April 4, 1965
I sat at church for 2 hours today. Since it was confirmation Sunday, there were a lot of people there. There must have been 25 kids - most of them 3 or 4 years old. I had my hands full running around after them. What a cute bunch, though! They were shy but warmed up quickly. I had to keep telling one girl why her mommy wasn't there. I guess all she wanted was attention.
April 4, 2006
For some reason, many churches (then and now) think it is a good idea to ask their teenaged members to babysit for free. As an adult, I know that it is the sort of thing that church boards think will appeal to and suit teenagers. But consider that at 13, most teenagers in many traditions have "come of age" through confirmation or some other rite, and are supposedly young adults. What other age or identity group is "volunteered" categorically for some kind of duty?
Remembering the chagrin I felt at been the constant babysitter at my church (and thereby missing half the services, especially the big ones), I have argued against this practice in my own church. If you need volunteers for a task, issue an open invitation.
Oh my, where did that rant come from?
April 4, 1997
Took a day off yesterday bring woozy and sick. Maybe a migraine, maybe a virus. I am still feeling a little odd, but more myself. Playing tug of war with the kids, problems to solve on campus - lots of stress. TGIF! I need time to think, time to exercise, time to catch up. Time
It is also, for what it’s worth, a beautiful day, promising to be in the 70s!
April 4, 1998
My task today is to gather together the threads of my research and figure out where I am and where I must go with each project. There are four, in all.
The Book (the ball is in the publisher’s court)
Unisex (dormant, may start up in the summer if Becky gets her grant)
Hair (starting to look interesting, but is it an article or a book?)
“Stitch in time” (just starting to take shape)
I also need to sort out the house a bit and prepare for AYS tomorrow. It is a cool, rainy day. Everything is turning green all of a sudden, and the grass needs cutting. Lots of yards have tulips blooming - not ours! I am watching for the irises I planted last year.
April 4, 2023
Honestly, how did I survive being a full-time professor/researcher and a mother of two? Now that I am doing these day-by-day core samples of my life, it is also a mystery why I didn’t figure out my seasonal allergies sooner.
It is a very warm, sunny day, and I have swapped my cold weather clothes for capris and t-shirts. Tomorrow the sweaters go to the dry cleaners; I declare winter officially over! I am not getting around to this until after 3 pm because I had Other Things That Must Be Done this morning. Life is still busy, just not tooooo busy.
Bits and pieces:
Was I alone in the church nursery with all those kids? If so, YIKES!
The Book (A history of American children’s clothing) was moved to a back burner on a stove on another planet, but eventually saw the light of day as Pink and Blue (fourteen years later)
Unisex became my second book, Sex and Unisex (2015) and I have no idea who Becky is.
Hair became a chapter in a Sex and Unisex (seventeen years later)
Stitch in Time became "Home Sewing in Early Greenbelt”, an article in Maryland Humanities (2000)
AYS = About Your Sexuality, a comprehensive sex ed course offer by our church to middle school students. Jim and taught it one; our daughter now teaches OWL (Our Whole Lives), the successor to AYS. (Proud mama here!)