Soap Box Sunday: Whatever Just Happend to Reading ,Writing and Arithmetic?

The other day I was listening to the news while driving my kids to the doctor’s office.  Let’s not forget to mention that I was spiking a fever of over 101 and had not had a full night sleep in nearly a week and I had two sick kids in the car. I thought I was hallucinating what I was hearing until later that night I saw the same coverage. 

A school district in Oakland, California has just launched its first teaching curriculum of  “gender diversity” as early as Kindergarten.  I went online and reviewed the curriculum.  It was a bit puzzling the comparison of the animal kingdom (fish and reptiles) they used to make the point about “gender diversity”; none of it made sense to me.  The reason those species change gender and/or transgender  is to keep the species in existence.  I don’t see how teaching that concept really reinforces pro-tolerance and ” human gender diversity”.  That is like comparing apples to oranges.   The reason people are gay or transgender has nothing to do with saving a species.  

However, this segment is not about pro or against gender diversity; this is about our schools doing the jobs of what should be done at home and since it is not being done at home (by a very small minority),they are taking on the responsibility.  The problem is that not only are they doing a poor job at taking on the job, they are losing sight that the Chinese are passing us by in the science and math department.  So while they are going to space and forming new ground breaking patents we will be well versed in the ill-informed information on hermaphrodite amphibians.  

 Is spending the VERY limited resources we have on education, teaching “gender diversity” in the  early elementary years really going to solve our problem of bullying, lack of tolerance and hate?  The sad thing is we will never be able to eradicate that from the human race.  Is this in the early classroom really going to set up our kids for success in competing with the dog eat dog socio-economic world? 

As you know I am not a fan of the Chinese government, they are not the beacon of good will and humanity towards mankind, but the one thing they understand is that knowledge and discipline is power. We have such a cutting  edge on true balance of both discipline with good boundaries and good education, but we fail to no longer combine them and that is to our losing race to countries like China.

Kids no longer have a healthy respect and sovereign fear of their educators.  Not because the educators have grown soft, but the educators are govern by out of touch legislation and administration that no longer allow the educator to hold true and meaningful consequences. 

I have several friends that teach, and the number one complaint they all have is that they have a few in the class that are just rotten kids that make educating challenging and downright impossible. The good kids suffer, the bad kids win in ruling the classroom.   The administration does not back them to get those few bad apples out of the mix, hold those parents responsible and get on with teaching the core subjects.  Instead they throw a new “teaching curriculum” at them to try to intercept the ill-behavior of a few.

I will be teaching my children “gender diversity” when it is appropriate and I will be using a realistic approach instead of felt boards filled with hermaphrodite amphibians and reptiles to pled my case.   I know that 99.9% of my friends and circle of influence will be doing the same.  Early elementary years is not the place or forum.  I expect my kids to be taught reading, writing, and arithmetic and be in a setting that reinforces respect for authority figures. 

It appears my choice to be sending my kids to Catholic school (even if it means I have to work two jobs to do it) will be in the cards for our family and we are not even Catholic.   It is known the Catholic school system knows how to produce competing test scores, reinforce respect and moral code, and demand parent involvement on a budget grossly less than what the public schools require.

Come on America, let’s get involved on the future of our kid’s education and support the educators do what they went to school to do; teach these kids how to achieve academic greatness! Especially since we are paying for it greatly in both tax dollars and competing with the rest of the world for economic security.

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The U.S. Gets a Bad Mark on Humanitarian Acts – A Soap Box Sunday Post

As I was sitting in typical Southern California traffic I was listening to the news and the story was that was being covered made me spit out my latte out of laughter.  It was in regards to the grades the nations can give other nations regarding humanitarian acts.  Apparently, the US got a “needs an improvement” or essentially a D in needing to improve our humanitarian efforts in the department of prisoner treatment (they did not elaborate, but I assume it is GITMO they are referring to). 

Now, this is where the funny comes in to this. . . our grading peer were the likes of Libya, Iran and Venezuela. 

Getting a grade from the likes of those countries that kill, rape, mutilate the female gender, on their own citizens, including children, would be the equivalent of Ted Bundy coming to me and telling me that I need to get my house in order.

