I am Bridget Jones. On certain days. Minus the cigarettes, boos, and loose morals. And swearing. Incidentally, I am also a brunette. I'm trying to tap into the positive here. I go through stages of chaotically motivated self reinvention/improvement. I love my life in general - love the family and the work, but I'll admit, the single factor does seem to bother people - oh for real, it just got to the part in the movie where she's at the dinner party and a dozen people stare at her after she's asked why there are so many single women in their thirties. Yeah, I'm watching it right now. No, I'm not in my thirties, but you have to make the adjustment from London to rural East Texas. I'm in my mid-twenties. It's the same. Trust me. The people I know love me the most (I count myself in that group) never say anything about my singularity, and I don't believe they care. Complete strangers, however, or people whose business it most assuredly is not, are quite uncomfortable with my unattached state.
It is considered bad etiquette to ask someone what they do for a living at a social engagement. Is it not also rude to ask someone if they're seeing someone special? Or, even worse: "So why aren't you married?" My answer: "I don't know." Am I supposed to know? Because I don't, really.
Then I'm told that I need to "put myself out there." Ahem. . . have these people seen what's on the market in my neck of the woods? No, thank you. The pickins are slim.
Moral of the story - I'd rather be single forever than settle for something mediocre just to fit a mold others consider to be acceptable. I hope if you're single and reading this, you can feel the same way about yourself.
FYI - I am leaving in the morning to take seven students to Knoxville for national competition. I'll be away for a week, so the blog will be silent. Not that that will be a big change, I am pretty much posting once a week anyway. That'll change come summer, I promise.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Teaching and Learning
I was thinking of mothers today - can't think why. . . Any the who, I thought about the mothers, the women, whose selfless selves have been immortalized in films and on the page. Women like Melanie Hamilton in "Gone With the Wind." Melanie was so kind, generous, patient, and a million other things. She was a good Christian, she was a woman, although fictional, that showed impeccable, untainted character.
I was thinking of my faults this morning, about how I am not like Melanie Hamilton. (Although, as much as I love Scarlett, I'm always angry at her for throwing Melanie's love away with both hands.) Here's the thing, I can't think of a flesh and blood woman who is like Melanie, or Jane Bennett, or Beth March. They were all fictional, after all. Still, there do seem to be women out there that are always the picture of grace and goodness, but I am certain behind closed doors they all get real. How can one be perfect in an imperfect world? The answer is we cannot. Someone extra challenging will always come along, a situation will undoubtedly unravel before us, that will make us behave human, in the worst possible way.
I try really hard to love all the people in my life, I try to love them faults and all. I have to, God loves me every day in spite of mine. It's hard. I want to teach people, and I'm only 25, so I don't know all that much. I guess I am striking a balance between learning from those who know more than me and setting an example for those who know less. That's a challenge, but if I truly work to achieve that balance it all sort of works out. If I choose to teach and lead by example, then my example of learning from, respecting, and honoring those with more wisdom than myself should naturally have the desired effect on the other party. Correct? Quite philosophical for 7:30 on a Sunday evening don't you think?
Conversely, what do we do when someone cannot, or refuses to be, taught? They are either so set in their ways, or so over-defensive due to low self esteem, that they cannot accept doing it any other way, let alone another person's instruction. They must already be right and perfect, otherwise, in their mind, they are worthless. I don't know how to help a person like that, and unfortunately, that sends me into a downward spiral of human-ish frustration.
I don't remember where I was at or what I was doing or what the woman looked like, but she simply said to me: "I learned a long time ago that you can't please everyone. So, I don't worry about pleasing anyone. I just please God."
I suppose that's the trick. If you're doing that, everything else should naturally fall into place. Why is it so hard to remember that throughout the day?
I was thinking of my faults this morning, about how I am not like Melanie Hamilton. (Although, as much as I love Scarlett, I'm always angry at her for throwing Melanie's love away with both hands.) Here's the thing, I can't think of a flesh and blood woman who is like Melanie, or Jane Bennett, or Beth March. They were all fictional, after all. Still, there do seem to be women out there that are always the picture of grace and goodness, but I am certain behind closed doors they all get real. How can one be perfect in an imperfect world? The answer is we cannot. Someone extra challenging will always come along, a situation will undoubtedly unravel before us, that will make us behave human, in the worst possible way.
I try really hard to love all the people in my life, I try to love them faults and all. I have to, God loves me every day in spite of mine. It's hard. I want to teach people, and I'm only 25, so I don't know all that much. I guess I am striking a balance between learning from those who know more than me and setting an example for those who know less. That's a challenge, but if I truly work to achieve that balance it all sort of works out. If I choose to teach and lead by example, then my example of learning from, respecting, and honoring those with more wisdom than myself should naturally have the desired effect on the other party. Correct? Quite philosophical for 7:30 on a Sunday evening don't you think?
