Our Crooked Tree

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but there once was a time in my life when I was easily dismissed.  I would allow others to convince me that my opinion was either not accurate, or better yet, I would be lead to believe that it wasn’t really my opinion at all.  To help you understand, I offer this illustration:

Child: “Mommy, I want to go outside and play in the snow”

Mommy: “Honey, it is too cold to go outside right now, you don’t want to go out there”

Child: Hmm.  I could have sworn I wanted to go outside and play in the snow.  This big person seems to know everything else, maybe I don’t want to go outside after all.

The above is just an example, but imagine if this scenario is something the child experiences often enough that it becomes a part of their being.  They allow others to tell them what they want.  What they should do for a living.  What their opinions are.  I had no idea that even did this until I got on the roller coaster ride of events that occurred during the last couple of years.  They say awareness is the key.  So here we are.

This is not to say that I run around town on a soapbox telling everyone what I think all the time.  I’m not making decisions willy nilly like, without thinking of the effects those decisions have on others.  What I am saying is that I don’t mind rockin the boat sometimes.  I do try to pick my battles wisely.  Frankly some things just aren’t worth the fight, with myself or others.  There are a few subjects that are exempt from my self censor though.  Now you, my lucky reader, get to hear my rant about one of these subjects.

Smokers. (Said with slight disdain and a snarled lip)

I am not a smoker, nor have I ever been a smoker.  Sure, I puffed on a few back in high school and college while I as out with friends.  I just don’t never picked up on the allure of this habit.  I don’t understand how people keep smoking knowing it makes them smell, their teeth yellow, it discolors their home, makes their car smell, and not to mention IT WILL KILL THEM.  It’s a minor detail but I thought I would mention it.

I have very few friends that smoke.  I can count on one hand the people in my life that have made a decision to harm their health and those with whom they come in contact.   What baffles me, is these people I know that smoke are good people.  They have jobs, contribute to society and raise their kids well.  They generally make good decisions, and yet they smoke.  Let’s talk about how this decision affects their children.

• The adult decreases the amount of time they get to spend with the child.  The adult might be hiding while smoking and is cutting years off their life by smoking.
• Lets say the adult is hiding while they smoke…what does that say to the child about the habit?
• The adult is cutting years off the child’s life by smoking in front of them or in the home.  Statistics show that children with smoking parents are twice as likely to start smoking between age 13 and 21.
• The adult is wasting good money that could go in a college fund.

None of this is to say I think smokers are bad people. On the contrary, my mother was one of the very best people I knew.  That was before she DIED  before her 59th birthday because her LUNG CANCER spread to her brain.  I know smoking is an addictive habit that is hard to kick.  I don’t care what people do as long as it is not harming others.  You want to kill yourself?  More power to ya.  The issue I have is when adults make a decision to harm the kids that have no control over the situation.  Should I be so bold to consider it child abuse?

Think about this the next time you light up or a loved one does.

You would have thought he had severed a digit the way he was throwing a fit. For those of you with small children, you know the fit I am talking about. It starts out innocently enough, bottom lip puckers out, eyes squint, and then the tears come. You quickly go into diversion mode to try to avoid escalation. No good. He is on to me and will not have any substitute for what he wants. What could he possibly want you ask? His blanket? A popsicle? A cookie? Heck no, that would be too easy. This kid wants string cheese. I make every effort to avoid this very scenario by anticipating a low stock of dairy in the fridge. I have to say my boys eat more dairy than any other food group. They start each morning with a snack of chocolate milk and string cheese. Upon waking they come into our room and say “I want chocolate milk and string cheese Mommy”, as if I do not already know that.

As we prepared for our recent weekend trip to visit the family in The Lou, I decided to wait until our return to restock the fridge and cabinets. As you can imagine, both boys were distraught by the fact that we did not have any string cheese for nearly four days! When I told them last Wednesday I would go to the store when we got home, they asked if Granddaddy had string cheese at his house.

Not only do they like string cheese, Little Man likes a certain kind of string cheese. Not the brand mind you; but the shape. I guess the generic brand I regularly purchase has a favorable shape for his mouth so when I mistakenly bought a name brand he was not happy. Now that I have made that mistake once; he asks every time we get a new bag if it is “the round kind”. Chalk one up for the story brand!

Dinner always consists of some sort of dairy or multiple variations. Cottage cheese is a side that is requested often, as well as yogurt for “desert”. Ask Little Man what his favorite dinner is and he will quickly answer “cheesy eggs!”

I know where they acquired their affection for cheese and all things dairy(or their obsession, depends on how you look at it); my grandfather nicknamed me Mickey Mouse at a young age due to my ability to eat my weight in cheese ( I may be exaggerating a bit but you get the idea). I am telling you I could still sit down and eat a whole block of the dairy goodness. (again, go with me)

Today while I was shopping I purchased the usual items but struggled to think of something new. I am hoping you guys can give me some ideas on new ways to incorporate dairy into our meals; after all, there are only so many cheesy eggs I can handle. If you can, make the recipes easy as I have an aversion to the stove and anything that does not come in a package. Oh what the hell; The Man can cook it.

First person to comment gets a fabulous reusable goodie bag from The Midwest Dairy Council that contains a $25.00 gift card to Price Cutter, a jump rope, recipe ideas, and a coupon! I will then have a random number thingy pick three more winners to receive a $25.00 gift card each to Price Cutter and a coupon!

My kids are getting hungry people and dinner ain’t makin itself…

*Don’t forget to leave your e-mail addy and url is applicable so I can tell you if you win!