R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Politically speaking, I am somewhere left of of many of you, and somewhere to the right of the rest of you. Now that that is clear as mud, I'm going to enter the dangerous politically-charged, on-my-soapbox arena. I watched with fascination as the warnings began posting on facebook: Obama to implement Hitler-esque youth brigade, etc. I clicked on links that took me to conservative website after conservative website searching for exactly what my son might be exposed to. Yet, I found no evidence that Obama was beginning to grow a funny mustache OR indoctrinate my son, although I was curious as to what exactly the text of the speech might be. I watched and read the speech yesterday, and I found nothing objectionable to me.

I do respect every parent's right to limit what his or her child is exposed to. There is much in this worldly world that I do NOT want my babies exposed to/influenced by, and I respect that each parent has his or her own belief systems. (For example, we do not read/watch the Twilight series. We stress creationism, despite the fact that evolution is taught exclusively in our school system.)

I find it odd that my son's school made the choice to not show the speech at all. We were not given an opt in choice. The speech was simply not shown. It seems that some parents threatened to keep their children home from school if the school showed the speech at all.

I do not always agree with the president. I didn't always agree with the last president, and I think it's safe to say that I will never agree wholeheartedly with any president 100% of the time. Growing up, I remember my parents voicing their disagreement with the president, but it was always done with a note of civility towards the rabbit ears on the tv. I remember a respect for the job that appears absent today.

What (apparently) started as a way for the highest elected official in our country to encourage our youth somehow morphed into an agenda to further criticize one point of view over another, to further split party lines, to disrespect the office of the president. As for me and my house, we WILL serve the LORD. We will also show respect to all people, regardless of their political, religious, cultural, or educational beliefs, including the man elected to lead our country.

That is all. Please feel free to comment. How did your school handle this subject?

well, we're off to a great start. . .

Y'all. If only I were kidding. . .

Dear President Obama,
Ever since my son learned that you smoke, he has been obsessed. He tells everyone that our president smokes. He usually adds that you're trying to quit. This is important to him. You see, his father smokes, and he would like for him to quit. My husband has smoked ever since we met. He has tried to quit, but he has been less than successful. He does not smoke around the kids, but he does smoke. He also occasionally has a beer. He honestly drinks very little.

I told you this in an attempt to explain. You will soon be receiving letters from my son's class. They were encouraged to write to you about anything. When you receive my son's letter, please understand that when he tells you to get rid of the drugs so his daddy "won't drink beer and do drugs anymore", he is talking about smoking cigarettes. . .and only cigarettes. I promise. I understand this could be construed as something far more serious, but truthfully, we do not do drugs. You have my word.

I am sorry for any misunderstanding this may have caused and would understand if you feel the need to invite my son to the White House so that you might check things out for yourself. (Just sayin'.) Please understand that my son should come with a warning. We are thinking about

Please understand that the views expressed by this child do not necessarily represent the views of his parents.

or (especially in this case)

Please double check all facts with this child's mother or other family members before contacting any authorities. . .

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Just Another Day in Paradise

Oh, Kyler-bear

One of these days, he will get me back for that title. Say goodbye to my "good" nursing home days--he'll chain me in the basement of a third-rate home for that one. . .The following views expressed do not necessarily represent the author's point of view.

Well, this weekend was a big deal for Kyler. He announced that he will be voting for Sara Palin.

"Oh," I asked. "Are you having an election at school? Do you guys get to vote in your class?"

"No, Mom, not at school! When I vote. I'm voting for that woman, not the other ones."

"Babe, you have to be 18 to vote."

"Oh. I didn't know that."

Then, this mother-of-the-year waited to clean out the backpack this morning. Inside I found a school paper that asked what the child wanted to be when he/she grew up. My son, the aspiring paleontologist/artist, responded "I wont (want) to be a HC Bunt waker (worker)."

"Kyler, I didn't know you wanted to work at HC Bunt."(HC Bunt is the alias of the trucking company Daddy used to work for.)

"I don't."

"But that's what you put on your paper."

"It's all I could think of."

"What about paleontologist or artist?"

"I can't spell those."

Oh. Let's hope his spelling improves before he has to pick a major in college. . .

(And in a totally unrelated note, Kyler went hunting with his dad this weekend. He got his first deer. He is so proud. . . as is Kevin. . .what redneck daddy wouldn't be?)

Sarah Palin on SNL

Tina Fey is hilarious! Regardless of who you vote for, isn't it great that we have the freedom to laugh at everyone?! Wonder what Hilary's thinking?

I Dream of . . .Supernanny & Vice Presidents?

For those of you who do not know us well, we do not watch much tv. Seriously. We love to watch movies or old tv shows (like Bonanza, I Dream of Jeannie, Andy Griffith, Rawhide, Lassie, etc.) on DVD. We frequently watch movies--even in the car (BIG shoutout to the maker of the portable DVD player!). However, we watch very little tv. There are a few exceptions, such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Wipeout (perfect for the 7 & 8 year old set), Wife Swap, and Supernanny. (I do have my faves that I occasionally watch after the kids have gone to bed. . .)

Kyler, already warped from having a mom who's a speech-language pathologist and receiving speech therapy himself, was watching Supernanny last night and announced that Jo (who's Brittish) needed to go to speech therapy. . .How sheltered is my child?

Later, I stayed up to watch Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention. ATTENTION ALL READERS: I'm going to do something I would typically NEVER do. I am typically 99.9% non-confrontational (see, how I didn't claim 100%--just in case someone disagreed!). If you do not wish to hear my opinion on current politics, do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT read any further. Please direct all arguments to the comment section below. I promise to run, hide, and generally pretend they are not there and that we still live in never-never land, where all is peaceful and calm and my husband frequently shows up with cooked meals and clean laundry and you all still like me. . .Okay, now joining Rachel's Soapbox. . .

I am every politician's nightmare voter: I vote ever election, but I am. . .erratic, at best, as far as who I vote for. I watch little tv, as previously mentioned, but research politicians' voting records before each election. I consider myself a moderate conservative, who believes in healthcare reform, the rights of the accused, less dependence on foreign oil, and education reform initiated by educators--among other things. Enough about me. . .I was not jumping on either bandwagon thus far in the presidential race. I have researched both candidates. I appreciate that both mean are sort of "mavericks" in their party. The point is, unlike my lovable, gun-toting, red-neck husband (You tell him I said that, and I will get even. He obviously doesn't read my blog. In fact, he asked last week if I had email!), I was undecided. After watching the RNC last night, I think I may have possibly made up my mind. . .maybe. If you didn't see it, Mrs. Palin managed to make a self-deprecating joke about soccer moms and tell about selling the state's private jet on EBAY! In between, her youngest daughter licked her hand and smoothed the baby's hair down. . .ON LIVE TV! She does not appear afraid to speak her mind. Let's face it, McCain is at least 450 years old, but with Palin behind him, I might vote for the man. . .possibly.

Ok, Rachel has now stepped off the soapbox. (Oh, and Bob, if you read this, I'm sorry, really, really sorry that I spoke favorably about those R-r-r-r-epublicans that you've warned me about!) If anyone is still reading my blog after that, I hope to post pics of our Labor Day trip to Conway/Heber Springs soon. . .