What is UP with the Country Bear Jamboree?

[Magpie]

I think I look smashing! I can rock a shiny silver hooded suit like no one else!

This is an AWESOME flame retardant suit!

I'm getting one for myself! (I wonder if they have them in gold... I hear gold deflects heat better...)

 

[psimon]

I think I look smashing! I can rock a shiny silver hooded suit like no one else!

Does it have a Mickey on the back (or is it a Hidden Mickey )?

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[lindsroc]

You know what's really scary???????

The real world. And that doesn't come with a G, PG, or any other rating system for that matter.

Really? It is? Wow- I wasnt aware of that. Thank you, oh- thank you so much for the heads up!!! I dont know how I have made it through 30 years without your insight.

 

[jenm2878]

So this is my question, completely off topic from the Country Bears, but nonetheless related in a roundabout way. I'm serious as a heart attack. Where did all this political-correctness run amok and helicopter parenting over the past ten years or so actually come from?

I am 31, and DH and I are thinking about having children. There is no doubt in my mind that I will be the "bad" mother on my block because my kids are NOT going to be covered in bubble wrap with earplugs sitting on a throne til they're 18. By gosh, I ate dirt and watched TV and listened to questionable music and got spankings and I turned out just fine.

DH and I are constantly shaking out head in amazement at the stories our teacher friends tell us about self entitled parents/children they have to deal with. I guess maybe we SHOULDN'T have kids because we still don't understand a lot of things that are going on today. We don't get the "no punishment" thing in schools. We don't get the "time out" thing that some of our friends employ (with NO results.) We don't get the "no winners" thing in sports. We don't get the bad grades being the teacher's fault. We don't get the kid getting in trouble being someone elses' fault.

Whatever happened to parents taking responsibility for their own actions, and children being made to understand that for every action or inaction (like not doing homework), there is a consequence that applies to THEM? Not mom and dad flying up to the school to whine that the teacher isn't being fair. Or if your kid's baseball team doesn't win a game, maybe it's because they weren't as good and they need to practice more and losing sucks, but it happens. Give them encouragement and A+ for effort, but winning comes with a combination of hard work AND natural skill. Just like everything else in REAL LIFE.

I'm sorry, but I thought that a parent's role in child rearing was to prepare their child for the path, not the path for their child.

(Going off my soapbox to don my flame-retardant suit so that people with kids can tell me I don't know anything about raising children. )

I agree 100%. My DH and I are in the same boat as you - we're 31 and 29 and were planning on having kids soon. I've seriously considered NOT having kids because I don't want my kids to grow up in a world where everyone is a special little snowflake who thinks they are entitled to anything and everything. We always joke that our children would get taken away from us anyway because we would discipline them and would expose them to new experiances instead of bubblewrapping them.

 

[solferino]

The original topic of this thread was bizarre - now it is truly off topic and off the deep end.

Welcome to the CB.

 

[TimeforMe]

Magpie: Your post was absolutely hysterical yet somehow totally on the money.

 

[KimR]

(Going off my soapbox to don my flame-retardant suit so that people with kids can tell me I don't know anything about raising children. )

I have 3 kids and I agree with you 100%. Great post!!

 

[TDC Nala]

This one I think was serious:

"I'M VERY CONCERN ABOUT THE IMAGE THAT THIS MOVIE SHOW ABOUT THE DENTISTS. DOES ANYBODY CARE ABOUT THE MESSAGE THE WRITTERS OF THIS MOVIE ARE SENDING TO OUR KIDS? WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PART OF OUR HEALTH. I THINK THEY MADE A BIG MISTAKE INCLUDING IN A KIDS MOVIE A PART WHERE A DENTIST PLAYS A ROLE SO NEGATIVE. I REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY ANY OTHER PARENT IS WORIED ABOUT THIS ISSUE. DENTIST SHOULD SAY SOMETHING!!!!!!! "

Seriously people.

I wonder if this person has seen "Little Shop of Horrors"

 

[reeeoga]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V40sgsHhGfA

 

[scottny]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V40sgsHhGfA

that was fun to watch, thanks for posting.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

I wonder if this person has seen "Little Shop of Horrors"

OR the movie "The Dentist"

 

[TDC Nala]

Or "Marathon Man"

 

[Ciao Mickey]

I'm still mad that they don't sing Rocky Top anymore.

 

[andromedaslove]

Thank goodness I went all the way through this thread or I'd have gotten REALLY lost!! As it was I spent the first 10 pages trying to figure out why the country bears were on the CB!!

As far as kids go. I thought I was the best mom in the world when I had my first son(he's 6). He was polite, and sweet, never threw fits, always did what he was told. I mean he was literally a PERFECT child, then my second was born (he's 3 now). We love him, but there are times I think he is demon spawn!! He is mean, and has been since he was a baby. I mean a BABY!! At 6 months old he could give you an evil look that would make you wanna run and hide. Halloween the little one tried to beat up a batman who walked too close to his big brother. Seriously, he ran up to him screaming at him to "STAY AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!!". You should have seen me trying to explain to batman's mom that the little one is just REALLY protective of his big brother. In my own defense, the youngest really didn't start talking (at least that we could understand) until the past 6 months or so. It's not very easy to discipline a child when you're afraid that maybe they can't communicate or understand you. Now we know he can he just didn't want to listen!!

I remember before I had kids, seeing some child throwing a fit, and thinking to myself that if MY KIDS every behaved that way I would beat them!! Well.... guess what.... it doesn't really work that way. Thankfully, we are starting to get through to the little one about WHY we can't behave like a hellion, and he is starting to get sweeter. It's just a work in progress!!

We all deserve to be here, by virtue of being born here. What I tell my kids is that you can give up that right, by the way you act. If you are mean, nasty, or hurtful, you don't deserve to be around nice people.

The little one has learned this the hard way. He has been removed from the restaurant whenever he throws a fit and if he can't get it together he doesn't get to go back in and eat with the family. That stopped fits at dinner REAL quick!!

"Well, sorry kid. You simply will do certain things, or you will accept the consequences. If you won't wait in line, then you don't get to ride. It's sad, but there you go. I'm going over here to wait in line, you can stay there and watch me have fun." Unfortunately my son is a master of cutting off his nose to spite his face. "I'm sitting here missing the ride, and I LIKE IT!"

Now that sounds just like mine!! We have been taking the same approach, especially now that he's old enough to understand it!!

Dana

 

[Nancy]

So this is my question, completely off topic from the Country Bears, but nonetheless related in a roundabout way. I'm serious as a heart attack. Where did all this political-correctness run amok and helicopter parenting over the past ten years or so actually come from?

I am 31, and DH and I are thinking about having children. There is no doubt in my mind that I will be the "bad" mother on my block because my kids are NOT going to be covered in bubble wrap with earplugs sitting on a throne til they're 18. By gosh, I ate dirt and watched TV and listened to questionable music and got spankings and I turned out just fine.

DH and I are constantly shaking out head in amazement at the stories our teacher friends tell us about self entitled parents/children they have to deal with. I guess maybe we SHOULDN'T have kids because we still don't understand a lot of things that are going on today. We don't get the "no punishment" thing in schools. We don't get the "time out" thing that some of our friends employ (with NO results.) We don't get the "no winners" thing in sports. We don't get the bad grades being the teacher's fault. We don't get the kid getting in trouble being someone elses' fault.

Whatever happened to parents taking responsibility for their own actions, and children being made to understand that for every action or inaction (like not doing homework), there is a consequence that applies to THEM? Not mom and dad flying up to the school to whine that the teacher isn't being fair. Or if your kid's baseball team doesn't win a game, maybe it's because they weren't as good and they need to practice more and losing sucks, but it happens. Give them encouragement and A+ for effort, but winning comes with a combination of hard work AND natural skill. Just like everything else in REAL LIFE.

I'm sorry, but I thought that a parent's role in child rearing was to prepare their child for the path, not the path for their child.

(Going off my soapbox to don my flame-retardant suit so that people with kids can tell me I don't know anything about raising children. )

I'm in my 30s too and have the same questions as you. I grew up like you and when I was growing up in the 70s/early 80s kids were NOT the center of the universe. Our parents didn't consider it their jobs to keep us occupied, entertained and protected from all obstacles. If a teacher told our parents we'd done something wrong, WE got in trouble, not the teacher. My parents were old school, born in 1936 and 1941. I think the change happened with baby-boomer parents. Not sure why, though.

