Bedtime Stories

For various and sundry reasons, Hannah had to go to bed right after church tonight, before her little brother. Therefore missing her story.

Let's just say that she is going through a phase (I hope....) of having to have the last word about everything.

After church, in true Seth fashion, he decided to "twist the knife in deeper" and remind her a couple of times that: "Hannah, you have to go to bed without a story", getting the hoped for outrage and sharp "SETH!!!" from her, and requiring a rebuke from daddy. While she waited in bed, I read to Seth. After his story, he was unusually energetic (I usually carry the little rascal - it's a custom after all) as he bounced up off the couch, ran to Hannah's room, and informed her that we were going to come into her room to pray (instead of the other way around). Needless to say, he was pretty smug about the whole affair.

As of now, everyone (but me, as usual) is sleeping peacefully in their own beds.

Which was NOT the case last Sunday night, bringing me to my second story. After leaving the church with Seth wearing his coat backward (as put on by a man in the church) he completed the evening by walking backward to the van, continuing to do so when we got home. So it only stands to reason that the sleeping arrangements should be somewhat backward. Or different, anyway.

Seth has been pretty good lately about sleeping through the night in his own bed. However, Sunday night he came into my room at about 4:00 a.m. wanting to snuggle, so I dragged my feet to his room and laid beside him in his bed. At about 4:30 a.m. Hannah yelled for me from her room, so I stumbled there, half asleep. She told me she had a nightmare. I asked her what her nightmare was about, so she told me that, "all of my stuffed animals were put in the toilet and someone FLUSHED THE TOILET!"

Of course, my 4:30 a.m. brain understood the trauma of this completely.

She wanted me to sleep with her. Well, after laying with Seth for a half hour I had gained a kink in my neck, so I knew I was not going to do well in her bed. Her dad is usually pretty good about laying with her when she's scared, but he went to bed with a migraine so I didn't want to bother him. So, I caved in and told her to quietly crawl in with us. Within 30 seconds we were both asleep.

For about ten minutes, tops. That's when Junior awoke and realized I was no longer in his room, so came seeking me. Still having a kink in my neck and being totally unable to open my eyelids at all, I decided to make us one very happy family that night and let him crawl in with us, too.

Mom. Dad. Juniorette. Junior. For two and a half hours.

At least we have a king size bed.

And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. Luke 11:7

See. The whole family in one bed. Scripture is scripture, after all, context notwithstanding.

Yes, sometimes one must grasp at straws for some type of consolation.

Technology and Pseudo-Relationships

This video pokes a little fun at Facebook, and I find it very funny. Before I ever started blogging I joined Facebook for about a week and that was enough for me. I thought it might be nice to reacquaint myself with some old high school friends if I could locate them, but realized there was little value in being on Facebook when I was too cynical to even send a "friend" request. Within a week I realized that I was definitely not suited to Facebook.

My initial first impression of blogging was not that great either. Many of the blogs I read seemed very silly, and some of them gave entirely too much information. Over time my opinion changed because I began finding some very articulate, intelligent bloggers that consistently challenged me intellectually and/or spiritually. Enough so that I started my own, the main reason of which was to keep a diary of sorts of my children; one that I could look back on in years to come and laugh with fond memories (as well as to show them when they're older). And so it remains that about 90 percent of my posts are about them, with the occasional diversion to ranting (like this post). The two reasons I decided to be public about their lives (rather than just writing a personal diary) was to allow the people who love them most to keep up-to-date on the little day to day details, and to challenge me to improve my writing (which I have always loved to do). If I just kept a personal diary, it's quite likely that their little "dramas" would only be three lines long at most. And to be perfectly honest, the encouragement that people's comments bring is satisfying, and that is something I never expected.

I was reading just today on Brother Myles Young's blog about Facebook and Myspace in particular, which prompted this post - although it has been brewing for some time in the back of my mind. He talked about how much these things have taken away from good, wholesome conversation and "real-time" relationships, calling them "pseudo-relationships". And I agree wholeheartedly.

I understand the basic principle behind Facebook is to find long lost pals, and that in itself is fine. What I can't understand is the total absorption some people have with Facebook - thinking that their mostly superficial friends (or pseudo-relationships) want to know about every burp they experience, every mood change, or what they are going to wear to the the party on the weekend. To keep up with it to that degree requires total absorption.

