An interesting conversation about tomorrow—International Women’s Day, and the A Day Without a Woman strike—emerged in the comments on Friday’s post. I had shared my fear that the strike will have the same divisive effect—by class and race—that derailed first-wave feminism and it led to a really provocative conversation. Here’s the thing: it’s not the exact protest I would have chosen, and I continue to worry about losing momentum from the Women’s March, but the motivations behind the strike—in particular gender inequality in the realm of parental leave policies and women’s health access—are some of the causes I feel most passionate about.
As someone who doesn’t work in an office, I find it interesting to think about what would be required for my day to really be a day without a woman: No school for my children. No childcare. Aron would need to take the day off. Even arriving at that necessary conclusion might be eye-opening in some households. (As it likely was during the Women’s March on Washington.) And so while I think it’s worthwhile to continue to discuss what actions are the most impactful and inclusive, I will nonetheless be supporting the strike tomorrow as best I can. Here are some of the ways suggested.
All of this is a long tangent to say that the Grab Your Wallet aspect of the strike—where one refrains from making any purchases for the day—reminded me of a mending class I took last year…
Can you believe it’s March already? I went to turn the calendar page in Hudson’s room—still on December—and couldn’t believe it when I had to flip three pages ahead. I’m not complaining though!
Thank you for the comments on this post last week—I’ve so enjoyed them. Aron told me that, inspired by one, he was sharing with the kids something brave he’d done and told them about a bladder surgery. Afterward, with wide eyes, Hudson asked if he’d shrunken himself down to get inside. We’ve been smiling about it ever since.
What will you be doing this weekend? We’re hoping to get in some gardening before the rain starts and then play a game of Settler’s with friends on Saturday night. We also have a sitter for Sunday evening, with the goal of dinner and a movie. I’ve got some summer-camp planning to do, and I need to start thinking about packing etc. for Thailand. But in the meantime, some links of note…
Every year when the Almond orchards around Davis fill with flowers, we try to make sure to take the kids out to see them and get a few family photos. This year was the first year Aron couldn’t make it to the Capay Valley Almond blossom festival (it happened last weekend) and it just happened that it was the first year I can recall that the orchards were actually hitting their peak; so I was thrilled to learn that on Tuesday he would be home a bit early and we could all drive out to revisit some local trees together. It’s always so fun to watch the kids dart around under these blooms, talk about the buzzing bees, and know that spring is just days away.
Here are some photos from the afternoon. I can’t believe how tall Skyler has gotten!
