More things to remember

when navigating your vehicle

1. You do not have to STOP for public transportation- it is NOT a school bus.

2. You DO have to stop for ambulances, police cars and firetrucks.

3. Unless they are on the other side of a divided highway (do not think they are going to speed across the grass, into the 2 foot dip and through that fence, so do you really need to stop?).

4. There is no law saying that I HAVE to turn right on red, so if I cannot see to safely turn, I am not going to. SO stop blowing your *&(_*@&#(*&$ horn at me.

5. If you need to pull in and out of the parking spot 5 times so that you can BACK your big ol' truck into the spot, maybe you should really not park there, or park front end in first.

6. I do not need or want to listen to your musical selections while pumping my gas. Turn off your stereo, or turn it down. Have you ever wanted to pump gas with polka music playing just to confuse folks?

Things to Remember......

when Christmas shopping (for those of you who forget)

1. If you park your cart in the middle of an aisle and your ass is wider than the cart, you WILL be in some one's way.

2. The cashier does not care about your life story, who you are buying for or that blue is your grand son's favorite color. she cares that the line behind you is 12 customers deep.

3. Please refrain from talking loudly and swearing nonstop into your blue tooth. First of all, you look like you are crazy and talking to yourself. Second, this is Macy's, not your living room.

4. You know what store you are in and that you are about to pay for your crap. Find your wallet and coupons BEFORE you get in line.

5. Do not stand in line at the food court and talk to someone on your cell phone about what they want to eat while you are ordering. The people behind you KNOW what they want and want you to get out of the way.

6. You are not the only one in a hurry or under time constraints and a budget. SO shut up!

Bullies

have been in the news a lot lately. We have all been touched in some way by a bully. Whether it was yourself as a victim, or your child, a friend or cousin. You may have even been the bully at some point. It is sad and wrong and we all know it.

But I am going out on a limb here. Are we as a culture encouraging it? Kids are not learning social skills, our media rich and too busy way of life does not promote interaction, empathy or unity. Too many are self absorbed and seem to not notice the people around them. Now there is a huge focus on the terrible things that bullies do, giving them attention and power. There lies the problem. You can create rules and laws to punish bullies and try to prevent the torment. But you cannot make people be nice. Some just get pleasure from being mean.

The second piece of the problem is that we do not want our children to have a difficult time. We have protected them from everything that may hurt their self-esteem to the point that some have not developed a sense of self-preservation. These children become victims. I would like to see more "anti-victim" programs. Instead of trying to teach kids to not bully, teach them to stick up for themselves and their friends. To walk away. To think that if I do not react, the mean guy has no power. Avoid being the victim. If you are with a bully, tell them you cannot be friends with them. Stop giving bullies the power and the tools to hurt others. Your child cannot be cyber bullied if there are limits to internet and cell phones.

It is hard to do, it really is. Bullying is human nature and will not go away. But you can take away their power.

Thought Provoking......

I am reading an article about the need for preK in the middle class.  OK, I am "middle" class, I have young children and I have taught preK.  I can see what they mean- the cite one family in which the first born went to a church nursery school 2 days per week and the second son, who had special needs, qualified for services daily.   The older child was behind in the first grade- he couldn't keep up.  The second was right on target for every benchmark.  Interesting. 

My first thought is about how much kindergarten and first grade have changed over the years- even since I first started teaching.  We are doing things much earlier than in past years.  Why?  Who are we trying to keep up with?  What are we trying to prove by removing the fun from childhood and replacing it with serious academia?  I think we are hurting our future rather than helping it.  By going faster, we are stressing our children while removing curiosity, wonder and thought.  We cram phonics and math down their throats for 7 hours a day before they are 6 years old, then complain that they are not critical thinkers or good writers in the 6th grade.  And why can't they think, problem solve and write.  No one has ever expected them to.  We are demanding a skyscraper, but failing to build a deep and sturdy foundation.  A mighty oak would blow over in a breeze without strong, deep roots.  Children are very much the same.

