Potty training 2008 was kicked off at our house yesterday morning.
Garrett has been showing a lot of interest in the potty for several months now. He wanted to sit on it and occasionally things would happen, but most of the time he just sat there. I guess that's a hurdle in and of itself since he didn't mind sitting on the toilet, I knew I wasn't going to have to force him to do it when the time came to actually potty train. Yes, I know I could have started this back when he first started showing interest, but I knew that we had our trip to Indiana coming up and there was no way in the world that I wanted to drive 14 hours with a newly potty training 2 year old.
So I put it off until we were back in Texas.
In the past 30 hours I have cleaned pee off of the floor (hardwood and carpet) about 4 times. I'm not sure if that's good or not, considering that a good chunk of that time was spent sleeping and of course when he's sleeping he's wearing a diaper or pull up. I've tried to encourage him to stand up and pee thinking this would be a lot more fun but he only wants to stand and pee while in the bathtub (with his cousins!) or taking a shower. So sitting it is. I have to say that he looks awfully cute sitting on that big toilet with his underwear around his knees. :) But I know that's just the mom in me talking. I'm really struggling to keep myself from calling his underwear, panties. Keith will slap me down if he hears such nonsense. I've caught myself saying it enough times that I've heard Garrett refer to them as "pants", but I think that would be acceptable to dad.
I guess I should be thankful that no poop has been found on my floors. He seems to have it down as to wear that goes and hasn't had a problem with an accident in that department.
I just hope that he figures out the other somewhat quickly. I don't want my house to smell as if a cat has been in here marking it's territory.
If anyone has any suggestions as to special methods for potty training a boy, please feel free to pass those along. Just as an fyi, I am doing candy as a motivational tool for any time he does do something successfully in the bathroom. He's not to the point of understanding any sort of sticker chart or money incentive either.
If he's day time potty trained by the time he turns 3 in August, I will be happy. I'll keep you posted.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Livin' La Vida Loca
The past 3 weeks we have been crazy busy.
First a road trip to Indiana where we watched my youngest brother graduate from high school. While we were there, Keith and I celebrated our 6th anniversary. Well, I use the word "celebrate" loosely. We said "Happy Anniversary" to each other and it was acknowledged by my family (including my dad while preaching that Sunday morning) and that was the extent of our celebration on the actual day. At some point we'll get around to atleast going out to dinner and a movie in celebration of surviving 6 years of marriage to each other.
Second we survived driving 14 hours all in one day on our way home from Indiana. (Going up there we broke it up into 2 days.) Surprisingly, Garrett was excellent during that long day in the car. Not one single tantrum was thrown. To say I was shocked by this good behavior would be an understatement.
Once we got home I started in with cleaning my house thoroughly. Because...
Third, my mom, my sister Grace, and my niece and nephew all came to my house a week after we got home from visiting them. No, it wasn't because they were just desperate to see us again, but my mom had a family reunion in Hurst, Texas the following weekend so they came down a few days early to hang out at my house. We spent several days stuffing our faces with food that they don't have up in Indiana. Yummy Double Dave's pizza (mostly their dessert pizza, I wish you could order one of those to go) and Mexican food from Posado's. Our all-time favorite Mexican food restaurant is Mercado's in Tyler, Texas. Tyler is just too far to drive with 3 kids under the age of 6 just for some good eatin'. So we settled for second best. We did some outlet mall shopping and some Target shopping as well. Then we headed over to Hurst for the big family reunion. My mom is the middle child of 5 kids. Her family is really big. There's 5 kids, 4 in-laws, 16 grandkids, 9 grandkid-in-laws, and 7 great grandkids. Her siblings and her parents haven't all been together in about 8 years so we were past due for a reunion.
My cousin Andrea and I did all the planning for the reunion so that also kept me busy leading up to our Indiana trip. Reunions are more work than I realized. But it was totally worth it. Some of the work, I brought on myself because I decided we needed a family cookbook with a compilation of all our favorite recipes. It turned out great and we have approximately 60 pages of family recipes shared amongst everyone. I also put together a video slide show as a surprise for my grandparents. I think they really liked it. The reunion went well. We had a great number of the family come and we enjoyed getting to spend time visiting with each other. My brother and sister-in-law came up from Houston which was great. We hadn't seen them since last December. The family that wins the "who traveled the farthest" award would be my cousin and her family who flew in from Massachusetts. It was decided that we would have another reunion in two years. And any family member who doesn't come will be kicked out of the family. Let's hope I can make it.
