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AM I REALLY BEING UNGREEN?

May 24th 2009 09:13
About a month ago I announced to the family and friends that Mr M and I are expecting Baby No. 4.

Congratulations and delight abound I was feeling pretty good. Until I read the following article.

Green group calls for one child policy

AUSTRALIA should consider having a one-child policy to protect the planet, an environmental lobby group says.

Sustainable Population Australia says slashing the world's population is the only way to avoid "environmental suicide''.

National president Sandra Kanck wants Australia's population of almost 22 million reduced to seven million to tackle climate change.

Restricting each couple to one baby, as China does, is "one way of assisting to reduce the population''.

I have one question. If we all lived a little greener then wouldn't that have more impact than simply reducing the population and sticking to our bad habits?

I recently saw a documentary titled "Baby Boom to Bust" on SBS. Simply it explores the ageing populations and shrinking birth rates that most first world countries are experiencing and what affect this will have on the economy on said country. The welfare system, growth and prosperity.

Even if you only look at the family unit, the documentary states that by the middle of the 21st century more than half the Italian population will have no siblings or extended family. Is this a concern?

Another point to consider is that in Australia, and around the world it would appear, the birth rate of most first world countries has been declining yet the world's population is increasing.

I had a quick look at a few parenting forums and in particular large family forums and found that large families are very conscious of the world and the circumstances they find themselves in. Granted, they drive larger cars but tend to bath siblings together, are quite savvy with their money budget and tend to dispose of less. Hole in a sock? mend it. No biscuits in the pantry? Bake them. Ran out of eggs and cucumbers? Go to the backyard to get them. Large families tend to go on more driving than flying holidays.

Which brings me back to my original question. If we all lived a little more green, would that have more impact than simply reducing the population?

I'm no expert so would love to hear from those are well versed in the above.
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An English health worker is standing by her "heartbreaking" decision to send her own son to prison after he became involved with drugs.
Mother Sends Own Son To Prison

A Taliban firing squad killed a young couple in south-western Afghanistan for trying to elope, shooting them with AK-47s in front of a crowd in a lawless, militant-controlled region, officials say.
Young Couple Shot Dead For Trying To Elope

These are two stories that appeared on smh.com.au on Wednesday 15 April 2009. Both appeared in the World section. One above the other.

My aim is to not to jump on my soapbox about which act is a crime and which punishment is warranted. But it should come as no surprise that being raised in a Western country my whole life, the course the British mother took is more familiar, natural to me if you will.

But that’s exactly the point. What the Afghan parents did probably feels familiar and natural to them.

I know that the UN condemn honour killings and they should. Unfortunately in the world we live in the reality is it can never be properly policed. Well at least in the rural the rural areas that have no state police.

I have read some articles in the past year of honour killings occurring in the UK by Pakistani families; the perpetrators, mainly fathers and brothers, have been arrested and tried according to UK law.

Again, everyone will have an opinion and it is probably safe to say that most of you reading this will think that honour killings are cruel and unusual and barbaric forms of punishment and deterrents.

But these two sets of parents are similar in one way. They followed the law as their society had instructed them to. They didn’t keep the matter to themselves and deal with it in the home; they chose to adopt societal norms with regards to punishment and discipline. And both suffer life long consequences.

Now I know that’s not always the case. Parents do try to keep discipline within the home.

I just trying to stress that society has taught us to be acceptable; and what we know is familiar and would seem normal. Perhaps even to the point that we don’t question it.

What one country deems as a serious crime another doesn’t. Again, this is just an observation. We raise our children by what society dictates as normal. It is generally a minority that strays from those ‘rules’. Home births, home schooling, large families are not the norm anymore, although they seem to be making a comeback…or maybe that’s just a media beat up. That’s a whole other post.

We all survive on instinct. I know most mother’s instinct would kill or be killed for their children. I wonder how a mother copes with an honour killing. I wonder how a mother copes with being the one to send their child to jail. I wonder what a mother in China thinks if she is forced to abort a child because it is a girl.

How strong or familiar do societal norms and pressure have to be to override instinct?
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HAVE WE LOST OUR ABILITY TO THINK?

April 15th 2009 01:54
Do you think we’ve lost our ability to think? I think we don’t give ourselves enough credit in some cases….and in other we give ourselves too much credit.

Over the last 8 years, since I became a parent, the amount of parenting titles available on our bookshop shelves has just exploded. Is there really a market for this many books? Is there any end in sight? There is of course the baby section, the toddler section, the preschooler, starting school, heading into the tween faze, teenage years….I’m assuming we stop once our children become adults. There are books concentrating on boys, and there are books concentrating on girls. Those with learning difficulties and disabilities.

