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Dirt & Noise

A blog by a left leaning mom of 2 boys

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parenting

Three Lessons I Want to Teach My Sons

Ilinap · January 18, 2011 ·

There are three things I hope to instill in my sons - a love of reading, an appreciation for food, and a show of manners. I believe I grew up with those same values through a combination of cultural osmosis, nature, and happenstance. I'm hoping to more actively demonstrate the … [Read more...] about Three Lessons I Want to Teach My Sons

Tags: books, children, cook, family, food, manners, motherhood, parenting, reading, responsibility, values

There Never Seems to be Enough Time…

Ilinap · January 3, 2011 ·

When my babies were tiny, I used to spend hours gazing at their slumbering faces. Little nostrils flaring, breath setting a hypnotic beat, eyes twitching in dreamland, itty bitty fingers swatting away invisible itches on a scrunched up nose. Their little faces contorted this … [Read more...] about There Never Seems to be Enough Time…

Tags: children, family, kids, love, motherhood, parenting, thankful

A Culture of Kindness

Ilinap · December 19, 2010 ·

Kindness. Its other monikers might be Grace. Benevolence. Selflessness. Friendliness. Compassion. We teach Kindness to our children through lectures and rants and reactive examples that stem from plugging up a playdate gone bad. There are tomes about how to talk to … [Read more...] about A Culture of Kindness

Tags: community, education, family, fun, holidays, parenting, responsibility, thankful, values

We Have a Male Babysitter.

Ilinap · November 30, 2010 ·

Are women predisposed to taking care of children? I never wanted to be a mother. Somehow the maternal gene was pinched between the shopping and corporate ladder climber genes that roughhoused all the others into submission. I didn't earn pocket money babysitting, nor did … [Read more...] about We Have a Male Babysitter.

Tags: children, equality, family, fatherhood, gender, parenting, values

I never wanted to be a mother.

Ilinap · November 7, 2010 ·

I never wanted to be a mother. As a girl my imaginative play never included weddings, babies, or boyfriends. I used to line up my collection of dolls from around the world and stage my very own lilliputian Miss Universe Pageant. I even made paper sashes for all my … [Read more...] about I never wanted to be a mother.

Tags: Bird, children, Deal, family, love, motherhood, parenting

Take My Words from Memory Lane

Ilinap · September 27, 2010 ·

Now that I'm home alone without the ruckus and rumblings of boy noises around me, it gets might quiet here. On this melancholy rainy day I decided to leave my laptop alone and venture upstairs to make like the Little River Band and go reminiscing. I pulled out old photos from … [Read more...] about Take My Words from Memory Lane

Tags: Bird, Deal, family, love, motherhood, parenting

Help Bring Noor And Ramsay Home

Ilinap · August 22, 2010 ·

Somehow in the midst of all the mommy wars we've forgotten about dads. I've written a lot about dads. The best stay at home mom I know happens to be a dad. Fathers are parents too, right? Yet we relegate them to babysitter status much of the time. It's funny to quip about a … [Read more...] about Help Bring Noor And Ramsay Home

Tags: family, father, help, love, noor and ramsay, parenting

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Progressive, mom, writer, reader, traveler. Believe in good manners, home cooking, spending $ on experiences, not things, Oxford comma. ENFJ.

There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl's complexion. - Holly Golightly
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