A Society Rant

I've been thoroughly disappointed with America's parenting lately.  Call me old fashioned, but taking your 3-year old kid to the doctor because he chooses to watch movies on his own plasma screen instead of sleep at night doesn't really seem like a good use of medical resources.  I cringed as she bragged that her son, who can barely talk, has his own TV, DVD player, and Playstation in his room.  And why can't parents figure out that McDonalds for 2 meals + 4 sodas each day =shopping at the Husky pants store?  Are we really this ignorant as a nation?  What happened to good ol' locking the kids outside all day or having your son dig a ditch just because you can?  Remember when making eye contact with Daddy was a privilege?  Yeah, me neither, but I'll bet things were better then. 

I feel like a deep root of this problem is The Man our sense of entitlement.  People are born selfish beings, and we are under some fantastic delusion that we deserve anything just because we're here (as if we had any say in the matter).  That has eventually seeped into parenting philosophy demonstrated by the fact that we let kids have opinions.  What happened to taxation without representation?  Well, that's a little different, but kids still need to know that they don't get to dump crates of Ye Olde Tea into the Boston Harbor without consequences.  And counting to 3 really loud a few times doesn't really foster obedience.  We parents gotta freaking cowboy up and realize that we get to play the largest role in how our kids learn how to be Good, and not in the Super Nanny sense of the term.  In the God sense of the term.  I mean good like loving that crazy mom who doesn't know how to take the TV out of the insomniac kid's room.  Or forgiving your own mom.  Or getting over in the right lane when you're driving slow.  Or praying for our President no matter how much of a stanktard you think he is.

In the past 48 hours...

I delivered a sweet baby girl at a very convenient time.

My wife ranted against The Man (using the phrase "stick it to The Man") within about 30 minutes of shopping at Wal-Mart.

I worked at 5 different clinics/hospitals.

I wondered what exactly it is that is taught at Rhema Bible Institute that causes people to make stuff up.

I ate low-sugar ice cream from Braum's and liked it.

I've had Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" playing pretty much nonstop in my brainpod.

My dog vomited twice on our kitchen floor (which is tiled, thankfully).

I cleaned up 2 puddles o' doggie vomit.

I proudly watched both of my children eat their greens.

I proudly watched my wife take care of virtually everything to keep our house sane.

I achieved oneness with the state of being Zestfully clean...twice (which, had it been around at the time, would have definitely been at the peak of Maslow's heirarchy of needs).

Tourist Tips

I just spent the weekend with my wifeepoo in the city of my birth.  I was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, but I didn't grow up there, because at the age of like 10 months, I was having trouble finding work, so I moved my mom and brother up to Northwest Arkansas (NWA).  So the wife and I had the first vacay without kids since having our first progeny 3.5 yrs ago.  It was a joyous time filled with basking in the glorious awesomefulness that is The Natural State.  And yes, there are hot springs, in Hot Springs.  In fact, the city attracts tourists by its olde timey bathhouses and spas that use the odorless, hot springs for rejuvenating bonus powers.  Here's some tips for all of you who are now going to visit Hot Springs because of this enticing description.

1. Coy's, more like deCoys of good food.  There's this so-called famous steak restaurant in Hot Springs known as Coy's.  I think they basically ripped off the recipe book from Cap'n D's and then raised the prices of their foodcraps about 400%.  Plus, there were valets...at a restaurant that I wouldn't even compare to Western Sizzlin.'  They parked our car like 30 ft from where we got out, and I felt like the whole pomp was a waste of everybody's time.  Plus, I have no idea how much you tip a valet driver, and I hope I never have to learn.

2. Drink the hot springs.  There is a dispenser of the spring water (at its earthen temperature of 134 degrees), and people were constantly filling up huge water cooler jugs.  Apparently, the water is magical and probably gives you elf-like combat skillz and enhanced protractor reading abilities.  I did take some and cool it down in the fridge for maximal palatability.  It tasted like water.

3. Hail to the Queen...of dairy, that is.  It seems that DQ is becoming an extinct species of hot eats/cool treats suppliers, and Hot Springs has one.  The last two towns I've lived in have an old DQ shell that has been painted and converted to a nudey bar and a failing catfish restaurant.

4. Get a motorcycle.  I haven't confirmed this, but I think there might be a city ordinance that 45% of the population of Hot Springs has to be licensed motorcyclists.  And don't even think about doing the cool, low motorcycle wave if you have a 45 lb. dirtbike-made-street-legal ride.  I actually saw a dude get snubbed whilst riding such a drab beast and attempting the aforementioned wave at some stockier, Harley-type motorcyclists.  I wanted to hug him, but we really needed to find the Dairy Queen.

5.  When you come home, go ahead and count on Tulsa's mega-awesome power grid not working for a couple days.  We just spent 2 days in our home without electricity due to a very windy thunderstorm that scared the electrons away.  But the electrons are back, and I'm so excitebike about sleeping in our bed and not sweating really hard.