Getting to Know the Pookalitas! What's your pet peeve?

What is your pet peeve?!

People who call me when they know my favorite show is on!

Someone expecting that their lack of planning should dictate my sense of urgency.

People who think they are funny, but they are really just being nasty.

Well, I've got a few.....people chewing with their mouth open, people trying to take out a mortgage at the atm and people burping or otherwise letting out things that should be held in!!

What's your Pet Peeve?

The Magic Bracelet!

Hola mi familia! Ok, that is Spanish for what’s up family! I have recently returned from a glorious week in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The main objective for me and hubby, of this trip for our anniversary/we need a break, was to relax big time! And relax we did so much that I was actually exhausted from the relaxation lol! Can I always have this problem? We stayed at a fabulous all inclusive resort. Now usually when you check into these all inclusives you are provided with a wrist band to identify yourself and to let the resort know you paid your money to be there! Well when we got there we were given these lovely wooden bracelets instead of the snap on plastic kind they usually give you. That is when I knew we were in for a treat. I truly believe that bracelet has magical powers! Well…we know that you booked this room but is it ok if we upgrade you to a suite said the concierge, magic! Come right this way…we have special chairs for you on the beach said the hostess as she eyed my bracelet, magic! I believe you need another beverage with an umbrella in it while you relax by the pool said the waiter, magic! And on and on it went for our entire trip. It was painful to leave but I decided to take the magic home with me by keeping on my bracelet. On my first day back to work the train conductor asked for my ticket and I showed him my bracelet. He said it was nice but still needed to see my ticket. I tried to pay for my lunch with my bracelet but the deli wasn’t interested. I kept waiting at my desk for someone to bring me a refreshing beverage but it never happened. When I finally made it home I waved that bracelet as hard as I could so someone would bring dinner for me and my husband. Well family this never happened either. The only person who noticed me waving around like a crazy person was my husband who asked when I was going to the grocery store! That is when I knew vacation was really over. Now I am still wearing my bracelet and have decided that it will stay on until it falls off by itself. My husband is also still wearing his but that’s because he doesn’t know where we keep the scissors in our house… but anyway! I realize that the bracelet still does have magical powers because every time I look at it I am immediately taken right back to that tropical paradise. Gracias Punta Cana!!

Happy Days are here Again!!!

Well the summer is over,the air has turned crisp, the kids are back in school and now its time to get back on my second job again. Class mother! Yes its time to sell, sell, sell, cookies, candy, wrapping paper and everything else that the P.T.A. is pushing. Its time for class pictures, making lunch (I don't like lunch meat!) and lots of HOMEWORK!!!!! Are you smarter than a third grader? Yeah you think you are? Well try doing math (the new crazy math), spelling, writing, and reading every night! I am doing homework every night for at least three hours! Screaming every morning for everyone to get up, rushing around getting kids dressed, fed, packed up and on the bus with me running behind it because Will forgot his glasses. Fighting with Wes because he doesn't want to go to school today (this of course is everyday). Racing to drop Wes and the neighbor's kid off to school and this is all before 9am! Then I get to rest, (go to work)only to start the process all over again, picking kids up, running to the bus stop, making dinner, doing homework, giving people baths, reading stories, putting them to bed, putting them back to bed when they get out again. Where did the summer go, when all I had to do was wake them up and put shorts and a t-shirt on them?

Bullying!

Hello Pooka Family. My heart is heavy and I am not in great spirits today, mainly because of two separate incidents on bullying that have been in the news recently. The first one is about the little girl in Florida whose father went on the school bus to berate and threaten the kids who had been picking with his daughter (who by the way has cerebral palsy). Some may not agree with his methods, but as a parent you can identify with his intentions. I'd always feel compassion when I'd hear about these incidents in the news but now that we have Taiye, I find myself more compassionate to the victim and angry at the perpetrators. Since day one when we found out that we were having a child, my prayers at night changed from, "God bless, my husband, my sisters and my family" to "God, I pray that we raise Taiye to be a strong, confident, Christian person loving God first, us second, her family & friends and her community." I think it is so important that we raise Taiye to be a confident child so she is not easily manipulated by what others think of her or influenced by some little boy who says she needs to prove her love to him by doing God knows what! As a teenager, I was insecure and not completely confident in myself so I definitely don't want to pass on those feelings to Taiye. I want her to be a leader and not a follower and achieve all the goals she sets for herself.

The other incident of bullying that has affected me was, in my opinion, a form of cyber-bullying. This was the incident where two students taped and then streamed on the internet an intimate encounter between his roommate and another person. As you may have heard the result of that incident lead to suicide. I'm sure these two student probably did not mean for this to happen and I'm sure they thought what they were doing was a joke, but what does it say about us/our children, that we find someone else's personal preferences a joke? Why are we so judgmental? Why do we feel we can make other people the butt of our jokes? Like I said, I am sure they did not mean for that young man to commit suicide, and yes, that young man could have possibly been suffering from some other issues that contributed to his decision to take his life. Nevertheless, it does not absolve those students's culpability of what they did. I feel sorry for the parents of all of the students involved in this tragedy. I'm sure they did not expect that when they sent their sons/daughters off to college that their children would end up being responsible for someone's death and for the parents who loss their child, this was probably the furthest from their minds.

Let's teach our children tolerance and confidence!