We're gonna do it anyway, so why not showcase some of our talent, uh er our hard earned efforts in the pumpkin carving/decorating category.
How about it ladies?
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Which one to pick?
Mrs. McGillicutty over at the RHOK is asking:
What is your favorite John Hughes movie and why?
What is your favorite John Hughes movie and why?
OK...less drama. I'd have to say Miracle on 34th St. I know there's no teenage angst here. One of the best Christmas movies ever. And when you get tired of "I triple dog dare you!," there's always this great classic.
But then there's also Pretty in Pink, and Some Kind of Wonderful, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off too.
Is four enough because really, one was too many
Four young teenagers dead.
One high school.
Mentor, OH.
Mentor High School.
Four teenagers bullied to death at one high school? Incredulous that no one could keep them safe. Horrible that they couldn't feel accepted.
All four of these students were good looking kids. One had a learning disability. One was even hated enough that she was taunted and laughed at in her casket at her wake. Despicable.
Mentor, OH is not a rough town. This school received an Excellent rating from the state. What is going on not just in OH, but everywhere?
School administrators and teachers are not standing up against or in the way of bullying. In fact, they're leading the way.
I attended the orientation meeting at the local high school where one of my children attend. The administrators addressed the usual parent orientation topics: dress code, attendance, grade reporting etc.
The part about the dress code was interesting. The administrator put up a picture of Benjl Madden (I doubt he even knows who Benji is) to show what a student shouldn't look like at school. Benji is tattooed and pierced. The face piercing is what the administrator was highlighting and said to the crowd jokingly, "How'd you like your daughters to bring this home?" First of all, Mr. Madden is NOT a high school student and is a grown man and may very well be a nice person. Who knows? Are we supposed to pass judgement on him because of he way he looks? Yep. We should publicly ridicule and make fun of him too. That's what every student in that audience was just shown an example of--if you're different than the accepted norm, you have to pay for it.
At another recent school assembly the administrator again brought up an ongoing issue at the school--hair color. It's against the rules for students to dye their hair any color that isn't natural. That's fine. Don't have a problem with this. The administrator then went on to call out publicly a student who'd already been disciplined for having hair color, in the student assembly, by first and last name, "Isn't that right ____________ _____________?" Every student in the assembly then turned to this student to gawk. The turn of bodies and then the dead silence that followed broke my heart. The student's hair was mostly dark brown with a three to four inch bleached part of bangs on one side of the head. No color involved. What gave this administrator the right to call this student out publicly? The fact this student was different. Different is persecuted publicly. This was the second example the students saw of this at this particular school.
So now, when they go and carry out this persecution themselves, we know why. It's what they're taught.
How many more kids need to die before we stop this behavior. Is four enough, because really, one was too many.
One high school.
Mentor, OH.
Mentor High School.
Four teenagers bullied to death at one high school? Incredulous that no one could keep them safe. Horrible that they couldn't feel accepted.
All four of these students were good looking kids. One had a learning disability. One was even hated enough that she was taunted and laughed at in her casket at her wake. Despicable.
Mentor, OH is not a rough town. This school received an Excellent rating from the state. What is going on not just in OH, but everywhere?
School administrators and teachers are not standing up against or in the way of bullying. In fact, they're leading the way.
I attended the orientation meeting at the local high school where one of my children attend. The administrators addressed the usual parent orientation topics: dress code, attendance, grade reporting etc.
The part about the dress code was interesting. The administrator put up a picture of Benjl Madden (I doubt he even knows who Benji is) to show what a student shouldn't look like at school. Benji is tattooed and pierced. The face piercing is what the administrator was highlighting and said to the crowd jokingly, "How'd you like your daughters to bring this home?" First of all, Mr. Madden is NOT a high school student and is a grown man and may very well be a nice person. Who knows? Are we supposed to pass judgement on him because of he way he looks? Yep. We should publicly ridicule and make fun of him too. That's what every student in that audience was just shown an example of--if you're different than the accepted norm, you have to pay for it.
At another recent school assembly the administrator again brought up an ongoing issue at the school--hair color. It's against the rules for students to dye their hair any color that isn't natural. That's fine. Don't have a problem with this. The administrator then went on to call out publicly a student who'd already been disciplined for having hair color, in the student assembly, by first and last name, "Isn't that right ____________ _____________?" Every student in the assembly then turned to this student to gawk. The turn of bodies and then the dead silence that followed broke my heart. The student's hair was mostly dark brown with a three to four inch bleached part of bangs on one side of the head. No color involved. What gave this administrator the right to call this student out publicly? The fact this student was different. Different is persecuted publicly. This was the second example the students saw of this at this particular school.
So now, when they go and carry out this persecution themselves, we know why. It's what they're taught.
How many more kids need to die before we stop this behavior. Is four enough, because really, one was too many.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
What to wear: Halloween Dilemma
Think back to the simple days. It's Halloween and you want to go trick-or-treating and your costume is what was on your bed earlier that day--a sheet for a ghost costume and a pillow case for your candy. Ok. Maybe it wasn't always that simple, but my Halloween wear did come from something around the house.
These days we have Halloween superstores. Costumes are $30 or more. These costumes look a little "porny" especially for women and young girls. You want to dress as a referee---well you could referee the skank games in this outfit. You thought about being a fairy? This fairy has more that just her wings showing in this costume.
