"Working" Mothers

A recent comment on Nine to Noon riled me. I have sent this email in response although it is a bit belated as I didn't listen to the interview till some time after it was broadcast:

Dear Nine to Noon

It is depressing to hear full-time parenting still being spoken of as inferior to other forms of work in 2009. I am referring to Gill South's casual assertion that "... there's just no way that [NZ Herald Senior Journalist] Karen [Shearer] would ever not work. It would be a crying waste of her brains." (Nine-to-Noon, 14 May 2009) and presenter Lynn Freeman's acceptance of Gill's comment. Statements like these, allowed to pass unchallenged, perpetuate the myth that parenting is not intellectual work.

When my children were younger, I once calculated that I worked eighty hours a week parenting them. The challenges of parenting have required me to exert every ounce of my intelligence, to continually strive to remedy my character flaws, to cultivate new skills, and to study new fields of knowledge. I don't claim to be doing superior work to that of mothers in paid employment: I imagine the challenges of combining paid employment with parenting are similarly extensive. It is past time, however, that mothers in paid employment acknowledge full-time parents as their equals.

Good News

There are a lot of things I would like the Government to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on every year. Second-rate software is not one of them, so it was great to wake up to the news on Wednesday that the State Services Commission's negotiations with Microsoft over software license fees for the next three year period have failed. I'm hopeful government agencies will be motivated to switch to free software.

Presumption of InnocenceGuilt Upon Accusation

I will try to black out on 23 February in protest against Section 92 of the Copyright Amendment Act. I'm not absolutely confident I know how to, but I will have a go.

Those who want to can sign the petition.

On Holiday at Home

I am really enjoying being on holiday at home. My days are very relaxed but they feel full too. When I wake up, I check my email and potter around doing a bit of housework. Every second morning I go for a run. The rest of my day is a combination of gardening, getting jobs done around the house, listening to Radio NZ National, and reading and writing.

Tessa and Josiah mostly do their own thing: reading, writing, playing, baking, climbing, computer activities. Tessa has attached the garden hose to a pole, creating a sort of outdoor shower to play under when it gets hot. Some hot days, we go to the beach or the river in the late afternoon for a swim. The kids don't seem to be showing signs of boredom yet; I guess they are recharging too.

This is how I always imagine holidays at home will be, but usually the kids end up with a stream of social engagements and the holidays turn out to be as busy as term time. It's lovely that hasn't happened this time.

Don't know how I will fit homeschooling in come February!

New Year's Resolutions

Ride the bikes more. I think the way to do this is to plan errands and shopping trips in advance rather than waiting till we run out of fruit or till the library books are due back and having to fit the errand into an already busy day.

Work in the garden regularly. Regularly enough to make it feasible to have a vegie garden and more fruit trees and vines. Currently, our garden is overrun by weeds but I have already made some progress since getting back from holiday.

Go completely vegan. I'm not sure I'm ready for this. I still enjoy a sweet treat every few days. With the exception of dark chocolate, I haven't come across vegan sweet treats to buy. I get bored of dark chocolate and struggle to find time to cook meals, let alone bake treats. However, I was horrified when we visited Pupu Springs in Golden Bay, one of the most pristine freshwater environments in the world, to see that the neighbouring farmer has a cow paddock that comes within about five metres of the springs. My understanding is that despite extensive fencing on dairy farms, toxic run off into our water ways continues to increase. It might be time for me to choose between including dairy in my diet and taking my future grandchildren river swimming.

Summer Holiday

We are just back from two fabulous weeks climbing in Golden Bay. The kids really pushed themselves ... and their parents. I think Josiah was a bit bemused when he he succeeded at 1080 and the Letter G, one of Paynes Ford's classic climbs, about half way through the trip. Didn't take him long to set himself a bunch of new goals though; he spent his evenings pouring over the guide books. Here he is hanging from 1080 on his first attempt at the climb, during which he did all the moves but took some breaks hanging on the rope.



Tessa must have had a secret goal of improving her mother's endurance. She dragged me along for two marathon sessions: "nine climbs on the ninth" (of January) at Seagrass Wall, Pohara, and, on our final day, all the climbs on Little Lost Wall, Paynes Ford, except Lost Soul (too hard for now) and Knicknack Paddywack (too scary), which left eleven climbs! She didn't choose easy climbs either. The "nine on the ninth" included Tessa's hardest outdoor climb to date, a grade 19, and two or three grade 18s. I couldn't keep up, only attempting eight of the nine, and falling off climbs tired on our final day.

A bonus of staying longer in Golden Bay this trip than we did last summer was meeting other climbers and feeling like part of the transient but very friendly Golden Bay summer climbing community. One day, Tessa had a group of Germans cheering her on and giving her suggestions; on our last couple of days, she exchanged climbing tips with two Finnish climbers. Several groups of climbers stayed at our campground, including three lovely couples from Palmerston North, Christchurch and Korea, and Wellington. Here is a photo one of them took of Tessa.



We camped at Takaka Camping Ground which is far superior to Pohara Top Ten Holiday Park where we stayed last year. Takaka Camping Ground is small and therefore peaceful. We enjoyed sitting under the trees on hot afternoons when we returned from climbing or walking. They have the best campground showers ever! The facilities were clean and sufficient for the number of campers (in stark contrast to the situation at Pohara). And the managers were very friendly and helpful. We look forward to seeing them again next time.

