Parenting Challenges

Girl-a-thon recently received an email chain letter from a member of her Girl Scout Troop. It was a threatening letter that promised death and eyeball removal--with a fork, at the hands of none other than Mickey Mouse--for those who didn't pass it along. Of course she forwarded it to all her closest friends to spare them, or "not to chance it" as she wrote.

Thankfully, one of the forwardees showed the email to her mother who made me aware of it. Now, we have already discussed appropriate use of email and such in the A-thon house, so I was pretty peeved. Dad-a-thon handled it much more calmly than I would have. Girl-a-thon has sent an email apology to all of her friends, and has informed them of her being "offline" for the next month.

The challenge, though is what to do about the girl who sent the email? Do we let her parents--who are new to us--know?

Any adivce on how to handle this would be greatly appreciated.

New Look

After trying to come up with the time to sit and learn how to truly customize my blog, I have resorted to the cheap and easy fix: I used a gorgeous picture of the sunset. Believe it or not this was just a regular day here when the sun went down. Every now and then I am outside at the right time to see such beauty. When I am, I try to capture it forever. Hope you like the look.

Preservation and Progress

Over on Molokai, people are dealing with the problems that can come from getting what you want. (Or from getting what you've been begging for.) Our pastor has often said, "You cannot just want what you want. You must want also what your wants lead to."

For several years, folks on Molokai have been playing the inevitable tug of war that comes with rural living: Preservation vs. Progress. It's tough in this day to maintain a simple life. (Especially when "simple" includes, a car--with gas, TV, phone service, and utilities at the flip of a switch or turn of a knob. The problem with those benefits of modern life, is that they require people to live in community. Most folks who have sought out a ruggedly rural lifestyle are more the isolationist types. And therein lies the problem.

Now the folks on Molokai are in deep kim chee. The biggest source of employment has quit playing tug of war. In fact, they are taking the rope and going home. (I can't blame them much. It's their rope, and they even made sandwiches, brought drinks for everyone and gave them shade.)

O'Fukunaga

I guess that's what you get when you are Irish/Japanese!

A friend was in the Irish spirit today. As we were both judging a homeschool speech competition we had name tags on. I laughed right out loud at hers: Cathy O'Fukunaga. (Normally She is Cathy Fukunaga.)

The Perv 'Stache

It is gone...finally.

Boy-a-thon dived into puberty this year. It seems that in the fall I had a boy and this spring I am watching a young man emerge. It's a bit disoncerting. Where once was a smooth sweet face is now hair--yes, hair! Tonight Dad-a-thon helped Boy-a-thon with his first shave. It had to be done, because, well, he had that light moustache that looks like a pervert. Hence the name "perv 'stache". (OOps! There goes my chance at mom of the year.) Boy-a-thon didn't much care for the name, so he was all for the big shave. Yes, words are powerful ;-)

Yet again, I find myself thinking that this is my favorite stage. Go figure, adolescence actually has its good parts, too. I do love being with my kids and watching them grow and mature. What a treat.