CHILDREN TODAY AND TOMORROW - FOR ME!

One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility. 

Eleanor Roosevelt

Five years ago I lost my best friend, my lover and my partner.  Three years is coming up - three years since I left Indianapolis - three years finding this beautiful new world with new challenges and great new friends and after these major life changes - I am now in a very good personal space.

Here I am in this new place and the world has reopened up for me.  Everything that was important to me in the past is now before me.

Now, let me share one of my pleasures in life.

Cooking -  why, you ask!  I honestly see cooking as culinary art therapy.  This kind of therapy uses cooking as the means of communicating and self expression.  I did not grow up in a home with mother cooking those great old European recipes.  She was lovely but she lived for Sundays when my Dad and I would pick up Chinese from the restaurant on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.  Even after all these years and not having lived in the neighborhood for many years, I can remember the aroma entering the restaurant and waiting for the big brown paper bag with many containers filled with marvelous delicacies.

And my husband would comment in agreement with this Thomas Wolfe quote.

There is no spectacle on earth more appealing than that of a beautiful woman in the act of cooking dinner for someone she loves.
 Thomas Wolfe

Cooking is a long time love of mine - making a guest list, send out invites, decide on a menu, make a prep time line, shop for the very best ingredients, start to cut, chop, saute, steam, roast - enjoy the thought of what is at the end of this day of great aromas, cutting fresh flowers, setting a beautiful table and then opening the door for friends and family.
 
Mark Bittman, the food critic, would agree about the health value of this love of mine. "You're also not going to cook much junk. I love French fries, but how often are you going to cook them? It's too hard and messy. But when they're made at the industrial scale, you can have French fries three times a day. So there's something in the very nature of home cooking that keeps us from getting into trouble."

"We know why people don't cook: because the marketers of prepared food have taken over our kitchens; the Food Channel fetishization of cooking has made it look intimidating, especially for those who grew up without parents in the kitchen; and people say they don't have the time — or they just don't like it."We do find time for activities we value, like surfing the Internet or exercising," says Michael Pollan.

"The problem is we're not valuing cooking enough. Who do you want cooking your food, a corporation or a human being? Cooking isn't like fixing your car or other things it makes sense to outsource. Cooking links us to nature, it links us to our bodies. It's too important to our well-being to outsource."And yet Big Food has convinced most of us: "No one has to cook! We've got it covered." This began 100 years ago, but it picked up steam in the '70s, when Big Food made it seem progressive, even "feminist," not to cook. Pollan reminded me of KFC's brilliant ad campaign, which sold a bucket of fried chicken with the slogan "Women's Liberation."

I lobbied for the ERA - won that battle in traditional and ultra-conservative Indiana.  Yes, women are now in the game, as Sheryl Sandberg  'Lean In' Author: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.' says 'When A Woman Is Competent, She Doesn't Seem Nice Enough'

And here we are - I am still an ardent believer in women - women's liberation- great thought moving forward.

…be yourself- not your idea of what you think somebody else's idea of yourself should be.
Henry David Thoreau 

This brings me to another one of my top priorities.  For many years, in state and national governments, I advocated and lobbied for early childhood education with special attention to brain development in the 0-5 population.

Well, this year I have witnessed a new awareness by unusual suspects and allies.  Great strides being made as evidenced in articles and op-eds in the NY Times.  The following speaks to benefits of early education by leading economists.  Certainly worth a read.

Studies Highlight Benefits of Early Education - Economist

James Heckman is one of the nation's top economists studying human development. Thirteen years ago, he shared the Nobel for economics. In February, he stood before the annual meeting of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, showed the assembled business executives a chart, and demolished the United States' entire approach to education.'

EXERPTS OF STUDY

'More surprising is that the difference in cognitive performance was just as big at age 18 as it had been at age 3.'

"The gap is there before kids walk into kindergarten," Mr. Heckman told me. "School neither increases nor reduces it."

'If education is supposed to help redress inequities at birth and improve the lot of disadvantaged children as they grow up, it is not doing its job.'

For me. my ongoing commitment to these young years is now within my grasp as I represent the Palo Alto League of Women Voters as a delegate to their upcoming state Convention in San Jose, California.

So, for me - what could be better.  At 80, still pushing for what I so strongly believe.

The President's Commitment to Early Education

A zip code should never predetermine the quality of any child's educational opportunities.  Yet studies show that children from low-income families are less likely to have access to high-quality early education, and less likely to enter school prepared for success.  By third grade, children from low-income families who are not reading at grade level are six times less likely to graduate from high school than students who are proficient.  Often, the high costs of private preschool and lack of public programs also narrow options for middle-class families. High-quality early childhood education provides the foundation for all children's success in school and helps to reduce achievement gaps.  Despite the individual and economic benefits of early education, our nation has lagged in its commitment to ensuring the provision of high quality public preschool in our children's earliest years. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that the United States ranks 28th out of 38 countries for the share of four-year olds enrolled in early childhood education.  And fewer than 3 in 10 four-year olds are enrolled in high-quality programs.

To another priority for children.  Bullying: A National Epidemic

Popular culture often regards bullying as a fact of life — a normal part of childhood that one must endure and learn to handle. Children sing the old adage about sticks and stones, but words used with intent to harm have been proven to cause serious damage, mentally and physically. As more high-profile teen suicides continue to emerge in the news, it is becoming clear that bullying is a serious problem. Over 60% of elementary and secondary school students rate bullying as the biggest problem in their lives.  About 40-80% of students experience it at some point in their school life.

After three years of advocating, networking and lobbying, our Indiana legislative team were able to accomplish anti-bullying legislation in a state where fundamentalist principles have prevailed for many, many years.  Where they felt that bullying was protected by the 1st Amendment, Freedom of Speech.

As Americans, let's not take our eyes on the ball - The San Francisco Chronicle' front page.  Right here in our own Saratoga.

"Cyberbullying's tragic toll"  Cruelty gone viral can devastate fragile teens with deadly results.  Andrie Pott, hanged herself days after she was allegedly sexually assaulted and photos circulated.

The 'Rape Culture.'  Students at Palo Alto High School became better acquainted with the phenomenon of callousness when their high school's newsmagazine, Verde, published a cover package on 'rape culture' in early April  The main story profiled two students who described their experiences with date rape.  One of the girls said the blame and gossip she encountered included texts, Facebook messages and Tumbir posts.

As Americans, let's agree - we need to keep our eyes on the ball.