Those Rare Quiet Moments In My Life...

I have very few moments where I have a bit of silence nowadays. With two kids who love to make noise along with a dog that loves to bark I cant even use the bathroom without someone interrupting especially since I am a stay at home mom. Don't get me wrong I love the noise and fun I have with my kids all day but sometimes I miss those mornings sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee and watching other college students walk to class or even just being able to sleep in. So I just have to say that this morning is a total gift because the dog is napping in the sunlight and my two children are actually playing quietly together giving me the opportunity to write this while sipping my coffee and eating a bowl of cereal. If you knew my kids you would know how rare it is to eat anything without them begging to have some of Mama's food. It is just nice to be able to enjoy a moment of silence before the screaming, imaginary friends, and singing and dancing resumes.

Tangled, going back to the old style of disney movies?

I love the movie Tangled and when I say love I mean LOVE as in I know all the songs and the character names (Pascal, whom is pictured to the far right, is my favorite). It takes me back to the Disney movies put out during my childhood when the music was catchy and fun to dance and sing to and the plot kept you entranced to the very last minute. Even my husband admitted that it was one of his favorite Disney movies and my daughter has declared her undying love for Eugine (NOT FLYNN RIDER, MAMA!!!). I have to admit that the past couple of years have been a miss for me with all the Disney movies especially The Princess and the Frog which with all of the hype I expected to be amazing but not only didn't entertain any of the family it also gave my daughter nightmares for weeks after. When we saw Tangled at Walmart I was a bit skeptical about how good it would be especially after buying a movie (The Princess and The Frog) that after one viewing sits in the back of the movie cabinet collecting dust and taking up space, but my husband convinced me that we should buy it. I am EXTREMELY glad that we did because soon after we could not find a single copy of the movie anywhere and it gets watched at least once a week, not to mention listening to the soundtrack almost every day during clean up time. I really think that all of the effort put into Tangled was well worth it as this is a movie that when the disk gets to scratched up or breaks I would gladly buy over and over and over again.

Veggie Tales

Whether you are religious or not I believe that Veggie tales teaches some really good lessons to kids. I'm not talking about learning numbers or ABC's like in most children's shows today; I'm referring to the moral lessons that I remember from the shows of my childhood (Care bears, Barney, Fraggle Rock). They teach about kindness, compassion, sharing, helping those in need, thinking of others before we do something that might hurt them, etc. and while my family is religious, I still believe that the Veggie Tales series teaches lessons that all children could use a dose of nowadays. It makes me sad when we go out and people are surprised that my 2 year old says please, thank you, excuse me, and I'm sorry when appropriate or when I see a child cursing, demanding what they want (If I tried that as a child I would never have gotten what I wanted and I would have earned a long time out or punishment), and all of the bullying going on nowadays. It is enough to make my husband and I consider homeschooling to try and shield our children from that as long as we possibly can. Now that I'm done ranting about the lack of morals that a lot of children seem to have nowadays and the lack of concern over this that their parents have I will get back on track. We just purchased a new video from Veggie Tales called Robin Good and I have to say I really am a big fan. They keep both my 2 year old and 8 month old entertained while reinforcing the lessons I try to teach them. *For those of you that think I'm a horrible parent for letting my kids watch TV, I do limit their TV time greatly and the 8 month old normally wouldn't have TV unless he crawls over to sit with his sister when she watches her one show a day* I have also bought tickets to see Veggie Tales live with my husband and daughter as an early birthday gift for her. I am really excited about it mostly because it is a surprise, she has never been to a live show of anything, and she really loves Veggie Tales. If you have kids and a netflix account I would really recommend watching one of their shows and seeing how your kids react. I believe they still have one of their live shows on there. They really help teach my kids lessons I want them to know while also pausing and letting them get up and dance to small music numbers and having fun. By the way I swear I don't work for Veggie Tales and am in no way being paid by them or reimbursed to sing my praises of their products. So please if you have the chance really check them out because the lessons they teach are really worth it and if you are against the whole religious side please check out Barney (I'm not a fan either but you can't deny they have some good lessons) or Care bears (the old episodes not the new ones).

Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters...teaching aggression towards animals?

