*I am washing the car today to get the Robin blood off of it. A suicidal Robin flew right into the front of the car on Wednesday on the way to work. Why does stuff like that always seem to be in slow motion? I swear that bird looked me in the eye when it bounced off the front of the hood before the poof of feathers that brought it back into regular motion...I was in shock and about in tears when I clocked in. The head book keeper asked what was wrong. She laughed when I told her...
*I am officially a slack class parent and I don't even feel the need to work any harder at it. Don't get me wrong I am doing what I am supposed, but that is it. Bear minimum people. I am just waiting for this school year to be O-V-E-R...
*Speaking of school...Jake came home yesterday after a bad day at school. As he told me about it he was in tears (and I was too...). Jake has had a "friend" (I use the term loosely) all year that really seems to be a bully. Jake is like me-if you want to be friends with him, he will be your friend. This boy...lets call him Ken (to protect the innocent...), is best friends with Jake one day and treats him like crap the next. If Jake decides to play with anyone else Ken starts calling him stupid and other mean things. Yesterday Ken was mad at Jake (keep in mind Ken doesn't just treat Jake like this, he works his way around the classroom with several of the kids that are nice enough to keep giving him chances), but Jake had 4 other good friends on his side who helped him through the bullying and stood up for him. Long story short, Ken was saying mean things to Jake (and his 4 other friends) and Jake finally told him that he was acting immature and maybe he should just go do something else and let them enjoy their recess. Sounds like a good way to handle the situation. Ken then says to Jake: "I am acting immature because I am black right?! "...Jake was surprised and told Ken no and that he didn't know what that had to do with anything. Jake asked me why he would even say that. My child has no idea why that would even be said, but Ken's parents have obviously taught him that he would be treated differently because of his skin color. Who is perpetuating racism here? I am sure that Ken's parents are just trying to prepare him for hardships that he may encounter-but it sounds like it did more harm than good. I believe you need to have an open line of communication with your child. Yes, you need to prepare them for the world, but you don't need to teach them to be on the defensive because of your skin color. That, in my opinion, is teaching them that there is in fact a difference-WHEN THERE ISN'T! Would you ever treat someone different because they had red hair? No. What if they were really tall? Of course not! So why even teach your child that they may get treated differently because of the way they look?!!!! To me that is one of the lessons you teach when it comes up. Why would you put those thoughts into your child's head!?!?! I blame the parents in this situation...I was so sad for him that he had to deal with this at 9 1/2 years old. I explained what Ken meant and told him that Ken's parents have probably taught him that. I then went on to tell him that the chances are pretty good that Ken's parents are really the ones that have issues with the color of peoples skin, because of situations that they may have encountered. I told him that some people do treat people differently based on their skin color and how wrong that is. (He knew they used to from learning about slavery in history, but he had know idea that people still felt that way ever! He is so good...). That is my only explanation why a 9 or 10 year old would even know to bring it up. I am so sad that he has to learn this lesson. Parents need to think about what they are teaching their children. I would NEVER teach Jake to treat people differently based on ANYTHING that may be different about them. UGGGHHH! Why does the world make it so hard to think of everyone as children of our Heavenly Father. We prayed this morning that Jake would be able to continue to handle the situation by respecting every one's feelings and having peace that that is the best we can do. Please say a prayer for my sweet Jake today. (sorry for the rambling, but this is REALLY bothering me...I am so sad that Jake EVER had to deal with this. I am so sad that Ken's parents have probably been treated differently and that is why they most likely felt the need to pass it on to their child...) I let him have ice cream for a snack to try and cheer him up a little. How could you be mean to this face?..with the hair on top that needs to be cut...I am trying to lighten things up and make myself feel better...
It also cheered him up watching Sadie go crazy and try to bite the water when he was filling up her water bowl. That dog is a mess!!!!
*On a lighter note...Jake and I had a GREAT time the other day finishing a "Glog" (it is like a blog for kids to do projects on...we WILL be using this in home schooling! Nee and Nana: I will send you a link so you can check out his project and leave him a comment, which he is REALLY hoping for!) project the other day on jobs in France. He had such a great time researching. He LOVES researching. We will be researching a lot when we home school....I have already come up with a game for researching different countries (more on that later!). I need to start making a list of things he talks about wanting to research and learn more about. So far he wants to research Mozart, Impressionism, Pointillism, black holes and blue holes, Einstein....and so many more I should have written down! He is such a smart kiddo!
