DadTalk

EcoMoms Is a Small, Positive Step Toward Saving Earth

February in Chicago is all about blah. Extreme cold, the flu, rain and snow, and cabin fever all conspire to banish happy feelings. Even the news media tends to be more surly.

So it’s nice to see a positive story for a change. This one brings to light ‘EcoMoms,’ parents who get together to discuss living in environmentally-friendly ways. Writes The New YorkTimes:

The women gathered in the airy living room, wine poured and pleasantries exchanged. In no time, the conversation turned lively – not about the literary merits of Geraldine Brooks or Cormac McCarthy but the pitfalls of antibacterial hand sanitizers and how to retool the laundry using only cold water and biodegradable detergent during non-prime-time energy hours (after 7 p.m.).

Move over, Tupperware. The EcoMom party has arrived, with its ever-expanding “to do” list that includes preparing waste-free school lunches; lobbying for green building codes; transforming oneself into a “locovore,” eating locally grown food; and remembering not to idle the car when picking up children from school (if one must drive). Here, the small talk is about the volatile compounds emitted by dry-erase markers at school.

Yeah, I realize a lot of folk will make fun of these wealthy moms – I can hear the Left Coast jokes already – but I for one find hope in the idea that there are other people out there who worry about toxic gases coming from Calico Rose (red)-painted walls.

The EcoMom Alliance already has 9,000 members nationwide and is creating its own niche in the blogosphere. Here are some key sites:

• EcoMom
• A Shade of Green
• Eco-Chick

If you expect gruff men will make fun of these woman, who apparently suffer from what has been coined “ecoanxiety,” you probably would be correct. That’s because women generally express higher levels of environmental concern than men, according to Riley Dunlap, a professor of sociology at Oklahoma State University.

But I’m with the women on this on. Maybe I can persuade them to rename their group the EcoParents Alliance?

Discover the Best Children’s, Young Adult Books of the Year

For the last several months, I’ve been a widower … a blog widower that is. That’s because my wife, Anne, has been working hard with a team of literary aficionados on The Cybils, a blog dedicated to honoring the best children’s and young adult books of the year.

Today, the 2007 list is out. But I’m not going to tell you which books won. You need to go over to Anne’s blog and read this post here.

And if you get a chance, drop a comment thanking Anne, Kelly and the entire Cybils team for all their hard work. They’ve earned some thanks.

Why Did It Take Economists so Long to Figure It all Out?

A Time line of Sorts:

If the Fed is wrong, the housing market and economy might collapse and bring America into a new recession. We should know which way the coin flipped by the end of the year.
– Me, 08/11/2004

“It may not happen in that order – and I can’t give a precise time line – but I believe an extremely difficult recession will begin late this year or early next. Please remember, I say this not as an expert, but layman. Then again, the experts predicted the housing market would surge indefinitely.”
– Me, 08/19/2007

“I don’t like the fact that the economy is headed for what I suspect will be the worst recession in our lifetimes. And I don’t like to unnecessarily alarm people.”
– Me, 11/21/2007

“The recent financial turmoil has many causes, but they are tied to a basic fear that some of the economic successes of the last generation may yet turn out to be a mirage.”
– David Leonhardt, New York Times, 01/23/08

“But a recession is now more likely than not. It may well have started already. The Philadelphia Fed reported Tuesday that the economy shrunk in 23 states last month, including Ohio, Missouri and Arizona, and was stagnant in seven others. California and Florida, with their plunging home values, may soon join the recession list.”
– David Leonhardt, New York Times, 01/23/08

Finally, after huge credit bubbles precipitated the ridiculous run up in home prices, Asia finally sent the wake up call that too many  American economists and business leaders failed to hear: something is seriously wrong with the U.S. economy.

Massive losses by U.S. financial institutions and sizable market sell offs in the United States were not enough to convince Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke to take serious action. Ironically, it was President Bush’s attempt to shore up the economy that helped trigger the huge drop in Asian markets that finally persuaded the Fed to cut interest rates by a whopping 75 basis points. Here’s an excerpt from the emergency announcement:

Comments Are Broken Working

It seems there is a problem with entering comments on DadTalk. I am waiting to hear back from Typepad on the problem.

It seems Typepad automatically labels some comments as spam, especially if you try to comment too quickly. Highly annoying. I have published some of the ones recently blocked.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Thanks.

Brett

Recalls Son Gets to Have Fun Despite ‘Boring’ Part

I was able to mix pleasure with ‘boring’ recall research by taking Seth to the Chicago Toy and Game Fair, a trade show in a suburb close to where I grew up. Lael was too cranky to make the trip.

While there, Seth got to jump in a bouncy toy, cruise down an inflatable slide, play miniature golf – he scored two holes in one – toss beanbags – he landed a hole in one on his first try – make a castle with Sand Lock and watch previews of The Spiderwick Chronicles. Seth also fell in love with a version of this golf toy.

