I heart my children

There is no greater love than the love a mother feels for her children. I've heard this said so many times and I feel that no truer words were ever spoken. They are the first ones who can make you smile, make you laugh and make you cry. The memories you share are precious, priceless and never-ending. They can break your heart with just one word or just one look. They can fill your heart with pride and with love, sometimes filling it so full that you feel it will explode. The biggest fear you have is not for yourself but for them. You want them to be healthy, successful and happy. From the moment they are laid in your arms in that very first minute of their lives, the two of you become one. There will be many trials down the road but a mother's heart will always remain true and a mother's love will never falter, never diminish, only grow. If we're lucky, we get an extension of that love when our children have children of their own.

Complainers and gossipers

Two types of people that turn me off: The ones who complain about EVERYTHING. They see the negative side of life and these are people I tend to steer clear. The other group of people I steer clear of are gossipers. These are the ones who gossip about everybody. I figure though that when they gossip about me, they're giving someone else a break.
Complainers: Why is it that when employers give a $500 bonus at work, there are some employees who think they deserve more? A $500 bonus is nothing to complain about! And the key word here is BONUS. This is not a mandatory part of an employer, this is a gift. Give an inch and they want a mile. Give a mile and they want ten miles. Throw a catered Christmas party at the workplace and they want a "real" party at a "real" restaurant with all the trimmings. People like this are not to even be listened to because no matter what they get, they're not happy with it. They always want more. Give them the sky and they'll want the oceans too. Throw in the oceans and it still wouldn't be enough, they'd want the jungles and deserts.
Gossipers: Criticizing the way someone dresses or does their hair. Just because YOU don't like the way they dress or their hairstyle, THEY do! And that's all that matters. Just because they like sports and you don't doesn't make them "weird", just makes them different from you. Maybe there's something you're passionate about that they don't like. So what? Maybe I don't like those boots that you wore yesterday. So what? You obviously like them. More power to you. That girl left her husband. Wow. Again, so what? Until you know the full story, keep your nose out of it. Was he abusive to her, making her life a living hell? That man over there looks like a bum. Do you know WHY he looks like a bum? Maybe he lost his job and can't afford to buy decent clothes. Maybe food and rent are more important to him than the latest fashions. Wow, the mail carrier was wearing a snowsuit when he delivered the mail. The temperature that day was 20 degrees with a windchill factor of 5. If I was walking around outside delivering mail door to door, you can bet I'd be dressed warmly too. They only have one car. And? Maybe that's all they can afford to have. Car payments and insurance are expensive and if they can make it with one car, good for them!
People like the ones above get on my last nerve and I'd love to stick all of them on an island somewhere and let them nag each other to death. The world would be a MUCH better place without them around.

Economy

Why is our economy beyond repair? Because the government can't or won't recognize the real problem. The real problem is hitting them between the eyes but they're either too blind, deaf or dumb to see it, or just don't care.

1. STOP sending our manufacturing jobs overseas. America needs manufacturing. We need the jobs and we need the money the manufactured goods will bring in to this country. Get people back to work. When people work, they make money. When they make money, they buy things.

2. STOP treating illegal immigrants like they belong here. The only time they'll truly belong here is when they become a citizen, pay taxes and buy homes just like the rest of the American citizens do.

3. STOP selling our country landmarks to other countries. What right do they have to own parking meters in Chicago or a turnpike in Pennsylvania?

4. STOP buying foreign oil. We have enough resources right here to get oil. Why do we need Arabs for that? To make them richer? The Arabs and Chinese are the richest nations in the world. That used to be us. But we gave them all of our money!

5. END the political parties. No more "us versus them". One nation under God, indivisible! We are one people, start acting like it. It's one team. And all of us want the same thing. To return this country to the powerhouse it once was. Now we're just a laughingstock.

6. ABOLISH United Nations. Worry about your own home first and others later. Do they jump up and help us when we need it? No. But we're the first in line to help them at the first sign of trouble. And the thanks we get? A car bomb that kills a thousand people or so. This war is costing billions and for what? Chasing after a ghost? It's none of our business how they choose to live their lives. It's THEIR lives. What makes us think we're so much better? We have just as much poverty and despair in this country as they do!

