One of the kids’ favorite places to go is the Boonshoft Museum which is a museum geared toward children.  Most if it is like a big indoor play area with quite a few role playing areas.  We have an annual pass that makes it easy to go whenever we’d like and not worry about the cost.  That is extremely important to me because Boonshoft is only open until 5PM through the week.

While I’m not a big fan of preschool in general, it seemed cruel to pull her out after we’d put her in and made friends.  She really enjoys going to see her friends and she balances out the class which has two boys and two girls.  I still have the option to keep her home if there is something happening that she wants to do or I want her to do but since we’ve made a commitment to go to school, I try to keep it.

One of the things I like about her going to school is that it gives me one-on-one time with A.  Before A was born I would take J with me where ever I wanted to go.  It became more difficult with two kids to do that.  Now that I have some afternoon time with A I remember how much fun I used to have with J and I’m happy to do that with A.  I know that they won’t have nearly the same experience growing up, but I would at least like to be consistent with them, even if they have completely different interests.

So while keeping her in preschool three days a week will allow her a bit of freedom from me and the family, and give her time to make friends and develop a sense of identity away from us, having her home with us four days a week (weekends included) will help her develop a strong sense of family.

S wasn’t very happy about it and wondered how I could have slept through the crying.  More than anything, it scared her because, while A can get the door open from the inside, she cannot get it open from the outside.  If she had already left, A would have been stranded outside until I woke up.  I don’t know what to do about this, even if the door is locked she knows how to unlock it.

When she wakes up I’ll have to talk to her about leaving the house without an adult.  I hope it makes sense to her but I have my doubts because her plan worked.  She went outside to get her mommy and that’s exactly what happened.

Disney movies would have every little girl in the world believing that there is a man out there who will rescue them and all they have to do is wait to be rescued.  I don’t want my girls to feel like they are limited in any way.  I want them to be confident, strong, smart and capable.  They shouldn’t feel like they have to be in a relationship (when they’re older) to be happy.  I want them to know that their happiness comes from themselves.

Eating disorders are becoming even more common among girls and at younger ages.  According to one site 6-7% of all women and young girls have anorexia and/or bulimia.  Further 15% of all women and young girls have “some kind of disordered eating patterns.”

None of this even touches on the general idea that women are supposed to be less intelligent than men and many women even act less intelligent as a way of attracting men.  There can only be short list of reasons that they would do that and most of them come back to confidence.

So, taking the long way around to a funny story.  J saw a Barbie doll in a store.  Barbie is known to be a near unattainable image of what women can be physically.  According to this article, one in 100,000 women may be proportioned like Barbie while one in 50 will have Ken’s body type.

Anyway, S thought that she was being funny by telling J she didn’t like Barbie and that J would follow her lead and not want one.  It didn’t work and eventually S said Barbie was a slut, thinking that J wasn’t paying attention anyway, I guess.

One day my sister took the girls to a store and there were Barbies on the shelf by the door.  J saw them and announced “My mom thinks Barbie is a slut.”  My sister said all the elderly in the store turned to scoff at this four-year-old and her guardian (my sister at the time) who would scream slut without hesitation.