Thanksgiving is a Verb

November 20, 2007 by

Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.
– W.J. Cameron, (1878 – 1955)

There is no sincerer love than the love of food.
– George Bernard Shaw, (1856 – 1950)

You get a “Thanksgiving Two-fer” in the quote department (but GBS get the honored photo spot all by himself). Why? Because I couldn’t decide between meaningful and funny. Then I realized it was in fact my newsletter and I didn’t have to decide – you all would probably appreciate both.

I, like many others, have been incredibly busy lately. We knew this 2-3 day work week was coming…then the cooking…then the shopping…then the decorating…then everything else that comes with time of year. Makes me wonder about the madness of the holiday’s.

And therein lies the problem – we see the madness and forget the purpose.

Today I want to encourage you to be kind to yourself. The people who are thankful for you – and I am sure there are quite a few – do not feel that way because of your cooking skills, party planning ability, or dessert choices. They are thankful for you! Stress will only cause you to miss out on all the wonderful opportunities to enjoy each other as friends and family gather to remember how truly blessed we each are.

In other words – if you realize the smoke billowing out of the kitchen is in fact your prized turkey, don’t let your day be ruined. Grab a video camera, take some real funny shots, mail it to that video reality show and try to make a couple of bucks. Life is too short to let a crispy bird upstage your holiday time.

Filed Under: Turn Around Tuesday Tagged With: , ,

The Village doesn’t get my kids until it becomes way less fishy

September 17, 2007 by

Topic of parenting came up.  Surprise, I know.  But, the topic was “Make a Difference.”  Really, what did you think I would write about?

Rosa Say, whom I adore, says there is greatness in “it take a village.”  Rosa is right.  Except, when the village is corrupt, you have to know when to tell the village to get out of your house.

Now understand I am not going to claim some moral high ground about what I do and don’t allow in my house.  I like the Sopranos.  I watch it – after the kids go to bed.  Understand I am not telling you how to raise your kids.  I am telling you that I have four daughters – if you think that’s a walk in the park, I invite you to the beauty of my chaos.

Times have changed.  Yes they have.  I love hearing people say that things really aren’t that different from when we were growing up. Are you kidding?  Lohan, Spears, and Hilton make it different.  Why? Because they are not the exception, they are the norm.  Madonna was a shocker.  Girls wanted to be like her because it was rebellious.

Today this is not rebellion – it is not being different or expressing yourself.  Girls understanding their place as sexual beings is the way it is supposed to be.  The media no longer objectifies them – we have come so far that we have taught our children to objectify themselves!  It has become so common that we don’t even notice it when it happens.

Example: Lead actress from High School Musical  decides she’s going to take some bra and panty pictures and send them via email (huh?) to her boyfriend.  They become public (shock!).  Now, I understand she wasn’t naked, is of legal age, and few people outside of the HSM demographic know who she is.  That makes it ok, right? Wrong!  The persona that she portrays is that of a high school girl.  The HSM soundtrack was the number one selling album last year.  Your preteen daughters can dress up like her for Halloween, theme their birthday party, and probably recite the words from the movie.  She was set up in the public as the girl that all other girls should want to be like.

Example:  Music CD’s marketed for children.  These albums take popular songs and have kids singing them.  This makes them kid friendly right?  Wrong!  Just because kids are singing Girlfriend, Irreplaceable, and Lips of an Angel does not make the lyrics any different. They are still the types of songs I can only listen to when my kids aren’t in the car.

Example: Little Mermaid.  This fish has been banned from my home and my kids know it.  Why?  Let me break down the story for you.  Little fish Ariel is turning 16 – that’s right 16.  On the dawn of her birthday party she flounces off to a place her father has forbidden her to go.  During the course of things, she sees this guy (sees not meets) that is obviously not 16.  She falls madly in love (remember being 16).  But, she’s a mermaid and this guy lives on the land.  No problem, evil squid offers to give her legs if Ariel will give up her beautiful singing voice.  It’s a good trade according to the evil squid – Ariel can use her “body language” and if the guy kisses her within three days, she can have her voice back.  So, little fish runs away from home after giving up all her talents to chase after some older guy she has never even met.  The body language thing works, he kisses her, they get married and everybody is okay with this.  Are you kidding me?

Could I go on?  You bet.  Little girls who are dying to own pants with “sweetness” written across the bottom.  Clapped for when they nail they latest dance moves that look a whole lot like pole dancing.  Giggled at when they cop some attitude and use very grown up phrases to disrespect their parent’s friends.  Allowed to use terms like “boyfriend” and “dating” before they even hit middle school.  You bet I could go on.

I love the “it takes a village” in theory.  The accountability, the diversity, the help is wonderful.  But the village has traded it’s one idiot for a marketful and many of us have become so complacent and the methods so common, we don’t even notice it.

I don’t know what the answer is for the village.  Maybe you can offer some suggestions.  For the moment, all I can do attempt to keep it and its fish off my doorstep.

Filed Under: Family, Parenting