I believe all would agree that supporting breast cancer awareness is a worthy cause, right? No one would argue that raising money for researchers to find a cure isn't noble. But what about the methods used to raise awareness?
If you have an account on Facebook, then more than likely, you've noticed a status message that starts, "I like it..." with various endings such as, "on the floor" or "on the doorknob." A provocative message, to be sure, however the writer isn't suggesting something sexual. Rather, they are saying where they put their purse. The campaign is meant to raise awareness for breast cancer. Huh???
Until reading through a post on facebook today, I didn't realize what the point of the "I like it" comments were meant to be. For the past few weeks, many of those messages had appeared in on my home page, and of the many comments they illicit, not once did I see the writer give the explanation that they were supporting breast cancer awareness. Last year's campaign involved leaving the color of your bra in your status. This e-mail I did receive, but no where did it mention that the purpose was to raise awareness.
We all know that sex sells, but does it have to?
After reading the post, commenting myself, I decided to Google "breast cancer awareness." The "I like it" campaign has articles written by such publications as Time Magazine and on CBS. The article in Time, rather surprising, sided with more conservative view. The writer for CBS essentially felt that there were better ways to raise awareness. While most of the viewpoints shared by either of the mentioned media outlets are generally liberal, it was quite refreshing to read that they felt an "I like it" post was an absurd way to raise awareness.
As Christians, don't we have a responsibility to keep our words pure, especially when you think of the audience reading what you are typing. Chances are, if you are on facebook, some of your friends are young teens, or single guys. What message does that send to them, especially if they don't realize the intent behind your post? And even if someone does know why you are posting "I like it...", do you really want that image in their mind?
So please, raise cancer awareness all October long! Just find a way that it a bit more G-rated. Like turn your facebook picture pink.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Is It Just Me?
So rarely do the kids sleep long enough that I get to catch any sort of news in the morning before I'm bombarded with breakfast requests, dirty diapers, and getting everyone dressed, but this morning happened to be an exception. I used to watch the Today Show every morning in college while getting ready for classes. I enjoyed the humor and upbeat, although quite liberal, viewpoints of Matt Laurer and Katie Couric. So, when I get a chance, I grab a cup of coffee and catch up on the news. Even if is is now Meredith Viera
One of Today's guests was comedian, actress, and author, Whoopi Goldberg. She recently had her book "Is It Just Me? Or Is It Nuts Out There?" published and was sharing some details. In her interview with Matt, he cuts right to controversial point in her book where (and as I have not read and refuse to purchase her book, a loose translation) she actually suggests we should teach our children to say the f-word instead of "idiot" or "stupid." She claims that the f-word has no meaning to her, therefore it doesn't hurt to hear it. She claims that telling a child they are stupid cuts deeper than if they were to be sworn at using the f- word.
Really?
I'm not sure I can share in her line of logic here. Correction: I ABSOLUTELY cannot share in her line of logic. I'm all for teaching children to be respectful to others and promoting programs that arm children with tools for dealing with bullies. I realize Americans are more conservative in their usage of the f*bomb than countries such as England and the rest of Europe, so I certainly don't feel the following consersations will take place in Suburbia anytime soon.
Mother: Johnny, when you go to school today, I don't want you using the word "stupid" when you talk to your friends.
Johnny: Ok, mom... I won't. I promise. But what's wrong with saying "stupid?"
Mother: Well, Johnny, when we call our friends "stupid" it really hurts their feelings. If someone is called "stupid" over and over again, it can really deflate their self-esteem.
Johnny: But what if someone is really acting stupid? What should I say instead?
Mother: Well, I was reading this book, and I've decided you should tell other kids to "go f* yourself" or "you're f-in' ridiculous" instead. Because hearing "f- you" isn't going to hurt their feelings like being told they are stupid will.
Johnny: I always thought saying the f-word was a bad word. Can I say the other f-word too?
Mother: Johnny!! No!! Fart is still a naughty word!!
Logic?? I think not!
Now, I did attempt to read through the excerpt posted on MSN, but the grammar and lack of substance had me skimming, looking for anything of real "meat and potatoes." Sadly, I found none. Rambling through a paragraph of text that reads as if it's being quoted from "The View" does not leave me feeling as if I've read some really sound advice or view. Sure, I can agree that a tough stand on drunk driving should be in full force. However, when the writing doesn't have a measure of intelligence, it's difficult to stand on common ground. Now, I'm not trying to bash Whoopi here. Not my point. I'm simply trying to say that if you have published material where you come out swinging with both fists, it should at least sound intelliegent and a little more formal.
The following is quoted from the synopsis on Barnes and Noble's website.
"Have you noticed that things aren’t as civil as they once were? Or that rudeness is no longer an exception but a lifestyle? Sure you have. All you need to do is set foot outside your door to see that bad manners are taking over everywhere."
