Tuesday, March 26, 2013

but I am a good crocodile...

Rosi has lately been enjoying pretend play(one of my first children to do so, which is slightly unique because she is child number 5).  When she is in the bath she will often say, "I am a crocodile, but I am a good crocodile..."  She likes pretending she has a big old crocodile mouth by using her arms, but she never does anything menacing or hardly at all other than to state her "creed".

Monday, March 25, 2013

How a pig gets slaughtered by Andrew (10 yrs old)

We are sitting at the table eating cereal and Andrew starts having a conversation/monologue about something he has been reflecting on lately...how they slaughter pigs.

"Well, first I thought maybe they starve the pigs to kill them. (Mom thinking...ohh, that is horribly mean.  How inhumane can you be?)  But then I realized that if you starved the pigs, then they would lose all their fat and a lot of their muscles too.  (Me again...Wow, good analysis of how ineffective that would be).  So then I thought that maybe the froze them to kill them.  (Yep, it's me again...That would have to be a huge fridge.  And what would you do with a frozen dead pig?  You would have to defrost it to butcher it.)  So then I finally decided that they wait until the pigs are sleeping and sneak up on them and cut  their necks.  (Well, at least that is slightly more humane.)"

Afterward we had a discussion about slaughter houses and how they worked.  We even discussed Temple Grandin and her work on creating more humane slaughter houses (last I had heard she had designed at least a third of the slaughter houses in the US).  Temple is a Professor at Colorado State (?) and also has autism.  She is probably one of the most famous people in the Autism community.  She is a fun and informational lady to listen to, but definitely not a comedian.  She is very practical and such a great example.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Marriage

Well, I would expect that there will be a lot of discussion this next week or so about marriage.  For me it is simple, the government should stay out of marriage...completely.  Marriage is a religious sacrament (or ordinance, depending on your faith).  It has occurred for millennia through many different religions regardless of the government.  The United States government did not create marriage.  To me that means that it does not have the authority to modify it.  State and federal governments have given benefits to married people, not because they are married, but because they believe that married people benefit our government.  Often reasons such as stability and building up of the next generation of our society are sited for such benefits.  That may be true, but for me marriage is further reaching than that.

In the LDS faith we believe that parenthood and the right to procreate are important parts of our Eternal growth.  That these are merely steps in a much longer path.  We believe that it is a privilege to join in marriage and then afterward to join together to become one flesh, figuratively as well as literally.  We understand that on Judgment Day we will stand accountable to God, the Father (and His son Jesus Christ) for how we choose to join with God in the experience of Creation (birthing/having children).  This is one of the main reasons why LDS people don't engage in premarital sex (I understand this is a struggle for many, and some are not successful in abstaining before marriage).

We also believe that all children are entitled to a father and a mother.  We believe that God designed  genetics this way (requiring a man and a woman) because this is the way that God set up the standard for marriage.  I honestly believe that before God told Adam and Eve to go forth and "multiply and replenish the earth" that he married them, right there in the Garden of Eden.

Now I have been asked if love should not be enough to justify marriage.  To this I say no.  I believe that it is a desirable element to have, but I believe marriage should require other things before even love.  I believe it should require the commitment of both as a minimum for the rest of their lives (within the LDS faith you can choose to be married for your life as well as for all eternity).  I believe that they should share their standards and have the same vision of life.  I believe that they should share a desire to raise up a family.  For me there were several men that I loved deeply that I decided not to marry because while we had much in common, I  knew that beyond love we did not have what it would take to be successful in marriage.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Conversation with JJ

JJ:  I like lots of fruits and vegetables.
Mom (skeptical):  Really?  Cause I can only thing of one, no two that you like - Carrots and red delicious apples.
JJ: No, I also like bananas, Red Delicious Apples and Granny Smith Apples.
Mom:  Hmmm- that means you and Grandpa Williams have something in common.  You both like Granny Smith apples.
JJ:  Too bad his last name is Williams and not Smith.
Mom:  We actually have a great grandma Smith - Sarah Ervene Smith.
JJ:  Well then, she is our great, great, granny smith.  Hey, I have a joke.  What apple is related to the Red Delicious...the Granny Smith!


This is an example of me talking to JJ about healthy eating choices.  No wonder he still hasn't figured it out.  As his mother I am a college educated, street smart (by way of growing up with 5 brothers and 3 sisters...maybe I should call that big family smart) mother who can't have a conversation to reach a predictable teaching because having conversations with her kids (especially JJ) are more like using a roller coaster to go grocery shopping.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Me unloading the dishwasher, Andrew eating breakfast at the table:
Me:  Andrew (10 yrs old) did you know that when I was a kid there was a time we had to wash the dishes by hand because the dishwasher broke and G'ma and G'pa did not replace it right away?
Andrew:  That is terrible.  How did you have time to play video games?  Um...did they have video games back then?


Ugh, is that what it feels like to get old?

Saturday, March 16, 2013

sibling conversations

JJ (8 yrs old) - I wish they did not have a law about not being allowed to marry your siblings.
Mom (none of your business old) - Hmm, why JJ which sibling would you want to marry?
JJ, sheepish look on his face, smiles - Anna.
Mom - She is sure nice huh?
MM , (5 yrs old) - Yeah, she's nice.  If I could marry a girl, I would marry her.
Andrew (9 yrs old) - Well, you can't marry someone your same gender...how would you have babies?  I think I would marry _______ (girl in his class).  Mom, if you read my journal you would know I have a crush on her (giggle, giggle).
Mom - am I suppose to be reading your journal?  Do you want me to?
Andrew - Well, maybe not all the time, but you could sometimes just to make sure I am not getting into trouble.
Mom - Umm, OK.



I love seeing my kids perspective on things, and I learn a lot of things I did not know, like how I am SUPPOSE to be reading my son's journal.  Never would have guessed that one.  It is good to see some of my teachings coming out in their natural conversations.  Now if you will excuse me, evidentially I have been neglecting some juice 4th grader journal reading.