My hope in Democracy is restored, and not just because my candidate won, though that certainly helps. Today I’m feeling hopeful because Owen voted yesterday.As I’ve mentioned here, I’ve been volunteering with Philadelphians Against Santorum, going door-to-door in my neighborhood, talking to new voters, young voters, and those who don’t always vote. Most of the people I spoke with on Sunday had already chosen Bob Casey, though some of them referred to him as “the other guy.” The most memorable encounter, however, was with a young man named Owen who told me, when I asked for him by name, “Oh, my parents are the ones for that.” I assured Owen that he was the one on my list and added, “No offense, but you look [...]

Luke is a dementor today, the creature Harry Potter fears the most. Dropping him off at school with all the other ghouls and monsters, I was struck once again by how fascinated children are with Haunted Houses, scary movies, and anything that is terrifying. Then I went to the supermarket and realized it isn’t just children.I was approaching the spinach along with two other women. All three of us stopped and speculated on whether it was really safe to eat spinach now, more than a month after spinach contaminated with e-coli dominated the news. One of the women had just heard a news report that said there’s a possible safety scare with tomatoes now. She was steering clear of spinach, lettuce, and tomatoes and sticking [...]

I’ve noticed that lately my blog posts have been less about parenting and spirituality and more about political and community issues. Not that there’s anything wrong with those questions, it’s just that it’s a little bit of a red flag to me when I don’t mention God for a while.Several years ago, before I had children, I was in a period of asking what God wanted me to do next. I took long walks in the woods, wrote in my journal and prayed every day. Now I’m at another turning point, I think, but my prayers for guidance are squeezed between our other bedtime prayers: thanks that our nephew is back safely from Iraq, petitions for Luke’s tooth to come out soon and for Megan’s [...]

I always seem to get comments when I rant about marketers targeting our children (see Pirates). Now, here's something we can do about it! Center for a New American Dream has a quick, easy letter writing campaign to tell marketers not to exploit schools. Click here to learn more or take action.

There’s been a lot of political talk around our house lately, with the mid-term elections coming up and all. Even seven-year-old Luke has caught the vibe. After we recently heard Michael Jackson on the car radio singing “Billy Jean,” Luke started crooning his own version: “Dick Cheney is not my love…” He says he just couldn’t understand Jackson’s lyrics, but I think it’s evidence that our political indoctrination is working.Our main focus has been the US Senate race between Rick Santorum and Bob Casey. Tom and I have been canvassing for Democrat Bob Casey, reconnecting with the moveon.org volunteers from the 2004 election. It feels good to be building a little progressive community in East Falls, which is not the most progressive neighborhood in Philadelphia. [...]

Our community garden is being shut down. There’s a “For Sale” sign blocking the gate, and the garden is riddled with holes where people have salvaged clematis, lilac, irises, and lilies. Our own plot has been empty since Saturday when I pried the thick-rooted asparagus out of the corner it was wedged in and brought it to the only sunny corner of our small backyard. Our raspberries went to a neighbor.The saddest part Saturday was seeing the garden’s founders wandering from bed to bed asking people how they were doing and if anyone wanted a really long hose. These are folks who put a lot more heart and muscle into the garden than we did, and I felt more disappointed for them than for us. [...]

We were actually running on time this morning, even though a friend called at 7:20 and asked us to take her daughter to school. One extra kid was no trouble, especially since she sat on my bed and read while I admonished my own children to put their shoes on and brush their teeth. Still, things were running relatively smoothly, and I managed to get the three kids in the car by five to eight. So when Megan said she wanted to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the car, and Luke offered to run in and get it for her, I figured we could spare an extra minute to let a brother do a favor for a sister.It’s what happened next that [...]

I had forgotten that my last post was called “Slowing Down” until I started writing this. It’s been unusually long since I’ve posted because I had to start teaching a week before the children went back to school. Then there was the Labor Day pot luck, the end of summer overnight camp out in Fairmont Park, the first day back to Irish dance lessons for Megan and her first fall performance, not to mention Philadelphians Against Santorum, for which I am a block captain. Yesterday I ended up speeding across the city to get to meeting for worship, a reminder that I haven’t mastered the slowing down thing yet.So today starts the first full week of school for the children, and Megan wants to do [...]

This morning my seven-year-old son Luke said, “Sometimes I’m having so much fun I forget I’m alive.” The kid is good at living life to the fullest, though sometimes he has so much fun he forgets to look out for oncoming traffic. It’s a tricky balance, keeping the presence and engagement of a child while remembering that life requires maintenance—the eight bags of groceries we bought after returning from vacation, the five loads of laundry, the bills that need paying, the prescription I still haven’t renewed yet, and the phone calls I have to make before I’m ready to start teaching Friday. Whenever we get back from a trip, I struggle to keep the spirit of relaxation and fun alive as I sort through a [...]