Consumer Reports rates infant car seats

Car seat crash ratings from Consumer Reports. I hope you've all got safe ones! The good news: my kids aren't in infant seats anymore. :)

From their site:
Three seats failed all our tough tests: the Evenflo Discovery, the Graco SafeSeat, and the Britax Companion, formerly our top-rated seat based on earlier tests that mirrored the federal standard. Most other tested seats passed either the front- or side-crash test in some configuration, though only the Baby Trend Flex-Loc and the Graco SnugRide with EPS passed all our tests. (EPS stands for expanded polystyrene, a cushioning material.)

Some Britax Companion seats were recalled in October 2006 because carriers were assembled incorrectly; we tested a later model. The Evenflo Discovery, which we deem Not Acceptable and believe should be recalled, was the subject of a NHTSA investigation in 2004 after the agency received seven reports about the carrier separating from its base. (Evenflo received 52 reports, 6 involving fatalities, NHTSA says.) NHTSA said it could not identify a safety defect and closed the investigation.

The Eddie Bauer Comfort infant seat also had problems, specifically in our fit-to-vehicle test of one of two bases sold with the seat. Because of that test result we judge the seat Not Acceptable and believe the base should be recalled.

DD's former school's graduates "burned" in a comment

I followed links this lovely, which is pretty funny in a sad way. I'm glad we're not in that school anymore. :)
---
Still Wonderin' said...
"Anonymous said...Why, do [DD's former school] graduates irritate you? I kinda take offense to that.Maybe you're just a little intimidated???"

Certainly not intimidated. More like appalled. But it's not their fault really. Rather, [the school] has the most distorted, perverted, deranged, and stultifyingly shallow East 20s hashgafa known to frumkind; the teachers and principals dutifully drill incessantly into their students' heads from the day they enter first grade.

This hashgafa is entirely focused on how you look, what others think, and that being creative or different in any way is sorta nice provided that you never, ever forget for a moment that your opinions and interests don;t really count beyond planning the color scheme for your next parlor meeting.

This experience and schools that emulate these ideals are the cause of Hot Chanieism.
-----
Gotta love it.

Gotta wonder about the insanity in Israel, with clothing store white lists and no more "higher" education for teachers. I'm so glad that I don't live there, and I'm afraid that the insanity will continue to spread.

Still Wondering has a great comment about that too, on yet another blog:
The Rambam, hundreds of years ago, lauded the middle road for a reason: because the left of the road is off the derech and the right of the road is off their rocker!

The events that are happening in EY and the US with our chareidi brethren is not positive. It is the self-destruction of yiddishkeit. It's going to reach the point of no return and there will be a MAJOR rift in frumkeit and it will not end well.

Be afraid. Be very afraid!

semgirl

Look at what SemGirl has to say about the tznius speech in Lakewood.

From a position of weakness...

Sweet Rose had this important point to make about today's frum schools:

"What this one-size-fits-all education is also doing is sending the message that there is only one acceptable path in life. The schools teach the students that they should all aspire to learn in kollel, that a college education is a bad thing, that secular culture is evil and should be avoided. But to me, that's teaching from a place of weakness, rather than strength. The message being sent is that we are all too weak to handle any challenges, that any kind of temptation must be taken away from before us in order to be able to function as an Orthodox Jew. I think this makes us even weaker - when we are not taught how to handle any temptation or challenge, we subsequently become unable to handle it when we have to. It's like a muscle. If it is worked, it becomes stronger and more capable of handling resistance and of lifting the weights it opposes."

(Stress is mine.)

Check out her whole post. She's got some other good points, too, including some here.

What a difference a school makes

I took my kids to a friend's house one recent Shabbos. A few days later, the friend told me that her husband had commented that my princess seems much happier.

This week there was a big Chumash event in Princess's grade, with poster projects (made with family assistance), singing with motions, duets and trios that I think included everyone from the 2 classes, and then receiving the Chumashim as they walked off the stage, in order of how they were standing on stage. I was so glad, because that way I knew when to have the camera ready!

