MY DOG IS GROWING UP?

Last night, it stormed all night. So naturally, if you’ve read prior posts about Bizmark, my 100 pound furry “baby,” you’d expect, as I did, that he’d be crawling over my head to get into bed with me. But much to my surprise, there was no fur in my face last night!

So I can attribute this change of behavior to one of four things.

1. Maybe he’s maturing. But usually with dogs, they get more neurotic as they get older, so I’m not so sure about this one.
2. He’s losing his hearing. Hmmm. He sure hears food dropping on the floor pretty well.
3. He’s decided I’m a bad mommy since I wasn’t giving him any sympathy and I was pushing him off of me as hard as I could. Me? A bad mommy? I think not. Scratch that one off the list!
4. He heard Bad Daddy calling him a “Sissy Dog” and “Girlie Dog” and decided to prove him wrong. Yeah! That’s it! Blame it on Bad Daddy!

Okay, mystery solved! As long as it’s working and IT’S NOT MY FAULT, I’m good with it!

 

Karen

Reflections on the Ten Year Anniversary of 9/11

It was quite a weekend. Solemn, reflective... remembering and feeling the intense wounds all over again of everything that was taken from us as a nation that day.

There is nothing that could be said or done that would make it all okay in the end. Even when President Obama announced they had killed bin Laden, it didn't bring me any sense of justice or vindication. Not that I want him to be around to bring more terror, by any means, but the whole things feels utterly senseless. I try to understand it, and I just can't.

But here is something I do know... things I did see this past Sunday. I saw people coming together and honoring the memory of the fallen. I saw people make time to display their patriotism, flying the flag, proud to be Americans. I saw people stopping for each other, random acts of kindness, expressing thanks to civil servants and first responders. I watched many recounts of that day on television, and in the midst of something absolutely horrific and incomprehensible, people stopped to save each other, help each other, protect each other. The news reports of the children of 9/11 were the hardest. Watching these children speak about the parents they will never know, simply because of someone's hatred. But I also saw the impact that people had on other people's lives. That is a priceless gift. I would not say it was an equal trade by any means. But I'm grateful to find something beautiful in the midst of something so devestating.
Never forget.
Always remember.

Remember who you are, and from what nation you come. Remember what our freedom has already cost us... and continues to cost us today. Remember the people who protect and serve on a daily basis. Remember that we are all in this together, and one day, it may be the kindness of an absolute stranger that saves you. Remember how as a nation we came together to heal. Work toward coming together again.

Never forget.
Always remember.

Melissa

Friday Fun!

Friday Funny...

This one is still making me giggle. I mean, the beaver at the very end... that would totally be my world!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Melissa

IS THE TELEPHONE DEAD?

I just read in Reader’s Digest (original article by Pamela Paul from The New York Times) that nobody talks on the telephone anymore. And they aren’t talking about just landlines. They are saying that nobody uses the phone to just “chit-chat” anymore, they are only using their phones to text or use email now. Talking on the phone is a nuisance to most people and is avoided at all costs.

In fact, the line is, “Phone calls are rude. Intrusive. Awkward.”

Really? Wow. I respectfully disagree.

Unless that call is from a telemarketer.

But if that call is from a friend or family member or neighbor or credit card company telling me my card has been used suspiciously, I welcome that call.

Maybe I’m just a “chit-chatty” gal, but I like to TALK to my friends and family, not have only a written relationship with them. How can you console a sad friend with a text? Or relay a funny story in an email? How can you catch up after a couple of weeks without actually talking? You need to HEAR their voice to know if everything really is “fine” when they say it is.

So, if you’re my friend, I’m going to keep calling you until you tell me to stop (at which time I’m guessing we won’t be friends too much longer!). I’ll call your home, I’ll call your cell, and if I can’t find you, I’ll text you and tell you to call me so we can TALK! Texting is fine for certain things, but not to sustain a friendship.

If Reader’s Digest, the New York Times or Pamela Paul would like to discuss this further, they are welcome to CALL me!

Karen

Oh, and yes, I just realized that today is Thursday, not Wednesday! I’m sure Melissa will get a kick out of the fact that I’m a day late in blogging this week. Let’s just let her have her fun, shall we? Do you think she’ll call me or text me?

No Madness Today! (OR: A Girl's Gotta Have Goals, Right?)

May your cares be light, your worries be few and your blessings be many.

Say thank you to a civil servant today, especially the ones who are working.

Don't go to the store unless it's a true emergency (and no, running out of liquor does NOT count!). Help retailers remember why they are suppose to be closed today.

Eat some BBQ. Smile. Relax. Breathe.

Happy Labor Day!

Yours, gearing up for absolutely nothing today!

Melissa

Friday Funny...Welcome To My Oxymoron

What happens when you take a 50 pound fur ball, a squeaky toy that she simply adores, and add in three days time?

This sentence: "Mooooooommm! Lola's pooping the pink piggy!"

Go ahead. Say it five times fast. It's just funny. Lola is still chewing, chewing, chewing. She chomped that pink pig until she completely annihilated it. I thought I had picked up all the pieces. Apparently, I did not. Dare I say it, though, I believe she may be potty trained completely! YAY for Lola!