7. BAN body scans at our airports. Here's a solution. Build an explosion-proof container the size of a public phone booth. Have everyone step into that. It will detect bombs and immediately detonate them, blowing up the person the bomb is on and not harm the booth. Problem solved. And money saved!

8. Build a moat along the border of the U.S. and Mexico. Fill the moat with alligators from Florida. Take the dirt from the moat and use it to rebuild the levees in New Orleans. Problem solved! Money saved.

9. STOP telling us how to feed our children and raise them. Millions of dollars are spent on research into obesity and what's causing it along with other asanine research that only serves to help ease the boredom of a research team. Here's a clue: Lack of exercise! Get those kids outside playing sports and out from in front of their computers and TV's. And it won't be solved by cutting costs on Phys-Ed classes in our public schools.

10. Last and not least. STOP intruding into my privacy. This is America, land of the free, home of the brave...and I resent you tapping into my internet and into my phone and anywhere else you feel the need. Use the money you use for technology like that to build more factories and get Americans back to work! Then, and only then, will this economy improve.

Christmas PC

To No One in particular:

I'm so fed up with the PC crap surrounding Christmas. There are people who get offended by the word. Why? It's just a word. If you offended by a word, then you're the one with issues, not the person saying it. When a person says "Merry Christmas", they're wishing you goodwill. What they're NOT saying is "F*** You" or "Go to Hell". THEN you would have every right to get offended. A wish of Merry Christmas is another way of saying "I like you and am wishing you a good day". Is there anything wrong with that? Of course there isn't. If someone came up to me and wished me a Happy Hanukkah, am I going to fly off the handle and start ranting about how offended I am because I'm not Jewish? No, I am not. I am simply going to say, "Thank you. And the same to you."
Are you really that offended by my Christmas tree? Maybe I'm offended because you're not respecting MY belief. You go on and on about how your belief should be respected. Guess what? Start respecting MY belief and I'll start respecting yours. One person complained the other day about the Menorah being too close to the Christmas tree in the lobby of a bank. Really??? Is that all you can find to complain about? Isn't it enough that BOTH religions are being recognized without getting on your high horse about them being next to each other. Live and let live, dig it?
I don't WANT to say Happy Holidays. I want to say Merry Christmas. I want to put up a tree and sing Christmas carols without having someone tell me I'm wrong. I want all of these people who feel picked on to step back and see that what they're claiming WE'RE doing to them, they're doing to US. This is the USA. Freedom of religion. ALL religions, not just the ones you believe in. If you feel like you have the right to hang your Menorah or Kwanzaa, then I have the right to hang my Christmas wreath and put up my Christmas tree.
If I was a vegetarian and went to your house for dinner and you weren't a vegetarian, I would never expect you to not serve meat. It's YOUR home. Just like if you came to my house and you knew I was a vegetarian, then you would know that you're not going to get served meat.
Political Correctness has gone way too far and I'm sick of it. Where are MY rights gone?
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Selling America

My mom used to say, many years ago, "this country is going to hell in a hand bucket". I never really understood what she meant by that but I do now. I'm sure she's turned over in her grave more times than I can count. The government is slowly but surely taking control of everything we have and do; what we eat, how we raise our children, how we choose to worship...etc. When will it end? When they turn us into a communist country?
The airports have gone insane with the security measures they've implemented. Here's a clue for you all: Take a lesson from Israel and Britian, the two top security forces in the world. They don't resort to full body scans and "pat-downs". And they profile! Imagine that! This country is so afraid of offending anyone that they would NEVER profile. But GB and Israel manage to catch their would-be terrorists without resorting to what we've resorted to so they must be doing something right.
The latest story I've just recently read about that's driven me to the brink of insanity is how our country is being sold out from under us. The parking meters in Chicago belong to the Arabs? The Pennsylvania Turnpike has been offered for sale to the Arabs? There are others; the Chicago skyline, a stretch of highway in Florida, parking meters in Nashville, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and other cities, a port in Virginia...for what? Oil? Why is our government (most notably our banks, which, as I'm beginning to see is true, owns our government anyway) selling America piece by piece? But the price of oil and gas keeps going up and up? Meanwhile, these Arab countries are not only getting the money from the sale of fuel but now they're also getting money from parking meters and toll booths all over the country? Are we fools?
A town in Massachusetts has recently tried passing a law that non-citizens will be allowed to vote. Does it not state in the Constitution that only CITIZENS are allowed to vote in our elections? Would we be allowed to vote in their elections if we held a Green card, or whatever they call it in their country? What's wrong with this country? What's wrong with us for allowing this to happen?

