Fruit in my dessert

Why this (not so) Angry Mother writes

So, way back in October, I posted on this blog asking for people to vote for me in an essay contest on Readers Digest Facebook page. Well, between that post and all the harrassing I did of friends and family on Facebook, Twitter, and via email, enough of you voted for me to put me in the top 100 (out of more than 5,000 entries, but who's counting?), which qualified my essay, Angry Mother, to be reviewed by the editors and a judging panel...and I won! Okay, I didn't win the GRAND prize, but I was one of the 10 runners up and won $2,500! And, they published the essay, along with a photo they took (via professional photo shoot in my house), in the March 2012 issue of the print version of Readers' Digest!

Thank you to EVERYONE who voted!

Click HERE to read my essay (and see the picture)!

Shortly after the essay ran in the magazine, I received this comment on my blog:

I just read your RD article today at our local library as I waited for my son to take his music and art classes. It meant a lot to me, and I wanted to track down Karen Dahl of NY, NY to say, "Thank You." I had tears in my eyes that I was really hoping the guy in the chair across from me didn't notice. I found no place here to send a message to you, and so I'm hoping you will see this attached to your post about that article. Thank you for the best 150 words I've read in a long, long time.

I then started an email exchange with the commenter to say thank you to her and to tell her that this is literally why I write - not for the kind words (though that's great) but to hopefully make an impact on someone else, even for just a moment. I've wanted to be a writer my whole life and this 150 word contest and one comment have inspired me to focus on this dream more often!

Thank you again to friends, family, and strangers for all of your support! It means the world to me.

Miss Representation, Shaping Youth, and Me

My latest guest post is up over at Shaping Youth. This one is about Miss Representation, young children (mostly mine), and The Paley Center screening I attended, along with Shaping Youth's commentary on Miss Representation's latest efforts in conjunction with the Superbowl. Here's a preview of my piece:

Gender is the latest hot topic around here.

For almost a year, my preschool aged son has said on occasion, “boys are girls and girls are boys.”

He has told this to friends in class, often girls, who have gone home and told their mothers, thinking he has told them a funny joke.

He also thinks that “kids” means “boys” but not “girls.” He has asked me to explain this to him but I’m not sure he quite gets it yet. Only very recently have questions about different pieces and parts on girls and boys come in to play. He also recently asked me if he could “milk a baby” when he grows up. I’ve hesitated to say too much because the innocence of not knowing the difference between genders is one I’d like him to hold on to for a while. While I don’t want him to be ignorant, I also don’t want his rapidly firing synapses to process anything through a gender lens before it absolutely must.

Please head over to Shaping Youth to read more and let me know what you think. And check out Miss Representation for information on the great work they are doing.

Please vote for me

I just submitted 150 words to the Reader's Digest Your Life writing contest on Facebook. The 100 entries that receive the most votes will be judged by an "expert" panel with the chance to be published in Reader's Digest and to win $25,000.

My piece is entitled Angry Mother. Please check it out, and if you love it, vote for it. You can vote once per day through November 1. Please note, you have to LIKE Reader's Digest on Facebook before you can vote.

You can click on "Angry Mother" above or HERE to read my entry.

Thank you!

SpongeBob and other thoughts on media for young children

I wrote a post last week for Shaping Youth in response to the recent study on the immediate effects of fast paced television on young children. I was angry at the study, the media coverage of it, and the programming aimed at young children and their parents. Please read my post and leave a comment at Shaping Youth to let me know what you think. If you want to hear more of my opinions on young children and media, let me know that too!

Full of Awesome

My good friend, Amy, a mother and designer of 4March and Meenooma fame, just shared this awesome post from Pig Tail Pals, a blog I hadn't heard of before now that is all about redefining what it means to be girly. It always inspires me when I see people spreading the messages of power and strength for girls and women. Read the post, which is a poem, and think about how full of awesome you feel. I think I'm in the category of "getting it back."

And, in the same vein, I just saw The Help a couple of nights ago, and thought NOTHING was missing and that it was a beautiful adaptation of a beautiful story. And it brought this back for me, which I am highly considering starting to say every day with my own children:

You [are] kind

You [are] smart

You [are] important

 

Well, you are!

 

I'm a writer!

It's official. I'm official - meaning I have written something that someone else has placed on their blog. I have my first guest post, entitled To Squeeze or Not To Squeeze, about the squeezy fruit and vegetable pouches for babies and young children, up on the Shaping Youth blog. There is an intro to the post by Amy Jussel (see below) along with the post and a nice introduction of me. Please check it out and comment there or here to let me know what you think.

Shaping Youth is a forum on media and marketing's influence on kids and was founded and is run by Amy Jussel. Amy is a pioneer and leader in the world of "using the power of media for positive change" (Shaping Youth's tagline). I hope to continue to write for Shaping Youth on topics affecting young children.