Based on that segment there, how can she possibly make the arguement that the f-word is a far better way to tell someone they're stupid? Wouldn't that be considered the opposite of civil and thought to be vulgar and rude?
Hhhhmmmm, Whoopi.... don't you think it might be better to teach children not to name-call instead of replacing their vernacular with language that most consider to be quite inappropriate??
One of Today's guests was comedian, actress, and author, Whoopi Goldberg. She recently had her book "Is It Just Me? Or Is It Nuts Out There?" published and was sharing some details. In her interview with Matt, he cuts right to controversial point in her book where (and as I have not read and refuse to purchase her book, a loose translation) she actually suggests we should teach our children to say the f-word instead of "idiot" or "stupid." She claims that the f-word has no meaning to her, therefore it doesn't hurt to hear it. She claims that telling a child they are stupid cuts deeper than if they were to be sworn at using the f- word.
Really?
I'm not sure I can share in her line of logic here. Correction: I ABSOLUTELY cannot share in her line of logic. I'm all for teaching children to be respectful to others and promoting programs that arm children with tools for dealing with bullies. I realize Americans are more conservative in their usage of the f*bomb than countries such as England and the rest of Europe, so I certainly don't feel the following consersations will take place in Suburbia anytime soon.
Mother: Johnny, when you go to school today, I don't want you using the word "stupid" when you talk to your friends.
Johnny: Ok, mom... I won't. I promise. But what's wrong with saying "stupid?"
Mother: Well, Johnny, when we call our friends "stupid" it really hurts their feelings. If someone is called "stupid" over and over again, it can really deflate their self-esteem.
Johnny: But what if someone is really acting stupid? What should I say instead?
Mother: Well, I was reading this book, and I've decided you should tell other kids to "go f* yourself" or "you're f-in' ridiculous" instead. Because hearing "f- you" isn't going to hurt their feelings like being told they are stupid will.
Johnny: I always thought saying the f-word was a bad word. Can I say the other f-word too?
Mother: Johnny!! No!! Fart is still a naughty word!!
Logic?? I think not!
Now, I did attempt to read through the excerpt posted on MSN, but the grammar and lack of substance had me skimming, looking for anything of real "meat and potatoes." Sadly, I found none. Rambling through a paragraph of text that reads as if it's being quoted from "The View" does not leave me feeling as if I've read some really sound advice or view. Sure, I can agree that a tough stand on drunk driving should be in full force. However, when the writing doesn't have a measure of intelligence, it's difficult to stand on common ground. Now, I'm not trying to bash Whoopi here. Not my point. I'm simply trying to say that if you have published material where you come out swinging with both fists, it should at least sound intelliegent and a little more formal.
The following is quoted from the synopsis on Barnes and Noble's website.
"Have you noticed that things aren’t as civil as they once were? Or that rudeness is no longer an exception but a lifestyle? Sure you have. All you need to do is set foot outside your door to see that bad manners are taking over everywhere."
Based on that segment there, how can she possibly make the arguement that the f-word is a far better way to tell someone they're stupid? Wouldn't that be considered the opposite of civil and thought to be vulgar and rude?
Hhhhmmmm, Whoopi.... don't you think it might be better to teach children not to name-call instead of replacing their vernacular with language that most consider to be quite inappropriate??
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Long Time, No See
Yes, it's been nearly a year since my last blog post but I think I'm going to start keeping it up again. Here's the short list of what's happened since last October....
November 2009:
Continual work on the upstairs of our home. (Reminder: this is a home we were renting, with plans to buy in a few years) Projected completion date: Thanksgiving. Shawn turns 29. Ellie is still sleeping through the night. Mommy potty trains Alexandar, making one less child to diaper.
December 2009:
Continual work on the house. New projected completion date: Christmas. Alexandar turns 3 on December 4th, which was celebrated by a trip to Crossroads Village to ride the train. I directed our church Christmas Play, to which the community was invited and we had an awesome turnout!! Daddy played a Shepherd with Benjamin as his sheep, Isabelle sang and was an angel, and Ellie was Baby Jesus. Alexandar? Why, he threw a fit and wouldn't participate as a sheep. Christmas celebrated with my side of the family at my parents' house. Ellie and Isabelle receive matching Christmas outfits. Ellie has decided to stop sleeping all night, and instead, she wants to nurse.
January 2010:
Continued work on the house. New completion date: Carpet in by Valentine's day??? Ellie starts rolling over. Benjamin celebrates his 2nd birthday with a quiet party at home. Why so quiet? He napped most of the afternoon! Isabelle continues to progress well in school, enjoying her new skills learned weekly that assist her in decoding words to read! She aces nearly every spelling test. Saying the year as Twenty Ten or Two Thousand Ten is debated.
