Coincidences

Tic....toc....tic....toc....

Time moves slowly when one is trying to keep chirpy preschoolers at a low volume so that one's overworked husband can sleep. I thought of taking them to the grocery store, but I couldn't consider it without taking a shower, and that would probably wake Josh up, thereby defeating the purpose. Either that, or the kids would, while I was in there.

Josh is going to work tonight, and is going to work both jobs tomorrow. Coke only again on Thursday, and that will be his last day there. After Thursday, he will only work at Lowes. And we will be very, very poor. (Still no babysitting work for me.)

So, yesterday Tylar was posting pictures of his freshly removed facial hair. Okay, well, the pictures were of him, not the hairs. As I was in the middle of writing my usual commentary, there was a knock on my door. Our neighbor had come to play with the kids, and her daddy.....had just shaved his beard off. We played in our yard for a while, and then theirs. I told them about the movie I saw with Michelle and Brother. Kirk told me I should read Percy Jackson and the Olympians. And then, when I came home and read my comments here, Trish recommended the same series! On the same day!

"SSHHHHH! Too loud, guys."

Tonight I have to take the children to Josh's parents' house and go to practice. I will try to remember Jenn's DVD. Is there something else I need to remember? I don't think so. I don't know what to hope for, practice-wise. I know I could use a little activity, but I'm not feeling the greatest. I've had a sinus headache, probably from my allergies, which are mild, but still annoying. Not to mention assorted other aches and pains. Maybe playing some taiko will make me forget all about them. Yay, taiko. I don't like having to feel like I ruined someone's day, though. If you are going to make someone feel awful about something they ask you to do for them, you should say no. In fact, if you are going to make someone's wife feel awful about something the husband asked you to do...well, same thing, really. I guess they think that in light of Josh's busy schedule and our lack of funds to hire an actual babysitter, I should quit taiko. They're right. It would save gas money, too. But Josh won't let me quit. They can take it up with him.

"SHHH!"

The weather is great right now. Maybe we should go play on the deck or something.

Did you read the study that says most parents believe that the other kids are sexually active, but not theirs? The one that blew my mind was the kid who announced to his mom that his girlfriend might be pregnant. Mom thinks the girl pushed him into it, and that now he's learned his lesson and is...what? A born again virgin? Sure, lady.

Naturally, I have my own opinions, and if you know me at all, you can probably recite them before I even have the chance. But just in case: First of all, whether the moms and dads think their daughters are pure as the driven snow or not, they allow them to wear clothes out of the house that make them appear as sexual beings. They are then targeted for their sexuality, treated in a sexual way, which the possibly naive children then consider natural and normal. Known a lot of young girls? Well, pretty much all of them confuse appraisal with admiration. Known a lot of young guys? They don't have to like you at all to want in your pants, which shouldn't have been so tight. Whether or not it was intended as such on the part of the girl, all men I have ever asked have told me quite plainly that tight or revealing clothes on a girl of any age is a neon sign that says, "GET YOUR FREE SEX HERE". Even the nice, sweet, conservative gentlemen. Knowing that, I would be scared to death to put...shall we say "adult" clothes on my daughter. It's not just the handsome guy, the single guy, the understanding guy, the harmless guy who sees that neon sign. The hook doesn't always catch the fish you baited it for. At this point, I say that the parents have a hand in the sexually tolerant attitude. And as for my other point, it goes like this: Legal. Age. Of. Consent. The state government decides at what age the teens are old enough to make this decision. I can't believe, what with this perfect "out of my hands" rule, that not more parents stress it. They don't even have to be the bad guy!

If "there is a law" isn't enough to convince my kids, maybe this will deter them: "You might think that this is your decision to make, and that it's a personal and private one. You would be wrong. It is your business, your partner's business, the business of both your parents and your partner's parents, since you are neither of you legal adults, the business of your doctor, and the business of your insurance company. You think that perhaps you are so mature that the rules don't apply to you? No amount of maturity of character (which seems to be contradicted, rather than supported by engaging in a physical relationship while under aged) gets you closer to the legal age of consent, or legal adulthood. Therefore, when the natural consequence occurs, all of these people and more suddenly have a right to that same information that you thought was so intimate."

Okay, so maybe I'll organize it better than that before I deliver it as a speech. You get the idea.

I want to go to the library, but maybe I'll wait for a day when it's rainy. Or at least a day when we have two working vehicles. Josh is going to put on the spare tire and take the flat one to Dobbs today. And maybe I can finally do some grocery shopping.

"SHHHH! Please don't be loud, guys."

I think I'm going to go and start a load of towels in the laundry. I hope you all have a nice Tuesday.