The rare mom blog. . .

I'm not normally someone who gives a lot of parenting advice, because I have more of a fake it till you make it sense of my judgement. But I do have a few things I'm fairly sure of, and when such things I occur to me, I will share them, tentatively--maybe with a question mark at the end.

There's nothing wrong with throwing chocolate chips in your 5-year-old's Cheerios? (Guilty as charged.)

A five-year-old is old enough to hear about the educational struggles of African-Americans, including the fight to integrate schools during the Civil Rights Era? He's also ready for the story of Nobel prize-winning Malala Sousafzai, a Pakistani teenwho was shot for her educational advocacy, recovered, and now is a worldwide spokesperson for the importance of educating our girls? (I have told him both stories when he declared he didn't like school, for no reason, bye-the-bye, other than the fact that he wants to stay home all day long and play Minecraft.)

But I think I can leave the question mark out of this one.

For those of you pondering having children, this is a certainty: Your weekends will fill themselves up with gatherings of family and friends. One Saturday you'll have a family reunion. The next Saturday you'll be invited to your kid's classmate's birthday party.

Go to all of these things. Because they're already more fun once you're actually there, and they're important for your children. The more people, relatives and friends, who consistently over the years wish them well and support them,—and the more time these people are seen, the better their sense of security in the world.

In my next mom blog post, I will tell you how to make your own gluten-free peanut butter, using a can of unsalted Planter's and a stone metate. You will hate me and I will judge you!

—Sarah Torribio