Aug 6 First off: I don’t have kids, so perhaps this post is colored a bit differently than if I did.
Now that I’ve said that, I have some thoughts on kids. For quite some time I have thought that they (along with elderly) are absolutely hilarious. They have no qualms about acting in whatever manner they want because they just don’t care what others think about them. And I really like that because they’re being real to themselves. They’ll do socially unacceptable things, they’ll say things that others would be scared to say. They’ll let loose a fart in public that’s loud and smelly, they’ll criticize someone for the way that they’re dressed, and so on and so forth. That’s funny to me.
However, just the other day I went to the San Diego Zoo and saw some children that caused me to realize that this let loose, carefree attitude was also good to see things that were more important than humor. It allowed me to see what kind of people they really were. As children, it allowed me to see how they were being raised.
Children are a product of parenting, that is obvious. They are raw and they don’t know about society when they come out of the womb. They must be taught about it, molded into a shape that is acceptable. Sometimes parents are not good. Okay, I’m sure that very often parents are not good. They mess kids up and we get a world full of bitter, messed up kids in need of some psychoanalysis, a hug, and perhaps some discipline. And thus, here is how to go the Wrong Way in raising a child (based very briefly on a some observations throughout a day):
-
First off, don’t worry about ethnicity. You can raise a horrible child no matter your skin tone or where on earth you are from. It’s possible, you can do it so go ahead and try.
-
(For the white kid) Let your kid do whatever he wants. Sure he needs some discipline. Sure he needs to listen to the rules of the bus to not stand on the seat, but he really just wants to see everything. So it’s okay, when you want him to sit down for his own good and he pushes away your hands, be gentle and loving. When he turns around and smacks you across the face, say “that’s okay.” When your mother (his grandmother) wants to discipline him, just tell her to back off because she’s antagonizing him and that’s causing a ruckus. Relax, your kid is going to turn out just fine.
-
(For the black kid) You need to allow them to do whatever they want. If they see a toy, they’ll think it’s like the ones that they have at home. Oh you let them break them at home? Oh sure, then you should just let them try to break them everywhere else also. Then you realize that’s not okay in public and you tell them otherwise. Good good, mixed signals to a child will definitely help them to learn.
-
(For the Hispanic kid) It’s a good idea to just clean up after your kid. Make sure that he lives in a clean house, but do not ever think to force him to clean up after himself. He’ll always have you around to clean up after him, anyways. So that’s perfect, because when he is messing around by himself at say the zoo, then he’ll expect it to be the same as at home. He’ll take his juice wrapper, throw it on the ground, kick it around, and ultimately pick it up and throw it at an animal cage when you’re not watching. He will litter and run away as if that were perfectly normal. The trash can right near him? He doesn’t even know what that is because you’ve always just done everything for him. Ah there, you have raised a polite and reasonable child. Good job!
-
(For the Asian kid) When you want your way, talk really loud. Do that at home with your family, too. Other people will only know that you want something when you’re loudly vocal about it. She’ll learn the same. So when you’re walking around, she’s wailing in a monstrously loud fashion about her desires because that’s how she knows to tell you something. And inconveniently you’re not going to want to abide right then. So just keep on going let her continue her wailing. She’ll think that the louder she gets, the more likely she’ll get it. Don’t instruct her otherwise. Very likely it’s true that she can be very loud, and you’re going to give in to her later on. She’ll learn eventually that she can’t always get her way. Someone else will teach her. She’ll learn eventually that she can’t scream as loud as she possibly can in public for prolonged periods of time. She’ll learn that your silence is actually your love, caring, and devotion to her. She’ll learn all of that, I’m positive about that!
Children are an amazing thing. But they’re not going to be perfect and cute all of the time. One needs to have a little bit of planning, knowledge, and purpose in order to raise them. After seeing how horribly others can do, I think that I’d be a little bit more scared to raise one on my own. Very, very scared.
Aug 3 While cleaning up, one begins to find objects accumulated over the years that are of a few varieties.
There is the out and out junk that is immediately tossed. That’s the easy stuff. The wrappers, the broken toys, the school work that is no longer pertinent.
Then there is the the items that hold significance but are not really too useful. Those are the cherished toys and so on that at one time were loved, but are no longer. These often will get kept for sentimental reason or donated so that another could love it.
Along the same vein, there are those items that were very amusing but for a much briefer amount of time than the previous category. In my mind I see the gag gifts, the awards, and the other one-time items that were cherished but for a moment but are now essentially trash.
Contrast this with those items that were dearly beloved before but are now regarded with a bit of distaste. Perhaps these are gifts given by an old flame or a long-lost friend. In that moment and for some time afterwards the item was important, but as a result of happenings in your relationship with the other person(s) involved it has changed its meaning.
