I kissed a girl and I liked it The taste of her cherry chapstick I kissed a girl just to try it I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it It felt so wrong It felt so right Don’t mean I’m in love tonight Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
LDS Newsroom
- Manaus Brazil Temple Opens To the Public May 16, 2012
- Ground Broken for Provo, Utah’s Second Temple May 12, 2012
- Released for Mother's Day: Bible Video Depicts Mary, Mother of Jesus May 11, 2012
- Pacific Mormon Helping Hands Come to the Aid of Their Neighbors May 11, 2012
- Mormon Story: Journalist Describes It Well May 10, 2012
- Church Preserving Legacy of Historic Buildings May 10, 2012
- “Stately and Magnificent” Mormon Kansas City Missouri Temple Dedicated May 6, 2012
- Mormonism in the News: Getting It Right | May 4 May 4, 2012
- Political Neutrality: Whiteboard Animation 'Draws Out' Church Position (VIDEO) May 3, 2012
- Mormon Helping Hands: Fix Up, Clean Up, Build It in California and Hawaii May 2, 2012
Parenting
Two-headed Hydra
Thirteen-year-old son: Mom, can I watch “The Sarah Connor Chronicles”? me: No. son: Why not? There’s nothing bad about it. me: I disagree. son: Well, I disagree with you. me: That’s okay. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
M Gets a Joke
A while back our household sat down to watch an episode of Monk. We like Monk because not only is it funny, it’s also sad and tender and offers good – sometimes very good – cultural satire. As I fed M she kept turning her head to look at the TV, watching whatever it is she sees when she’s watching something. We’re not sure what that is because doctors have sent mixed messages about her eyesight. But she does see. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Parenting Tips from the Life of Warren Buffett
“The deal that Buffett made with Howie concerning the rent for Howie’s farm was … linked with weight; the amount rose and fell with Howie’s poundage. Warren thought his son should weigh 182.5 pounds. When Howie was over the limit, he had to pay twenty-six percent of the farm’s gross receipts to his father. When he was under, he paid twenty-two percent. … Buffett couldn’t lose on this deal either. He got either more money or a thinner son.” Sharecrop your way to health and wealth. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
MMM for Youth?
I don’t want to debate the ins and outs of the tragedy at Mountain Meadows. It was horrific no matter how you cut it. My more immediate problem is personal Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Called to leave
My grandmother, mother, and I all served missions, so I was delighted when my firstborn announced her intention to serve, submitted her papers, received her call. Little did I know. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Coming of Age
Once upon a time, there really was a moment when a girl left behind an actual, old-fashioned childhood and embarked on a well-defined period of preparation for motherhood and marriage. Now, childhood ends earlier than ever, while adulthood in the traditional sense—of settling down and starting a family—begins much later, if at all. In the middle is a stretch of adolescence so extended—and so various, from teenage parenthood to perpetual studenthood—one hardly knows when coming of age should be celebrated, or why. –from a Slate review of a book on Quinceaneras. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
How Much Should We Advantage Our Kids Over Others?
When asked why they aren’t more generous with their time or money, many people answer that if they gave more, it would be at the expense of their own children. Sure, the argument goes, it would be great if I could pay an extra $100 to provide immunizations for kids in Africa, but my first duty is to my family, and giving that $100 for immunizations would prevent me from taking my kids to the water park. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Why Haven’t You Adopted an Orphan Child?
For years I’ve been torn by the knowledge that there are thousands of orphaned or abandoned children desperate to be welcomed into a family like mine and our reasons for “passing by on the other side” when we see the “least of these.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Quality
Warning: To write this post, I’ve had to get personal. I apologize in advance for that, but some points I make require grounding in my observations about personal experiences, many of which are highly charged. The stories and observations I report here in no way represent everything I think about these matters. More importantly, they don’t represent everything I will think; I’m not through turning over these events and ideas to see what else is there. If you’ve come to this post already feeling overwhelmed or bothered about something, you might want to skip reading this, because it might... Read more »
We Did It
We’ve finally read the entire Book of Mormon as a family, all of us (those that can read, anyway) taking turns verse by verse. It only took us four and a half years, and we’re ready to do it again. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Book Review: The Parenting Breakthrough
You just gotta love any book that has a picture of a seven-year-old boy cleaning a toilet on the cover. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Cheerio Incident
Seven years ago, when my oldest son was just a baby, I decided that I would use his naptimes to work on a book. I planned on turning my thesis into something relevant for an LDS audience and writing additional chapters about the other women’s stories in Mark’s Gospel. So each day, after putting down the baby for his nap, I’d drag out all of my books and papers and notes and try to focus. And it seemed that every day, just as soon as I got into the groove of what I was doing, I’d hear “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” and... Read more »
Teaching Modesty to Children
I posted the following you-know-where: I don’t have girl children, but I don’t let my boys wear tank tops or shorts above the knee. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
On Spiritual Education
About 10 minutes after my first positive pregnancy test, I was at the bookstore, perusing the shelves of parenting titles, a pastime I’ve continued with some regularity for nearly a decade now. One of my favorite of these books is called 10 Principles of Spiritual Parenting. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Bowdlerizing the Book of Mormon
This afternoon at lunch, my angelic three-year-old daughter said causally to her quesadilla, “I’m going to kill you by plunging my spoon into your heart.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Can a Good Mormon be a Meritocrat?
