I’ve decided to approach this blog as a form of ethnography, a telling of stories which piece by piece explores various aspects of parenting in postindustrial America. It’s common practice in ethnographic writing to replace the names of the subjects being observed. While not assuring anonymity, this substitution does create a certain degree of separation between those subjects and the reader. This separation provides a bit of privacy and encourages the reader to think of the subjects, despite their individuality, as representative participants in larger-scale relations and trends.
It seems to me only fair to give my family and others who may appear here the same consideration as would the subjects of any other ethnography. As such all the names in this blog are pseudonyms. For those of you who know us, this might be somewhat disconcerting, but I hope it won’t prevent you from keeping up with us anyway. (You can even choose your own pseudonym if you like) As a way to keep track of things, I’ve put together a rundown of the people mentioned in the blog and, when possible, some descriptive information to help keep track of everyone and their relationships to each other.
Cast:
Jeff – me; mid-30’s full-time parent, part-time collaborator with Ava; chronicler of our family
Ava – my wife; teacher, researcher, mother; lodestar of all that is good and just in our home
Pip – our son; 3 years old; blond-haired, blue-eyed inquisitor; barometer of our family’s emotional well-being
Polly – our daughter; 18 months old; brown-haired, brown-eyed sprite of the house; taster of all things food and otherwise; Pip’s shadow and alter ego
