Mountain State Motherhood

I think that it's not just the taxes that are a he...

2008-12-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

I think that it's not just the taxes that are a help. It's knowing that your sweet faced little boy has a better chance not to be pulled in war. It's knowing that my 18 year old daughter, who wants to travel in Europe after college has a better chance to travel safer. Taxes are one thing, but they don 't keep me up at night.
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Thanks.

Love this post. Can so much relate to it.

2008-09-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

Love this post. Can so much relate to it.

Women Want Safety, not Biden's Abuse of PowerSenat...

2008-09-21T14:27:00.001-07:00

Women Want Safety, not Biden's Abuse of Power

Senator Joe Biden proudly proclaims that he was beaten with impunity by his sister as a youth. This is the same sister that raised his two sons after his wife and daughter were killed in an auto accident.

Biden has often claimed that the Violence against Women Act is the greatest achievement of his career. Yet he fails to recognize the role women play as perpetrators of domestic violence. Hundreds of studies show that women commit acts of domestic violence as often as, or more often than men. Many studies also show that lesbian women physically attack their intimate partners at least as often as heterosexual men.

As a result of Biden's Violence against Women Act, the federal government pays states to create laws effectively requiring that men be removed from their homes and families without even an allegation of violence, with no legitimate standards of evidence, when a woman makes a claim that she is afraid.

Elaine Epstein, president of the Massachusetts Bar Association (1999), has said "the facts have become irrelevant... restraining orders are granted to virtually all who apply. Regarding divorce cases, she states "allegations of abuse are now used for tactical advantage". According to Epstein, who is also a former president of the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association, restraining orders are doled out "like candy" and "in virtually all cases, no notice, meaningful hearing, or impartial weighing of evidence is to be had."

State restraining order laws are starting to fall because they're unconstitutional. The federal law behind them, written by Joe Biden, is likely to fall as well, not because it isn’t popular, but because it is clearly unconstitutional.

Supporting Documentation

Here are some of the facts regarding Biden's abuse at the hand of his sister. During senate hearings held on December 11, 1990, Biden testified to the abuse.

www.ifeminists.net

Senate Hearing Transcript (see p. 171-172)

This recent CDC study indicates that women between the ages of 18 and 28 initiate reciprocal violence against their intimate partners about as often as men. It also indicates that women initiate non-reciprocal violence against their intimate partners more than twice as often as men.

pn.psychiatryonline.org

Here is a link to a bibliography of over 200 studies indicating that women are as violent as men in their intimate relationships:

www.csulb.edu

According to the US Department of Justice, women also abuse, neglect and kill their children at significantly higher rates than men. Here’s some of the data on child homicides.

www.acf.hhs.gov

Research clearly indicates that lesbian battery is at least as common as heterosexual battery.

www.musc.edu/vawprevention

lesbianlife.about.com

Cathy Young reports on the Elaine Epstein quote and the broader issue at Salon.com here:

www.salon.com

and provides in depth analysis here:

www.iwf.org

As with most things in life, how you approach deci...

2008-08-21T06:28:00.000-07:00

As with most things in life, how you approach decision making and behavior has everything to do with intention and motives. What is your intention for going "all out"? is it because you feel pressure to keep up with your neighbor's parties and schwag bags? Is it because your kids really WANT the hand made cake with functioning ferris wheel? Is it because of working mom guilt?

i confess that I go to the extremes. At a Spy Party, I recreated France in my basement! At a Carnival Party, my friends nd relatives manned over 12 "booths" and a ticket redemption section at the end!

But, i do it because i enjoy the creative outlet. I do it because parties are a great cooperative project that me and my daughters can work on together.

And... i do it to spite Chuck e Cheese. I do not like that rat.

Anna J! :)

I agree that we working moms are driving a lot of ...

2008-08-21T01:44:00.000-07:00

I agree that we working moms are driving a lot of the birthday party madness because of guilt. That's why I'm saying let's just face the guilt and stop overdoing it. All of the scheduling issues with out of town relatives certainly factors into the multiple parties.
I honestly don't mind Chuck E. Cheese. For the same reasons you stated. I LOVE ski ball and the girls have a great time. It's the germ-aphobic husband who can't handle the overstimulation and worries about what illness we're going to contract while we're there. As soon as we hit the car... out comes the antibac lotion! And while I LOVE ski ball, I'm not very good at it so yes, you'd probably kick my butt! Maybe that should be an adult afternoon playdate!

My 4 year old had a week full of parties. But I t...

2008-08-21T00:16:00.000-07:00

My 4 year old had a week full of parties. But I think the "madness" of it all is driven by us working moms wanting the best for our kids - and feeling a little bit guilty along the way.

The cupcakes at daycare just ensure that our kids have a great day because then everyone knows it's their birthday and we have just that little amount of guilt that we have stuck them somewhere for the entire day while we go off to work.

Then we have cake that night - simply because we missed our precious birthday girl all day.

Then comes the weekend, which is the first time grandparents can get involved.

And, you don't want to leave out playdate friends on Saturday afternoon - and the prerequisite of an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese.