Third, this isn't really anything to do with being busy, but it's a good story to share and wrap up the blog. Since Garrett is almost 3, I figured this summer needs to have more activities than the previous summers. He's not content to be at home like he used to be so I've been coming up with some cheap things that we could do that would get us out of the house and keep him entertained. One of the local theaters is showing free kid movies on Tuesday mornings so we went there today for the first showing. The movie was "Shrek the Third". I've never seen any of the Shrek movies and this one really didn't impress me, but it was a free movie and Garrett seemed to enjoy sitting in the theater next to one of his friends, chowing down on popcorn and watching the movie on a big TV (atleast that's what he called it). With about 10 minutes left in the movie (I'm totally assuming that, it seemed like it was almost over) it shut off. My friend and I figured they were having technical difficulties and decided to go ahead and gather our things and head out. Before we got to the door, two movie employees walk in and say that the electricity just went out in the theater due to a bad storm in the area. I have to say that when we got to the theater not even 2 hours earlier, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so I found that odd. But when we came out of the theater there was a really bad storm outside. It was actually raining and blowing so hard that water was coming into the lobby. There was no way anyone could go outside, in fact one of the high school guys who worked there had trouble even opening the door because the wind was blowing so hard. And he was a pretty big guy. So my friend and I decided to hang out and play some of the arcade games. I mean, let our sons play some of the arcade games. :) Ten minutes later the manager comes into the lobby and says that a tornado has touched down roughly 5 miles from the theater and we all needed to get into the hallway as a precaution. Lovely. Just where you want to be when a tornado strikes. With your 2 year old son in the middle of a theater. My friend and I called our husbands (who work together) to tell them what was going on and have them check the weather. Keith didn't see anywhere that said there was a tornado warning for our area. A few minutes later that same theater manager comes out and says they called the police department and were told that there wasn't a tornado. I would love to know who told them about the tornado in the first place since there wasn't anything about it online (the weather channel website and some local news websites) and obviously they didn't hear about it from the police. Anyway, it was still too bad outside to attempt to go to our cars so we threw more quarters into the arcade money pit before it let up. We initially were happy about the free movie, but I'm sure we spent the equivalent of a movie ticket on those games while we were passing time. Thankfully the storm let up before we were broke and we headed home. Hopefully Garrett doesn't expect that kind of excitement the next time we go to the movies.
I'm sad to say that all of our big summer plans are now over and it's not even officially summer! Of course Garrett and I will do a variety of things in order to pass the time but no more trips are planned for the next few months and no more visits with my family. In fact we won't be seeing them again until Christmas. I'm sad. But that's just life when you don't live close to your family. Hopefully these last 3 weeks haven't given Garrett high expectations for the next few months. Long trips in the car and stays in nice hotels with indoor pools just aren't on the agenda. Maybe the occasional free movie at the theater combined with running in the sprinkle will be good compensation.
Yeah, I don't think so either.
First a road trip to Indiana where we watched my youngest brother graduate from high school. While we were there, Keith and I celebrated our 6th anniversary. Well, I use the word "celebrate" loosely. We said "Happy Anniversary" to each other and it was acknowledged by my family (including my dad while preaching that Sunday morning) and that was the extent of our celebration on the actual day. At some point we'll get around to atleast going out to dinner and a movie in celebration of surviving 6 years of marriage to each other.
Second we survived driving 14 hours all in one day on our way home from Indiana. (Going up there we broke it up into 2 days.) Surprisingly, Garrett was excellent during that long day in the car. Not one single tantrum was thrown. To say I was shocked by this good behavior would be an understatement.
Once we got home I started in with cleaning my house thoroughly. Because...
