Julia Sneden
Julia Sneden was a writer, friend, wife, mother, Grandmother, care-giver and Senior Women Web's Resident Observer. Her career included editorial work for Sunset Magazine, 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios as well as teaching. Julia was a passionate opponent of this country’s educational system, which she felt was floundering. She will be greatly missed as the heart of this website and this editor's friend of fifty years.
Julia Sneden's archive of articles.
Jealousy, The Green-Eyed Monster As Constant Companion
Julia Sneden wrote: Once I finished school and started my own family, I began to envy the working women I knew, who didn't always smell of spit-up, and could afford nice clothes, or decide to see a movie whenever they wanted without worrying about finding a sitter. Back in the workforce after my children were older, I envied youngsters who were off to college, with all those possibilities open before them. And ultimately, of course, it occurred to me to envy retired folk, their lives unstructured or constrained by duties. Well, now I envy anyone who doesn't have to worry about finances, or who don't have bad knees, or extra pounds, or relatives and friends who seem to be dying off wholesale. more »
The Creativity Sweeps: Everything Those Teachers Did, They Did With Flair; They Knew No Bounds
Julia Sneden wrote: A couple of the teachers dragooned some of the mothers to bring their sewing machines to school, to sew up "dinosaur pillows" which were patterned from the children's huge drawings on unfolded newspaper. For the most part, the teachers scorned published educational programs and workbooks that made boring the process of learning, and taught their students directly, thrillingly, energetically and in partnership – which also describes the way the children learned. more »
Simple Things (Really Simple) To Keep Kids Busy, From Age Six to After Fourteen
Julia Sneden wrote: Here are some ideas to engage slightly older children. The same principles pertain: keep a healthy ratio between passive (as in watching videos or TV) and active activities (ones in which the child must use more than his receptive senses; things that involve his body as well as his mind). For older children, I'd suggest being sure you have playing cards, board games like Parcheesi, checkers, chess, and backgammon, and some sports equipment on hand. Editor's Note: At Camp Gray, all 3 grandchildren made pj pants, including our grandson, using our sewing machine. more »
Homing In: Red Doors, a Nisei Landscaper and Walking Neighborhoods
Julia Sneden wrote: The houses in my neighborhood have benefited from the Feng Shui principles, but I'm enough of a chauvinist to feel that there is a certain kind of American Feng Shui which needs no help, and old Southern houses (not mansions, just houses) abound in it. Wide porches; shady settings; big windows; double chimneys; an abundance of shrubs like crape myrtle and azaleas and rhododendrons; large yards and deep set-backs from the streets; basements and attics and wonderful closets; all these and more seem pretty harmonious to me. more »