Stoning the Happy Meal

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors made a bold move today and placed a ban on toys for children’s fast food meals that do not meet specific nutritional guidelines. Debate over this issue has been a hot topic for the last few days. Some folks are firm believers in this movement and hope it sets precedence for a nationwide ban. Other folks believe the government is too much of a presence in our private lives. Some people want to point the judgmental finger at bad parenting. Parents shouldn’t visit fast food joints, and they are irresponsible when they buy their children video games. Why aren’t those children playing outside?





Opinions and bans do not really address the problem, though. One woman on a local news station suggested that parents will simply purchase adult size portions as the American Family begins the mourning process for the death of the Happy Meal. I am not certain that will be the exact response, but I am fairly certain that the response will not be the one that San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors aimed for. We need to look beyond the Happy Meal to the real source of the problem.





How did we become a Happy Meal society? There was a time when many (if not most) families had a “stay at home mom.” Mom had time to cook nutritious meals for the family. I am sure that we had the occasional fast food fare when I was a youngster, but I do not remember them. I do remember fresh vegetables right out of the garden. I remember piping hot cornbread and the smell of something simmering or stewing on the back burner. I remember fried chicken and smothered pork chops. Oh! I stand corrected. I do have fond memories of the occasional trip to White County with Daddy, where we picked up Kentucky Fried and had a picnic on the farm.



The point is . . . Mothers had time to cook. The 21st century Mama works – sometimes more than one job. She is frequently a single parent and has after school and extracurricular activities for her children AFTER working at least 1 and maybe 2 jobs each day. She doesn’t have TIME to cook, so she pulls into the window at McDonald’s on her way home from the music recital or church event that she attended after working 13 hours and grabs a Happy Meal. Heaven forbid!



What about those accusations that parents should get their children off the couch and outside? The days of sending your children out to play with a cheerful, “be home in time for supper,” are long gone. Our children are not safe anymore, even in our own back yards. It takes less than a minute for a child to disappear. Mom doesn’t have time to cook supper, so you can bet she doesn’t have time to supervise backyard play.




On a positive note, Happy Meal toys do encourage imaginative play. Little Susie can sit in front of a screen and punch buttons without much real thought. Mostly that is reflex or reaction. Playing with little dolls and little cars requires a little brain power, doesn’t it? It is called IMAGINATION!




No one will argue that obesity is not a growing problem (pun intended). It is a social problem, not a parenting problem. The ceremonial Death of the Happy Meal is not going to correct the problem. Mom still has to work 13 hours. Little Susie still has Girl Scouts and study groups after school. Removing the toy will never be an effective deterrent for consuming fast food. It only takes a tiny bit of happiness out of what sometimes is a not so happy life.




I APPLAUDE people who want to fight childhood obesity. I pray they find success. A public stoning of the Happy Meal, though, is not the answer. Let’s roll up our sleeves and find a solution that really addresses the problem!

  

Off to see the Wizard! 

Behind a School Bus

I got behind a school bus on the way home today.  My first thought was, GREAT!  It was a mistake to come this way today.  What a silly fool I was to think it was a mistake.  Have you seen a child get off a school bus lately?  They are happy and EXCITED about going home. 



I watched as one little girl about 5 or 6 years old got off the bus to her little sister running across the yard to meet her.  Mom and Dad stood on the front porch watching as the two girls embraced in a hug of love.  The two girls joined hands and ran across the yard to greet Mama and Daddy with big smiles.

 Another little boy seemed to fly off the bus. When his feet hit the ground, he was already in a run for the front door, backpack flapping his back. What waited on the other side of the door? Mama with an afternoon snack of homemade cookies and cold whole milk? An older sibling who would let him play video games for a little while before Daddy gets home? A ball game with the other boys from the neighborhood? Whatever activity was planned for the afternoon, the little boy’s excitement showed in his speedy race for the door.

I was in a hurry this afternoon, too. I was not sitting on the edge of my seat with the excited anticipation of hitting the ground running when the bus stopped, though. When did life become all work and no play? I believe it is time to ride the bus home and hit the ground running again. October is National Walking month, and I have already signed up for the national walking program at www.walktober.com. I am determined to hit the ground running in the afternoons and walking at least 30 minutes every afternoon. This is a good time to listen to the birds! What is it they are saying to me? Did I hear a chirping song of “It’s Time to Catch the Bus?”



My Mother's Scissors

 

My mother was a very talented lady. I don’t think I understood that when I was a child. She did not work outside the home until after I was grown. Children do not recognize domestic engineering as a job because it is simply the result of love, right? How can expressing love in cleaning, cooking, reading, teaching, sharing, gardening, sewing, and laughing be work? Children just don’t understand. Sometimes adults don’t either.


Mama made a lot of my clothes. She could sew AND knit! I remember a few items more than others. Remember koolocs? I couldn’t wait for Mama to finish an orange pair she made just for her little girl. Oh! I had the most lovely poncho. I loved that poncho as a girl and would love to have one like it now.


