Archive for the ‘Cultural Rants’ Category

Wait ’til They Get to the Real World

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
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I was telling a mother of two girls that Ty went to a boy’s birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. At three years old, he clung to Dad’s arm for an hour before he sat by himself in the booth. The other children ran around and played. He was still, quiet, observant, and no more than four inches away from Dad the entire time.

“Wait until he gets to the real world!” exclaimed she.

A young public schooled boy asked me why I home school our children. He mentioned that his school was a good school. He also talked about a family who lives on his No Outlet street with five children who are home schooled. Without waiting for my response, he said, “The mom does that because she’s afraid of the world.”

“Oh, is she?” I wondered where he got such an idea.

“Yea, and her kids are never allowed to come over.”

I didn’t answer the boys original question because he obviously didn’t want to hear it and because I didn’t want to get into topics such as parental influence, abdication of responsibilities, and low quality government workers with a nine year old boy.

On a Teacher Work Day, Dear Husband was at Target when he overheard a mother’s telling her children, “This is why I shop while you are at school, so I don’t have to put up with your misbehavior.”

Yet… our children give a proper greeting, hold open the door, give the right of way to elders. When prompted, they give up their seat for others. They sit quietly at the bank, and stand in single file when I’m shopping. They are children who forget where they are sometimes, so every once in a while, I have to call attention to them while in public.

Do we not ALL live in the real world? A successful bachelor banker doesn’t live the life that a single mother of two who is on the dole lives, but they both live in the real world. What exactly do people mean when they mention “the real world”? If it means gangs, drug pushers, and people of questionable values, the sexual education of young children, loud music, video games, and high fructose corn syrup, then, by the power invested in us by God Himself, we will strike it down with our flaming swords!

But it is all in how we treat people and to what we are accustomed. Ty’s clinging to his father for an hour is a representation of how we chose to live, where we chose to go on our free times… the library, the park, the wilderness, places that harbor mostly quiet (the real world). When Taylor accompanies me to my trips to the fabric store, she stays close to me, on the right side of the walkway, with her voice down, exhibiting behavior that is lacking from other four year olds. She’ll get a little shriek in her voice when she sees a pink, glittery fabric that would be perfect for a tutu. In our “real world,” Kyle greets the grocery store’s security guard and cashiers with a hearty “Good Morning” and stands aside when a stock clerk has to make his way down an aisle while pushing a filled cart.

We, Sleppys, are not afraid of the real world. School cannot be counted on to do what is clearly a parent’s responsibility, which is to teach a child how to treat others. NOT EVEN CHURCH will teach them that. We, Sleppys, already live in the real world, day after day, guiding, teaching, encouraging, witnessing to, sacrificing for, correcting, and molding our young breed.

Just you wait until *your* children get to the “real world.” Wait to see how shunned they’ll be, classified as rude, crass, grotesque, tasteless, loud.

(Aside, Talon loves wearing her siblings’ boots. They are so big on her, so she stomps around the house, looking like Link in Iron Boots. Totally adorable.)

Gay Lord Jesus?

Friday, February 19th, 2010
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Elton John is claiming that Jesus Christ was gay. I am interested in his reasoning.

My own thoughts on this subject is that Jesus Christ is not gay and looks down upon homosexuality. Of course, God loves all His children, and homosexuals are not an exception. But it is not logical for Christ to be gay while simultaneously being God.

God created Man in His image (that means we look like God does, with eyes and arms and toenails). To multiply and subdue the Earth, He created the forms of male and female, which cannot procreate alone nor can they procreate with like forms (that means that two males do not make babies). This is a fact in humans and most all species, although some fish and invertebrates can switch their gender or spontaneously procreate. I don’t know if it’s possible with non-animal living organisms.

It is illogical that Christ is a homosexual. It would make more sense if He is asexual because God has no reason to procreate. But I do not believe that to be defending it further.

Aside, when speaking of Jesus Christ, because He is the living Word of God, we use the present tense.

He does want us to be loving and forgiving, but He also wants us to make good choices, which do not include perversion.

But I Love My Dog? Why Can’t I Marry My Dog?

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
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I’m happy to see that the amendment to define marriage [between a man and a woman] in our state had passed. In my peacenick, hunky dory, liberal youth, I thought, What’s the harm in letting two people who love each other get married? But that leads to What’s the harm in letting first cousins get married? Brothers and sisters? Sisters and sisters? A man and his horse? A woman and her television? I know! It gets ridiculous!! Besides, marriage is the foundation of the natural family. You can’t call yourself a Christian or Jew or Muslim and believe that two people of the same sex can be married. God made Adam and Eve. And Adam and Eve made babies. Religion aside, like a male tiger and a female tiger make tiger cubs, Two men can’t make babies. Two women can’t make babies.