In contrast, last year's siddur event in the old school had randomly distributed siddurim, and the person distributing them couldn't even read a few of the girls' names. Very unimpressive, and upsetting since I missed my daughter's turn. And last year my daughter didn't have a duet/trio, only some girls did even though it was just the one class. And last year when she got her Chumash, there was no parent-participation at all; the girls just had to wear Shabbos dresses to school, "but the dress has to be tzniusdik." Duh.

After thanking the teacher and principal, we left the Chumash play. My friend said, "That was very nice."
I said, "Yeah, there was nothing to complain about at all!"
She said, "You know, every time we left the school last year I was so upset, so irritated, and every time I leave this school, I'm uplifted!" I agreed, it's a great feeling! So not only are our girls happier, we are, too. :)

How funny

People Envy Your Compassion

You have a kind heart and an unusual empathy for all living creatures. You tend to absorb others' happiness and pain. People envy your compassion, and more importantly, the connections it helps you build. And compassionate as you are, you feel for them.

What Do People Envy About You?

---

This is especially funny because on another quiz (quickware personality profile) I rated 0 on "agreeableness." :) I guess it depends on how the questions are phrased. That quiz, which I found on a friend's blog, rated me:

Neuroticism 58

Extraversion 29

Openness To Experience 12

Agreeableness 0

Conscientiousness 90

You are introverted, reserved, and quiet with a preference for solitude and solitary activities. Your socializing tends to be restricted to a few close friends. Stressful and frustrating situations can often be upsetting to you, but you are sometimes able to get over these feelings and cope with these situations. As a practical person you like to think in plain and simple terms. Others describe you as down-to-earth, practical, and conservative. People see you as tough, critical, and uncompromising and you have less concern with others' needs than with your own. You set clear goals and pursue them with determination. People regard you as reliable and hard-working.

Quick Update

Wow, I haven't posted in so long! I've been busy heavily editing a book that is finally almost done. I've also been busy taking my kids around NY for Succos vacation (and on Election Day when there was a BJE conference and therefore no school, which the kids and I are still happy with).

I hope I'll have more time to write more later!

Let the Good Times Roll

Wow, what a busy summer. We had a great vacation, did fun stuff, and I didn’t have to cook supper. What more can anyone ask, right?

I’m sure you’re all wondering how the new school is working out for my princess. I wanted to wait a week before posting, to make sure it really is going well and that her total excitement on the first day wasn’t a fluke. :)

She’s got off the bus the first day saying school was “great!” and she did not stop talking for a while, telling me about teachers (she likes them) and girls and getting a front seat in class and having a classmate make her a sandwich at lunch… She’s one of those kids who used to answer, “Fine,” when asked how her day was, so this was really thrilling.

After a few days she complained that she doesn’t like two things: they’re still reviewing (duh!), and saying “tuf” instead of “suf” is confusing her when she’s davening, so all the “ss” sounds are coming out “tt” unless she thinks about it, which “makes davening take so long.”

I reminded her that every year, every single school and every single grade starts with review so that the kids remember (“I do already!”) and so that teacher knows what the kids already know; this way, she won’t have to teach it again. (That made her happy.) And the more kriah she practices, the easier the tt/ss will get.

Old School Update: This week the old figurehead dean of the old school called me to find out why my daughter’s not in his school anymore. Turns out, he didn’t even know about the pre1a sleeves idiocy, and the bas melech sleeves inappropriateness, and got very upset by it. “Of course it’s not right! I’m going to have to look into this,” were his very words. I’m not really too hopeful, because if he had any real say in the school anymore, the rule wouldn’t be in effect for the third year already. :(

He also told me a really weird story at the beginning of his call, apparently to justify moving to the right. Can someone explain how this is a good thing? Here’s the story:
A man took his son to the seforim store before his bar mitzvah, to buy a siddur. The man asked the salesman for the biggest, thickest siddur he could find. The salesman, of course, asked why. “Because I know he’ll tear out pages, and this way he’ll have more to tear out.”

Why in the world is it a good thing to expect your kid to throw away what you’ve taught is the correct thing to do? Why is that a reason to not change schools? I’m really confused. But the rabbi said that if I change my mind, I’m welcome to come in and talk to him. I said I appreciate that.