Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon which refers to the discomfort felt at a discrepancy between what you already know or believe, and new information or interpretation
That's something I experienced this morning when I picked up my daughter's copy of Girl's Life. Well, if I'm truthful it's our copy - I read that magazine cover to cover, along with Discovery Girls and American Girl, just to get my brain back into middle grade mode after writing about politics and my other "grown up" stuff.
There, in between "Gossip Girls: What to do when crews get catty" and "Quiz! What's your flirt style?" and "What's your crush-snagging strategy?" was "When you least expect it - it only takes one time" - an article about teen pregnancy.
As the editor's letter said:
"It's not like we didn't know there are sexually active 13 year-olds out there. It's just that we knew, statistically, there were (thankfully) very few of them. And in the 14 years we've been doing GL, teen pregnancy has been on the downswing - each year, fewer and fewer kids were having kids.
But not any more: A just-released report shows that the number of pregnant teens actually increased in 2006. The first time in over a decade.
I try to keep politics out of this blog, but I can't this time. We can thank the Bush Administration and their ridiculous experiment called "Abstinence only education."
And I can also thank the dysfunctional Spears family for the look of utter shock and horror on my 11 year-old's face when she heard that Zoe 101 was pregnant. I would have preferred to have that teachable moment about sex a little later than 11.
On a less controversial note, thank you everyone for the kind words about Sandy. My daughter and I read Cynthia Rylant's beautiful book "Dog Heaven" on Wednesday night. I got as far as page two before I was bawling.
It's weird and strange and quiet around the house with Sandy. We need a puppy. ASAP. My last two dogs have been rescue dogs, but after what we've been through with Sandy, I decided that this time we're going to get a puppy from a breeder so that we can ensure our dog is properly trained and socialized. And I think we're going to take a leaf out of
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amanda_marrone's book and get a Havanese. Last Sunday, we went to visit Amanda and her kids so that my kids could meet the amazingly adorable Griffin. Son was convinced we should get a bigger dog, but I'm getting older and I'm just not up to the energy demands of a big dog. But after meeting Griffin, I think J is convinced. How could one not be? I mean look at the cuteness here:
So we're waiting to hear back from the breeder who lives here in Greenwich about when we can get our pupper. I hope it's really soon.
It was great to meet Amanda and her kids. And I'm now halfway through Uninvited and loving it! Add a Comment