The Pedobear meme will never go away. Never.
Families and Parenting
140 posts
Reflecting on the pieces I’ve written here thus far, one might get the impression that NotSoDeepSouth is a trembling pile of human wreckage. Nothing could be further from the truth. I hardly tremble at all. But seriously, here’s a sample of stories I’ve contributed:
- How Did I Get This Scar?
- How I Dropped out of High School and into a Cult
- Growing up with ADHD
- My Experience with “Reparative Therapy”
- In The Wake of Sexual Abuse
My analyst likes to tell me that any one of these events would be enough to keep us talking for a good while but all of them together makes it seem like a minor miracle that I’m still alive. I recall staring at her blankly when she said this. What does one say to that? Continue reading
The British Columbia Supreme Court (the trial level court in British Columbia) has ruled that the criminal prohibition of polygamy in Canada is constitutional.
As the gift-giving season draws near, we can just assume that many parents may be a bit stumped by what to get their kids for the holidays. The toy industry has decided to up the stakes by introducing dolls that are just so lifelike it’s almost frightening. Seriously, the things toys can do and say nowadays — simply amazing. But some dolls out there have parents covering their child’s eyes and ears.
We had a good time, once upon a time, playing the Smug Parenting Game. How about a rematch? Here are some additional scoring parameters: Continue reading
While traveling home from my trip, I was unfortunate enough to sit in front of a mother/son duo who happened to be planning the son’s bar mitzvah. The son was acting like Spaulding from Caddyshack, he was discussing his desperate “wants and needs” for the celebration after the ceremony. His mother, in utter exasperation, finally shouted at him the equivalent of “You will get nothing and like it.” She lamented that she wished her son would spend more time and energy in preparing for the ceremony rather than the magicians, sushi bar, 14 piece band and the rest of party’s entertainment he was demanding. His response was to say, “Why do you want to make me so unhappy?!” Continue reading
As a survivor of child molestation it’s strange to listen to others try to digest the recent unpalatable situations unfolding in the news. Judgement and scorn for the abuser. Pity and protective stances offered towards the victims. I listen in silence as my good ol’ boy coworkers discuss their anger at the alleged abuser. My own feelings have been obfuscated by years of denying the impact it had on me, until now. Continue reading
When I first drafted this article, the Mean Young Liberal, age 4, was busy constructing “Occupy Wall Street” out of Lego figures. I guess he was impressed with the display of Occupy Lego Land. As I finished it two days later, the NYPD had evicted Occupy Wall Street from Zuccotti Park and were, at that moment, apparently being directed to defy a court order that had permitted the Occupiers back into the park with their equipment.
This past Sunday, I brought the MYL (my nickname for my four-and-a-half year old son) to visit Occupy Wall Street. You see, my husband and I had decided to raise our son in the Religious Society of Friends. (“Hicksite” version). Due to some logistic oddities, we travel from Westchester County to the East Village to attend Meeting and First Day (what Quakers call Sunday) School. Typically, I try to make those days into adventures for the MYL and that Sunday would not be an exception, at least I hadn’t planned it to be. It turned out to be a fairly exceptional day indeed. Continue reading
Unschooling is a movement that gathered steam from dissatisfaction with the public school system. It is not to be confused with homeschooling, which is another movement entirely. Homeschooling is popular with both very conservative Christians who want to shield their children from the demonic influence of secular humanism and some more liberal people who want to take a more active role in their children’s education. It’s also filled a gap for children who struggle socially and don’t have alternative schooling options that are available in some areas. Continue reading
Today voters in Mississippi will vote on an amendment to the state Constitution that would designate inseminated human eggs as legal persons from the “moment of fertilization.” The ramifications of such an amendment will outright challenge Roe v. Wade, abortion and contraception. And Republicans would like to make this a federal plan. Continue reading