February 2010:
Carpet installed!!! Projected to complete in 2 days, but it took all week. Mommy was sick and the installers were vulgar. Now plumbing and electricity need to be completed before moving upstairs. Mommy and Daddy go out for Valentine's Day and drive around to 5 different restaurants before finding one with a wait time less than 3 hrs. Ate McDonald's fries while we waited. =) Ellie starts on solid foods, and enjoys her carrots, as did her brothers.
March 2010:
We finally move all bedrooms upstairs!!!!!! (I orginally stopped with 2 !! but decided it deserved a few more.) Bathroom upstairs still needs some finishing before we can use it. Alexandar and Benjamin love their new room, but are not easily convinced that monsters are indeed NOT hiding in their closet. Ellie refuses green vegetables, making a face and literally crying when fed to her. Mommy finds matching Easter dresses for her girls. Beginning of the month- wearing hats and gloves? March 31- outside in short sleeves!
April 2010:
Ellie celebrates her 1st Easter, however, she doesn't receive any candy from the Easter bunny. She is fully sitting unsupported all of the time now. We learn that our original plans to purchase the home Shawn just remodeled are not to be so. The plans begin for home ownership and many discussions ensue between living in the area or moving south to St. Johns. (Isabelle attends school there and her mom lives there.) Temporary plans are made to live with Shawn's mom, who drives truck over the road and isn't home much, leaving her home vacant much of the time. Isabelle is still acing her spelling tests. Shawn saves us from home invasion by a Banana.
May 2010:
Box after box is packed and prepared for storage. The house hunting begins. Many tears, confusion, and hurt feelings are dealt with as we prepare for our move after our hopes and dreams and squashed. The kids attend the Highland Festival and enjoy the parade. Ellie sleeps through the sirens. She begins her unique crawl- she refuses to crawl on her knees, but uses her feet instead. However, she isn't quite coordinated enough at the beginning and drags one knee, always her right. Green veggies are now allowed in her diet. Alexandar and Benjamin still adore their sister. Isabelle is getting anxious for school to be over.
June 2010:
We have a girl officially done with 1st grade! Alexandar and Isabelle can't wait to jump in the pool. Ellie decides she loves the water after her first time in, and Benjamin continues to play in the sand instead. We make our first trip to the Splash Park in Mt. Pleasant. House hunting continues, and we begin to adjust to living somewhere different. Both boys repeatedly ask to go to "their real house" and call it home everytime we pass by it. (It was unavoidable to go by it, as it sits next door to my parents' home.) Mommy still wants to cry when we pass it, too.
July 2010:
We journey via bike and bugger to downtown St. Louis for the big fireworks display. All love them, but start to cover their ears due to the sound. Alexandar starts going through the night without a diaper. House hunting drags on. Benjamin starts wanting to go pee on the potty, and does so once while wearing only Isabelle's headband. Mr. Ben also enjoys playing with the traffic cones, calling them "hups" but naming himself "Cone Head" when viewing the picture Mommy took of him wearing a cone on his head. Ellie starts taking her first steps. Isabelle jumps in the pool every chance she gets.
August 2010:
Mommy and Daddy celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary. Isabelle, Alexandar, and Benjamin all attend Bible School and love it! Nana and Papa take Izi and Alexandar camping for a few days, and then the rest of us decide to join them, journeying to Mackinaw. By now, we've made 2 offers on houses and didn't get them. Benjamin wants nothing to do with "big boy pants."
September 2010:
Isabelle begins 2nd grade. We celebrate Ellie's 1st birthday and officially have a 3, 2, and 1 year old in the house. We place another offer on a house and quickly change our minds and remove it. House hunting is put on hold and we drive off to spend a day relaxing. Incidentally, on the same day we stumble on a house that we LOVE, quickly call our realtor, and decide to put an offer on the house. After waiting a week, we learn our offer was accepted!!! Lots of paperwork later, and there is still more to be done. We know, however, the right house was found and God has had His hand in it all along.
October 2010:
Well, seeing as how it's just the 2nd of October... not much has happened. We did spend all afternoon at the park and attend Isabelle's school for the Fall Festival. We continue to wait on an official closing date and take all the next steps necessary to home ownership.
November 2009:
Continual work on the upstairs of our home. (Reminder: this is a home we were renting, with plans to buy in a few years) Projected completion date: Thanksgiving. Shawn turns 29. Ellie is still sleeping through the night. Mommy potty trains Alexandar, making one less child to diaper.
December 2009:
Continual work on the house. New projected completion date: Christmas. Alexandar turns 3 on December 4th, which was celebrated by a trip to Crossroads Village to ride the train. I directed our church Christmas Play, to which the community was invited and we had an awesome turnout!! Daddy played a Shepherd with Benjamin as his sheep, Isabelle sang and was an angel, and Ellie was Baby Jesus. Alexandar? Why, he threw a fit and wouldn't participate as a sheep. Christmas celebrated with my side of the family at my parents' house. Ellie and Isabelle receive matching Christmas outfits. Ellie has decided to stop sleeping all night, and instead, she wants to nurse.