Historically, marriage is an institution that begins a family. Marriage is older than any of today’s religions. Marriage is as old as the Law of Man. Marriage, in its own constitution, is about Family. Not about Love.
Two men can love each other. That’s a little crazy, I think. But possible. If they want to live together, that’s possible. If they want to be on each others wills, then they can do that through other avenues and laws. If they want to visit each other in the hospital, they can grant each other power of attorney. If they want to rear children, sorry, they can’t have that right. Children are not property. Every baby deserves a mother and a father. That’s what marriage is all about!!

Now that the amendment passed, we will have to decide what defines a man and a woman. A man who goes through surgery to superficially change his gender (because he will never have ovaries or lactating mammary glands) and goes through the courts to change his name is not a woman. Yea, here we go again.

Election Day 2008

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
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Dad and I watched the Democratic presidential nominee’s informercial on Wednesday night (10/29). We both chuckled hard (actually, we were in hysterics for at least a minute) when we saw the image of Democratic presidential nominee’s standing in an office that looked very much like the Oval Office with darkened walls and furniture. It’s amusing that he likes to believe that he’s the president. Well, after that, we were bombarded with stories of families who can’t afford a gallon of milk and old couples on Medicaid who have to work at Wal*Mart after retirement. It was depressing. The Democratic presidential nominee showed us that we are a country of losers. Really depressing. We can’t put gas in our cars. We can’t pay our mortgages. We can’t put food on the table. But the Democratic presidential nominee also gave us hope. He’s going to be like Robin Hood: Steal from the rich and give to the poor. The Democratic presidential nominee will do it in the form of taxes, so it won’t really be stealing. It’ll be a legal confiscation of funds, making him more like Prince John than Robin Hood. If you don’t pay your taxes, you’re a criminal. If you don’t vote for the Democratic presidential nominee, you’re a racist.
Today, we woke up at 5:30am. At least I did. I started waking up the boys, but they didn’t stir. Dad woke up. I started the coffee. I woke up the boys again. I changed the babies’ diapers but didn’t feed them because they both nursed about an hour earlier. Brushed Kyle’s dreadlocks out of his hair while nudging Taylor with my foot. Changed Taylor’s diaper and changed her clothes. Ty made toast, prepared my coffee, and shined Dad’s boots. I’m only kidding. haha! He did make toast, though. We were locked and loaded in the van at 6:41am.

We drove to our polling place and were surprised to see a fairly empty parking lot. We stood in line, maybe the 70th and 71st ones in line. I had a baby in the sling and a baby in the stroller (switched them around often, depending on which one was hungry). There was a dad with his two girls, a little older than Ty, who looked like he wasn’t used to waiting in long lines with them – not that we often wait in long lines with the children. He had a box of distractions. Literally. He had a box with paper, crayons, and coloring books. Ty and Kyle sat on the ground twice during our wait, drank water from our canteen, and read a Berenstain Bears book. Taylor was the one who was acting up – just a tad. Enough to get her doll taken from her. The dad with the two girls offered us paper, but we said that we didn’t need any. “We are practicing patience,” explained Dad. It helps to be around the children 24/7 instead of this only-on-weeknights-and-weekends kind of parenting that seems to be the trend.

Voting was a breeze. We were out of there by 8:15am. But Dad and I did notice that two of the poll workers were wearing some Black History shirts. Why is that so wrong? Because political displays are not allowed within 200 feet of the polling place. These Black History shirts (with portraits of MLK, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, to name a few) were proxies for the Democratic presidential nominee shirts that the Democratic presidential nominee has been selling at his rallies. We as tax payers should provide these poll workers with a uniform. A blue, green, or turquoise shirt, something easy to spot. What’s this monkey business with Black History? C’mon. Imagine if we walked in there wearing shirts with images of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Andrew Carnegie. We’d be asked to leave the premises. We would not be allowed to vote. There would definitely not be any allowance for a white poll worker to show up wearing a White History shirt. By the way, there should be a month designated for dead white people and not just Presidents. Oh, am I racist? Voting for the Democratic presidential nominee just because he’s black (or half-black) is racist. Voting for John McCain because he loves America is American.
We stopped by the grocery store to pick up doughnuts and chocolate milk for our Election Day breakfast, which isn’t technically “break fast” because we had toast earlier. So now we’re enjoying the rest of the morning, watching Dad save Princess Zelda, reminding Kyle to pronounce his fricatives, and mainly recuperating from waking up way too early. I have to work later.

