We saw the New Year in with vicious colds. Everyone else around us had them and stated that they took nearly 6 weeks to get completely over. I scoffed, as usual. More than two weeks later, the colds are only now somewhat abating. I haven't thought about resolutions. I haven't thought about what I wish for this year. 2011, 2012, who cares? Between raging sinuses, a wailing 9 year old with an earache, a 3 year old who spent the better part of 5 hours screaming EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT out of what I can only assume is sheer cussedness, the new year has been a blur underneath boogery tissues and every cold preparation known to mankind.
Since I've had to be awake during the day because my children do not nap, even when they are sick, and up all night praying that the neighbors would not call the police because of my delightful baby girl (yes, she is that loud), all I've had energy to do is wash underwear, make tea, and read. My Kindle is practically welded to my hand now, and I have to admit that besides having the cold and enduring sleeplessness, drinking tea and reading is heaven, right? Especially now that my local library offers e-books so that those of us who are that pleasing mix of lazy and anti-social do not have to go to the library anymore in order to borrow books. Consequently, I've read some books too good not to share.
This book was gaspingly funny. And sad. In equal parts. The author grew up in Africa, an Africa in and out of war. If you like extremely witty writing, British style, with lashings of non-politically correct pronouncements made by the author's mother, you will enjoy this book. Some examples:
In any case, Mum would have countered the diagnosis, "Highly strung, I think you mean. There's nothing wrong with that kind of bonkers. It has nothing to do with not being hugged enough and everything to do with being so well bred, and that leads to a chemical imbalance. We're like difficult horses or snappy dogs; it's not our fault.
"She is also the only person I have ever met who has returned from that country [India] enthusiastically endorsing its latrines. 'Very sensible,' she said, 'all that healthy squatting.' "
"There were a lot of Zambian miners and American missionaries on board. It was not a hilarious amount of fun."
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie Girl Culture
Despite being the mother of two girls, I have remained unconvinced that my children need pink, Barbies, Disney movies featuring princesses, or indeed, anything that makes them think they are princesses in order to feel feminine. I admit that I wanted to read this book because I knew it would justify my feelings on these issues, and it definitely did. The author, also the mother of a daughter, isn't anti-femininity; she's against having consumer culture inculcate our girls with a false sense of femininity starting at birth, and then reap the financial benefits of it later while our girls are begging for pink princess dresses and becoming less confident and more confused. I think this is an issue parents' of girls and boys should be interested in, because while I'm trying to keep my kids from dissolving into pink swirled divas, what mother wants her son to partner with a grown woman who thinks she is a princess? Enough said.
The Winter of Our Disconnect: How Three Totally Wired Teenagers (and a Mother Who Slept with Her iPhone) Pulled the Plug on Their Technology and Lived to Tell the Tale
I've read this twice now because I think the information in it is valuable. Several reviews complained that this book was "boring" because it cited so many studies, but that is what I was most interested in. Yes, the author's personal story of disconnecting from technology with her children was a large part of the book, but the studies backing up her own positive experiences with little technology was what I preferred. She's a journalist, and I felt the book was very well researched - the results are startling and opposite of everything we've been told both by techie gurus and the world's connected children. We hear a lot of bleating about how the younger generations' brains are so "different" from ours, having been raised with technology. We hear how they can actually text, read email, play on Facebook, listen to music, and do their homework at the same time. Not so. In fact, every single study done on this issue has disproved this notion. The conclusion is always the same, the younger generations just think they multitask better. Their grades are worse, their concentration is suffering, they're confused about who real friends are, and apparently ear buds eventually make you deaf.
I also nearly completed the Swedish police procedural series by Maj Sowell and Per Wahloo featuring Martin Beck. These were written in the 60's and 70's and are so droll and fantastic it's hard to believe they aren't more wildly popular. The writing is clever and dry; it's a pleasure to read. If you're unfamiliar with Scandinavian writing, know that it's often spare. Also, these aren't American style police procedurals, populated by hot, alcoholic, middle aged detectives who swear, beat on people, and have sex with tough, equally hot women all the while spouting pathetic one-liners worthy of a Law and Order episode. As a not totally derailed aside, has anyone else ever wondered how many real American female detectives wear stilettos, sport cleavage, and contaminate crimes scenes with their swishy hair? Anyway, these are smart, non-hyperbolic slices of Swedish police life replete with average people in all their idiosyncratic glory.
Hopefully we'll all be completely recovered soon. I'm aching to get back into a normal routine because although I love sitting around reading all day, somehow I haven't been able to figure out how to get my children to clean the house and prepare dinner. I also look forward to thinking about the New Year with hope rather than expectations or resolutions!
