As a kid, there are easy lessons and the hard lessons.  For me, the simplest of principles was empathy.  The golden rule made more sense to me than phonics, which is saying a lot, because HI! spelling bee champ all the way.  I was so into equality that I played public defender and prosecutor on the playground like I was getting paid.  I meted out justice in schoolyards across the country like I was Julio if Paul Simon was actually singing about a crazy case of third grade gossip stemming from your pal’s half-tried attempt at a spin-the-bottle game after the track meet.  I LOVE EQUALITY.  Do unto others, at a very early age, resonated with me as a deeper recognition that it is our responsibility to keep things even.  And I wanted everything to be even.  Always.

Unfortunately, this love for fairness came (as all great things do) with a price.  My fatal flaw, even during my campaign of childhood rights-fighting?  Jealousy. Continue reading →

Being a mother of girls I have been told this Plan B thing should worry me. …but it doesn’t. I mean why should I be worried that my girls will be given an option. Period. Yep, that’s how I feel about it, it’s a choice just like eating McDonald’s is a choice. As a parent I feel it is my job to help my girls make wise choices for their health and well being. Not just physically but mentally prepare them to make the best choices for them. That means a myriad of things. How to dress to keep warm on a December Sunday at Cleveland Browns game, how to not fill their bodies with just junk food and eat a balanced diet, that caring for others is almost as important as caring for themselves , how to deal with puberty and how to practice safe sex.

Now as a woman I understand that sometimes things happen. Sometimes you’re caught off guard by a freak snow storm, or you just really really need large greasy fries and a pound of M&M’s, sometimes you can’t care for people that don’t want to be cared for, and sometimes with sex, accidents happen. Bad things happen. But that doesn’t mean your world has to come crashing down around you. That means that you are in charge of you’re own health and body. And the CHOICE is yours and yours alone.

Maybe I am crazy. Maybe this is a poor way of looking at this hot button issue but here is the thing, I am the parent. I get to choose what values I instill in my children, and my girls should get to choose how they handle situations in their own life. I hope to educate them enough so that if ever faced with a tough decision they are informed enough to know all of the options available to them. I hope to teach my girls to read labels and know exactly what they are and aren’t putting into their bodies whether that is medication or foods. I want them to value the full weight of human life, while at the same time valuing their own minds and bodies.

With everything girls have to worry about I want mine to know that I am with them every step of the way. They can ask me anything and come to me with any questions or problems they may have. In that I also want them to have every option available to them. Just because I wouldn’t doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to. Every choice should be an educated one. Does that make me a bad mother? I don’t think so. Wanting options and choices for our kids is what every parent wants.