cjnearhome
Look Past The Doormat
Someone with a multitude of interests but still looking for their life's passion. I'm still trying to look past the doormat to what lies beyond. Adventures yet explored play an intricate tattoo through my mind.
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Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” as a Toddler’s Bedtime Story
Very accidentally, the main and indeed only bedtime story my toddlers want to hear at night is one about Gaiman’s Sandman.
Please believe me, I didn’t plan this deliberately. I don’t think I could have.
There’s a kind of delirium state parents enter when they reach exhaustion and will say anything to make their kids lie down quietly. You say anything, hoping it’ll have a calming effect. I’d be unsurprised to hear footage of myself reciting Chinese restaurant combo meals.
At some point, I must have started rambling about the Sandman. It’s on my mind enough; I teach it to middle schoolers.
My kids had me in the endless loop of, “Daddy, I want a kiss. And a hug. And a high five. And a fist bump. Put my blanket on!” So I mentioned the Endless.
I rambled out something about Morpheus and kept going. It was made in an impaired state of consciousness and never intended to be repeated.
Until the next night.
Eager eyes. Blankets clutched.
“Daddy. Tell me the Sandman.”
A bedtime story is a ritual, and children will inform you when you are doing it wrong. Through a state of narrative natural selection, our family has settled on an orthodox telling of Gaiman’s Sandman for Toddlers.
To whit:
“If you close your eyes and lie still-”
This is the Very Important Part for the parent side of the equation.
“…then the Sandman, Morpheus, the Prince of Stories, the Lord Shaper, the King of Dreams will come…”
One must take care not to get the order wrong.
“…He’ll come with his bone helmet, and black robe, and glowing red necklace, and bag of magic sand…”
Yesterday, my two-and-a-half-year-old son politely informed me that I had forgotten the necklace, but no recriminations would be made if I immediately made a correction.
“… and he’ll put his magic sand on your eyelids…”
The children have reasoned out for themselves that “magic” sand doesn’t hurt your eyes the way normal sand does. They’re familiar with the anarchy of the daycare playground.
“…and he’ll send you to the Dreaming and give you amazing dreams.”
There is wiggle room in the descriptive word. Awesome dreams. Incredible dreams. Fantastic dreams.
Never “good dreams.”
I don’t believe Morpheus would approve of that promise.
If one cares, one can mention meeting Matthew the raven, Merv Pumpkinhead the scarecrow, or Lucien the librarian of all the Books That Never Were.
This is generally just garnish.
The ritual is complete. The children are appeased.
Sometimes, I will have to do it twice.
Even if they’ve both in the same room, six feet apart.
Separate performances will be demanded.
My greatest hope in this is that one day they’ll be rebellious gothy teenagers, deep in the epoch wherein Dad Is Not Cool.
They’ll approach me with the family copy of Preludes and Nocturnes in hand and eyes overflowing with questions.
And I’ll only smile.
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Heather Penn - http://happydorid.tumblr.com - https://twitter.com/heatpenn - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/607081461/tea-spirits-2015-calendar - https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/happydorid - https://dribbble.com/fastbee - https://www.instagram.com/heatpenn
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Me: *sees a man with muscular arms* :ooooo
Me, 5 sec later: *sees a woman with muscular arms*
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This week, legislators in New Hampshire passed a bill that will protect transgender people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. It received bipartisan support and the Republican governor is expected to sign it – no small feat in Trump’s America.
The bill is “the first proactive victory on LGBTQ rights in any state since 2016,” according to advocacy group Freedom New Hampshire, which backed the legislation. The bill would make New Hampshire the 20th state with civil rights protections that cover trans people. It was the last state in New England without such protections in place. …
“In a national landscape where transgender people are too often attacked for who they are, New Hampshire is a shining example for other states across the country,” Linds Jakows, campaign manager for Freedom New Hampshire, said in a statement. “We look forward to the day Gov. Sununu seals New Hampshire’s motto of Live Free or Die with his signature.”
These state level victories matter more than ever. Well done, New Hampshire.
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OCEAN CITY, NJ—Noting the total absence of adults with any apparent role in local commerce, visitors to Ocean City, New Jersey, told reporters Friday that the economy of the vacation town seemed run entirely by overwhelmed high schoolers. “Every restaurant and shop along the boardwalk is operated by these stressed-out teenagers running around like lunatics—I don’t think I’ve even seen a single employee even in their twenties,” said tourist Paul Shaw, observing that every ice cream shop would be completely unstaffed without harried 15-18-year-olds darting between the cash register and the frozen tubs. “It’s like everyone keeping this town afloat, from the nervous kid at the pizza parlor who can’t figure out how to do the orders on the computer system to the lifeguard anxiously watching over the entire beach himself, is an adolescent who’s got way too much on their plate. Even the kid who rented me a bicycle seemed like he’d been through the wringer.” According to sources, the teens would return to school in a few weeks, leaving the town’s economy solely under the control of a handful of bored 50-year-old locals.
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This week, five transgender service members filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s erratic plan to ban trans people from the military.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, or GLAD, filed the lawsuit on behalf of five transgender women serving openly in different branches of the armed forces. The ACLU also filed a separate lawsuit.
The service members, who are not named, all say they have relied on the Defense Department’s current policy permitting open service by transgender service members and argue Trump’s ban, which may result in early termination or failure to renew their contracts, is unconstitutional. […]
“Because they identified themselves as transgender in reliance on (the Obama-era) earlier promise, Plaintiffs have lost the stability and certainty they had in their careers and benefits, including post-military and retirement benefits that depend on the length of their service,” attorneys for the service members wrote in the court filing. “Plaintiffs have served honorably and successfully in the military since coming out as transgender, and their transgender status has not had any detrimental effect on their ability to serve or to fulfill their duties.”
Let’s do this. Hold him accountable. Resist, resist, resist.
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Hastily made cosplay for Steven’s Birthday event. I can’t wait to see our whole group together.
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Haven’t made these since trade school back in the 80s thought it would be a bit of fun…..😊I know someone will eat them!
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4-H, yes, is primarily known as the farming club in high school, so it may seem like a strange fit for a workshop on healthy relationships, but the four H’s in the name stand for: head, heart, hands and health.
The workshop is delivered in stages, so kids can learn the importance of knowing their own identity before getting into a serious romantic relationship. From there they learn what it takes to build a relationship. And finally, the best ways to end a relationship.
The focus on health in 4-H has changed over the years as the organization is trying to meet the evolving need of teens in their program says Jennifer Sirangelo, president and CEO of National 4-H Council.
“Our goal is to give kids the confidence and courage to navigate challenges they find at school and in their everyday lives,” adds Sirangelo.
4-H Is Helping Kids Plant The Seeds For Healthy Relationships
Illustration: LA Johnson/NPR
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isn’t it creepy that from the day you are born you start to die
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The smell of old books and the warm feeling of being inside bookshops. ✨
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I’m convinced that some girls with ponytails move their heads a little more enthusiastically because they like how their ponytails swing around.
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Strong women are absolutely unpredictable.
The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice (via laughinglistener)
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