Cvn U r33d thi$?

Friday, April 4th, 2008
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One afternoon while I was working, Dad put the boys at the home schooling table, laid out blank paper, and passed out crayons. Taylor was not allowed to use the crayons because she is known to graffiti our walls. Kyle scribbled a lot, drew Mr. Potato Head’s yellow, crazy smile, and generally had a fun few hours. Ty colored rainbows, drew the solar system (in correct order and color), and drew pretty good portraits of Mr. Potato Head and various dinosaurs.

When I came home, I was very much impressed by the artwork. Most of the time, when we do art in Greenleaf School, the two younger ones scribble on the paper (and table) while Ty draws five or six renditions of the solar system. This time, they had a dozen unique drawings. One was a perfect dinosaur which Ty had labeled: Stikcores.

The “kcores” was on top of the “Sti.” So I read aloud, “K. Cores. Sti.” I looked at Ty. He was scowling. I looked down to the paper, which had a wonderful, black Stegosaurus on it. “Oh, yea! Ty, you wrote ‘Stegosaurus!’” He smiled. “Great. That looks exactly like a Stegosaurus. Good Job, Ty.” He was proud of himself.

During the weekend, I read about “inventive spelling” and how it is being accepted by Kindergarten teachers today. The theory is that early English spellers will progress from what looks like gibberish (id est, “O M F G” will be read aloud by the child as, “I watched TV all day.”) to correct spelling by the end of third grade. Ty is right in the middle of this progress with literal phonetic spelling.

I’m so happy that I found a label for my son. To celebrate my new discovery, I wrote down the names of his ten favorite dinosaurs (including Stegosaurus) and told him to copy my writing, disguising it as handwriting work. Perhaps that will reinforce the memorization of the suffix -saurus. While I love and support creativity, I do believe that flaws should be corrected and that everyone should be reaching for the dictionary. Yes, even when IMing and txt’ing.

Expecting Multiples: The Myths

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
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I have to admit that I wasn’t exactly “happy” when I learned that we were expecting twins. I was shocked, scared, and confused (Twins don’t run in my family). After getting over the initial reaction, expecting twins is a little more serious that expecting a singleton. It is a blessing and much, much more efficient than having only one at a time.

When people, most often it’s women, learn that we’re having twins, their first response is usually, “Gosh, I’ve always wanted twins.” That makes me feel a little guilty because I’ve never always wanted twins. I’ve always wanted to have children. There was a time that I didn’t want *any* children. Then there was a time that I thought I’d never have children. When I did want children, I never wanted twins. It didn’t occur to me that I’d ever have twins, being that they don’t run in my family.

I’ve always associated twins as a mother-to-daughter trait or an outcome of fertility treatments. And I learned recently that there are twins in my family, but they come from my dad’s side. My paternal grandfather was himself a twin born in 1899 – or 1898, I’m not sure. But in my grandfather’s case, like in Elvis Presley’s, one twin survived while the other didn’t (Elvis’ twin was named Jesse).

I don’t entirely believe that having twins is a genetic trait. Surely, it must have something to do with maternal nutrition. Most other mammals have larger litters if overfed. We’ve been having stair-step children, so perhaps my body thinks that there’s a human population shortage. Or maybe the gods find it amusing that we’ll have five children ages five and under. Ha ha ha. That’s funny.

Then there are comments such as, “Twins always come early,” “You can’t breast feed two babies!” and “Doctors like to schedule a C-section just in case.” I don’t know about you, but my babies are going to be born only a few days before their actual due date after four hours of labor. They’ll be weighing over seven pounds each, and they’ll learn to nurse together, dirty their diapers together, and sleep together because that’s just the way things are going to be in this house. Period.
All I know is, I get really uncomfortable being told that someone else has “always wanted twins.” That’s like being asked, “Are you expecting?” when you’ve had a baby just three months before. Or carrying a bag of groceries in one hand and holding the hand of a toddler who is holding the hand of a young preschooler who is holding the hand of an older preschooler and being told, “Looks like you’ve got your hands full.” Well, it might only look like that, but if I let go of the toddler, her brothers still have a hold of her.

And my favorite: “Better you than me!”
You. Are. Right.