Third, my mom, my sister Grace, and my niece and nephew all came to my house a week after we got home from visiting them. No, it wasn't because they were just desperate to see us again, but my mom had a family reunion in Hurst, Texas the following weekend so they came down a few days early to hang out at my house. We spent several days stuffing our faces with food that they don't have up in Indiana. Yummy Double Dave's pizza (mostly their dessert pizza, I wish you could order one of those to go) and Mexican food from Posado's. Our all-time favorite Mexican food restaurant is Mercado's in Tyler, Texas. Tyler is just too far to drive with 3 kids under the age of 6 just for some good eatin'. So we settled for second best. We did some outlet mall shopping and some Target shopping as well. Then we headed over to Hurst for the big family reunion. My mom is the middle child of 5 kids. Her family is really big. There's 5 kids, 4 in-laws, 16 grandkids, 9 grandkid-in-laws, and 7 great grandkids. Her siblings and her parents haven't all been together in about 8 years so we were past due for a reunion.
My cousin Andrea and I did all the planning for the reunion so that also kept me busy leading up to our Indiana trip. Reunions are more work than I realized. But it was totally worth it. Some of the work, I brought on myself because I decided we needed a family cookbook with a compilation of all our favorite recipes. It turned out great and we have approximately 60 pages of family recipes shared amongst everyone. I also put together a video slide show as a surprise for my grandparents. I think they really liked it. The reunion went well. We had a great number of the family come and we enjoyed getting to spend time visiting with each other. My brother and sister-in-law came up from Houston which was great. We hadn't seen them since last December. The family that wins the "who traveled the farthest" award would be my cousin and her family who flew in from Massachusetts. It was decided that we would have another reunion in two years. And any family member who doesn't come will be kicked out of the family. Let's hope I can make it.
Third, this isn't really anything to do with being busy, but it's a good story to share and wrap up the blog. Since Garrett is almost 3, I figured this summer needs to have more activities than the previous summers. He's not content to be at home like he used to be so I've been coming up with some cheap things that we could do that would get us out of the house and keep him entertained. One of the local theaters is showing free kid movies on Tuesday mornings so we went there today for the first showing. The movie was "Shrek the Third". I've never seen any of the Shrek movies and this one really didn't impress me, but it was a free movie and Garrett seemed to enjoy sitting in the theater next to one of his friends, chowing down on popcorn and watching the movie on a big TV (atleast that's what he called it). With about 10 minutes left in the movie (I'm totally assuming that, it seemed like it was almost over) it shut off. My friend and I figured they were having technical difficulties and decided to go ahead and gather our things and head out. Before we got to the door, two movie employees walk in and say that the electricity just went out in the theater due to a bad storm in the area. I have to say that when we got to the theater not even 2 hours earlier, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so I found that odd. But when we came out of the theater there was a really bad storm outside. It was actually raining and blowing so hard that water was coming into the lobby. There was no way anyone could go outside, in fact one of the high school guys who worked there had trouble even opening the door because the wind was blowing so hard. And he was a pretty big guy. So my friend and I decided to hang out and play some of the arcade games. I mean, let our sons play some of the arcade games. :) Ten minutes later the manager comes into the lobby and says that a tornado has touched down roughly 5 miles from the theater and we all needed to get into the hallway as a precaution. Lovely. Just where you want to be when a tornado strikes. With your 2 year old son in the middle of a theater. My friend and I called our husbands (who work together) to tell them what was going on and have them check the weather. Keith didn't see anywhere that said there was a tornado warning for our area. A few minutes later that same theater manager comes out and says they called the police department and were told that there wasn't a tornado. I would love to know who told them about the tornado in the first place since there wasn't anything about it online (the weather channel website and some local news websites) and obviously they didn't hear about it from the police. Anyway, it was still too bad outside to attempt to go to our cars so we threw more quarters into the arcade money pit before it let up. We initially were happy about the free movie, but I'm sure we spent the equivalent of a movie ticket on those games while we were passing time. Thankfully the storm let up before we were broke and we headed home. Hopefully Garrett doesn't expect that kind of excitement the next time we go to the movies.
I'm sad to say that all of our big summer plans are now over and it's not even officially summer! Of course Garrett and I will do a variety of things in order to pass the time but no more trips are planned for the next few months and no more visits with my family. In fact we won't be seeing them again until Christmas. I'm sad. But that's just life when you don't live close to your family. Hopefully these last 3 weeks haven't given Garrett high expectations for the next few months. Long trips in the car and stays in nice hotels with indoor pools just aren't on the agenda. Maybe the occasional free movie at the theater combined with running in the sprinkle will be good compensation.