My second thought is this- why are one group of children (special needs, ESL, etc) given priority over another (gifted, average, slightly but not significantly delayed, etc)?  Why does one group get rescued while another is ignored?  ALL children have special needs at one time or another.  Every child is worthy of being taught in the best way for THEM.  Tests and "programs" are not personal.  Teaching a test, or following the teacher's guide to the letter benefits no one.  Teachers are not allowed to be creative or to even see the individual child because they are teaching standards, teaching to raise test scores, teaching the masses........

We as a nation need to stop this way of thinking.  No Child Left Behind  was a horrible concept.  Please, please look past numbers and keeping up with another culture and look at our precious and most valuable resources before they are lost.

lunch programs

I am not an Obama fan.  The First Lady just rubs me the wrong way- so sue me.  But, being the Libra that I am, I must see good in everyone and will give credit where it is due.  I feel the need to commend Michelle Obama for her decision to include a kitchen garden at the White House.  Hopefully she has an idea about the crap we Americans eat.  And I hope she realizes the power she has to help share that with fellow Americans.  Healthy food is not for the elite.  Ironically, when I was growing up such healthy foods were "poor people" food (my brothers words, not mine).  We ate from a garden and rarely had processed foods.  I don't even really remember having much cheese around until I was in middle school.  

Which brings me to another point.  I would love to see a high profile parent (are you listening Mrs. First Lady) make school lunches a priority.  We are so insistent that kids will only eat nuggest and pizza that all we are willing to give them is the crap we know they will eat.  We will have a generation of adults that do not know what a real piece of food looks like.  Are we doing this because it is easier or cheaper?  It is certainly NOT because it is healthier or the only things children will eat.  

Other cultures do not share this mentality and their children eat fish, seaweed, beans, veggies, fresh fruit........  I have officially decided that I will no longer order of the kids' menu for my kids (as much as possible any way- if they cannot share, adult portions are too large and expensive for little guys).  I have been fighting a battle all their lives to get my kids to appreciate real food.  I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.  If I could go back, I would have kept giving Helen what we were eating even though she threw it on the floor.  She would have eventually eaten what she was given.  I also wish I had never given them anything but water and milk to drink.  Zachary will drink water, but Helen would rather dehydrate than drink it.

Maybe following their trip to Europe, Mrs. Obama will recognize the need for this country to stop buying into big agriculture and the determination that children need such processed foods in their every day lives.  It needs to begin in the home, but school is  setting a terrible example.  I taught in a headstart type program in Georgia.  Our food funding really had no room for all processed foods.  We may have had the occasional nugget or pizza bagel, but we had more real chicken and dumplings, beans, home made meatloaf, fresh baked bread, fresh fruit......  And the kids ate it, especially the ones who told me "my grandma cooks like this".  Food for thought, people.  Feed your kids well.

Battered Women

Unless you live under a rock, you have probably at least heard about Chris Brown and Rihanna.  This report indicates that the police have leaked pictures of her face to the press.  The girl needs her privacy right now, and she needs time to process her thoughts and heal.  That said, I do hope that she decides to speak out in the future.  She can do so much good if she does.  I hear young girls who think it is OK to be abused by their boyfriends and it makes me sad.  They think that such treatment means he really cares, or that they deserve it.  If they see that this beautiful, talented girl was abused and says it is NOT OK, maybe they will listen.  

As our country is facing greater and greater crisis and turmoil, this problem is going to get worse.  And most girls and women do not Rihanna's resources to get out and get help.  This issue is close to my heart- please take the time to find out more and perhaps, help someone.  

That said- if you are the kind of person to make false allegations so that you can get a leg up against your ex-spouse, then shame on you.  You know who you are.

This makes me mad

Nadya Suleman wanted a "huge" family.  Well, a lot of us do.  And guess what, we show restraint when we realize that we cannot afford to raise them.  How can an unmarried person with fertility problems justify IVF to conceive 14 children?   How will she raise them?  With the charity and mercy of others, that is how.  I have worked in day care where I had 8 babies (and they were not newborns- most states limit that age to 2 per adult).  It is a lot of work.  There is never a down time, because someone always wants something, someone is always awake.  And that doesn't even factor in the emotional investment when one is dealing with one's own children.  Your own will wear you our faster than someone else's!

I just get angry when people have babies like they are accumulating a collection.  Maybe Ms. Suleman needs to meet ****.  They probably have a lot in common.

idiot........

