"You...you...CAPTAIN HOOK!" (meanest name she can think of.)
"I have more boo-beer?" (It's just root beer, I swear!)
"I runned and runned and then I falled and falled."
"Abby have sandwich. BLT, please. And take it apart first." (Not an actual sandwich, bread, bacon, lettuce and tomato on a plate.)
"This house is driving me crazy!"
"Abby wants to go see um. And play um." (Museum with the play area.)
"DADDY'S HOME! Bout time, too."
And all of these AJ-ism's took place in the last hour... My ears are starting to hurt.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
Time...
Time magazine featured a woman breastfeeding her almost four-year-old son this month. I'm sure I'm not the first, nor will I be the last person to blog about this, but I digress. Here is my problem. Not that she is breastfeeding a child who could conceivably prepare his own lunch (hey, my two-year-old can throw together crackers, cheese and grapes if someone opens the child safety lock on the fridge for her), not that she breastfeeds in public (hey, she's had plenty of time to lose the baby weight). Nope, my problem with the ad is that what she appears to be doing is neither nurturing or loving. Hand on her hip, I dare you to tell me I can't attitude. Not holding her child IN ANY WAY. In fact, the ad and everything she seems to say gives the impression that she made her kid go in the other room and get a stool so he could just help himself. To say nothing of the creepy "you'll be next" vibe I get from her kid. I breastfed. Sometimes I did it in public. Sometimes I wore leggings. Occasionally I was even standing up. But I did it not because the world said I shouldn't. I did it because I felt that it was the right choice for me and my children. (Plus, I was too lazy to bottle feed.) Why on earth if you feel so strongly about breastfeeding would you choose to allow a magazine to turn it into something that looks creepy and odd? If you really feel you are making the breast...sorry, BEST...choice for your child then why exploit him? So, long story short (too late) my problem isn't with you breastfeeding your almost four-year-old in public. My problem is that you make all those other breastfeeding mommies (even the lazy ones) look like crazy voyeurs. Way to motivate people to your cause.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Just In Case You Were Wondering...
Yep, that is the title I usually use when I am about to give you my opinion on something, but this time it's more of a thoughtful meandering. And what I'm about to type would probably not win me the popular vote on facebook, but whatever. This morning there was a news story about a dad who made his son wear a sandwich board on a busy street corner that read, "I am in 7th grade and I flunked this semester." A couple of months ago facebook ran wild with people posting a video of a dad who reads a letter his daughter wrote about her parents and then shot a gun into her laptop. Before that it was the mom that posted the ad in the paper selling her son's car because she found an empty beer can in it. Story after story about parents who are choosing to bring their child's misdeeds public in hopes of them understanding the seriousness of their offenses.
Do I think these parents sincerely want their children to succeed, to grow-up to mature adults, to understand the difference between right and wrong? Yes, I really do. But I can't get on board with this stuff and the reason I can't is that in some ways it seems self serving. It almost feels like an eye for an eye. You have embarrassed me, so I will embarrass you. And thanks to technology we can do it on a large scale.
I guess I think about my own children at their current age. When they are hurt by friends is my immediate response "then hurt them back"? No. I try to teach my children that two wrongs don't make a right. Sure, you need to stand up for yourself. If someone hurts you tell them so and why. If it keeps happening then distance yourself from that person because no one has the right to hurt you. But get even? No.
As parents we have to make hard choices. My children have missed birthday parties and sleep-overs do to poor choices. I don't allow them to make excuses for their behavior either. They have had to tell friends that they can't go bike riding because they are grounded. But I have never publicly shamed them for their mistakes because my goal in parenting is not to make them feel bad or humiliate them, it is to train them and teach them.
So now that boy in Miami will probably get better grades. After all, he never wants to go through that kind of embarrassment again. He will never, never forget the day he made the news for being a class clown. So dad won, right? I mean in the end it was worth it to get compliance. The ends justified the means. Or did they? 7th grade...that time when boys start turning to friends instead of to parents. That time when they start figuring out who they are. The time when your kids really need a safe place to stand when they mess up and need help.
As for that mom who sold her son's car, she publicly apologized to her son. She did an interview just to tell the world that he wasn't the one who was drinking, it was his friend. She said that she never expected the story to leave their small town, never expected people to applaud her and turn her into a hero. She told her son she was sorry, not for selling his car (after all, he had been warned that this would happen if he or anyone else drank in it), but for taking a private matter that belonged in their family and making it public.