I know this may sound a little overboard until you hear the story I have to tell. My mother in law bought my daughter these zhu zhu pet hamsters and while at first glance they were cute until I saw the commercials of children hitting the hamsters back (where the button is) to get it to move. Ever since seeing this commercial my daughter has taken to not only hitting the hamster to get it to move but I have also caught her doing it to our cat and dog (which she has NEVER done in the past). She has always been very gentle with our animals in the past so this struck me as a little bit weird. When I asked she said "that's how you make the animals move". Since then I have been reinforcing the idea that we pet animals not push them (which also works to get the hamster to move btw), but I just wonder why wouldn't a company think of that when creating a toy commercial and try to avoid the outcome of children all over the world thinking that it is okay to hit animals b/c that's how they get them to move on television. I know it sounds exaggerated but seeing how my 2 year old reacted to it makes me worry especially since lately I am seeing news reports about children and adults alike being caught abusing animals and seeing nothing wrong with what they did...if you don't believe me look up the story about the two boys who put their pet in a microwave and threw it out of a second story building or the story on hoarders about a woman who had what was believed to be over 50 animals living in her home(most were found dead or sick, only about 20 of them were okay when animal control intervened)...

Open Communication with your Children

This morning while getting ready to head to Grammy's house for the day I had put on a movie for my daughter (namely one of the old school care bear movies that I loved as a child). In the movie they were talking about best friends and how they are always there for each other. My daughter while watching this paused and turned to my husband and said "my mama is my best friend!" which I love that she feels this way but it brought up the fear that I have that as she grows older she will stop feeling that same way. And I can imagine many of you thinking or saying to yourselves that I am not supposed to be her friend but her parent. My response to this is that yes, I will always be a parent first, but I want my children to be able to come to me about ANYTHING and know that I will always be on their side. While I am close with my mother now I never grew up being close to my parents and had great difficulty in talking to them about problems I was having and just about everything other than the grades I was getting in school. It was so bad between my father and I that for my 15th birthday my father and step mother took me on a dinner cruise not knowing that I hated water and got sea sick, that I couldn't talk to them when I first got asked out, when I had my first break up, or even when I just needed someone there for me when the custody battle over my sister and I became just too much for me. I don't want my children to feel that way and am not sure if that's something that I can control or if it is in my children's hands or a combination of the two. I try to take time out to talk to my daughter every night and if she is away from me at any point I ask her about what she did and if she had fun. My son is too young to speak as of yet but I plan to do the same with him. When they do something wrong I try to talk to them about it rather then screaming or sending them to a timeout with no explanation. What do you do to keep communication open with your children?

Dear NJ State Police

Dear NJ state police,
I understand that your job is protecting people throughout the state of NJ and often need to use your lights on your vehicles to get to a situation faster. What I do not understand is seeing not one but TWO state police vehicles switch on their lights approaching a red light (I was stopped at both) and turn off their lights after using them to blow thru the red light. It is my understanding that that is illegal not just for us regular citizens but for police as well. Had both cars not been going so fast I would have taken their plate numbers and reported them, but alas I am not as fast as the two cop cars speeding thru a red light. I am tired of seeing the police as an organization use their power as way to get around the laws they are supposed to be upholding (as I'm sure if I had blown the red light as they had I would have immediately been pulled over and given a ticket). I try and teach my children that no one is above the law and that if I do the same thing that my daughter does wrong I get punished the same way that she does. When seeing the state police vehicle blow thru the red light I have no way to explain to my daughter why they can do that (when there is nowhere they need to be, they just don't want to have to wait at a red light) and we can not even though my son cries through every stoplight and we really don't want to have to wait at the light either. I am getting very tired of the God complex I see in the police force as a whole and while I know a few really great police officers there are as many that use their knowledge of the law and the power they are given to uphold it to help themselves in whatever way they want. I saw a video of a man a few days ago who was pulled out of his car (while in diabetic shock) and pushed to the ground and beaten while the police shouted "stop resisting, motherfucker"...the man wound up with some broken ribs and a black eye. The worst part of the video in my opinion was when the police discovered that he might be diabetic they started laughing about the beating they had inflicted upon the man. If this is what the police force is turning into I would rather move to Canada or somewhere where the police don't use excessive force against a man who is unable to control his actions, where the police actually follow the laws they are supposed to be upholding, and where people respect the police because the police aren't seen doing shady things and beating people up on the news every week. I understand that you cant do much unless you know about these incidents but I wish the state would take a harder stance against the police breaking or using the laws they are meant to uphold to their own advantage. Thank you.
Sincerely,
A mother trying to teach her children that no one is above the law

BTW the video of the man in diabetic shock can be found here for those interested: