The REAL cause.

Darn kids!! I'm am sick of the swine flu nonsense. I mean, if thousands start dying I'll take it all back.... seems unlikely though.

Thanks to Busy's mom for sending this in :)

The bus.

I take the bus a few days a week. I don't mind it, I get a chance to read and Busy gets the car. Today, the driver's switched to their new routes. I was a little frustrated that I caught a later bus then usual. This turned out to be a good thing though. The new drive, Janice, may just be the friendliest bus driver I've ever seen. She greeted everyone, introduced herself by name at least 6 times on the ride, and actually made folks move so the elementary kids that catch the bus could sit down. She even remarked she wouldn't want to drive the new trains here in Phoenix since she'd not get to interact with people.

What a refreshing attitude in this day and age of ATMs, self checkout, curbside to go places, Internet shopping and solo commutes to work. A person that actually likes...*gasp*... people.

Facebook.

I have, along with my darling wife BusyMommy, entered the world of Facebook. It was rather cool to find some old friends, see pictures of their kids, and get a glimpse of the class of '94 15 years later.

Just based on the number of people I recognized, though, I may just have been the last person in the country to build a profile!

WOAH!!

My camera phone just went off in my pocket... scared me. Wasn't sure who was taking my picture.

Sunday School

I remember being a student. Respect for a teacher was drilled into us, and the few 'bad' kids that dared to be disrespectful were dealt with. Usually they didn't repeat the offense either. When did this change? I'm not talking about a rowdy can crowded public school either. I teach a Sunday School class full of 3rd and 4th grade students. Don't get me wrong, I love the kids, but the reaction to authority shocks me:

Me- Johnny- please move to that table
Johnny- Why?
Me- Because I asked you to- that table you are at has no supplies
Johnny- The activity is dumb, I want to sit here.
Me, (calm but annoyed)- yes, but I didn't ask you about the project. I also did not ask if you wanted to move- please move.
Johnny- No.
Me- Sorry, not a choice *take away Johnny's chair- he moves*

5 minutes later Johny and his partner in crime Jimmy are back at the table, which now has not chairs, laughing.

One 'teacher glare' and they moved... slowly.

It would be OK if this were the only time, or the only students. I also have a runner... who's parent refuses to 'make' them come into class, rather they will enter when they are emotionally ready. Never mind she runs off to do her volunteer work elsewhere.

Or, the 10 year old boys that bring toys to class and refuse to put them away. M loves Bionicle Legos... they weren't too happy when I offered their toys a new home at my house...

Or the girls, lest we think it is all boys, who are the rudest of all. The phrases I'm bored and this class is stupid are particular annoyances. I realize, I tell them, they are here because their parents 'make them' be there. It's still my job, though, to teach them. I had the phrase 'he's a jerk' mumbled under breath yesterday because I refused to let a group of 6 girls (about 1/3 the class) go to the bathroom together 5 minutes after we had a class restroom break.

So... am I crazy or have kids become disrespect machines? These are 'good Christian' kids from (mostly) solid families.

The highlight of my class yesterday was the boy with Asperger's, or similar. He was obsessed with elevators and numbers of floors in places. He poled everyone he could about their experiences with elevators, floors in their home and where they worked, etc. He loved that I'd been on the world's fastest elevator in the Hancock building in Chicago. I expected constant competition from him during the lesson... he was an angel.

The irony of it all was the topic yesterday: "To Be Like Jesus: Learning to Rejoice in Suffering"

God bless these kids... but I pray for a wake up call for their parents.

Why I don't understand many parents...

Sexting. Apparently teens now are having very graphic encounters, with pictures, over their cell phones. While this does not surprise me all that much given society's current state, the reactions do. First, these children are being labeled as sex offenders and traffickers in child pornography. Why aren't the parents being charged? For that matter, why haven't parents educated their children enough so they know it isn't OK to send naked pictures of yourself over the Internet?


Link:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/07/sexting.busts/index.html

Just one more thing...

Sunday errands are unusual at our house, but we decided to go price appliances, carpet, paint, and all the other homey type things we will need in the near future. It went something like this:

• Kmart- notice small puddle of coolant under the car
• Home Depot- Notice slightly larger puddle under the car
• McDonald's- notice increasingly hard to ignore puddle under the car
• Drive by mechanic- discover his is now closed on Sunday, notice coolant dripping while looking at hours
• Drive home- waiting on the car to explode.

We made it home just fine... but it's just one more of the little things!

Boys and Toys...

The State Department on Thursday sent a blunt, public message to North Korea: Don't launch your missile.

Seriously? I can picture this. The N Korean government gets this memo... and thinks, Oh, since they SAID not to, we shouldn't. Or maybe they'll think that the message meant a different missile.

I guess our diplomats need to attend preschool, and discover that this doesn't work.

This tiny nation wants attention... and we are giving it to them. I don't advocate ignoring temper tantrums, but then again sometimes that works.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that a crazy dictator with a missile that can hit Los Angeles is a big deal, but if it were really a threat it wouldn't be in the news.

If the government ran like a preschool, we just might be in better shape!