Category Archives: School

My Bitter Moment of the Day

by

Today I am home with the kiddo, her tummy is upset and she didn’t get a whole lot of sleep. I picked her up from school yesterday, before she even got her jacket on she started complaining of her tummy hurting.  I didn’t think too much of it, “my tummy hurts” has become the most recent excuse to avoid trying something new at dinner.

Halfway home, her banter about how her day went cut off and a meek “I have to go to the bathroom” came out of the backseat.  ”Honey, we’re about 2 minutes from home, you’ll have to hold it.”  ”Okay” she said and the rest of the car ride was quiet.

We pulled into my driveway, and she opened her door right away.  As soon as she had two feet on the ground she bent over and threw up.  My mouth just dropped.  ”See mom, that’s why I had to go to the bathroom.”  Pretty talented if you ask me, when I have to puke, I can’t hold it for 4 blocks.

So we got inside, with me hoping she just ate too much at snack time and she made it 2 minutes before she puked again.  She puked on and off all night and didn’t sleep too well when she did manage to sleep.  I got up with my alarm this morning at 4:45, checked on her and let my boss know that I couldn’t come in today.

I’m sitting on the couch, with a half asleep child laying next to me.  PBSkids on the tv and Noodle barely paying attention unless I go to change the channel at which she bolts awake and tells me “Mom! I’m watching that!”

She’s feeling a bit better this morning, the puking has stopped for the most part and she ate some dry cereal.  She’s just out of it and wants to relax.  Which is fine with me, we’ve been relaxing on the couch together and I’ve been getting some of the laundry done.  We’re going to try something light for lunch in a little bit.  Hopefully that goes well.

…

This last week has been rough on me for a multitude of reasons.  I haven’t been feeling well to top everything off, which just makes for a cranky me in general.  So each day, on my way to work I think about how everything has turned out.  I’m happy I suppose, but the grass is always greener.

- Regardless of my feelings now or anything else, I am glad I divorced A’s dad.  He wasn’t good for me, and I’m not so sure about for A either.  I am glad I took that step and I will never regret the action to have a safer, happier life.-

Life is stable over here finally.  Both Ryan and I have good jobs with steady paychecks, he likes his job which makes getting him up in the morning that much easier.  Noodle has a school in which she (and I) love, she has wonderful teachers and is thriving.

It just bugs me.  Up until a few months before my divorce, I was a stay at home mom.  In my family (this does not pertain to you, it’s not meant to offend you) it was important to me to be able to stay home with my kid(s).  I could have never predicted that my marriage would turn out the way it would and I’m lucky I’ve been employed since then, but shit.  I finally have a job with normal hours (I’ve been there for 2 years next month) so that makes life a little easier, but I’d still rather be at home and taking care of my kid.  I never thought I’d end up in the work force full-time, I always assumed that until A was out of the house, I’d be a part-timer so I could focus on her and our home.

So post-divorce I’m a working mother.  It’s just aggravating and I can feel my knuckles go white on that drive into the office.  It’s hard especially when shit at the office has been annoying me.  So I’m driving in to a job that makes me want to lobotomize myself, because of which my daughter goes to school 2 hours early and stays 1 hour late (6:30ish to 4:30ish) (which I realize isn’t as bad as it was before my schedule change but still).  I drive in to a job that I automatically lose 1/3 of my pay to the extra hours at daycare (the ex was ordered to pay half of school/daycare costs and child support, but that hasn’t happened since I was divorced in ’09). I drive into a job that I normally like, where I make decent pay (despite A’s school fees) but because of it, dinner becomes a chore, daycare spends more time with my kid than I do, and weekends are so jammed up with shit from during the week that there isn’t a whole lot of time for fun.

The topic has come up with Ryan that once he gets his raise in a couple months, that I can stay home.  Trust me on this one, there has been numerous times this past week that that seemed like a great idea.  It’s hard to think it’s not.  However, the grass is always greener.  Even if Ryan makes enough for a comfortable living, we’d still lose the money that my job brings in to supplement and save.   I wouldn’t have money for the extra things for the kids and wouldn’t be able to put money in our “going-on-vacation-finally” fund or “get-the-hell-out-of-my-house-kids!” fund.  Two things that I definitely like putting money in.  Plus with this economy, I don’t think I could walk away from a job I (mostly) like that is pretty damned stable, and rely solely on one income again.  You never know what could happen, and I know I’d regret leaving my job if Ryan ever lost his.

 

The grass is always greener, I’ll just keep repeating that.  In the meantime I’m off to get the kid in the bath and find something for lunch.