Who would name their child Hitler?  And then be offended that no one in the bakery wanted to imprint his name in frosting?  There are just some names one should avoid....typically mass murderers, serial killers and fascists should be avoided.  Dumb ass.

Advent Conspiracy

Watch this.  It will make you think.  Whether you are religious, or not, you can do more for the world than you realize.  

Which brings me to another thought.  Why is it that people think that liberal still equals "progressive" and "free"?  I am not extreme right wing, not even close, but I just wonder.  Why is it in a capitalist society, where "small business" used to be the back bone, we are forced to give our hard earned money to bail out failing BIG businesses, who quite obviously still don't know how to budget or manage money?  Why can;t failing companies just fail, like in the old days.  The market crashed in 1929.  It sucked, people were scared.  Our country suffered.  But we recovered and thrived.   Our government will have spent much money to save failing businesses, while the "little guys" continue to struggle.  

And, government cannot mandate morals, folks.  Do we all need laws to do the right thing?  Or do we need to just turn over everything to someone else, let them tell us what is right?  Even in the last 10 years, the changes in schools are scary.  Children are no longer individuals.  They are a "standard".  Being gifted is a bad thing.  Too busy trying to water down the curriculum so that no one gets left behind to challenge the smart ones.  Where is the balance?  We are trying to force little bodies to sit in desks and learn what the tests require, no matter what their learning style or abilities.  Too few children are appreciated for who they are.  Hell, too few of anyone is these days.  You must guard every word that is spoken or written because you might offend (censorship, or sensitivity, you tell me?).  Unless of course you are insulting Southerners, fat people or Christians, then they are fair game.  "Stupid fat redneck Biblethumper...."  see, that is OK.  

I am rambling and I need to get ready for work, but I had to rant a bit this morning.

Does it ever end?

Guess what, doing what we were told is messing stuff up........The article  here says that driving less, buying more efficient cars, etc. is going to hurt roads and research for alternative sources.  I know my sister and I had a conversation about how when gas prices finally go down, people will go back to their bad habits.  This is kind of in keeping.  I actually agreed with what BO said in the article.  We do need to realize that this crisis can and will happen again if we, as a country, ignore it.  As my mama says- there are too many smart people in this world for them not to find another source of fuel.  I suggested poop, which seems to be in abundance in my neighborhood (no on picks up at the playground), but I was laughed at.  Maybe we can get those cool garbage cars like in Back to the Future.......

As far as the roads are concerned- the old saying goes- don't count your chickens before they hatch.  Don't count on unlimited funds from bad habits to fund the world.  Case in point, cigarettes cost SO much that people have stopped smoking.  Now the tax money from smokey sales are drying up and     everyone is in a panic in Maryland.  Well, don't fund your schools on the vices (slot machines, smoking, lottery tickets) of adults. I'm just saying........

Why I don't Eat Meat & other Notions

I have been on again/off again for several phases of my life. The most recent transformation came about 3 years ago while trying to figure out what was wrong with my child.  And I  recently had someone challenge me and it made me think about some things.  Namely, what I feel I am doing right, plus what I need to do better.  I have gotten a little lax about some issues.

Once again, here is the list:

1. Factory farming is wrong- it is abusive to the animals and the landscape.

2. You can a live a long healthy life without consuming animals.

3. If everyone went without meat one day per week, the world would be much nicer- I am picking up the slack for 6 other people.

4. I could no longer live with the guilt of eating a living critter.

As for my "green-ness"-

1. I don't really recycle. I do save all the paper to take to the bin at school. We are paid per pound.

2. I don't buy juice boxes and other single serving food items. Bulk is cheaper, less packaging and less garbage.  My children rarely eat school lunch because a) the food is cheap and processed and b) there is much waste involved with the paper goods and such.  They use a great lunchbox.

3. I own an SUV. It was the compromise. It was also the one that got the best MPG in our price range. I combine trips, regulate tire pressure, etc. to decrease consumption. Not as good as my old Honda (42 highway, TYVM), but better than my old Ford Taurus wagon.

4.  I make drinks from concentrate and/or powders in my own pitcher and everyone has a SIGG.  I prefer my own tap water.  I almost always take my own coffee.