Yeah, I don't think so either.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Away From Her
Yesterday I finally watched my Blockbuster rental that has been floating around my house for a month. This is one of the positives to doing online movie rentals because there are no due dates so you can hold on to the movies until you get a chance to watch them.
The movie was "Away From Her". Not a typical movie choice for me, but I had read several reviews for this movie because it was nominated for an Oscar. I normally shy away from the Oscar-nominated movies. They always seem to be too "artsy" for me and I feel that they're nominated solely based on who the Academy knows in the little known movies that come out each year. But after reading a synopsis on this movie I felt that it would be worth watching.
I wish I could say that was true, but I really don't know how I felt after watching it. The first half of the movie I cried pretty much non-stop, the second half of the movie I was irritated and annoyed. I guess I should explain.
The movie is about a woman with Alzheimer's. I loved the beginning because it showed some of the things that she was doing that made her and her husband think that she was in the early stages of Alzheimer's. It was so sad to see her slowly being ravaged by that disease and how her husband dealt with it.
My great-grandpa died with Alzheimer's and I can vividly remember how he behaved in the late stages with that disease. Up until this movie I have never given much thought to how he felt while in the early stages, nor how my Grandma dealt with it. In this movie, the couple makes the decision to put the woman in a home where she is cared for, but in my Grandpa's case, my Grandma took care of him until he passed away. I don't know how she did it. One of the reasons that this woman gave in the movie for why she wanted to go to a home was because she didn't want her husband to become her caretaker. I have to say that I would agree with her. After watching the movie, Keith and I have discussed this some. Unfortunately he also had his Grandma die with Alzheimer's, so it runs in both of our families and because of that I want us both to be prepared for the possibility that this could be our situation one day.
So I wish I could say "You should definitely go out and rent this movie" or "Don't ever watch this movie, ever", but I'm stuck in the middle. The first half was so touching and thought-provoking. I don't know if it makes up for the frustration of the second half, but I will say that if this is a movie you've been considering or if you're looking for a movie that portrays Alzheimer's, then you should check this one out. Be prepared for a couple of things. There is some language in this movie, more specifically the use of the F-word. There's also some sex involved, not descriptive sex scenes, but the implication is there. Of course old people are involved so I can't say that it's really steamy, but if you don't want to see an old woman's naked shoulders then this movie isn't for you.
I will say that if I look half as good as Julie Christie does when I'm her age, I will be one happy woman.
The movie was "Away From Her". Not a typical movie choice for me, but I had read several reviews for this movie because it was nominated for an Oscar. I normally shy away from the Oscar-nominated movies. They always seem to be too "artsy" for me and I feel that they're nominated solely based on who the Academy knows in the little known movies that come out each year. But after reading a synopsis on this movie I felt that it would be worth watching.
I wish I could say that was true, but I really don't know how I felt after watching it. The first half of the movie I cried pretty much non-stop, the second half of the movie I was irritated and annoyed. I guess I should explain.
The movie is about a woman with Alzheimer's. I loved the beginning because it showed some of the things that she was doing that made her and her husband think that she was in the early stages of Alzheimer's. It was so sad to see her slowly being ravaged by that disease and how her husband dealt with it.
My great-grandpa died with Alzheimer's and I can vividly remember how he behaved in the late stages with that disease. Up until this movie I have never given much thought to how he felt while in the early stages, nor how my Grandma dealt with it. In this movie, the couple makes the decision to put the woman in a home where she is cared for, but in my Grandpa's case, my Grandma took care of him until he passed away. I don't know how she did it. One of the reasons that this woman gave in the movie for why she wanted to go to a home was because she didn't want her husband to become her caretaker. I have to say that I would agree with her. After watching the movie, Keith and I have discussed this some. Unfortunately he also had his Grandma die with Alzheimer's, so it runs in both of our families and because of that I want us both to be prepared for the possibility that this could be our situation one day.
So I wish I could say "You should definitely go out and rent this movie" or "Don't ever watch this movie, ever", but I'm stuck in the middle. The first half was so touching and thought-provoking. I don't know if it makes up for the frustration of the second half, but I will say that if this is a movie you've been considering or if you're looking for a movie that portrays Alzheimer's, then you should check this one out. Be prepared for a couple of things. There is some language in this movie, more specifically the use of the F-word. There's also some sex involved, not descriptive sex scenes, but the implication is there. Of course old people are involved so I can't say that it's really steamy, but if you don't want to see an old woman's naked shoulders then this movie isn't for you.
