When is scary too much?

My daughter and I were walking with a group of friends on Halloween around the hood. We somehow ended up on the other side of our subdivision (I think that somehow was the kids following the blinking lights from one shiny house to another with out slowing enough for us to catch or stop them).

As we were walking across one street, I heard this crazy noise. It sounded like metal being drug behind a car. Like, maybe a piece of a car was dragging. It got louder and louder.

Then, I saw him.

There was some guy dressed up as what had to be the best/scariest Michael Myers ever outside of a movie house. The man looked scary. To me. A grown woman who likes vampires and used to be goth. He was scary. Anyway, he was dragging a shovel behind him. He walked down the road, not the sidewalk, dragging it, looking straight ahead, like he didn't even notice the people going by. Then, when he got close enough to a group, he would suddenly jump and scream at them. I am telling you that man was freaky.

When he did that to our group, one of the moms jumped about 3 feet backwards and nearly peed on herself. Three of the girls started crying. One got over it. One had to stay with her dad after that. One couldn't stop crying. Scary. He jumped at another group and a little girl literally threw her bucket of candy at him and ran. (As an aside, I was proud of her. If this had been a horror movie, she would have made it because she actually did the right thing!) She didn't get far before an adult made her stop. The man in the mask did take it off, and go over and help her pick it all up. He waited until he got a little further away before from that girl before he put the shovel back down, and started all over again.

As my daughter and I walked toward our house, I heard people start screaming behind us, before I heard the shovel. She heard it and took off. She wanted to get home before he could get near us again. Now, She knew he was fake. She knew it was a man. I think she enjoyed the drama more than she was really scared when she ran home.

In hindsight, some of what was transpiring around him was funny. The mom that nearly peed on herself. That was funny. The little girl who threw her candy, could have been funny, if she hadn't been so scared. Though, she probably would laugh if anyone had caught that on camera and they had won 10,000, but I digress.

The thing is, he was genuinely scaring people. Is that wrong, though? Isn't that what Halloween is about? At what point in time do you cross the line from being an enthusiast to an asshole?

I'm not sure if this guy crossed the line. I think he walked it. If he hadn't helped the little girl pick up her candy, he would have been way over it. Provided there are no nightmares, for me or my daughter, that arise from his escapade, I will forgive him.

I think this may be one of those things that live with her, in a good, memorable way. I hope she never forgets what an exciting night she spent with friends, getting candy, running, screaming like crazy and running from a madman in a mask, with a shovel. I hope that in years to come, she tells her own kids the story, and that they won't get nightmares from it either.

Dr. Seuss' Political Side

Did anyone else know that Dr Seuss wrote very political children's books?

I just finished reading The Butter Battle Book to my oldest. Silly me, I just assumed that if it was Dr Seuss, I didn't need to pre-read it. We took it home before I ever opened the cover. Low and behold, we get into it, and boom; big political themes that are far too complicated for a children's book.

This one seems to be all about the cold war, with the book ending in both sides hold a nuclear bomb over their wall, wondering who would drop it first. No happy ending. The book was written in 1984, and the cold war hadn't ended yet. Wow. Talk about a discussion to have right before bed time.

"That wasn't very nice, was it, Lilly?"

"No, that was mean. They want to blow each other up."

At least we can discuss it, but still, I need to learn my lesson for sure this time, and always check everything we bring home.

I have to ban myself.

I have to officially ban myself from any political discussions for at least the next 6 days. That number may be extended depending on the results of the election. I just can't take it anymore. Any thing that starts as a discussion, seems to be ending as a "discussion" around me.

I nearly got into it with my daughter's Girl Scout Troupe leader today. That wouldn't be smart. That womyn could whoop my butt in a heart beat.

This election has taken a huge toll on me, and has completely worn the filter that goes from my brain to my mouth out. I called in to order a replacement, but apparently, this has been such a bad election that they are on back order now. I just can't hold back, and I don't want to offend anyone. Well, I do want to offend lots and lots of people. That seems to be the problem.

So, please, I implore you, don't look at me and try to say Obama, McCain, Palin, Biden. Don't even say Ron Paul or rEVOLution. Don't mouth the words. Don't throw some sort of sneaky Obama or McCain gang signs. No Palin ninja arts moves. Nothing. Really.

And if you do make some sort of Obama Hope sign around me, just remember that I warned you, and you deserve what ever you unleash.

School is not Babysitting

School is not the place where you send your child just to get away from them. It isn't a free baby sitting service. After school activities are not more free sitting services.

Do not drop Jr off and then run to your me time. Stay there. Wait at school with them every now and then until the bell rings. You might just learn something.

Take some time. Get involved. Be a part of making your child's educational experience a great one both at home and at school. Care about your child and their future. Care about the future of every child at that school. Be a parent.

I wish more parents would take me up on this.

Thanks to all of those parents that do care and are involved. You should be proud of yourselves.


