The rain prediction contest is still on! (Sorry, Melissa, there is no overwhelming support for “calling it” after the quick downpour last week. I think we are longing for something substantial, something urban-metro-wide, something involving at least one road closure.)

In any case, we’re still waiting, y’hear?

I love these summer clouds, love our local park, love it all, well, except the crankiness we seem hardpressed to avoid. No a/c and two old parents working f/t with a 1.5 yo and 3.5 yo….we’re gonna get snippy with one another. Gone are the hot, depleting afternoons when we could give up, resign ourselves to the atmosphere, drink a few cold ones and watch an old movie we’d been meaning to see together. Work with what you have. I don’t mind the heat, the being indoors, none of it–I enjoy the limits it places on actions. But like anything, once two small people are included in the scene, your options change. We do watch movies–Totoro and Ponyo are big hits. Can I just say that I LOVE that Ponyo is a big jolly girl, somewhat goofy and very exuberant? Yay! Growing up I always had the image of a princess as a delicate waif in my mind…so I love Ponyo in all her heartiness and love that my daughter has a good option for princess-imprinting.

Photo courtesy of Grandma Kay.

Erika M sent me this article and in reading it there was much vigorous headnodding on my part and occasional moments of “hmmm…..” accompanied by the pensive stroking of my long imaginary beard.

The topic of child care–on the part of the parent or other caretaker or the group/institution–is ever on my mind. I’m also always trying to unravel my feelings and identify and parse my choices, aiming to weigh the value of various options. There are many ways to determine satisfaction and this article takes a hearty stab at a giant, moving target.

I especially like the part about in-the-moment-pleasure vs satisfaction that comes in retrospect. And of course as a person whose primary source of worry is the possibility of regret–these kinds of things are dizzying.

Thanks, EMW–I look forward to discussing this with you and other parents. Here’s a juicy bit, for starters.

But even under the most favorable circumstances, parenting is an extraordinary activity, in both senses of the word extra: beyond ordinary and especially ordinary. While children deepen your emotional life, they shrink your outer world to the size of a teacup, at least for a while.

(Oh, and that Babies movie mentioned in the article–it’s at the Crossroads right now and is totally cute and interesting.)

Look at the awesome work being done by some inspiring and kickass TucsonMamas!

Go Ilana and Pam, and go UA/UMC and College of Public Health!