Jake loves this ghost buster shirt we found. I loved it because that means I can put up another one of his beloved T-shirts that doesn't fit but he can't part with because it is so awesome (example: Empire Strikes back t-shirt, that Aaron says is so cool we need to frame it...)
*Speaking of smart, Aaron is doing so AWESOME in school! He made a 92 on a test that he didn't even study for...?...He is not taking easy classes people! Great job Aaron, you are going to be an amazing math teacher! And thank you for not making me feel like an idiot last night (Thursdays are one of the days we go 24 hours without seeing him), when I had to text and call to help with Jake's math homework...Fractions and decimals must be where I started my hate for math, because I felt it all coming back last night. But, I do have to say, Jake and I did about a million high 5's when we came up with the same answer. How sad is it I was so proud of myself when I could do the problem faster than him?...Jake is a math genius, like Aaron. I have to admit it was fun to do the problems once I finally had Aaron remind that it really isn't that tough...
*I got Zumba (I won't go into it too much on this blog, since I already mentioned it on my weight lose journal blog, but I wanted to let you know!!!) and it ROCKS!!!! Seriously! I am so excited to exercise. It goes by so quickly and I can feel it working muscles that don't usually get worked. If you love to dance and want a great work out you should seriously try this out!!!!
*Sadie is a snake hunter...I was blowing bubbles for her yesterday morning after dropping Jake off at school, sitting on the back step. I looked down (after sitting there for about 5 minutes) and saw a dead (stiff) snake. It was little (it could have been 10 feel long...it makes no difference to me. A snake is a snake.), maybe 5 or 6 inches (I looked at it through the French doors, after I screamed, ran inside, and shut the door, leaving Sadie outside with it.). I made Aaron take care of it because I wasn't about to get near it again. I told him I was worried about Sadie with the snakes, and he said "Who do you think brought it to the door? It didn't just die right there." AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I am going to go back to Walmart and buy the huge rubber boots I saw and I am going to rack up every last leaf there is in our yard. Jake will have to be standing there with the shovel because I will not be able to kill a snake if I see one....I want it dead don't get me wrong...I just don't want to stay close enough to kill it. I will let my child do that. I really am an amazing mother aren't I? I can't wait until Aaron's ankle is better....I am warning you all now, I love my dog, but I will not rescue her from a snake! AHHHHHH! I am creeped out just talking about it. *Jake has never eat bologna. (Have I mentioned that before?...I can't remember because the dialogue in my head is exactly what I type here, so it is hard to remember what are just thoughts or actual things I have blogged...I could go back and look but I am already taking up WAY too much time to do that!) There is no reason why he hasn't. People at work were shocked when I told them that. I realized it one day while bagging someone's bologna. I know you didn't need to know that but I am just dusting out the extra clutter that gets caught in my brain and that is one fact that won't get out. Maybe I will just buy some bologna and get it out once and for all!
*Talking about buying bologna made me think about what seems to be a LARGE amount of food we throw away...Do you throw a way food? Well, obviously you do...But does it seem like a lot sometimes? When I clean out the fridge I think of all the people starving in the world and it makes me sick to my stomach that I just forgot about that left over piece of chicken...or the lettuce that went bad before we used it...I need to work on that, big time.
*Okay, one more thing before I stop my rambling!!! I am sorry I haven't responded by email to those of you who asked about the hair product sent straight from Heaven into my hands. I actually got two and they cost...gasp! $32 combined...(I started out with one for $15 and then decided to really splurge.) BUT!!! (I NEVER spend that much on hair anything!) They will literally last at the very least 6 months and I was able (for the first time EVER) to actually recreate what my hair dresser did to my hair. You know how you leave the shop loving your hair and then want to cry the next day when nothing you do makes it look like that again? I did it, and it looked AWESOME! I felt so sassy with my new hair cut and I love my new products....All that just to tell you: DROP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND IMMEDIATELY GO AND BUY "AQUAGE" (transforming paste-you use the size of a pea at the most and it is the BEST!), AND KENRA VOLUME SPRAY. You will not be disappointed and you will love your hair. I also traded in my cheap and not worth owning flat iron, for one my hairdresser (and new best friend) told me about. It is this tiny little thing and it is AWESOME...I need to wrap this up so if you want to know about that one I will tell you next time....I have to go accomplish something now!
*Have a great weekend!!!!