5.  We try to keep energy use down, we changed the hot water heater,  bought a new fridge, changed to florescent bulbs, turn off and unplug what is practical.

6.  My kids are the ones walking around picking up trash on beaches and campsites.  Cool.

7. I buy local and in season as much as possible.

Social justice-

1.  I donate regularly to my church and the school.

2.  We give to the local food bank, Birth Right, Goodwill, Value Village, the county pound (every year on Ozzy's birthday) and various missions.  David gives blood monthly (platelets).  

3.  My children make bag lunches for the homeless every month (they shop, make sandwiches, decorate the bags); they make Christmas boxes for Samaritan's Purse every Christmas (not the best organization, but the children love making the boxes).

4.  The children's outgrown snow boots, hats, gloves, etc. are sent to the Appalachian region every winter.

5.  My clothes are given to a battered women's shelter.

6. Helen has participated in the Polar Bear Plunge for Special Olympics since she was 4.  This past January was Zachary's first year.

7.  We believe that it is our responsibility to take care of those in need.

What I need to do different:

1. I need to spend less money on stuff I don't need.

2.  I need to reduce the amount of things that go into the garbage.

3.  I need to completely eliminate dairy from my diet again.

4.  I need to be more prudent in purchases of health/beauty items that are tested on animals and packed in wasteful packaging.

So thank you, friend, for making me think.  I get pretty set in my ways, it is good to have a challenge.  I am trying to raise good children to become good adults.  My faith is strong, stronger than I realized.  Some may look down on the Catholic faith, but I think it does more good than harm (no priest jokes, please).   All religions have had a share of ills; no one thing is truly perfect.  If my life circumstances had been different, I think I would have ended up in a hut somewhere raising goats for the poorest of the poor and teaching them to read.  I just always had too much to walk away from- too many responsibilities and relationships.  Maybe when I'm 60.

According to this article , fast food commercials are making kids fat.  Silly me, I though actually EATING the food and then sitting around on your RUMPUS made you fat........  What was I THINKING?

crapspackle

I am in a weird mood. My ears are hot. I am hungry and could eat most of that pizza I ordered, but that would be wrong. And fattening. I cannot eat salad when I am cold. Except my ears, which are hot. If I could put ice packs on my ears I would. If I google "hot ears" I get nothing. I want to go to bed, but can't because the kids are still up. So now I am just rambling on about junk.

But, I did get to ramble on about animals today. A coworker asked why I was a vegetarian. I was happy to share. I don't think I changed their lives, but there was enlightenment. I'll spare you all the lecture.

Open Letter to ****

Dear ****,

Grow up. Mature people do not place their children in the middle of their problems. Your kid is still a kid, who loves the people you have decided to hate. It is not to spite you and you will not turn her against anyone but yourself. Why can't you be happy that she has so many who love her? Do you really think that because YOU and only YOU labored for 30 hours to bring her into this world, YOU and only YOU are allowed to care about her, give her a birthday gift or make her a cake? Well, OK, then no one else can do anything for my son because I am the one who went into preterm labor, took about 427 shots of insulin, checked my blood sugar 1120 times, sat through 20 biophysical profiles, two amnios, a c-section and 7 days on life support. Oh, don't forget the twice daily meds for the past 5 years. I am the only one who did that, so no one can look at him. Or talk to him. He's mine. See how fucking stupid that is? Grow up.

Susan

First Day of School and a food rant

Well, I just sent my baby off to kindergarten. It wasn't the least bit awful- it was much harder sending Helen to preschool. Zachary has been counting down days for a week now. He was up at 6:15 and dresses to the shoes. He had put his belt and socks in his locker last night, lol. Helen did not share his enthusiasm, however. She did ask me to put her hair in ponytails and was ready to go before 7:30, but give it couple of days, lol. She did seem happy that Zachary was going with her. She loves him more than she admits. They both seem glad I will be there today. I need to leave in a minute, though.