In the last few years, I have worked at picking up sewing. WORKED at it! Sewing is not easy! I bet I spend just as many hours ripping out as I do stitching up! Mama made it look so easy. I’ve seen Mama lay out newspaper on the floor and make a pattern. Seriously! I can barely get a printed pattern out of the package without a mishap. Every item I have sewn has little mistakes. I can tuck most of them in and hide them from the world, but some of them show. I guess that is fitting because I do the same with my personal blemishes. My sewing never looks professional like Mama’s did, but I enjoy it just the same. Well . . . . when I am not ripping out, pricking my fingers with a pin or needle, and cursing like a Sailor I enjoy it!

Mother’s Toolbox

 Wooden Spools  

  

Yellow Measuring Tape

 

Silver Scissors  

   

Sewing Box   

Thimble   

Seam Ripper  

   

Unconditional Love    

Last week I had a conversation with a friend about her mother’s scissors. She was purging and found that she just could not bring herself to let go of her mother’s scissors. Even for someone who doesn’t sew, a Mother’s sewing tools are too intimate to part with.

I don’t know what went with my mother’s scissors. I don’t remember seeing them after she moved back to Colorado. I have a lot of Mama’s things, but not her scissors. I guess it is just as well because I also don’t have her talent. I hope one of my children will treasure my own scissors someday as much as I treasure the memory of my mother’s scissors.

Thoughts on Whole Milk

Elsie the Cow

Makes your mouth say WoW! 

Whole milk has become a delicacy,

One that I must indulge in from time to time. 

Phoenix Rodeo

I had a date with my son last weekend. My “Baby” and I went to Brooks and Dunn’s concert in Little Rock – The Last Rodeo. Brooks and Dunn hit the top of the charts when Roger really was little more than a baby. He was only 5 years old when “Brand New Man” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” hit #1. I wanted to go to a Brooks and Dunn concert way back then, but I was busy raising a family. I had two opportunities over the years to see the dynamic duo, but life got in the way. Fast forward to 2010. My “Baby” is 24, and Brooks and Dunn are riding in their last rodeo.

 

Raising children is a bit like a rodeo. You feed them and pet them when they are little. When they become teenagers, they are like broncs and bulls that are constantly bucking against you, if not bucking you completely off, as they struggle to find their own way in the world. Sometimes adolescents see their parents as a rider with spurs who is trying to tame the spirit right out of them. I suppose, in some ways, we are. I never wanted my children to lose their spirit, but I would have tamed them if I could. They grow up and mellow out. When they do, it is time for them to go to pasture and live a rich and full life. One at a time, the children leave the rodeo. The truth is that Roger reached that pasture stage some time ago, but we never have really recognized it.

On the way to the concert, Roger commented, “I can’t believe you are letting me drive your truck!” He made a valid point there. I know he drives big trucks sometimes – in some scary situations that I do not want to know about. I know he has driven in the city. Still, I am not comfortable in an automobile to begin with. If I HAVE to be in one, I prefer to be the driver, and my optimum speed is 45-50 miles per hour.

Roger was driving on the interstate and in some pretty bad traffic when he made that statement. It is really an innocent enough statement, but it is the one that made me realize that my Baby is now a MAN. Of course, he has been for a while now. After all, he is a mighty fine father in his own right. My mind knew he was all grown up, but in my heart, Roger was still a baby. He has seen his last rodeo as a buck and will be at pasture until he gets to ride the ride with his own children.

The Last Rodeo concert was awesome and well worth the 19 year wait. Miranda Lambert opened with an energizing show. Of course, she made me cry when she sang “The House That Built Me.” That song speaks to

 my soul, but that is another blog for another day. Miranda’s music invokes a full range of emotions from sweet to sad and struggle to strong. Isn’t that exactly what Brooks & Dunn’s music represents? She was the perfect opening act.

I expected Brooks and Dunn to begin with their earliest hits and bring us up to the latest. I told Roger that their last song would be one of my favorites, “You’re Gonna Miss Me.”  I was surprised when that was one of the first songs they sang. I revised my prediction to their last song would be “Brand New Man” because it seemed like they were going in reverse. I wasn’t quite right about that one either. That was the first encore. A lot of songs made me laugh, smile, and cry along the way. “Believe” and “Red Dirt Road” remind me of who I am and what is important, and they make me cry. “Play Something Country” makes me want to howl and stomp around. “Husbands and Wives,” “Brand New Man,” and “My Maria” bring back fond memories for a variety of reasons.

Oh yeah, and in addition to the music, Kix Brooks is the hottest thang since melted butter!

