One must be careful else one's mama bear comes out!

I need to vent for a moment if I may.  My child is not having the best start to his middle school years and as his mama it is hard to watch.  It isn't necessarily that there are any issues just that 2 of his closest friends moved to another school and he just doesn't have a core that I feel you need to survive middle school these days.  He's a good kid. 

Tonight at the dinner table we asked the kids how their days had gone and his was a 5.  He said he would tell me why if I would promise not to do anything about it.  A child, whom he will not tell me their name for fear of my unleashing the sarcastic wrath that is within me, called him a liar.  Apparently a few boys were talking about their weekend and he was saying that he had ridden the new Mountain Coaster that opened up earlier this week.  The boy told everyone that my son was a liar because it wasn't even open yet.  Well.....

Yes, little boy, he did.
So, the conversation moved to roller coasters and what these boys thought the fastest ride was and what was the fastest ride they had ridden.  Well, again, my child is somewhat obsessed with roller coasters and can tell you everything you never wanted to know about roller coasters.  The precious treasure that is attempting to humiliate my son said What's the fastest you have ever gone?!  My child replied 120 mph.  Again he was met with accusations of lying.  Well...

I'm not sure if you have ever been to Cedar Point but we have and it goes 0 to 120 in 4 seconds and yes, small minded individual he has gone 120 miles per hour.  

I'm not sure if this kid is trying to just be mean or what the deal is but I had to release this.  I don't even know why this is making me feel better.  The offender will never even see it, but I am finding myself judging this kid that I don't even know and not liking his parents and I haven't even met them.  Please raise your children to be kind.  It is way more important than being athletic, intelligent, or talented.  Kindness goes way farther than any of those.  

I find myself fantasizing about Tim Howard or some theme park executive showing up at my kids school and giving him the recognition that he deserves for all the fabulous that is within him.  So, if you know Tim Howard, the fantastic soccer goalie, or an executive at a theme park or a roller coaster designer could you send them my way?  Thanks...I feel much better.  

Bully or Jerk....what's the difference?

The word bully seems to be a hot topic these days.  I've said it myself on numerous occasions.  The only thing is I'm not sure I'm using it in the right context.

If you watch the 1950's version of what a bully is what we are dealing with is not that at all.  What we are dealing with are just jerks.  Jerks have been around since the beginning of time and while it would be nice if they would be banished away with a nice celebrity driven campaign it just isn't going to happen.

Do I think there are still bullies?  Sure I do, but that isn't necessarily what I'm seeing.

To me a bully is someone who is never letting up on their victim both verbally and physically humiliating and torturing the poor soul relentlessly.  This should stop.  This to me is a bully.

However, if you are upset because someone disagrees with your point and presents their own and this makes you uncomfortable and you are calling this a bully.  No dear, this is not a bully this is a difference in opinion.  It is normal.  It happens all the time.  If everyone in this world had the exact same opinion this world would be very boring.

If you are calling the person that makes fun of you from time to time a bully this too is not necessarily a bully this my friend is a jerk.  There have been jerks since the beginning of time and if given the chance will prove themselves to be the troll that they are.  People will wise up to them and the teasing or whatever will stop.

There is a phrase.  Hurt people, hurt people.  We have a lot of hurt going around in this world.  Children are being left to raise themselves, or they're being so smothered that they can do no right in their parents eyes.  Adults are not finding satisfaction in their own lives because they are watching overly produced "reality" television shows and becoming depressed that they will never be good enough so if anyone shows any sort of creativity they are jealous of them.

Realize this my friends.  God loves you just as you are.  Stand up to these individuals that make you feel bad about yourself and then remove yourself from them.  If the confrontation does not stop then yes, that is bullying and should be addressed.  Just don't immediately jump to the bullying catch phrase because sometimes a person is not a bully they are just a jackwagon, and the world has a bunch of them.  Jackwagons need love too.  If you don't love a jackwagon they become a bigger jackwagon and breed with a jackwagon and have baby jackwagons.  STOP THE INSANITY!!!