The US does have some bad apples in the military prison system, heck we have bad apples in the public prison system and even society.  But getting “schooled’ by the likes of the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hugo Chavez, and Wacky Qaddafi is not only laughable, but outrageous that it was even taken seriously.

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Being Accountable: Where Does the Line Start or End?

This morning my neighbor and I went on our walk and the subject of NPR’s big brouhaha of management shake down came up.  To bring up to speed about the current event, NPR fired contributing journalist Juan Williams for saying he was uncomfortable boarding a plane with a Muslim on it, when he was on FOX news.  James O’Keefe, a conservative activist, recently did an undercover sting on one of the execs, Schiller, no relation to the CEO Vivian Schiller,  said that the tea party are racists Christian fanatics and that NPR does not really need the federal funding it gets from the feds.  Vivian Schiller stepped down because the board pretty much told her either she was fired or she had to resign and executive Ron Schiller was fired. 

First off did they not  fire Juan Williams for “racist” comments on another network?   Isn’t it what is good for the goose is good for the gander?  I really don’t care what was said about the tea party or Juan’s issue with getting on a plane with Muslims.  What I care about, and what I think NPR cared about, was Ron Schiller getting caught with his pants down on tape saying that NPR does not need federal funding.   He is one of the faces of NPR and even if he believes that, he is accountable to the board of directors and those that sign his paycheck to have and edit button on his pie hole, he just had a huge wake up call.  I feel NPR did the right thing.

Now, let’s get real here.  Anyone that listens to NPR on a daily basis, knows that NPR leans more to the social left so being targeted by a conservative activists because it is funded by the tax payers on where they really stand on issues is not suprising and they should know that as well.

I don’t like shady operations, I like everything out on the table and seeing everyone’s cards.  However we live in a society where both sides of the political spectrum do pretty outrageous things to prove or make a point and the conservative activist group found their golden nugget of opportunity and now we are dealing with the emotional fall out of that act.

 I see that many are outraged that NPR fired these two executives and a journalist for saying and doing things that are not “socially/politically correct”.  I say good for NPR.  These people were representatives for NPR and getting paid very well to be that face of NPR and there should be consequences to be in that role stating extreme opinions and speaking off the record about financial standings of that company.  Luckily for NPR President Obama is going to protect its funding despite this hiccup of diarrhea of the executive pie hole.  Yet, I do ask the question if NPR can really afford to be on the air without the federal dollars, then why are we not taking the money back and applying it to other areas of need?  Just a thought to ponder on.

The question I have for you fellow bloggers is the what was asked me today.  Where is the line crossed when you are accountable of what you say and do even if it is off the record and in a casual environment? 

My answer is that if you have a level of authority or a face of a “thing” you are accountable for everything you say and do on and off the record.   You are being compensated accordingly to be that face and it is a 24 hour job.  If you don’t want that responsibility, then step down.  I think the consequences that NPR handed out were fair.

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This Tiger Mother is Done with the Tiger Blood!

Soapbox Sundays! Better Late than Never!

Yes, I am the Chinese sign of the Tiger and I actually loved the book ,Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.  I am not saying that I am for not allowing  my kids to attend sleep overs or make them practice the piano a million hours a day.  I just like the fundamentals of the book and the author is hilarious and laughing all the way to the bank because she has roused up a whole sect of “soccer moms”.  I digress . . .   What my Soapbox Sunday is about is good ‘ol Charlie Sheen and his “tiger blood” syndrome.

 I am going to own that I am going to be guilty of doing exactly what I am on my soapbox about, but maybe if I can get enough of you to agree with me, words like Charlie Sheen and tiger blood will fade away as quickly as it  ignited.

I get that for some sick and strange reason America loves to watch train wrecks of humanity Hollywood.  No one really wants to face the reality that the world is in economic crisis, the Middle East is in civil distress, the Mid-West is in civil unrest, we are going to be bellying up to the pump at $5.00 a gallon soon  and there are only three episodes left of Big Love.   I get watching some “fictious” character of Hollywood on his crash and burn tour to either Promises Rehab Facility or to something far worse with only a True Hollywood Story episode to be remembered by, seems to be a good way to fill up the days of our pathetic lives. 

Unfortunately, Charlie is not a fictious character. He has people who actually love him and hates seeing this happening.  You have the mothers of his children trying to shelter them from them seeing their dad self destruct and a family that just don’t know what to do, so they are just bracing themselves for his rock bottom moment, ready to pick up the broken pieces, if there is any left to pick up.

This is a man who is not fueled by “Tiger Blood”, even thought my Sirius Radio has a whole station dedicated to “Charlie Sheen’s Tiger Blood Radio”, like it is something real.   What he is fueled by is all the attention he is getting out of this.  He is an addict and this is classic text-book addict behavior, I should know I grew up with addicts my whole life.

The media, the fans or non-fans need to leave him alone; he should be hearing a million crickets, not a million tweets. No one should be adding fuel to this train wreck.  

He is losing everything tangible and in his surreal false reality he is thinking he IS gaining everything and has an edge on the market of life.  A life that is troubled, disturbed, and wounded.   Please America, can we please stop with the tiger blood and get back to True Blood.  At least that is fiction and not someone’s true reality.

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If You Can’t Take Care of Your Teeth, You Probably Can’t Take Care of an Exotic.

There was this documentary I saw a while ago that disturbed me to the core.  It was on all the Burmese Pythons that are being released into the wild by their irresponsible owners here in the US.  Most of the offences are in the Florida and surrounding states, but it is expanding into the western states. 

Apparently, these snakes can pretty much adapt to any environments and they are at the very top of any ecological food chain destroying the balance of the natural habitat.  That was just one part of the documentary, the other part of the documentary is what shook me to the core and exposed the core to the problem of why these exotic monsters should be left where they belong.

People are dumping these snakes because when the 20 somethings buy them, they are a manageable baby snake and in a couple of years it is eating thier 3-year-old toddler while they are helplessly sleeping in their crib.  Really that has happen several times. 

First off, let’s just address that NO one should ever own something this insane and wild with small children.  I would go as far as to say that there should be legislation passed where if it is legal to have those types of “exotics” that you must meet certain criteria and responsibility levels and safe guards (like owning a gun) and if you don’t then no exotic for you.  

In each case I read about a snake of this magnitude killing a small child, it got out of its cage.  If you saw the people who owned these lethal animals, they barely could take care of themselves and their dental hygiene let alone take care of a snake that was 15 feet long and weighed more than they did. 

Personally, I think exotics being owned by uncertified personnel (meaning you need to be a zoo keeper in a zoo) should be outlawed completely and this is coming from someone who  has  libertarian view points.  But at the end of the day, it is the government agencies and taxpayer’s monies that have to clean up the mess and infestation of biting off more than one can chew owning animals like this so to me legislating heavy handed is fair.   

To conclude my segment of Soap Box Sundays, I feel animals, even the domesticated dog and cat don’t have fair legislation on protecting them from being placed into bad situations.  They have decent legislation of getting them out of horrific situations, but preventing it, is a whole beast in and of its self.  Owning an animal of any kind is a privilege, not a right and it is the owner’s fiduciary duty to be able to take care of it without putting the environment and people at risk.

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A Return To Soap Box Sunday Part Deux

Bye-Bye Unions, Hello Jobs!

OK, before I get the boo-hiss from all my fellow blogging  buds that are part of some kind union, hear me out.  On light of what is happening in Wisconsin I am going to take my day I dedicate my soap boxes to this subject. 

I have to say I have never worked for a company that had a union, but I have worked in corporate America private and non-profit.  I have also been on the giving end of “no more work for you, we are sending your job overseas or to Mexico because it is cheaper to make and we can’t compete.”  I have seen the hard “back-room” numbers that come with strategic planning and how much it costs to run a company and the burden rate of employees and I have to say unionized companies have an exceptionally high burden rate and the only thing I see that unions do now for the country is driving up the costs and putting certain politicians from certain political parties in office, thus the very “invested” interest politicians are having on this whole issue.

