I feel like a bear, waking up from a long winter’s nap.† The air is glorious; the breeze coming in my window makes me smile; blooms ah the blooms, everything is blooming; birds are chirping; bees and wasps are waking up and buzzing; Spring has Officially SPRUNG.
I finally got the leaves picked up Saturday.† 2 guys were hired and I happily paid them.† How many bags of leaves you ask?† 56!!!!!!!† And Karisma, I had to put them in bags…my trash container filled up after ONE BAG.† There is no burning of leaves here, and the wind would have whipped them around worse than Willow’s hair. <if you have preteen girls you will understand that reference ;)>
Chan spent the night with us for 3 nights and the girls had a blast.† They explored the creek and did some experiments.† As they walked off with their buckets and tools I called out, “Remember the Barrens and don’t flood the town”.† They looked at me like I was crazy until I explained.† They have both seen “It“.† One of my favorite books EVER.† They also spent hours playing Forbidden Island.† I has seen this game on someone’s blog…Helena??, bought it because it had rave reviews and just got it from Amazon.† There was much talk about helicopters, divers, messengers, sinking islands and endangered somethings and saving the day and giggling.
We also bought some seeds to try to get some flowers started.† I never have much luck with seeds but we will see.
Kei started a new book “Little Blog on the Prairie“ She is actually liking it!† She also got “To Kill a Mockingbird” from the library along with the audio.
I am reading another book I ordered for Kei.† “The Mother Daughter Book Club“.† It came recommended by Theresa. [waves]† I decided to read it yesterday just to see if I thought Kei will like it.† Which I know she will.
But it has inspired a rant.
::steps up on soapbox::
Why is it that EVERY book for tweens or teens, every TV show geared toward that age, every movie has bullying in it?† Why does Amazon have 4,460 hits in books when I type in the word “bullying”?† Why are there millions of web sites dedicated to this? Go to Youtube and type in “bullying”….over 30,000 hits.
I am so thankful that I don’t have to ‘live’ in a world where Kei is bullied.† And yes, she has gotten her feelings hurt in the past…that is going to happen no matter what.† But living day to day, knowing that people were going to be hurtful and mean and spiteful and nasty?† That is NOT her world.† But it is millions of kids world, and that breaks my heart.† I try to think back, wayyyy back to when I was a kid.† I remember I was NEVER one of the mean kids, I hated seeing anyone being picked on.† Bullying wasn’t as prevalent or as downright MEAN as it is now.† What’s up with that?† What has happened to make this such a serious issue?† Is it the Internet? TV? Movies?† something in the water? What?
I have heard people say, “But what about bullying? How will you child learn to deal with bullying if you homeschool”?
SERIOUSLY?????† SERIOUSLY?† This is a skill you need why?† I don’t know about you, but I am not around bullies.† If I have someone toxic in my life, I avoid them at all cost.† We do talk about her standing up for herself, and for others.
One of my favorite parts of her <and she has tons of “favorite parts of mine” in case you haven’t noticed ;)> is that she hates injustice in any form.† Always has.† She stands up for what she believes in.† Which isn’t always the ‘norm’ it this part of the South.† She doesn’t care.† She has a passion for all things fair and equal and believes people should be who they are and love who they want and be able to do it without being judged.† And yes…she gets those beliefs from me.† Doesn’t all children up to a certain age? Until they start thinking for themselves and having their own opinions. † But I know she will always have these beliefs.
One of her favorite shows is “What Would You Do?”† She watches it religiously and even tapes it.† She will scream and yell at the television.† She is such a ’causes’ girl.† If this was the 60’s she would probably be burning her bra. 😉
But back to bullying…all the TV shows, all the books, all the movies..while they don’t say “this is a good thing” and in fact usually the ‘mean girls’ get their comeuppance in the end.† But that isn’t the point.† They are ALWAYS there…like it is just a given.† The message is: If you live in the world and are between a certain age, you are going to have to face or deal with bullies.† There is something horribly wrong with society when it is just a given that you will be treated like crap and made cry and get pushed around.
I have no answers, only outrage; no solutions, only sadness.† But I do know this:
Bullying should never be a given.† Period.
ìNever be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.î ~ Harvey S. Firestone
Theresa, I don’t think that the bullying in the book was over the top. I am loving it and will let Kei read it. Kei and I have been talking a lot about bullying and this book just made me want to comment on bullying in general. I think Kei SHOULD read things like this. Absolutely. It opens dialogue. yes she is HSed now, but who knows what the future has in store. I want her to know that this behavior is NEVER acceptable and what to do if it does happen to her or her friends. Hugs T 🙂
I just wanted to say that I get sensitive because my daughter was bullied, not only in first grade but there were the “Popular girls” in fourth grade as well.
