Knives Make Great Gifts

[vovat]

I found out that bethje's dog Dewey likes it when I sing "Me And Bobby McGee" to him. He also likes to sing along with Beth's clarinet playing, but I already knew that.

Yesterday, we took Beth's cat David to the vet. Later, we went out to eat at IHOP, where I had the caramel apple pancakes. I thought they were very good, and I might get them again if I get back there before they change their specials. I really don't go to IHOP much, but I always like it when I do. Beth didn't like her food that much, though. After that, we did some shopping, and then came back to Beth's house and went to sleep. I ended up sleeping much longer than intended, finally waking up after a dream about being in school and having to take some class on wildlife (I think I had tried to take it before, but forgotten I was enrolled in it, and ended up dropping it), and having to talk to some teacher about grammar. She insisted that the word "bank" was its own plural, and that she hated the expression "going out."

I think I've finished with my Christmas shopping. The stuff I had ordered from Amazon actually ended up arriving on time, which is cool.

When I signed on to AOL this morning, there was a story about how the Patriot Act was renewed, which makes me weep for the future of this country. It's only a six-month temporary renewal, though, which makes me...uh, weep less, I guess. And there was also this. I have no idea whether the story can be accessed outside AOL, but the gist of it is that some mom in the suburbs of Cleveland, fed up with her messy kids, sold their stuff on eBay. She went on both The Today Show and Dr. Phil to talk about it, and during the former, the winning bidder gave all the stuff back. Nothing changed at her house, and now she's donating things to charity. Now, I'll be the first to say that I know nothing about raising kids, and I hope I'll never have to figure out how to do it. But I like to think I would NEVER do anything like that. Confiscating something temporarily, maybe, IF it worked (because, really, if a punishment isn't effective in curbing bad behavior, it simply becomes a matter of revenge and/or showing who's boss, and that ain't cool). But completely taking things away? No. Only if it were a really extreme case, not just, "Hey, my kids are messy!" Guess what? For the most part, that's how kids are. Was this stuff given to the kids on a provisional basis? The article doesn't say, but I tend to doubt it. So what kind of lesson is this teaching the kids? That you can't trust your own parents not to take your things from you? And when you go on national TV to bad-mouth your kids, isn't that pretty much guaranteeing that they'll end up in extensive therapy later in life? Whenever I see someone complaining about their kids on TV, I have to wonder why they reproduced in the first place. I mean, I'm sure most of these people DO love their children, and they might be exemplary parents in all other respects. I have no idea. It's just that it seems all too common for people to feel they HAVE to have children, and then get annoyed that the kids aren't perfect. That's not to say that I don't have sympathy for the parents, because I do. And some kids are totally out of control. But it just seems like some people become parents without having any idea what they're in for.

Comments

[kristenjarrod.livejournal.com]

The kids were just messy, like 99.9% of every other kid in America? They wern't misbehaving in school, catching cats on fire, those sorts of things? Just messy? I hate over reactive parents.

But now that I'm getting older, I really hate the parents who buy their kids these overexpensive gifts. (Ipods for elementary school kids, $400 xbox (the new one, I forgot the name of them) for six year olds, you know those sorts of things. When I was growing up (early 1990's) like my price limit for the main present on my wish list was $80. I think as I became a little bit older it became $100. But now since I'm in my early 20's I'd feel like a spoiled brat if I wished for something over $45.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised that it happened in Avon Lake. That's one of those urban-sprawl, all-white, new-development, upper-middle-class, richer suburbs where all the houses look the same and everything has to be absolute artificial perfection... including the kids.

Granted, I'm biased, but that's the general idea.

