Kid Scoop
One of my kids managed to get gum stuck in their hair.
And it wasn’t even the four-year-old, which would have kind of make sense. They’re famous for being kinda spacey and not very smart in a worldly sense, so getting gum stuck in their hair isn’t that hard of a thing to imagine. It was the 7-year-old, who, really, should be considered old enough to be able to eat gum without it ending up in his hair, but apparently I overestimated his abilities.
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According to an article on MSNBC’s website, airlines are gearing up to start charging families extra for the “benefit” of being able to sit together. Many airlines are reportedly going to be charging as much as $25 per ticket (each way) for passengers to reserve their seat assignments. So essentially, for a family of 4, it will cost an extra $200 in airline fees for them to all sit together on their flights. And that is assuming they are on a direct flight and not making any connections, in which case that cost could easily double.
I understand that times are tough, and airlines are trying to find as many ways as possible to increase their revenues. But…times are tough for everyone, and families are trying to find as many ways as possible to cut costs. Forcing parents to pay extra to ensure that they are sitting next to their toddler or preschooler is, in my opinion, a totally ridiculous and, honestly, irresponsible move on the part of the airlines.
When I read a story last week, about a 4-year-old girl who called 911 as her brother was choking, I had to laugh (after, of course, finding out that the boy was fine). According to the story, which you can read here, the girl’s grandmother panicked, picked up the boy and ran next door for help. The girl, however, remained cool, calm and collected, and called 911 as she’d been taught to do. In my head, I pictured the grandmother running around in a frenzy, with the little girl rolling her eyes and calling 911 without a moment’s hesitation.
Of course, the reality of the situation isn’t funny at all. I know how stressful those circumstances can be, especially for adults. We see a child in distress and our panic meter goes off the charts, sending any logical thought process out the window. Happily, children have an uncanny ability to remain (mostly) calm and follow the instructions they’ve been given.
But what if you haven’t given your children those instructions? After reading this story, I realized that I had been neglecting this very topic with my own kids.
A Colorado Springs second grader was asked to leave class last week because several faculty and staff members were uncomfortable with his use of “black face” in his portrayal of Martin Luther King, Jr. for a school project. You can read the story on Gawker here. For those of you who are unaware, black face was a makeup gimmick used by white actors in minstrel shows for the sole purpose of making fun of black people. In today’s age, it is largely viewed as inappropriate, disrespectful, politically incorrect, and in certain instances, highly racist.
I don’t believe for a moment that Sean King, the child who was asked to remove his black face makeup, was trying to be disrespectful or racist. I’d like to imagine that he was simply making a concerted effort to be the very best Martin Luther King, Jr. that he could possibly be. And in the eyes of an eight-year-old, painting your face so that you look like a certain person or character is an obvious choice. If he were SpongeBob or The Hulk, no one would have batted an eye if he had been painted yellow or green.
The problem here is that SpongeBob and The Hulk aren’t inherently disrespectful and associated with racism, but black face is. So this begs the question, should kids be expected to be politically correct?
When I was originally searching for images for last month’s slideshow, and my original concept of children from around the world, there were so many amazing photos that I found it incredibly hard to choose which ones to use. In the end, I decided to break up the posts between boys and girls, which would allow me to share even more amazing images of kids.
Last month I shared twenty amazing images of girls from around the world. This month, we’re going to give the stage to the boys. As the mother of three boys, I have to admit that I have a soft spot for the little buggers, even with all the rough housing, dirt and general mischief that comes along with them.
Turns out, boys the world over are pretty much just like boys from the good ole’ USofA. I’m not surprised by that, are you?
You can see the full slideshow below.
As a mother, my ultimate goal is to raise my children to be healthy, intelligent adults. My other goal is to make sure that they grow up with a sense of compassion and an understanding about what is right and what is wrong. I want them to know that they aren’t any better than anyone else. I want them to know that everyone deserves to be treated equally. Hate, racism, prejudice and bigotry should have no place in their lives.
Sometimes I see other kids do something so awesome that I want to show my kids and exclaim “THIS! THIS is how we should think, and feel, and act!” We oftentimes don’t give kids enough credit when it comes to social responsibility, but every so often, a child does something that makes me think they deserve an award. And an ice cream sundae with all of their favorite toppings. And perhaps a ticker tape parade in their honor.
Josef Miles is one of those kids.
When I wrote about our Mother’s Day plans a few weeks ago, I wasn’t entirely sure how awesome our MLB outing would be. I mean, I like baseball a lot, and it’s especially fun to watch now that the older boys are into it and understand what’s going on, and I knew that a professional game would be fun, but I wasn’t entirely sure how well it would turn out. Would three 4-year-olds be able to sit and watch an entire baseball game without completely losing their minds? Or end up driving us crazy?
Turns out I had nothing to worry about. Everyone enjoyed the game, and the three moms that went ended up having a lovely Mother’s Day. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I’m trying to figure out when we can do it again.
Thankfully, I was able to get over my guilt about leaving the baby home, because in the end it was the best decision. He got to have fun playing at Grandma’s house, and I got to enjoy the game and relax, instead of having to try to occupy him for three hours. It was a win/win decision, for sure.
I thought I’d share with you a few of the highlights from our day, you can check them out below. And then tell me, have you ever had a Mother’s Day turn out to be unexpectedly awesome?
Kacy Faulconer 
Marinka 
DadCAMP 
Jen at PIWTPITT 
Mandy Cheney 
Stacie Haight Connerty 
Devan McGuinness 
Lori Garcia 
Meghan Gesswein 
Amber Doty 
Casey Mullins 
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