Blogging can be absorbing, as well, and it's something that I have to keep myself in check about. I personally enjoy reading blogs (and don't throw rotten tomatoes at me.....) because they generally have a lot more substance. As well, the people who decide to read my blog do so out of choice, not because they.....regrettably (it's true, most of the people I know on Facebook don't really want most of their friends)....decided to "accept" my friendship.

But the biggest pet peeve I have of all is not really Facebook OR blogging. It's that world called TEXTING.

Texting is good for two things: To tell your sweetie-pie you need milk for breakfast, or to let the world know that you're safe. THAT'S IT. Never in my life have I ever seen the rudeness that seems to come with the world of texting, so much so that in the future I am seriously considering having people leave their cell phones at the door when they come to my house, or hanging a "No Texting Zone" sign. To have "real-time" relationships CONSTANTLY disturbed by the ringing of THAT THING - literally mid sentence - and to have to stop what you're saying so somebody can answer a text is the very worst in manners. To text at the dinner table is rude (so is talking on the phone - but the ratio of talking on the phone at the table versus texting is not even in the same ball park these days). At least you don't see people leaving the dinner table or interrupting conversation to check their Facebook or blog.

It's very easy, as well, for texting to become a tool that stirs up strife, more so than Facebook or blogging. How easy is it to send of a quick text to a friend or family member that you know is going to tick them off? Starting a full-scale text messaging war?

No, folks, I can't see myself ever being sold on texting. Not even for those two things. We have to be ever careful and diligent with our blogging and Facebook absorption, but we can absolutely, beyond the shadow of a doubt, live without texting.

Wonder how popular that makes me?

Still No Toys

As I mentioned in my previous post, we went to Dollarama on Tuesday night to let the kids buy their little toys. Seth did not get to play with his new toys that night because of his whining and saucy mouth.

He still doesn't have them. In fact, I'm not sure he will get them before he's twelve, and by then he won't want them.

Perhaps I'll give them away on the bus tomorrow.

That Tongue

I kind of laugh now when I look back at some old posts and how I reacted when Seth first began saying things like "I'm going to kill you". Whether that is more indicative of how much I'm beginning to understand boys' behaviour and relax a little about it, or how much I've slacked off and let him get away with too much - I'm not quite sure. All I know is that "I'm going to kill you" (the first time he said it) now seems rather mild. And quite frankly funny.

To this point, he would have had his hemiglossectomy at least 1,547 times if I had carried the surgery through. I assure you, however, that his tongue is still quite intact and working well.

Lately, he has been calling everything and everyone "____head", filling in the blank with all sorts of silly little things like "pin" or "tractor" or "wheel". Although they're generally pretty mild, I have tried to nip this in the bud when I've heard him because I don't want him calling people dumbhead, or butthead (the latter which he's said ONCE, but only ONCE). One time he called Hannah a pinhead, which I rebuked him for, so he kindly corrected himself and dryly said, "okay, finhead then, mom". I was in awe at the improvement. This is just one example of his sauciness.

Short of using some sort of hot sauce, or soap, I am finding it very difficult to break him of his smart mouth. Perhaps I'm just a wimp, but I hesitate using either of those two methods, although both have been used by my oldest sister and so far her children have bore no long term ill effects that I know of, although.....ahem......it hasn't.....really.....helped.....either.... (sorry, couldn't resist). Both of my kids have such strong gag reflexes (actually throwing up), and Seth is already so fussy that I'm not willing to risk having him even more resistant to trying new foods than he already is, and I do think that doing this could promote that. But like I said, maybe I'm just wimping out.

Last night, Dave was given $10.00 by a lady in one of his condos for changing her light bulbs (despite several attempts at refusing the money - the little old lady insisted). He decided to give the kids each $5.00, so we took them to Dollarama tonight for a little treat and let them go on a massive spending spree.

It took Seth all of ten minutes to pick his items (only changing his mind once). It took Hannah one hour. ONE LONG HOUR, at which time we'd had enough and only with the threat of leaving with nothing did she finally decide. Although Seth had already picked his stuff, for pretty much the entire hour, he had the "galloping greedy gimmies" - from a wonderful Berenstain Bear book, a lesson on greediness - whining and wanting everything, so that when we got home he was not allowed to play with any of his toys. As you might imagine, this did not go over well.