I will say that if I look half as good as Julie Christie does when I'm her age, I will be one happy woman.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Road Trip
Things that I learned on our trip to Indiana:
*When Garrett spends 14 hours in a car with his dad he comes out saying "Dang boy". And he says it over. and over. and over.
*There is such a thing as too much sitting. After about 5 or 6 hours of it your tailbone feels as if it's broken off in the middle of Missouri. If you see a tailbone on I-57, it's probably mine.
*People try to load their cars down way more than they were meant to be. We saw a car the size of a Geo Metro with enough stuff piled on top of it that it appeared to have a second car on it's roof. I don't even know how it was making it down the road.
*Portable DVD players are a blessing.
*Garrett actually behaves better when strapped in his carseat than while eating breakfast at Cracker Barrel.
*Cousins who don't get to see each other more than a couple of times per year have a lot of fun playing together. They also manage to entertain each other for hours which is nice for the parents.
*People look funny while playing Wii.
*I managed to drop my Wii age from 57 to 36 in approximately 3 days. Wouldn't it be nice if we could do that in real life?
*The child of mine who refuses to sit long enough to have a book read to him will sit on his Nana's lap and allow her to rock him to sleep. Things that grandparents can get away with that parents never could.
*My dad is an awesome preacher. You might think at the age of 50 that he would start losing his ability to connect with the young 'uns, but he's still got it.
*My husband is extremely patient. He never grew tired of my walks down memory lane while making the drive from Texas to Indiana. The book store in Texarkana where my family never could resist stopping in. The church in Little Rock where I fell down the stairs and sprained my ankle. Lambert's in Sikeston where you get the best food. The exit in Illinois which leads to the town where I once lived and graduated from high school. The lake where we would spend many summer hours swimming. The Wendy's in Effingham where we would meet up with our friends from Indiana because it was the halfway point between our "new" town in Illinois and our "old" town in Indiana. And I could go on. But I'll stop. Because you're probably not as patient as my husband.
*Even though I live 14 hours from my family we'll always be close and enjoy every minute of the time we spend together.
*When Garrett spends 14 hours in a car with his dad he comes out saying "Dang boy". And he says it over. and over. and over.
*There is such a thing as too much sitting. After about 5 or 6 hours of it your tailbone feels as if it's broken off in the middle of Missouri. If you see a tailbone on I-57, it's probably mine.
*People try to load their cars down way more than they were meant to be. We saw a car the size of a Geo Metro with enough stuff piled on top of it that it appeared to have a second car on it's roof. I don't even know how it was making it down the road.
*Portable DVD players are a blessing.
*Garrett actually behaves better when strapped in his carseat than while eating breakfast at Cracker Barrel.
*Cousins who don't get to see each other more than a couple of times per year have a lot of fun playing together. They also manage to entertain each other for hours which is nice for the parents.
*People look funny while playing Wii.
*I managed to drop my Wii age from 57 to 36 in approximately 3 days. Wouldn't it be nice if we could do that in real life?
*The child of mine who refuses to sit long enough to have a book read to him will sit on his Nana's lap and allow her to rock him to sleep. Things that grandparents can get away with that parents never could.
*My dad is an awesome preacher. You might think at the age of 50 that he would start losing his ability to connect with the young 'uns, but he's still got it.
*My husband is extremely patient. He never grew tired of my walks down memory lane while making the drive from Texas to Indiana. The book store in Texarkana where my family never could resist stopping in. The church in Little Rock where I fell down the stairs and sprained my ankle. Lambert's in Sikeston where you get the best food. The exit in Illinois which leads to the town where I once lived and graduated from high school. The lake where we would spend many summer hours swimming. The Wendy's in Effingham where we would meet up with our friends from Indiana because it was the halfway point between our "new" town in Illinois and our "old" town in Indiana. And I could go on. But I'll stop. Because you're probably not as patient as my husband.
*Even though I live 14 hours from my family we'll always be close and enjoy every minute of the time we spend together.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
A Must Read
I just finished reading this blog that I have to share with you all. The author's name is Angie, she is married to one of the members of the Christian band "Selah". Last month she gave birth to a baby who only lived for a few hours and then passed away. This specific blog entry is about her dealing with their loss along with how she became a Christian. It's very, very good and you should definitely read it. It's long, so be sure you have plenty of time to read it all the way through and, if you're emotional like me, have some Kleenex handy.
