A little discussion about some headlines from today's paper...
1) It's Election Day in a few states...New York, New Jersey, Virginia to name a few. If you listen to the polls, it's going to be a strong Republican showing. Not surprisingly, the Republicans are calling this a referendum on Obama...a foreshadowing of things to come in 2010. The Democrats are saying this has more to do with state politics and poorly run campaigns. As usual, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. However, the President's falling approval numbers may be an indicator that his "honeymoon" is over. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. My doctor is a very smart, very informed woman. She is always aware of all of the new, cutting edge health information. Last year, we had a brief political discussion prior to my check up, and she expressed her confidence in Obama. She was ready for a "change". This year, it was her opinion that had "changed". For the first 10 minutes of my appointment, she launched into an in depth discussion about how she was appalled at how the President was "plowing through an agenda that was going to hurt a lot of people." She expressed dismay that he hadn't taken a more measured approach. She was livid that the health care agenda had become so politicized, and she was sure that the 'end game' of helping those who truly need help had been traded in for political gain.
I sat quietly and tried to take it all in. This is not a woman who is concerned with making as much money as she can. This is a doctor who will sit and chat about your health for an hour, and discuss the pros and cons of everything. Her total reversal on things really surprised me.
2) I heard on the news this morning that more and more parents are paying upwards of $100 an hour to hire personal trainers for their children because they are over-weight. I just do not understand this. I mean, I understand having someone teach a child how to workout properly...how to swing a bat...how to score more goals....how to serve correctly.....But please. I think that I, as a parent, can take responsibility for fixing healthy meals, turn off the video games and TV, and send my kids out to play...and throw away the Halloween candy when I notice that they are eating more than a few pieces a day. We have become a country of people who just look for the easy way out. Just pay someone else to take care of the kids. It's ridiculous. And quite frankly, without judgement or malice intended, if you look at the parents who are doing this, you will find in most cases that they are the ones that need the trainers...
3) Ok, on a similar note, you can now buy a GPS system that tracks where your kids are 24/7. As a mother with 4 kids, I can totally understand the feeling of control and comfort that this might instill in a parent. But as the mother of The Senior, let me warn you that there is not GPS anywhere that can keep up with a teenager who does not want to be kept up with. When The Senior was sent to the grocery store, she would indeed go to the store, but there were many stops on the way. My point is, there has to be a trust factor, or all is lost. Having said that, when you, the parent, are the only one abiding by this "trust" rule, steps have to be taken. It's so tempting to become the "helicopter parents" that we keep reading about these days. To micro-manage our kids in order to assure their safety and success. But I am afraid this might backfire...and we might end up with a generation of kids who sit back and wait for mom and dad to take care of everything. The key is always the 'happy medium', isn't it? And who knows where that is? I am determined to try and follow the path of "choice, decisions and consequences" with The Boy and Little One. In other words....you have a choice, you make a decision...and you live with the consequences.
Of course, it is easy to get on my judgemental high-horse when my 2 older ones are beyond all of this....and my 2 younger ones are not yet to the point of no return........Talk to me in about 5 more years....and then have a good laugh at how my opinions have changed....
So that's it for today. It's a beautiful day, much too pretty to sit around worrying about personal trainers and politics.....and until tomorrow, when the overnight Zoo trip is just around the corner....
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