Agnostic Mom

What kind of PR should I expect from a Christian Science e-zine?

AgnosticMom debuts in the Christian Science Monitor! Uhh, probably not.

The great Duncan Crary from the Humanist Network News sends me PR leads pretty regularly. A few of them are exciting and as they go through (rather, if they go through) I will continue to announce them here. Some of them are more experimental. Like the one from Christian Science.

One of the writers for the Christian Science Monitor put out a query on how summer time for children has changed from when we were kids. Well, I was already planning to write a post on the subject and, not knowing if they’d want to hear from an agnostic humanist, we decided to see what would happen if I sent the writer an email with a description of my thoughts:

I have been comparing my own childhood to that of my three children lately. When I was a kid the mantra was, “Go outside and get some sun!” We played outside all day! Riding bikes, exploring the neighborhood (including its canals and sewer systems), harassing the other homeowners, and who knows what else.

Although I currently live in a much safer neighborhood than the one I grew up in, I don’t dare let my kids, including my 8-year-old son, go out without me.

Their great-grandmother and my own mother always tell me, “You just can’t let the kids out these days. It’s not like it used to be.”

Well, I don’t think that is the reason. I don’t think we were any safer way back then than we are now. I think we are just more aware.

So, yes, this has effected the way my children spend their long summer days out of school. There are two major differences. Our days are scheduled with structured activities, and we spend a lot more time together as a family, instead of the kids spending the days with their friends.

It is that second difference that I have really been thinking about. In order for my kids to go out and play, I take them outside to the park and we all go, whether each one wants to go or not.

One difficulty this brought me was that my oldest son couldn’t go riding on his bike. We solved that dilemma with a slightly expensive, yet healthy solution. We all got bikes. Since my youngest is a toddler and can’t ride, we attached a trailer to my bike for him.

Almost every morning I take my kids out biking in the neighborhood or hiking through trails. Every day we have swimming lessons. We have summer camps at museums and activities with our local moms organization.

While it would be nice to send the kids out to “go get some sun!” especially since it would give me a little peace and quiet, I don’t mind giving up that privilege. Not only are my children safer, we are a closer family.

The writer liked what I had to say and called me for a short interview.

The tone of the resulting article surprised me a bit. She painted me as a little more nostalgic and sentimental toward my childhood summers than I actually am. I am nostalgic, but it sounds like I regret the changes. Really the major point I wanted to make was that while people like to mourn the loss of past innocence, our society is actually a safer place now than before. And our current lifestyle can be more family-friendly.

This was not my own article though. And I can’t complain since she quoted me in the beginning, the middle, and the end. Knowing I am an agnostic writer.

The main disappointment is that she didn’t publish my credentials, which I listed at the very beginning of my email. I hoped she would mention HNN, ClubMom, and my blog. But she didn’t. So it really wasn’t a PR opportunity after all.

Oh well. The good news is that people are interested in what I have to say. It’s good to know I am quotable.

On to other things!