Innocence Lost

There was once a man who was loved by many. He said to the people "Follow me and I will make you do what is right, I will save you. Not one soul shall be lost. The glory will be mine." There was another man, also loved by many who said "Follow me. I will not make you do what is right. I will let you chose good or evil. Some will be lost, but I will save you through my sacrifice. The glory will be to our father, our creator." Many people wanted to be forced to do what was right, still more wanted their agency. There was a war.
The first man and his followers were cast out. He tries now to take away our agency. Always he contrives with his whisperings, his cunning words and his lies. He tells us what we want to hear as he leads us down the path to bondage.
This man's name is Satan, Lucifer, the Devil.

Today I listened to the president of my country, the very country that was founded on the sacrifice and blood of so many for liberty, for freedom, for AGENCY. I heard his cunning words and lies as he tries to lead our people into bondage. Physical bondage, financial bondage, social bondage.

I snapped of the radio and told my children the unhappy truth. I told my children solemnly, gravely that the president of our country is a wicked man. I told them that he is taking away our agency, that he is full of lies and deceit.
I warned them to be on their guard.
I will fight for their agency just as I did once before.

The misfortune of the non-Irish

I am not Irish and I am not a fan of celebrating St. Patrick's day. I am not Catholic so the whole clover and the Holy Trinity thing doesn't inspire me and I don't drink so St. Patrick's Day doesn't really do anything for me. Really it is an excuse for bawdy behavior, pinching people, coloring a certain body of water and drinking.

But what I really dislike is the imposition it is on my wardrobe choices. I like green, it is currently my favorite color. I don't like wearing it on a certain day for a holiday I don't observe. So, there I am in my closet deciding whether or not to wear green.

I will be seeing many people today so if I wear a green sweater I am like a billboard saying "I celebrate cheesy holidays, come over to my house and see my stuffed animal collection dressed like leprechauns." If I don't wear green I risk being pinched all day long by my children and there is the possibility of annoying conversations with others.
"Where is your green?"
"I don't do St. Patrick's Day."
"Why?"
You see? Awkward.

But there I was in my closet and my green turtleneck looked so warm. Ultimately I chose to go with grey socks that have olive colored toes to foil the children if they start feeling pinchy. I feel like I spent way too much time thinking about green this morning.

Then when I dressed Nutmeg I made sure her tights had some green in them to protect her from pinching as well.

Thanks to the Irish for annoying me today. May they all have really bad hangovers tomorrow.

Bonus Brian Appreciation Day

I appreciate that when I call you, sobbing, from the car at an arcade birthday party where I am the only mom there and one of the dads has made me cry because I was trying to smooth out our childrens' relationship, and I feel like a tiny, short, idiot, that your first thought is "How can I fix it?"

What To Do About Bullies

I felt impressed to share this on my blog, I didn't want to but I hope that there is a reason I write this.
My kid has his very own bully.
I don't know if he technically qualifies as a bully, but there is a kid that picks on him, calls him names and is physical with him. Commander C doesn't want to go to church/scouts if this kid is going to be there. (Can I just say, I am so glad I homeschool. If Commander C was in public school they would be in the same school with the bully 1 grade ahead. Classic.)
I don't fear for my son's safety just yet, but I know this child's family, when he grows up he is going to be a big kid, we are talking star of the varsity football team, my kids are not going to be big - runty is more like(I am not being mean it is just the hard truth) So I think it is best to nip this thing in the bud while they are both puny kids.

Once I learned about "Bully" I went to the trusty Internet for help. I was blown away, all this blabber for years about how serious bullying is and there was no practical help at all. The most common was "Check with your school about their anti-bullying program." Thanks - that really sounds like it will protect my son. Apparently, talking to the bully's parents can work wonders or make things worse. Depends on the kid. My friend says that she tells her son to "punch the little blighters in the nose." While practical, I don't know that it is applicable to our situation yet.

The fact that this is a church bully makes it stink worse. This is the place where people are supposed to be nice to the fat kids, kids with glasses, lisps and every other target. How do you try to convince your kid that the people at church are nice, if they aren't.

