Author Archives: Andrea Middleton

Currently at Reddit, I spent 10 years as a community organizer on the WordPress open source project. I'm also an avid reader, wine enthusiast, and parent of two.

Why my son is (very slowly) crying

These days Baxter cries to show his displeasure with things; he’s *kind of* sad, but mostly just not-happy, if that makes sense? These whine-cries last a long time because he is still easily distracted once the first burst of “noooooo!” and falling-to-the-floor-in-despair is complete. Here’s an example; if you listen closely you can hear Amelia calling him from the basement toward the end. Responding to her shout is what ended this round of slow crying, which was originally caused by my informing him that he had to take a nap today. (He has to take a nap every day, ftr. (It’s a lazy Sunday so, yes, the kids are still in their pjs at 10am.)) 

 

Chicken tortilla soup

I made a fabulous batch of chicken tortilla soup today! Luckily I made extra to freeze, so we’ll get to enjoy it again. The kids loved it, times eleventy-thousand — they even enjoyed putting avocado in (my favorite). It was so good that Amelia let me capture her compliments on video. 😉

 
in the pot
  

all doctored up with avocado, tortilla chips, cilantro, etc

Baxter tells a story

Synopsis: There was a lady with a broken heart, except it wasn’t really broken; it just felt like it. She got a gun and fought a robber. She put him in jail and got her necklace back. Nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah. (Basically.)

Privilege and transition

This article by trans person Courtney Demone called Do I have boobs now? has some great insights about “privileges lost in transition.”

I haven’t changed much, but society’s perception of me has changed immensely. I didn’t lose my ability to walk around at night feeling safe once I started identifying as a woman. It happened at some arbitrary point when men found me attractive enough at a distance to approach me. It’s my femininity, not my being transgender, that has brought about much of this privilege loss, and it’s misogyny that robs women of these privileges.