Explore with your children. Let them get dirty.

I love a teachable moment with the kiddos. Especially about life lessons and doing things the way they were done without electricity.  I can assure you that, if the world were to go to shit, my children could plant and grow their own food. They could raise farm animals, purify and store their own water and rig up the house to fend off anything short of a nuclear holocaust.  They can shoot and throw and clean with the best of them. 

They can also do their math homework without a calculator and they certainly know how to read.  They also know that if there were no power, they can use their imaginations to play and make their own toys.  We have also discussed how to survive should there be no houses left either.  No, we are no survivalists and there are no "bug out bags" randomly stored throughout the house.  It is nothing like that. What this means is that we are teaching our children the basics of being self sufficient.  They can also make their own cooker out of wood and aluminum foil and other things. Yes, they know all about technology and can fix a computer with the best of them and they have their electronic gadgets and know how to operate a computer and a calculator. We do not prohibit those things, but if there were ever to come a time for survival. I know that our children can survive without assistance or help from a stranger. I know that they can grow up and figure out things on their own.

We let them get dirty and dig holes and let them color and paint with melted crayons.  That is what children do.  They argue and fall down.  That is what baths and band aids are made for.  They are allowed to fix their own disagreements with each other to learn social graces and human skills.

This is all something that many kids do not know.  I cannot tell you how it makes me cringe for a mother to break out the hand sanitizer every time her kid touches something off the ground.  They do not have to get up off the ground at the playground rolling a ball back and forth because it is "dirty."  I am here to tell you if you stop treating them like porcelain dolls, there would be a lot less asthma, allergies, and other things that people spend their whole lives with.  Did you know a vaccination is an injection of the disease it is seeking to prevent you from getting? If you take your children outside on a regular basis and let them get dirty from time to time, they will be a lot less sick in the long run.  They will be exposed to the stuff that gives people asthma and allergies at an early age when there are no issues and they will not become allergic to them simply for a lack of exposure.  It will also give them room to grow because they will run and play and simply be children. 

Each of my children went on an exploration day in the yard with me  when they were crawlers.  I found a nice day, took the baby outside and we explored the REAL world around us.  We lifted our faces and felt the warmth of the sun. We felt the bark on the trees and watched the ants crawl in the cracks.  We felt the grass with our hands and our feet. We felt the warmth of the sidewalk in the sun and the cool of the driveway in the shade.  We twirled a leaf between our grubby little fingers and blew a dandelion weed and watched the seeds. We pointed at squirrels and birds and bugs.  We felt the wind in our hair.  We felt the difference in the feel of the shiny leaves from the trees and the roughness of the rocks in the ground. We let dirt sift through our fingers and felt the running water out of the hose from the side of the house.  We didn't die.  We didn't get sick.  We went inside, washed our hands and went back to playing with our things.  However, the baby learned about the world and learned more than anyone will ever know.  Further, there was a special time only you can share with your child.  For me an mine, it was a day of discovery.  A couple of our children hated the way the grass felt on their feet and one other loved rubbing his feet in it. You learn something about your children.  How their curiosity works as well as discovering things on your own about how they perceive the world.  One of ours shied away from the bugs we were looking at.  This helped me figure out what would give him the willies-he seen a bug and they make him spaz out because he is afraid of bugs. 

I exposed them to the REAL world and I let them get dirty a little bit. That is what children do. It is in their very nature to be curious. They want to play and jump and run and explore.  While it is up to you to keep them safe and be their parent, let them play and jump and run and explore.  Further, explore with them. It is one of the best things you can do. 

What have you done with your child today?

Road Rage: Better off in my own mind (with a nine!)

