Friday, November 2, 2007

My 2 Cents

Here are some extremely random, and extremely opinionated thoughts. I doubt everyone will agree with me, but that is okay. I've been reading some interesting, thought-provoking blog entries lately so that is where a few of these random thoughts come from- my own ponderings about the topics raised in other blogs. And then some of these thoughts are just out of the clear blue sky.

Halloween- we dress up, trick-or-treat, have fun carving pumpkins, roasting pumpkin seeds, and that kind of thing. The way we celebrate Halloween is completely innocent and I am sorry other people out there may use it as an excuse to do horrible things or worship false gods. I think 99% of America views it as a reason to dress up and eat a lot of candy. I do, however, try to avoid all associations with witches and devils. I bought some paper plates with a cartoon-y witch on them this year and looking back I would call that a mistake. I slipped up and was not thinking. I would never allow my children or myself to dress as witches or devils because I think those things are real and they are scary and they are definitely not in line with honoring God. Like I said, that may not be a popular opinion, but I am sticking to it. It's the same reason I won't ever let my kids play with a Ouija board. People in the Old Testament really made God mad by messing with the Occult.

I read a book called The Mercy of Thin Air that got rave reviews on Amazon and started out great. But by the end I was not impressed. It's not a very good book. So, don't always believe the hype of a 5 star rating. Lesson learned.

I tried to cook chicken leg quarters for the first time tonight by roasting them in the oven. The skin turned a beautiful golden brown. They looked so tasty. When I cut into them, bright red blood ran out. It totally freaked and grossed me out. I don't know what the problem was. I know they were thawed before I put them in the oven. It was weird.

Today, Cody booked me a ticket on his flight to Denver in a couple of weeks. He's taking me on a business trip! (and Lucas) Ava and Nate will stay with the grandparents. Lucas and I will be with Daddy in a super nice hotel in downtown Denver. Lucas and I can stroll along a pedestrian mall scattered with shops and cafes while Cody is in meetings. Then we can eat lovely dinners that will probably be cooked all the way through for a change. And maybe I can see my brother while I am there.

So Christmas is approaching, and also the yearly debate between Cody and me as to whether or not we will tell our kids Santa is real. (Two controversial Holidays covered in one blog entry, folks.) Cody is all for it, while I have my reservations. I don't mind gently playing along, but if my child asked any questions about the validity of Santa, no matter what age, I would totally tell them that he is just pretend. None of this, "What do you think?" junk. I think kids ask their parents questions expecting to get true answers and that is what I aim to provide in every circumstance, even Christmas. Cody is afraid our kids will be "ruin-ers." The kids that tell other kids the truth. I am not so worried about that.

Lucas slept through the night last night after a week or so of waking up many many times. He is such a tease. I am hoping he decides to make sleeping through the night a permanent part of his repertoire.

So there it is! Plenty to provide disagreement, discussion, offense, bewilderment. Or, this can all be taken with a grain of salt since it is only my 2 cents, after all.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

My aunt and uncle were firm believers in the Christian Christmas so their children were told from the beginning that there's not a Santa. Sure enough, when I was 4 or 5 years old my cousin, who is the same age as me, chose to blurt out one holiday season that Santa wasn't real and that they open all their presents on Christmas Eve; which of course proved Santa wasn't real. I was devistated! We both believed in Santa growing up. I don't think it affected our Christianity, but it is a tough decision. Celebrating the true meaning of Christmas removes the childhood meaning of Christmas. The jury's still out on this decision for what Tim and I will do, and we're not even parents yet!

Lindsay said...

I totally agree with you on everything - but here is my 2 cents on Santa Claus. I am all for the Santa Claus thing but that is b/c I had a good experience with it. I never believed the ruiners - and was not devastated when my mom told me he was not real. I really enjoyed the believing for awhile - but my parents always made sure Jesus was the real reason for the season so my Christmas spirit was not dashed when I found out there wasn't a Santa Claus. I think it is fun for kids imaginations - just make sure they know the focus is Jesus and I believe they will be okay. But that is my 2 cents. I am like Cody who really enjoyed believing for awhile.

Kristi said...

A little debate and a good nights sleep! Doesn't get much better than that!

Amberly said...

Uh-oh... was that one of the books that I sent you? I can't remember. I remember looking at it on Amazon, but I don't remember if I had it shipped to you or not ?? If so, sorry!

Kim said...

OH! I'm so offended.....NOT. If you can't rant on your own blog where can you??? Speak freely woman!

Stephanie said...

Glad Lucas slept through the night. Caleb still decides to not sleep through the night sometimes. Last night was one of them. Makes you want to pull your hair out!

Elizabeth Mai said...

We did away with "Santa being real" already this year. It's been a highly debated topic in our house for several years! We still have fun with Santa, and let that be a part of Christmas, but Elijah knows he's just pretend. It's worked well so far. And as far as my two cents, I understand the idea of not wanting your kids to ruin another kid's Christmas fun, but I also decided that that is not a way I want to raise my kids. I can't always raise up my kids according to what other kids and parents are doing. We have to make our own decisions and choices as parents to bring up our kids in the way that God instructs and convicts us to do. So there's my opinion - do with it what you want! :) And I do totally agree with you on the Halloween thing!

Anonymous said...

Halloween started out perfectly innocent - all "hallows eve." It was a good thing. I don't know when it was turned into something evil. I have my suspections that it was some "evangelical" type that tried to make it evil (like with SpongeBob and Barney and the teletubbies). Let me pause here by saying I will be 50 in May and have two grown children so I've been through this stuff. As for Christmas and Santa Claus, let them believe in something like this as long as they can. There are so many bad things going out there, it's good to believe in something GOOD. When my son was in 9th grade, a teacher asked the students to write a paper on what they'd like to do when they grew up. My son chose acting as his career topic. The teacher blew him out of the water. I responded back to her - let them have dreams as long as they can. The REAL world invades us much too soon.