Here's the link: http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/05/past-and-pitcher.html. Let me know what you think of it when you get the chance.
Here's the link: http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/05/past-and-pitcher.html. Let me know what you think of it when you get the chance.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
I Wish...
*I could take a 2-3 hour nap right now. My child slept terribly last night and was up for atleast a 2 hour block in the middle of the night.
*Indiana and Texas were closer so we could see my family more frequently than twice a year.
*That I could have a quick peek into the future (about 17 years from now) so that I can see if my current parenting techniques are working out or if I should just call "Super Nanny" now and get it over with.
*I had the powers of Evie from "Out of This World". It would be nice to be able to touch your fingers together and stop time occasionally.
*I could meet David Cook (the new winner of American Idol). He seems like such a nice, normal guy. I was so happy for him to win last night, he really deserved it. I just hope that the AI producers don't make him record some stupid pop album when that clearly isn't who he is.
*Texas weather didn't have to get so hot so soon. Why can't we have spring-like temperatures for a little while? 99 degrees in mid-May is not good and I am not looking forward to the scorchers that are bound to be coming our way this summer.
*We had a pool. It would help get through the 100+ degrees that we will be seeing all too soon.
*Potty training was already accomplished. We've had a few poop related incidents in the last 10 days or so and we're not even in potty training mode yet. I can only imagine what potty training has in store for us.
*We could hire someone to work in our flower beds. They look terrible. I hate pulling weeds and digging in the dirt as does Keith. Our flower beds haven't been weeded one time this year and it is completely obvious. I'm embarassed for people to see them, but not embarassed enough to get out there and pull them when it's so hot already plus my child would be in the middle of the road the second my back was turned to him.
*My child wasn't such a picky eater. He would rather me rip his teeth out of his head than to convince him to eat a bite of vegetables (or anything on his plate at dinner time).
*"Lost" didn't have to come to an end yet. I'm really enjoying this season and I don't look forward to waiting until February before the new season begins.
*There were good TV shows on nowadays. Minus a few like Lost, CSI, AI, and a few of the sitcoms that I try to keep up with, there just aren't very many good shows on. Has anyone else seen the previews for a show coming out (this summer or the fall, I'm not sure which) called "Swingtown"? That looks like pure trash. Each new television season brings with it one or two shows that push the envelope even more than it's already been pushed. I remember when "Three's Company" was considered risque, wow that show is so tame when compared to others out now.
*Indiana and Texas were closer so we could see my family more frequently than twice a year.
*That I could have a quick peek into the future (about 17 years from now) so that I can see if my current parenting techniques are working out or if I should just call "Super Nanny" now and get it over with.
*I had the powers of Evie from "Out of This World". It would be nice to be able to touch your fingers together and stop time occasionally.
*I could meet David Cook (the new winner of American Idol). He seems like such a nice, normal guy. I was so happy for him to win last night, he really deserved it. I just hope that the AI producers don't make him record some stupid pop album when that clearly isn't who he is.
*Texas weather didn't have to get so hot so soon. Why can't we have spring-like temperatures for a little while? 99 degrees in mid-May is not good and I am not looking forward to the scorchers that are bound to be coming our way this summer.
*We had a pool. It would help get through the 100+ degrees that we will be seeing all too soon.
*Potty training was already accomplished. We've had a few poop related incidents in the last 10 days or so and we're not even in potty training mode yet. I can only imagine what potty training has in store for us.
*We could hire someone to work in our flower beds. They look terrible. I hate pulling weeds and digging in the dirt as does Keith. Our flower beds haven't been weeded one time this year and it is completely obvious. I'm embarassed for people to see them, but not embarassed enough to get out there and pull them when it's so hot already plus my child would be in the middle of the road the second my back was turned to him.
*My child wasn't such a picky eater. He would rather me rip his teeth out of his head than to convince him to eat a bite of vegetables (or anything on his plate at dinner time).
*"Lost" didn't have to come to an end yet. I'm really enjoying this season and I don't look forward to waiting until February before the new season begins.
