alesnick's blog

Morning Radio Sonnet
by Alice Lesnick

I must be getting old.
This morning I listened with deep feeling 
To a story of research chimps held by the NIH
Now recommended for retirement to
Sanctuaries, where they would be let to forage for food,
Build nests, live in groups (of at least 7), and
Go outside when they want to. I want that these chimpanzees 
Should retire in a state of grace
Like my grandmother after she stepped down from Met Life
(Her first paying job) – a position she held for 12 years 
After my grandfather died young. 

She retired to Glen Cove to live with my cousins:
Kept house in their house,
Met them with milk and cookies after school;
Volunteered in the hospital gift shop where she got me
jewels and chocolates when I came to visit.

I would visit the research chimps and tell them:
We are sorry for your loss.

This Wall Street Journal article, called Family, Inc., is about families using approaches from the business world to structure homelife -- complete with family mission statements and meetings.  A new take on concerted cultivation??

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323452204578288192043905634.html

http://theweek.com/article/index/239898/haiti-is-teaching-kids-in-the-wrong-language

As I read your thoughtful writings about your goals and backgrounds, I thought of this recent article a friend shared with me: http://mathyawp.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-lesson-of-grace-in-teaching.html. It's about breaking with the tyranny of perfectionism!

http://media.swarthmore.edu/bulletin/?p=903 with thanks to panelist Harry Smythe for letting us know!

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