JC
Jess Calarco
@jessicacalarco
Sociologist, Writer, and Mom of Two Hams
Indiana en route to Wisconsin
Sociologist, writer, and ethnographer studying families, schools, and inequalities. Author of: Negotiating Opportunities: How the Middle Class Secures Advantages in School (Oxford 2018) A Field Guide to Grad School: Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum (Princeton 2020) Qualitative Literacy: A Guide to Evaluating Ethnographic and Interview Research (UC Press, 2022, with Mario Luis Small) Next up: Without a Net: Why Women Carry the Risk and How that Hurts Us All (PRH-Portfolio 2023) Words in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. More here: www.jessicacalarco.com
38 Posts
Always read the footnotes. That's where the good dirt lives. My kids are at this weird and wonderful stage developmentally where they're simultaneously big enough and brave enough to try their first upside-down roller coaster and little enough to still want to go on the kiddie rides. the grandparents visiting us for a long weekend vs. me and the kids visiting the grandparents for a week The grownups after the kids went to bed 6 kids under 10, 4 grownups, 1 house, 1 week. What could possibly go wrong? That moment when you turn the parenting corner from "Go the F* to sleep!" to "Get the F* up it's time for school!" My 5-year-old wanted to help pack for a trip to a wedding this weekend, so I asked him to get his toothbrush and two outfits to wear. This is what he came back with: slippers Jurassic Park truck doll stuf (Re)Claiming the Joy of Writing
"I used to really like writing." That's a sentiment I hear from so many grad students. Especially this time of year. So, in my latest newsletter, I take a look at how grad school sucks the fun out of May something today bring you this much joy. 8-year-old: Can we snuggle and take a selfie? Me: Sure. 8-year-old: [tries to give me bunny ears] Me: I see what you're up to. I was a kid once too, you know. 8-year-old: Yeah, but that was a really long Kids These Days
My 3rd grader told me today that some of her classmates got in big trouble for creating an "inappropriate slide presentation." Apparently this is the Gen Alpha equivalent of getting caught passing mea Thinking today of my grandfather, Robert DeBoy, who would've been 100 this year, and who worked for the B&O railroad, where exposure to toxic chemicals led him (and many other rail workers) to develop 8-year-old: I get the window seat on the bus today! 5-year-old: Fine. Then I get it tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow... Me: Just get on the bus Macbeth. We've reached the point in the post-Halloween cycle where it becomes clear which candies my kids don't really like. New @NatureMedicine There appear to be 4 subtypes of #LongCovid from machine learning analysis of 2 large cohorts New (old) houses are like Advent calendars. Except that instead of chocolate or liquor, each day reveals a "fun" surprise like a leaking toilet gasket, shoddy wiring, piles of mouse poop, or mysteriou 5-year-old: Mommy, for Christmas I'm gonna send God presents. Me: How are you gonna do that? 5: I'm gonna send it by mail. Me: But how do you know where God lives? 5: I think it's probably back in Indiana 8-year-old: [looking through one of her old notebooks] I used to be really bad at spelling. Me: Spelling is tough. Some grownups have trouble too. 8-year-old: Really?! Dan: You should see all the spellin 5-year-old: Mommy, look! Can we get this? Me: I don't think we're gonna spend $49 on a fruit basket. 5-year-old: But I just can't resist fruit! I figured I could either spend $5 extra to get the gray snowpants for my 5-year-old, or get the less expensive white ones and wait a week and they'd be gray anyway. #Kids #Parenting