That is all. You may now go on your way.

The Tragic Tale of a Cupcake

That's right. This is tragic. Anytime a good looking sweet goes to waste, or meets a terrible demise, it must be called a tragedy.

Yesterday, we went to the store, and then stop at a gas station. Next to us an older lady pulls up. She goes to the kiosk to show her id, and then starts pumping gas. While pumping gas, apparently, she looses her glasses. I know this because instead of walking back over to the kiosk, she starts yelling to the attendant so that she, and everyone else near by, can hear that she has lost her glasses, and can check to see if anyone at all sees them. The person she was with found them in the car. So, all was fine.

Until, that is, we all started to leave. She pulled out just before us. As soon as we got behind her, I saw it. A cupcake. Sitting on the roof of her car. Just hanging out. All by it's lonesome. We had to stop at a light and I thought about getting out to let her know there was a cupcake on top of her car, but unfortunately, the light changed too quickly.

I was rather impressed by the cupcake. I held on through the intersection, and even when she pulled on the the on ramp to the freeway. Alas, once she actually started to accelerate, I knew what was going to happen. Sure enough, the sweet delight fell from its perch, and crashed onto the street. It was obliterated. There was cupcake carnage everywhere. We may even have some of its remnants in our tire tread.

Ahh, the poor lady will probably never know what befell her cupcake. Unlike the glasses that she lost immediately upon putting down, there won't be anyone there to find the cupcake for her. I wonder how long she will search for it. Bless her heart.

Let this tale be a warning to you. Don't ever be the cupcake lady. Every time you leave a party, be sure that you have everything you are supposed to, your glasses, cupcakes, children, and what have you all inside the car where they are safe and secure.


The cupcake is on the left side of the Volvo.


I tried to snap a picture of the carnage as well, but couldn't get it fast enough. I'm sure you can picture it, though.

Show some respect!

What do you wear to take your child to school? Clothes right? Real clothes. Not clothes meant to be slept in exclusively, right? Unfortunately, not everyone can honestly agree here.

Wearing pajamas to take your child to school has now become one of my all time pet peeves. If it were once, and you were desperate to get your child to school on time, I might be able to deal. However, when it is an everyday occurrence, one of two things is going on.

1) You have poor time management skills, and are unable to get your self ready to be out the door at an appropriate time.
2)You think your cute wearing your jammies before the world.

Now, If it happens to be one, then you need to work on it. I have. I have always been late to everything, but this is important. So, I plan it out. This isn't to say that we won't ever be late. Quite the contrary. However, with effort, you can be on time. You just have to be willing to make that effort.

If it is two, then we have a problem. It isn't cute. It is disrespectful. You are not at the corner market or even Wal-Mart. This is a school. A place of learning. An institution that is trying to instill in your child all kinds of positive values, including respect, in order for them to grow up to be who we as parents want them to be. The thing is, you can't expect them to learn respect, if you don't show it yourself. Who are you disrespecting? For starters, how about the teachers. To not even be willing to get dressed and put on real clothes before you walk out the door shows that you have no respect for what they do. How about the entire school population? Well, again, children learn by example, and every child there will see disrespect when it is put before them, in one way or another, and take that into their sponge like minds. Finally, and most importantly, how about your own child? you child should take pride in their school work. They should be excited to go, and to come home and tell you all about it. They shouldn't have any parent diminish what they do because the parent can't even be presentable to take them there.

Why do I care? Because I don't want my child to ever think it is ok to disrespect her school in that manner.

So, like I said. Show some respect. Even if you don't have it for yourself, have it for those around you. Tomorrow, get up, put real clothes and shoes on, and then walk your child to school like a normal, respectable person.

If nothing else, at least start sleeping in street clothes so that when you roll out of bed, hit the ground and start walking, we will at least be able to pretend you have some respect going on.

Thanks.

$500 a mile.

That is what the little ambulance ride to the hospital cost us. We just got a bill in the mail from the day my daughter busted her head open. To be specific, the bill is $948.09 and this was for a 2 mile ride. Now, they didn't need anything for my daughter. I had a towel on her head and an ice pack when they got here. So, there weren't any supplies used. Well, the firemen did use a couple of pairs of gloves, but that isn't the ambulance service. With no other supplies or fees, we are talking about a rate of almost $500 a mile! That is insane! I can't believe that is even legal!!

Furthermore, the bill says it is do in full upon receipt. Yeah. That isn't going to happen. It also says that it can try to bill our insurance, but we still have to pay.

I just do not understand this. Why is this $1000 again? Do they use jet fuel in those things??? Is it running on alcohol, and I don't mean pure grain, I mean like Cristal or something?

You think they can put the girl to work to pay this off? She was the one who needed to go, maybe she can wash their dishes until she turns 18 to pay for it.

Seriously. This is nuts. I guess we will be making some phone calls tomorrow to try to figure this out. Great. More dept! Yeah!