Guns, Shootings and Suburbia.. OH MY!

by

Let me pre-face this with a little bit of healthy ranting.  I hate suburban “gangbangers”, these kids need to realize that they are in the suburbs, not in the city.  If they think they are so BAD, I’ll give them a free ride down to the south side of Chicago and see how long they last.  Shut up, pull up your pants, give me your gun.  Gangs are stupid, shootings are stupid, you live in the suburbs!

It drives me insane.  Apparently there was a shooting in my neighborhood at one of the quick stop marts last night.  Of course all I can think of is “Damn, seriously? Someone needs to slap the shit out of those kids.” (FYI: I use the word kids not knowing how old the suspect was, and frankly I don’t care.  If you run around with a gun shooting people over stupid shit, you’re a kid.)  It just blows my mind.

I live in a “poor” town, especially in comparison with the next town over which is a tourist trap from hell.  Most of the residents here are good people, we haven’t really had a problem on our street except for some kids tagging a mailbox a few years ago (in which I offered them a ride to the south side too).  But of course, where there are “poor” people, there are stupid-fucking-kids who need an ass-whooping.  I do have to give it to the police here, they work the hardest they can to keep up with everyone, and I do see them patrolling quite often when there are issues.

It just blows my mind, it does.  What’s even worse is that there are parents in this neighborhood that encourage the gang-banger mentality.  Hey Mom and Dad, instead of letting your kids get drunk and high, how about making sure they get their butts to school?  Maybe punish them once in a while?  Stop letting your ghetto ass kids wander around the neighborhood at all hours, shouldn’t they be doing homework?  Sleeping?  Reading?  Chores?  Shit.  But nooooo, when your stupid ass kid gets busted stealing booze from Jewel Osco, you laugh and toss them outside.  How about not.

The sad fact of the matter?  I was looking for a news article online, trying to find out exactly what happened, and you wouldn’t believe the amount of shootings I found in the last 10 years!  Not in just my town either, all the way across the northern part of the county. (Granted they were sparse the farther I went back in time.)  Seriously?  What the fuck.  This is the type of shit that people move out of the city to get away from?  Of course it follows us out.

There is just no excuse.  You could come here and yelling for or against gun control and it wouldn’t get you anywhere.  These kids?  Didn’t register their guns (duh!), neither did their parents.  And no, people here aren’t going to arm themselves in enough numbers “to bring down crime” because one: they’re too poor, and two: it’s their shit-head kids who are stealing guns and shooting people.  Gun-control is null-and-void here.

What needs to happen is good-ole-discipline.  Parents need to rein in their little shit head kids, make them learn, punish them, trust me, a smack upside the head goes a long way.  Schools need to follow suit, if you feel the kid has a gun, have all those wonderful school cops frisk the fuck out of them and call the police.  Encourage learning and good grades, offer incentives, instead of “because you have to”.  More importantly,  residents of my town (hell, EVERY TOWN) need to stand up and so “This is IT, no more!!” and take care of each other.  On my street, we look out for each other… from the gang-bangers who walk around to that one creepy guy who was harassing my neighbors wife.  If you see something, be alert, call the police.  If you don’t stand up and stop it, no one will!  It’s not the bad-seeds that make a neighborhood, it’s the parents neglecting their children, it’s the residents hiding and pretending it’s not happening.

Some kids need an ass-whooping, some parents need a backbone, and everyone needs to stand together.  End of story.

Negotiating with the Government

by

Student Loans = Student Debt

I went into college unaware of the consequences of student loans.  I knew I wanted to go to college, the sole goal was to get a degree so I could get a job that paid well.  At that point in time, I had an inkling that I would be leaving my husband and I wanted to be able to support myself.  I looked online and asked for advice on how to pay for school, and everyone said to talk to an adviser, they’d lead me in the right direction.

So I went in, stupid and blind, and sat down with my adviser, picked a major and asked questions.  My biggest mistake was listening to these people with out a second thought.  How could an adviser lead me wrong?  They encouraged student loans, they explained that aid would cover half of it, and loans would cover the rest, and that in my degree I’d easily be able to make the “low monthly” payments once my loans came due, which wouldn’t be for a long time.

So I enrolled in school, selected my classes and started.  Nine semesters in, (including summer semesters… yeah I was over-doing it) I decided I needed a break.  I took a semester off and took time to myself.  When it was time to pick my classes and start back up, I cracked open my student loans.  I was shocked, they didn’t come due for 2 years, but really?  I called and spoke to someone who informed me a rough estimate of what my monthly payments would be.  By this time, I had left Tim and was a single mom, that amount was definitely not do-able, even if I made $10,000 more yearly than I did then (hell, even now).  I debated for a while, and decided that I could NOT afford to go back and finish my degree.  I had an idea of what I was looking at after finishing, and quite frankly, looking at my friends who had already graduated, who still hadn’t found work in their major, and were struggling to pay rent on top of student loans, I decided it wasn’t worth it.

