Parenting with M-B Theory {radio interview}

This is the beautifully edited presentation of a conversation Dennis and I had for his weekly radio show, Live the Life.

In it we touch on what Myers-Briggs theory looks like in application with children.  Most of all I see the interview as a teaser.  There is so much to this theory (as I’ve tried to explore in my own series of articles) that, naturally, 25 minutes won’t cover it all.  But I hope even a couple of stories can spark a few imaginations to see the usefulness of a theory applied to real life.

My favorite resource for practical family application is the book Mother Styles by Janet Penley and Diane Eble.

I think anyone interested in a deeper understanding of type application will find enough in that book to keep applying for a very long time.

I’m still trying to decide whether to post the 1.5 hour lecture I gave back in January.  I suppose this is my toe in the water of public opinion.  Yes. It really is different for me to hear my spoken voice than just to see my written words out there.

Anyway, check out the recording if you have time, and please come back over here to let me know what you think.

Call for Resources/References

So, I’m new to the animal/breeder Yahoo Groups scene, but I’ve been thankful to find some very active and knowledgeable people.

What has distressed me in recent weeks is how the information looping these groups doesn’t seem to get out of them– specifically the stories of animal seizures (no, not the brain kind; the stealing kind), intimidation of owners, threatening fines, along with warnings (or whinings) about legislation limiting breeders or changing language about animals.

Language is sort of my currency.  I do fine distinctions all the time. When I heard that there’s a MD bill to change the language of “ownership” to that of “guardian” I just rolled my eyes and moved on.

But then I realized that what is owned is property, and currently both the 5th and 14th amendments assert (if not fully guarantee) that a person may not be deprived “of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

This could make what’s already happening more-legal. Currently, animal seizures violate the constitution, but if animals (for their own dignity, of course) were no longer property, there’s nothing to say why they wouldn’t be better off somewhere else.

This bill is scheduled for a hearing on March 1.

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My goal is to compile these cases as I learn more about them and to discuss trends or patterns.

I won’t say I’m not afraid of how big this all feels, but I haven’t been able to find anywhere else this is being brought together.

And if various concerned people can offer original sources and any statistics or lists of bills actively being pushed around the country, that will give me more to work with.  Please email or comment with links to active bills, articles about bills passed or defeated, or even first-person (“It happened to me”) stories.

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Animal Talk: Rabbity Week

We had a number of rabbit-events this last week.

On Wednesday Serena had her litter, a day later than I’d expected.

The absolute coolest part was that, since she was under my desk at the time, I heard someone squeak and was able to watch the end of the delivery. So cool.  And everyone seemed so much more vigorous than earlier litters, something I assume is due to the warmer introduction to the world.

She has got to be the messiest rabbit I own.  (I’m going to experiment with fostering one of her littles to a meat mama, once the babies are close to the same size: see if neatness is something kits can learn).

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Kid Events February 2012

We’re still having fun with the kids.

Company got to join in the fun; Lilia seemed fascinated, but wasn’t always sure what to think of all the attention. Once again I was so thankful they’re small.

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Elisha finished his kindergarten math book this last week, and yesterday started the first-grade book.  He is very proud.

“I love math!” He says over and over again.  His sisters try to burst his bubble (“Wait till you get older and it’s actually hard!“) and I try to nip it in the bud.  But at least so far they’ve not been able to dampen his enthusiasm.

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Melody still loves the camera and has a standard pose that she takes when she asks me to take a picture of her.

She’s almost ready to lose her second front tooth.  The first adult front tooth has already made it’s appearance, so she might never be without “apple” teeth.

And here is Natasha modeling my latest finished project, and my first “chemo” hat.

One of my goals for my rabbit wool is to knit super-soft, super-warm, close-fitting hats for folks who have lost their hair.  This hat is for a dear lady I met last year who wore a creative range of head-coverings all summer.  She had hair the last time I saw her (a long time ago now), but because she was the one in-mind the whole time this idea grew, well, I knew she had to get the first one.

