He’s just being a boy!

Son, put the gun down and step away very slowly!

Uh! Scared you, didn’t I? No, my son is not a serial killer. No, he doesn’t have a violent behavior problem. But he does have an interest in guns. Is this an indicator that he will one day have a violent behavior problem? Or is it an indicator that he could be one of those kids who go to school with the intention to murder someone else? No! What this means is my son is a boy!

I recently listened to a podcast about America’s school system today and the zero tolerance policy in place. I wish I could remember which podcast it was but my memory fails me at the moment. What I do remember about it, though, is the valid points it had about the zero tolerance policy and how it is affecting our boys. The example in the podcast was about a teacher asking his students to write a story about something, anything, of interest to them.  One of the students, a young boy, wrote about a terrible tornado which came through his town and leveled his family home, killing all of his family. This young boy was immediately sent for an evaluation due to the violent nature of the story. Why? Did the story indicate this boy was prone to violence? No!

Why are we, Americans, not allowing our boys to be boys anymore? The school system is geared more toward graduating successful females instead of males. We want our little boys to sit still and imagine peaceful, pretty stories. We want our little boys to act like little girls. We are setting them up for failure from the beginning. Boys are more aggressive than girls by nature. It’s that little thing called testosterone!

Perhaps I’ll home school my son.

A John Deere Piñata and A Baseball Bat

My son recently turned two years old and what a wonderful birthday party we had for him! It was green from inside out and outside in. Oh, but not just any ol’ green. This was John Deere green! Yep – as in the tractor, John Deere green! It was not as difficult as I had imagined to find such unusual toddler birthday supplies. In fact, I found an extensive collection online at birthdayexpress.com. The most surprising find was a John Deere piñata. That’s right — a John Deere piñata!

To be honest, this was my first birthday with a piñata as well. A baseball bat was used as a last minute, quick thinking tool for swinging at the piñata. It was a hit (pun intended)! All the kids were very excited and eager to take a swing. The adults formed a circle of safety around the swinger for obvious reasons. The smallest children were allowed to take a swing first and as predicted, the piñata broke open with the first hit from one of the older children. Candy littered the floor followed by children’s eager fingers.

I’ve decided this will be a birthday tradition from now on. “Pin the Tale on the Donkey” is old school! We’re going for the big stuff from now on! I just wonder what kind of piñata I’ll be trying to track down next year!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my little miracle, my son! Love Mommy!!!!!

Hot Potato, Cold Spaghetti, Mashed Bananna

If you have ever heard the Hot Potato song by the Wiggles, you surely have never hummed another song. I cannot get this song out of my head. I’ve tried. I’ve listened to other music. I’ve tried singing country music. I’ve tried nursery rhymes. My brain refuses to acknowledge any other tune except “Hot Potato, Hot Potato!” Therefore, I am giving in and letting go. I’m going to sing this song as many times as I possible can for the remainder of the day. I’m using the same strategy as my grandmother used on my uncle when he caught him smoking. She made him smoke until he was sick. He is not a smoker and never has been since that day. I am hoping that I will make my brain “sick” of this song.

Do you think it will work? How do you get those annoying tunes out of your head?