Environmentally friendly presents

That time of year again :) This week, I have been choosing presents for my six nieces, aged from 10yrs to 19yrs. It has been fun but not easy. Last year, I gave up gift wrap; this year, I want the presents themselves not to contravene my values. That means they should not bolster a culture of materialism, which I believe is making a lot of people unhappy. They should be environmentally friendly. They should not add to surplus household clutter. They should suit the individual recipient.

Books are the best option I have come up with. On the down side, trees have been destroyed in their creation. But as long as I choose good books, I think their circulation is worthwhile. Hopefully when the books I give are no longer wanted, they will find their way to a Trade Me auction or a secondhand book shop or BookMooch.

Consumables might be a good choice. I like art and craft supplies as a present for young children. I thought about shopping at the Body Shop, but their products come in plastic and I don't know how environmentally friendly they are.

Over the years, I've received some lovely homemade presents. My only crafts are crochet and knitting. I would have to get a lot more motivated if I was going to crochet and knit gifts: I currently complete about one small project a year.

For my youngest two nieces, I have bought a beautiful little wooden box and an embroidered bag from Trade Aid. The shop is full of lovely things and it is comforting to know that all the products are fair trade, but even as I paid for them, I worried that after some initial appreciation, these gifts will just be more clutter in my nieces lives. New Zealanders (most of us) have so much stuff!

I was nervous of going with secondhand books, toys or clothes, worrying that they would not be well received. Until it occurred to me that because secondhand goods are cheaper than new, I could top-up a secondhand present with something small but new, or with cash. Kids of all ages seem to love being given cash but I like to give presents that I have chosen. This way I can do both :)

Matthew and Waveney at Rubbish Free Year recommend giving an experience: a great way to avoid clutter. I'm thinking movie tickets; event tickets; entry passes to museums, aquariums, climbing walls, swimming pools, etc; outdoor adventures like kayaking trips. For someone who lives in the same town it makes sense to share the experience: a picnic tea overlooking the lights of the city.

Water shortage

Just sent the following to the Hutt News in response to a series of articles in the last few weeks discussing the future of the Wellington water supply. Greater Wellington Regional Council would apparently like to take more water from the Hutt River, which is ironic to say the least considering that the second item featured on their homepage is about the need to improve river health, and taking more water would have the opposite effect because it increases the likelihood of conditions conducive to the growth of toxic algal mats. The Hutt City Council is opposed to any increase in water taken from the Hutt River. Here is my response ...

It is disturbing to see water conservation getting little mention in the discussion about the Wellington region's increasing demand for water. I appreciate the access we have throughout NZ to electricity and running water in our homes and I acknowledge that this has been made possible by damming rivers. But I wonder if we are reaching the limit of what is reasonable and sensible in terms of damming and taking water from NZ rivers. In my childhood, I played in the creek and swam in rivers every summer. My children do the same when not prevented by algal blooms which we are told occur when the river flow gets too low. I hope my future grandchildren will be able to swim and play in our rivers.

Smarter Homes lists ways to save water, several of which cost nothing at all. Maybe the Hutt News could get involved, calling for readers' suggestions. The Hutt City Council could play a role, for example providing home owners with information and expertise on how to collect roof water for use in the garden. Sourcing the small collection tanks and even subsidising them would probably be cost effective for councils when compared to the expense of new construction work on dams and reservoirs.

Undecided

The election is tomorrow and despite (or perhaps because of) pouring over party websites with Josiah and Tessa over the last few weeks, I am still undecided as to who to vote for. I have just sent the following to the Green Party:

For the third election in a row, I find myself in agreement with many Green Party policies, especially those relating to the environment, health and tertiary education. Therefore I am considering voting for the Green Party. However, I am very reluctant to allow my vote to contribute to an increase in the harm caused by marijuana in New Zealand, which I believe will come about if your drug policy is implemented.

Are you able to give me any assurance that you will not attempt to push for steps to be taken towards the legalisation of cannabis during this coming term?

Please consider changing your drug policy before the next election. I believe that by making your current drug policy known, even without acting on it, you are sending teenagers the implicit message that cannabis is safe. This has the effect of encouraging them to ignore messages about the damage cannabis use can cause to their brain and their development and about the risk of making poor decisions while under the influence, such as to drive a car.

Just as my children and I are unable to avoid second hand cigarette smoke when we walk through town, wait at a bus stop, attend outdoor events or go camping, we are likely to be exposed to second hand cannabis smoke if your drug policy is implemented.

Thank you for considering my comments.

Hutt Hospital

This is to say thank you to the General Surgery staff at Hutt Hospital for their treatment of Geoff's latest twisted bowel. The stay in the General Surgery Ward was a miserable time; I imagine it is for most patients. After abdominal surgery, the drugs take away most but not all of the pain. The anti-nausea drugs are only effective some of the time. And you feel pretty much like you've been run over by a bus. Things pick up when the body is eventually ready for food again.

But the staff do an excellent job. The doctors are informative and friendly. The nurses never stop working; their workload is very high. Yet they take the time to do a thorough job: they don't rush things. They are patient and kind, and many of them work hard to find creative solutions to every challenging problem a patient has.

Geoff had a room to himself when he first came out of surgery but was moved into a four-bed room a few days later. At one point the ward was so full that there weren't single rooms available for all the most seriously ill patients and one gentleman returned from major surgery to a bed opposite Geoff. Some hours later, when the doctors did their rounds, he was given the news that they had found a tumour, probably cancerous, and that chemotherapy was likely to be recommended. The news was given behind curtains but with three other patients, and me, in the room, which I'm sure added to the awfulness of it. I think of the gentleman often, hope he's doing okay.