Monday, September 27, 2010

The world has plumb gone crazy

OK. I have this child, he is almost 4 years old, and I would like to state for the record right now that I would like this world to FIGURE ITS SHIT OUT before I have to launch him into it. Because the evidence so far is everyone out there has gone LOCO.

First there was the guy in New Mexico who decided it was a good idea to kill a dog with a chainsaw. WHILE HIS CHILDREN WATCHED. What level of demented do you have to reach to think, as Cooper would put it, this was a good choice. In fact, this was a series of bad choices with a side order of raving lunatic.

Then there was the mom who was arrested for watching her high school daughter fight a girl from school and coached her while she was fighting. Oh yes, and it was caught on MANY videos, posted on the web and honestly, every person who just stood there while the fight was going on, hooting and hollering, should have been charged with something. Sadly being stupid isn't illegal. Yet. The problem is who gets to decide what is considered stupid.

The woman said she went to the fight, to make sure her daughter wasn't hit in the back of the head by her opponent, as she had sustained a skull fracture, from a "previous incident." I am sorry, WHAT? She didn't go to STOP the fight, but to make sure her daughter, who apparently has a history of getting into "incidents" where she can sustain a skull fracture, didn't get hit in the back of the head. You know, possibly causing more injury. She was arrested on charges of child abuse.

Then on the news this morning was the story of a 14 year old boy in Providence RI who stole a van from a local organization, caused one accident which got the police after him. He refused to stop for the police, and during the pursuit he caused another accident, killing a 9 year old girl and injuring her mother and siblings. And himself.

I am not providing links to these stories as I really don't want to connect to these ridiculous and revolting stories, but they are out there. Google it if you would like.

What is wrong with these people? Why don't they have that thing in their brains, in their souls that says "HEY, this is actually a really bad idea. People will get hurt, I might get hurt, I AM HURTING OTHERS. And hurting others is bad." What happens to someone along the way in their lives that causes them to stop thinking that way?

If I thought moving to a farm in the middle of nowhere would help, I would do it. But it won't. The world has a way of finding its way in, so you need to learn how to deal with it. But I don't know how you explain things like this to a small person. So far I don't have to. He is blissfully unaware that the world can be this wrong. He gets glimpses though. When a little boy he doesn't even know tries to take a toy away from him at the park, Cooper's toy, not a generic it belongs to anyone toy, he sees that people can make bad choices. And it makes him sad and confused. We were at a different park recently, and there was a line to get up a slide. There was a group of little girls who were maybe his age or a bit older, who had no problem just cutting in line in front of whomever they chose. And I could see Cooper working this one out in his head. That it is wrong for HIM to cut and not take turns, but somehow these girls didn't observe the same rules. But they should. You could see he thought that. And eventually one of their parents intervened to support that in fact, they should be waiting their turn, but it was interesting watching how he responded.

But seriously, the world has lost its mind, and I want someone to fix it. Maybe if we all just take that moment before doing something and ask "Is this a good choice" we might, one choice at a time, make a difference. Because let's be honest, I am probably not cut out for raising ALL my own food and living the Laura Ingalls Wilder lifestyle. I need the world I live in right now to be a better place.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Swash Me Buckle, What have ye been doing in here?


Avast! It has been a few weeks since I posted, and you guys have made a mess in here. Me decks need swabbing and the bilge needs, um, bilging. No one has dusted or vacuumed and there are empty rum bottles in the crows nest.

It is Talk Like A Pirate Day. Ahoy!

Things have been hectic and exhausting lately. The opening of the semester was ridiculously busy. We spent the last two weeks hunting down missing students, clearing late arrivals, and generally putting out fires. Everyone is wiped out.

On top of that, Cooper began pre-school. He is still at the same school he has been at since he was 9 months old, but now he is upstairs in the Big Kids room. There are 15 kids in the class, 11 are boys. If I thought *I* was tired, I can only imagine how the teachers of his class feel. I have done day care, and it was the best birth control I could imagine. However, Cooper is having a great time. He gets to take gymnastics once a week in this class. When we get to class in the morning, there are all kinds of activities set out. Most of the time I just want to stay and finger paint or play with trucks too. But not enough that I want to change careers to be a day care teacher again.

In other news, have any of you ever tried growing cabbage? I planted 6 plants months ago. Gus pulled one out and ate it right away. I don't know why. He is a strange dog. But the others have been growing and growing, but have never developed any head. Stop it, all of the adolescent males out there. The picture on the tag shows a standard cabbage head, you know, like a smallish bowling ball. But all I have is a very large plant of loose leaves. It said they should mature within 70 - 85 days, and it has been that long. I am not sure if the leaves are edible, or even tasty. Next year I will have to try a different species.

And when did it become fall? Suddenly it is totally dark out at 7pm and it is dark when we wake up. There is one benefit to that, Cooper stays asleep past 6am. Most of the time. This morning he woke up crying at 5:20 from a bad dream. I have been awake now for almost 4 hours. On a Sunday. We should probably go apple picking or something, but honestly, my whole person just screams "Sit on the couch matey and drink grog." Or tea. Not very piratey but then, neither am I.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Grace in small things

There is a blogger, Schmutzie, who began the idea of noting officially the things for which she is grateful. The little things, because it is the little things that often have the most impact.

My list for this Sunday morning:

1. Cool almost fall mornings that dawn bright, and fresh and crisp.
2. Almost 4 year old boys who tell you "I like you mommy" because sometimes being liked is as important as being loved.
3. Watching a squirrel for two hours this morning methodically climb across the electrical wires, and down the pole with nuts in his/her mouth to bury for the winter. I don't know where they are being buried, but this squirrel is going to be ready when the first snow flies.
4. Coffee.
5. Friends.
6. Coffee is worth mentioning more than once.

Hope you are all having a nice Labor Day weekend.