Anyway, let’s keep it short and sweet this time around. I’ve got one article and two podcast links to share; I really enjoyed all of them. I know that no one really likes reading anymore, it’s so 20th century, so I’m trying to include as much audio as possible. Also, in case you missed it, here is a link to my article from last week that hopefully you read here, but was also picked up by Huffington. Green Day and parenting; it doesn’t get much better than that.
Let there be links!
Don’t Call My Daughter Shy
Love, love, love this! For all of us on the not-so-outgoing end of the introvert-extrovert continuum, this article definitely hits home. The shy/quiet label is one that always confused me as a kid and kind of still does. I remember when I was in school, elementary through probably college, when I first met other kids, they would almost without fail say to me, within a matter of seconds or minutes, “Wow. You are quiet!” I always wondered how they knew that so quickly, but I usually went along with it so as not to hurt their feelings. I also wondered if non-quiet people ever got snap diagnosed like: “Wow. You are loud!” My other favorite question was, “When you get home, do you just let loose and talk non-stop?” My favorite reply that I had stored in my head and always fantasized about using was, “I don’t know. When you get home, do you just sit quietly and actually shut up?” Obviously I never trotted that one out, no need to hurt anyone’s feelings after all, but I reveled in the thought of saying it one day, while defaulting to my stock response: [Shrug].
A couple great quotes from the article:
Because I do believe that “shy” is a negative label, not because there’s inherently anything wrong with being shy, but because as a culture, we associate shyness as a negative trait, I go out of my way to make sure that my daughter never hears it associated with her.
I wish I could stop the world from seeing her as less than she is, but I can’t. For some reason, the world wants to value the loud, the life-of-the-party types, the ones who steal the spotlight.
Great quote from an excellent interview on Fresh Air:
I realized that a lot of the things that my kid was taking away from me, she was freeing me of. There was this huge pride in having a kid and also that I didn't matter anymore. The greatest thing about having a child is putting yourself second in your own life. It's a massive gift to be able to say you're not the most important person to yourself.
Richard Rothstein of the Economic Policy Institute discussing his research on the centuries of government policy that actively created the American ghetto. Take home point: it wasn’t an accident.
Life Lessons By Jacob
I don’t know about you, but I always get nervous about entering rooms when other people are inside. Here’s how Jacob likes to break the ice:
(Knock, knock, knock)
Person in room: “Come in.”
(Jacob opens door and enters)
J: “I came in here!”
So simple, yet so effective; why didn’t I think of it?
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