Stream of Conciousness - comments and ponderings

Here are a few of the thoughts and observations passing through my mind lately - - -

(1) This whole FLDS thing - I am captivated. I have been fascinated with these folks for many years now. I DO think Texas was right to take those children- I DO think they were in danger. Those horrid men - forcing girls as young as 14 to marry and perform "wifely duties" - I'm sorry but that is abuse. The children have no say, the children are co-erced. I'm sure there are those who are so brainwashed they don't fight it so you could call it consensual but every fiber of my being tells me it is not. In my opinion these girls are being raped. How is that OK? However, I do see the slippery-slope side of this. The "law" doesn't agree with your religious practice so they come in take your children from you and they try to arrest you. In the barest sense - that is beyond a shadow of a doubt, religious persecution. BUT can you commit whatever atrocities you want and hide behind the excuse of "that is my religious belief, it is what I practice"? But then, if we say that the government can, to a certain extent, police your religious practices, how do you word the court ruling so that it is not blown out of proportion and misused by one side or the other? If this act is OK then would it also be OK to force medicine on the children of nut job hippies and the Church of Scientology freaks? It sounds all well and good to say the government can step in when you have obviously lost all reasonable sense BUT what if a lunatic rises to power and uses these situations as precedent? I really do think it boils down to "How do you know what is right and what is wrong?", "What are you using as your standard"? If we continue to foster a society where we say everyone has the freedom to pick and choose what is right for themselves individually, we're in for one heck of a nasty downward spiral.

(2) Yesterday, Wednesday - we were running late, as usual. I let Audrey decide on dinner - it could be McDonald's before dance class or pizza after dance class. She chose McDonald's. I usually order what I want, the way I want it, or settle for 1 boring "grilled honey mustard snack wrap" and then eat whatever chicken nuggets Allison doesn't finish (and usually a few fries as well) But I was tired of the snack wrap and could not afford the luxury of waiting the agonizing amount of time it takes them to make a quarter pounder w/no cheese, no ketchup, no onions. So I picked a combo meal. I ordered a quarter pounder with cheese. Audrey asked me when was the last time I had ordered that as she didn't remember me ever getting one. I thought about it and then told her, I didn't think I had ever ordered one. So, Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - I ate a quarter pounder w/cheese from McDonald's for the first time.

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(3) It seems to me that the children here are so much worse behaved then any I saw on a regular basis in Texas. Is it me? Am I just perpetually sensitive and grumpy? Are David and I insanely strict? Is it just the kids we are meeting? Is it a regional thing? Do people in Ohio totally lack sound parenting skills? One gal - Judy, my Catholic friend - her 7, yep 7, kids are behaved. She disciplines them. Are they perfect little angels? no of course not. But they have heard the word no, they respect their parents, I do not see them becoming hooligans. But pretty much every other friend? I can count on one hand the kids I would be able to tolerate for more than 30 minutes. So many of the parents here just give in and/or give up. I hear kids sassing their parents and other adults in ways that make me cringe. I see kids totally and completely disobeying what ever rules are understood or posted or explained and I see very few parents intervening. And then they get offended when someone else steps in and does it for them. I swear, it is like being in a Supernanny episode every day!!!! I just don't get it. And these are the kids that will be in power when we are in our senior years!!!!!! It's no wonder I drink wine more than I used to!!!!