Conversely, what do we do when someone cannot, or refuses to be, taught? They are either so set in their ways, or so over-defensive due to low self esteem, that they cannot accept doing it any other way, let alone another person's instruction. They must already be right and perfect, otherwise, in their mind, they are worthless. I don't know how to help a person like that, and unfortunately, that sends me into a downward spiral of human-ish frustration.
I don't remember where I was at or what I was doing or what the woman looked like, but she simply said to me: "I learned a long time ago that you can't please everyone. So, I don't worry about pleasing anyone. I just please God."
I suppose that's the trick. If you're doing that, everything else should naturally fall into place. Why is it so hard to remember that throughout the day?
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Saturday Talk
Another post-free week has come and gone. Another INSANE week has come and gone. There was a serious issue with students with tentacles reaching into my personal family life; my mother had surgery; my younger sister began, and quit, her first job; I had an article due; I got a new assignment from a brand new client; and SWINE FLU!!! Oh my goodness!! None of these are excuses for not posting, a dedicated writer bent on building a platform and readership would be up until all hours of the morning to insure their blog was in prime condition. I am dedicated, but I'm dedicated to many things, especially my family.
With all that out of the way - some Saturday thoughts: I believe Swine Flu, or H1N1 (because nothing is officially scary until it has a letter-number combo label), is a government conspiracy. Think about it. Our president conveniently leaves the post at HHS open? I think it was a cover. There was immediate alarm over this sickness when it was discovered in Mexico City, but were the borders closed? No. Why? Because it was apparently already in New York. I watch the news quite a bit and consider myself to be a well-informed person and citizen. So, I ask, how did it get from Mexico to NYC before anyone knew about it? I live in Texas!!! Next to Mexico!!! I run a school and daycare!!! I consider myself to be in that handful of the population that should know about things like this. . .ummm, what's the word. . .searching. . .QUICKLY - as I live and these businesses operate in the neighboring state to "Ground Zero" of this whole affair. It just seems odd. Why weren't international flights grounded? Oh, it doesn't matter. Well, then how did H1N1 get to EGYPT? Is H1N1 equipped with propellers which allow it to travel across massive spans of water? Is this information forthcoming from the CDC?
This accusation sounds sensational and I am not a sensational person. Although, most of the above is me behaving sensationally. The direction our government is careening toward is socialism, and by default, extreme and unprecedented control over American lives. An opportunity such as this, where they are able to inspire fear on home soil, where they hold the information and the cure, is a prime one for bringing us to our knees so we will consent to whatever they decide is best. And after it's all over, we may have a nation and government changed overnight. In no way am I accusing the present administration of planting this virus, but I do believe that now it's here, they're capable of using it to the advantage of their still-hidden agenda.
Next thought: Torture. Oh! I've been sitting on this post since those interrogation records were released. Let me tell you something - my school has an early childhood program attached to it, a daycare. One governed by the state, and consequently, the most ridiculous set of regulations one has ever read. Well, California's may be more ridiculous, but I digress. The people that wrote these regs? They don't have children. It would be IMPOSSIBLE for these people to have raised children or, in fact, know anything about children, and then have written these rules to follow for caring for them. Example: If a child hits, bites, slaps, kicks, takes a toy away from another child, we have no recourse but to explain to them (possibly a child as young as 12 months) that they made a poor choice. If the child does it again, we are to ask, not tell, if they will move to isolation (time out). If the child would rather not go to isolation, they remain mixed with the group so they're free to hit, kick, slap, bite and steal some more. After all, toddlers do know what's best. Example: If a child hits, kicks, slaps, bites, talks back to, or in any way disobeys their teacher we have no recourse but to explain to them (possibly a child as young as 12 months) that they made a poor choice. If the child does it again, we are to ask, not tell, if they will move to isolation (time out). If the child would rather not go to isolation, they remain in the activity. Without punishment. We are not allowed to punish, we can take away privileges and use other proven disciplinary methods, and we're professionals, so we make it work. I am not a proponent for physical discipline in daycare. With sometimes months of frustration, a challenging child will finally fall into our structure and stop their bad behaviors, but it takes a long time and these are children under age 5. Once they're in public school, we can almost never correct them (I'll save that for another post).
