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I was looking for Singaporean mothers who practice baby led weaning when I came across a blog Opinionation, written by Grace. I have been seeking parenting books to learn the right way of parenting. Even though I haven’t properly learnt the skills taught in How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk’, her strong reccomendation of Burton White interests me. I think I will get on Kindle.
There’s a theory about the specific suckling technique the breast engenders, which develops the muscles needed for speech. Williams becomes convinced – and has convinced me – that breasts evolved as a driver of female and infant survival, and men’s obsession with them arrived not “in lockstep”, but some time later. “Perhaps, all along, the breasts were calling the shots,” she concludes.
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The composition of the breast makes …[breastmilk]… a magnet for environmental toxins, so they “carry the burden of the mistakes we have made in our stewardship of the planet”.
This is from a book review on guardian. Interesting but not something that will be in my read stack anytime soon.
On the herbal water used for bathing:
“Of course they will say it is good. No one will sell their products and tell you that it is not good.*pause* Anyway, I don’t believe in all this. If that were the case, all the ang mos have rheumatism already and die liaos. They don’t practice confinement at all! It is only an Asian practice.”
On the funny things said in the delivery room made me get out of the self-pitying mood for a short while. Nothing funny happened in the delivery room when I gave birth. Mr TCM was encouraging and supportive and got me lots of food until the nurse stopped us. He even gave me his hand to squeeze but I preferred his shirt. What a guy! And to think I glared at him when he tried to feed me milo after being loopy from drugs. 😐
This bride on craigslist complained about the cost of wedding photography.
I am surprised she complained about the cost of the photographer when the other costs are much higher. My opinion has always been that a wedding party is not worth it. An expensive honeymoon is not worth it. Money can be spent on the newly wed’s mortgage. Money from an expensive honeymoon is better used on a string of inexpensive short trips or on date nights.
A good photographer is always worth the money he is paid. A friend with an expensive camera does not produce the same quality of shoot generally. What I mean is a good shot every time. A picture freezes a good moment. A poor photographer is likely to miss many moments. Not just that – a poor photographer’s work lack art. A wedding photographer is expected not to miss moments and to take great shots every time. He or she will definitely cost a lot.
A wedding is for me, an excuse to hire a good photographer. My only regret is that there are too many portraits and pictures of me. If I have the option I would not bother with portraits. I would like to see what he sees.
This old letter (Diary of a Reformed Elitist) came up recently in my fb feed. On first read I think, wow, they are wondering why we are poor, and I wonder how they got rich. On further thinking, it reflects generally the world we are in.
Haves (those who are rich or have some innate abilities) do get offered a lot more exposure and opportunities. Conditioned by such an environment, it is natural for Haves to think that anyone can just reach out to grab the chance. Have Nots (everyone else) generally are given less exposure and opportunities. So the Haves won’t understand why the Have Nots don’t help themselves and the Have Nots don’t understand how they got so rich.
Actually, this letter reminds me of reading an article on overcoming bias that people who have innate abilities will say stuff like ‘do what you love’ because for them the cost of switching is low. In this instance, the cost of switching to this view is very low and it allows the holder of this view to signal compassion – a virtue. A person who is less well to do and requires a lot of cooperation from others to ensure that their livelihood is not threatened will not hold views that without empathy or compassion even if given continual evidence to show that there are opportunities to be taken. The cost of switching to a less compassionate view will take away the cooperation that is required to defend his livelihood. So when you see particularly compassionate people on discussion forums and newsgroups getting angry about the lack of empathy and compassion in the community is really just another signal to create a ‘us vs them’ culture.
There is a book I have been meaning to read in preparation for labour Hyponobirthing : The Breakthrough Approach to Safer, Easier, Comfortable Birthing by Marie Mongan. I never come around to it because it sounds rather boring. Instead I go to the forums to find out the basic techniques.
The idea is quite simple and it is a little like how I deal with leg cramps. I always get leg cramps in my sleep when it is slightly cooler. In the past I would wake in a panic and try to massage it away. The key I discover, is to completely relax. The quicker it is I relax, the quicker the cramps go away. In hypnobirthing techniques you condition yourself to relax. I am not so sure that it results in a pain free labour but I think the sense of calm and control helps to not to increase the experience of pain rather than actually raising pain threshold.
Another thing I learn from the forum is affirmations for birth. It is repeat to yourself what you want to come true.
For instance:
I do feel less apprehension about the labour experience after writing these down. The situationist talks about values affirmation which made me think that the reason why affirmations work is because the focus on belief takes away stress and reinforces willpower.
I suppose this is why religion works: the belief and focus on values helps to manage a stressful life. Interesting.
…Hakim also goes on to show that economic factors are the primary reason most women enter the sex trade. Over several pages she details just how much more women are able to make working in the sex industry than in other low-paid jobs available to them (it’s a lot!).
…If there’s one positive message to take from this book, it’s that we ought to stop moralising and belittling those who choose to pursue work in the sex industry. After all, in Hakim’s words, ‘The meritocratic capitalist values of the Western world invite us to admire people who exploit their human capital for personal gain. I can see no reason at all why people who exploit their erotic capital for its full value should not be equally admired.’
My objection about work in the sex industry is that the productive life of a sex worker is too short. The high earnings, which is suppose to compensate for the short life span and the health risk, doesn’t quite compensate enough. Courtesans of old know this and incorporate other skills (entertainment, hosting, management) to ensure that longer term income remains available to them.
This means you need to think about what you are trying to remember means, both in relationship to other material you are trying to learn, and to yourself. Other research in memory has shown the importance of schema – memory patterns and structures – for recall. As teachers, we try and organise our course material for the convenience of students, to best help them understand it.
Make study more effective, the easy way « Mind Hacks.
This year I signed up for a memorising course and a mind mapping course. Both methods teach deep learning and is great for students. The memorising course starts of with a set of 10 peg items. To memorise you create memory associations between the pegs and the list. Mind mapping actually teaches the method of re-organising and reclassifying chunks of information.
