Tuesday, October 29, 2013

All my honest thoughts for your enjoyment

Have you noticed people saying "all the things." Like I want to eat all the things, or I want to read all the things or I want to buy all the things. It makes me want to throw all the things when people use that phrase. It's right up there with people.putting. periods.after.all their.words.to stress.how.much.they mean.something. Sorry not sorry. Another phrase I hate! All of these phrases are used non stop on the interwebs. If nothing else, the blogging world and instagram and twitter have given me ways to make fun of people more than I already do ( which is pretty much any hour I'm not sleeping), so there's that (that phrase right there...so there's that...another phrase I hate). I don't know why phrases catch on and why people have to beat them into overuse and why everyone wants to sound exactly like everyone else.

Kate and me are going to see The Avett Brothers in a few weeks. I won't let the fact that Seth Avett divorced his wife and is now dating an actress ( who is not as pretty as his ex wife) ruin this concert for me. I'm quite pissed off though. I mean can't people just stay married? Seth Avett wrote a lovely song for his now ex wife back when they were engaged. It was called January Wedding and now he says he won't be singing it anymore and every time I hear it on my ipod all I will be reminded of is that Seth Avett was just full of shit when he wrote the lyrics. 

Now this one will get me into trouble. A few weeks ago a particular post was circling the internets and it was written by a man and it was all about how we should worship moms, specifically full time moms. He didn't call them full time moms, he called them stay at home moms, or something like that. By the way, just to assure any mom who may be reading this about whether or not she qualifies as full time mom...if you have a child, you're a full time mom, regardless of how many hours of the day you are with them. Anyway, the post was all about how we should put moms on pedestals, but what he really meant was, moms who stay home with their kids should be put on pedestals. Now you would think that being a legitimate full time, stay at home, homeschooling mom, this post would have been right up my alley, but no, all I could think was, gee this guy really wants to get laid. I don't need a man telling me how awesome I am and I certainly don't appreciate a man trying to garner attention and create drama by writing about moms and which moms are better and how we should kiss the ground stay at home moms walk on. If you read the post and enjoyed it, good for you, but I found it gross. Respect people because they are fellow human beings, not because they stay home with their kids. I ended up reading a few more of this guy's blog posts and realized he thought he knew everything about everything and then I felt sorry for his wife.

Speaking of humility, Greg and I were in a conversation recently with some people and the topic of children came up. People were saying all these things about raising kids and how to get them to be good and proper and well behaved and successful and Greg and I just glanced at one another. We've run the gamut of issues with our kids and if I thought I knew nothing about raising children before, the past year has confirmed for me that while Greg and I love our children as much as any other parent, we usually don't have all the answers. We usually have none of the answers. Anyway, after the conversation went on a bit my husband sensed my unease and he titled his head to the side a little and looked up and said, well, they are their own people and they're going to make mistakes no matter how much we want them not to. And everyone agreed and we went on to talking about something else, much to my relief. Later on I was reminded of something Greg told me last year when we were in the midst of a crisis with one of the kids and I was feeling distraught and hopeless - "They aren't done being people! They won't be done till they are dead, Ann Marie." So really, that's all I have to say about parenting. If you are in the midst of a crisis with your kids and you start to sink just remember, they aren't done being people. And either are you. I know, you had no idea this post filled with rage and venom and hate would turn into a pep talk. I'm always surprising people!

5 comments:

Terri said...

Wow, I clearly need to get on the Internet more because I don't know any of those phrases. Well, except.this.one.

I also disliked that blog post by that man for the very same reasons. At first I thought his sense of humor was good and he did make me chuckle. After a short time I realized that he is a pompous, self-righteous know it all. But, hey, he's a radio personality and needs listeners.

I love Greg's quote! That should be shared with all families everywhere!

What's that saying, "the wiser you are, the less you say?" Oh wait, that's MY saying. ;) Do you like that one?

A little humility goes a long way. . .

ann marie said...

Terri, I love your saying. All it needs is a hashtag and it's ready for a t-shirt! Also, Greg's quote should probably get its own t-shirt too. And oh gee, I had no idea that guy had a radio show. Oh just what the world needs - another know it all telling us how he feels about ALL THE THINGS. And how right he is ABOUT ALL THE THINGS. No.Thanks. :)

Melissa said...

Love Greg's saying!

Tiffany said...

Love, love, love Greg's post and attitude. It seems to be the thing to do these days to "purposefully parent," and do it all just right. I never feel like I am qualified to do that very well and stress about how this will affect my kids' futures. They are their own people, that is so true and freeing too. Post more!

Julie said...

I can't believe all these people found this post before me! And I had to be told in person that it was there, I check here very often, and usually nothing...then I miss! when! there! is! something! (how do you like that one?) I kinda liked the article when I first read it, and perpetuated the problems by sharing it on fb, but I didn't read it so discerningly and have since heard other complaints about it. I don't know the guy at all and never read anything else he wrote. The phrase that bugs me the most is "my bad" I hate that one, it sounds so dumb! I love Greg's saying! And Terri's! Please post again soon so I can be the first to comment!!