Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Hallo-tween!

Today, bloggers all around cyberspace are most likely going to post something about Halloween. So I'll fall into line, too. I've read enough mom blogs to know that moms are not very happy about the costume choices available for our children. Our options are either inspired by Disney or by Penthouse. Not much in between.
My 15-year-old wanted to be a bumblebee this year. Cute idea. But the $29.99 costume at Party City included Barbie-sized shorts that exposed 3/4 of my daughter's ass. Worried that my teen would be picked up for prostitution as she walks the streets tonight, we decided to make our own. (I'll have to post the photo later after I take it tonight.)

My tween wanted to be a waitress this year, but again, what was commercially available was completely inappropriate for an 11-year-old, who happens to be very tall for her age and wears teen-sized clothing. I could just imagine the snarky comments she'd get from the boys at school: "Yes, I'll have one waitress with nothing on her, please." So, we snubbed Party City and all the other like costume stores and went straight to the source: We rented a waitress uniform from Ruby's Diner for $20, and they were more than happy to oblige. We also bought a serving tray at Target ($5) and then made a fake shake with a plastic glass we had at home and stuffed it with white tissue paper. Done deal!

Moms -- THIS is the kind of creative thinking you need to do every Halloween -- let your children be who or what they want to be, but pull together the costume yourself. Let's stop giving creative control to the costume manufacturers, who think that what is best for our children is to dress them up like little pimps and whores.

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Taco Bella

Hard-shell taco with meat, cheese, lettuce, to...Image via Wikipedia I promised that this blog wouldn't be one big rant against society and what's happening to our kids. In keeping with that promise . . . yesterday was a beautiful day. A bella day (I don't really know Italian, but I think that's the right word for "beautiful.") Yes, times are tough. Layoffs are all around us. The stock market is on a frightening downturn. Retirement accounts have been ransacked by trusted financial institutions. The price of laundry detergent is through the roof, which is why my daughters are looking a bit grubby these days. BUT, there was a silver lining yesterday. A ray of hope for four afternoon hours.

Not sure you even knew this, but between 2-6 p.m. yesterday, Taco Bell gave away FREE beef tacos to anybody and everybody who came to one of their zillion locations all over the U.S.! I guess the taco giant was delivering on its promise to give away free tacos if either a Philly or a Blue Ray stole a base in the World Series. (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/tacobell/)

So thanks to some big-league stealing, we little-leaguers got to do a little stealing of our own, too. And I hope you cashed in on it! You were limited to one taco per person. But there was no limit to how many Taco Bells you could . . . what was the word I used earlier? . . . ransack. So I hit three of them with my teenager in less than an hour. Call it greed, call it gluttony. I know I was guilty of two of the 7 Deadliest sins. But damnit! It felt good to be getting something for nothing for once!

Yesterday, the world wasn't looking so badly, after all. For one small window in time, We, The People, got free tacos and for once, felt like big enchiladas.
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Sunday, October 26, 2008

Shoot The Messenger

Disney Channel's second logo, consisting of a ...Image via Wikipedia OK, moms . . . I know you’ve heard this song, and I wonder if it bothers you as much as it bothers me. It’s a very popular, overplayed tune called “Paper Planes” by MIA. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sei-eEjy4g) When you first listen to it, it has a cool sound, a catchy tune and the singer belts it out in a very distinctive voice, I'll give her that. You can’t help but listen. Then comes the chorus: “All I want to do is . . . (pop, pop, pop – the sound of guns going off) and take your mo-nay . . .” then you hear a cash register drawer opening up.

When I first heard this song, my teen acted out the gun-shooting part with the thumbs and index fingers on both her hands, as though she was actually shooting at someone, and then when the sound of the cash register comes, she pulled down on an imaginary slot-machine lever. I couldn’t figure out what she was doing and what “mo-nay” was, and she quickly educated me.

“Mom, it’s ‘money.’ They’re shooting someone and taking their money.” At the end of the song, the gangsta gal brings it to a dramatic close by singing, "Some I murder, some I let go . . . "

What the HELL??? Is this what record producers think our children need to sing along to, or for that matter, is this what these musical geniuses think is going to sell records? Who do they think is going to give our teens the money to BUY these records, anyway?? Not me, and I implore YOU not to buy this CD or let your children download this song to their iPod, either! Since WHEN did it become popular for our children to emulate and glorify gangsters?

Please, PLEASE do your children – and the world -- a favor and switch the station every time this song comes on. Either find the Disney Channel, some soft rock station or shut the radio off altogether and use this time to connect with your children in a loving, way, rather than the way Hollywood is trying to reach them – through mainstreamed violence.
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Monday, October 20, 2008

It's you and us against pop culture

White IPod nanoImage via Wikipedia I’m a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to pop culture. I don’t have an iPod, and never will. The whole Nintendo phase blew right by me. (Now what is it, Xbox or something?) Two years ago, I was forced to buy a DVD player after Blockbuster stopped carrying VHS tapes. I can’t stand Rap music and how it popularizes the denigration of women to a repetitious, hypnotic beat. As my 11-year-old so wisely said, “RAP stands for Robots Attempting Poetry.” I am disgusted by how popular it is for kids to dress and talk illiterately like “gangstas” – “Whassup, Dude?” And then there’s Freak Dancing, which has our children simulating sex by grinding with partners at school dances.

Where is all this destructive influence coming from? YouTube, iPods, TV, video games and movies, for starters. My ex-husband bought my oldest an iPod with a gift card for free downloads. Little did I know she was downloading filthy-mouthed comedians discussing things a 15-year-old isn’t ready to hear. One night I caught the same teenager in question watching “A Shot at Love” a reality dating show, like “The Bachelor,” with a slight twist: Tila Tequila had to decide if she wanted to date a boy or a girl. (MTV is now blocked at our house.) Last Christmas, a relative sent my daughter the book “Gossip Girl,” a prequel to a popular TV show aimed at teenagers. In the first 10 pages, the “F” word was used 4 times, and teenagers were discussing sex and one father’s affair while mixing martinis in a home absent of parents.

Is it any wonder that 16-year-olds, like Jamie Lynn Spears, are getting pregnant?

What I’m trying to say is: Be vigilant. PAY ATTENTION to what your kids are watching, reading, listening to and accessing on the Internet. If your children are young, come up with a game plan now for how much pop culture you will or will not allow them to be exposed to someday.

We, as parents, are the final fortress surrounding our impressionable children. And just because something's popular doesn't mean we should let it in.
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