Fast forward 2 years.  My loans have now come due, and to say the government has been harassing me, puts it lightly.  Yesterday, I finally decided to answer the phone when they called, and say something beyond “The Dept of Education can blow me.”  I hate owing money, and decided to settle.  I explained my finances on the phone, and the lady was quite helpful.  The way it is, is that while finances aren’t completely in dire straights, we are technically living from paycheck to paycheck.  At this current time I cannot put away anything in my savings account, which means I cannot fit another major bill into my budget, especially not one for a few hundred a month.

So I spoke with her for almost an hour, and intermittently with her supervisor.  I’m able to enter into a payment plan because of hardship and in 9 months, I’ll be out of delinquency and will be able to sign up for a new plan and continue.  The lady I was speaking to made a comment about how in 9 months I’ll be eligible for another loan to go back to school.  I laughed and told her I’d never put myself in that much debt again.

I got off the phone and explained what happened to my coworker.  We talked about it for a while, and I reiterated that I will never go to school again, unless I can pay for it out of pocket, which won’t happen anytime soon.  She talked about her student debt, and we came to the conclusion that.. well.. it sucks.

I am not lucky enough to have someone pay for my school, and I don’t make enough money to pay for classes each month.  I was a fuck-off in high school so no scholarships were given to me.  Do I regret it?  Not particularly.  Honestly school isn’t in my game plan right now anyway.  I’d much rather take my money and save what little I can (or will be able to) for Noodle to go to school.  However, what it comes down to is what do kids do now days?

What about the kids who parents couldn’t save money?  What about the kids who didn’t earn scholarships?  Who don’t make enough money to pay out of pocket?  I know a huge chunk of people who are not eligible for aid.  Those kids are stuck getting loans to go to school, and while a chunk of them might make enough money to pay them off, a lot of them will be paying well into their fifties.  Maybe I’m too pessimistic, but it looks quite bleak to me.

Did I make a mistake and go in blind?  Yes.  But if I hadn’t been blind, I wouldn’t have gone to school at all.  I’m not the first, and I’m not the last, going to college on student loans was one of the worst financial mistakes I have made yet, and it won’t be one I’ll repeat.

Choices

by

Everyone is always so surprised at what is inside my head.  Not necessarily my thought process or the majority of opinions, a good chunk of my coworkers and friends have gotten used to my outbursts and off the wall comments.  I guess for a stereotype, liberal, single mother of one, once divorced and with a Chronic Illness, I’m dead on.  Yet one thought, one opinion or rather personal choice (or in this case, want) always throws the ideas that people base me off of right out the fucking window.

You tell me what you see?  I’m 26 years old with a 5 year old.  I’ve already been divorced, and literally the only thing that keeps me out of work besides the kiddo being sick is a straight up hospitalization.  I’ve worked for every scrap I have and bought my own house by the time I was 23 and have done my best to earn enough money to give my child a nice life.  I love work and strive for more mental stimulation.  I started college just because my brain felt… dumb.  I’ve worked in almost every field and eventually I’d like to open my own business or get a higher up management position…..

[Now here's what throws people off, this has gotten me raised eyebrows since my daughter was born, and was reiterated when I was talking with my co-worker last month.]

… if I have to continue working.

When I was pregnant with Noodle, I sat down with my ex-husband over dinner one night.  He wasn’t paying attention so I threw a packet of crackers at him.

“A mother is supposed to be at home for her children.  I want to stay at home with her.”

Much to my surprise he was more than okay with that.  So I was a Stay at Home Mom until I bought my house and got a job (my marriage was deteriorating and the end was ever so apparently near).  While my brain was dying (hence, starting college), I enjoyed staying at home, teaching my daughter and taking care of my (then) apartment.  I liked having dinner ready for my husband when he got home and having family dinners together avoiding the globs of pureed peas my daughter loved to fling.

It was the way it was supposed to be.

When I started working again, at first it wasn’t too bad.  Noodle spent time at three different friend’s houses, all three of which I trust with my own life.  They all were more like extended family, so it didn’t bother me much, beyond my selfish reasoning.  It hurt to hear about what she had learned to do each day, it bothered me that I wasn’t the one taking her to the park or to a birthday party.  Granted my friends were wonderful enough to take photos so I could still see her antics, but it bothered me.