So, if it takes time and structure to rid the young and undeveloped mind of a toddler or preschooler of undesirable behavior, what exactly will it take to get information from adult terrorists that have been trained and brainwashed, sometimes since childhood, to do whatever it necessary to take American lives? I'll go out on a limb and say shacking up in a minimum security, suburban prison with three meals a day, cable, and a fluffy pillow isn't going to be much of a motivator.
Of course, we could use daycare tactics and get "down on the terrorist's level" and explain to them how unhappy we are with their behavior, detail the consequences of said behavior (which are American deaths - that's dirty pillow talk to them), and tell them we are taking privileges away unless they answer our questions. Hmmmm. . .what privileges could we take? Dessert after dinner? How about we talk to Allah about taking some virgins away?
If this PROVEN method fails, we can always let terrorists run day cares under state regs. That'll crack them in no time.
With all that out of the way - some Saturday thoughts: I believe Swine Flu, or H1N1 (because nothing is officially scary until it has a letter-number combo label), is a government conspiracy. Think about it. Our president conveniently leaves the post at HHS open? I think it was a cover. There was immediate alarm over this sickness when it was discovered in Mexico City, but were the borders closed? No. Why? Because it was apparently already in New York. I watch the news quite a bit and consider myself to be a well-informed person and citizen. So, I ask, how did it get from Mexico to NYC before anyone knew about it? I live in Texas!!! Next to Mexico!!! I run a school and daycare!!! I consider myself to be in that handful of the population that should know about things like this. . .ummm, what's the word. . .searching. . .QUICKLY - as I live and these businesses operate in the neighboring state to "Ground Zero" of this whole affair. It just seems odd. Why weren't international flights grounded? Oh, it doesn't matter. Well, then how did H1N1 get to EGYPT? Is H1N1 equipped with propellers which allow it to travel across massive spans of water? Is this information forthcoming from the CDC?
This accusation sounds sensational and I am not a sensational person. Although, most of the above is me behaving sensationally. The direction our government is careening toward is socialism, and by default, extreme and unprecedented control over American lives. An opportunity such as this, where they are able to inspire fear on home soil, where they hold the information and the cure, is a prime one for bringing us to our knees so we will consent to whatever they decide is best. And after it's all over, we may have a nation and government changed overnight. In no way am I accusing the present administration of planting this virus, but I do believe that now it's here, they're capable of using it to the advantage of their still-hidden agenda.
Next thought: Torture. Oh! I've been sitting on this post since those interrogation records were released. Let me tell you something - my school has an early childhood program attached to it, a daycare. One governed by the state, and consequently, the most ridiculous set of regulations one has ever read. Well, California's may be more ridiculous, but I digress. The people that wrote these regs? They don't have children. It would be IMPOSSIBLE for these people to have raised children or, in fact, know anything about children, and then have written these rules to follow for caring for them. Example: If a child hits, bites, slaps, kicks, takes a toy away from another child, we have no recourse but to explain to them (possibly a child as young as 12 months) that they made a poor choice. If the child does it again, we are to ask, not tell, if they will move to isolation (time out). If the child would rather not go to isolation, they remain mixed with the group so they're free to hit, kick, slap, bite and steal some more. After all, toddlers do know what's best. Example: If a child hits, kicks, slaps, bites, talks back to, or in any way disobeys their teacher we have no recourse but to explain to them (possibly a child as young as 12 months) that they made a poor choice. If the child does it again, we are to ask, not tell, if they will move to isolation (time out). If the child would rather not go to isolation, they remain in the activity. Without punishment. We are not allowed to punish, we can take away privileges and use other proven disciplinary methods, and we're professionals, so we make it work. I am not a proponent for physical discipline in daycare. With sometimes months of frustration, a challenging child will finally fall into our structure and stop their bad behaviors, but it takes a long time and these are children under age 5. Once they're in public school, we can almost never correct them (I'll save that for another post).
So, if it takes time and structure to rid the young and undeveloped mind of a toddler or preschooler of undesirable behavior, what exactly will it take to get information from adult terrorists that have been trained and brainwashed, sometimes since childhood, to do whatever it necessary to take American lives? I'll go out on a limb and say shacking up in a minimum security, suburban prison with three meals a day, cable, and a fluffy pillow isn't going to be much of a motivator.
Of course, we could use daycare tactics and get "down on the terrorist's level" and explain to them how unhappy we are with their behavior, detail the consequences of said behavior (which are American deaths - that's dirty pillow talk to them), and tell them we are taking privileges away unless they answer our questions. Hmmmm. . .what privileges could we take? Dessert after dinner? How about we talk to Allah about taking some virgins away?
If this PROVEN method fails, we can always let terrorists run day cares under state regs. That'll crack them in no time.
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