Smooch.

Ziggy has gone, and is going through, a rabid desire to kiss.

And kiss. And kiss.

Everything:

Mommy's "grown up" drinking glass (a milk glass loaded with my occasional drinking vice: caffeine free diet coke with ice and lime wedges).

Our morning coffee cups.

His friends.

Our friends.

Dogs. Cats. Rabbits. (yes, he met one at Earth Day in the park).


A few weeks back, as Ziggy was chasing Junie Moon and she hissed, causing his chin to wobble and his eyes to well up, his father dropped this piece of wisdom ever so sweetly, "The best time to kiss someone is when they're sleeping."

And so.

Mothers Acting Up: Mother's Day Fundraiser for MAU.

Mothers Acting Up: Mother's Day Fundraiser for MAU.

Celebrate Earth Day Weekend with MAU.

Heya! Nashville’s Mothers Acting Up community is on the grow. Come build community, join in the fun, and get in on the ACTION. We are a welcoming community and a part of the larger national mother-led, mother-fed movement of mothers and others advocating passionately & publicly for the world’s children. If you haven’t yet done so, sign up on the website to receive monthly collective actions and be assured of all the latest news from local and national community organizers. www.mothersactingup.org

In this issue of the haps:

1) Friday 4/20 10-Noon: Mobilizing the Mamas Playgroup @ Centennial Park Playground

2) Friday 4/20 6-8 PM: Bring the Family Potluck Social & Salon CLIMATE PROJECT SLIDE SHOW PRESENTATION!!

3) Saturday 4/21 11-7 PM Nashville Earth Day Festival @ Centennial Park

Mobilizing the Mamas: Come one, come all.

Playgroup for mothers (and others) and their children.

Friday 4/20 (and every Friday!!) -- Centennial Park Playground, 10-Noon.

Bring outdoor play things (parachutes, bubbles, play silks, sidewalk chalk), blankets if you please, snacks to share.

Bring books or articles of interest to our growing mother activist community, as well as questions, comments and friends.

Build community, make new friends, hang with old ones.

From this point forward, we’ll be focused on actions well integrated into our playgroup time, as well as planning for the Mother’s Day Peace Parade. During the month of April, we will join with our sisters in action at MomsRising and decorate onesies as part of the Mother’s Day geared Power of ONEsie campaign. From MomsRising:

DECORATE A ONEsie & MAIL IT TO US: Make it personal! Over the next several months we'll be collecting ONEsies to display around the country. Simply get a new or used baby onesie (or a small kids t-shirt) and make it your own by decorating it with fabric paint, markers, or even rhinestones. Joan says, "I had fun doing a couple of ONEsies with my young daughter... and I was struck by what she wrote on hers, 'Love, love, love and more love.' She understands." You can add catchy slogans, hold a ONEsie decorating party, and/or have kids help with the project. *Mail Your Creation by May 1, 2007 to Be Part of a Fabulous Mother's Day Extravaganza: MomsRising, P.O. Box 19596, Seattle, WA 98109. (In case you forget the mailing address and other details, we set up a website for your easy reference: http://www.momsrising.org/PowerofONEsie)

We’ll have paint and some new onesies, but bring some to recycle as well!!

*** On inclement weather days we’ll gather at the downtown public library on the second floor in the children’s area.

Bring the Family Potluck Social & Salon

Friday, April 20, 2007
6:00p
Bring the Family Potluck Social and Salon

Mothers Acting Up has a potluck, the third Friday of each month, at the Friends' Meeting House, 530 26th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37209 (map).

April 20: We'll gather to sup, laugh, discuss Mother's Day parade planning, and build community. In celebration of Earth Day, (East Nashville’s own) Jacob Gordon, a recent graduate of Al Gore’s Climate Project, will give a slide show and talk about global warming and what we can do as citizens to address it!

Nashville's Mothers Acting Up community celebrates all families and all children. We heartily welcome you to join with us in fellowship. Bring the family! Bring friends. Our gatherings are always nursing friendly and open to ALL kinds of families: old, young, rich, poor; hip, hippies and anti-hipsters all; GLTB friendly; all colors, faiths and orientations; all styles of parenting from mainstream to super crunchy.

Please bring a dish to share. Drinks will be provided. In the spirit of community work together and of being kind to the earth, we'll use real dishes and wash them afterward.

Mothers Acting Up is a mother-led, mother-fed movement of mothers (and others) passionately and publicly advocating for the world's children.

Here are links to MAU's national website and blog, and to Nashville MAU's blog. For further information, contact Paige La Grone Babcock, paige@mothersactingup.org, Nashville office 615.750.3780, Mobile mama 615.495.1879.

Nashville MAU at Nashville’s Earth Day Festival

Saturday 4/21 11-7 PM; Centennial Park!