September 11, 2014

I just had the perfect start to this otherwise solemn day.

9/11 has become its own entity it is no longer a date or just some numbers.  If someone says 9/11 ones mind immediately goes to that horrible day in 2001.  If you were old enough you know exactly where you were when it happened and you can give your own living history about what you remember from that day.

Today I chaperoned my daughter's choir to a performance that has been almost a year in the making.  Last veteran's day 2013 the school choir performed for a veteran's day chapel where the guest speaker was a medal of honor recipient.  They sang several patriotic songs, but one in particular stood out.  It was a version of the Grand old flag where the children pull kazoos out of their pockets and kazoo the second verse.  The choir director was actually quite nervous about that part and in no way wanted it to come across that the children were being rude.

Well, she needn't worry.  He loved it!  He told her on that day that the National Medal of Honor convention was going to be held in Knoxville in the fall of 2014 and would they come and sing that same song for the recipients.

Fast forward to today.  I knew all of that back story.  I thought it was a nice that the man had wanted to include the choir but I had no idea.  Being a chaperone I was a member of the Mamarazzi, walking around with no particular duty taking pictures of everything and anything and I overheard some people talking about how excited they were to hear the children sing.  They were calling them the kazoo kids.  When they finally practiced their kazoo song the man next to me clapped and laughed and clapped some more.  He turned to me and said "That's awesome!!"

Now, of course I think that everything my children do is fabulous, but I'm not one of those mom's that thinks that everything my children touch is sacred so I mean it was okay and all but awesome?  He turned to me and said do you know who they are?  I said Well, yes.  I'm with them.  He said Do you realize that they have been on the schedule before there was a schedule?  The kazoo kids had been talked about all during the planning process of this convention about how great their song was, and then here it was the time to perform.

It has been so busy lately that it wasn't until the master of ceremonies had us pause for a moment of silence to remember 9/11 that I even realized it was 9/11.

In that room this morning were those that had given so greatly for their country, and there were children that are the hope of this countries future.  It was humbling.

There are still good people in this world, there is still hope in this world.  Adults still get excited about kazoo songs. 9/11 will always be solemn to me but today I got to see a representation of not only selflessness but also of hope for the future.  It's a good day.

Downs syndrome is important.

I read an article today.  I'm not going to reference the author as I feel his opinion is not worthy of repeating.  I will explain that it is his opinion that all downs syndrome pregnancies should be terminated and the mother should "try again".

I guess I should start by telling you that I grew up with a father who worked with special needs individuals.  Downs syndrome was just one of the many circumstances that I was exposed to on a daily basis.  It was always my experience that the people that had downs syndrome were the most loving friendly people I would meet.  They don't seem to have the fear of someone not liking them and will automatically be kind and welcoming.  They will come right up to you and start a conversation.  There is no game playing or sizing up, there is just friendliness.

I have a real problem that this "expert" feels that a person with downs syndrome is not worthy of a life. Who is he to say who is worthy or unworthy?  Who exactly does he feel should be able to live?  Downs syndrome people can have very fulfilling lives and more importantly they bring unconditional love to those around them.  I would submit that maybe the families that are lucky enough to receive a downs syndrome child needed their assistance to be shown love.

I miss my Grandparents on a daily basis, mainly because of the unconditional love that I was shown.  No matter how long it had been since my last visit or call they were there with open arms happy to see me.  I don't have that element in my life currently, not many of us do.  Most people are so busy running around just trying to survive that they forget about what is important.

Downs syndrome people seem to have what is important down pat.  They might not have the fine motor skills that most people their age have but I wouldn't say that this little tidbit is a reason that they should not be given a chance at life.

The world is made up of many different kinds of people, it takes all of these people to make the world go around.  To use a food reference take a cookie.  A cookie is made up of several different ingredients.  If you were to leave out one of those ingredients the cookie would not turn out as well as it should.  I will submit that in a chocolate chip cookie downs syndrome people are the chocolate chips.  It would still be a cookie if you took them out , but life wouldn't be anywhere near as sweet.