Mommage

Music Across The Curriculum

My daughters school is having a "Second Grade Musical" next week.  Not only will she be singing and dancing she has a speaking role also.  I think the little blurb that she will be speaking is so cute and anyone who is a parent can definitely relate.  The passage is:

"About the age of four, I started talking even more.  My words were always, "why and how". I wanted answers right now.  I didn't know it way back then.  That when I asked "Where, what and when?"  That even though it sounds absurd, each little word is an adverb."

She has the passage memorized although she is having some trouble pronouncing the word absurd.  She is not normally shy so I think she will be okay, but we will see how she does when she is on stage in front of the whole school and then that evening in front of the parents.

I am glad that there is still music in the schools, but I wish she had it more than once a week!

--Contributed by Renee

Grey Goose Got Ya Girl Feelin' Loose

Looky here.... 36 years old and on Friday I went to my first strip club ~ The Hangar Club.  Just one more item to cross off my "things to do before I die" list. 

It was a girls night out ~ some of my co-workers, my office manager, and I went out.  I didn't really know what to expect.  I figured it was going to be like those stories I've heard from my male amigos... a whole lotta looking but not physical contact.

How wrong I was.

Let Freedom Ring!

If kids came with instructions, at what age would they recommend a child be allowed to ride public transportation alone?  According to Lenore Skenazy, writer of Free Range Kids and columnist for the New York Sun, her nine year old fourth grader was ready to test the waters on a New York City subway.  After writing about her son's experience, saying he was "ecstatic with independence", some parents accused her of child abuse while others praised her for bucking the helicopter parent trend. 

I think the real issue here is whether parents are unnecessarily overprotective, or if they are justified in thinking today's complicated world prohibits children from enjoying the freedom and independence of previous generations.

Let's examine the possibilities.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner...

As most of you know, I don't have any kids.  That doesn't mean that I don't like them; in fact I love kids and I think it's very important that we all work together to make sure that all kids are treated like the thinking, feeling human beings they are.  That's why it's so hard for me when I end up stuck with obnoxious kids...or more accurately, their obnoxious parents.  My husband and I recently had a very uncomfortable dinner experience that could have been prevented so easily by more attentive parents. I don't want to preach, and I certainly don't want to tell others how to raise their kids.  But I do want to point out that while you might think your kid is the cutest and most fascinating person on earth, that doesn't necessarily mean others will agree.

The Battle of the (post-maternity) Bulge

I've never been what you call a skinny, um, "woman." I come from sturdy stock, and it shows. However, I've tried to at least keep the flab from getting too out of control by eating healthy and engaging in moderate exercise. While I never achieved size four status, I did manage to keep myself at a manageable size 10/12.

Until I got pregnant.

Still No Child Left Behind?

I have written about No Child Left Behind before on Mommage, it is really a sore spot for me.  There have been some proposed changes to the act, unfortunately in my opinion not good ones.  I would love to see No Child Left Behind repealed.  I do not feel that it really does anything but provide a lack luster education by "teaching to the test".  The SOL (Standards of Learning) tests, are tests that a certain percentage of a school population must pass in order for that school to receive funding.  The problem is that instead of challenging students and encouraging them to think outside of the box, they are taught a very rigid set of parameters in the hopes of getting the majority to pass these standardized tests so that the school can receive its much needed much deserved funding.

Here is an article that explains some of the proposed changes, but also explains the aspects of the original No Child Left Behind.  As a mother I am seeing the result of this ACT first hand.  My daughter is in second grade, she comes home with misspellings on her school work all the time, not once to ever have the misspelling pointed out or corrected by the teacher.  I have received flyer's from the school with glaring misspellings, apparently my daughters school is too busy "teaching to the test" to actually TEACH reading, writing and arithmetic.  I long for the days when children were actually taught and graded upon their individual abilities.

--Contributed by Renee

Happy Earth Day!

So Earth Day is BIG doings in my house. 

I find the whole history of Earth Day to be fascinating.  In September 1969 U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson spoke at a conference where he announced that April 22, 1970 would be the first nationwide protest to showcase environmental issues.  And it sort of snowballed from there.  Today we see huge open-air concerts, attended by millions, across the globe in order to promote environmental awareness.  Going green, as Paris Hilton would say, is HOT.

I am not sure what they are teaching about the environment in the public school system today, but it's caused my son to become a raging environmentalist....  it's like living with Al Gore.  Without the beard.

No Lingering Allowed

I remember a time when I could drop off my teen and her friends at the movie theatre in the mall and go about my business knowing they were safe until I returned to pick them up.  I guess that's how Shaundra felt as she was on her way to pick up her daughter and friends, until she discovered the teens were told they had to leave the premises or receive a citation.  The kids ended up running to a gas station where they waited frightened and worried about being in trouble with the police.  Shaundra sent a letter via Planetfeedback complaining about the treatment her daughter received and asking the mall to allow teenagers to wait on the property until parents arrive to pick them up.

Most malls now have curfews requiring teenagers to be chaperoned, and theatres do not allow patrons to linger outside for any length of time.  Should parents just accept these rules and the responsibility that goes with them, or argue that because they spend their hard earned money at the mall, their kids should not be asked to leave?  As usual, the reaction on Planetfeedback was mixed.

Recently, I've decided to get in shape.  Yes, I know, round IS a shape, but it's not the one I really want to be.  So I've been making some changes in the way I live my life, and this time I'm doing it the right way.  No starvation, no fads, no crazy exercise show lady to make me feel inadequate.  Just me, an elliptical machine, and a big rubber ball.  It may not be the coolest way to get in shape, but it seems to be doing the trick.  The real trick, though, is getting me to stick with it!

Doggie see; Doggie do

Jeanna recently went to Petsmart. Petsmart is a pet store that allows shoppers to bring their animals into the store. While shopping, Jeanna noticed a woman letting her dog defecate on the floor. After her dog did his thing, the woman hightailed it out of the store, leaving other customers to bask in the stench and the store personnel to clean it up.