Our booth host an activity for children and other lovers of crafty fun, recycling treasures into hats to be worn as sun protection and decoration at the upcoming 2^nd Annual Mother’s Day Peace Parade (hosted by MAU at Dragon Park, Sun. May 13 12:30-3:30 PM).

Come on out and enjoy what promises to be a most enjoyable time!!

Nashville MAU welcomes all kinds of families into its ample bosom.

Come join the magnificent revolution to honor the promise of our children’s lives!!

In spirited partnership,

Paige for Nashville MAU

National Outreach Coordinator & Community Organizer

paige@mothersactingup.org

Mother Activism workshop at Compass Conference this weekend!!

This weekend I’ll be leading the workshop MAU Now: The Joy of Activism—Mobilizing the Mamas. You can see below for a full on description of my workshop and a number of other wonderful workshops and events of the Tennessee Alliance for Progress annual Compass Conference. Nashville's Mothers Acting Up community organizers will be providing childcare w/ snacks and activities for the smalls so mamas and papas can do some activating. Childcare will be available from 9 AM – 2:30 PM with the understanding that parents will check in and take their children during breaks and mealtime. If you require childcare or intend to take my workshop, please holler at me, as it will allow better planning on my part.

More on Mothers Acting Up: www.mothersactingup.org

More on Nashville Mothers Acting Up: www.nashvillemau.blogspot.com

I hope to see some of y’all this weekend!!

In peace,

Paige La Grone Babcock

paige@mothersactingup.org

How would you like to spend this Saturday day listening to inspired speakers, networking with like-minded people, engaging in passionate discussion about pressing social issues, watching informative documentary films, grooving to great music and browsing a unique bookshop with hard-to-find books you've been looking for?

If this is your cup of tea, you need to attend the Compass IV Conference this Saturday, April 14, 9 am to 4 pm at Cohn Adult Learning Center, 4805 Park Avenue in West Nashville. The action packed agenda includes 12 workshops, including a free workshop on Global Warming, films, music, a bookshop and Keynote Speakers David Sirota and Paul Waldman. You can register at www.tennesseeallianceforprogress.org. Cost is $25 per day. If you need financial assistance in order to attend, contact nellrose@earthlink.net.

Here's the agenda for Saturday.

Compass IV Workshops – Saturday, April 14, 2007, Cohn Adult Learning Center

Registration: 8 AM to 9 AM

Welcome and Report from Friday’s Strategy Session: 9 AM - AUDITORIUM – Dan Joranko, Tennessee Alliance for Progress Board Chair

Keynote Address: 9:15 AM – AUDITORIUM – Paul Waldman, of Media Matters for America, author of Being Right Is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success.

Break and Paul Waldman Booksigning: 10:15 AM

Morning Workshops: 10:30 to 11:50 AM

Doing Justly – LIBRARY – a workshop on faith, spirituality, morality and politics organized by TAP’s Doing Justly Project: Integrating Our Deepest Spiritual Beliefs Into Our Professional and Public Lives. Presenters: Dan Joranko, Tamara Ambar Losel, Ted Parks, Melissa Spas, and Harmon Wray.

Reducing Poverty and Inequality in Tennessee: What Works - ROOM 209. This workshop will look at successful programs and policies that are being used here and abroad. Presenters: Martha Wettemann of Tennessee State Employees Association, Rebekah Jordan, Midsouth Interfaith Network for Economic Justice, Jerry Lee of Tennessee AFL/CIO, and a representative of the Vanderbilt employee living wage movement.

Activism 101 - ROOM 201. Want to get active and make a difference but don’t know where to start? This workshop is for you. Presenters: Keith Caldwell, Coordinator, Nashville Peace and Justice Center, Jen Cartwright, former Education Director, Nashville Peace and Justice Center, and Megan Mecaraeg, Organizer, Jobs with Justice.

MAU Now: The Joy of Activism— Mobilizing the Mamas – ROOM – tbd.
(Fathers and all others who care about & for children are warmly welcome).

Mothers Acting Up will facilitate a conversation about parental activism: where are we on our current journey? What are the barriers and obstacles to parental activism? How can we overcome them? We will view Mothers Acting Up, the movie and participants will receive a copy of the Mothers Acting Up 2007 Mother Leadership Handbook and Engagement calendar. The Mother Agenda will be addressed and issues of the workshop include community building, Mother’s Day Reclamation, tabling, and advocacy for children in the offices of our representatives. Children’s activities and daycare provided.

Please contact nellrose@earthlink.net if you will need childcare. Presenter: Paige La Grone Babcock. paige@mothersactingup.org

Media Reform – ROOM 203- Learn what’s wrong with the corporate media and how you can become a media activist. Presenters: Ginny Welsch of Radio Free Nashville, Mary Mancini of Liberadio(!) and Elliott Mitchell is of Metropolitan Educational Access Corporation.