I hauled his little carcass off to bed while daddy finished reading to his daughter. He lay in bed trying to decide whether or not to have a full blown tantrum, while I let him know that he was quite welcome to it if he wanted me to add to his seat of affliction. So he compromised, and rather than screaming and carrying on, he had a few things to say to me:

"MOM, I'm NOT impressed that I HAVE to go to BED!" he emphasized.

"That's too bad, my darling," I cooed sweetly. "I'm entirely tired of your attitude and your mouth."

"WELL, I'm NOT going to STAY IN BED, you know! I'm going to COME OUT again once everyone has GONE OUT!" he stated, making sure that I knew the gravity of the situation.

"If you would like to come on out, be my guest," I explained carefully, "but you might be rather surprised at the consequences of that action."

"Well......" he hesitated, "maybe I won't come all the way out, but I'll only come to the door, just to tell you that....I want you to sleep with me," he stated.

"No," I replied, "you will not get out of your bed at all."

After daddy and Hannah came in and our usual nightly routine was over, he was still slightly perturbed, so he informed me that,

"Mom, I won't allow you to snuggle me tonight."

"Alright," I said, making a move to get up and go out of the room. "Good night."

"NO, NO, NO!" he panicked. "I mean, well, what I mean is that......I won't allow you to snuggle me in YOUR BED. But you can still snuggle me in MINE." And he proceeded to grab my hand and put it on his stomach so that I could give him the "belly rub" that he so loves.

{Sigh}.... This boy of mine. He becomes more challenging every week, it seems. He leaves me banging my head against the wall one minute, laughing my face off the next, and snuggling and loving him hard in between it all.

And really, I know deep down that I wouldn't want him any other way.

Well.....mostly, anyway.

The public school system is looking better every day.

Superficiality of Humankind

I love good preaching and I happen to have one of the finest preachers for a pastor, ever. Whenever my pastor's name is mentioned among friends or other fellow saints, it is very evident how well respected he is. The respect comes from his moral character, ethics, wisdom and leadership, as well as his preaching ability. I have never really understood why he has not headlined more camp meetings than he has, because he definitely could.

He is a GREAT orator.

Having said that, there are also men that God has called to preach that do not have the greatest oration skills. Some of them have charisma but lack in oration. Others have neither. However, with God's calling on their life, they have GREAT churches. A good example of a man who was not considered a great orator and neither had much charisma was Elder I.H. Terry (who has since gone on to his reward) and whom I have met and heard preach personally. It's been said that he had a handful of simple messages that he preached over and over again. He was also known to be extremely blunt.

This is the man who, with God's guidance, mentored and guided more men to preach the gospel than any other pastor that I know of. This is the man who, with God's anointing, preached the truth to the best of his ability, and because of this has left the legacy of a great church still flourishing and many men either pastoring churches or evangelizing.

Now to get the point of my post.

I was pretty determined not to post anymore about Barack Obama, and particularly about the inauguration. I have been trying to look on the bright side of this man who is now the 44th president of the United States of America. He is biracial and that is a HUGE plus. In fact, I'm ecstatic about that. I will not reiterate all the reasons that I distrust the man, and really in my heart do hope that I am wrong.

The reason I became "undetermined" to post on this subject is because of the absolute adoration of this MAN called Barack Obama. That's right. MAN. Imagine as many people as are in the city of Calgary, Alberta - approximately 1,000,000 people - that's ONE MILLION people - flocking to see THE MAN. And more than this elected this man worthy of leading their nation. WHY? WHY? WHY?

It is not because of his experience - he had less than the much criticized Sarah Palin. I daresay it's not even because of his policies, although his well thought out platform of "change" did contribute somewhat to his success; and perhaps it is because he is half African-American and half white and history will be made.

I propose, however, that the main reason that this man has been elected the next president is because he is great orator and he is loaded with charisma. And that doesn't just sadden me, it sickens me. If I have heard these phrases once, I've heard them a thousand times, "but he's such a GREAT SPEAKER!" "HE JUST HAS A WAY ABOUT HIM!".

