Conscious Mom

Gonzo Stain Remover is very good at removing spit up stains from carpets. Nice to know the Master's degree is still useful.

Stork at the Awassa Fish Market

Maia's a different race from us so it is pretty obvious that she's adopted. Sometimes people - i.e., strangers in stores - comment on this, and I always have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, most of the time people are expressing kind-hearted interest and showing their acceptance of mixed race families and adoption. But so much interest does make her adoption a defining feature of her life. I want her to have a positive view of her country of origin, race, and background, but I also want her to be able to control how she integrates those things into her life. Being constantly confronted with questions, even well-intentioned ones, makes that control harder to come by. Sometimes, though, ...

My first thought upon meeting John Edwards is that it takes a special kind of person to be a politician. I met him at one of three house parties he was attending in a single day. House parties must be so much more demanding than regular campaign speeches, so much more personal. Everyone wants to shake his hand, tell him their story, take his photo. There's no opportunity to stop for a drink of water, no chance to stick to the polished speech. Definitely no chance to say, 'hey, give me a minute to catch my breath'. Edwards held up to this personal scrutiny, looking everyone in ...

Children in Abijata-Shalla National Park, Ethiopia Many children beg, which is difficult to respond to. Sometimes they are very needy; others times they aren't but they know they can easily get money by approaching Westerners. Ethiopian adults try to discourage children from begging when they don't need to so often we'd be approached by a child only to have an adult chase him or her away before we could respond. I came up with a compromise by giving money to beggars if they were unable to work - if they were elderly or disabled-, and buying a lot of merchandise from street vendors. Many children and teenagers sell crafts to pay for school fees. Our living ...

About the 'Kid Causes': It's so easy to get depressed and despondent over the state of the world. I won't elaborate; just watch the evening news for 20 minutes and you'll see what I mean. But there are some wonderful things going on that don't get the airtime or publicity they deserve. To counter the trend of reporting the bad more than the good, every week or so I feature a non-profit or charity that helps make the world a better place. I'm hoping that my postings are bringing in a little more money for these worthy causes. But I'm also aiming to brighten my readers' day a little by letting them know about some of the great things regular ...

Awassa, Ethiopia We spent a few hours in the evening walking around downtown Awassa. Awassa is a small city in southern Ethiopia. I have no idea how large it is or how many people live there; it's hard to get a sense of that as a tourist who cannot speak or read the local language. But it is big enough to have its own university. This photograph is the only one I have of the streets in Awassa. The composition and lighting leaves a bit to be desired, but it shows some of my impressions of everyday life in Ethiopia- the mixing of extremes. Behind the cows is a gas station. Although there are no cars ...

Yesterday a little girl, about four years old, walked up to me on the street and asked me to play with her. I was walking Maia in the stroller at the time so maybe I looked unthreatening (and I really am completely harmless). Today the same thing happened, same girl, same request. Do I say yes and encourage her to keep approaching adults on the street? Do I say no and have her approach another strange adult, who might not be as harmless as me? I told her I would like to speak with her mother for a minute. She went into the house and came back with her mom, who I was relieved to see was very relaxed and ...

It all started this past March when I went to Kohl's to find some clothes for my about-to-be adopted baby. I quickly realized I was in for a hard time when I saw they were only selling summer clothes. Who buys a season ahead for a baby? I then discovered there were two design schemes for the infant wardrobe: pink with butterflies and flowers, and blue with trucks and sports equipment. What's a socially-conscious, non gender-stereotyping mom to do? I managed to find one yellow outfit with a giraffe theme, and bought a pink flowery number which I balanced with a blue outfit with 'Daddy's Little Sport' emblazoned on the front. On the way to the register I took a ...

A good friend has spent time working with Liberian refugees in Ghana. She's shared her experiences at developing-world.org. Developing-world.org also includes photos of the camps, stories of children living there, and links for making donations.