As for that dad who shot his daughter's laptop... Well, I don't think he "needs to be investigated by CPS just in case he shoots her next". Little ridiculous if you ask me. He never threatened her in any way. He read aloud her letter which sounded like it was written by a overly-dramatic teenage girl who wanted her friends to know how rough she had it. Well, I guess dad just helped her prove her point. Now to her friends she is a martyr. Look at what her dad did to her! And other parents applaud him. You go dad! Don't let that girl walk all over you! Teach her some respect! I'm sure she respects you for humiliating her. For publicly shaming her. For making sure all her friends know how very lucky she is to have a father who loves her enough to take the time to make a video, post it on youtube so the whole world can see how horrible she is.
I guess where I get lost is in the details. If your child had a disagreement with a peer and they were the ones who took out that ad in the paper telling the world how sinful your child was you'd be mad, right? But as a parent it is an effective means of discipline? Jump down my throat all you want to, but I pray constantly that I will never be so angry with my child that I will go from protecting them from all the people who want to hurt them to being one of them.
Do I think these parents sincerely want their children to succeed, to grow-up to mature adults, to understand the difference between right and wrong? Yes, I really do. But I can't get on board with this stuff and the reason I can't is that in some ways it seems self serving. It almost feels like an eye for an eye. You have embarrassed me, so I will embarrass you. And thanks to technology we can do it on a large scale.
I guess I think about my own children at their current age. When they are hurt by friends is my immediate response "then hurt them back"? No. I try to teach my children that two wrongs don't make a right. Sure, you need to stand up for yourself. If someone hurts you tell them so and why. If it keeps happening then distance yourself from that person because no one has the right to hurt you. But get even? No.
As parents we have to make hard choices. My children have missed birthday parties and sleep-overs do to poor choices. I don't allow them to make excuses for their behavior either. They have had to tell friends that they can't go bike riding because they are grounded. But I have never publicly shamed them for their mistakes because my goal in parenting is not to make them feel bad or humiliate them, it is to train them and teach them.
So now that boy in Miami will probably get better grades. After all, he never wants to go through that kind of embarrassment again. He will never, never forget the day he made the news for being a class clown. So dad won, right? I mean in the end it was worth it to get compliance. The ends justified the means. Or did they? 7th grade...that time when boys start turning to friends instead of to parents. That time when they start figuring out who they are. The time when your kids really need a safe place to stand when they mess up and need help.
As for that mom who sold her son's car, she publicly apologized to her son. She did an interview just to tell the world that he wasn't the one who was drinking, it was his friend. She said that she never expected the story to leave their small town, never expected people to applaud her and turn her into a hero. She told her son she was sorry, not for selling his car (after all, he had been warned that this would happen if he or anyone else drank in it), but for taking a private matter that belonged in their family and making it public.
As for that dad who shot his daughter's laptop... Well, I don't think he "needs to be investigated by CPS just in case he shoots her next". Little ridiculous if you ask me. He never threatened her in any way. He read aloud her letter which sounded like it was written by a overly-dramatic teenage girl who wanted her friends to know how rough she had it. Well, I guess dad just helped her prove her point. Now to her friends she is a martyr. Look at what her dad did to her! And other parents applaud him. You go dad! Don't let that girl walk all over you! Teach her some respect! I'm sure she respects you for humiliating her. For publicly shaming her. For making sure all her friends know how very lucky she is to have a father who loves her enough to take the time to make a video, post it on youtube so the whole world can see how horrible she is.
I guess where I get lost is in the details. If your child had a disagreement with a peer and they were the ones who took out that ad in the paper telling the world how sinful your child was you'd be mad, right? But as a parent it is an effective means of discipline? Jump down my throat all you want to, but I pray constantly that I will never be so angry with my child that I will go from protecting them from all the people who want to hurt them to being one of them.
Friday, February 17, 2012
We Don't Yell At This House...
Chris: Okay, now that we are past all that could you please not yell at me when you are mad? It's just gross.
Abby: Okay.
Chris: Okay. And I'm sorry I yelled back. That wasn't okay either.
Abby: Ya. We both yucky daddy.
