up and running

Thought I would attempt yet again to get this thing up and running.

We are back overseas. Everything seemed so familiar when we came back, but in so many ways we are starting afresh. My days are filled with Sam of course, and besides that I have been doing plenty of reading and just living here is somewhat a task in and of itself. Anyway, thought I would record my thoughts here.

As many of you know to some degree or another, I am interested in ethnopediatrics or even medical anthropology. The term ethnopediatrics I came across this summer as I was looking at resources to understand parenting in different cultures. Before I left here in the spring, my first 8 months with Sam, I was so stressed trying to "learn" how to be a mom, but then on top of it doing TCM-- Third Culture Mothering. Being an American but parenting in a different culture-- thus a third culture is formed. We have heard these children (kids who grow up in a different culture) may be the leaders of the future (like Obama, although I know there is debate about that). But what about the mothering in these contexts?

Anyway, I picked up a couple of books by Meredith Small. Who sounds like has been an influential founder or proponent of ethnopediatrics. The book I am reading right now is Our Babies, Ourselves: How biology and Culture Shape the Way we Parent. The first chapter is The Evolution of Babies. I found it quite interesting especially since I am not one to study and read things that are in direct opposition to what I believe. I confess. But I was intrigued by some of the basic beliefs about evolution. (Oh yeah, that belief is totally foreign here so it is not like it comes up in conversation. The gals I know probably have never even heard of it). The second chapter is The Anthropology of Parenting. Fascinating. I will share tidbits from it as I read. Already it is giving me a better understanding of the way "we" parent and the way "they" parent.

I am also reading Sheperding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. A Biblical Approach to Parenting. When I was home I asked lots of friends what their favorite book on parenting is. This was the only book mentioned. I am hosting a discussion of this book with fellow foreigners in November. Maybe some thoughts from that will be weaved into my ethnopediatric thoughts.