To Be PC or Not To Be PC...

That is the question. Thursday on The View (my only morning show), there was a fellow on by the name of Michael Smerconish who wrote a book called Muzzled: From T-Ball to Terrorism – True Stories that Should be Fiction, discussing how politically correct our society has become to a fault. It was a very interesting discussion. Some of it agreed with and some of it I did not. He does think there should be racial profiling, which honestly, I'm not completly sold on, as some of the terrorists that are out there are not Muslim, and really, not all Muslim people "look" Middle Eastern. There are people from many different cultures that are Muslim and would not fit the profile that the government is trying to screen for. However he did mention an interesting story that did make me think, that there were some passengers either getting ready to board a plane or they were already on it waiting to take off (I don't remember which one) and one of the passengers was acting peculiar. It was not described what acting peculiar encompassed but because this passenger "looked" Middle Eastern, the other passengers were wary to report his behaviour to the crew because they did not want to be called racist, and they themselves questioned whether they were in fact being rasict in that situation. I guess the odd behaviour continued and they trusted their gut feeling, reported the passenger and he was in fact planning on hijacking that plane. So maybe there is something to this racial profiling, but then again, they didn't catch that guy so really is there a no-fail method of protecting civilians?

One point that Michael Smerconish raised that I completly agree with is how rewarding we've become with children, especially in schools and the removal of competetion. I don't know how many of you have been to a sports day recently in elementary schools but they are a joke. There are no sports and everyone receives a prize just for showing up. When I was growing up there were running races, long jumps, shot put, obstacle courses and a lot of team races. It was about getting your team to wim but it was still about having fun and doing your best. I hardly ever won, I am not an athletic person, but I still loved sports day because it was so much fun (and you didn't go school work for the whole day). Nowadays there's a bubble blowing station, a jump rope until the music ends station and obstacle courses that are not timed or raced against and at the completion of each station you got some candy. Big whoopdidoo. There is nothing wrong with (healthy) competetion. There is nothing wrong with having winners and having losers. It is imparative that children learn you are not always the best at everything. That you need to learn how to work hard, that you learn to work towards a goal and that sometimes you're just not the best. It may sound harsh but how overwhelming is it going to be for them when they grow up and get out there in the real world and have their first job?! There is competetion for promotions, you have to learn how to work hard to get what you want like saving money to buy a house or a car. If they have a hissy fit in their office because they're not getting hat they want, guarenteed they will be looking for a new job pretty quickly. Disappointment teaches true happiness. If a child doesn't do well in math and receives a bad mark and learns how to study and work hard to understand the concepts, when they receive that better mark, they will feel so much pride in themselves and guarenteed will want to try to have that feeling much more often. But if we just tell all of our kids that they're doing great what will they really have learned? Nothing will ever be good enough and they will never feel satisfaction? And I think that's the real disservice.

Soul Cleansing

Tonight I had enough of my messy, unorganized kitchen, so I decided to take everything out of the cupboards and clean and junk and organize. I quickly was in over my head. In two years I accumilated so much useless stuff, mainly by the way, have been given to me by both my mother-in-law and my mom. I say NO MORE! I am boycotting the hand me downs of useless junk! If you don't have a place for it the liklihood of me having a place for it is nil! Actually my mother-in-law is quite good at being sneaky about dropping things off. All of a sudden there'll be a stack of styrofoam plates on my counter or an entire angel food cake in my fridge and I don't even remember inviting her over....FREAKY! So I need to be on the lookout.

Because of this sudden de-junking, I have also decided we are going to have a garage sale. Last year our complex had an "everyone participate" garage sale and I loved that idea. The only reason why we didn't participate was because it fell on the same day as a friend's wedding. So I was really hoping they'd do it again this year. Looks like a no. So I'm taking it upon myself to do one. And making some cash is also nice. Even if we only make $50, I'll be happy. We can go out for dinner or buy Izzy some more toys (that she can either ignore or stick in her mouth). I have to say though, even though my kitchen table is a mess with piles of stuff we're planning on selling, it feels good to have extra space and a very CLEAN kitchen.

Things that piss me off

Anyone who TRULY knows me knows that this is a long list. But I will start with what is irking me at the moment because it happened twice today.