Natasha says she would like one of her own. “Exactly like it, Mama! Colors and everything!”

You can’t tell in the picture, but only the bottom half is dual-strand knitted, because I used up all my angora yarn about that time.  So I’ll have to spin some more before I can do anything new.  I like this pattern, too: it’s easy to remember without looking too simple.

Oh, and Natasha’s news is that she’s becoming quite proficient in the kitchen. She can break-up and watch the ground meat or sausage while I work on the rest of dinner, and she’s mastered the Lara(esque) Bars in Katie’s Healthy Snacks To-Go.

Today she came to me at lunch time and (rather than complain she was hungry) simply asked if there was anything she could make for lunch.

I love that attitude!  She and sibs made their own cheese tacos for lunch.

This growing independence can be fun 🙂

Gluten Free Stopgaps: options to replace glutened recipe elements

More foods are gluten-free than contain gluten.

But most foods we eat on a regular basis are either based on gluten-containing foods (spaghetti and meatballs), made from recipes that have gluten-containing ingredients (cream-of mushroom soup in green bean casserole) or both (Soft tacos: the shells are made with wheat, and most taco seasoning contains flour as a thickener).

Eventually I hope you make peace with your kitchen and discover the joy of learning new recipes, but I understand that can be too much to ask for  in the  beginning.

At this point in your journey the most manageable thing may be learning how to make your familiar recipes without gluten.

Here are a few ideas that may help with that.

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Animal Talk: Introducing the goats

This is Cream. Her twin sister, Sugar, was a bit more shy tonight and  wouldn’t come up for the camera.

They’re only interested in jack-in-the-boxing when they’re being ignored.

Like when we’re making lunch.

That’s where the goats have  been hanging out for the last week: in a tarp-lined Pack’n’Play with a shavings-bed.

They’re in our main room, so, yeah, the same room we eat in.

It’s the room Jay and I sleep in too, so it’s definitely been like having infants: their little (but insistent) bleating whenever they think were’ awake (and therefore should be FEEDING them, of course).

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Snapshots: Spring Breakup 2011

During break up of last year, our neighbors’ property flooded with the snow-melt, and we learned our land is lower than theirs.

I had noticed the rotting back-step and had attributed it to the age of the structure.  Now I more-strongly suspected it was due to annual flooding.

Jay rented a mini-excavator and used the bucket to dig a channel along the edge of our property (there’s a road in the winter/dry season dividing us).  The ground was still frozen, and the water was flowing fast, but he managed to get enough dug to keep the house dry.

Later in the year he had the same machine out again, and the difference between the two times couldn’t have been more marked: “It’s like butter!” Jay said when I asked him how it was going.

Aside from the normal reasons for looking forward to spring, I’m eager to see how this work will affect the run-off pattern this year.

Meal Planning – Gluten Free

GF meal planning is pretty much the same as any meal planning, but I’ve found it very important for staying ahead of hunger that would lead to poor decisions (that I will regret later) so I’m including it here and early as part of an effective GF transition.

If you need more detail, that’s fine too. I’ll have the basic forms this week, and more specifics from my own menus next week.

 To Begin

First of all, download my  menu worksheet (my loving gift to you).

Second, make a list of all the meals your family currently eats: Spaghetti? Meatloaf? Mac and Cheese? Chili? Sloppy Joes? Big Mac?

Don’t worry yet whether they have  gluten-containing ingredients.  The point at this stage is just to write down all the meals you know.  Meals you need a recipe to make are fine, as long as they’re familiar enough for you to make at the same speed as the recipes in your head.

Once they’re on paper to look at you can consider what favorites are worth creating substitutions for.

Optional-but-recommended third-step: divide your your collected meals into categories (and it’s okay to put the same meal into  more than one category).

Any category-designation is fine.  I use main-protein (Salmon, caribou, chicken) and/or format (soup, 9×13 casserole dish, slow cooker) depending on the needs of the menu.

Having categories allows you to simplify your planning by narrowing the options of any given day.

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