Comments on: The farmer reviews three business books

By: TR

TR — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:24:00 +0000

"He is reading about stress management and I am lifting weights." LOL that was a great line

By: TR

TR — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:24:00 +0000

"He is reading about stress management and I am lifting weights." LOL that was a great line

By: Bob Sutton's Good Boss, Bad Boss: A Review. Of the First Page.

Bob Sutton's Good Boss, Bad Boss: A Review. Of the First Page. — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:38:02 +0000

[...] wasn't even Penelope Trunk's predictably irreverent review of 3 business books that nudged me to try a different [...]

By: Vinaigrette Girl

Vinaigrette Girl — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:55:25 +0000

There is nothing "scary" about having one child. There are problems with every state of having or not having offspring in any number from none to $more. Those of us with one work harder to help them be social beings, not relying on the insular little family milieu to make or break personalities. We find it easier to care mindfully. We don't expect other people to make up for the fact that having three or four kids means one of the group may have developmental needs catastrophically ignored because the parents are too busy to see or do anything about what's going on. (I run a Beaver Scouts group and there's always one of these every year). Having one child means we DO have time for community as well as for our own nuclear family. We are more carbon-neutral as families (the latest 'guesstimate' I've read was 38,000 tons of carbon over a 70 year lifetime).

Sorry, but I don't tell other people how to raise their kids and being slagged off on one of my favourite blogs for having one pushes my buttons.

Your farmer guy's views of those books is very sensible. He seems a decent chap.

By: Steve-o

Steve-o — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:02:11 +0000

Me too! More book reviews from the Farmer, please.

By: Gretchen Seefried

Gretchen Seefried — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:03:53 +0000

Reading your blog ALWAYS makes me feel better. It is so genuine. What if everyone had Asperger's for a day and we could hear the real thing from all?

Maybe we're the ones with the syndrome, not you?

By: Kay Lorraine

Kay Lorraine — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:03:24 +0000

I, to, am an only child. It worked out great. Only children are resourceful, confident, and self starters. Marte, you better start taking notes so that you can remember stuff with yourself correctly.

Penelope, the last line about stress management and lifting weights is priceless!!!!!

I continue to love your work……

By: chris Keller

chris Keller — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:12:33 +0000

Annabel, I think it matters if you can tolerate chaos.
If you can rush to get everyone out the door in the a.m.; if you can tolerate sending them (or yourself) out with mis-matched socks; if you can continually shift to address everyone's developmental needs; if you can do the corrections in a kindly way, and keep on encouraging; if you can tolerate messiness, including the kitchen and piles in the laundry room.

Most of us want to be organized and admire organization. But it is just not (always) possible with multiple-kid families. More importantly, it is important NOT to act like a banshee when disorganization and messiness happens.

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:17:06 +0000

i seriously love you, penelope. you are a gifted and hilarious writer.

By: Tzipporah

Tzipporah — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:27:44 +0000

Hey Marte, I'm an only child and I FREAKING LOVE IT. And I have an only child myself.

Get over yourself. Find some good friends; they're much better than siblings.