It would seem the old adage of ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ should change to ‘it takes a library to raise a child’.

And that’s really the key. The origin of information has change from the community to the library. If it’s not published it’s not credible?

Not that I’m against having books to help. That would make me a hypocrite, but the ‘choice’ has become so extensive how does a first time parent wade through all the titles and pick the one that’s right for them?

Sure, one book doesn’t fit everyone so choice is needed but is there such a thing as too much choice?

But raising children isn’t the only topic that has been hit by the barrage of books.

Cleaning. Yes, cleaning. How to keep a clean house now apparently needs a published how to guide to make sure we do it properly. Have we lost our capacity to think, organize and do for ourselves? Has our instinct completely abandoned us?

Sure there are cook books out and I myself own a few because recipes are almost endless but dusting? Do we really need an instructional manual for that? It’s not the sort of information that needs updating. If I want streak free windows I’m sure a quick question to surrounding friends will more than supply me with the necessary tools.

I’d love to know who the author’s are. How are they more qualified than me?

I have also noticed that having a vege patch in the garden has become fashionable, even somewhat of a necessity. It makes sense. It really does.

Being a child of migrant Greek parents we had a vege patch. A big one. My father’s tomatoes were the talk of the town. And my embarrassment swelled immensely. It was so peasant-like to have a vege patch. Couldn’t we just buy tomatoes like normal people? I’m not saying that is was a fair assessment. But that’s how I felt. So I paid no attention. And now that my kids want a vege patch I either have to swallow my pride and ask my dad for help….or buy a book.
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HATS OFF TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

March 16th 2009 01:52
Over the last couple of weeks I have been watching parliamentary question time on ABC. I’m not altogether sure I gain any clarity on current issues as the politicians seem to always dance around the answers with their fancy deviations and verbose responses.

However, I truly sit in amazement for the speaker of the house. He keeps proceedings moving forward, he quickly pounces on anyone getting out of line and most importantly he keeps his cool


[ Click here to read more ]
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HOMEWORK. RELEVANT OR NOT?

February 26th 2009 00:22
Did homework make you smarter? Did it give you that edge over the other kids in class? Did it make you appreciate more what you were learning in school? Or did you just do it to get to the end? To appease parents and teachers?

I’ve just had an article go on live on www.webchild.com.au titled Homework or Child’s Play? Discussing whether homework really is relevant


[ Click here to read more ]
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LAST WEEK I BUMPED INTO JEANETTE HOWARD

February 11th 2009 00:56
It’s true. I was in my local Myer store looking for canisters to fit our variety of teas and there she was. Her mobile phone rang and it got my attention; I looked towards her. I instantly recognized her; but still I had to be sure.

As for the wife of a former prime minister she wasn’t all that striking. I don’t really know what I expected but she really just looked like my mum. No fancy shoes, no fancy bag, no fancy dress and no fancy hair. She just looked nice


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Below is an article I found on the smh.com.au website. I don't know whether to laugh or shake my head in despair. There are so many things in this situation I'm not quite sure where to begin.

A four-year-old US boy grabbed a shotgun from a cupboard and shot his babysitter who had accidentally stepped on the boy's foot.

[ Click here to read more ]
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A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW

December 15th 2008 01:20
I copped my first “I Hate You” yesterday. My cherry has been popped. My five year old son Alex spat I hate you at me in the car on the way home.

You see it all started when he asked if we could borrow a game from the local video shop. I said yes and he was happy. But as we were walking to the car he was shouting at the top of his lungs. Nothing in particular; he was just being loud. So I asked him to lower his voice because the neighbours didn’t want to hear him


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My Music is Outdated?

November 25th 2008 02:48
A couple of weeks ago I saw Def Leppard in concert. It’s been 16 years since Def Leppard has toured Australia. 16 years ago…1992. I was 18 and Def Leppard was living in the moment of their success.

16 years on…2008. I’m 34 and Def Leppard and I (as well as the rest of the crowd judging by the demographic) were re-living past moments. I can’t speak for Def Leppard but why was I there? Well Def Leppard were one of those bands I listened to incessantly as a teenager. Ah the teenage years…when time was aplenty and my identity yet to be cemented


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I'M A BIT SAD TODAY...

October 21st 2008 01:37
I'm feeling sad...not depressed, just a little bit sad.

Today my youngest turns 3!. Yay! I'm not sad about that. He's very cute [ Click here to read more ]
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