So what is more worthwhile, a piece of (essentially) junk that holds memories of a grand time or an item that is actually useful but holds more bitter memories?
I am not one to pack like a rat, but I like to keep special things. I actually think that I would opt to save the latter over the former even though I would enjoy the former more often. The hard things make us who we are, and I like to remember where I came from. The journey is important. What say you?
Jul 30 Web logging. Weblogging. We blogging. Oh yeah we’re blogging!
Why do we do it? Why do I do it? It’s such an interesting phenomenon. People have been writing in journals and diaries for years and years. But those always seemed to be meant to be secret. Along come computers and the Internet and all of a sudden there are people who have a desire to write things in a completely public forum. What is the attraction? I know that I have met people who have asked just these questions.
So why do I do it? Well I think that a large attraction for me is to be able to freely express myself in whatever way I want. I can say something and not be graded or judged (okay I guess that you could judge me in some ways) based on it. I am able to say what I want when I want. I can rant about the guy that bugs me or I could talk about the small pleasures of life. Some people have their radio shows, others have their newspaper columns. But for the average Joe, what public forum is available to express the joys and outrages of life? Aren’t our opinions as worthy (if not as well voiced) as those more famous opinion expressers?
Rory over at Clean Cut Blog has a Group Writing Project that is intended to allow many people to write about what their absolute first rule of writing is. I was reminded of it after reading Shelly’s post Fishing For An Audience.
So after thinking about my reasons for even having a blog, I realize that I’ll only do it when it is interesting to me. That seems rather obvious, but it very accurately describes what I do with this blog and why I do what I do. That is why this blog is not like others. Hopefully that is not why it’s not the most popular blog on the Internet. I mean, I’d like to think that what I am interested in has some appeal to other people.
Anyways, although there are many many good blogs out there and the popular opinion is that they should focus on a particular area, I think that I like to keep this blog a place where I can show people how I go my own way. You know, the wong way. And each time I write a post, that is what I keep in mind.
Jul 28 I definitely enjoy entering contests. I always figure that you only have a chance if you try, right? Well there’s a pretty sweet contest where 5 Minutes For Mom is giving away a 37” TV (hooked up by Best Buy, thank you very much). All you have to do is leave a comment and create a blog post linking to them. Pretty sweet deal for the person that wins, and it’s a pretty smart move for them in order to get tons of link backs. Everyone wins. Well except for everyone who enters and actually doesn’t get the TV. So actually not too many people “win.” Oh well, I’m just hoping that I’m the one that actually does win!
Jul 25 As part of Harry Potter-mania, Jelly Belly held a special promotion of Bertie Bott’s Jelly Beans. My co-worker brought some a couple of bags of them in to work recently and we got the special privilege of getting to try them.
These are a special release and as such they have special flavors. Everything from grass to pickle to black pepper and booger. However, none of that can compare to a couple of the ones that I tried.
I’d like to think that I’m willing to try many things. I have no desire to try everything once, mind you. I have no desire to try things that might necessarily place my life/freedom/health in jeopardy. But I still fancy myself a bit adventurous, and I’d like to think that I’m willing to try many things.
So I tried some especially fun flavors such as vomit and sardine. However, by and far the worst flavor that I tried was rotten egg. Rotten egg. Who thinks of such things?
So my co-workers and I were trying different flavors in the mindset of doing them together. Nobody likes to things alone, and just as I wrote in I’m Willing If You Are doing things side by side with another peson is an effective psychological tool. So after taking turns at trying different flavors and meeting with relative disgust, we decided to all try the rotten egg flavored jelly bean at once. We each picked out jelly beans according to the guide, but when we tried it we all discovered that we had in fact chosen the much better lemon drop flavor. Then I decided that I only live an earthly life once, so I still tried it even while my co-workers tried other things. And as I slowly chewed and let the saliva transmit the flavor to my taste buds, I began to become quite disgusted. The flavor and the stench conspired to cause me to gag. I coughed a few times, and I must say that I really felt a couple of moments of almost wanting to puke. It was so gross. It’s amusing that it was in fact grosser than the vomit taste itself.
Other thoughts:
-
In any case, I’ve tried it and I don’t intend on trying it ever again. But please, I would be more than happy to have you try it. It’s not as if you have been there and done it. :)
-
I’m really really really really really glad they did not choose to make a jelly bean that was flavored as sour milk. I think that would have guaranteed puking from many adventurous souls.
-
I think that flavor tester for these nasty Bertie Bott’s Jelly Beans has got to be on the list of the worst jobs. Imagine tasting vomit every single day at work. And not just everyday, but constantly. Oh man.
-
That morning of trying nasty tastes was filled with hilarity. Paramount was when an unsuspecting co-worker believed another who said that a jelly bean was an innocuous fruit flavor when it was in fact vomit-flavored.