I have studied employment and ERISA law more than I want to  recall and this country does not need the collective bargaining and union protection of working and wage conditions.  Labor Law is strong and can hold and has proven it can hold up on its own well.  Just ask Wal-Mart about that.  

I once did a study on the burden rate of Toyota vs. GM and it was staggering the difference. Notice, Japan was not bailing out Toyota even in the recent recall crisis they had on sticky throttles.   Once while I was doing a wage/benefit analysis on positions that were the same as county/state employees as those of the non-profit I was working for, we could not compete.  It was nearly 15k 25k more in benefits and wages per position for the county/state employee and we wonder why the state of California is broke?

Now don’t get me wrong, I think that if a company/agency has been promising a person that has invested more than 18 plus years to a company for a solid pension and retirement plan, that needs to be honored – they don’t have time to contribute to a 401(k), they counted on that promise to survive .  But moving backwards the further down in years of service you go, the less benefits you get until all new hires are promised a solid wage, good work conditions, state law and reasonable benefits.  That would give time for people to regroup retirement planning.   In doing this, would  encourage companies to compete with each other and if the employees don’t like how they are treated they go to a company that does treat them better which puts the heat on the companies that don’t to do better or they fail. 

Oh, yes good old capitalism and at its finest!  I hope that the unions are done away with and that we can get competitive again and be the great nation that we are known to be. 

On a caveat, those that are true service workers for our communities, the soldier, the fireman, the cop, the nurse, the doctor, and the teacher, they need to be compensated above and beyond since they go above and beyond each and everyday making a HUGE investments into the communities present and future and I have no problem my tax paying monies go to them. They deserve rich benefit plans, not the guy that is pushing a button on a machine putting out widgets or a clerk pushing paper.  

Unions had its place and was very needed, but we evolved from that time.  We are in a society that is natural litigious and very employee friendly that they are not needed.  And for you that work for the union based organizations, ask yourself when was the last time they really did something for you except take a chunk out of your paycheck?

And on another note, these young teachers that are trying to build their careers that walked off the job site of educating young minds, who are they picketing for?  It appears they are not picketing for the kids, they are picketing for themselves and doing nothing to help get those kids educated right now in the present.  Get back in the class room and quit worrying about your benefits and teach, that is what the taxpayers are paying you for!

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A Return To Soap Box Sundays!

* Sad but have to weekly disclaimer: If you don’t like what I have to say, don’t read it. If you chose to and still don’t like what I have to say and want to respond, please be civil and appropriate.  I love feedback of all points of view.  🙂

Technology 2 Early?

Today I was browsing the net looking for what PD1 wants for her 3rd b-day on price comparing.  She actually wants the Fisher Price Wheelies Stand and Play Ramp with all the different cars to race her sister and her dad with.  I was a bit surprised since she is very much a girly girl, but hey, I LOVED Hot Wheels when I was little and had the garage that had the cool elevator and I think I turned out a fairly OK. 

While ‘googling’ (apparently, that is a new verb) this toy, I can across this toy, Fisher Price Laugh and Learn iCan Play case for an iPhone or iTouch so your little one can play with your iPhone or iTouch for the toddler and pre-school ages and  I was floored.  I have a group of friends that did get their two and half-year olds iTouches for Christmas, while I got PD1 a doll house and pretend kitchen toys.   That whole thing troubled me when I heard that and now I see that this is a growing trend!

I get that there is an obvious market for this, since it was named as a top toy to get at a Toy Fair in New York, but really parents!  Can’t we keep these kids, kids for a little bit longer?  Do we now not only have to see the 6-10 year old completely disengaged from his or her surroundings while playing on theirs DS or Gameboy, even at the Happiest Place on Earth or the local zoo, but now we have to watch the night of the living toddlers zombied out on their parents’ iPhones. 

I know that this is the sign of the times in the case of technology, but I think I was born in the wrong era.  I just joined the Smart Phone and Facebook party and I am not sure I like either that much.   The thought of being connected all the time to someone, something and somewhere is a bit overwhelming.  I am totally guilty of “unplugging” for days on end and if someone really wants to get a hold of me, they can ring me the good old fashion way.