I'm very close to 50, my girls are mid to late teens and I am not a helicopter parent. I have never called a school to complain about something. Once when my oldest was around 12 she was complaining to the pediatrician about how I don't let her do everything she wants and I don't buy them lots of stuff. (Doc made the mistake of asking her if she had anything she wanted to talk about). Doctor told her that Mom's job was NOT to make her (my daughter) happy. Mom's job is to make sure she is fed, clothed and housed and that she is going to grow up and be able to function in the real world. (I loved their pediatrician!) DD was not too happy with that answer!

My kids knew the consequences of not doing their homework, not practicing their dance routines, not putting full effort into their sports teams. If they lost or failed, too bad. I'll comfort, say I'm sorry you lost/failed, but then it's time to get over it and work harder next time.


Mscott, sounds like you have a good head on your shoulder and I'm sure you'll do just fine when you have your own kids.

 

[Magpie]

(snipped for space)

I remember before I had kids, seeing some child throwing a fit, and thinking to myself that if MY KIDS every behaved that way I would beat them!! Well.... guess what.... it doesn't really work that way. Thankfully, we are starting to get through to the little one about WHY we can't behave like a hellion, and he is starting to get sweeter. It's just a work in progress!! (snipped)

Dana

I totally get where you are coming from. I could reason with my first. I thought I was such an awesome parent. My second was a pretty easy baby, but he turned downright evil as a toddler. Little old ladies would try to pat his sweet curly head and he'd react by trying to hit them! He had tantrums that could last hours. He would hit me, and bite. And he was *always* hungry. I had to learn a completely new set of parenting techniques for this kid. It was a really long road, as I struggled to teach him self control and empathy, and responsibility. I used to say that I wanted him to take all his out-of-control emotions and stuff them deep down inside him where they wouldn't hurt anyone else. (Bad mommy, I know! But I just couldn't take any more drama from the kid.)

Then we discovered he was hypoglycemic, and put him on a low-carb diet. All that work he did to learn to control himself when he was constantly spiking and crashing - it's really paid off now that he's not always fighting to stay emotionally level. I think it's like learning to bike in the hills and suddenly being given miles of flat road. He's calm, mature... and he's not hungry!

What kept me going was my conviction that he's a really good person, inside. Like you said about your son - the protective instinct is really strong. I remember on 9-11, I was at the corner, waiting for the school bus, trying to explain what had happened in a way my kindergarten daughter could understand. My son quietly took off into the bushes and came back with a large stick. He grabbed my hand and said, "Don't be scared, Mommy! If the bad men come here, I'll poke them with my stick!"

I've always figured all I had to do was to nurture that part of him that wants to protect his family, hopefully expand it to a desire to protect all people, and in the end I'd have a pretty darn good man on my hands.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Or "Marathon Man"

IS IT SAFE? (still think of that whenever I have my teeth cleaned!)

 

[Macca1111]

Now I want to go see the Country Bears again. It's been awhile.

Maybe it could be turned into a Rocky Horror kinda thing with a fan floor show.

I'm in! But it's the blood on the sa-adle, that really drives you insa-a-a-ane!

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

or:

Blood on the Saddle

There was blood on the saddle, blood all around
And a great big puddle of blood on the ground

The cowboy lay in it, all covered with gore
He'll never ride tall in the saddle no more

Oh pity the cowboy, all bloody and dead
A bronco fell on him and mashed in his head

 

[KirklandTutu]

Someone wondered why Little Mermaid would be offensive...

I keep thinking that it's probably along the same lines of this family that I had to deal with a few years ago. The ballet school that I was teaching at was doing a Fairy ballet and one young group was assigned to be unicorns. Something about asking a child to be a unicorn went totally against this families belief system. This perplexed me so much, it's a unicorn! I talked to a friend about it and she stated that her mother felt the same way, and that unicorns were of the devil. Perhaps Mermaids are of the devil too?

Anyhoo, I always felt so bad for that six year old kid. She just wanted to dance in a show, but for reasons that she didn't understand, she couldn't. I keep thinking of the many times that I've performed roles that in real life I wouldn't agree with (ethnic stereotypes, a murderer, a slave girl, someone commiting suicide, a religious devotee) ...but they were roles to play, not who I was as a person.

I really found that particular parents approach to be distrubing, and was grateful that my parents, though fundamintalists, never put me through that.