Thursday, April 21, 2011

Surprising - guess it's only us old ladies propagating the myth that everyone's waiting to have children...

Poll Results from PlanningFamily.com

How old were you (will you be) when your first child was born?

Under the age of 20

33%

21 to 25

35%

26 to 30

19%

31 to 35

9%

36 to 40

3%

Over 40

1%





Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Beauty

Snowy Night
by Mary Oliver

Last night, an owl
in the blue dark
tossed
an indeterminate number

of carefully shaped sounds into
the world, in which,
a quarter of a mile away, I happened
to be standing.

I couldn't tell
which one it was -
the barred or the great-horned
ship of the air -

it was that distant. But, anyway,
aren't there moments
that are better than knowing something,
and sweeter? Snow was falling,

so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more

than prettiness. I suppose
if this were someone else's story
they would have insisted on knowing
whatever is knowable - would have hurried

over the fields
to name it - the owl, I mean.
But it's mine, this poem of the night,
and I just stood there, listening and holding out

my hands to the soft glitter
falling through the air. I love this world,
but not for its answers.
And I wish good luck to the owl,

whatever its name -
and I wish great welcome to the snow,
whatever its severe and comfortless
and beautiful meaning.


Monday, April 18, 2011

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Electronic quiet time, anyone?

Saw this on Planningfamily.com:

"On average, children two to five years old spend 32 hours a week in front of a TV and they will have watched an average of 8,000 murders before they finish elementary school. Is this replacing healthy activities such as playing outside, eating dinner as a family, reading, and building family unity? Well-planned family time can be a foundation for joy and influence to last a lifetime. Family time provides your children with feelings of love, security, stability, and support.

"If you are trying to conceive, or are pregnant, the TV could still be getting in the way of your relationship. The average adult watches more than 28 hours of TV a week (that's two straight months a year)! If you're stuck in a rut, if TV has taken over, or if you aren't sure what activities will keep everyone happy, here are some helpful hints for fun family-time activities. Put the remote down and play on!"

Wow - disturbing stats. Do you think that's true? Needless to say, I promptly printed out the "backyard games" list, so Frisbee, here we come!

~Ally