I’m not a big fan of much of David Brooks’s writings, as he is often too Manichean to be useful (here’s a good parody). But in the opening pages of Bobos in Paradise, Brooks does a nice job of describing the shift in American culture from a class structure based on lineage or money to one based on education and achievement. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Ethics for Three-Year-Olds
So we checked out a retelling of The Little Red Hen from the library. For those of you not up on your kiddie lit, the aforementioned hen asks her friends to help with every step of the process of breadmaking (planting the seeds, tending the wheat, cutting and grinding the wheat, and baking the bread) but they always refuse to help. At the end, she refuses to share the bread with them. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Do Children Need to Be Protected From Religion?
So suggests this somewhat disturbing column in the Christian Science Monitor. (Link via ecitsuJ, which also has some interesting follow-up commentary). Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
LDS Education Theory
Because I plan on homeschooling my children through high school, I have spent a lot of time thinking about educational theory (I also have a teaching certificate and I taught briefly in public schools in California.). Is there such a thing as an LDS-based educational theory? Could there be? What would it look like? Do we need one? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
All Night Long
Two nights ago, I stayed up all night finishing a draft of my paper for a conference this Friday. At 2 a.m., one of my eight-year-old twins emerged from his bedroom and was wondering whether he could have breakfast. I sent him to bed, but he was back an hour later. Of course, I was in no mood to debate, and I sent him to bed again. The next morning, my wife reminded me that he had been sick and had not eaten well for a couple of days prior. Arrrgghh!! Guilt … welcome to my life as a... Read more »
Lessons in Representation
Today I was talking with an editor in my group about why she wouldn’t be in the office this afternoon. She was taking her two children to see the Wiggles. Now I admit that even though I’ve watched a bit of television in the past couple of years with my grandchildren, I’ve missed the Wiggles. Robin had been telling her daughter (I think her daughter is about four) that they were going to see the Wiggles. The little girl was excited and wanted to know whether the Wiggles would be on a big screen. Robin had to explain that... Read more »
“Mommy, I was wishing that!”
Last night I attended the Pinewood Derby races for my sons’ cub scout troop. My wife loves woodworking of all sorts, so I have never made a Pinewood Derby car. At our first Pinewood Derby, now many years ago, my oldest son thought that the highest numbers on the electronic scoreboard were best, so he was excited whenever his car came in sixth out of six. My wife quickly learned the tricks of the trade, and he won the next year. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Appropriate Language
Between teaching Seminary and raising five children, I have plenty of opportunities to consider the topic of appropriate language. The other day, for example, one teenager referred to another as a “brown noser.” I asked, “Do you have any idea what that means?” Blank stare. Another piped up, “Yeah, it means that he sucks.” Arggh! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormon Baby Names
Is this an archetypal thing for a new father to be doing on a Saturday night, sneaking a post while/whenever the kid is asleep? We just went through a nerve-wracking and overly self-conscious process to coming up with 1) lists of baby names, 2) baby naming approaches, and 3) ways to avoid blundering into some naming meta-trend we weren’t aware of. Ultimately, we named our daughter Ada Catherine, inspired by my wife’s great great-grandmother, Ada Philena. Of course, both double names and great grandmother-era names are both trends in themselves. So, is it a particularly Mormon trend? What is/are... Read more »
Lying to Our Children
When I arrived home from work yesterday, my wife calmly informed me that she had just lied to our son. Sullivan, our oldest, has many quirky preferences (like a lot of other children, I believe) and he can be quite stubborn (gee, I wonder who he inherits that from?). One of his quirky preferences is that his sandwiches be made with grape jelly, not any other flavor, and especially not strawberry. I consider this preference to be quirky because Sullivan can’t really tell the difference once the sandwich is made. Yesterday we had a household crisis — we were... Read more »
Conferences and Events
- Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) Conference
- BYU Education Week
- BYU Idaho Education Week
- Sperry Symposium
- Utah State Historical Society Conference
- John Whitmer Historical Association Annual Meeting
- Association for Mormon Letters Annual Meeting
- LDS Semi-Annual General Conference
- Matthew Bowman: "Mormonism and American Progressivism"
- Samuel Morris Brown: "In Heaven as it is on Earth"
Calls for Papers
- Brazilian Mormon Studies Conference
- Colloque international sur le mormonisme (International Conference on Mormonism)
- LDS Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists
- Mormon Media Studies Symposium
- Sunstone Kirtland
- Sunstone West
- Sunstone Symposium: MORMONS AND MORMONISM AS A POLITICAL FORCE
- BYU Religious Education Student Symposium
- RESTORATION STUDIES SYMPOSIUM
- Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association