Women Who Make America

Laurel threw my toothbrush into the toilet tonight. We're trying to transition into using regular toothpaste with her, and so we have to practice spitting, and our plumbing is in a state of disrepair at the moment so you have to brush your teeth in the bathtub. Nothing's ever simple. Does anyone else have 90 year old plumbing? It's tempting to see just how much longer you can push its life span. Like many old things, whatever you replace it with will not be as well constructed and will wear out faster, so you think long and hard before you take the old thing out of your house and put the new thing in. And while you are spending far too long thinking about that, you start thinking about other things, like why we don't have composting toilets and why you need a sink and a bathtub anyway. It seems excessive.

Anyway, brushing teeth is a twice daily battle of plaque vs. autonomy, and my toothbrush was a casualty tonight. I sent Laurel to her room to think about her behavior and she threw herself on her bed and sobbed, heartily sorry. Later I realized my explanation (of pee, poo and toilet paper are all that goes in the toilet) was incomplete - she sees me put the toilet brush in there all the time to clean it.

We rode our bikes to the farmer's market this afternoon. Margaret didn't have any help at the stand when we got there, so M hopped in, taking money and bagging up beets. I turned around at one point and Laurel was carefully carrying cucumbers, one at a time out of the bins in the back to the display in the front. I guess she saw Margaret doing it, and she just hopped in, to be helpful.

And that, is why I never get angry with her, even when she throws my toothbrush in the toilet. She makes a lot of messes, but she takes a lot of risks.

Once again, I forgot the Netflix password (Will I ever finish watching Weeds? Probably not.), but I did find a very interesting series on PBS called Makers: Women Who Make America. I think women of my generation are unaware of how recent many of the milestones for women really are. I had no idea, for instance, that there was a time when women were not even allowed to run in the Boston Marathon.

I wonder what barriers Laurel will face or break down.

Watch Kathrine Switzer on PBS. See more from Makers: Women Who Make America.