Archive for April, 2007:
Mad Linky Love with a Side of Assvice on Fearless Friday!
First of all, as part of their virtual baby shower extravaganza, I have some some advice (and assvice) for TB, Liz and Christina, three lovely ladies that are expecting babies in the very near future.
First the assvice…
Don’t try to be quiet for the baby. Let them fall asleep in the middle of your household noise so they get used to it.
I heard that little gem so many times but in my experience, it’s nonsense and just depends on the baby. Some can sleep through a hurricane and others will wake at a pin dropping. Time will definitely tell you which kind of sleeper your baby will be. Roll with it!
I Want Something Better
(I’m going to try to keep this from getting too lengthy but if you’re a regular here, you probably know that’s damn near impossible for me so I’ll just apologize in advance for any long-windedness.)
The topic at hand today is Bratz dolls. Well, no. It really isn’t Bratz dolls so much. It’s more about how our society has become so numb to the constant sexualization of girls that it’s hard for some to even recognize it anymore. And it’s about one small thing we can do to stem the proverbial tide.
So what am I carrying on about now? Well, for starters, I was recently vindicated by the American Psychological Association who ALSO sees a problem with society projecting sexuality onto younger and younger girls. While many insist that it’s all in good fun and that people like me are perverts for thinking otherwise, all I can say is “Ha! My instincts were spot on!” Padded bras for six year olds and toddler dolls in thongs and dolls dressed like hookers being marketed to little girls are NOT harmless.
See, the thing is, Bratz dolls are not going to make your daughters become prostitutes. But they are one very visible component of a culture of which the resultant cumulative effect is a loud and clear message that a girl’s worth lies with her sexuality. The dolls, simply put, are just a small part of something much larger; a general but very perceptible shift in how women are regarded in the world at large and it’s starting with our preschool age daughters.
So what do I want? I want something better. I want to change the world from place where a young girl’s worth is in her willingness to shed her clothes or trade basic human dignity for a few minutes of fleeting fame or infamy; a culture where girls don’t seem to mind trading themselves for things that are worthless.
I’m not talking about adults here. Adults can make as many stupid decisions on how to live their lives as they want. I’m talking about children and self-worth and I just can’t figure out where the disconnect is. I can’t find that corner we turned where respecting yourself stopped being as important as flashing for a free Girls Gone Wild hat, or giving a blowjob because it’s just oral sex and it makes you popular; or being “hot” completely displaced being accomplished or intelligent.
When did self-respect become so uncool? I’m not even sure I can effectively articulate what I mean to say here but if one single person considers leaving a comment lecturing me about how I can’t stop progress or the world is the way it is and I should just “educate” my child to be better or whatever, don’t bother. I refuse to accept that.
I’m Just Not in Love with You Anymore
I once had strong feelings for the Duggars and their plus-sized brood of seventeen but sadly, the honeymoon is over.
I still find them utterly fascinating in a “Whoa, this is wild! How the hell do they stay sane?” kind of way but…there’s someone else.
I’m sorry, Jim Bob and Michelle and your seventeen kids. I still like you. I’m just not IN love with you anymore.
But Jon and Kate and their eight kids? Am completely IN LOVE.
Be Careful Who You Let Fertilize Your Eggs
Imagine you had to undergo cancer treatment that would render you infertile.
And imagine that before you started treatment, you went through the beginning stages of in vitro fertilization so you could ultimately create fertilized embryos to be frozen and used after you completed your cancer treatment to get pregnant and have a family.
And then imagine that you ended up splitting with your partner and he decides, because he doesn’t want you to have his child anymore, to destroy those embryos — because the law says he can.
Of Crowns and Cats
It’s been a hell of a week around here and I haven’t had time to do much blogging or reading because I had both kids home on Monday and again on Friday.
Having two kids isn’t all that hard except when one of them can talk and tell you they’re bored as they scornfully eye your computer. That kind of guilt trip can keep even the most intrepid of bloggers away from their Google readers or Bloglines and posting screens.
And, as if two days of bored children were not enough, I lost a filling and then subsequently cracked a tooth eating Fritos (I know…WTF?) and had to go get a $700 crown. No root canal. No surgery. Just a stupid crown for SEVEN. HUNDRED. DOLLARS. Grrrrr.
But the icing on the cake was when my freakin’ cat disappeared. The one I completely adore beyond all reason…
I know some people don’t like cats but this cat would be the one to make you cross over. He’s so lovable and puts up with my children and has never once tried to scratch or bite them though they bother him constantly.
He’s just the sweetest, mellowest, most tolerant feline I’ve ever known and when I didn’t see him for most of the day, I knew something was wrong.
My mind was just all over the place, imagining the worst, and I felt sick to my stomach thinking about what could have happened to him.
So we have these new neighbors across the street and they have a lady behind them that feeds a ton of semi-feral cats. It’s a noble gesture but the end result is a lot of cats and a constant influx of kittens.
Apparently, the new neighbors have three dogs with a bloodlust for kittens and they’ve already killed a few. The owners feared the trend would continue so they started trapping the cats and having Animal Control come get them.
Well, these are not tame cats that we’re talking about so we all know they won’t be adopted. It’s very sad but I also don’t like to think of kittens/cats being killed by those dogs or eaten by the hawks so in a way, being put to sleep seems somewhat more humane.
The day I couldn’t find Bootsy, I had looked everywhere around the outside my house because he generally stays in my yard. My husband suggested I check the neighbor’s cat trap so I went across the street and looked in their backyard and sure as shit, there was my big, fluffy cat sitting in the fricken trap. I let myself in the gate and released him.
I estimated that he was in there for about seven to nine hours and though he looked fine, he reeked of fish. Apparently, they were using some kind of stinky, oily fish like sardines as cat bait, which explains why he went all the way across the street and into their backyard.
I was SO relieved to have found him. That same day, I made an appointment to have both my cats microchipped so if Animal Control ever picked them up, they’d know they belong to someone. Collars with tags are useless. We’ve been through three in the past year alone.
Another neighbor’s pet cat got caught in their trap and because I had had warned her about it, she found her cat right before Animal Control came to take him away.
Naturally she was pissed and wrote a nasty note to them about their half pitbull dog, which I’ve seen running loose at least once and I feared the fallout that would surely result from the note. It just really sucks to be on bad terms with your neighbors.
Just as I knew would happen, the cat trapping neighbor came over asking about the note. I very diplomatically explained that the writer of the note, as well as myself, were a bit upset that our normally non-wandering cats had been lured into their trap by that gnarly fish.
He apologized and said that they would take more care in identifying a cat as tame or feral because a tame one is most likely someone’s pet.
Phew! That made me feel a lot better. I was constantly worried about the damn cat trap and it broke my heart to see those cats in their carport waiting to be taken away.
I have to confess that one day I couldn’t stand it anymore and I considered going over there and letting this cat out of the trap but by the time I got P dressed and in his stroller, Animal Control had already come and taken it away!
Ai! Such drama… It’s a regular animal planet around here. The other day, in the middle of the afternoon, I saw a possum come from my neighbors yard, cross the street and disappear up a tree. The day before that, a small black racer snake was by my front door.
I also tried to snap a picture of these lizards about to uh…make baby lizards, but apparently they’re camera shy and I totally ruined the moment for them with my gawking.
You can see pictures and read more about our wild ‘hood in the city here.