I guess what bothers me about this new technology trend of getting them exposed early is all the arguments I hear that this builds good eye-hand coordination, helps with learning and developing fine motor skills and reading.   I don’t buy that a $250-$500 technolgy device that is designed for adult use is something that is for pre-schoolers to use for learning or entertainment.  I feel, in most cases, not all cases (I think some of my close buds feel as stongly about exposing them to current technology as I do about sheltering them), it is an item a parent can give to a kid to distract them so they can do what they want to do and somehow justify it to themselves that it is educational to make them feel better.  Once again dodging being a hands on parent.  

How about, unplug, disconnect and throw a ball, take a walk, enjoy the animals at the zoo, get out the paints, the tea party set, Play-Doh, Legos,  building blocks or even a cardboard box and decorate it like a car and play pretend?  Those are real things that teach all the above arguments and one other thing that I think is the most important of all that the iPhone can’t teach and that is, SOCIAL SKILLS.  

Before I get off my soap box I have one last thing to say, when the world  starts scratching their heads on why we can’t work, live and play well with each other and thumbs and index fingers have arthritis at the ripe old age of 30, don’t be surprised that I will tell you, “I told you so”.  Balance, moderation and restraint on growing up your kids too fast is what I feel is the key.

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Top Ten Reasons I Could Never Be A ‘Granola’ Mom

I  have fundamentals in education (play-based education/Montessori) that tend to somewhat line up with a whole other species of motherhood I can’t relate with – The Granola Mom. 

 I would say that I am a  practical and moderately conservative person in most areas; fiscally, morally, within my scope of  child rearing, and attire and home decor ( I tend to stay true to the classics and not be trendy).  I let my sense of humor and sarcasm take lead in most things and try not to be too ridgid.

I can find my same species of motherhood in this arena, but for some reason the only granola that I can stomach is the one I eat for breakfast.  I try to keep an open mind when I hear their philosophies and ideas (I have a few close friends that fall in this category), but with no avail, I just don’t get it.   This is the inspiration of Top Ten Tuesdays and is not meaning to bring offence to anyone. It is just my personal satire and opinion and if you don’t like what I am saying, then don’t read it.  🙂

10.  The Family Bed: So not my cup of tea.  I don’t mind the occasional snuggle time, but I like my peaceful sleep AND my adult extra curricular time without a foot in my back.

9.  Positive Time Outs:  What is that?  A time out should be anything but positive.  Sit your butt down, think about how you just hit your sister over the head with a toy and be lucky that all you are getting is a time out!

8.  Never Say No to Your Child, Use Positive Reinforcements:  Really, that is going to set them up for success for adulthood? I have heard NO more times than I would like. “NO, you don’t make enough money to buy the car of your dreams”.  “No, you can’t drive above the speed limit, and here is your $150 ticket.”   “NO, you did not get the promotion.”  “NO, he does not want to date you anymore.”

 7.  Never Letting Your Kids Cry It Out/Self Sooth: I have a friend that has not slept in four-year because of this theory of creating abandonment issues if they let them cry it out.  I see how that is working out for the kids and her; she is a zombie and the kids have anxiety issues.  I have two kids that sleep through the night and can entertain themselves well.  Trust me, it is not that I am just “lucky”.  I had to pay the price of a few hard nights and days getting to that point.  NO ONE LIKES TO HEAR THEIR KIDS CRY, but it is my goal to prepare them to be independent and thriving adults and teaching them self soothing skills are the first steps.

6. Mobi Wraps or Slings for Carrying Your Infant: I could never use a Mobi wrap, even though I think they are really cool.  I know I would have dropped my kids on their heads multiple times.  Now, I do think when the kid is ready for High School it is time to get them out of the sling and buy them a car. Trust me, I have seen that.

5. Breastfeeding with No Discretion:  Just whipping it out in public regardless of the setting just because it is your God-given right to do so is disturbing to me.  I am a HUGE advocate of breastfeeding, but let us use a little discretion please! We are not at Marty Gras and you will not get any beads thrown your way for doing so.  Keep second base a novelty!