The price for Seth’s fun? He had to endure – his word not mine – an hour of boring people discuss the state of product recalls.

The highlight of THAT event was U.S. Sen Dick Durbin, who is pushing for toy testing in each country of origin. “Most American consumers mistakenly believe that every product on the shelf ... has been inspected, that at some stage the government stepped in, took a look and said it’s safe,” Durbin said according the Gatehouse News Service.

Glut of Parenting News Is Neatly Summarized

In the last few weeks, I’ve posted more stories than at any time since starting this blog, and I didn’t even sign up for National Blog Posting Month, which requires daily entries. But with this particular news cycle bursting with stories, I could easily have posted double what I have so far. Sadly, I have to work for a living.

All is not lost, though. I decided to summarize a handful of these parenting-related articles:

Are We Too Quick to Medicate Children? asks an in-depth look by the Los Angeles Times. While there is science favoring medicating and not medicating children who have personality disorders, in the end, the decision falls to parents.

A welter of studies has shown that kids are being diagnosed at younger ages, with a wider range of disorders and with more severe disorders than ever before. And in growing numbers, they are being medicated with drugs whose safety, effectiveness and long-range effects on children have not been demonstrated by extensive research.

“I feel like I’m flying blind,” says the central parent in this article. (Note: This link may expire soon.)

An article titled Bad Behavior Does Not Doom Pupils, Studies Say reveals that some children outgrow low-level behavioral issues. “One (study) concluded that kindergartners who are identified as troubled do as well academically as their peers in elementary school,” writes The New York Times. “The other found that children with attention deficit disorders suffer primarily from a delay in brain development, not from a deficit or flaw.”

Welcome to Post 1,000!

I know a lot of bloggers that started around the same time as I did have shut down in recent months, but I feel I could write another 1,000 posts easily. Like tomorrow.

The world is a big, interesting place, and I love writing about it. There is something new every day.

Here are some statistics on DadTalk:

• Posts: 1,000
• Comments: 3,997 as of writing this
• Lifetime page views: 262,700
• Average unique visitors per day: 201
• In the past 7 days: 1,839
• Feedburner subscribers: 289
• Total Words (counting comments): More than 730,000
• First Post: 04/16/02004 at 8:31 p.m.

Text of first post:

Good morning dads.

How are you doing? Are you finding that being a dad nowadays is pretty rough? Are you working extra hours to pay for your children’s future college expenses and then fretting that you’re not spending enough time with those kids you care so much about? Or maybe you are getting divorced and having trouble winning the right to see your children?

‘I Am Dad’ on Hiatus

Parenting is hard work and amazingly time-consuming. So I’m sure you will understand why William Mastin, the cartoonist who draws “I Am Dad,” is taking a hiatus. Hopefully he will return after his fifth child is born.

Good luck, William.

Scout Badges, Scooters Recalled; Thomas Thank You Goes All Wrong

Not all recalls show up on the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website. Take for example the 1.6 million badges made for The Boy Scouts of America.

The painted plastic badges apparently are being recalled after test revealed high levels of lead, reports The Associated Press via the Houston Chronicle.

Thanks go to a long-time reader and blogger who pointed the story out to me. The same reader also pointed out just how big a problem lead paint has become – some customers who returned contaminated Thomas & Friends trains were sent a Toad car as a bonus thank you gift, reports the Consumerist. Shortly after they were sent out, RC2, the company that owns the Thomas line, sent out this e-mail:

Unfortunately, the discovery that certain Toad vehicles could be potentially unsafe was made in August, after Toads had been sent as bonus gifts to some families. Many of the Toad bonus gifts are safe, however some may not be. If you received a Toad vehicle as a bonus gift from us, please check its underside for the tracking code 1656OW00 to determine if it is one of the recalled toys.

Meanwhile, the CPSC announced it’s recalling 20,000 Razor E300 Electric Scooters because the handlebars can detach while in use. The scooters were sold at Pep Boys and online from January 2006 through October 2006.

Nominate Your Favorite Kids’ Books

Nominate Your Favorite Kids’ Books

My wife is at it again. Anne’s got this whole big contest thing going for the second year in a row. The contest, called Cybils, is all about children’s literature.

Anyone who can get on the Internet can nominate one favorite book in each of several categories:

• Fantasy/Science Fiction
• Fiction Picture Books
• Graphic Novels
• Middle Grade Fiction
• Non-Fiction: Middle Grade and Young Adult
• Non-Fiction Picture Books
• Poetry
• Young Adult Fiction

For more instructions, click here.

What does this mean for our household? Well, I get to cook and clean more.

And my kids seem extra excited about me getting home compared with the rest of the year. Something about “Dad, mom can’t hear us when she’s on the ’puter.”

But it’s all for the greater good. Take a look and you’ll see what I mean.