*There were good TV shows on nowadays. Minus a few like Lost, CSI, AI, and a few of the sitcoms that I try to keep up with, there just aren't very many good shows on. Has anyone else seen the previews for a show coming out (this summer or the fall, I'm not sure which) called "Swingtown"? That looks like pure trash. Each new television season brings with it one or two shows that push the envelope even more than it's already been pushed. I remember when "Three's Company" was considered risque, wow that show is so tame when compared to others out now.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Eavesdropping
I overheard a conversation today that shook me harder than I've been shaken in awhile.
Keith, Garrett, and I went to eat supper tonight at a pizza place in a small town (not our small town, but one not too far from here). We were the only ones in the dining room until about halfway through our meal and then in walked 3 teenaged girls. (Garrett called one of them Christie-my youngest sister's name, but that's beside the point.) I wasn't intending to listen to their conversation but they were talking so loudly that it was hard not to hear them. To make this a little more understandable I'll give them nicknames: bleach blonde girl, brunette girl, and regular blonde girl.
Bleach blonde: (out of the blue) I'm pregnant.
Brunette: What? No way, you're joking, seriously?
Regular blonde: She's serious.
Brunette: How far along are you?
Bleach: 5 weeks.
Brunette: Do your parents know?
Bleach: Yeah, they know.
Brunette: I thought I was pregnant a few months ago, but I went to the doctor and he said I wasn't.
As much as I would like to say that this conversation was spoken very seriously and with a lot of emotion, that wasn't the case. The girls acted as if they were discussing the weather. Like it was no big deal that one was pregnant and the other recently had a pregnancy scare. Oh, and did I mention these girls were probably all of 17 years old? 17!! What do we know at 17? Not much, certainly not enough to be getting pregnant and talking flippantly about it. Trust me, I'm not naive, I do realize that there are girls out there who are much younger than 17 and having babies, teenage pregnancy is not a new occurance, I realize this. What just completely boggles my mind is how nonchalant this conversation was. How these girls have not one single clue of the gravity of their situation. She holds the life of a child in her body and does not realize the rollercoaster that she's about to embark on.
Pregnancy is hard, newborn babies are 1000 times harder, doing this all without a spouse has to be the hardest. And let's just say that she and the father were to get married before this baby is born (which I am wholeheartedly against in most situations...), marriage is really hard as well! I can't even imagine getting married and 2 to 5 months later having a baby, all at the very young age of 17. Talk about some major life changes! Keith and I were married for 3 years before Garrett was born. If it had been any less time, one of us probably would have murdered the other one during those early weeks/months of no sleep, constant crying (me and Garrett), pretty much the death of our previous life of "married couple with no kids". It was a chaotic and scary time, but obviously we made it through and are better for it. However we were in a committed relationship that wasn't based on a child. What kind of chance do these young teen mothers have?
I'm sure you're wondering how exactly this conversation shook me so hard. I think it was because I was actually hearing real, live teenagers discussing what would have been a gigantic fear of mine (had I been sexually active before getting married, which I wasn't) and acting as if it was no big deal. 10 years ago when I was in high school I do not remember any girls in our school getting pregnant. Maybe they did and I wasn't aware of it, but it certainly wasn't part of the locker room conversations if things like this were going on. I'm sure that if these girls existed in my high school they kept it quiet and private as best as possible. They did not go around spreading the news to the diners at the local pizza parlor.
And what will teenagers be like 10 years from now? This is my biggest fear because 10 years from this August, my baby boy will officially become a teenager. What will high school be like for him? Will 50% of the girls be pregnant, will 99.99% of the kids be sexually active? How many will have STD's? It's so scary to think that I will voluntarily hand over my child to possibly be in and among these situations. With these thoughts it certainly makes homeschooling very appealing. I won't do it unless it's absolutely necessary, but it makes it appealing.
When we got into the truck to head home after our pizza, I immediately asked Keith if he had heard what I heard. He hadn't, so I filled him in. He was just as shocked as I was. Our first question was why the father of this baby (and the other possible baby that brunette girl mentioned) was never discussed. I think if I was a teen and a fellow teen told me she was pregnant, one of my first questions would be who the father was. Of course they could possibly both have steady boyfriends, but even then I would want to know what the boyfriend's response was when he heard that the other girl was pregnant. But the father was never even mentioned. Keith and I immediately began discussing what we could do as parents to somehow help prevent this situation from ever being a reality in our household 15 years from now. It's just so scary and I pray that being involved in church and being around other Christian teens will help to keep our kids strong.
