What is Wrong with Some Parents?

     First off I would like to say that I am far from being a parenting expert and I make my own mistakes on a fairly regular basis but some parents today are doing more harm than good when it comes to raising their kids.  I'm not talking about the abusive parents who should never be allowed around children period.  I'm talking about the parents who refuse to parent.
      Example:  Child A and Child B vandalize some property and are caught.  Parents A take Child A to task and expect him/her to make restitution to the property's owner.  Parents B either try to blame everything on Child A or they take out their wallet saying, "Kids will be kids," and pay the property owner and absolve Child B of any further responsibility in regards to his/her actions.
     Who do you think were the better parents in that situation?  If you said Parents B then you should stop reading this blog right now because you will probably not like what I have to say most of the time.  Parents B have taught their child nothing about taking responsibility for his/her own actions and suffering the consequences of those actions.  Parents A on the other hand recognize a vital life lesson that their child needs to learn and the sooner the better.  Child A will be less likely to repeat his/her mistake and may avoid more serious ones in the future.  Child B will go through life thinking that Parents B will always be there to protect him/her from the consequences of his/her actions.
     Child B may even feel no one can do anything to them until he/she lands in such serious trouble that, as hard as they try, Parents B can't make it go away and Child B ends up doing some jail time.  Parents B may, even at this point, wonder how their precious son/daughter got into such trouble and it must be someone else's fault.  Parents B deserve a smack upside the head in my opinion.  They are so deluded about their precious child that they fail to see what their own actions have created.
     Why am I even talking about this sort of thing?  Well, yesterday I say a video someone shared of the opening dialogue from Live with Kelly and Michael on ABC.  (I'm not sure, but I think it's from their September 20th broadcast.)  A NFL player was in Florida when his New York house was broken into and the culprits had a party and were very destructive all while tweeting about it and posting pictures of themselves committing the crime.  The player took those photos that were publicly posted on Twitter and put them on a website to try and identify those responsible for the destruction.  Now some of the parents of the culprits want to sue him because they claim he is hurting their children's chances of getting into college.  I was floored when I heard that.  What kind of parents get mad at the victim of their child's criminal actions for trying to find out who committed the crime?  I was so happy to hear Kelly's reaction to that news and I agreed with her that my kids would be in so much trouble from me that getting into college would be the least of their worries.  Those parents who want to sue are teaching their children the wrong lessons.  They are teaching them that it's okay to commit a crime because Mom and Dad think getting into college is more important than learning to be a responsible and law-abiding citizen.  These kind of parents make me sick!

The Downfall of the T.V. Theme Song

     I was watching the Emmy awards a couple of years ago with Neil Patrick Harris hosting and he pointed out the lack of theme songs on current tv shows.  I have since thought about that from time to time and it is so true.  Most tv shows now have no theme song.  They might have a little opening thing with a little music and the title of the tv show but that is it.
     I guess the rise in production costs and the desire for getting the most out of a one hour time slot has led to the fading of the theme song into tv history.  Too bad.  I love a good theme song.  It becomes memorable and any time you hear it you think of that show.
     Big Bang Theory has a great theme song written and performed by Barenaked Ladies.  It's so fun my husband bought it from iTunes.  A good theme song can capture the feel of the tv show in less than a minute. Remember the theme to MacGyver?  I have that as a ringtone on my cell phone.
     I'm glad that Hawaii: Five-0 kept the iconic theme song, updated for the new century of course, from the original series. Could you imagine that show without it?  It just wouldn't be the same.
     I love the theme song from Doctor Who.  Any Whovian worth their salt can sing that theme song at the drop of a hat.  It is so fun and fits the show so well.
     What theme songs are your favorite?
     

To Strike or Not to Strike?

     I didn't intend for this blog to be all about current events but I just couldn't help myself with all the talk about the U.S. wanting to take action against Syria for using chemical weapons on its citizens. I get updates on Facebook from my local radio station and the comments some people were leaving on the news posts were annoying. I chose to voice my opinion here, where I can thoroughly explain my position.     In case anyone reading this has not been keeping up with current events here is the gist of it. Syrian rebels claimed that the government used a chemical weapon on citizens in rebel held areas. UN investigators were finally allowed in the area, after heavy government bombing, to collect evidence. The U.S. has said that based on independent evidence gathered the people were attacked with sarin gas and that there should be military strikes made against the Syrian government.
     Some people are saying the U.S. should quit sticking its nose into other countries' business while others support the U.S. position. I personally see it for what it is, a complex issue with no easy solution. I doubt the U.S. really wants to get into another war but at the same time the use of chemical weapons cannot be ignored. Why you ask? Well something I read online recently might help.
     A friend on Facebook shared an article on The Washington Post's website written by Max Fisher entitled "9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask." I read it and what he said made a lot of sense. He says, "The whole idea that there are rules of war is a pretty new one: the practice of war is thousands of years old, but the idea that we can regulate war to make it less terrible has been around for less than a century. The institutions that do this are weak and inconsistent; the rules are frail and not very well observed. But one of the world’s few quasi-successes is the “norm” (a fancy way of saying a rule we all agree to follow) against chemical weapons. This norm is frail enough that Syria could drastically weaken it if we ignore Assad’s use of them, but it’s also strong enough that it’s worth protecting. So it’s sort of a low-hanging fruit: firing a few cruise missiles doesn’t cost us much and can maybe help preserve this really hard-won and valuable norm against chemical weapons." So basically what Max Fisher is saying is that if we let Assad get away with using chemical weapons then it will be that much easier for the next guy to choose to use them and that would be disastrous for the citizens in whatever area gets gassed.

      Back to the comments made by people on the news post I was talking about earlier.  Some were saying the Americans are just being busybodies while others questioned their motives, asking if there was oil or gold in Syria.  I understand why these people feel that way but at the same time it comes across as really ignorant. Should the U.S. fire cruise missiles on Syria?  I think it's better than sending in ground troops and the images of gas victims being broadcast by the media makes me sad and angry at the same time.  Can we really just sit back and do nothing when innocent children are being killed?  How many people felt the Americans should have intervened in Darfur with all the tragedies going on there?  The U.S. can't step in and try to solve all the world's problems, they have too many of their own but they also can't let Assad get away with using chemical weapons.  It's a complex issue and no matter what happens there will be critics saying they did wrong.  To Strike or Not to Strike? That is the question.