Fascinating Ordinary

Happiness

Abby and Jennifer talk about common happiness myths, evaluate advice on happiness from popular media, and offer some practical tips for everyday happiness. They also offer a farewell and wrap up for this last episode of season 1 of Fascinating Ordinary. Digressions include: * Jennifer angles for a Target sponsorship * Abby pokes fun at Maslow and his hierarchy * We debate the value of putting Danes on a pedestal  * Abby’s ties to the bagpipe community * Art versus nature Resources and Links * 10 Practical Ways to Improve Happiness For when you need advice that goes beyond “Be Danish” [https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/04/happiness-research-how-to-be-happy-advice/629559/] By Arthur C. Brooks [https://www.theatlantic.com/author/arthur-c-brooks/] * Atlantic How to Build A Life [https://www.theatlantic.com/projects/how-build-life/]  * NY Times 7 Day Happiness Challenge [https://nyti.ms/3jpFw66]  * NY Times Awe Can Improve Your Life [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/well/live/awe-wonder-dacher-keltner.html?smid=url-share]  * Does Spending Money on Others Promote Happiness?: A Registered Replication Report [https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fpspa0000191]  * Does savoring increase happiness? A daily diary study [https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2012.671345]   * How Spending Influences Happiness [https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_spending_influences_happiness]  * Hedonic Adaptation: Why You Are Not Happier [https://www.verywellmind.com/hedonic-adaptation-4156926]  Jennifer also recommends going to your local library or used book store to find The Good Life Method: Reasoning Through Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning by Paul Blaschko and Meghan Sullivan   Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/ [https://fascinatingordinary.com/]

Comfort Food

In this episode, Jennifer and Abby talk about comfort food and grief. They talk about popular ideas of comfort food, the science behind food rituals as comforting, and present a few grief food rituals from around the world. The episode covers grieving rituals, funerals, loss, and death. Therefore, the hosts urge listeners to use their discretion when deciding if this episode could be triggering.  Digression include: * Hallmark movies * Jennifer loses her Disney-fan crown * Johnny Machete * Navigating 1 TV scandal and 1 science scandal  * Our sociological roots   Resources and Links * Comfort food TV tropes [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ComfortFood#:~:text=A%20%22Comfort%20Food%22%20is%20a,easily%20lift%20a%20person] * Funeral food rituals from around the world [https://www.neatorama.com/neatolicious/2013/10/26/Death-Warmed-Over-Funeral-Food-Rituals-and-Customs-From-Around-the-World/] * Resources on sitting Shiva [https://www.shiva.com/learning-center/sitting-shiva/] * Comfort Food: A Review  [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878450X16300786] * Threatened Belonging and Preference for Comfort Food [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666315000768?casa_token=lnLB3ba4N2wAAAAA:FAXlsDa89B-fMlV2rgBNoeVqg13RB50oh5Z3d9bOTpeXpC_J6XzghvlyzUb98KmKNUjCIrBa8w] * The Power of Rituals in Life, Death, and Business [https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/the-power-of-rituals-in-life-death-and-business] Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/ [https://fascinatingordinary.com/]

Sand!

Yes, this is an episode about sand. Abby convinces Jennifer (and hopefully you, as well) that sand is actually pretty cool and that the sand shortage is actually pretty terrible.  Digressions include: * Jennifer's limited knowledge of construction default law * A cool service offered by Sherwin Williams * The Princess Bridge * Abby's secret past as a golfer * Jennifer spoils the original Star Wars series Resources and links * The sand shortage [https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a39880899/earth-is-running-out-of-sand/] * More on the sand shortage [https://www.npr.org/2017/07/21/538472671/world-faces-global-sand-shortage] * Sand world and Daniel Helber! [https://www.sand.world/sand-collection/index] * Barking sand [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw3VQYZAkAo] * Golfing greens [https://golf.com/lifestyle/why-golf-courses-put-sand-greens/] * Anakin’s cheesy sand line [https://youtu.be/2tLf1JO5bvE] * Become a sand collector [http://sandcollectors.org/become-a-collector/] * Best plants for sandy soil [https://www.gardeningchannel.com/35-best-plants-sandy-soil/] Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/ [https://fascinatingordinary.com/]

