You Say Tomato, I Say Tamoto

So there seems to be a buzz in the air lately about immigration, or at least in my ear. Yesterday I decided to listen to some am radio while I made dinner. When I turned on the radio the first thing I heard was Mike Savage from The Savage Nation ranting about how today's immigrants don't know how to use a toothbrush or know what toilet paper is for. Apprently Laura Bush's speech on World Refugee Day set him off. He went on to say that his grandfather was an immigrant, but his grandfather came here to work and started a business, instead of raising the next generation of gangbangers. Excuse me? Besides being offensive and racist, he is also ignorant to think that none of the immigrants of earlier generations ended up in a life of crime. Hasn't he ever heard of the Italian mafia?

Mondays are also the day that Time Magazine arrives in my mailbox and the cover story this week also happens to be about immigration, more specifically the very costly fence that is going up along the US/Mexican border. I had to laugh because the Time reporters were able to easily find people simply climbing over the fence, including a 10-year-old boy and a senior citizen. Seriously though, the fence has cut down on the number of illegal crossings in many areas, but only causes them to go up in areas where there is no fence. It makes me wonder though, why are we spending billions of dollars creating a fence that is not even impermeable, not to mention the cost of all the man-power needed to patrol it, when we could use that money to better the lives of our Mexican neighbors, thereby making it less appealing for them to try and cross the border in the first place. Another alternative would be to spend that money on our education and health care systems that illegal immigrants are supposedly overtaxing.

Then this morning I remembered a documentary I saw awhile back called A Day Without a Mexican. What I got from the film was that our country couldn't operate the way it does without Mexican Americans, legal or otherwise, and that many of them are filling jobs that others simply won't do. But to me, the issue of whether immigrants drive down wages or create challenges in our health care or education systems are really moot. This country was created by immigrants, it's who we are--a nation of immigrants and their decendants. So, who are we to say that our gates our now closed? I once heard that America is not so much a melting pot, but a tossed salad--so what's wrong with a few more tomatoes anyway?

Hodgepodge

Happy First Day of SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been very spotty with my blog latley. I have been busy helping host the Little People On the Road Summer Swap, helping my husband with his business, and trying to make some friends in the community I actually live in (opposed to in the blogosphere). So, anyway, I thought I would give anyone who actually still visits my blog a few of the highlights of what I have been up to lately:

1) The other night I joined a group of moms at a local martini bar for our bi-monthly parenting book club. We discussed Practically Perfect In Every Way by Jennifer Niesslein, which was pretty disappointing to everyone, especially those of us who have read Brain, Child, which is edited by Niesslein. I think the general consensus was that Niesslein was just trying to be too cool for school, and while she was funny, she never let herself be vulnerable or dig too deep into anything. However, we did have a great time, and I was so impressed by all the amazing women I found myself sitting with--smart, funny and resilient women. I was sort of the baby of the group at 29 and was struck, and excited, by how much I still have to grow and how much I can learn from these women.

2) My daughter finally had her appointment at Shriners Hospital on Monday. She was seen by a pediatric orthopaedist and a general pediatrician. The orthopaedist said he was curious as to why she isn't walking yet, but not really worried. He said some babies just take longer to reach the finish line than others, but there is no reason to think she won't walk eventually and that once she crosses that line, there's no reason to believe she won't be fine. I wanted a quick fix like special shoes or braces to get her up and walking right now, already! The orthopaedist said that is an out-of-date practice because in the long run it won't solve anything--her feet would just turn outwards again as soon as they were off, and even her physical therapist said that they can actually weaken the muscles and cause more problems down the road. My friend Michelle was good at reminding me that my and my husband's intuition all along has been that our daughter is just a late bloomer, that she will be fine, and we should just never look at any developmental charts or pick up any parenting magazines.

3) Today was the official beginning of summer and I kicked it off by taking my two kids and my two nieces to the brand new aquatics center that was built a stone's throw from our house! It is sort of like a mini-waterpark with a big waterslide, a lazy river, and a water playground for younger kids complete with a waterslide that is their size. I plan on packing as many outdoor activities into the next 2.5 months as possible--park days, bike riding, swimming, camping, etc. I still think I am meant for living in a warmer climate, but I will make the best of what I have right now. As for this blog, I plan to keep things light over the summer and will probably post lots of ideas for crafts and activities to do with kids.