Showing posts with label parents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parents. Show all posts
Ok. I confess. I watch Dr Phil. hehehe...Anyhow, this morning Dr Phil played referee between two groups of women--Working Moms vs Stay at Home Moms. I had no idea how controversial this was. There was major attitude and at some points, insults were hurled. I thought it might come to blows.

Both groups thought their way was the best and the other way was the stupidest thing that they had ever heard. Whatever happened to doing what's best for you and your family?

I'm a working mother. My mother was a working mother. I never really gave it a lot of thought when I was growing up. Heck, I LOVED that my mom worked, that meant that I ate!!! I also have friends that had stay at home moms. Those moms were cool too. I don't think either option is an automatic "best." Again, folks should do what's best for them. And if you are on the outside, looking in--STAY IN YOUR LANE!!!

Your comments--priceless!!



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So, this was Homecoming Weekend for my daughter. But Homecoming has drastically changed from the ones that I remember. When did it change?

First of all, why can one not find a simple, conservative evening dress for a young lady? It seems that if she isn't willing to "let it all hang out," she will be hard pressed to find something suitable. Why is everything strapless or mini skirt short? Why are slits way up the thigh or plunges so deep in the back that you have to remind yourself to "say no to cracks"??

And what about the costs of the dance? Whatever happened to having the homecoming dance in the gymnasium with paper streamers and ballooon arches? My daughter's school rented out a local nightclub, which was fine with me until the pricing was announced. It was on a sliding scale--the first week that tickets were available it was $75 PER PERSON. Every week afterwards, the price went up $5. Wow wee. Luckily, my daughter got a free ticket for doing well on some standardized testing last year.

Some kids rented limousines and went all out. I kept scratching my head. This is HOMECOMING not PROM. Gee whiz--When did it change????

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So, today's another milestone day. Daughter #2 is taking her yearbook pictures. Where did the time go? Next year this time, she'll be well into her freshman year of college.

I've found that I'm reliving my senior year in high school through her. Well, as much as she'll let me. I've had to catch myself and not tell her what way to wear her hair or which outfit to choose for the "personality pics." And, she's also had to remind me several times as well that it's her year, not mine.

That's always the challenge as a parent--to let them use their own wings, even when you see the obstacles that they don't see yet. How does one do that? I find it very difficult. What about you? Are you the parent of an adult or even semi-adult child? How do you bite your tongue? Is it as difficult for everyone as it seems to be for me?

Your comments--priceless!!


I post daily. So that you don't miss any of my randomness, you might want to subscribe by email.

Do you guys remember the Blondie comic strip? Blondie's husband Dagwood would make huge sandwiches to eat between meals. They were much bigger than any human could consume. He would cram nearly everything in the kitchen between 2 slices of bread and top it with an olive on a toothpick.

These past few days have reminded me a lot of a Dagwood sandwich, with me as the middle and my family as the bread. Let me explain. On one hand, I have my parents--they are both post retirement seniors, though neither is hardly idle. On the other hand, I have the youngsters of the family--carefree and careless. I seem to always be caught in between.

Last night, we were out on the town--Miami. My daughters (22, and nearly 18) had decided to get henna tattoos. Henna tattoos are temporary and last for about 3 weeks. The girls have been talking about them for a couple of years. So, when we passed the kiosk, they stopped and browsed all of the designs. They both found ones that they liked. I didn't give it passing thoughts. I figured that it could be worse, they could be contemplating permanent tattoos. So, I wasn't surprised when they excused themselves from dinner as soon as they were done and headed back to get the henna. Everyone else lingered at the table--talking, laughing, having dessert. When we were ready, we headed outside to the kiosk.

My dad took his seat on a bench, scowling. The girls were getting the tattoos. The rest of the family wandered about the area. My dad couldn't understand why they would get that "junk (henna)." He wanted me to forbid it. I spent a lot of time explaining that this is the kind of thing that young folks do and I didn't have a problem with it. In between expressing his disapproval, he did his fair share of people watching. I pointed out young folks with colored hair, rings in their tongues and eyebrows, and designs cut into their hair.

The tattoos came out cute! The oldest ended up getting 2. I should have gotten 1 too. Dad would have croaked.

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Pop star, Chris Brown, was to be sentenced yesterday, but the procedure ended up being delayed. Nonetheless, whenever the new date is set, he's expected to receive 5 years probation and six months of "labor intensive" community service in the case that stemmed from his physical assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna. He's made a public apology, although it was months later, and has been ordered to stay away from her. But here's my question--When is it ever "okay" for a man to hit a woman?

I've heard many opionions on this, ranging from "it's never okay" to "if she hits him first" to "if she gets in his face" to "if she deserves it." I have a son. Although he is not a teenager yet, he has been taught that it is NEVER okay to hit a female. NEVER. EVER. PERIOD. THE END. And just so that he doesn't get confused--slapping, shoving, and the like are included. Agressive physical acts, of any sort, towards women are NOT okay.

What's your take on it? When is it okay? And if there are scenarios that you feel warrant it, when do you notify the female? Does she know going in? Should he tell her on the first date? Or does she only find out after she's committed a violation? Im curious. Tell me.

Your comments--priceless!!

So, we've bailed out the banking industry, we've invested millions into the auto industry--including cash for clunkers, we're helping homeowners. But why is it that in the world's most powerful country, our education system is far inferior to our European and Asian counterparts?