January 2010:
Continued work on the house. New completion date: Carpet in by Valentine's day??? Ellie starts rolling over. Benjamin celebrates his 2nd birthday with a quiet party at home. Why so quiet? He napped most of the afternoon! Isabelle continues to progress well in school, enjoying her new skills learned weekly that assist her in decoding words to read! She aces nearly every spelling test. Saying the year as Twenty Ten or Two Thousand Ten is debated.
February 2010:
Carpet installed!!! Projected to complete in 2 days, but it took all week. Mommy was sick and the installers were vulgar. Now plumbing and electricity need to be completed before moving upstairs. Mommy and Daddy go out for Valentine's Day and drive around to 5 different restaurants before finding one with a wait time less than 3 hrs. Ate McDonald's fries while we waited. =) Ellie starts on solid foods, and enjoys her carrots, as did her brothers.
March 2010:
We finally move all bedrooms upstairs!!!!!! (I orginally stopped with 2 !! but decided it deserved a few more.) Bathroom upstairs still needs some finishing before we can use it. Alexandar and Benjamin love their new room, but are not easily convinced that monsters are indeed NOT hiding in their closet. Ellie refuses green vegetables, making a face and literally crying when fed to her. Mommy finds matching Easter dresses for her girls. Beginning of the month- wearing hats and gloves? March 31- outside in short sleeves!
April 2010:
Ellie celebrates her 1st Easter, however, she doesn't receive any candy from the Easter bunny. She is fully sitting unsupported all of the time now. We learn that our original plans to purchase the home Shawn just remodeled are not to be so. The plans begin for home ownership and many discussions ensue between living in the area or moving south to St. Johns. (Isabelle attends school there and her mom lives there.) Temporary plans are made to live with Shawn's mom, who drives truck over the road and isn't home much, leaving her home vacant much of the time. Isabelle is still acing her spelling tests. Shawn saves us from home invasion by a Banana.
May 2010:
Box after box is packed and prepared for storage. The house hunting begins. Many tears, confusion, and hurt feelings are dealt with as we prepare for our move after our hopes and dreams and squashed. The kids attend the Highland Festival and enjoy the parade. Ellie sleeps through the sirens. She begins her unique crawl- she refuses to crawl on her knees, but uses her feet instead. However, she isn't quite coordinated enough at the beginning and drags one knee, always her right. Green veggies are now allowed in her diet. Alexandar and Benjamin still adore their sister. Isabelle is getting anxious for school to be over.
June 2010:
We have a girl officially done with 1st grade! Alexandar and Isabelle can't wait to jump in the pool. Ellie decides she loves the water after her first time in, and Benjamin continues to play in the sand instead. We make our first trip to the Splash Park in Mt. Pleasant. House hunting continues, and we begin to adjust to living somewhere different. Both boys repeatedly ask to go to "their real house" and call it home everytime we pass by it. (It was unavoidable to go by it, as it sits next door to my parents' home.) Mommy still wants to cry when we pass it, too.
July 2010:
We journey via bike and bugger to downtown St. Louis for the big fireworks display. All love them, but start to cover their ears due to the sound. Alexandar starts going through the night without a diaper. House hunting drags on. Benjamin starts wanting to go pee on the potty, and does so once while wearing only Isabelle's headband. Mr. Ben also enjoys playing with the traffic cones, calling them "hups" but naming himself "Cone Head" when viewing the picture Mommy took of him wearing a cone on his head. Ellie starts taking her first steps. Isabelle jumps in the pool every chance she gets.
August 2010:
Mommy and Daddy celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary. Isabelle, Alexandar, and Benjamin all attend Bible School and love it! Nana and Papa take Izi and Alexandar camping for a few days, and then the rest of us decide to join them, journeying to Mackinaw. By now, we've made 2 offers on houses and didn't get them. Benjamin wants nothing to do with "big boy pants."
September 2010:
Isabelle begins 2nd grade. We celebrate Ellie's 1st birthday and officially have a 3, 2, and 1 year old in the house. We place another offer on a house and quickly change our minds and remove it. House hunting is put on hold and we drive off to spend a day relaxing. Incidentally, on the same day we stumble on a house that we LOVE, quickly call our realtor, and decide to put an offer on the house. After waiting a week, we learn our offer was accepted!!! Lots of paperwork later, and there is still more to be done. We know, however, the right house was found and God has had His hand in it all along.
October 2010:
Well, seeing as how it's just the 2nd of October... not much has happened. We did spend all afternoon at the park and attend Isabelle's school for the Fall Festival. We continue to wait on an official closing date and take all the next steps necessary to home ownership.
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