Becoming Eden

Month: May 2013

  • Three Axes Model of Parenting?

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    by

    divia
    in ,

    Arnold Kling has talked about the three axes model of political views. Conservatives care about civilization-barbarism. Progressives care about oppressors-oppressed. Libertarians care about freedom-coercion. Most people I meet in person don’t seem to be as dogmatic about parenting as they are about politics, but there seem to be distinct axes for sure. Conservative types do…

  • Summary of A Guide to the Good Life

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    by

    will
    in

    A Guide to the Good Life: the Ancient Art of Stoic Joy is a handbook of Stoic philosophy by professor William Irvine. He points out that Stoicism is very different than the stereotypes we have developed about unfeeling robots, and in fact it contains a lot of timeless advice for psychological well being. This is…

  • 33 Weeks of Lydia

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    by

    divia
    in

    Lydia’s cold is a thing of the past. She’s been totally fine pretty much the whole week, and more active and engaged now that she’s over it. A few days ago, I was thinking that it was still a pretty peaceful period, without any major changes on her part. But the last few days have…

  • 32 Weeks of Lydia

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    by

    divia
    in

    Lydia’s not 100% over her cold–she still has a bit of a stuffy nose–but it was a mild one to begin with, and it’s been a pretty calm week. She was fussier than usual at the beginning of her cold, but that basically meant wanting to be held more. I made a list of things…

  • Recognize Your Partner’s Child

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    by

    divia
    in

    Have you ever had the experience that you have a discussion with your partner about something he did that upset you, and he seems to agree and be understand, but then later goes back to justifying his own actions? Feel free to switch the genders, since this is common behavior in men and women. It…

  • 31 Weeks of Lydia

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    divia
    in

    How quickly they change! As of this week, Lydia is officially seven months. And the separation anxiety has calmed way down to the point where I’d say she’s back to baseline. Assuming it makes any sense at all to talk about baseline behavior for babies, which maybe it doesn’t. She did get a bit of…

  • Do You Feel Like an Adult?

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    divia
    in

    I was doing some IFS with an old friend yesterday, and when I told her to imagine what her adult self would say to her ten-year-old child self, she said that her problem was that she didn’t feel like an adult. I primed the pump with some wisdom I’ve heard from her over the years, and…

  • 30 Weeks of Lydia

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    by

    divia
    in

    Probably the most notable feature of this week was increased separation anxiety. Quite interesting to watch. I do think that, because of her own increased mobility, Lydia has much more of a concept of people leaving than she used to, and she doesn’t like it! The most classic thing she has been doing is crying…

  • Motivated Forgetting

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    by

    divia
    in

    One of the creepier phenomena I’ve encountered as a human is motivated forgetting. And one of the more powerful moments of my life was the first time I noticed myself doing it. I was with my boyfriend at the time. I can’t remember whether we were having an argument in the moment or I was…

  • 29 Weeks of Lydia

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    by

    divia
    in

    Lydia and I had a pretty happy week this week. The weather has been warm and beautiful, so we’ve gotten out to playgrounds multiple days, and that worked well enough that I want to make it a very regular habit, at least when it’s nice outside. I still haven’t been to the playgrounds closest to…