‘Tis the Season

Thursday, December 6th, 2007
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Dear Giant Inflatable Snow Globe Owner,

I admire your festive sense. While the majority of the neighborhood waits timidly aside for the arrival of Christmas, you decorate your yard with an enormous, plastic, 100 volt round thing that reminds passersby that it’s not Christmas without snow. At night, while I drive past hundreds of unlit houses, your yard is like a beacon of blowing snow, guiding me through the dark streets, a whirring motor that serves as a fog horn.

Did you know that you spent one hundred dollars on an eye sore? It’s a good thing that you want to celebrate the season. Can you do it without the fake snow? Without the plastic snowman? It’s like you have put a round blender on your lawn and chopped up a trash bag inside. Perhaps you can put that thing in your backyard where only the people who are living with you can see it. Your closest neighbors might be insulted by the motor’s ruckus, so maybe you should just get rid of it.

Thanks and Merry Holidays,

Mom

Impeach the Media – Part Deux

Monday, June 4th, 2007
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Last night, after the kids went to bed, the Dad and I watched the ending of Game Three of the Stanley Cup Finals. After a long day figuring out what the crap happened to our internet connection (for him) and sewing without the internet (for me), it was nice to have quiet and a game to watch. The game ended, and a WWF show came on. I asked Dad to change it, but he wanted to watch it for a few minutes. And I put up with bad acting from a giant. Well, after a few minutes, it got a little messy, so I got up to change it (which was okay with Dad).

“It’s either this or the fag on MadTV,” announced Dad. I saw a Grandma telling it like it is to her Gen-Y bimbo granddaughter. At first, I liked the whole “You are spoiled. You’re clothes are made of plastic” attitude that the Grandma had. But the granddaughter kept throwing kitchen appliances at her Grandma. It was all in good fun because the Grandma was really a young actor who was picking up furniture to throw at the girl.

“Weren’t we just watching this on the other channel?” I asked.
“Oh, yea, I guess so.”

So I closed my eyes until it ended. I think Dad changed the channel back to WWF, but I don’t remember. When he changed it back to FOX, the fag actor was making a bad impression of Steve Jobs who was supposed to be demonstrating a new Apple product. The fag made Jobs look like a klutz, and the skit went on forever. No dialogue, just dropping white boxes and destroying props.

Finally, that was over, and some show that I have never seen before started with this disclaimer:

The following program has two middle-aged women making out. Big time.

Thanks for telling me. But I was hoping it wasn’t true. The show was a little funny. They had some bad acting , but it was okay. Then they had a “Ask for Advice” segment.

Dear Show Host,
My husband and his ex-wife are still talking a lot. What do I do?

And this is where two women were sitting with a man between them. One woman got up. The man shifted to the woman’s seat. The woman sat in the middle. She put her arm around the other woman… And I closed my eyes. I heard whooping and cheering from the live studio audience. It was disgusting. I almost threw up. I’d rather express my dog’s scent glands than to watch two people of the same sex making out.

The kids were in their rooms, dreaming about apple juice and dinosaurs. I should have gone to bed earlier.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Monday, May 28th, 2007
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I play the piano for a Lutheran church. I don’t know why I bother listening to the sermons. I always come home with something to rant about to my husband. For one thing, the pastor continues to discredit science and scientists by saying, “We Christians already knew this and that because we believe in God.” Well, that’s ironic. I believe in God, and I didn’t know that the Earth revolved around the Sun until Nick Copernicus told me. And whatever changes or progress are made or discovered by science and scientists, the pastor accuses the scientists of doing it for money, id est, the International Astronomical Union designated Pluto as a dwarf planet because they wanted money. Although he makes no supports for his claims, the congregation just nods and accepts this as truth.

Yesterday, the pastor mentioned the parthenogenesis of a shark in Belfast, but he used the term “virgin birth.” Only a few parishoners had heard of the story, and most were shaking their heads either in disgust or disbelief. He did not mention that some species of fish and reptiles are known to reproduce without the genetic information of a male parent, especially while under the threat of extinction. He simply offered his regular bit of wisdom, “We Christians already knew that a virgin birth is possible because we believe in God.”

I suppose they already know how to reduce the garbage from the fellowship hall, but nobody bothers to put it into practice.

One More Reason to Homeschool

Friday, April 27th, 2007
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A Florida boy was physically forced by public school teacher to remove his braids.
Since when does a teacher have the right to hold a student down (unless he’s flailing a knife around)? The parents ought to know better than to send their boy to school with a freakish hair-do (unless it’s a school for freaks). Poor kid. This is the kind of stuff that sticks in kids’ minds. In a decade, he’ll be going postal. Poor kid.