I try not to let stupid drivers get to me. I have plenty of other stuff to rage about or scream about without having to yell at some stranger for cutting me off. However, there is a time and a place for dicussions such as this and here is my forum.
One of the things that make me madder than hill is the fact that someone can run up on you super fast, cut you off, and then...........yep you guessed it............slow to a crawl right in front of you. What does this accomplish? Did you decide the moment that you got back in my lane, in front of ME, that you were no longer in a hurry to get where you were going? Truth be told, I will probably get to my destination before you and I was going the posted speed limit the entire trip!
Let me guess, you were on the phone and failed to realize that the more engaged you were in your chatter, the heavier your foot got. I call that the heavy talk syndrome. I am guilty as charged there. This is yet one of the many reasons why I do not talk on the phone and drive. It is against the law in most places these days. WAIT! Maybe you decided that you wanted to be Mr. Nugget McAssshole this morning because you woke up on the bottom side of the bed. Yeah! That is it. Well, sir, I am not the source of your frustration and taking it out on me silently by impeding my progress is something that simply should not be done. However, you chose me this morning so I am now faced with a dilemma.
Do I beat the crap out of my steering wheel (not its fault) and roll down the window to scream obsenities at you while my family slowly slides down in their seats from embarassment? What, pray tell, would that accomplish?? Nothing but another pissed off driver. Better off keeping that reaction to myself. Ok, another option would be to do the same thing. No, that will never work. Then you will beat on your innocent steering wheel and that is not called for either. Final, and certainly most difficult option? The best one, with practice, I say. You simply keep the rage in your mind and pull out your mental movie projector and play Death Race Michele in your mind and imagine how it would be to go into the next lane, push my kill button and out come the nails and just RATATATATATATATATATATATATA all over that bitchards wheels and shiny car so that they simply STOP in their progress and are successfully late for where ever they were in such a big rush to get to in the first place.
Muahahahaha. That would be great in MY perfect world. On the up side to that, remaining safe, and ignoring stupidity and getting out of the way of it is great! It also makes a lot less stress on my health and lets me remain alert for the next idiot that is surely going to do something just as stupid. Further, it is such a YES! moment when you are pulling out of Tim Horton's Coffee shop and you see that same fool, pulled over by a cop getting a ticket. Talk about stress for him.....I feel for that poor steering wheel.

Will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other? ~Archer, Blood Diamond

I love that movie. I also happen to love quotes that move me so. This movie, Blood Diamond, has one such group of words that really make me think. While I am not much to talk about religion here, it is not that we are speaking of religion when Archer, the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio, utters the following:
"I wonder will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other? But then I look around and think; God has left this place a long time ago."
Come on now, does that not make you think just a little bit? For all of the evil in this world, for some people who are in the thick of that, there is always that question, eh? Yes, I know, for the philosophers that I have become acquainted with, there is the whole Good vs. Evil argument and I get that. However, what about reality and not this religious or philosophical plane that many people love to contemplate.
Look at some of these things:
1. child soldiers
2. war
3. communistic and socialist societies
4. hate (be it racial, gender, or just out of plain old fear)
5. distrust
6. need I say more????
It always makes me sad when I see that movie and it makes me think too much. For those of you needing some great bathroom reading material, you should pick up something about purchasing conflict free diamonds versus any other diamond you can walk into the store and purchase. It will open your eyes to something that we, as Americans, are totally against but are feeding into it blindly.
I don't expect you to make every purchase based upon the fact that there was no harm done to anything. We as a species are consumers and there will always be something that is harmed by our consumption. Paper and wood are harming the rainforests. Slaughterhouses supply our need for meat. Farms wipe out treed areas in our own country to supply the fruits and vegetables we need to eat. Diamonds, while very lucrative, enable the slave trade, training of child soldiers, and pitting of people against their own kind simply as a means of survival or to satisfy their own greed.
This does not take into account various other evils that I see mentioned on countless facebook pages every day. Yea, helping one man may not seem to make a difference but its affects are far reaching and nobody ever see's that. However, in our cushy America, we say it every day. "Smile, its contagious!" Not so contagious when you are tramping the jungle just to survive or live another day (so called) free.
Just sit and think about the things you take for granted everyday that people all over the world are fighting for at this very moment. It is not something easy to think about no is it something that would normally consider in our day to day goings.
Tell me, what do you think?

