Things that don't make sense... Originally written 8/28/08

Senator McCain’s campaign tactics: How childish can you be? I’m about to discount him just based on the fact that since we’ve hit the real presidential campaign and all he can do is tell us not to vote for Obama. Umm... k... hows about you start telling my WHY I should vote for YOU and layoff trying to discount Obama. I know neither candidate is perfect, and I can’t say that my views are reflected well in either one, but I lean more on the side of the guy who’s out to promote himself. Isn’t that what we’re voting for here? The way I see McCain at this point is as someone who can’t win on his own so he’s trying to make the other guy look bad. Is this really true? Not necessarily, but he’s not making a good argument as to why I should vote for him.

American kids diets: Why are we so insistent on killing the next generation? Seriously, do we have some kind of grudge against them that makes in necessary for us to let them do whatever they want for “happiness” even if it means their utter demise? There are 4.5 million obese kids/teenagers in America right now and that number is raising. Aren’t we just a fabulous nation! Yuck, makes me sick. Only in America (and now that our lovely bad influence is being inflicted, yes inflicted, on other Westernized nations) do kids have whole meals made separately for them because they “don’t like” what’s for dinner. You’re joking right? Not only do they get separate meals, but those meals consist of macaroni and cheese (so glad my kids don’t ask for this meal by name), Spaghetti O’s, Ramen, PB & J (that is if your kid “tolerates” the peanut butter... there’s probably no problem with the jelly, there’s usually a good amount of sugar in that to make it just right), lunchables, oh, and my favorite HOT DOGS, chips, sugar cereal, soda, and fruit snacks. I think a laser hit Earth right over America and erased our ability to use common sense. No kid ever liked anything that wasn’t repeatedly presented for their palate to figure out, and no kid is picky who’s learned how to eat right. Want to get rid of a picky kid? Stop rolling over and babying them over food. Oh, and if you’re having problems with your own weight take a gander at the foods you keep in your house and your portion sizes.... just for funsies! Maybe someday we’ll say goodbye to the processed foods and try to live a little longer. Enough said.

Public Schools: Shall we call as spade a spade? Don’t try and feed me the story about my child’s “academic education” because that just makes me laugh. Public schools try to help kids with their “social education” and that’s fine and dandy-like I’m sure for most. However, here’s my problem. There is an epidemic of dual-income household which for most, probably not all, people means that they’re not all that big a part of their kids education be it academic or social. So, these cute little kids have some really fun behaviors that they bring to the mix, and us in our infinite wisdom say, “hey wouldn’t it be a great idea to stick a bunch of 6 year-olds together so they can learn social skills from one another.” Yah, that’s special. I would love to have my kids learn from another kid, who also doesn’t know how to act. If I didn’t believe in foreordination I would swear that I was born in the wrong time frame. My mind itches for the days before WWII changed our schooling as a nation. It’s interesting, the “great minds” of our times were home-schooled through mentors, private teachers, and parents and did INCREDIBLE things. PUBLIC SCHOOLS WERE FOR THE POOR, they weren’t meant for the masses. Now it’s just fine and dandy to hand our kids over no questions asked to someone who may not have a clue. Nice. You know, I don’t want the surgeon who barely passed working on me, but we’re more then happy to hand our kids development over to the kid who may have barely passed college. Yes, yes “but I supplement my kids at home.” Should I roll my eyes back in my head now or later? Why send your kids AWAY for 6 + hours a day in the first place? This is what stress looks like to me....
Somewhere between 6-8am: scramble to get kids ready, breakfast, all school items together.
8-3-ish: school... complete with scrambling to learn what’s on the government tests so that the school will get adequate funding, teachers dealing with discipline issues, the “ADD” kid acting up because he can’t sit still (Why did we learn about different learning styles if all we’re going to teach to is one type and leave the other ones hanging?).
3-8: After school activities.... sports, sports games, dance, homework, oh and let’s not forget “supplemental learning” (which is another way of admitting that the school isn’t sufficient), maybe dinner is in there somewhere.
9pm or maybe a little earlier if your extra-curricular schedule permits: bedtime

So, I am a self confessed control-freak, but in all the running around I just don’t see enough time to RELAX and enjoy time as a family each day. I’d rather have hours of just being together then sending them to a “babysitter” <-- how I think of public schools and including private schools who do nothing more then just turn kids out on a conveyor belt without allowing proper development of them using their own brains. Where have all the leaders gone? Where has the ability to think for ourselves and develop our own interests and LOVE learning gone. Why aren’t books our nations’ favorite thing to turn to then the t.v., computer, or virtual games? Our society is just a whole new definition of lazy.