Our future generations need our prayers now more than ever.
Keith, Garrett, and I went to eat supper tonight at a pizza place in a small town (not our small town, but one not too far from here). We were the only ones in the dining room until about halfway through our meal and then in walked 3 teenaged girls. (Garrett called one of them Christie-my youngest sister's name, but that's beside the point.) I wasn't intending to listen to their conversation but they were talking so loudly that it was hard not to hear them. To make this a little more understandable I'll give them nicknames: bleach blonde girl, brunette girl, and regular blonde girl.
Bleach blonde: (out of the blue) I'm pregnant.
Brunette: What? No way, you're joking, seriously?
Regular blonde: She's serious.
Brunette: How far along are you?
Bleach: 5 weeks.
Brunette: Do your parents know?
Bleach: Yeah, they know.
Brunette: I thought I was pregnant a few months ago, but I went to the doctor and he said I wasn't.
As much as I would like to say that this conversation was spoken very seriously and with a lot of emotion, that wasn't the case. The girls acted as if they were discussing the weather. Like it was no big deal that one was pregnant and the other recently had a pregnancy scare. Oh, and did I mention these girls were probably all of 17 years old? 17!! What do we know at 17? Not much, certainly not enough to be getting pregnant and talking flippantly about it. Trust me, I'm not naive, I do realize that there are girls out there who are much younger than 17 and having babies, teenage pregnancy is not a new occurance, I realize this. What just completely boggles my mind is how nonchalant this conversation was. How these girls have not one single clue of the gravity of their situation. She holds the life of a child in her body and does not realize the rollercoaster that she's about to embark on.
Pregnancy is hard, newborn babies are 1000 times harder, doing this all without a spouse has to be the hardest. And let's just say that she and the father were to get married before this baby is born (which I am wholeheartedly against in most situations...), marriage is really hard as well! I can't even imagine getting married and 2 to 5 months later having a baby, all at the very young age of 17. Talk about some major life changes! Keith and I were married for 3 years before Garrett was born. If it had been any less time, one of us probably would have murdered the other one during those early weeks/months of no sleep, constant crying (me and Garrett), pretty much the death of our previous life of "married couple with no kids". It was a chaotic and scary time, but obviously we made it through and are better for it. However we were in a committed relationship that wasn't based on a child. What kind of chance do these young teen mothers have?
I'm sure you're wondering how exactly this conversation shook me so hard. I think it was because I was actually hearing real, live teenagers discussing what would have been a gigantic fear of mine (had I been sexually active before getting married, which I wasn't) and acting as if it was no big deal. 10 years ago when I was in high school I do not remember any girls in our school getting pregnant. Maybe they did and I wasn't aware of it, but it certainly wasn't part of the locker room conversations if things like this were going on. I'm sure that if these girls existed in my high school they kept it quiet and private as best as possible. They did not go around spreading the news to the diners at the local pizza parlor.
And what will teenagers be like 10 years from now? This is my biggest fear because 10 years from this August, my baby boy will officially become a teenager. What will high school be like for him? Will 50% of the girls be pregnant, will 99.99% of the kids be sexually active? How many will have STD's? It's so scary to think that I will voluntarily hand over my child to possibly be in and among these situations. With these thoughts it certainly makes homeschooling very appealing. I won't do it unless it's absolutely necessary, but it makes it appealing.
When we got into the truck to head home after our pizza, I immediately asked Keith if he had heard what I heard. He hadn't, so I filled him in. He was just as shocked as I was. Our first question was why the father of this baby (and the other possible baby that brunette girl mentioned) was never discussed. I think if I was a teen and a fellow teen told me she was pregnant, one of my first questions would be who the father was. Of course they could possibly both have steady boyfriends, but even then I would want to know what the boyfriend's response was when he heard that the other girl was pregnant. But the father was never even mentioned. Keith and I immediately began discussing what we could do as parents to somehow help prevent this situation from ever being a reality in our household 15 years from now. It's just so scary and I pray that being involved in church and being around other Christian teens will help to keep our kids strong.
Our future generations need our prayers now more than ever.
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