Oh, what a lovely, relaxing weekend we had:
- Thai food on Friday night with friends followed by a movie on their gigantic TV
- A trip to the dump (yay, purging!) and visits to a few yard sales on Saturday morning — got a bunch of great, well-cared-for, classical records for FREE!
- A quiet afternoon at home in the air-conditioned living room — the weather sucked (approximately eleventy-hundred % humidity), but because we stayed in we finally got some things hung on the walls. We figured that after almost two years in the house, we should finally hang some artwork…
- Saw The Nanny Diaries on Saturday night — it was good. Scarlet Johannson was lovely, as always, and mostly convincing, although there were a few times where her performance seemed just the tiniest bit self-conscious. Laura Linney was excellent — brilliantly elitist and self-involved. She and the other antagonists were cartoonishly evil, of course. And there were some dubious socioeconomic and class-related messages (no surprise there). I also thought it was a little heavy-handed with the “women have it so tough” angle. Men really got a kick in the pants with this movie — there was only one good guy in the entire thing. All the other men were mean, workaholic, child-neglecting, adulterers. Even the good guy’s friends were portrayed as drunk, ignorant misogynists. And though the movie leaves you with hope for the Mom character, there’s no such redemption for the Dad. Anyway, all in all, the book was better, of course, but the movie was entertaining and funny.
- Sunday morning jaunt for coffee with a quick detour to one yard sale where we met the sweetest, kindest (Christian and conservative, to boot) couple who are moving to New Hampshire, dammit. They can’t stand the Maine economy and political landscape any longer… Hmmmm, that sounds familiar….
- A quiet Sunday afternoon at home followed by take-out for dinner.
Ah, bliss. Good thing too, because next weekend’s break-neck Boston (!) pace will be crazy! Can’t wait!!
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There’s a really interesting discussion going on in the comments section of a post at Mamalogues. Here’s what you have to do to get the whole back-story:
- Read this article about a mom who thinks that smoking pot makes her a better mother.
- Read Mamalogues’ column in response to the pot-smoking mom.
- Read Mamalogues’ blog post and all the ensuing comments about the topic.
- Pot mom: neither a pot, nor a (good) mom — discuss.
Anyone who knows me at all could probably guess where I stand on this issue, but I’m going to tell you anyway. Seems pretty clear to me: marijuana is an illegal (like it or not), mind-altering drug. Smoking it when your children are in your care impairs you physically and mentally, and it sends so many questionable-at-best messages to your kids (again, like it or not). Thoughts?
Ah, good times…
Nanny Diaries was fun…and, as I said, I had to “check out” on several occasions to keep from becoming enraged at the cartoonish evil. However, I’d like to note the elitism and self-involvement of her friend, as well. After college, you’re supposed to become a bohemian hedonist and/or a social worker. These are the only two options. If you strive and make money, you’re a sellout, if you raise kids (in this case, other people’s kids), you’re not “living up to your potential”, ie, you’re letting your brain rot. It’s a good thing we don’t actually ask women today what they want. Better to just tell them and prevent the poor dears from ruining their lives.
That said, I think Pot Mom should think about doing something OTHER than childrearing!! It’s baffling to me that we even have to refute thinking like this! I have to wonder if maybe what seems obvious and commonsense just isn’t. Maybe we forget that we have to learn right and wrong, and self-control, and concepts like responsibility and sacrifice. I know I was taught these things (though the amount that stuck was certainly up to me…), so I don’t know why I assume that everyone else should know them instinctively. So, I suppose what I’m saying is…we should tell this woman what to think.
And I refuse to apologize for the blatant contradiction of the sentiments between the above two paragraphs. Raising children is good and noble, and doing it while high is reckless and selfish.
I loved the Linda Richman riff. Nice!
I’m so glad you got the reference, Dana — that totally made my day! Thanks
for visiting!