One of the things that piss me off is someone getting Isabel's name incorrect. Okay fine, no one's perfect I get that. People mishear and forget, I totally understand but once you've been corrected, or better yet, have the name spelled IN FRONT OF YOU, and you still get it wrong, I think you are a moron. Case 1, we had someone from the bank come and assess our home today for a loan and he called Isabel Isabella and I corrected him (polietly) ("Oh it's Isabel"). He then calls her Isabella again not more than three minutes later. Thanks for listening. Case 2, My cousin, hello, FAMILY, writes on my wall in facebook, which right beside it has an album clearly marked "Isabel" and proceeds to write about "Isabella". Reading is a gift people!!!! Don't abuse it. Like whatever, I totally get that this will be a life long thing for her, like Daniella is for me ( I still don't understand the idiot that asked me if Danielle was short for Daniella) but when it's right there in front of you there just are no excuses.

Spinning is Evil

Yesterday was my second spinning class and I am so happy that I didn't feel like I was going to barf!!! My legs still felt as though they were going to give out though. But whatever, I just had a baby. It's a great excuse. I wonder if I can use it all the time to get away with whatever I want. Did I eat from the bulk food without paying? Oh sorry, I just had a baby. I didn't stop at the stop sign? Oh sorry officer, I had a baby. Sorry for robbing your bank but I just had a baby. Hmmm....
But at the end of my class as I was walking back to my car I noticed what the Guilford Rec Centre does that is evil. Well two things really; 1) They put the class WAY in the back so I have to walk through all of the cardio equipment and the eight equipment to look at all the skinny people working out and make me feel bad about myself. It's like the walk of shame. Yes look at my flabby bits, I just had a baby (see it does work!) 2) The class is upstairs. When you are finished your legs are complete jello and numb I honestly don't know how I manage to put one foot in front of the other and you expect me to control my legs well enough to climb down stairs? Are you mad?! Thank god for railings that's all I can say.

Cutie Patootie!

Last week a photographer came into our home and took some pictures of Isabel. I think they did a great job and I love the props, just enough cheese for me! The only problem is they only sell their pictures in packages and they were ridiculously expensive. So I just got a few.

I think the hat in this picture looks like a pirate's hat.



I love the bathcap! Too bloody cute!

My little Hawaiian princess!

This one is my Favourite!

Pictures

Here are some pictures of Isabel and Bryn at the Mother's Day brunch at Grandma's.

Death to Spinning

I love trying new classes at the Rec Centre. It gets me out of the house, it's fun and overall it's good for you. I had a $10 credit on my account because my last photography class was cancelled in the fall, and I saw a course that was $10. It was intro to spinning and for my money I receive 4 half hour classes. I figured, why not?! Holy Hannah, I found muscles on my legs that I never knew existed before. There was sweat pouring out of every part of me. I honestly thought I was going to barf, I had to mentally control my esphogas. Half way through the class I honestly thought, you are too out of shape for this, girlie, quit!!!! But when I was done, I had such a feeling of accomplishment! Despit how I felt during the class I actually finished alive! So I think I'll keep going. It's probably good to get out of my safe zone and challenge my body to something different. That is if I don't actually barf during the class, cause then I'd have to drop out due to embarrassment.

Yummy in the Tummy

On Thursday Isabel ate rice cereal for the first time. This is a huge step that she has been ready for quite some time. She watches so intently as you eat, like a dog begging for scraps, hoping some will fall to the floor to be scooped up. She even makes chewing motions with her mouth, too cute. It went well, although at certain times more got on her chin than in her mouth but that is to be expected. I'm so proud of her, sitting like a big girl in her high chair eating runny cereal. I can't believe we've made it this far already. I still have moments where I think I'm pregnant. I can't believe she's 4 and a half months. Where does the time go?

Banned From Oprah

I am no longer allowing myself to watch Oprah. Well, at least not for the sad, sobby shows. The part of parenting that I would have to say that sucks the most is when you hear about horrible things that have happened to children, you ball your eyes out, putting yourself in that situation, and you increase your worry (which you have no control over by the way) about ten fold. Yesterday's show was about a little girl who got decapetated by her seat belt in a head on collision that was caused by drunk driving. The mother walked out of the vehicle with her daughter's head in her hands. Can you imagine that? How unbelievably horrifying is that?! How traumatized would you be, having this memory, this moment burned into your soul for the rest of your life. Ot's already painful enough to have your child pass before you but to have it happen in that way? I never cried so hard during Oprah. That show truly did traumatize me to the point where this is the second night I can't sleep because I'm thinking about this horrible thing. Jordy thinks I'm nuts checking in on Izzy when she sleeps longer than usual. But it's obbessive how worried you become for your child. All you want to do is protect this helpless little person. I don't care what people think of me, but I will always be that parent checking to make sure my child is still breathing. I would go insane if I didn't allow myself to.