Quitting my TV news career has come with many benefits but perhaps none as important as how it has affected my ability to parent. My relationship with the Producer would have consisted of about an hour in the morning (stressed about what I’d cover that day) and an hour at night (still stressed about what went wrong with my report that day). I’ve started “Hold On to Your Kids” by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté and I highly recommend it. They describe the era since World War II as one where peers have taken over the role of parenting, calling it “peer orientation”. They write, “Orientation, the drive to get one’s bearings and become acquainted with one’s surroundings, is a fundamental human instinct and need. Disorientation is one of the least bearable of all psychological experiences. Attachment and orientation are inextricably intertwined. Humans and other creatures automatically orient themselves by seeking cues from those to whom they are attached.” This has also got me thinking about my pressing question about why so many journalists prefer group think over curiosity. Are we adults also suffering from “peer orientation”?
Our mini Jersey cross, Maisy, is back home after love camp all summer with a mini Jersey bull. Huge thank you to @thewagonfarm for taking such good care of Maisy and allowing us to use their bull’s….services. They made a cute couple but all good things come to an end. After 2 unsuccessful artificial insemination attempts, we decided it was time to try the real deal. We don’t know if she is pregnant - we will likely blood test her in the near future. We are hoping someday Maisy will be our family milk cow.
Speaking of pregnancy, nutrition is key when you’re an older mama like me (I had my kids at 38 & 41) - and Maisy! (She is almost 5! That’s old for cows.) I have been taking the fermented cod liver/concentrated butter oil from @greenpastureproducts for 15 years. It saved my teeth from chronic cavities and is a great source of vitamins A, D & K. You get 10% off with promo code “ALISON” at check out. https://greenpasture.org/
My poor husband. I know he remembers a time when he drove a vehicle without goat hair and kid snacks stuck to the leather. The @starbucks barista was even taking a video of us.
If you’re regularly making excuses for why the farm animals are in the truck, don’t forget to grab the fermented cod liver/concentrated butter oil from @greenpastureproducts - it saved my teeth from cavities and now I can smooth talk my way out of anything! Use promo code “ALISON” at check out for 10% off. https://greenpasture.org/
Welcome to the free state of Florida, unless you’re a citizen going up against developers - then we welcome you to shove that Slurpee straw in your big yapper and shut up.
Our efforts to stop a cell tower from going up next to our farm have given me quite the education in how our county works. We are at the epicenter of development with highways and strip malls and housing developments at every turn. It has been mind-boggling to see how the “process” works when citizens challenge their government - now as one of those citizens and not a TV reporter filing a story about it all. To say the “game is rigged” does not seem to encapsulate how it all works. I used to tell people that if you’re exhausted by national politics - get involved locally where you can make a difference. Now I’m not so sure.
Anyway, public pressure does still seem to have a role. If you’d like to help us stop the cell tower, please send a quick email to [email protected] and write, “I ...