The end of the night was bittersweet, as they ended the night with “Boot Scootin Boogie.” Roger did not get it because it is just a song. He was 5 when that song exploded in country music. He did not know that it was more than a song. It was iconic. It became a dance. People sang it all the time. The personal ads in the newspapers was full of folks wanting to learn how to boot scoot and others giving boot scootin lessons. People started buying boots and wearing them to the clubs. For my generation, “Boot Scootin Boogie” was a rodeo in itself, but it had been to pasture for a long time when Roger began to enjoy music. For Roger, it is just a song.

The Last Rodeo ended with a bittersweet note. I did not mind getting bucked this time.  It was a great ride.

And the rodeo is reborn in this little bronco . . .

FOX Love

I arrived at work an hour early today and thought to myself, I need to get inside Trey Stafford’s head. It is really tough to second guess Trey AND Jim, but Jim is busy with the Community Breakfast. Surely I can think like one of them. I made me a list of questions that that Trey might ask about Brooks and Dunn and put together a nice word document with every possibility I could come up with. 1st #1. 2nd #1 . . . all the way to 5. How many number ones? Which song is celebration of the birth of Ronnie’s daughter? Which one is a Roger Miller remake? You get the idea . . . and the very first line of my cheat sheet was full names and birth towns.

Did you guess that I am trying to win concert tickets to The Last Rodeo Tour – Brooks & Dunn, featuring Miranda Lambert?

 Now that I have my list of answers researched and ready, I sit and wait on the chance to dial. They are taking Caller 5, and they have to know the entire names for both Brooks and Dunn. When that chance finally comes, I am the 3rd caller. My heart sank because I knew I could not possible get back through. I kept on dialing long after I knew there had to be a winner because every once in a while, the caller doesn’t know the answer to the question. I dialed and dialed and dialed. I was just thinking it was about time to stop when I heard a ring instead of a busy signal. My heart jumps right up in my throat, and I am not sure I am actually breathing. Ring . . . Ring . . . Ring . . . I am thinking, “3 rings? Something is wrong.” Then I hear, “Heeeeeeeeey FOX!” Oh my gosh! I am not even sure what I said. Hello? Good morning? I KNOW THE ANSWER? Gimme the tickets? What DID I say?

Caller 5 did not know the answer to the question. I am Caller 6, AND I know the magic answer. OH OH OH! Who knows what happened the rest of the day. They tell me I was screaming and acting like a mad woman at work.


Roger, who learned from Blake Shelton it is okay to be called Baby, has never been to a concert. I promised him that I would give him the tickets if I ever won again. My handsome son is taking me out Saturday night to see Brooks and Dunn’s Last Rodeo. Few mothers are so blessed.

We are both so excited that we cannot think about anything else! Woo Hoo! We cannot get any work done for talking about it. And the bonus . . . Miranda Lambert opens! How cool is THAT????? I drove to work today, and I do not even remember the drive home. I guess I stayed on my side of the road, but all I could see were visions of Saturday night. I try to work, but my mind wanders. I won’t be fit for shootin next week!

And guess what? Roger and I are not the only ones blessed with the FOX tickets! It is a little known fact that Kix has been looking for a woman like me all his life. Seriously! He is finally gonna get his chance to meet me! LOL So when he sings “Brand New Man, “ you know it will have a new meaning after Saturday. LOL

All joking aside, we are really blessed today. Yes, it is great to win the tickets, but those tickets would not mean nearly as much to me if I won them from another source. Oh yes, I would be excited, but not as much as I am now. Anyone who listens to Fox Country will tell you that the experience is more than listening to the radio, enjoying music and sharing a laugh. The FOX Folks are extended FAMILY. FOXFANS know the FOX Folks families. We cry when one of them loses a dear parent. We cheer at the birth of a child. We teach their children (Jim’s son told me where the bodies are buried!) We raise money for Make-A-Wish and Children’s Hospital together. Our FOX leaders motivate us to reach out to our neighbors who suffer a natural (or not so) disaster. They teach us to LOVE and to share our love.

When I was 16, Nanny wrote me a letter. At then end of it, she told me to “keep on smiling and spread your love around. That’s what life is all about.” The FOX Family does just exactly that. They bring out the best in all of us. They can make a “brand new man” out of the best of us. Winning concert tickets from The FOX constitutes winning LOVE. They are spreading it around because that’s what life’s all about.

Listen to FOX Country at http://www.thefox1049.com/

Am I Responsile For the Oil Spill?

It seems like everyone is angry with BP, and some people are angry with the President. I, personally, am furious that the President has not gotten involved. You know who I am most angry with, though? ME

We have been assigned the task of caring for Earth, but sometimes we are more concerned about what we WANT than what is good for Earth. I don't know how we can fix this, and I fear that it may already too late to fix. We can reduce our consumption, though. If you can walk instead of drive, WALK -- or BIKE! CARPOOL to work! Shop with a buddy in ONE car. Make lists, so you can shop less frequently. 

STAYcation!  STAYcation!  STAYcation!

Enjoy the beauty of your own back yard,
 while we still have one to enjoy.