4. Planting Your Placenta Under A Tree:  Believe it or not I know three people who have done this.   I get the whole primitive idea of this, but the last I checked we have babies in the hospital, we have doctor’s for fertility issues and the idea of asking your doctor to place your placenta in a plastic bucket and then carrying it out of the hospital along with your new bundle of joy is beyond bazaar to me.   I have no idea what they did with my placentas and I would like to keep it that way.  It was bad enough to have the hubs try to photograph my uterus as the doctor was sewing it up.  There are just part of my insides that just needs to stay between it and the medical professionals.

3.  Nine Page Birth Plans:  This one kills me.  As you all know from my postings, The Start of Soapbox Sundays, you know where I stand on this.  I once heard a Labor and Delivery RN say,  “When someone comes in with a nine page birth plan, that usually means they will get a one-way ticket to the OR for an emergency C-section. That is just how the karma seems to work. It is child-birth,  not a trying to achieve a business plan!” 

2.  Breast feeding a Toddler:   I had a rule that when the kids got teeth  the bar was closed and then I pumped until they were close to 12 months old.  Watching  a mother lift up her shirt for a child that walked up to the ‘bar’ and asked for a drink is very disturbing to me.  I have made an observation that it seems more boys are breast-fed later than girls.   I remember when I was in the dating pool, there was a saying, “Chici Boy” which in Spanish essentially means, still on the boob.  Now I get where that saying originated.

1. Not Vaccinating Your Kids:  As we all know Dr. Wakefield manipulated data to prove his theory that certain vaccinations caused autism.  Believe it or not, even with that evidence coming out there are still many that will not vaccinate their kids and illnesses that were once eradicated are alive and well.  Here is the question I asked myself when making that decision to vaccinate before the findings of the information was considered a fraud.  Would I rather risk a chance of autism or a chance of death? To me the answer was quite obvious.

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Sarah Palin’s Silver Lining

This is an inspired moment from a recent post from my blog buddy and dear friend The Idiot Speaketh’s, “Sarah Palin helps me yet again” .

Having a” relative” secure spot in the harem I dare go out in the ledge and say that since the Kate Gosselin and Sarah Palin TLC incident, I have a new-found respect for Palin!  She made that crazy and media obsessed, (even though she says she hates it) Kate Gosselin lay in the fetal position sucking her thumb in one of the most beautiful places in the world. 

http://brainz.org/news/sarah-palin-and-kate-gosselins-camping-trip-disaster/4086/

I also watched her recent interview on FOX ( January 17, 2011).  Yes, I do cross over to the “dark side” and watch that network along with CNN  CYA (they will not use “targeted”, “cross hairs”, “sticking to your guns”, “point-blank” or any reference that could be construed as encouraging violent rhetoric.  Give me a friggin’ break!   I am a smart person who writes and that just insulted my intelligence and love for the use of metaphors.) I digress. . .

The next day after the interview I  heard all the media scuttlebutt on what she said.  I was really disappointed on how many of the sound bites taken were not at all what was really said or even within context.  I double checked that by replaying the interview and what was being reported. It actually disturbed me.   The bottom line is, she may play the victim well, but falsely reporting what someone says it what the media obviously does well on both sides. 

For example, last nights’ news cycle on FOX was stating that the Democratic side was calling the Republicans Nazi’s during the repeal debate of Health Care Reform on the House floor yesterday. I saw and heard what the gentleman said.  IT WAS A METAPHOR so he could make his point.  Was it a bad metaphor?  It sure was not one of the best ones I have heard, but there was passion behind it and passion can fuel bad judgement in choice of words.   I have fallen victim of that many times (I am the queen of open mouth insert foot).   There was NO need to run that and have a “taking head” commentator instruct the viewer on what was said between the lines.  All it caused was more hate mongering and getting off point to what matters.

What unnerves me is how all this false reporting and stirring the pot for a story just continues to egg on hate for someone who if they would just blow each other off and not comment they would shut up and actually work on getting this country back on its feet. 

