Monday, May 28, 2007
Memorial Day
Happy Memorial Day to all! To me, Memorial Day means the beginning of Summer. It means driving to Indianapolis, and it also means raining at the Indy 500. It means basketball playoffs, auto racing, and baseball games. It means staying at my sisters, and cooking out at my other sisters. It means parades, shorts, sunscreen, and making sure both my camera and video camera are charged. It means fighter jet flyovers. It means silly string (or crazy spray), bubbles and tractor rides. This year, it meant birds... hummingbird eggs the size of a pencil eraser, 3 baby house finches, and 3 unlucky baby robins. It meant family... immediate family, extended family and future family. I think it means a great deal of things to most people. But, please remember why our country celebrates Memorial Day. Stop for a moment to remember the thousands of men and women who have sacrificed their lives so we could enjoy ours.
Mohawk haircuts. During my childhood, when I saw another kid with a Mohawk haircut, I thought to myself... "wow that kid is a rebel". As I grew older, and saw a kid with a Mohawk, I thought... "wow, that kid is begging for attention". Then a few decades pass by and the only place I saw a Mohawk haircut was at Pine Knob/DTE Music Theater (the Mohawk was not in the crowd, but on the stage as part of The Village People act). Well, at least here in Willard, the Mohawk is making a comeback. Last week, while subbing, I saw a Kindergarten boy with the crazy hairdo. I wondered why his parent(s) would do such a thing. Obviously, a 5 year old didn't ask for the ridiculous hair stripe on his head. At that point I thought I had seen it all. Until today... as I walked up to C1's preschool to drop him off, I see a classmate of C1's with that darn Mohawk haircut. Another parent said (very politely I must say), "That is a cute hair cut". The mother of the Mohawk preschooler said "Thank you, it is a tradition." On a side note, the kid is 3 years old... NOTHING IS A TRADITION YET! Anyway, she also mentioned that all the kids on his T-ball team were doing it. OK, C1, is on a T-ball team, and my son will never get a Mohawk haircut until at the least, he can decide for himself that he wants one, and more likely he is 18, and I am not legally responsible for him. I mentioned the "do" to C1's teacher when I picked him up and she mentioned that they had sent the Kindergartner home due to his distracting hairstyle. No word on whether C1's classmate will get the same treatment. I am all for self expression, but the kid is 3 years old. Now, when I see a Mohawk on a preschooler I think... "That boys parent(s) must be begging for attention". And if by some chance, the parents of the Mohawk boy happen to Google "Preschool+Mohawk+Willard+ridiculous+irresponsible" and see this entry in my blog, yes, I disapprove of you cutting your 3 year old's hair into a Mohawk.
I love Family restrooms. C1 is 3 years old and although he IS potty trained, he is still working on his ability to.... well, how do I say it... hold it. When I am shopping, in the mall, or a store like Wal-Mart, I get excited when I see a Family Restroom. First of all, they are huge! plenty of room to park a stroller, or even a shopping cart in. And it is just me and the boys, bigger restrooms are better. Another advantage to Family restrooms is that they are 99% of the time very clean. I guess because nobody uses them. I don't care why, but it is nice. The 3 of us were on our way back home from Granny and Gramps and had to stop at a turnpike rest stop/ food court plaza for a potty break. I basically had to carry both boys into the place, and when I saw the Family bathroom, I got all excited. They had a little fold-down seat to buckle C2 into while C1 used the facilities. And of course they had a changing table. We were in and out in just a few minutes, and we had no issues with nasty restrooms or safety of my kids wandering around the community men's room while another was "busy". Whoever invented the Family restroom deserves a trophy.