So on to my oxymoron... or paradox. I'm not sure what to name it... maybe it's simply ironic. But it made me laugh. You all know one of my jobs is working for a church. And theologically, this church is pretty conservative. And that's okay. I'm a believer, and there are things upon which the church and I will agree and disagree. We agree to disagree. That being said, one of my jobs for them as the head of their arts school is to develop new classes. I've been working on a photography course about which I am very excited. i was putting all of the finishing touches on the information, building fliers and sending out registrations. Someone asked me if the teacher had a site where they could view their work. So I googled the teacher's name + photography.

Among one of the very first hits, came a site with a photographer of the same name.

Guess what HIS specialization is?

Seriously... it couldn't get any better for my conservatively minded church. Especially as some of it's members are particularly vocal about how modern we are becoming.

Yep, you guessed it.

The other guy's (NOT the photographer with which we are contracting to teach the class) specialization?

Boudoir Photography.

Yours, anticipating some fun phone calls come Monday!

Melissa

A Parenting Book…written by Kids!

Please welcome our friend, Vanessa Van Petten, creator of RadicalParenting.com and author of the parenting book, “Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded?” (http://www.radicalparenting.com/books-and-products/book-youre-grounded/),  as our guest blogger today. Here at Macaroni and Chicken Fingers, we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her website and can’t wait for her book to come out!!!

When I was 16 I thought it was my Dad’s goal in life to make me miserable. I was convinced that he had a running list of all the ways he could embarrass me in front of my friends, trick me into doing more chores or make my curfew earlier.

Our relationship would have continued to devolve until one day I saw my Dad reading a parenting book. I flipped through it while my Dad was in the bathroom and realized a lot of the things he did that drove me crazy he was getting right out of this book! I looked at the other parenting books on our shelves and realized that they were all written by adults. I wondered—has anyone ever asked teens to write to their parents?

I decided to build a website where teens could answer questions and write to parents called RadicalParenting.com. I couldn’t believe how quickly it grew and how happy both teens were to get their voices out and parents were to have a new outlet for connecting with their kids! We now have over 120 teen writers who give advice.

Teenagers, when given a neutral space LOVE talking to parents and often offer some of the best insight because they are going through it themselves. We have also been so excited to help parents who feel like they cannot reach their kids and teens.

I think teens and parents can work together to overcome their differences and learn to work best together. We have just come out with our book: Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded and it is a radical approach to parenting because it is written from the kid’s perspective! We would love for you to check it out—if you are brave enough to see what kids have to say!

What is this book about?

So, you have to forget the old parenting book approach - this book gives parents a totally new way to reach their teenagers because it's the only book that tweens and teens helped write - so we are hearing first-hand advice that actually works! It gets right to the heart of the problems and offers straightforward prescriptive - and effective advice. This is a very different approach to parenting that tackles these modern problems.

What makes this book different?

Before now there has only been resources written from one side of the family equation....the adults. This is the first book that gets both sides talking. What's more, the book goes a step further by using techniques that human lie-detectors use: What does a teenager's face look like when they are lying? What questions do parents need to ask to get the truth?

You are not a parent, what experience helps you write this book?
Actually me not being a parent is what makes teenagers feel comfortable opening up to me about what they really need from their parents. It allows me to be a translator for what parents need, what teens need and then bringing the two together so they can be on the same side.
You are not a doctor, what experience helps you write this book?

There are already amazing resources out there from doctors and psychologists, we take a very different approach to parenting. We believe that for most families there are really simple miscommunications happening that we just need to decode. With this book, I teach parents what kids really mean when they say, "I don't care" or "Can I have a later curfew." This is advice from teens in the trenches of family life.

Here is what Publisher’s Weekly had to say:

“Van Petten, founder of the popular Web site RadicalParenting.com, offers parents a candid view of the contemporary teen’s world in this eye-opening text. Van Petten uses actual stories about teens and their often anxious, angry, or befuddled parents to introduce each chapter. Pointing out that she is neither a parent nor a teen (nor a doctor, therapist, or counselor), the college-grad author has nevertheless earnestly investigated her subject and includes current research on teens as well as hundreds of “real quotes, interviews, e-mails and advice from actual teens.” Van Petten explores a variety of timely subjects, including peer relationships, teen/parent communication, bullying, technology, and “risky business” (smoking, drinking, sex, and more). Her outlook on technology and “Internet savvy” is particularly incisive, emphasizing not only the hazards of “time-suck” activities (i.e., Facebook, chatting on IM, and texting) but also the many social and academic benefits of the digital universe. Like a crafty spy, Van Petten comfortably segues from parent to teen perspective, and while noting that each adolescent is unique, she skillfully opens doors to the collective teen psyche. “

–Publishers Weekly

Vanessa Van Petten is one of the nation's youngest experts, or 'youthologists' on parenting and adolescents. She now runs her popular parenting website, RadicalParenting.com, which she writes with 120 other teenage writers to answer questions from parents and adults. Her approach has been featured by CNN, Fox News, and Wall Street Journal. She was also on the Real Housewives of Orange County helping the housewives with troubled teens. Her next book, "Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I'm Grounded?" is being released in September 2011 with Plume Books of Penguin USA.

(http://www.radicalparenting.com/books-and-products/book-youre-grounded/)

Karen

By the way, you can also find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Radical-Parenting/132204829461