My only problem with the Chuckster is that they don't offer much beyond soda for the kids. There's enough excitement going on that I don't want to pump Mia full of additional sugar. I actually don't mind that place. I kind of like running around with my kids and defeating them at ski ball, but I am overly competitive when it comes to that thing. It just seems a very safe place to me - and it was a lifesaver on cold winter afternoons. It can get a bit loud, yes I agree, and the crowd can be "interesting." But where else can you get your child stamped so no one can walk out with her, grab a slice of pizza and play for hours on end for a few bucks?? And no, I don't work there or own stock.

I think the insanity comes in with birthday gifts. I clean out the playroom once every 3 months and it's embarassing. There's no way we need that stuff. My little ones don't even remember half of the stuff I end up donating. And no presents for anyone younger than 2 years old! They can't even really understand it's a birthday party and my 1 year old played with the box for days.

So....next time you find yourself stuck in Chuck E. Cheese, grab a beer (yes, they sell beer there and no, it's not shameful to have one during a birthday party) and take a stab at ski ball. I bet you would like it - but you wouldn't be better than me.

I saw that video ~ it's very disturbing. I have t...

2008-08-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

I saw that video ~ it's very disturbing. I have to wonder how much intervention is done in cases such as this. Are parents required to take parenting classes before they are allowed to get their kids back? (provided they are even removed)

You totally go off and ramble about the book and c...

2008-07-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

You totally go off and ramble about the book and completely wrap up the whole experience way too soon. I wanted to read more about your weekend without the girls, but whatever.
It was still good, I guess.
:)
I love giving you crap via the web, hee hee.
I also wanted to comment on your reading choices because I too have the same and like the same authors. I want to be a British woman as well. Think it is because of Grandpa Bott and watching all those shows then going there and meeting everyone?
I think it is weird too that we have so little in common when it comes to pleasurable activities yet we both enjoy reading the same things.
Guess it could be because of dad reading to us when we were little as well.
Who knows.
Anyways, glad you and Beckner had a good time at the cabin and without the girls. We enjoyed having them.
:)

glad you and Andrew got to spend some time togethe...

2008-07-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

glad you and Andrew got to spend some time together and that the girls had a good weekend with your mom and dad! We all know how important it is to grow up close to your grandparents!

It doesn't help that I was actually a little bit g...

2008-07-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

It doesn't help that I was actually a little bit gleeful to drop them off at daycare Monday morning. I think the real reason was that I knew they would be exhausted and sleep really well that night - which they did. I'm terrible. I wonder if my mother, who we affectionately called Mother Earth because of her perfect behavior and reactions to everything we could throw at her - ever felt this way. I can only hope.

Thank you anonymous for your post. I couldn't have...

2008-07-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you anonymous for your post. I couldn't have described my feelings any better. We're home one day and the damage was done to the rest I accumulated during my long weekend. I'm not sure what it is -- maybe a guilt gene that Mommies have -- that makes us feel terrible for wanting some time to ourselves. Time to feel human again. Time to remember who we were before kids and husbands. But I realized this weekend that that's exactly what we need. Time to miss your family and get refreshed so you can continue to be a great mommy.

How important it is to have not only a date night,...

2008-07-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

How important it is to have not only a date night, but a date weekend. We (me, husband, 4 year old and 1 year old) just got back from a week-long vacation at Grammy and Granddad's. And as much as we had a really nice time, I have to say that just 2 days back into the daily grind, my kids are driving me crazy. The 1 year old is in that frame of mind where he'll sit in his high chair for exactly 2 minutes. Then he's standing up, taking a dive face first and crying to get back onto the darn thing once I relent and take him out. My 4 year old is the Queen of Why. Why this, why that. At least 672 times in 3 minutes. My husband has just announced he needs to go to the grocery store - again. This will make it 2 times in the last hour. Yeah, I need a vacation. A friend told me that a vacation with children isn't a vacation - it's just living somewhere else for a week. Funny thing is my kids didn't drive me to the brink the entire week. Even 7 hours in the car went well. It's once we're home and the prospect of no more time to off has made my skin start to itch. Part of me feels bad for wanting to get away. Part of me wants to run - but just for a little while. Maybe even 15 minutes would do it. Maybe.

Thanks, Michele. Thanks for returnign regularly to...

2008-07-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Michele. Thanks for returnign regularly to check out the blog. Have any topics you'd like to discuss?

what a wonderful story. thank you for sharing!

2008-07-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

what a wonderful story. thank you for sharing!

hahahaha that is so stinkin cute! I think Nate wou...

2008-07-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

hahahaha that is so stinkin cute! I think Nate would love this even though he is a little older?

I've never watched the movie, but it sounds intere...

2008-07-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

I've never watched the movie, but it sounds interesting. Thank you for the "units" tip. I often find myself, as a working mother, unable to routinely do anything. It also doesn't help that I have 3 children. I think that would help me a great deal organize my evenings into something more manageable. As it is right now, I feel overwelmed, so tend to just sit there???

That's a cute video. I have two albums by Go Fish...

2008-07-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

That's a cute video. I have two albums by Go Fish. The first is Superstar, which Britney LOVES. The second is Splash, which has a song on it that I sing to the girls every night at bedtime. Most of the songs are great christian songs for kids and the beat is definitely something I can listen to a lot. We listen to Go Fish in the car or sometimes in the house while I'm cleaning.