, but men are starting to step up more and more. Less housework is getting done overall. People simply don't care as much.

My family is no exception to the modern trends. When do I wipe down my baseboards? Ha. They have to be visibly dirty from across the room to warrant such an activity. In my house, I am happy as long as there are enough clean dishes to cook and eat off of for the next meal and clean clothes to wear. A swept kitchen floor is essential too. Everything beyond that is bonus. Vacuuming carpets is often, at best, a monthly activity because picking up all the toys and / or laundry or other clutter is a big task in itself, and my kids hate the noise. Scrubbing toilets and bathroom sinks is done with the occasional free minute here or there, and often in succession with getting my own self showered which is also not a daily activity.

This past Saturday, after a month of being sick and therefore half-assing lots of duties, the mess finally got to a point where I couldn't take it anymore. Something had to be done. It took the better part of the day and required having my husband and children on clutter patrol (a huge task), but the house was swept and vacuumed, toys were picked up and put away, 2 loads of dishes were washed and unloaded, overflowing bowls of frozen compost on the back porch were finally hauled to the compost pile and then the bowls were sterilized, 5 loads of laundry were washed, folded, and put away, random dirty dishes and trash were picked up from the family tv room. Boots and shoes were gathered into the entryway instead of strewn all over the hallway. The result was beautiful and thrilling (in a lame grown up way). It was like a new house. Below is an example.

Only the kids' playroom continues to look like it exploded. But that's ok, it's a toy room. Gradually, but inevitably, the whole house will look like that again until I get totally fed up once again. That is ok too though. I would rather do fun and important things with my kids than have a clean house. No one ever said on their deathbed, "I wish I spent more time cleaning."

So if you come over don't mind the mess, and I know that if you have kids too you understand. If you do mind the mess, let's meet at your house or somewhere else entirely.