Yet another interesting article

http://health.yahoo.com/featured/100/spanking-and-kids-aggression-3-alternatives-to-spanking-that-work-for-parents-and-kids/

Interesting Article

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100412/hl_time/08599198101900

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Miranda Goodwin
205-792-7035

http://totsy.com/join/mrsmgoodwin

Baby on Board

Pro-life/Pro-choice opinions aside, my question of the day is what compels some women to want to get pregnant when they know they are not in a situation to support a child?

I have known women to get pregnant because somewhere in their brain they felt that a baby would help them "hold on to a man". Believe me it backfired in their face. Children should not be used as leverage. Young women do not fully comprehend the enormous pressures and responsibility that a child puts on your life.

Teenage girls think that having a baby will complete a void in their lives, they see motherhood as a glorified "babysitting job". Well listen up, babies are not baby dolls! You can't just throw them in the corner when you're tired of playing with them.

I am in full support of a total revamping of our state sex-ed system. Young men and women both need to learn more about contraception and safe sex practices rather than preaching abstinence. Don't get me wrong, I'm not "preaching" pro or con, but education needs to be comprehensive and not one sided. Have you ever MET a teenager?! All they think about is how much, how fast, and when they can have sex - abstinence is not going to sink in to all their brains, even though it may be effective for some. Arm our youth with knowledge and the ability to make informed decisions.

Children are a blessing, but all too often they are brought into environments that they don't choose, and end up being neglected, abused, or abandoned. They don't have the choice - but their parents do.

The Golden Rule

I sit here staring at the screen wondering how I should start the topic. I'm tired of being delicate about the subject. I was raised that ALL people are the same regardless of sex, race, socioeconomic status, what-have-you. But as I grew older the "hush hush" of society's rules taught me otherwise, or rather showed me that I was taught one thing but should act another way. Well, I guess that's not really a good description - not "act" another way, but "feel" another way. I started seeing the lines drawn in the sand - some were washed away by the tide while others remained.

How can we make strides when parents literally breed hatred in their children. The change has to happen in the beginning. We are taught as young children to be polite, to say thank you, to be kind to others and to share. What happens when we grow up? We learn that to make it in this world we have to be cut throat, or watch out for ourselves. What happens to that "golden rule"?

I truly believe that the newer generations have less moral values. Somewhere, somehow, values & morals were pushed aside. We have become a generation of self-preservation, self-gratification, and "easy way out" antics. There is no pride in possessions. What happened? We can blame our problems on a bad economy, political differences, television, or whatever, but it is OUR fault for failing our children. No one wants to own up to their problems anymore. I am not perfect, and I've never met anyone that was...

There's a problem, now what's the solution?

EW's Top 10 Fiction of 2009

1. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders Daniyal Mueenuddin
2. The Help Kathryn Stockett
3. This Is Where I Leave You Jonathan Tropper
4. Let the Great World Spin Colum McCann
5. Blame Michelle Huneven
6. Asterios Polyp David Mazzucchelli
7. Too Much Happiness Alice Munro
8. Sing Them Home Stephanie Kallos
9. A Monster's Notes Laurie Sheck
10. Await Your Reply Dan Chaon

I read #2, and I have to say it was a wonderful story. I love the way it catapults you into the social tensions and harsh realities of the role of women during the early civil rights movements.

Honesty is the best policy

If you need tough love, I will give it to you. I am not helping you by lying to you or sugarcoating things. I will not be rude, but I will be honest. Life is too complicated to add deceit in the mix. Trust is earned, and if you lie to me then I cannot trust you.

So many people ask me about relationship advice. 9 times out of 10, their problems can be solved with communication, and by that I mean open communication which includes being honest. Just because you've done something or said something hurtful does not mean that the other person will not forgive you, but just because they forgive does not mean they'll forget.

I really can't stand it when a person keeps taking a boyfriend/girlfriend back time and time again, when they do the same thing over and over and over. Really?! And you wonder why you are miserable? Don't get me wrong I believe in second chances under certain circumstances but that person has to PROVE that they are willing to seriously work at changing and making things right. YES, THEY HAVE TO PROVE IT. They are the ones that did something wrong, not me.

I know many people in violent relationship, women married to alcoholics, men and women whose spouses are unfaithful, and they keep falling back into those same patterns. BUT, most of them knew that the person was like that BEFORE they entered into the relationship. SORRY, but you aren't going to magically change someone overnight.

Use your head & your heart. Everyone deserves love but relationships are not romance novels or Disney movies, they take work, sacrifice, honesty, and compromise.

Live, Laugh, and LOVE!

State of the Union

I have always loved reading, maybe it stems from my grandfather reading the newspaper to me every day since before I could walk or talk, but children need exposure to literature and reading at a young age. In today's world we are too busy with work and other mundane tasks that we forget how important a little "quality time" is with our children. No, I do not define quality time as sitting in front of the TV watching "Lost" or whatever show is on at 7:00 that night.

I admit, being a product of Generation X that technology has tainted my ability to spell :( Yes, I'm a spell check junkie, but at least I can form a cohesive and coherent sentence. There is a problem when slang and "e-speak" is taking over our society's ability to seek a higher level of understanding basic principles of language.

If I hear one more person say "I be going" or see one more teenager graduate high school without being able to read on a 3rd grade level, I think my head will explode. It is our job as teachers, as parents, as concerned family members to help. Take the drugs and guns away and replace them with pens, paper, and books. Learn how to read, not how to kill. Is there any hope for our future?

I hate Walmart!

Some idiot left this behind my car with a dead battery!