Rows of houses that look all the same, and no one seems to care

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know the kind of place you're talking about, and I'm not at all surprised. There are so many people who have these ridiculous standards of perfection, and get upset when anything doesn't live up to them.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, they were just messy. I took a look at her website (http://www.momsonstrike.com/page/page/2779743.htm), and her description of the mess reads, "While coming downstairs I saw clothes that my husband left laying out on the stairs. In the living room on the coffee table was a gameboy that was left out with a game in it. The kitchen table had not one, but three, dirty glasses left on it from dinner the night before. On the living room floor were toys that were left out. On the kitchen counter was garbage that never got thrown away and dirty dishes that were not rinsed and put into the dishwasher. I walked into the bathroom and guess what? There were towels laying on the floor and toothpaste sitting in the sink from my kids not rinsing the sink out when they finished brushing their teeth."

Now, some of this is pretty gross, but most of it is unrelated to the lesson. Later on the page, she writes, "[I]f they cannot respect their items they don't deserve them!" But the only item in that description that really qualifies as a "privilaiged [sic] item" is the Game Boy, and I would hardly call leaving it on a coffee table as a lack of respect for it. Sure, it's not where it belongs, but it's not like anybody is going to step on it there. And her mention that there was a game in the Game Boy, as if there was something wrong with that, simply suggests that she has no idea how a Game Boy works. Then she says she "did video tape my family's reaction (17 minutes worth) which was priceless!" So there's apparently no question that she's vindictive.

I think the ultimate example of an overexpensive gift is when parents give a kid a car for their sixteenth birthday. That kind of thing does bother me somewhat. On the other hand, none of these bother me as much as buying a kid expensive clothes. I'm sure there's some kind of line between buying kids certain items and totally spoiling them, but I'm not sure where it is. But I definitely think it's crazy when little kids get cell phones and iPods. I mean, part of that is just because of advances in technology. When I was young, I was excited to get my own cassette player. But even if these things have become more practical and affordable over the years, do elementary school students necessarily NEED their own?

[kristenjarrod.livejournal.com]

But the only item in that description that really qualifies as a "privilaiged [sic]

Bitch can't even spell "privilege" right? And that woman's house sounds like every other house in America that has young kids. Although the husband is old enough to put away his clothes. And the sheer reason why she videotaped it was because she wanted to get on Dr. Phil.

I can honestly understand giving a car as a graduation present (I uh, got one, nothing fancy though just a Ford Escort) but a brand new (or a moderately new car) two seconds after they get their license? That thing will be totaled in a month.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Bitch can't even spell "privilege" right?

There were quite a few spelling and grammatical errors on that page. I try not to judge people based on that kind of thing, but she definitely comes across as uneducated. And how hard is it to run something through spell check before posting it to the Internet?

And the sheer reason why she videotaped it was because she wanted to get on Dr. Phil.

I love how she says, "I did not go to the media, they came to me." So what? You can't say no to the media?

As for cars, I was definitely thinking more of brand-new ones, which I'm sure some kids really do get when they turn sixteen. My dad helped me buy a new car after I got my license, but I was 24 at the time, and he didn't pay for all of it.

[kristenjarrod.livejournal.com]

My dad helped me buy a new car after I got my license, but I was 24 at the time, and he didn't pay for all of it.

I think the other main reason why my dad surprised me with a car too when I graduated was because I had gone through driving school, gotten my license, but I never drove, I was just too scared. (it didn't help that the hand me down car I was supposed to have was very tiny [I could barely get in the driver's seat!] and it couldn't go over 45). My parents were afraid that I was going to be one of these people who refused to drive, and I think that was the main reason why they surprised me with the car.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I was scared to drive for years, and my parents generally didn't try to force me into it, possibly because they didn't want to teach me. I do remember my dad telling me I should learn to drive when he had to take me places, even though I hardly ever went anywhere. I mean, I remember him saying that while taking me to the dentist, where I went only twice a year. The strange this is, when I finally decided to get my license, he tried to talk me out of it.

[jenhime.livejournal.com]

Selling all your kids' crap isn't going to solve the problem. It'll probably just cause them to act out even more and generate therapy/lawyer bills.