Then.  Then, I got a full time job during normal hours (I always worked 2nd/3rd shift).  Then I got a second job (the spring before last).  So I entered Noodle in daycare.  This daycare is the same one she’s at now, she went to preschool there and now Kindergarten.  She’s thriving and each day it’s more apparent that I have a very intelligent, vibrant little girl.  However, now that I’m back to working full time during the day, I don’t get to spend that much time with her.  A mere 45 minutes in the morning, and 2.5 hours at night (I’m a strict bedtime mom, we get up too early to do otherwise).  Monday through Friday.  I spend more time with my co-workers than my kiddo, and she spends more time with her teachers (whom I love) than me.  Such is the life of a working mother.

Do I believe that working mothers are horrible?  Oh far from it, especially single mothers.  It takes a strong woman to be able to balance work and home life and survive both equally.  I don’t look down on career women or moms that choose to work for whatever reason.  My point is, I just wish I didn’t have too.

I was raised with a stay at home mom, when we became school age, she got a job during the time we were at school. (OH MY GOD, my mother worked AT MY SCHOOL.  Talk about getting double the punishment, her desk was right outside the principals office… had to walk right past her if I got in trouble.) Then she’d come home afterwards and spend time with us.  So naturally that’s what I grew up basing life on.  So when I started my own family, that’s how I wanted to run my family.  Things just didn’t work out that way.

Ryan and I have talked about it, especially after he saw the “change” in me when I took the 5 day vacation and stayed at home.  If I had my way, I’d stay at home and work part time (because frankly, my brain is not wired to stay at home permanently).  I’d work my old hours and be home when my kid was, so not only could I take care of her but so I could take care of my house and cook (better).  That’s what I enjoy doing, frankly I could give a crap less about a career that I’ll spend time at for the rest of my life.  We’ve decided if Ryan can get a job making a substantial amount more than me, and we are sure that it’s secure that I would drop down to part time, or find a part time job. (The chances of that happening in THIS economy is slim to none, so I’m doing what I do best and trying to excel and hopefully someday move up in my current job.)

That’s what throws people off.  Especially people that don’t know that I was already “At Home”.  I think my whole “stance on feminist ideals” doesn’t help either.  What people fail to realize though, feminism isn’t about forcing women into a career or whatever.  It’s about giving women a CHOICE.  A choice to stay at home, a choice to have a career (and be paid fair for her work).  My choice (or want, like I stated earlier) is to stay at home and take care of my house and family.  That’s what’s right for my family, and if I can, I will.  (But again, Economy, so hello career haha).  I guess I’ll just deal with the raised eyebrows, I like catching people off guard anyway.  It makes life that much more fun.

 

Kindergarten… next up? High School.

by

My Short One finished her last day of Summer Camp on Friday.  She’s been asking ever since then if she was going to school, if we could skip the weekend, if it was time for Kindergarten yet.  Not a moment of peace, if she’s not asking about it, she’s running around the house with her zebra print and pink backpack, pretending.  ”Mom, I’m going to school, I’ll see you later!!”

Her Scrunchys went with her everywhere.

My little Noodle is going to Kindergarten on Monday.  KINDERGARTEN.  Okay, I get it.  All kids grow up.  I just want to know… where in the hell did the last few years go?  How is she in Kindergarten when it seems like I just caught her pooping in the corner during potty training (oh yeah, I’m sooo telling her boyfriends!) and wasn’t it yesterday that she learned how to run with out running straight into the nearest wall/corner/table/lamp/chair/anything that could possibly cause injury?  Where did her binkys go?  Where is her scrunchy? (Remember puff-a-lumps?  My step-mother bought like 15 off of Ebay for her after she wouldn’t sleep with out the one from my childhood.)

:: Sigh ::

Instead I have a beautiful little girl who runs around with the boys.  She climbs fences, collects worms and bugs, spends more time trying to out run/shoot/splash/bike/kill zombies than the neighbor boy than she she does playing with her barbies.  Instead of the little poop and tear machine of the past, I have a brilliant little girl who refuses to eat a McDonald’s cheeseburger and demands Sauteed Mushrooms. Gone are the bottles and diapers, in their place is glitter and legos.

Oh god help me.  I’m going to blink and she’s going to be a Freshman.

Yup. Totally Mine.

“I have my Mother’s Dreams, I have my Father’s Eyes…

by

… You can’t take that from me, just go ahead and try” – Rise Against

There’s one thing that I’ve always lived by, it’s that if you want something bad enough, you’ll get it.  If you want something so bad that your heart feels like it’s going to explode unless you get it, you’ll find a way.  You’ll work and work and strive and sweat until you get whatever it is you want.  One of my exes actually said it best (now that I stopped hating him and actually listened): “You’re spoiled.  Not because you’ve been handed everything, because if you want something you refuse to accept failure, if you want something you get it.”

