Category: General
Book review – “Brain rules for baby”
Here is something you probably did not know about me, I sometimes read parenting books. Like any other non fiction, these can be very informative and sometimes I blindly follow their advice (particularly when it closely allines with my own theories) and sometimes I toss it because it is a bunch of self-serving trash (the author has one issue, probably all due to a trauma suffered while a spool boy, and he keeps harping on it for pages and pages).
“Brain rules for baby” is of the first kind. It makes a claim of heavily relying on current research (whether it does or not, I can’t tell not really being a follower of child brain studies) but it is intelligently written and it makes sense to me. A lot of it was stuff I already knew or intuited. There were two things that I learned from it:
Thing 1: do NOT stress the pregnant lady. If I had any reason to believe that anyone would give a hoot about my opinion I would go to the hospital and ask them to re-examine their risk informing practices. For example, I had to sign a form stating that the risk of Bad Things Happening during birth is twice as high for my subsequent deliveries because of a previous c-section. Instant stress for mom. Do you know what the change in risk was? It went to 0.5% form 0.25%. That is not sign-the-form worthy.
Thing 2: lots of empathy. I never though of saying “you are really upset that you are thirsty” when the kid is crying and we are nowhere near water, but what the heck, I am trying it now. It can’t hurt and at worst I will just sound silly.
Books review – “Prisoner of Teheran”
I think the theme of this year’s Canada reads program must be: “Go Canada! – because the rest of the world is scary, dangerous and all-around unpleasant”. Initially I was not going to read “Prisoner of Teheran” because between having already read a political book this month, having previously read about situation in Iran and having had talked to a number of ex-pat Iranians I figured I already knew a lot and could live without it. It arrived from the library sooner than I though possible so I figured I would just read the first couple of pages to get the sense of the narrator’s voice. Well, the narrative was so interesting I finished the book in three days. It is a memoir of a woman who, at sixteen, is arrested and spends the next two years in a notorious political prison. Compared to “Something Fierce”, “Prisoner of Teheran” is surprisingly easy to read due to narrator not focusing too much on negative things which is a pretty big feat considering the circumstances. I am not sure which book I think would be better suited to win the Canada reads. They are both informative about the part of the world and they both discuss difficulties living in a particular kind of state. “Something Fierce” is more emotional while “Prisoner of Teheran” is more pragmatic and balanced.
Things that happen in this household
Owen was screaming in frustration on and off this morning until I found a way to stick three minifigs onto the bike:
Once he was happy about that he started crying because he wanted to eat more than two candies today. I did not help him with that.
Things that make me go huh?
I had a day alone with Trev (and Markus) today. The first part of the day he played with Legos, after that I told him it was time to go outside for a bit and he gets to choose where he wants to go. He though about the Aviation Museum for a while but then said that he wants to go to a museum he has not been to yet. The War Museum it is.
I looked up the War Museum web page because I wanted to check how to get there. Yes, duh, I know where it is, but there is some pretty restrictive no-turns signage around and I didn’t want to circle around and go over the bridge trying to get into it. Usually museums and similar locations have a map and a text description of what streets to take from the highway or another site. Do you know what the War Museum has as text information on how to get there by car? GPS co-ordinates and the museum address you can enter into the GPS device if the co-ordinates are too much for you. That’s all. REALLY????
I am glad we went to the War Museum though it is such a different experience than the usual museum fare. For one thing I don’t even know how to begin explaining things to Trev. “Ummm, a few years before dida was born there was this horrible war in England and Zagreb and the rest of Europe and the country that attacked the other countries had a dictator and he drove in this car and I don’t know why it had bullet holes in it, I guess someone shot at it.” Yes, I am no good at explaining complex subjects to kindergarteners. According to the Internet, the holes in the car were from after Hitler died, not that I could find any information about it in the museum.
Anyhow, I read Trev the little plaques next to the exhibits though it is kind of obscure as a way of explanation. I did get a good run when we were looking at the statues modelling the Vimy memorial. Trev asked me why they look upset and I said that the war is kind of upsetting and that they have lost friends and family and that makes them very sad and that they have to try and build a better future which is why they are looking forward. Trev then asked me why they are half naked which stumped me and I mumbled something about artistic expression and showing humans as they are. Boy, I would be the worst tour guide ever.
We had chocolate milk before going home and that was nice and easy.
Hedgehog’s home
Trying to change up the bedtime literature for Trev, I run across this:
For those not versed in south slavic language, the dedication is from my junior kindergarten friends and teachers. Out of the twenty children I can only put 11 names to memories of actual kids and four of them I remember only for stupid things (like that they ate chalk or were too dramatic). Three of the kids went on to be in my elementary school but I only remember two last names.
In any case, “Jezeva kucica” is an interesting choice for a bedtime read. It is a poem about a hedgehog who gets invited to a dinner party at fox’s house. Once the dinner is over he heads home despite fox’s pleas to stay in her beautiful stone home. The fox is surprised and follows the hedgehog, curious to see his dwelling. Hedgehog’s home turns out to be modest but very dear and important to him.
Because this is a poem, the language used is quite stunning, but also not something Trev has much experience with. He was asking me to translate the first few pages and then he gave up and just told me to continue reading. To be honest, even when I was a kid, I did not understand all the words in this story (or many other stories I read often). Even today there are words I just assume I know what they mean (is ‘gaj’ a forest or a valley???).
I hope that the difficult language will not make Trev not want to read this book again. I will try to translate a couple of pages every time we read, but let him enjoy the rhythm of the rhyme the rest of the time. I really liked this book when I was little, I hope he will like it too.