I was a messy child. My parents and I managed a compromise: leave the mess in my room and clean it up when company is coming over. If I didn't clean it up, my parents would take all the crap on the floor and hide it from me. If I never asked for it back (and it wasn't something expensive/I needed), they gave it to Goodwill under the assumption that I didn't really need it. But, it didn't change anything -- I grew into a messy adult. In fact, I became *defiantly* messy when I lived with my parents. Even now I'm still a basically messy person, but I do periodically cull my own stuff and take it to Goodwill.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I tend to be a pretty messy person myself, which is one reason why I'm so indignant at this woman's behavior. Being messy doesn't necessarily mean you don't value your stuff, which seems to have been the woman's conclusion.

Mind you, I guess I'm somewhat of an oddity in that most of my stuff is totally disorganized, but my CD's are all alphabetized by artist. I used to do the same thing with my books when I was in college, and I probably will again if I ever have enough room. It's mostly stuff I rarely use (especially papers) that ends up randomly thrown into boxes. I'm not at all good at the act of cleaning up, but if I have a specific place to put something, I tend to be a little neater.

[obsessical.livejournal.com]

When my brother and I were little, my parents would put our toys in garbage bags when we wouldn't clean them, so we thought they were gonna get thrown away. Then we'd clean our stuff up real fast, and my parents would take some of the stuff out of the bags, and give them to us as a reward. The rest they would put in the attic until we asked for it back, or if they felt like giving it back to us later, if we were especially good or something. They did throw away some things, but that's 'cause we were kids and we had a lot of plastic crap toys, ya know? TO this day, my brother laments my mother's throwing away a few choice Transformers, though.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

TO this day, my brother laments my mother's throwing away a few choice Transformers, though.

My husband brings this up on a regular basis. Also all his early Star Wars toys. He'll say, "Do you realize how much that collection would be WORTH today?????"

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think that's one problem with parents throwing stuff out without asking first. If it's not your stuff, you don't always have a good idea of how much something is worth (not to mention the old adage about one man's trash being another man's treasure). But then, there are also a lot of kids who will throw things out themselves, and then wish they had them back a few years down the road. It's hard to tell what you'll want in the future. So maybe the best idea is never to throw anything out, although that DOES necessitate a lot of storage space. {g}

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Parents. I will stop right there, because I spend entirely too much of my time lamenting about some parents. It's weird how many of them actually expect their children not to be messy though. They'll dress their little girl up in seriously a frilly pink party dress and bring them to the FRICKIN' CHILDREN'S MUSEUM and expect them to HAVE FUN, but they're not allowed to touch any of the art stuff or go anywhere near waterplay or go on the slides or play on anything because they might mess up their dress. ACK! Anyway. Obviously I didn't stop when I said I was going to.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, I think some people who have kids actually want walking, talking Barbie dolls instead.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking of this today because there are a bunch of parenting magazines in the Nursery (of the Museum) and there's this one publication that is really annoying that way, "American Baby." I just noticed one of the cover articles was like "The most in-style coolest clothes for your infant!" and I'm like, WHY do people care if their infant is in style?! Whatever you put them in, they're going to spit up on it!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I've never really understood fashion in general, but yeah, it's especially ridiculous when it comes to infants.

[gizmohigh69.livejournal.com]

yah my mom woulde go through my toys and stuff like you had to jump to my bed you couldent walk without stepping on a toy and we lived in a trailer but yah my mom woulde go though my toys and say do you play with this and ill say yah or no and if no it got but in the bag and set in the hallway for about a year so to get to my room you had to be a gymnest to go through the hall way because our christmas and junk was in the hall way but yah my mom never like took my toys and sold them or gave them away

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's probably a good plan. But if your mom's goal was to make less work for herself, that wouldn't really be effective, because asking about each toy means devoting MORE time and effort to cleaning. On the other hand, it's a lot more respectful.