When are we going to dump some cash into educating our youth? Why can't our kids compete in the areas of math and science? Why are public school budgets being slashed to bare bones all across the country? Why aren't we holding our elected officials accountable for these decisions?

What message does it send to the students--are cars and banks more important than them? Are they truly our most precious resource? Do we have "jacked up" priorities?

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What qualifies someone to give you advice? Do they need to have experience with the given subject? Must they have significant success in that area. Often, I hear people say that they wouldn't take relationship advise from someone that wasn't in a good relationship. Or that they wouldn't take parenting advise from someone who didn't have children, etc.

But suppose that person has an advanced degree in children's psychology, but are childless? Would you discount the advice of such a person? Would a woman with several children be a better source of information?

What do you think? When you seek out advice from family, friends, or even professionals--what criteria do you use? Should they have experience the problem first hand? Or do they simply have to have your best interests in mind? Let me know what you think..

Your comments--priceless!!
Please help me settle a 40 year old family argument! It all revolves around Porky Pig. You youngsters may not know who Porky Pig is, but the oldheads know. Porky Pig was an animated Warner Brothers cartoon character. His most distinguishing features were his severe stutter and his lack of pants(repeated later in Chuck E. Cheese).

Now, some of you may know that I have brothers. They are 14 months younger than me (which means that they, too, are OLD!) and they are twins. Anyhow, when we were all toddlers, our family "acquired" 3 children's plates. I haven't been able to determine how they came to the family, but they were in our kitchen as far back as I can remember. So, we got THREE plates. (THIS IS SIGNIFICANT). We had 3 children in the family. (THIS, TOO, IS SIGNIFICANT). Two of the plates had a huge Bugs Bunny in the center, and the third had Porky Pig. So, let's examine this. THREE PLATES. THREE KIDS. TWO BUGS. TWINS. ONE PORKY PIG. ME.

Well, at EVERY meal, and I do mean EVERY, there was a huge fight about which of us would get to eat from the plate with the big Porky Pig. It was like whatever meal that was on it tasted so much better. Whoever ended up with it gloated while the other 2 glared. For years, we argued about that plate. There were tears, fighting, slaps, punches, punishments, and it usually ended up with everybody being sent to bed early, sometimes without eating at all.

Anyhow, the plate was MINE. The Porky Pig was MINE. The boys had the Bugs Bunny plates. Porky was MINE!!!!! But noooo, do you think my parents would back me on this???? NOPE! We had to rotate Porky at every meal because they claimed they didn't know who rightfully owned Porky. They knew. They knew. It was MINE! And this lack of support, so early in my formative years, probably contributed heavily to the neurosis I suffer from today. But I digress--

S0metimes now, years later, when we get together as a family, someone will bring up the big Porky Pig plate and it will start a fierce debate. Both of my brothers still claim that the plate was theirs. My parents still claim that the plate didn't have a rightful owner, but was rather a "community" plate. Hmmph!! Ok, so I've told my side the story. Please tell me--WHOSE plate do YOU think it was??

Your comments--priceless!!

Ok, here's a question--When does your obligation to your child end? When are you officially "done" with them? When are you RID of them?

Here's the scenario. Your adult child(which you share with an ex-spouse) has a debilitating illness. She is incapacitated. She can not care for herself. She needs constant care. This illness struck her as an adult, after she had started on a career path in another state. Your ex-spouse moves to that state to care for the child. They manage. Suddenly, that ex-spouse passes away. Your adult child is left with no one to care for her. She can not afford funeral expenses, much less the fabulous home that her other parent has provided for her. While she is surrounded by friends, she really has no family within thousands of miles to help her with funeral arrangements, decisions, finances, etc.

Before you respond, let me tell you how this would work in MY family, as dysfunctional as we are. In my family, if the adult child in the scenario were ME, this is what would happen. After I made the call that my parent had passed away suddenly, my living parent would rally the troops. There would be a convoy of planes, trains, trucks, cars, bicycles, and skateboards coming out of the Washington, DC area (and other places), headed to me. I wouldn't care if I was in the North Pole. I have family members that would set out walking, if there was no other way. Neither of my parents would say, "Look, you are an adult. I have fulfilled my obligation to you. I'm sorry about your mother passing-let me know when the funeral is and I will try to make it. But please understand, my obligation now is to my new wife. I hope everything works out for you."

What the heck?????? Again, I can't imagine either of my parents saying this to me. This is so far fetched in my world, that it may as well be a cartoon. I also have an adult child. I can't imagine turning my back on her. Of course she makes me angry at times, but simply to wash my hands of her and not look back is unthinkable. But after thinking about it, I've decided that perhaps my family is the exception and not the rule. So I ask again, "When does your "obligation" to your child run out?

Your comments--priceless!!



Yesterday, at a shopping center in Miami, yet another baby was forgotten in an automobile, and died tragically. The mother worked there and simply drove to work, got out, and never thought of the baby again for 6 hours. The temperature in the car is thought to have gotten up to about 130 degrees. How very tragic...

I'm sure she will never be the same. While the news didn't show her on camera, you could hear her wails of anguish, someplace just off camera. It was heartwrenching.

While some might question this mother's ability to parent, I immediately thought of something else. Suppose the woman was simply sleep deprived, working around the clock to pay her bills. Suppose she's short on rent this month, and consumed with thoughts of homelessness. While I have no idea if this was indeed the case, it is certainly a possibility.

I'm just not sure if I'm in a position to judge her, especially as she plans a funeral for her toddler. I'll reserve judgement until all the facts have come to light.

Your comments--priceless!

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