Mom on Strike Brought it on Herself

Mom who goes on strike is an idiot.

The mom strike began after a particularly busy weekend when her husband was out of town. The social worker was on her own for the weekend with her 12-year-old twin girls, 10-year-old daughter and a foster baby whom she was caring for temporarily. The first time she had a chance to sit down and look around the house was late Sunday night. What she saw was a mess and one thing about that mess stood out – none of it was hers. That’s when she decided to go on strike. . .Her strike was about the overtime – namely, the time she spent performing her daughters’ chores for them. . . But she stopped doing all the chores and tasks that her girls should have been doing for themselves -- cleaning their dishes, picking their dirty clothes off the floor, tidying up after their art projects.

I'm betting most readers never even got it, why she's an idiot. Permit me to 'splain what's wrong with this picture. . .

The girls are 12 and 10 years old.

By the time I was six, I was ironing simple clothes, setting the table, making simple meals and washing dishes after supper. I washed dishes every night. My younger sister dried. I simply had no choice. I washed dishes.

What's the matter with this mother? She's pissy because she has to load the dishwasher? Why the hell didn't she snag those brats before they left the table and make them carry their dirty dishes into the kitchen? Too back breaking? Oh, I know, she didn't want the conflict after a hard day of social work. It really was easier to do it herself. Until it spread like a plague and she found herself as their live-in maid.

Lady. . .if had taught your children properly when they were young, this would not be an issue when they are 10 and 12. You're an idiot.

I didn't have girls, I had boys. Guess what? After every meal they had to carry their dishes into the kitchen and load them into the dishwasher. Then, they could leave the room. There was never any argument about this. . .they carried their dishes into the kitchen from the time they were two. At two, it's great fun to help mommy by carrying their dishes. By the time they were six, it was ingrained and nobody felt it was a chore. It just was. If your 10 and 12 year old girls don't know how to carry their dirty dishes to the kitchen, it's YOUR fault. You're an idiot.

By the time they were 8, my boys did their own damned laundry! I didn't do it for them. If you are doing your girl's laundry at 10 and 12, you're an idiot. If they didn't have clean clothes, it was their own fault. Sure, teaching and supervising took time and effort, but once they had it down, it was out of my hands. If you are complaining about doing your daughters's laundry, you're an idiot for doing it.

You complained about toys all over the house. It's your own damned fault. When my oldest was 18 months, he learned to bring one toy or one collection into the living room to play. Then when he was done, he had to put it away before he could bring out another toy. Before long, it was ingrained. I never had discarded toys all over my house. And the few that were left, it was a simple matter to tell them to pick them up and put them away. 

Cleaning their rooms was a challenge, especially as they got older. I gave them the choice, to clean their rooms themselves or I would clean them for them The first time they elected to have me clean their rooms, I came in with a garbage bag and put everything that wasn't where it belonged into the garbage bag and threw it in the trash. I was not swayed by tears or promises. But they suddenly pitched in to save treasured items and put them properly away, and I let them.When I was done I said, "This is what a clean room looks like." The next time they had the choice, they elected to clean their rooms themselves. When they announced the rooms were clean, I asked, "Will I think it's clean?" They decided to check, and took some time to make sure. But I returned with the garbage back and opened the closet door and they scrambled to clean up the stash they hid in the closet before I had to clean it. I never had to nag. I just had to ask them if they wanted ME to clean their rooms. If you nag, you're an idiot.

Who likes to nag or be nagged? It doesn't work. It's a manifestation of lazy parenting. It's demeaning. It's irritating. It useless and negative. Why does anyone nag when there are so many other better alternatives? Because, people who nag are too lazy to do what it takes to change the situation. It takes work to change lifestyles. For example:

Art projects are a privilege that a child must earn.
Eating off of clean plates is a privilege that a child must earn.
A selection of cool clothes is a privilege that a child must earn.