How to Write Op-Eds That Get Published - ROOM 204. - Get read! Get heard! Get blogged! Learn how to bring your activism onto the opinion pages of Tennessee’s newspapers, on airwaves, and into cyberspace. This workshop that will show you how to leverage your activism through the commentary continuum. The Forum is working to increase progressive voices in the mainstream media. Presenters: American Forum Executive Director Denice Zeck and Elizabeth Barger Chair of the Tennessee Editorial Forum.

Lunch: Noon to 1 PM – DOWNSTAIRS CAFETERIA

Films: 12:10 PM to 1:00 PM – DOWNSTAIRS CAFETERIA.
Collateral Damage: Bad Medicine in Tennessee
Scenes from Eternal Vigilance: The Fight To Save Our Election System, Q&A with filmmaker David Earnhardt.

Afternoon Workshops: 1:00 to 2:30 PM

Global Climate Change – AUDITORIUM - A Powerpoint presentation based on Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Presenters: Jennifer Tlumak, a graduate of Al Gore’s Climate Project and Rev. Jim Deming of Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light and Northwest Earth Institute. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Part of the Step-It-Up April 14 Campaign.

Afternoon Workshops: 1:10 to 2:30 PM

Passing the Torch: Youth Activism – LIBRARY - This workshop will be led by youth and adult staff working with Oasis Community IMPACT (OCI). OCI works with young people from two East Nashville High Schools, Stratford and Maplewood, to promote educational and economic equity for urban students, schools, and neighborhoods by cultivating grassroots leadership through a youth organizing strategy. This workshop will provide participants the opportunity to learn more about this work, to better understand why working with youth is critical, and some effective strategies for working with a new generation of change-makers.

Progressive Blogging – ROOM 121 - Sandy Smith Madsen of the award-winning blog, Tennessee Guerilla Women will bring together bloggers to share the secrets of their craft. Presenters: Chiara at Thoughts of an Average Woman, Callie at Red State Exile, and Rick at Coyote Chronicles.

Election 2008 – ROOM 203. Discussion of local, state and national candidates, voter suppression, paper-trail ballot boxes and other issues. Presenters: Dr. Sekou Franklin, MTSU Political Science Department, Jim Grinstead, Democracy for Tennessee, Chick Westover, Gathering to Save Our Democracy, and Seanna Brandmeir, President Tennessee Young Democrats.

Tennesseee’s Health Care Crisis – ROOM 201 - Discussion of uninsured problem, TennCare, single payer proposals and other options. Presenters: Dr. Jim Powers of Vanderbilt Medical Center, with Lori Smith of Tennessee Health Care Campaign, Jim Hudson of Physicians NAT Health Plan and Dr. Richard Braun.

The Politics of Crime and Punishment in Tennessee – ROOM 204 - Topics will include prison privatization, death penalty, racism in the criminal justice system, and restorative transformative justice as an alternative to our present retributive system. Presenters: Harmon Wray of Vanderbilt Program on Faith and Criminal Justice, Stacy Rector of Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing and Gail Tyree of Grassroots Leadership of Memphis.

Break: 2:30 to 2:45 PM

Music: 2:45 PM - AUDITORIUM - Renown Songwriter/Artist Robert Ellis Orrall will perform his hit “Al Gore” and other selections.

Keynote Address: 3:00 PM – AUDITORIUM – Activist and Media Commentator David Sirota, author of Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government – and How We Take It Back.

David Sirota Book Signing: 4:00 – 4:20 PM

Publicly and passionately advocating for the world's children....

...and hanging in my kitchen post conference call, post baby waking up from nap, while fixing a snack, readying to nurse, then sign on to do the Mothering chat.

THIS is Ms. Booty Homemaker. Bright raggedy-ass pink worn out maternity twin set with ancient jeans. Tired face. Gorgeous but crying boy baby.

Oh, this IS the life.

While funny, I totally do mean it.

MBH on Mothering chat tomorrow.

Hey Y’all,

Here's a reminder that I'll be the guest on Mothering magazine's online chat schedule tomorrow, Wednesday April 11 at Noon Central, representing Mothers Acting Up for whom I am National Outreach Coordinator & Community Organizer. This is the first of monthly scheduled visits to chat about MAU & mama activism. This month I expect to address building community, reclaiming Mother’s Day, and the Mother Agenda.

More here, including chat instructions.

If you’re up to it, stop by to lend some support and ask a question or make a comment, and please DO pass this reminder along to folks you suspect might be interested.

Local opportunities for MAU involvement and family fellowship abound, including weekly playgroups, monthly potluck socials & salons, regularly scheduled visits to state rep’s offices (next up: TOMORROW), MAU Now: The Joy of Activism—Mobilizing the Mamas workshop at this weekend’s Tennessee Alliance for Progress Compass conference, a booth the Earth Day Festival, and Nashville’s fast approaching 2^nd Annual Mother’s Day Peace Parade. Holler for details, or if you have interest in bringing Mothers Acting Up to your community.

Spring freeze.

IM000163, originally uploaded by paigelabab.