I have two young teen girls and most of these costumes are showing too much! The skirt barely covers the butt and the top doesn't have enough coverage either. The themes are totally inappropriate. Want to be Alice in Wonderland? Well this is pin-up Alice in Wonderland. And I'm being nice when I call it that.
Halloween is quickly becoming "Skankoween." Both my husband and I like dressing up too. In fact, we have a wedding to go to this Halloween. Notice the invitation said "Come Dressed to Kill," and not "Come Dressed to Shoot a Porno."
Somebody get me a sheet!
These days we have Halloween superstores. Costumes are $30 or more. These costumes look a little "porny" especially for women and young girls. You want to dress as a referee---well you could referee the skank games in this outfit. You thought about being a fairy? This fairy has more that just her wings showing in this costume.
I have two young teen girls and most of these costumes are showing too much! The skirt barely covers the butt and the top doesn't have enough coverage either. The themes are totally inappropriate. Want to be Alice in Wonderland? Well this is pin-up Alice in Wonderland. And I'm being nice when I call it that.
Halloween is quickly becoming "Skankoween." Both my husband and I like dressing up too. In fact, we have a wedding to go to this Halloween. Notice the invitation said "Come Dressed to Kill," and not "Come Dressed to Shoot a Porno."
Somebody get me a sheet!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Cyberbullying...uh parents!!!!
You know I'm getting tired of hearing about cyberbullying. I'm heart broken when I hear of another young person who's taken their life because of some crap that's been said or video that's been posted on a social networking site. What do we do? Not all kids are impervious to the harsh and mean words of others. Parents! Hellooooo...talking to you now.
The first thing we need to do as parents is be real. Our children are NOT perfect little angels. Even though we'd like them to be perfect--it's not happening. I never say my child would NEVER do something because as soon as I do he/she would do that very thing. If someone tells you your child is bullying you have a duty as a parent to find out if it's true and do something about it if your child is indeed being mean to others. I'm sick to death of hearing parents say, "Oh my kid would never do that." Get over yourself. I had to do it, and so can you. Plus, no one wants to hear how perfect you think your child is. GAG.
Second as parents we need to be aware. If your child (as long as they're under your roof or you're paying for their college) has a page on a social networking site be aware of what's on it. I have the ability to log on to all three of my children's pages. I see what they write and have set limits. If they post something I deem unacceptable, it has to be deleted. If they keep posting unacceptable things, then they know the whole page will be deleted. Recently my middle child, who's in high school, deleted her page because she said she was "tired of reading about all the fighting." She saw it has a negative in her life and got rid of it. Sometimes we have children who are not wise enough to do this for themselves and as parent we have to step in and do it for them. Also, there are programs out there that you can install on your kids' phones that send you any text or pics they send or receive. Your child can't cyberbully someone if you know what they're doing. Nor can they be cyberbullied without your knowledge if you see what's going on.
And most importantly sticks and stones hurt, AND words are a bitch too. They stick with us. They bruise our souls. They hurt us deeper than a physical pain. Acknowledge this fact and address it with your children. Help them to learn to process negative behaviors directed at them during school, through text message, or the Internet. When my kids come home and say this person said this about me I always question them as to how the situation developed. Sometimes my kids have provoked a negative response from a student. You can't just say rude things to someone and not expect to be treated rudely in return.
This is a complicated, social atmosphere we're raising children in today. It's our responsibility as parents to show our children how to survive in it. Or you can just continue to ignore what you child is doing and hope for the best. It's up to you.
The first thing we need to do as parents is be real. Our children are NOT perfect little angels. Even though we'd like them to be perfect--it's not happening. I never say my child would NEVER do something because as soon as I do he/she would do that very thing. If someone tells you your child is bullying you have a duty as a parent to find out if it's true and do something about it if your child is indeed being mean to others. I'm sick to death of hearing parents say, "Oh my kid would never do that." Get over yourself. I had to do it, and so can you. Plus, no one wants to hear how perfect you think your child is. GAG.
Second as parents we need to be aware. If your child (as long as they're under your roof or you're paying for their college) has a page on a social networking site be aware of what's on it. I have the ability to log on to all three of my children's pages. I see what they write and have set limits. If they post something I deem unacceptable, it has to be deleted. If they keep posting unacceptable things, then they know the whole page will be deleted. Recently my middle child, who's in high school, deleted her page because she said she was "tired of reading about all the fighting." She saw it has a negative in her life and got rid of it. Sometimes we have children who are not wise enough to do this for themselves and as parent we have to step in and do it for them. Also, there are programs out there that you can install on your kids' phones that send you any text or pics they send or receive. Your child can't cyberbully someone if you know what they're doing. Nor can they be cyberbullied without your knowledge if you see what's going on.
And most importantly sticks and stones hurt, AND words are a bitch too. They stick with us. They bruise our souls. They hurt us deeper than a physical pain. Acknowledge this fact and address it with your children. Help them to learn to process negative behaviors directed at them during school, through text message, or the Internet. When my kids come home and say this person said this about me I always question them as to how the situation developed. Sometimes my kids have provoked a negative response from a student. You can't just say rude things to someone and not expect to be treated rudely in return.
This is a complicated, social atmosphere we're raising children in today. It's our responsibility as parents to show our children how to survive in it. Or you can just continue to ignore what you child is doing and hope for the best. It's up to you.
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