I love Jon and Stephen. I watch them whenever it’s a new episode. This has always been the one hour of television that nothing interrupted. No cleaning, no twittering, nothing but funny television. I don’t want to blame the writer’s strike for anything, BUT lately I’ve been getting distracted during the power hour of television. In fact, last night I got so distracted that I don’t even know who the guest was or what they talked about. This may be the only benefit to the writer’s strike, but at least it’s a good one. I’m not sure the good outweighs the bad though. Stephen and Jon are only four nights a week. That leaves three nights to do other things. I have five children. I NEED my four nights of funny. I can live with just three nights of distractions. Bring the writers back NOW!

Fun for them - Spinning until you fall down.
but not for me - Your child making you spin with them.

Fun for them - Your child blowing up and popping bags.
but not for me - Wondering where all the ziploc bags went.

Fun for them - Pushing each other around the house in empty laundry baskets.
but not for me - Finding my clean clothes scattered all over the floor.

I hate that I am voting AGAINST someone next week and then AGAINST someone else in November.  Just once, I wish there was a candidate worth voting FOR in the presidential elections.

My favorite way to wake up? Not this:
“He called me a name and then he said I did somethin’ but I didn’t do it.” “Nuh-uhh. He was saying bad words and being rude and he hurt my feelings.” “Did not.” “Did too.” “Stop it.” “You stop it.” “I’m telling.” “I’m telling first.”

It’s even worse when it’s grown adults acting this way.

Two episodes in and Breaking Bad is still tv worth watching. An hour of smart, sarcastic and very, very dark television. The recent episode was less of an undies in a twist and more of a car wreck by the side of the road that you just can’t resist looking at even though it makes you squirm. The anti-hero’s decisions are causing his life to unravel completely. He is about to find out just how good he had it and how bad things can get. There’s still a sense of who he used to be when he doesn’t fulfill his part of the coin toss, but instead of seeing that as hope, it looks like the last drops of water in an empty well. I’m looking forward to next week, but not as much as I am looking forward to . . .

. . . LOST returning this Thursday! Thursday night the phones will be turned off and the children will be put back in bed (again) during commercials. The only thing television needs now is for the writers to come back. Quick! We need more LOST and less reality shows. When I want reality, I turn the television off.

“I’m cutting out pictures of cats.”
“Do you have a cat?”
“No, my mom says she’s allergic to pets.”

“My daddy has a friend who’s a girl. My mommy hates her.”

“I can’t eat ice cream. My tooth might fall out.”

Doug: “Our Foreman grill has just about had it.”
Me: “Well, we did get it two people ago.”

My children have always accompanied me when I go to vote. They listen to me talk about politics, politicians and issues on a daily basis. I explain very carefully that I do not obsess over these things because I am unhappy. I focus on them because I BELIEVE in democracy. I have faith that we can elect people who do the right things for the right reasons. I care about politics because I care about people.

Progress teaching Tommy about politics? Slim. My obstacles include a relative who tells him how to vote without saying why and Tommy’s Asperger tinted view of the world. Yes, the relative and I are polar opposites politically, but I still don’t want my children to vote based on what they are told. I want them to think for themselves and vote their head and heart. Tommy’s mind processes things like a computer. Everything falls into categories and follows rules. Sarah is hooked on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Tommy doesn’t “get” sarcasm and I don’t want him to confuse entertainment with news, so I can’t use Jon and Stephen as conversation starters. I don’t want to take him to partisan events. I want him to see beyond republican and democrat. He’s also a teenage boy and it takes very little for him to become bored with Mom talking about immigration, socialized medicine and civil rights. So, I talk a teeny bit here and there while searching out videos and movies that show issues from different perspectives. Tommy has always been a History Channel junkie. Unfortunately, on-demand focuses on movies a lot more than on anything on Discovery or the History Channel. If only there was a History Channel lending library. I could seek out a grant to stock an educational library at NAMI’s Peach Cottage, but that wouldn’t happen in time to help Tommy. Tommy will be casting a vote on November 4, 2008. I am the only person trying to prepare him. Who is preparing all the other 17-year-olds?

At the advice of counsel, I retract my statement that Sarah is the “world’s worst babysitter” as stated in my previous post. I might be guilty of a slight exaggeration. It is extremely unlikely that Sarah is the worst babysitter in the entire world and it’s remotely possible that she’s not the worst in this state. I apologize for any emotional damage my statement may have caused Sarah. Sarah has completed the Red Cross babysitting course and I would like to hope that she is capable of babysitting children who are completely potty trained. I’m sure she is a much better babysitter for children who are not siblings and do not spill, break and hide her belongings on a daily basis. I know that she is willing and able to hold an infant in between diaper changes. With this statement, I absolve myself of responsibility for any psychological trauma that I may have caused Sarah by giving her a negative performance review as a babysitter, no matter how much she deserved said negative evaluation. Sarah is responsible for her own therapy debts, but I give her permission to blame me for whatever neurosis she develops during adolescence. Thank you.