My mother was right. We're going to hell in a hand bucket. And I think we've finally hit bottom.

Banning Happy Meals at McDonald's

The government keeps pushing itself farther and farther into our lives. Now San Francisco has decided that Happy Meals aren't healthy enough for our children. Keyword here....OUR children, not yours. It's the parents' responsibility to decide what to feed THEIR children, not yours. Newsflash: That's why they're called HAPPY meals, because they make children happy. Fruit and veggies are not going to make them happy. In fact, do this and start a landslide all over the country and I see McDonald's going out of business in the next few years.
Obesity is not caused by McDonald's. Obesity is caused by lack of exercise. Get the children off their butts and out from in front of their computers and outside riding bikes and throwing a ball, things we did when we were children because computers didn't exist yet.
The government needs to BUTT out of our private lives and worry about important things like the economy and the environment, not that a child is putting a vile French Fry into his/her mouth. THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!
And I would venture a guess that ONE person complained about this to the right (wrong?) person and now, all of a sudden, this is an epidemic. Here's what I say to these complainers. They're not happy unless they're complaining about SOMETHING and I'm sure they spend their days and nights scouring the news and cyberspace trying to find something else to complain about.
This week it's Happy Meals. Next week it may be TV's.

Teen Suicides

What is going on with our children? They're being bullied to the point that they just can't handle it anymore and are taking their own lives. A parent is not meant to bury their child and a bully is not better than anyone else. What gives a bully the right to decide that their clothes are better or their hair is nicer or that they're just an all around nicer person?
Bullies have been around since the beginning of time. They were there when I was a little girl and they were there when my mom was a little girl, and probably around when my grandmother was a little girl. Have they gotten meaner or have our children gotten weaker?
Someone said that children are coddled too much these days and protected from way too many real life problems that will face them every day in adulthood. But is this true? Do we, as parents, fail to teach our children that there are nasty people out there that they will inevitably meet and do we teach them how to handle such people? Or do we sweep it under the rug, telling our children to just ignore the bully and he'll/she'll go away?

In my personal opinion, I think that children have gotten meaner. There is virtually no discipline in the schools nor at home. Teachers are afraid to discipline for fear of the school being sued. Parents are afraid to discipline for fear of being arrested for child abuse. Children are afraid to tell an authority figure about the bullying because they fear the retribution that will only get worse instead of better.
Children have no guidance when they get home to an empty house with both parents working. There's also too many ways nowadays to dole out their abuse. The internet and cell phones are devices that we did not have when we were children. So the bullied child not only faces the abuse and taunting at school but now has to face it on Facebook and MySpace for the whole world to see.
Children should not be afraid to approach a teacher or a principal about the bullying and know that the problem will be dealt with. They should also be able to talk to their parents about the bullying and have the parents help them deal with it.
The sad fact is that both parents need to work today to pay the bills. It's not like when we were young and had one parent, usually our moms, home waiting for us when we got home from school.
The family as we remember it ceases to exist for the most part. Children are left alone for too long. They sit in front of their computers and socialize on the computer when they should be socializing in person, throwing a ball, riding a bike, laughing out loud with friends.
Suicide is not the answer. A friend said once, it's a permanent solution to a temporary problem. But it will only be a temporary problem if adults step up to protect our children and teach them that it's okay to stand up to a bully and it's okay to tell someone about it. Let them know that there is someone who will help.

If you love your parents and siblings, think of the impact a suicide will have on them if you end your life. They are the ones who will suffer, not the bully who drove you to it. The bully will not feel any remorse and will only transfer his taunts onto his/her next victim. And the bully will win. Think about that the next time you think about pulling that trigger or jumping from that bridge. The ones you love are the ones who are going to suffer, probably for the rest of their lives. And they will also blame themselves.