Fridays are the one day in the week when I don’t go to the gym. It helps give me a break so I don’t get burned out, plus gives me an opportunity to run errands during the week so I’m not so busy on the weekend. Usually those errands are boring and uneventful, but not today.

I’m on my way back to work, sitting at a stoplight waiting to turn left, with one car in front of me. There is a guy handing out small fliers and taking donations in a white, plastic bucket. He talks to the lady in the car in front of me, and starts walking to my car. I wave him off and mouth “No, thanks” without rolling down the window.

Side note - I don’t like to donate with cash like that for a couple of reasons. For one, you don’t know if the charity is legit, and two, I like to research and find out how much of my money is going to help and what it’s doing. The only exception is tossing some cash into the firefighter’s boot.

Anyway, while I had my hand up, I was rubbing it due to my tendinitis bothering me. The guy leaned over and had his face right next to my window, smiling. Here’s what happened:

Him: “Roll down your window!”

Me: “No, thanks.”

Him: “You in pain? Roll down your window!”

I could see he wasn’t going to budge, so I cracked it a little.

Me: “It’s just tendinitis”

Him: “Do you believe? Take my hand.” He put up his gloved hand.

Me: “No.”

Him: “Jesus Christ will heal you, take my hand.”

Me: “No he won’t,” as I rolled up my window and drove off since the light just turned green.

As a non-believer this amused me as I thought about it. Jesus would heal my repetitive stress injury through some guy standing on a street corner, as long as I believed! I guess if it didn’t get healed then I just didn’t believe or pray hard enough. Nothing like holding back a reward because the person didn’t do something exactly right or give they enough attention. Sheesh, that Jesus guy sure can be a douchebag.

There are a lot of tough things about being a feminist parent. One of the most frustrating is trying to find toys and books that don’t reinforce gender stereotypes. I’ve ranted a few times about “girl” toys, but this time will be different! This post is about books.

Since My Grrl is still young, it’s been easy to fall back onto favorites when it comes to reading her stories. We’ve had countless readings of Dr Seuss books, some Elmo and Dora books, and Spider-Man books. But since she is getting a little older, and partly because her folks need a little bit of change, I’ve started looking for some positive girl role model type stories.

The article over at The Guardian about feminist books for five-year-olds caught my eye, and I’ve already wanting to look into a few of the ones she lists. (I liked how she wrote her review of the books, and then the reactions of both of her kids to the story.)

An obvious ‘duh’ I should have thought of was Pippi Longstocking. I really loved the movies when I was a kid, although I think that might need to wait until My Grrl is a little older. It’s a definite idea to get for my niece who is almost 6 though.

One of the two books My Grrl has was actually on her list.

Princess Smartypants By Babette Cole

A riotously subversive read. “Princess Smartypants did not want to get married. She enjoyed being a Ms.” Princess Smartypants keeps giant slugs as pets and challenges her geeky prince suitors to roller-disco marathons. When one of them finally wins her over, she kisses him, intentionally turning him into a toad. “When the other princes heard what had happened to Prince Swashbuckle, none of them wanted to marry Smartypants. So she lived happily ever after.” Excellent. Although, interestingly, the children seriously struggled with the idea that anyone might not want to get married.

I really like the idea of the tough and smart princess that doesn’t need to get married or have a prince rescue her. However, I had a bit of a problem with the execution in Princess Smartypants. She was just plain mean to the princes. When we tell the story, we try to say that what she is deliberately doing to them isn’t nice. It doesn’t matter if the person is a prince, that doesn’t justify turning him into a toad just because you don’t want to get married. I really believe that the message could have been told in a kid friendly way, yet still convey the idea that a girl doesn’t have to get married or have a man to have fun and be happy. My idea was that the final prince did all the things she asked of him, and since he was a lot of fun, they decided to be best friends. Or something a little better than deliberately turning him into a toad. It could have also shown girls to tell people what they want, and to communicate. The story that her mother was pushing her to marry someone, and that the princess was trying to make the tasks impossible to get out of it, instead of just telling her mother what she wanted…just doesn’t sit well with me. Again, a good idea, but poor execution.

The other book we have is The Paperbag Princess.

Princess Elizabeth was planning on marrying Prince Ronald, who was practically perfect. Then along came a dragon, which destroyed her kingdom, kidnapped Ronald, and burned all her clothes so that she had no choice but to wear a paper bag. She tracked down and outwitted the dragon. She challenged the dragon to burn forests with fire and to fly around the world. The dragon completed the tasks but after flying around the world a second time became tired and fell asleep. Elizabeth then saved Ronald. He didn’t even thank her and told her to come back to rescue him when she looked more princessy. Then Elizabeth realized what a bum Ronald was, told him off, and went off to live her own life.

The Paperbag Princess story was better, but the ending was a little abrupt. Even My Grrl seemed to think there should have been more to the ending, but otherwise it’s a decent book. Recommended for those with young kids.

Anyone have any good suggestions for books we should buy her? I definitely want to check out the library, but I also want to support authors who create books with positive messages. I know there are some good kids books that feminists would be happy to read to their kids, or have their kids read once they can.

There are so many good charities that need donations, it’s hard to decide which one to give to. Or give at all in this economy. However, there’s one charity I’ve given to for the past couple of years, and this year was no different. Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play Charity.

Since 2003, over 100,000 gamers worldwide have banded together through Child’s Play, a community based charity grown and nurtured from the game culture and industry. Over 5 million dollars in donations of toys, games, books and cash for sick kids in children’s hospitals across North America and the world have been collected since our inception.

This year, we have continued expanding across the country and the globe. With almost 70 partner hospitals and more arriving every month, you can be sure to find one from the map above that needs your help! You can choose to purchase requested items from their online retailer wish lists, or make a cash donation that helps out Child’s Play hospitals everywhere. Any items purchased through Amazon will be shipped directly to your hospital of choice, so please be sure to select their shipping address rather than your own.

When gamers give back, it makes a difference!

I made my purchase through Amazon yesterday, and the DVDs will be sent directly to Children’s Hospital here in OKC. It’s tax deductible!

If you either can’t make a purchase due to your budget, or you don’t do Amazon, Child’s Play also takes cash donations through PayPal. Even just a couple of bucks can add up if many people contribute.

I only wish I lived closer to Seattle so I could attend the Child’s Play Charity Dinner. There are tons of cool gaming items in their silent auction, with lots of cool people in attendance. One day I’ll make it to either the dinner, or even better, to PAX!