Abby: Okay.
Chris: Okay. And I'm sorry I yelled back. That wasn't okay either.
Abby: Ya. We both yucky daddy.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Winning...
Z and I were reading Little House on the Prairie and Pa was telling Ma that the town now had around 75 people living in it...
Z: Wow! That's a lot!
Me: Do you know how many children go to your school?
Z: No. How many?
Me: About 850. Just in your school.
Z: WOW! How many oxen do we have?
Me: None...????
Z: So we have more people, but they had more oxen.
Z: Wow! That's a lot!
Me: Do you know how many children go to your school?
Z: No. How many?
Me: About 850. Just in your school.
Z: WOW! How many oxen do we have?
Me: None...????
Z: So we have more people, but they had more oxen.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
I Think He Missed Something...
Me: Time to go and get an education.
Z: No! I don't want an education.
Me: I'm sorry, but you need one.
Z: Is that where you cut my foot off?
Me:...no....that is an amputation. An education is when you learn things.
Z: Oh! Well, that's okay then.
Z: No! I don't want an education.
Me: I'm sorry, but you need one.
Z: Is that where you cut my foot off?
Me:...no....that is an amputation. An education is when you learn things.
Z: Oh! Well, that's okay then.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sunday, October 30, 2011
I Love You Enough...
If I wrote a children's book, it would probably go a little like this...
I love you enough...
To pry the carcass of your dead hermit crab from his shell so you could have it to remember him by.
To forgive you without using the words "next time" or "I told you".
To make you take medicine even when it tastes "like sewer trash".
To investigate that giant crash.
To help you clean up that cookie jar you just broke.
To discipline you for sneaking cookies without permission.
To respect your privacy.
To invade your privacy if you give me a reason to do so.
To let you run around in cowgirl boots and a diaper.
To not take pictures of you wearing only cowgirl boots and a diaper for the sole purpose of showing a future boyfriend.
To tell you the truth even when its hard or uncomfortable.
To know which talks would be better handled by dad.
To sort through pumpkin goo so you can cook the seeds.
To remember that there is a difference between letting you grow-up and forcing you to grow up.
To applaud you for being a big boy even when I kind of still wish you were a baby.
To hold you when you have a rotten day even though you think you are too big for that.
To welcome your friends into our home and make it a place they enjoy hanging out in.
To spoil you with love, affection and time, but not with materials.
To teach the difference between loving people and loving sin.
To teach you to respect authority.
To teach you how to disagree with people in authority while still being respectful.
To let you eat that cookie that fell on the floor.
To not let you drink that chocolate milk that has been in the car for two days.
To let you make your own mistakes, but not at the cost of your safety or well-being.
To pray for you and tell you that I am and why.
To laugh at your jokes.
To lovingly tell you when you are being annoying.
To admire your lego creations even when I'm not sure what they are.
To make you pick up your legos even though you are planning to play with them tomorrow because legos hurt to step on.
To call your disobedience what it is...sin.
To remind you that Jesus died because of sin so you will understand that there is a price to pay for sin.
To tell you over and over and over that Jesus paid that price and that His death made a way for you to spend an eternity with Him.
To never let you forget that while I love you enough to do all these things and more for you, Jesus loves you even more and always will.
I love you enough...
To pry the carcass of your dead hermit crab from his shell so you could have it to remember him by.
To forgive you without using the words "next time" or "I told you".
To make you take medicine even when it tastes "like sewer trash".
To investigate that giant crash.
To help you clean up that cookie jar you just broke.
To discipline you for sneaking cookies without permission.
To respect your privacy.
To invade your privacy if you give me a reason to do so.
To let you run around in cowgirl boots and a diaper.
To not take pictures of you wearing only cowgirl boots and a diaper for the sole purpose of showing a future boyfriend.
To tell you the truth even when its hard or uncomfortable.
To know which talks would be better handled by dad.
To sort through pumpkin goo so you can cook the seeds.
To remember that there is a difference between letting you grow-up and forcing you to grow up.
To applaud you for being a big boy even when I kind of still wish you were a baby.
To hold you when you have a rotten day even though you think you are too big for that.
To welcome your friends into our home and make it a place they enjoy hanging out in.
To spoil you with love, affection and time, but not with materials.