It’s been a pretty good motto to live by, especially when life is hard, which in my life is frequently.  Ha, I’m pretty sure life was only easy when all I had to worry about was saving my allowance to get the most current issue of the metal (music) mag I loved.  Through out this battle which I hesitantly call my life, I’ve been told I wouldn’t get this or that.  I wouldn’t go as far as so and so.  I would fail at whatever I was aiming for.  After hearing all of that, well, if any of you know my personality, ha, I busted ass and did it anyway.  Every step in this life, at least since I was a teenager has been a struggle, and frankly I’m glad it has been.  It’s taught me that I can fight a lot harder than I thought I could and that I can achieve anything I set my (bull-headed-stubborn-ass-annoying-don’t-take-no-for-an-answer) mind to.  Life has taught me I CAN do anything I want.  I CAN own a house, I CAN go to school, I CAN settle into a career (even if I want to burn the office down daily), I CAN be a parent albeit a single parent.  I CAN do anything and I HAVE done everything I’ve set my mind to.

Regardless of how bad any situation is, no one can ever take your dreams away.  It might seem like they can stomp out your hope, but deep down you’ll still have those dreams of what you want life to be like.  All it takes is a little determination and a little ass-kicking to get it done.  Trust me, it’s worth it, even if you make it by baby steps, every single fucking one of those steps is a victory.

Now though, I’m at a cross roads.  I’m debating on whether or not I should go for another degree, I’ve been thinking on it for a while now, and have set a deadline for the decision to be by the next spring semester.  I’m thinking about maybe a Bachelors in Criminal Justice (no, I don’t want to be a cop), but I’m just not sure.  I do like the current job I have, and if the company shows me potential that I can advance I wouldn’t mind just adding some classes to what I have already.  However, I like Criminal Justice and think I could make a decent career out of it.  So I’m weighing my options.  4 more years of college?  No school and full focus on my family.  A steady $45,000 a year to do what I’m interested in?  Staying at a company I like regardless of pay.  I’m also weighing it against my other goals.  Will this put off my goal of buying another house in a handful of years?  Impact the remodeling?  Impact my family negatively?  There’s a lot to go into it, and I hate setting aside goals to achieve others.  Whatever,  I have a few months to think on it… and whatever it is I do.. I know I have the support of the boyfriend and my family.

Since I know I can accomplish my dreams, it’s just a matter of choosing which dream to hunt down first.

Informed Decisions

by

So my little girl isn’t so little anymore.  This fall she’ll be starting Kindergarten, complete with school supplies list and mandatory physical.  Which in my house means starting up vaccinations.  When I was pregnant with Noodle, I started researching vaccinations.  I read the pros as well as the cons, including side effects, effectiveness and statistics.  I read many many testimonies from the government/doctors/concerned parents on why parents should insist on every single vaccination out there.  I read testimonies and studies against vaccinations, I read studies about side effects as well as studies regarding the effectiveness in relation to age at time of vaccination.

The long story short is, at her first pediatrician appointment, I sat down with her doctor and asked his opinion before I made my final decision.  He was very helpful, he mentioned studies I had already read and brought up other statistics I hadn’t heard about.  What tipped the scales for me was “Regardless of what the guidelines are, remember, it is your child, not the governments.  You get to make the decision.” He went on to say that he had chosen a delayed vaccination schedule for his children and after some discussion I chose that route.  With the pediatricians help, I decided to delay vaccination based off of several studies until age 4/5 (Kindergarten).  He also explained the different types of exemptions in the state of Illinois, which helped me continue to delay-vaccination through pre-school.

Now we could argue left and right when it comes to the old classic of no-vax vs vax.  That’s old news to me (hello ladies from CafeMom).  What I’m actually getting at is making an informed decision.  We as parents are forced to make serious choices, some with possible negative outcomes, several times before our children are old enough to move out on their own.  Hell, my own Dad will argue that those decisions don’t even stop there.  You know what?  We may even make decisions that other parents or even strangers think are not the best, but what matters is that YOU believe it’s the best.  Just make sure you make an informed decision, do your research, talk to professionals if it applies and make sure that you weigh in the pros and cons from both sides.  Whether we’re talking about vaccinations, changing school districts, to moving across the country, even to start a new healthy diet or exercise.  We run the show, and I want parents to remember that.  Ultimately we are the decision makers, we need to make informed choices for our children and do what we think is best.

Today, as I expected and as Noodle’s previous pediatrician warned (we switched doctors due to a change in insurance), I came across negative opinions.  Those opinions from the nurses and doctors bordered on bullying.  However, once I sat down with her new doctor and made him aware that I was very educated on the topic and had come up with the delayed/selective vaccination schedule with her previous pediatrician, it went much smoother.  It was much easier to get my point across and come up with a schedule that I agreed with.  The fact that I showed knowledge impressed not only the doctor but the nurses as well as the doctor’s assistant.