Art projects and supplies left lying around go into the trash. Calmly. If the artist doesn't care enough to put the items away, why should mom care more and do it for them? Let them assign the value to their art supplies and act accordingly.

Dirty dishes on the table? Dish up the next meal into them. If the girls want clean plates, they have to take some responsibility for those clean plates. If they don't care, then why should you? Trust me, it will only take once of dishing up dinner in the dirty breakfast dishes for the brats to get the message loud and clear. 

Clothes on the floor equal a trip to Goodwill. It's not that difficult. Bag them up and drop them off. Goodwill will wash them. And don't replace them with anything but plain jeans and t-shirts. Or, make the brats earn their own money to buy their own clothes back from Goodwill.

Mom lived in filth while on strike. She's an idiot  Good gawd, why suffer like that? She's entitled to live in a clean house. Pick up the kids's crap and toss it. Make the brats earn the money to replace what was tossed or do without. They can live just fine in plain jeans, t-shirt and tennis shoes until they learn their lesson.

Mom's not a martyr or a hero. She's an idiot. She brought all this on by not bringing up the children correctly in the first place. By being too lazy to invest the time an effort training them properly when they were young and for letting them get away with being insufferable brats as they go older.

For gawd's sake, stop glorifying this mom on strike. She's an idiot.

When is Racism Not Racism?

We have really gone overboard in this country about racism. If any person of color is involved, and if the comment is unflattering, then it's racism?

I thought people of color wanted to be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. Isn't that what Martin Luther King stated?

So, today, when a person of color is judged by the content of their character by a white person, they run to the press crying "racism." Get real.

According to a blog at Law.com

Richard Cebull, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Montana, has initiated a disciplinary investigation into his own behavior after acknowledging he sent a racist e-mail to friends and family about President Obama. 

The alleged racist content is:

Cebull sent the e-mail from his courthouse address on Feb. 20 to family members and friends. The subject line was: "A Mom's Memory." The text said: "A little boy said to his mother, ‘Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?' His mother replied, ‘Don't even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark!" 

I don't know much about President Obama's lineage or family history. But I do know that in order for humor to be funny, it requires an element of truth and an degree of intelligence.

What if the joke was Mommy how come you have (red/green/blonde) hair and I have black hair? Or how come I have nappy hair and you have straight hair? Of Mommy, how come my ears poke out like Dumbo's and yours are flat against your head? This was a question about genetics, with race being nothing more than the obvious genetic difference between mother and child.

Racist? That's not the message I saw, but then I'm not hyper-sensitive or politically correct. The message I got was a mother with loose morals who didn't want to admit loose morals, whose illegitimate son became president.

We used to call such women sluts, and their fatherless kids bastards. Should the judge have said that? "Mommy, how come I'm a bastard?"  "Shut up, Barack, from what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you're not a bitch who barks!"

The joke suggests we have a bastard for president. The morality of the mother and how the child was conceived was the crux of the joke, not the race of the little boy or the mother. But then, this subtlety may be too sophisticated for many politically-correct-humor-police whose sole purpose in life is to point fingers at the speck of dust in someone else's eye while ignoring the log in their own eye.

These politically correct critics are using racism to censor speech. And so many people are falling for this emotional manipulation based on false premises. This kind of censorship is far more offense than racist speech.

And shame on the Judge for falling for it. It's not racist, why would anyone admit it was. The outrage in response to the joke was far more racist than the joke itself was. Why can't people see that?

Our country was founded on free speech, including that which mocked King George. Criticizing and mocking the President based on his perceived flaws is an American tradition. It goes with the office, Mr. Obama. Grow a thicker skin.

As for all you annoying control-freak offensive-speech-monitors, get a life, a real life, and stop censoring the free expression of ideas that offend you. Or put your fingers in your ears and hum real loud. Hit the delete key. Don't open page and read it if it offends you. Because, it never fails, if you succeed in gagging speech you find offensive, your speech will also be gagged by someone who finds your speech offensive.

Sheesh.