Ana really is a grudge-holder.

Every day at the SICM, at 2:00, they have animal time. Generally, this means that they talk about the blind guinea pig (whom we very emphatically *do not* feel sorry for) and how she's a cousin to all sorts of animals, and then we feed said guinea pig. And then they talk about their sun conure and watch her do various tricks.

Ana was thrilled with this show, right up until the day Johanna (who runs the show) told her she could not, in fact, help out with the bird - well, of course she can't, birds bite. And they're small and easily crushed.

But Ana walked out of the audience that day, and since then has, at best, barely conceded to see it long enough to feed the guinea pig and walk out again. She's also been very cool towards Johanna, whom she used to adore.

She still likes Kimba - every time we see another sun conure, in books or at another museum or the zoo, she'll chatter excitedly all about "pretend Kimba!!!" and what "pretend Kimba!!!!" is doing, and she loves to talk to Kimba when she happens to see her around. But she doesn't much like talking to Johanna anymore, and she refuses to hang around for that part of animal time (when she deigns to watch at all, which is a pity, as the baby likes it).

And it's all because of that one show, three or four months ago. Did you read that? MONTHS.

I finally explained to Johanna Friday why this is, since I had some relative free time - she'd done the right thing of course, but it's starting to look like Ana's not going to forgive her until she gets a written apology for the correction. Which is, of course, never gonna happen.

Right now, her grudge-holding is annoying, but tolerable. I hope she outgrows it, though - I don't really want to see how she holds grudges as a teenager or young adult. I'm sure she'll start coming up with truly diabolical revenges by then, if she's still doing this.

Hah!

In his magazine piece, Dobson criticized Mary Cheney’s decision to become pregnant. “[T]he majority of more than 30 years of social-science indicates that children do best on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother and father,” he wrote last week. Dobson backed up his claims by citing Gilligan’s work. Gilligan is a renowned expert on gender and human development and is a professor of education and law at New York University.

“I was stunned to hear that James Dobson quoted me in Time magazine,” Gilligan says in the video. “I had no idea. I was mortified.” She says that there is nothing in her research that would lead anyone to agree with Dobson’s claim that same-gender families are unhealthy for children.

(Emphasis mine, but I think she probably felt it when she said it anyway.)

This whole article rocks, except for the part where bigots are distorting research, but what else is new?

Anyway, just wanted to share. I'm sure I'll have a merrier Christmas for it, and I hope you have one too - even if you don't celebrate, go out and be happy anyway. Why not?

A breastfeeding Christmas story for my sister

(And anybody else interested in the subject, of course.)

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And, two links to "Evil Christmas Songs" -

One
Two

An article on princess gear

I actually went well overboard in princess gear this year for Deniz - decorate your own princess mirror, cape, wand, tiara, skirt; with an extra feather boa. But Deniz is just like that, and I didn't see the profit in getting her a Christmas gift she'd be less than enthused about.

Su got books on bugs and a toy frog, if you're curious.

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