I give authors credit for opening dialogue about bullying. As much as we wish it didn’t exist, it is a reality for a lot of kids as can be evidenced by the news. Not only are these books cathartic, but they get people talking, they call attention to something and hopefully something will come of this.
A was bullied in school in first grade by a little girl from an extremely dysfunctional home. It’s not the only reason why we pulled her out, but it is one of them. She finds books like Mother Daughter Book Club cathartic and it reinforces that she is not the only one to have felt that way or dealt with those things. I didn’t feel as though Mother-Daughter Book Club celebrated bullying or taught girls how to bully, I felt it showed that girls from different backgrounds could come together and discuss things. And, I thought, it made girls who have been bullied realize that they are not alone.
Bullying is a really big issue in our school system. I don’t know why it is so much worse now than when we were kids, but I have some ideas as to why. I don’t really know what to do about it. Our school has an anti-bully policy, but when I (and other parents) went to the principal many times, she always told us that it was our word against the bully’s word and since she was not there to witness it, there was nothing that she could do about it.
I am just really sensitive to this after what A went through when she was 6 & 7.
I just had to add that I watched our local news and there is a 13 year old hearing impaired girl, a beautiful girl, who is missing. The thinking is now that she ran away to escape the bullying she has been facing in school. This is one of the more reputable districts in our area and just reinforces that bullying can happen anywhere to anyone. I hope and pray she is found safe and out of harm’s way as soon as possible. Shame on us all for not protecting our children better. I watched a doctor from a local hospital who apparently works with children running role playing exercises and I became so angry. His brilliant solution is to tell a teacher/parent. He admitted that the kids say this does not work. But he countered, yes it does in some cases. Really? Is that all we have to offer our children? Is that the best we can do for them? I am so grateful that Grace will not experience middle school in a public school.
Karen, we are now on a mission to get Forbidden Islandóit looks awesome! And it wasn’t me who recommended it, but we have been playing a lot of Gamewright games, so maybe we led you there, somehow? I’d like to think I was in any way responsible for the awesome in your life 🙂
Bullyingóugh. My kids rarely have to deal with it, but when they’ve seen it, they’ve been amazed, and disappointed. Unfortunately the biggest bully my kids have ever encountered was a teacher. In fact, the most disrespect my kids have seen is by adults towards kids. We have had LONG talks about that. My kids have seen me defend them a couple of times in the face of unthinking, disrespectful adults (bullying teacher included), and I hope this has taught them that you can stand up against injustice. I hope my strength (when I’ve found it), gives them strength in the future. I feel like it will.
Thank you for your words, Karen. Your passion, thoughts, and values are inspiring. I feel lucky to know you!
BTW, you DO have solutionsóyour solutions are words, love, tolerance, respect. With these you influence others, you make a difference. All solutions start from a single moment, a person, a shift in perspective. So, thank you for all these things too!
Ok, OK I forgive you! Actually I forgave you days ago. LOL I am happy to see you are planting some seeds. I also never had much luck but we have a great lot of seedlings growing happily now. (I think the trick is to keep the soil damp ALL the time! LOL)
I think Bullying has become the norm in most areas, hence the reason people seem to think its normal to behave that way. I have observed the behaviors of adults around our area and its no wonder the kids behave that way. Absolutely no concern for others etc. Sad but true. I have had people say to me that my kids would not cope in the real world but I have watched Zak’s re-action to such kids and situations and he was fine. He is pretty tolerant but will tell them what for if they get too bossy. As for learning to cope in these situations I think they see enough of them on TV to not have to worry on that count.
Well, my man is wanting a cup of tea, so I am off to start the day! Love and Light to you beautiful lady! I hope today is better for you. Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox
Jess, we haven’t read the Penderwicks yet. I love the Mother Daughter Book Club and I want to read them all to Kei but it just made me think. I had already talked about this with Kei when she was watching Disney something or the other. Why does it always have to be mean girls? Crazy…
#1 – I am seeing if I can download Little Blog on the Prarie for my Nook today! Looks fabulous!!!
#2 – I am totally with you on bullying. I read the book after I read how much Theresa liked it. I did like it, very much. But I felt the same as you. I want my girls to read about strong female characters who discover great things OUT of school. So many plots center on the mean girl clique theme that it turns me off to the book. Did you read Surviving the Penderwicks yet? You must. I would love to find more books like that for me and my girls to read……