Wowsie, wowsie. Big hairy deal. Talk about the superficiality of humanity. To think that just because a man can speak well and is loaded with personal charm makes him fit to run the most powerful country in the world is plain ludicrous. To think that these people do not really care about anything else and are not the least bit interested in trying to get to the bottom of who the man REALLY is leading their country.

I realize it's wonderful to have both a great leader and great orator because I have that for a pastor. But if one has to choose between a great leader who has ethics, strong morals and values OR a great orator who does not (and yes, FACTS do back me up on that - he had the most liberal voting record on moral issues in the senate), why would anyone choose the latter? I mean anyone besides Hollywood's finest, anyway.

I really do wish the man well because he faces a difficult task. However, if things continue to deteriorate in that country morally, take comfort my friends in the fact that at least he's charming and can speak well. It should count for something, right?

Even though God can use a donkey (literally), somehow we humans can't.

Rambling About My Rosie

This is my Rosie. Rosie is Auntie Laura's nickname for Hannah (which Hannah happens to love) and since Auntie Laura took this picture of her, it seemed fitting to call her that for this post. Somehow it suits her, too.

I adore this picture of her. It was taken during our family's Christmas get together at Auntie Lana's. She was playing Skip-Bo at the time.

My Rosie will be done her grade one in a couple of months. I sat down during the Christmas break and evaluated where she was at. I was pleasantly surprised to see that she was almost through.

I know that I'm rambling. Truthfully, I just wanted an excuse to post this picture of my girl, I love it so much.

With much love and affection for my girl, good night. :)

Rant

I'm about to rant.

Years ago I heard of someone who boycotted Calvin Klein products because of their provocative ads. Not being knowledgeable of the fashion industry (and quite frankly not caring), I was curious and started looking for these ads in magazines. And I agreed. I admired the stance of this person and took up their "cause". To my knowledge (I say that in case they manufacture items that do not directly bear their name), I have never bought anything made by Calvin Klein.

I admit I am blissfully ignorant about the fashion industry - by choice. It's my personal opinion that the pursuit of fashion is every bit as worldly as....let's say.....watching television. That's not to say that I've never worn any "name brand" items, but I have only done so because they've been on sale and not because I just had to have name brand (which is what I mean about pursuit of fashion). I am not ashamed to buy anything from Superstore, Wal-Mart, Zellers or thrift stores.

I am also quite aware that I've likely worn name brands manufactured by such like Calvin Klein purely in ignorance (like I said, just because I could care less). However, if something similarly perverse would ever have been brought to my attention, I would have happily boycotted the product.

I will not be a slave to fashion.

The reason for my ire is because of the controversy in local news about the outlet American Apparel. The controversy that makes Calvin Klein look angelic in comparison. It started out when a producer at the local radio station blogged about the store, having picked up on a story about a BC woman and her experience. Apparently the woman took her 13-year-old daughter to American Apparel and was disturbed to find that they sold a gay porno magazine that was accessible to anyone. She flipped through the magazine herself and witnessed several very disturbing sexual scenes between two men. The story worked it's way to our fair city even further today, being reported in the news.

Apparently the original producer who blogged on this story yesterday visited the location in our city. She confirmed that there were indeed copies of this magazine, uncellophaned, easily readable to the public. This is in a clothing outlet store that sells clothing to babies, kids, mothers, fathers and TEENAGERS.

Perhaps you can understand my rant.

I have not been in the store to confirm her story. I now NEVER INTEND TO. However, in searching online, some very, very sick, disturbing ads are easily accessible to the public. This is not even yet touching on the gay porno magazine they sell at their store. I also read about CEO, Dov Charney, who is a sickening pervert, and readily admits to using porno ads because "sex sells".

I am writing about this to make people aware, especially those with children. I do not believe many of the people who read my blog would choose to support a store such as this, and would certainly not want their children exposed to such perversion.

I am writing this in the hopes that if any youth or young people are patrons of this store, that they seriously reconsider their support. Stinking, rotten, filthy garbage such as this cannot succeed if people were to actually stop buying from them.

Please, folks. Do not try to throw comparisons at me like: What about the internet and it's garbage? While there are certainly legitimate concerns with the internet, it is not the SAME issue as I am speaking of. Lets keep apples apples, and oranges oranges. Please. I'll even blog about the filth of the internet at a future date, if you want.

There. I've had my rant.