Here is the rant I promised. Interesting article here. It seems that fast food isn't really of the devil, the sit down chains are. McDonald's, while still not my favorite place, has the best nutritional stats of any of the chains, fast or otherwise. Some of the other establishments burgers contain an entire day's worth of calories. I don't know about FAT, but I'm sure that, along with sodium, is sky high. It is time these eateries feel the heat and wrath that McDonald's did a few years ago......... COMPLAIN, DAMMIT. We Americans need to speak up or don't eat in theses places. You could actually be risking your very life........

More food shenanigans

Just read this article as linked by Jennifer over at Vegan Lunchbox. The article indicates that snack food choices are changing. It is good thing as more children are snacking on fruit, yogurt and water rather than soda and cookies. Even Cookie Monster is in on the change!

Now, what I would like to see is this. Get all that sugar, food coloring, candy and gelatin out of that yogurt. Fruit snacks and roll ups are very popular with the under 10 set, but are really glorified candy. My kids love these, and they are fruit, but oh so difficult to find, and pricey compared to the $1 box of candy fruit snacks. Times are a changin..... that's a good thing. But don't forget we are responsible for reading labels and making decisions, not the guys who make money peddling snacks.

Food is still pissing me off

Milk prices

Crop rotation

Iowa flooding

OK, so milk price are rising due to the cost of grain for feed, corn prices are up because of fuel demands, etc., poor soil is blamed for flooding..... It all goes back to the government and big business controlling the world's food. Get a clue- feed the cattle GRASS! Feed the grain and corn to people. Conserve the fuel we have and utilize our own resources. The fact that farmers are getting top dollar for soy and corn and growing little else is going to kill us. These foods are finding their way into every processed food in the store. So is milk. Don't believe it, go read some labels. There are chemicals in food that are so far removed from corn that you cannot even call it corn, yet it is there. You absolutely cannot avoid it. Soy is almost as bad, and dairy is right behind it. Why? you ask. Well, it all goes back to the government. After WW2 it was decided that it would be a good idea to pay farmers for certain crops (soy, corn). SO the very lessons I learned back in the 4th grade about soil conservation and crop rotation were forgotten. In fact, many "new" farmers don't even understand how to do it. You grow certain crops on certain fields and ROTATE them. You put cows out to pasture. Any five year old knows that. They eat grass, they have babies, they make milk. Which gets me off on another tangent. WHO decided that all this milk was required? Oh, that would be the National Dairy Council. So, really we are ruining our land and food supply to feed the wrong food to an animal that we put on a cement lot and artificially impregnate so it will continue to make milk for us humans instead of the calf it births, which is subsequently taken from her and fed by a bottle until it is sold for food or can make its own milk, continuing the bizarro world cycle we have created. Now a substitute a human female into that scenario and see how very odd it is. We are the only species that continues to drink/eat milk after early childhood AND we take that from another species. Sounds f'd up when you think about it.

Here is my fix- stop buying processed foods. Buy as much locally grown food as you can. Stop consuming dairy, be picky about how your meat lived and died. Farmers- stop looking for the fast buck. Think in the long term. Man has cultivated crops for centuries. It is what domesticated us (David says it was beer, but man still had to grow grain and hops). For centuries it has been known that you cannot keep growing the same thing over and over. You must grow crops seasonally and mix it up. Don't put all your soy beans in one basket. This "new" method of farming has only been around since the 1940's. See what it has already done. It hasn't even been one hundred years. The damage can be repaired, but it will require change. Everyone has complained that organic costs more, grass fed beef costs more (which actually the cost is reflective of the SLAUGHTER, not the growing, fyi), yadda yadda. But I spent $72 at the grocery store this afternoon. What did I get? My "splurge" was some deli ham. The rest- fruit, bread, veggies. It didn't go far. I plan to frequent the farmer's markets in the coming weeks and I will not be buying a lot of things that I normally buy. I am guilty as the next gal with the dairy life without cheese isn't the same.

I remember as a child we didn't drink milk and juice constantly. We lived on water and, of course, iced tea. Meat wasn't the huge portion we think of today, and sometimes in the summer, nonexistent. We ate a lot of things that came from the garden. We ate beans and rice. My mom "put up" countless cans and jars of produce and preserves. My kids need to get over their food issues and eat what is given to them. Period. I will let you all know how it goes. It starts on Monday, dang it.

