Flowers in Their Hair

"Mom, I've been thinking about society, and socially acceptable attitudes about having children."  When Bigger Girl has been thinking, i can usually guarantee it ain't about tiddlywinks.

What's up? i asked.

"Well, what is it about thinking women have to have children?  I mean, if a person decides that she doesn't want to have kids, why the attitude?"

Some people seem to believe you will regret it if you don't, perhaps, i said.

"Yes, well, but what about this?  There are people out there who say that if you adopt, it doesn't count because you didn't suffer through a pregnancy.  They say that people who decide not to have their own and adopt aren't real parents!"

That's not a good attitude, i said.  And what do they say about people who adopt because they cannot have children?

"Well, I've read that some people say they should keep doing fertility treatments until they are successful!"

Some people are never successful at that, and parents are parents if they are raising kids, and why do you read about these things and get yourself all worked up?

"Mom, I'm worried about our society!  I'm especially worried for my sister's sake!  These kinds of societal ideas that put pressure on people affect us all!"

"Hey!"  Little Girl came in from the back yard.  "Have you ever heard of a piggy bank being called an oiny-boink?"

Bigger Girl and i both snorted with laughter.

"One of my friends told me that at school today, and I laughed right out in class!  Oh, and here are your flowers for your hair.  You are officially a hippie!"  Little Girl put a flower wreath on her sister's head.

"I'm a hippie?  Yippee!  Do I get to go run through the field naked?" Bigger Girl asked.

"Sure!" Little Girl answered.

"Better not," Bigger Girl noted.  "I don't want to scare the school children."

"Yeah, just enjoy that there are flowers again," Little Girl said.

Keep enjoying the flowers, Little Girl.


Today is:

Ayyám-i-Há -- Baha'i (intercalary days, devoted to service and gift giving; through Mar. 1)

Carnival de Ponce -- Ponce, Puerto Rico (through Mardi Gras)

Dance of the Known Places -- Fairy Calendar

For Pete's Sake Day -- Wellcat Holidays asks us, who is Pete, and why do things for his sake?  think about that as you celebrate this today

Inconvenience Yourself™ Day -- enrich your life by looking for ways to make a positive impact on the world, even if it inconveniences you

Intercalary Days -- Baha'i (through Mar. 1)

Levi Strauss Day -- his birth anniversary

Liberation Day -- Kuwait

National Personal Chef Day -- heaven knows we all have one of those; some websites list it today, some on July 16

National Pistachio Day

Rooks Nesting Day -- Olde England (12 days after Candlemas on the Julian Calendar)

St. Alexander's Day (Patriarch of Alexandria)

St. Isabella of France's Day (Patron of the sick)

Teal Ribbon Day -- Australia (wear a teal ribbon, raise awareness of ovarian cancer)http://www.ovariancancer.net.au/events/

Tell a Fairy Tale Day -- shouldn't this have been two days ago, on Wilhelm Grimm's birth anniversary?

The Man In Black Day -- Johnny Cash's birth anniversary

Thriller Day -- Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" hit #1 today, and stayed there for 37 weeks


Anniversaries Today:

Grand Teton National Park is established, 1929
Grand Canyon National Park is established, 1919


Birthdays Today:

Marshall Faulk, 1973
Erykah Badu, 1972
Mark Dacascos, 1964
Michael Bolton, 1953
Johnny Cash, 1932
Fats Domino, 1928
Betty Hutton, 1921
Tony Randall, 1920
Jackie Gleason, 1916
Margaret Leighton, 1922
Tex Avery, 1908
Madeleine Carroll, 1906
Jean Vercors, 1902
William Frawley, 1887
Herbert Henry Dow, 1866
John Harvey Kellog, 1852
William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, 1846
Levi Strauss, 1829
Honore Daumier, 1808
Victor Hugo, 1802


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Jerome Robbins' Broadway"(Musical), 1989
"Deathtrap"(Play), 1978


Today in History:

Origin of the Epoch of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era, BC747
An earthquake in Lisbon leaves 20,000-30,000 dead, 1531
Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen burns down, 1794
The Bank of England issues its first banknotes, 1797
Vice-admiral William Bligh ends the siege of Fort Amsterdam, Willemstad, 1804
Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba, 1815
In New York City a demonstration of the first pneumatic subway opens to the public, 1870
HMS Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic, is launched at Harland & Wolff, Belfast, 1914
The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first jazz record, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York, 1917
Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom, 1935
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb, 1952
Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada, 1952
National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation, 1970
Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations, 1980
The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections, 1990
On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait, 1991
In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand, 1993
The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses, 1995
Mount Hekla in Iceland erupts, 2000
Republic of Macedonia President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2004
After winning a Liberal Party of British Columbia ballot, Canadian politician Christy Clark becomes the second woman to be Premier of British Columbia, 2011
Scientists in Illinois, announce they've developed stretchable batteries that can power a new generation of flexible electronics, 2013