To teach the difference between loving people and loving sin.
To teach you to respect authority.
To teach you how to disagree with people in authority while still being respectful.
To let you eat that cookie that fell on the floor.
To not let you drink that chocolate milk that has been in the car for two days.
To let you make your own mistakes, but not at the cost of your safety or well-being.
To pray for you and tell you that I am and why.
To laugh at your jokes.
To lovingly tell you when you are being annoying.
To admire your lego creations even when I'm not sure what they are.
To make you pick up your legos even though you are planning to play with them tomorrow because legos hurt to step on.
To call your disobedience what it is...sin.
To remind you that Jesus died because of sin so you will understand that there is a price to pay for sin.
To tell you over and over and over that Jesus paid that price and that His death made a way for you to spend an eternity with Him.
To never let you forget that while I love you enough to do all these things and more for you, Jesus loves you even more and always will.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Uncomplicated Prayers...
Stories from the Growing Years By: Arleta Richardson
"Our daughters have gone into business" Sarah Jane announced.
"What kind of business?"
"They're selling prayers."
I don't know what I'd expected to hear, but nothing in my experience had prepared me for this. "They're selling what!?"
"Prayers. Actually, Jessica is selling them. Alma is praying them. And they're dividing the proceeds."
My knees gave way and I sat down in the closest chair. "Maybe you'd better start at the beginning."
"I told you that Alma had assured Jessica that the new baby was a sister because of her prayers. It sounded like too good a talent to waste, so Jess persuaded Alma to pray for a new dress for her before school started. Sam got wind of it and allowed as how he could use a new pocket knife. Alma agreed to give it her best effort. Don't ask me how it happened, but Grandma Clark sent Jessica a dress and Grandpa Charles sent Sam a knife."
"It turned out," Sarah Jane continued, "that since three things that Alma had prayed for were granted, it seemed likely that whatever she asked would be given."...
..."No wonder Jesus said we must become as little children," Sarah Jane said when the girls ran off to play. "We go out of our way to complicate our faith, don't we?"
"Yes," Thomas replied, "With about one-tenth that much, we could change the world."
So...what big prayers are you praying with confidence?
"Our daughters have gone into business" Sarah Jane announced.
"What kind of business?"
"They're selling prayers."
I don't know what I'd expected to hear, but nothing in my experience had prepared me for this. "They're selling what!?"
"Prayers. Actually, Jessica is selling them. Alma is praying them. And they're dividing the proceeds."
My knees gave way and I sat down in the closest chair. "Maybe you'd better start at the beginning."
"I told you that Alma had assured Jessica that the new baby was a sister because of her prayers. It sounded like too good a talent to waste, so Jess persuaded Alma to pray for a new dress for her before school started. Sam got wind of it and allowed as how he could use a new pocket knife. Alma agreed to give it her best effort. Don't ask me how it happened, but Grandma Clark sent Jessica a dress and Grandpa Charles sent Sam a knife."
"It turned out," Sarah Jane continued, "that since three things that Alma had prayed for were granted, it seemed likely that whatever she asked would be given."...
Z prays. A lot. About everything. But one of his most consistent prayers go like this, "Dear Jesus. You are the one true God and you can do anything. Please make Asher get better. Amen." Asher is our friends son who has Cystic Fibrosis. When I wrote about losing our sweet Paxon, that was Asher's baby brother. Well, Asher is getting another brother in March. We are so excited and I could hardly wait to tell the boys. I was able to share the big news yesterday...
October 18th: Today I told Isaac that you were expecting a baby boy. He burst into tears. When he calmed down he explained it to me and I burst into tears."Mommy, when Paxon died I cried and cried because that was Asher's brother. So everyday when I prayed that God would make Asher better I prayed that He would give him another brother, too. And He heard me, mom. Do you know what that means? It means God can make Asher better someday, we just have to keep praying and looking for a cure."
..."No wonder Jesus said we must become as little children," Sarah Jane said when the girls ran off to play. "We go out of our way to complicate our faith, don't we?"
"Yes," Thomas replied, "With about one-tenth that much, we could change the world."
So...what big prayers are you praying with confidence?
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Smart People Joke...
Two men walk into a bar. The first man says, "I'd like some H2O." The second man says, "That sounds good. I'll have some H2O, too." The second man died.
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