Disturbing

I heard about this on the radio this morning and then read this. I am in shock. I've been having a hard enough time with my daughter's questions lately, and then to think this was still a problem. I can see how it was an issue back in Covington, GA circa 1985. There was no AIDS, nothing better to do than either fool around with boys or get drunk down at the train trustle (or both), but in 2008? My 8 year old asked me the other day if you could have baby before you get married. Well, since the neighbor never married her baby daddy (who is currently in jail for the 3rd time in 6 years) and is now shacking up with her newest fella, I had to say, "you can, but it isn't the way you're supposed to do it." I told her how you're supposed to fall in love, then get married and have family together and asked "don't you like having a Daddy?". Then she told me that other little girls in the 'hood said they were going to have babies before they get married. What a goal. I understand if you're 25 and shit happens. I don't get PLANNING your life that way when you're 8 YEARS OLD. Do their parents know? Do they care? Both families I am talking about were the result of unplanned teen pregnancies, one got married the other did not. Maybe I need to get some new playmates for my kid. Or move. On the boy end of things I have gotten criticism from another mother that my son is not circumcised. She preaches that circumcision helps prevent STD's and AIDS. I told her that I plan to teach him to be careful where he puts it instead of whacking off his foreskin. What is wrong with teaching morality and being choosy? I am not even talking abstinence for God, I am talking about waiting until you are ready and love some one enough to share yourself. Sex is a gift, not a joke.

Food Scares the Slop out of Me

I know I tend to be dramatic and all that. I get all weirded out by shit that doesn't matter. But I have serious concerns about our nation's food supply. In the interest of "more" we have sickened ourselves.

Some like to argue that to change our ways would cause people to starve. I say crap to that. How are we starving when we as a culture grow more than enough calories to feed ourselves. The problem lies in WHAT we are growing and HOW we are using it. Corn is a cash crop. Too much is being grown. This surplus is NOT being used to feed starving orphans in third world countries. It is being used to make corn syrup to sweeten products that used to call for sugar. Cows are using it for food. Really. I knew when I was 5 that cows eat grass. Corn cannot be digested by cows, as they have 4 stomachs and the seeds create gas and bloating. This feed makes the cows gain weight and go to slaughter much faster. Good thing because they cannot survive the corn diet for very long without antibiotics. And contrary to what one might think, the drugs are not given to the sick cows. They are given to every cow. The other white meat doesn't fair much better.

Now we have funky tomatoes. I promise that when the source is discovered, the public will not be informed, just as it was with the spinach last year. And the dog and cat food. How many of you knew that part of the problem was MELAMINE? Go on, raise your hands. Not many, huh? I thought dishes were made from melamine. I didn't know that it is an FDA approved form of protein. Hmmmmmmm. Scary.

I have no idea where I am going with this, I just know that people in this country need to get mad. Get fed up. Wonder why we have so much disease, obesity, autism, ADHD...... What are we doing to ourselves and what are we allowing people who are only interested in profit do to our food supply? Wake up and smell the fair trade coffee.

More Junk

Yet another recall for China........ a bunch of tops and tin sand pails have been recalled. And these were sold in specialty shops, not "dollar" stores. Kudos to Walmart for announcing they were going to be more diligent about items sold in their stores. But how about this, instead of buying a bunch of "cheap" toys, why not elect to buy fewer, higher quality toys.

I am planning to make some things to go with Helen's baby doll. She also wants a cradle. I am thinking perhaps a vintage wooden one from Ebay or a locally made one. I am not sure about Zachary, but I am thinking of a few things, including real sports equipment, not Little Tykes. Maybe a pass to Port Discovery. In our overall guilt about not being with our children, as a nation we are buying them more stuff they don't even have time to enjoy. Instead of working over time to buy lead paint and plastic, why don't we refurbish some older toys. Make something. Buy tickets to a basketball game or passes to the local zoo. These do make good gifts and the memories will last longer than the novelty of a pile of toys. Less is indeed more.

We don't need "more" at a cheaper price. This is misleading, people. We are spending more than ever trying to save money. This doesn't just apply to toys. It applies to furniture, food, cars, electronics..... The list could go on and on. Don't fall for it.