I’m glad I made the choice I did.  I feel it was fit for my family.  Raising kids is tough, making the decisions that effect their lives is even tougher.  It helps if you do a little bit of research and go with what you’re comfortable with.  Just remember they are our children, we need to make the best decisions for them, for our families.

Hey, at least I don’t have to water the flowers

by

It’s been one hell of a long day, the customers and phone calls just wouldn’t stop coming!  The plus side was that the day flew by, but the negative?  I’m exhausted.  I was so relieved when I pulled into my driveway, and even more so to be able to sit down and relax with a hot cup of coffee.  The short little thunderstorm helped with my nerves too.  My plans for the rest of the night?  Well, right now, just relaxing in the kitchen, watching the boyfriend cook dinner (sadly enough he cooks more than me).  Then after dinner?  Relaxing on the couch and watching my favorite sci-fi show… Lost Girl.  To say I’m excited about curling up in bed tonight is most definitely an understatement.

So things have just been generally crazy around here.  I have some great company to endure the chaos with, my friend Kate is still a constant.  We managed to tackle a good portion of the housework this past weekend and knock out another portion of shopping for my little Noodle’s birthday, I’m almost done and Kate got her a ton of stuff!  I still have some bigger ticket items to get, but most of the little gifts are set.  On Sunday I went over to her house to visit her family (which is another one of my adopted families, they were there for me through all of the domestic crap with my ex as well as the first 2ish years of Crohns).  Unfortunately I missed her parents, but there’s always next weekend!  I can’t wait to see them again.  Last night after work, Kate and her sister came over to visit… that was awesome and Ry took it upon himself to make us all dinner.  To say that he’s got a thumbs up from those two is an understatement… and their opinions mean a lot to me.

Beyond all of that, just menial chores and work.  I’ve been pondering over a pretty big decision in my head too… this fall I believe I’m going back to college… not to work on that Bachelors in Business (honestly because I’d rather eat my own ass than take one more accounting course), but to head for (starters) my Associates in Criminal Justice.  End goal?  Bachelors.  If I get bored?  Masters.  Criminal Justice is something I’ve always been interested in, but of course I never wanted to become a Police Officer so I just abandoned it not realizing that I could take it so much farther.  So after doing lots of research, I think I’m just going to dive in.  I’m excited… more like thrilled… and even more so that I have the support of so many people.  I can’t wait.

In the mean time though, it’s time to get ready for dinner.  I hope everyone is doing well since I haven’t had time to check in on anyones blogs this week.  Happy Almost Hump Day.

Entitled Miniature Assholes

by

[This is a rant.  This is my very own personal opinion.  This will most likely some how offend someone reading it.  This is me telling you that frankly I couldn't give a fuck less.  My opinion is mine.  It belongs to me, and good god people it's an opinion, just because I believe something doesn't mean it's fact, nor do I believe it's fact.  So stop your bitching, click the X and move on if you do not agree/like or feel the need to leave a bitchy comment.]

Do you know what’s wrong with kids these days?  Do you?  I have a vague idea, no actually several ideas, scratch that… a fucking list.  You know who is to blame?  Parents.  Not just my generation, this shit started in my parent’s generation.  It makes me want to go  back in time and throat punch every last one of those bastards.  Kids.  Kids are little assholes now, well kids are always assholes, I’m pretty sure it’s built into every human’s DNA to be a complete pain in the ass until they’re on their own… and sometimes after.  Kids are just worse now.  

“But I want toooooooooooo…”  No.  I don’t give a fuck.  I told you to go do something, now do it!  That’s pretty much what happened when we were kids.  Guess what, if we whined more we got smacked upside the head/grounded/lost toys/lost dessert/lost whatever.  We got in trouble.  Whining was not allowed.  IF we whined there were consequences.  God forbid we ever whined AND included the phrase “I’m bored.”  I swear, my friends and I cleaned so much… “If you’re so bored, I guess you can scrub the bathroom [ or pick up dog shit, or do the dishes, or whatever fucking chore our parents/aunts/grandparents/uncles/babysitters/fucking random stranger at the park could come up with. ]”  I clearly remember saying I was bored on our vacation.  I also clearly remember picking up dog shit for an hour when I got home later that week.  Instead of consequences, now society meets demands.  Instead of a consequence you’ll here “Oh I’m sorry honey, we’ll find something else to do.”  That.  That “I’m SORRY”.  Really?  Sorry?  You’re sorry that your kid isn’t enjoying going to the water park or whatever expensive thing you decided to do?  KID.  K-I-D.  What happened to imagination.  My sister and I dug holes in the backyard and rode our bikes.  We were too busy being kids to be bored.  My daughter came home from preschool and said she was bored once so far.  That day, her room was the cleanest I’ve ever seen it.  Sparkling.  I told her “If you’re bored, go clean your room.  Spotless.  No toys in sight.  Are you sure you’re bored?”  She said “yeah, I’m boooooored.”.  Like I said.  Sparkling.  That was around 6 months ago.  Have I heard it from her since?  No.  I have heard it walking out of daycare in the evening from the other little germ factories.  I’m prepared.  It’ll happen again.  I hope it does… I need laundry folded.  Whining is our current issue.  Noodle loses toys now.  No whining… unless your sick.  Other than that?  No whining.  So far we’ve only lost 2 toys.  Hopefully she catches on…. Good Will is going to love me otherwise.