Feeding Big Kids

In the second part of our series on feeding kids, Jennifer and Abby talk about picky eaters of any age. They offer some science on picking eating as well as some tactics for people trying to overcome pickiness (for themselves or their kids).  Digressions include: * Abby's heartwarming tale of learning to love olives * Jennifer's less heartwarming tale of learning to tolerate celery * Our reasonable suspicion of fresh blueberries * Snacking * Do French kids really eat everything? * Normal Rockwell Resources and Links * Picky eating during childhood: A longitudinal study to age 11 years [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1471015310000528?casa_token=sUj_zv7omnkAAAAA:Onak_dOGU5Uy_dY_ELs_Znf5xCcwZNbHocrFunC148Au-oNY75IMNYcS2--L1HmmTT75r7U8Xw]  * Picky eating in children: Causes and consequences [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-nutrition-society/article/picky-eating-in-children-causes-and-consequences/34921F967B9F37046962CA866DC199C3] * Feel your food. The influence of tactile sensitivity on picky eating in children  [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666314004577?casa_token=G_IJv-7XBlQAAAAA:c82hV3OSxgEBJd7vXCu2yYBNNOVZfYM36UtR0gxpFKKCeCb7frFZJGkCDJtuuPuCERhIljaUGA] * Perception of picky eating among children in Singapore and its impact on caregivers: a questionnaire survey  [https://doi.org/10.1186/1447-056X-11-5%20https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1447-056X-11-5#citeas] * Parents' anxiety, depression may lead to kids being fussy eaters in 2016 [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-anxiety-eating/parents-anxiety-depression-may-lead-to-kids-being-fussy-eaters-idUSKCN0VV2KU] * What Happened To American Childhood? Too many kids show worrying signs of fragility from a very young age [https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/05/childhood-in-an-anxious-age/609079/] * USDA Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review [https://nesr.usda.gov/what-relationship-between-repeated-exposure-timing-quantity-and-frequency-foods-and-early-food#:~:text=Repeated%20exposure%20to%20a%20single,8%20%E2%80%93%2010%20or%20more%20exposures]   Jennifer also recommend checking out these books from your local library * Emily Oster’s Cribsheet, particularly Chapter 12 (for all post-milk stuff) * Emily Oster’s Family Firm, particularly Chapter 6 (for ages 5-12)   For parents concerned about conversations with their pediatrician:  Jennifer spoke to a professor of social work and sociology at California State University, Northridge who said that social workers and doctors are looking for evidence of neglect. Focusing on the fact that you are trying to provide nourishment to your child should not raise concerns of neglect. Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/ [https://fascinatingordinary.com/]

Feeding Little Kids

In this episode, Abby teaches Jennifer all about how kids eat -- starting from two-celled organisms.  Digression include: * A quick lesson on how babies are made * Jennifer brags about her high school A.P. bio exam score * The grossness of kneecaps * References to Alien, the movie and Look Who's Talking Resources and Links * Robin Elise Weiss for lactation education [https://robineliseweiss.com/robin-elise-weiss/] * Womb milk [https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27460-womb-milk-nourishes-human-embryo-during-first-weeks-of-pregnancy/] * Colostrum [https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22434-colostrum#:~:text=They%20only%20need%20about%20an,day%20as%20their%20stomach%20expands] * How much milk babies need [https://wicbreastfeeding.fns.usda.gov/how-much-milk-your-baby-needs#:~:text=At%20birth%2C%20your%20baby] * CDC breastfeeding report card [https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/reportcard.htm] * History of infant formula  [https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/concise-history-infant-formula-twists-and-turns-included] * Infant Formula Act of 1980 [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7174587/]  * Baby formula shortage [https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/02/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-us-baby-formula-shortage.html] * Look Who’s Talking Intro [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65BV5dXXxzM] Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/ [https://fascinatingordinary.com/]