Why take your kids?

[hobie16]

DisneyMom, you'll be interested in this.

Disabled Students More Likely to Be Spanked in School

[felinefan]

I think what you're trying to describe is the so-called "John/Joan case," involving David Reimer and Dr. John Money. The twins were boys, and as stated, a circumcision did not go as planned, and Dr. Money suggested raising the boy as a girl, thinking that nurture would win over nature. And despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Dr. Money continued to call his work on Reimer a "success." :mad:

It always bothers me seeing a little boy going for the princess toys, or the Minnie or Daisy plush, and being told he can't have them because they're for girls. I think kids should be allowed to play with whatever toys they want. And if little Timmy says he wants to be a girl, deal with it appropriately. Beating the snot out of him and making him play with boy stuff isn't the way to go and will only make him distance himself in the future.

You're right, that's exactly what I was referring to; saw the documentary in college. I thought how appropriate that guy had the last name of Money, because he sucked enough of it out of his parents.

I grew up playing with weather stations--whose instructions invariably depicted boys using them--microscopes, a Mr. Machine robot (the 1961 model you could assemble/disassemble, even though at 5 I was too young for it, as it was recommended for children 8+), a Visible Woman figure (right before they were yanked off the market), and a toy fire engine that you could use to pump water through its hose--had a lot of fun with that. I had dolls too, but I had lots of books, mainly about my big three interests--medicine, weather, and astronomy. You didn't see too many girls in the early 60s with those. Got a lot of the How and Why Wonder Book series, and other books for when my parents couldn't answer all of my questions.

I once lived for a few years in Pennsylvania, at my mom's behest, and I kept running into people who had a hard time understanding me when I talked. They joked about the "big words" I used. Hey, sorry, when your I.Q. is in the gifted range, and you've been reading at college level since junior high, you can't help it. One of the "big words" I used was "feral", to refer to a animal that was descended from domesticated stock. I had to stop and explain what the word meant. * Sigh* It's not easy being geek. ;)

I'm going to stop here rather than ramble on...

[felinefan]

Could one of the mods fix this? I put my reply between the quote and the "I'm going to stop here rather than ramble on..." The end of the quote was how kids shouldn't be beaten up for choosing toys that don't fit their gender, and the start of my reply was "You're right, that's what I was referring to; saw the documentary in college."

Thanks. I just couldn't think of how to do it without erasing what I just said.

[GaTechGal]

Mayo, you keep using those big words. I do it all the time. It helps my kids as well - by the time they get those SAT words in school, they already know them and how to use them appropriatly in conversation. Let's RAISE the IQ of our fellow citizens not lower it. That's why Reader's Digest has had that Word column in there for years.

Your professor friend sounds like John Forbes Nash Jr., the guy from the movie "A Beautiful Mind". Great movie.

And as to girls being hard to understand - you are DEFINLTY not the first one to make that observation. It's really our secret weapon (she says sarcastically). ;)

[MyLittleAngels]

keep using those big words. I do it all the time. It helps my kids as well

I do this .. My husband's least favorite is "expeditious". If we're walking along, and a couple of my girls are lagging, I'll call out "Ladies, expeditiously, please!", and they'll speed up accordingly. It works wonderfully because not only did they improve their vocabulary by understanding the word, no one else says it, so they always know I'm talking to them. I have had a few other parents look at me strangely, or ask about it .. I've always just found that it works for us.

[Syndrome]

I was scarred for life in school when I used the word "repast" and the teacher questioned me because she didn't know what it meant and went so far as to look it up before conceding that I had used it properly.

Of course, I was given an F on my book report on "Animal Farm" in the fifth grade because my teacher said a 10 year old couldn't possibly understand that it was an allegory for Communism. Pissed me off to no end. My mother may have been a psycho harpy who made Joan Crawford look like Donna Reed in the parenting dept., but she was big on vocabulary and literature and I sure as hell DID understand what that book was about.

[DisneyMom]

I do this .. My husband's least favorite is "expeditious". If we're walking along, and a couple of my girls are lagging, I'll call out "Ladies, expeditiously, please!", and they'll speed up accordingly. It works wonderfully because not only did they improve their vocabulary by understanding the word, no one else says it, so they always know I'm talking to them. I have had a few other parents look at me strangely, or ask about it .. I've always just found that it works for us.

It is a good word.......
but I don't know if I could say it without spitting!

[Mayonnaise]

Mayo, you keep using those big words. I do it all the time. It helps my kids as well - by the time they get those SAT words in school, they already know them and how to use them appropriatly in conversation. Let's RAISE the IQ of our fellow citizens not lower it. That's why Reader's Digest has had that Word column in there for years.

Thank you! I actually didn't have to study for the verbal end of the SAT by the time I got there... though I hear they've removed the analogies. That's sad. The analogies part was fun.

Your professor friend sounds like John Forbes Nash Jr., the guy from the movie "A Beautiful Mind". Great movie.

Not sure I see the connection. My Professor friend is an aspie, and John Nash was a paranoid schizophrenic. The only similarity I see is both study game theory.

And as to girls being hard to understand - you are DEFINLTY not the first one to make that observation. It's really our secret weapon (she says sarcastically). ;)

Apparently the secret decoder ring it's one of the many weapons in the female arsenal I did not come equipped with.

8^P

[DisneyMom]

Apparently the secret decoder ring it's one of the many weapons in the female arsenal I did not come equipped with.

8^P

Pssssssssst! Mayonaisse!
There's a REASON why they are called "princesses"

I didn't come with the decoder ring, either ;)

[GaTechGal]

Not sure I see the connection. My Professor friend is an aspie, and John Nash was a paranoid schizophrenic. The only similarity I see is both study game theory.

8^P

Actually I was thinking more that a lot of his social behavior was inappropriate (not due to his schizophrenia), but that he was still an interesting person that inspired love and loyalty in those that bothered to get to know him.