Please bring my neighbor their paper! I stole it! (whisperingly)

As many of you are aware, I used to do customer service for a local newspaper. For those of us in customer service, we all have our "favorite" customers and our doosie stories. One of my favorite stories came from speaking to a lady about her neighbors paper.
Yes, I said the neighbors' paper. This particular lady (I call her this because I believe her to be one of our great elderly wisers) had occasion to call because her own paper had been missed or stolen and she wanted her paper with her morning coffee as per her custom. However, she was full on aware that her neighbors were late risers and she took it upon herself to take their paper. She called quite early, around 7ish I suppose and it was hilarious because she was whispering into the phone.
Now, imagine some little old lady about four foot nothin' standing on her porch whispering into her cordless phone with her little hand cupped over the speaker on the phone. Imagine it quite early and in the summer so she is in her nightie and slippers and she is looking over to the neighbors yard. Below was our conversation:
(Remember, she is whispering the ENTIRE time!)
Me: Thank you for calling the News! My name is Michele, how may I help you?
Lady: I am calling about my neighbors paper.
Me: Ok, what is going on with your neighbors paper?
Lady: Well, I need you to bring one out in a hurry so they don't miss it. You see, I didn't get mine today for some reason and I know they sleep late over there. Can you bring them one so they don't see that it is gone? I took their paper and I don't want to get in trouble with the neighbors for taking their paper!
Me: So, you missed your paper and you took theirs? O.o
Lady: Yes, I know they never get up before 9:30 every day. If you hurry, you can get one out here before they wake up and nobody will know! Can you do that for me? I really wanted to read my Sunday paper and it was just laying there. Please bring one out so nobody knows what happened. You can do that right? This will be a secret between you and me.
Me: Aw, certainly Ms. Lady. I can do that for you. Oh, and don't worry, it will be our little secret, ok?
Lady: OK, thank you! I am going now because I don't want them to see or hear me lest they find out what happened!
Me: Ok, is there anything else I can help you with today Ms. Lady?
Lady: No, you just have a good day and thank you for getting me out of trouble! :)
I hung up the phone and had a little chuckle about that. I don't know if she was in her nightie and slippers or not. I do know that she was outside because I heard traffic but it made me smile to know that our elderly population gets up to rambunctious goings on early in the morning!
Thought I would share this little smile for today. Though I am certain that if she knew, she would be quite upset that I shared her secret! :) Na, it will be alright.....

Somewhere there is a tree working tirelessly....

I was watching House, MD the other day and heard one of his brilliant witicisms (such a word?) and thought I would share. (While it may not be verbatim, you get the point:)
"Somewhere there is a tree, working tirelessly so that you can breathe. You owe that tree an apology."
BRILLIANT! I love the humor that comes from that sarcastic, pill junkie of a doctor. Even if he is only real in TV Land. I know many people who owe trees an apology simply for existing. I wonder how the world would be if we had to each take our own tree through life every day. Much like a shadow, it would be a permenant appendage to our being. What would people do if they knew that if they mistreat the priviledge, their tree would wither and die.
With that, I am sure we would be able to see what kind of people we would be dealing with in advance of actually meeting them, eh? Yea, lets skip the fact that humans are humans and some will have miracle grow or some such crap in their pockets to make their tree look better than what it really is. No, I mean that it is a true measure of the nature of the human that has to maintain it. I know many of you could even look out your front door and count how many would have a pitiful thing for a tree. What makes this proposal more intriguing is that, the worse you are as a person, the harder it will be for you to breathe. Therefore, you must treat people nice and respectfully or you will die with said tree.
Does this lead to less crime, betrayal, and quite possibly a utopian society? Not so sure because as mentioned earlier, miracle grow or similar will play a role as humans are highly intelligent individuals and will find some way to cheat that which is natural. I mean, we have already cloned ourselves, right?
All aside, just remember, trees are bringers of life and death. (Do you ever see something grow in the constant shadow of a tree? ONLY if there is one ray of sunshine there.) They do not discriminate nor do they wage war upon one another. They plant roots and have a constant presence and do not bounce around from place to place. They have communities and take care of this planet. They are not harbringers of destruction, chaos, and violence like it is in the nature of human.
Remember, the next time you choose to bring evil to someone by your actions or words. Make sure that there are no trees out there that you owe an apology to. Right now we are so busy apologizing to these trees for the acts of others we forget the one that our own shadow needs to get a break from the blazing sun sometimes. Don't let yours wither. Give it life and let it grow....