I don’t know.  I just don’t get it.  What the hell is up with the punishments now too?  A friend of mine’s son is in grade school.  Instead of losing recess and detentions they have Minors and Majors.  You have to get a certain amount of Minors to equal a Major…. and a certain amount of Majors to equal a trip to the principles office.  Are you fucking shitting me?  My mom worked IN the office.  I spent more time walking past her desk, getting chewed out ON MY WAY to the principle, and then chewed out on my way back ON MY WAY to Detention.  For shit kids are getting “Minors” for.  When I was in school if I sneezed wrong I went out in the hallway.  Spoke out of turn?  Demerit.  Hallway.  Did something while I was supposed to do something else?  Detention.  What the hell are we doing?  We’re not allowed to spank (I understand the controversy), but it’s child abuse to ground?  Just yesterday I heard a mom not want to take away video games from her son because “He’d be bored with nothing to do.”  Oh no shit.  You mean punishment is supposed to fun and entertaining?  He’s supposed to be bored and miserable…. that’s the got damned point of punishment!  When we were grounded… no tv, no toys, no outside, no fun.  Homework, reading, bedroom.  Food and sleep were breaks.  So when your kid goes to high school, jacks some other dude in the face… what are you going to do?  Tell him he can’t have his favorite food for a week?  Have fun with that.

Bullying.  Bullying sucks.  I understand this, I do.  I was damned near 200lbs by 6th grade.  I was bullied.  Constantly.  My life was miserable.  It sucks to have someone pick on you.  Sure some kids have issues because of it (but that’s a whole other rant), but now we’re trying to bubble wrap our children.  Bullying is a CRIME now.  We’re trying to make school/park whatever bullyfree.  Just Rainbows, fluffy bunnies, love, and goddamned skittles.  That’s great!  Sure!  No one will ever have their feelings hurt again.  Oh wait.  Ya’ll forgot something.  It’s called the REAL WORLD.  You tell me that when you’re 35 and working some job that you’re going to get a long with every single fucking person.  No one is going to talk shit.  No one is going to “Not-Like” you.  The busstop… you’re walking your kids.  Every single one of those moms is going to be awesome?  HELL.  The Bar!  Some one is going to insult you.  Good god.  The world is not perfect… people are assholes.  You’re not helping your kids by deluding their world with unicorns and sparkles.  The world sucks… and one day someone is going to be meeeean.  And these kids… these kids who are so used to being sheltered and protected aren’t going to know what to do.  ”But oh Sarah, some kid is going to be bullied and shoot up his school again!”  Shut. The. Fuck. Up.  Seriously. That’s not because of bullying.  That’s because of a child who wasn’t taught self-worth, or much more how to stand up for himself.  If your kid goes and shoots up a school, there’s something wrong with them… much more… something wrong with you.  You suck as a parent.

Oh and lets not get me started on awards.  I played softball as a kid.  When we first started playing, we had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. If your team didn’t land those… you lost.  You were losers.  You know why?  Not because the adults were being mean, or the other team was trying to hurt your feelings, it was because you SUCKED.  You LOST.  Which means you were NOT as good as other players.  Winners and Losers.  What happened to that.  By the time my little sister finished softball, the team in the last place got trophies.  Not just any losers….. the team that was the ABSOLUTE worst.  Bottom of the barrel, kids whose parents should direct their attention away from a bat and ball… trophies.  Why?  So they wouldn’t feel bad or left out.  WHAT THE FUCK.  THEY LOST.  So when your kid gets a real job and sucks at it, or works with someone who really excels…. do you think that your kid’s boss will hand out a complimentary last place $4 raise?  No!  If you’re lucky he or she won’t get shit canned… but just wait… this generation will hit the work force soon… and every single employer out there will wish they could set a person on fire.  Like I said… we’re not preparing them.  We’re screwing them over.

