Well we did it! I can still hear the sounds and smell the smells. We did our yearly event....but this year, for the first year in 12 years, we did it as a whole family....and it was so nice!
We took the kids, all three of them to the demolition derby last night at the local fair. Now to some highly classy people out there, this may seem like a hillbilly thing...but we love it. The sounds, the smells....the risk of fire, and cars being flipped over. ITS GREAT! We saw two cars go on their sides and one flip completely over, and we saw two fires. Good stuff. The boys sat next to each other and never once fought or said anything nasty to one another. It was a great time. Just shy of worrying about Calica fallin through the bleachers....it was a great time! After 4 hours of it, my hips and back were killing me, but it was worth it to spend the time with my family.
When you are around that many people at a fair, I just love to people watch. Its my favorite part! Some things I find I love and they make my heart melt, other things make my heart cringe. Here are some of those things:
Shame on your clothing designers. Shame on you for making shorts so short. As if our children arent turning into and trying to be teens/adults sooner then they need be....making clothing so revealing is certainly not helping. If you have to keep pulling your shorts down every time you get up, or every few steps, they are too short. If you can barely find panties to wear underneath without being seen, your shorts, are too short. If you have shirts that almost hide the fact that you have shorts on to begin with, your shorts are too short. I as a mother to a daughter, hope that I am able to teach her purity. That I am able to teach her the importance of "what you put out there, is what you get back". I hope that I can teach her to value herself, to know that she is more then the package she is wrapped, or scantly wrapped in. I also hope that the girls others are raising, that my boys will eventually have an interest in, will value themselves more. I hope that my boys will look at girls who wear those things and realize....dressing with leaving little to the imagination....is not a good self-image. And I dont necessarily blame the parents here, b/c I have been in these stores. I have seen the clothes manufacturers are making. Its hard to find much else....not to mention, an XL is SO NOT a true XL anymore. These tanks and shirts nowadays are so tight they hug EVERY curve, and on a 12 year old, thats not needed. Since when did a size 12 become plus size? Since when did an XL fit like a M? Shame on those clothes manufacturers! Our Father clothes us in humility and purity and love....I hope that clothing manufacturers will make some changes, soon. I was actually disgusted in the way some of those girls were dressed, and how much older it makes them look. Perverts and date rapes and sex games run rampant....do we need to dress our girls in clothes that sexualize them???? *ok, off soap box one. ;-)
My heart breaks for the children out there, whose parents dont treat them like the gifts and blessings that they are. Now I am not at all saying here that I am perfect. I have and will again loose my patience. Its inevitable...we are human and kids are trying at times. But there are kids out there, who look like they are never bathed. Who are in dirty filthy clothes. Who have bruises up and down legs and arms. I actually saw a child that looked to be 3 or even 4 running around in a t-shirt and diaper! Kids with pop in their bottles. Kids running around with no shoes. Parents that werent really watching their kids. Parents with a beer in one hand and a new born in another. Parents who were yelling and yanking their kids around by the arms. Children who were just sobbing wanting picked up and were being called brats and babies by their parents. Oh how my heart aches for children who dont really know love. To its fullest. To be snuggled. To be loved on. To have someone hold them, make them feel safe....to encourage with words instead of breaking them down. To feel safe. Some of those kids I just wanted to pick up and whisper love into their ears. My heart breaks....
Ladies....do you know what it means to be a lady any more? Is it a lost art form? Does it really make you sound so much better to use foul language and degrade one another? I cringe when I hear grown women cussing like a sailor. I just find it to be an ugly thing. I find it to be ugly when you stand behind me, as an adult, and talk that way, when you can clearly see we are here as a family. Classy. Real classy. Do you kiss your mom with that mouth? Sadly....maybe you do!
This one might get ya....so be forewarned....
Is it my God given right to breath in the healthiest air possible? Should I be able to sit with my kids out in the fresh air and actually breath it? Really? When you are sitting in bleachers, cramped in to make as much room as possible for people....do you have to smoke? I mean, its your waist of money, its your yellow teeth, its your bad breath....but when you whip one out in that kind of crowd....it becomes MY polluted air. I, as a non-smoker, get choked up when I smell it....and I believe it should be my right to not have that around me. I just find it entirely rude....and I find it to show a huge lack of self-control. Get out of the bleachers, walk behind them and smoke back there....away from people. Not everyone wants your lung cancer. *steps off box two
I just want my kids to stay young forever. I want to run and hide in fear over the fact that those punks that dont know how to move out of the way of a stroller. Or who dont look where they are going and actually run into your 3 year old. Or those that see your kids there and find it necessary to cuss as they walk by. Or the ones that are making out in the corner of a horse barn. Or the ones that dont simply know how to say "excuse me" as they push past you while you stand in line for the bathroom.....I hope that my kids never act like that. I hope that I can raise them in such a way that they have more then an ounce of respect. I hope that they can see that things come back on you....karma if thats what you wanna call it. I hope that they can always understand that what you put out there, first off, you cant really take back. Its like the tube of toothpaste, once its out, you cant put it back in. Secondly, its what people think of you. How you act, is how they think. If you act like trash, they will think you are trash. If you act like a jerk, they will think you are a jerk. If you cant seem to utter a polite word, whether it be a thank you, excuse me, please....they will think you are ungrateful and impolite. Those things speak volumes. I always want my kids to be the one that is above the influence. Above how others act. That they have reason to be proud of who they are....and how they behave.
Older couple who are in love, inspire me. Watching grandparents come to the derby and fair to see grandkids activities makes me smile. Seeing older couples walk around the fair holding hands makes me hopeful that love never grows old. Seeing an older man reach down to help his wife up the bleachers, or hold her food while she walks....I find chivalry to be a beautiful thing. I love romance. I love "love" when its being used as a VERB!!!! Doesnt it refresh you? Its like first walking into an air conditioned house after being outside all day. Its like that first dip into the pool. Its like that lemonade on a hot day....its refreshing. I love seeing others in love. I hope others see Calvin and me as that in love.
Ok, just some rambling things I thought of as I people watched yesterday. I am sure there is more I thought of....or more that made me think, but this is all I can remember right now.
xoxo
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