To me this whole thing is just a big political game.  It is like both sides need each other.  The left needs characters like Palin for a good story to showcase how conservatives and Tea Party constituents are a threat and ignorant and the right needs the Palin character so she can say what they are all afraid to say;  total passive aggressive approaches and that boils my blood. 
The bottom line is, whether you like her or not she has balls.  Are they smart balls? Yes, I think she “dumbs”  down like the stupid blond in High School in math class so she gets the attention she wants.  The one thing I can give her credit is that she does stick to her guns (no pun intended) and you know where she stands regardless if you like the smell of what she is standing in.  You don’t see that often enough in politics and that is something that I can appreciate and it makes me angry that she was portrayed in saying things regardless if you like what she said or not in a very untruthful spin.  

Just to clear it up, I not a “I love Sarah Palin” fan, but there are things she says that I can understand where she is coming from and I find myself agreeing with.  There are also things she says that I feel she just crawled out from under a rock on.  However, it all comes back to the fact she was able to showcase Kate Gosselin’s amazing ability to birth a cow on national television (roughing it in the great outdoors is always a good way to bring out someone’s true character)!  This just proves my point that you can always find silver lining in anything, even when it comes to Sarah Palin.

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Top Ten Reasons Parking Lots Can Be More Costly and Dangerous than Climbing Everest!

I live in a community that is filled with stay-at-home moms and blue hairs.  That combination together makes for a very “narcissistic” experience anytime you go out.   Each Friday the kids and I head out to our favorite shopping experience (Trader Joe’s) but getting to and from the car can bring a level of extreme adventure to the table that could rival climbing Mount Everest in the risk and cost factor.  This is the inspiration to my Top Ten Tuesdays!

10.  When scouting out a parking spot, it is not acceptable behavior to pass by a soon-to-be available parking spot, throw on the brakes and then proceed to back up (without looking) ten spots to try to get it.  Look, you missed it, move along and give the poor schmuck behind you a opportunity to reap the rewards of your cluelessness while saving his and your bumper!

9.  I notice that blue hairs rarely ever look over their shoulder while backing out.  It is more like this; adjust review mirror, slam into reverse and hit the gas pedal.  Apparently, nothing exists beyond the scope of what is in view of the review mirror.

8.  It seems that those that are BMW owners think that the parking lot is the Autobahn.  If there is a speeding car in the parking lot, it is a BMW 99.9% of the time.  I know that the company once known for making airplanes, but that ship sailed decades ago.  You are not in an airplane ready for take off, you are in a car in a parking lot full of all kinds of obstacles, mainly me and my two small children trying to push a cart to our car.

7.  When you open your door, please be mindful of the GIANT car within 2 feet of yours.  Having your red paint scraped across my door panel just pisses me off!

6.  Mothers, when loading up your groceries, please secure your small children first.  Allowing your children to play chicken with the BMW is not going to fare well for either party.  Do you know how much BMW parts cost to replace?

5. Those that keep Cujo in the car as they run errands.  Nothing is more frightening than while getting out of your car a dog in the car next to you jumps up out of nowhere and is able to stick their head through the crack and snaps at you. Don’t make me have to use my pepper spray on the beast!

4.  Those that leave unruly children in the car, because they would be hellions in the store is not working for you either.  Yes, they are secure in the car, but jumping up and down in the driver’s seat and manhandling all the controls is a recipe for disaster.  Risk them knocking down a few display items than taking out 5 parked cars, a little old lady and her purse dog, and a parking lot light post. Trust me your parenting style will be judged about the same with less damage.  Better yet leave them at home and risk them burning down your house.  At least it would limit it to YOUR stuff being damaged.

3.  When looking for a parking spot please multi task and watch for pedestrians! 

2. When you know someone is waiting ever so patiently for your spot as you load, please  don’t decide you can shift into tortoise mode just to be a PITA.  I saw you zipping across the parking lot and loading up your bags with a purpose before you saw that someone is waiting for you to leave.  Trust me your display of new-found power is just making you look like a Jack-a-lope!

1.  PUT YOUR CART AWAY!  It is beyond me why people have issues with this concept, because they would be the first to have a fit if someone’s abandoned cart plowed into the side of their car or into their tail light.  This is not only the top of this top ten, but this is my biggest pet peeve.  If I can put a cart away with two small children, anyone can!

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