Oh and don’t forget.  Obesity.  Fat kids.  I know, I was one.  You know what happened?  My dad booted me out the door in the morning, and let me back in to eat.  I walked.  A lot.  I ran.  A lot.  I rode my bike, I played.  I lost a lot of weight that way.  You know why kids are fat?  Because they spend too much damned time in front of the TV and playing video games.  Which brings me to my latest rant.  The kinect.  You know.  That motion activated video game?  I have two words.  FUCK THAT.  Kinect Soccer… my answer?  GET THE FUCK OUTSIDE AND PLAY REAL SOCCER.  Running.  GET YOUR ASS OUTSIDE AND RUN.  Jesus Mary and Joseph.  90% of all that shit can be done in REAL LIFE.  You buy your kid a kinect because you worry the video games are making him fat?  Is she a bit chunky? Screw that, save your $300, and tell your kid to play outside.  Suuuure.  Video games are nice treat.  Couple hours a week and we’re golden.  Hell.  I like some Nazi-Zombies myself… but omg.  GET THE HELL OUT OF THE HOUSE.  When I was a kid, we lost our mom.  My dad worked full time.  We spent a couple years in front of a tv, eating crap food (dad sucked as a cook).  We got fat.  Then we got active.  Then we lost weight.  Simple.  Get the fuck off the couch and do something (that goes to you whiny adults too).  In 7th grade I weighed over 200lbs.  By 8th grade I weighed 150.  Freshman year?  140?  I stayed that way until I got pregnant.  How?  I walked.  A lot.  I walked to my boyfriends/friends/mall (my old friends remember that).  Exercise.  Pure and simple.  In my house now, no video games, no cable tv.  Does Noodle complain?  Nope.  She remembers tv too.  We had it for a bit… then I realized she should be playing more and poof.  Gone.  Will I get cable again?  Maybe years down the line.  Video games?  Nooope… unless she saves to buy it… and then it’s limited until she moves out.

What I’m getting at folks is that we’re fucked.  We’re molding our kids into whiny, entitled, pretentious, sheltered couch potatoes.  Remember… they’re going to be the ones wiping our asses when we get older… Think about what you’re creating, what kind of a person you’re sending into the real world, unprepared.  Think about it.

Growing Up Blows. Big time.

by

I remember being mad at my parents when I was a kid, you know when they said they wouldn’t buy me [insert random obnoxious kid toy here].  I remember thinking “Man! When I grow up I’m gunna buy all these things!  Live in a big house, have like four bikes!” so on and so forth.  Blah.  I thought being an adult would be sooo much fun.  It would be easy, of course there’d be no school, so I’d just have fun with my friends and buy stuff.

For some reason my child mind was too naive to think about jobs, bills, food, and well… basically how much being an adult sucks.  Holy shit it sucks.  I can’t tell you how many mornings I want to sleep in and then go hang out with my friends (Okay.  Every.  Single.  Fucking.  Morning.) or go shopping for some new clothes (but goddamn that gas bill!!).  Hell, I’ll be on my lunch break, get the urge to go on a long drive… but wait.  I caaaan’t.  I have to go back to work.

Ha.  Adulthood.

What a joke.

Oh and for the record.  I’m STILL not using Algebra.  A big ole FUCK YOU to my 8th grade math teacher.

Adults.  Heh.

When you’re a kid, getting your driver’s license is exciting.  ”Oh I’ll pick up my friends and we’ll go to the music store for CDs then go drive to the beach.”  My stupid teenage mind didn’t comprehend.  To drive you need Insurance (Money), A Car (Money), License Plates (Money) and the ability to not attract every moron on the road (see 3 out of 4 of my accidents) (Lack of said ability = Money).  Fuck.  Remind me why I didn’t move to a warm city? You know one with public transit and no snow.  Walking (Less Money).

Oh and those rebel thoughts when I was young?  ”Fuck-a-cerfew.  I can’t WAIT to move out!  Soon as I’m 18… I’m OUT OF HERE!”  Yeah.  Living on your own, Rent/Mortgage (Money).  Utilities (Money).  Food (Money).  What the fuck.  I think I want a do-over.

You know what all that means?

A Job.

Which means, less time to act like a kid.

Which means, money made.

Which means, money spent.

Which means.  Crap.  My gas bill just took precedence to going out on the weekend.  Ha.

Growing up blows.  Pass the wine (whine).

 

 

 

But hey.  Even though I have to go to work during the week, I can still walk around naked, blasting metal, and paint my walls blood red, in my OWN house.  Adulthood sucks…. but so do the teenage years.  :)