How do adults handle bullies? For the most part we don't put ourselves in situations where we have bullies. If someone is mean to us we just steer clear of that person. Kids don't have that option. Generally, if you are an adult dragging your family to 9:00 am sacrament meeting, arriving at 8:30 just to find a seat and them spending 3 hours at church, chances are you want to be there and have made the choice to be nice to other people. I don't have church bullies.

I had found out about this situation by likening the scriptures. I was pulling an Alma to his son Corianton - Commander C. has been having some severe attitude problems and we had decided it was time to call him to repentance. As I was wrestling with this bully business I wondered what the scriptures would say about this. I thought about Nephi and his brothers Not sure that is really bullying and while confounding and shocking the bully with the power of God would probably be effective, I don't think that is going to happen either.

And so, what to do?
Well, I am grateful for the blessing of personal revelation on this one. The thought came to me that we should pray for him. Pray for "Bully" that he will realize the way he is behaving is not right. I know he has been taught this, what he needs is to recognize what he is doing. I suggested to Commander C that we pray for "Bully." He agreed readily. I am praying for Commander C as well that he can bear it and learn from this situation.

And then this morning, to illustrate the point in 2 Nephi 32: 3 "Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. " I remembered this scripture perfect for dealing with bullies " Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." Luke 6:28

Tender mercies. While I may or may not have a talk with "Bully's" parents I will continue to pray for him, and be grateful for the scriptures and personal revelation

Defining Grade School Memories

When I think back on my school days at good old F.M.E. (Fair-Mont-Egan School K-8) there are some memories that I always remember about certain events and people.

1st grade - Luke Kenall's 7 older brothers daring me to kiss Luke and I chased him around the school and did.
Also concerning Luke, he was a great artist and I gave up thinking I was good at art because I didn't draw like he did. I regret that.

Second grade - There was a question "What is the longest river in the world?" It was a contest to see who could guess it and then you won. Well I kept writing "Mississippi" over and over again - I kept thinking it was wrong because I was misspelling it. The correct answer is" The Nile."

Timmy Erfle fell off the slide at recess one winter. Every year after that the slide was closed in the winter. Also when Timmy came back to school he wore glasses - totally unrelated I assume but I still threaten my kids with that story when they are on good old fashioned dangerous playground equipment.
3rd grade - I was standing near a chart with each student's name written on it. Suddenly the etymology of Sommer Whitehead's last name hit me and I said aloud "Whitehead - it's like a white head." Sommer was right next to me and did not find it interesting at all - I think she thought I was being mean. I have always been really embarassed about that.

First day of 4th grade- Mr. Benke, the new principle, tells us that our favorite teacher Mrs. Javorka has been fired. I, at the tender age of 8 realize that this was a poor choice of words and it was not very diplomatic of him to say "fired." He should have said she "Will not be teaching here anymore," or the more likely scenario "She decided to stay home and take care of her new baby." Since those fateful introductory words there was a seed of contempt for Mr. Benke (who also liked to drink orange juice and eat tootsie rolls together as a child) planted deep in my heart.

One year we got together and raised money to save and acre of the rainforest by buying it. I wonder about that acre, where is it, can we go hang out there? Is it still "safe." Was it all a scam to wheedle money out of middle school kids?

In the locker room in 6th or 7th grade and Allison Quigley had a long scar or scab on her shin and we learned she had gotten it while shaving - that still makes me weak.

The time Kurt and Sabin collided while playing foot ball and soemone's braces went through their lip and the other guy's cheek.

And the penultimate defining moment of my F.M.E experience was when I was on the basketball team. Both years. Why was I allowed on the basket ball team????
There are many horrible memories from Basketball like the over and back violation - who knew that was even a rule?
I don't recall if I ever scored a point in any game in either season.

So, one game I had a free throw (I could not make a free throw if my child's life depended on it) and Tom Kurdy whose joy in life was to torment and make fun of me shouted from the stands - "Do a granny shot!" I knew I might actually have a better chance of making a basket with a granny shot. So I did it. It was not a point. Everyone asked why I did it. Bad decision.

And while we are on the topic of Tom Kurdy- he was so mean to me; and one blessed Christmas season he and his perfect complexion got a big red zit on the end of his nose.
I was not a cruel kid and I never teased people but I am sure God sent this zit just for me and to give Tom some of his own medicine. So I got people in the class to sing Tommy the Red-Nosed Reindeer to him all the time. Revenge was sweet.