It may not have been my smartest move when I told the three five year old boys that they could cut and color all of the packaging from that big box........
Well - I gotta admit - we here at I Heart Bowheads (that would be me) don't really get terribly riled about stuff. Not a lot of drama. Not a lot of controversy. We (once again me - not sure why I feel the need to explain that) tend to keep it pretty light.
I do have the occasional rant in me and here it goes..........
This is not a rant telling you what to believe.
It is not a rant telling you what party to belong to or what issue you should back.
I will not even be expressing my own political beliefs in this post.
What I am going to rant about is........
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY IN FRONT OF YOUR CHILDREN FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!!!!!!!!
Back when I was in my Kindergarten classroom, I would do an election every year. I would talk about the three branches of government, the two major political parties and the election process as a whole. I would always send a note home explaining this to the parents in my classroom as well as assuring them that no political opinions were going to be presented to the class. Only an explanation of the process.
This would often spark a lot of political dialogue with my Kindergartners. This was especially true if it was an election year. As my own children got older, they started to ask questions about the process. My husband and I have been very careful to simply explain the process and what both sides believe. We do not tell our children who we each vote for and there are many times that my husband and I are on the same side of an issue or party aisle but I have to be honest - we are also often on opposite sides and we have talked about that.
That is the bleeping (scuse my language - you can tell that I am starting to get worked up - I am even typing faster;) BEAUTY of America.
The debate
The checks and balances
I encourage you to disagree
I encourage you to vote your own choice and then if you don't win - lobby, talk, picket if you want to to get re-elected next time but for heavens sake.....
BE RESPECTFUL OF THE OFFICE WHILE YOU ARE DOING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
No joke - no exaggeration - here are some of the things that children either in my classroom or in my home have asked me.
Mrs. Bowhead- what's a communist? Cuz my Daddy says (such and such political character) is one of those?
Mrs. Bowhead - what's a moron? Cuz my Mommy says (such and such political character) is a big one.
Mommy Mommy - My friend (insert friend's name here) says that if (such and such political character) becomes president he is going to take all of our money!!!!!!!!!!!!! We need money - right? What are we going to do if he takes all of our money?
Mrs. Bowhead - why does (such and such political character) not love everyone? Why do they only love the rich people?
Well my Daddy says that we don't have to listen to him and I don't have to watch his speech on television that is telling me to stay in school and work hard.
REALLY????????????????????
Now I could go on and on with the quotes but I believe you get my point. I would also like to remind you before you go getting yourself all riled up that my quotes also go back ten years which (if you will remember) spans both political parties in power.
Like I said - this is not telling you what to believe. This is not telling you what to feel strongly about. This post is telling you what I feel strongly about and you know what I feel strongly about? Do you? Do you? (Can you tell I am typing fast again? Frank the pug is sitting here next to me watching me with some fascination wondering what is happening with the flying fingers but anyway - I digress.......)
Teach your children to respect the system.
Teach your children to respect the OFFICE.
How can you not teach your children to respect the OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES? You do not have to like the man. You do not have to support the party but respect the office. Respect the process.
Use words like.....
Disagree
Feel strongly about
Let's write a letter to our congressman
Please do not use words like
Moron
Idiot
Dumb as a box of rocks
Remember - your children are listening to you. They are watching you and hate and dis-respect can be learned in the most unlikely of places.
They are standing at your feet in the church hall when you are chatting quietly with your neighbor.
They are playing on the floor of the kitchen while you are on the phone.
They are in the other room while you are cussing (I mean loudly disagreeing) with the TV.
Teach them to debate. Teach them to become involved. Please do not teach them to hate the other side.
The other side, in my humble opinion is what makes the country so great. Because we get to have an other side.......
We survived waking up Christmas day, opening presents and then heading to the airport to fly the 4 hours to Texas, jump in a rental car, and be at Grandma's for Christmas dinner at 6.
I know what you are thinking.
It was actually very fun and we all survived.
It was a fun adventure - just the 5 of us - laughing and heading through the airport on Christmas day.
We enjoyed the entire trip and can officially say that we survived.
We are home now and I am not sure that my house will.
There comes a moment when you just have to sit among the piles and let them know that they have beaten you. Then maybe tomorrow when the piles have let their guard down you can sneak up on them - not sure if this is going to work but I am trying it out for today.
We got the new Wii U Draw going down in the basement.
I am not sure that we will ever see my artistic 7 year old again. Ever.
I did laundry for two days straight at my Mom's house and yet somehow I have been doing laundry all day. Maybe I need to try out my pile philosophy on the laundry.
It is a really strange thing to be happy to go home only to be really happy to be back home.
I love my house.
I love my children.
I love my husband.
I need for all of them to leave me alone with my house for a little while so I can try and restore some order.
I would be lying if I did not admit that I am looking forward to that being on the agenda for tomorrow.
Then they can come back because I am amazingly not even sick of them.
Frank the pug and the guinea pigs were off in Kato Kaelin land (because really - you just can't have a better houseguest than a guinea pig or a pug). Two awesome families kept them for us and we really appreciate it. We are all happy to have been reunited. My friend Julie brought me the piggies today in the midst of one of my battles with the piles instead of having us over to pick them up.
Did I mention the appreciation?
Anyway,
Our low tonight is going to be 7.
It was 71 yesterday in Texas.
I wonder what my body will think of that.
I feel very grateful for
well
for everything
I am grateful for my family and my friends and that you can read books on your phone.
Did I mention that we flew back home from Texas to Massachusetts yesterday and that our plane was supposed to leave at 1:10 and we finally left on a different plane at 4?
Glad the second one worked at least.
I swear that my house looks like it did when we moved.
I refuse to be discouraged.
I keep coming back to the piles.
Forget the piles - I am going to play games with my family.
I am pretty sure that my New Years Resolution will be to put my house back in order.
I might have that finished by 2013.
Right?
