Blog Flippin' Good News

Hmmm...good news...let's see here...

Well, for today, my good news would be that my husband is coming home safe and sound after yet another week on the road! My youngest little boy is starting kindergarten next Friday...which is actually kind of sad...but it's good at the same time. We're all healthy, happy, and full. I've recently learned a very valuable lesson about not taking your time here on earth for granted, so us being those above 3 things is FANTASTIC!

I'm sure I'll have more later. My kids are always coming up with something that would put a smile on anyone's face!

Well Bon, that is all wonderful news...but even better news than that is you have a baby girl! Congratulations!

One time on tour....I believe Wichita, KS....we were walking the sidewalks of the city the morning of the show. Trying to walk off a horrible headache from the night before, this little girl and her Mom came up to us and told us how our song, Tones of Home, really had helped them overcome the loss of their husband/father. Made me feel really good. Showed me the power of music

Tell me more GOAT......how did the story turn out? This is supposed to be positive stuff, not sharing tales of illiteracy.

I wasn't saying SEMO could not be used to get a degree and help an individual become a success....I was saying how relatively easy SCREMO was compared to other institutions. If your son listed the schools he went to.....I would say SCREMO would rank last on the difficulty list. Love the intense description you type with......he partied animalistically, he danced dirtydancingly, he chased girls Olympically, and he studied revengeofthenerdsingly. I had a friend who played int he mud and all he got were dirty fingernails.

I think it was either Dusty Scates or Rick Springfield? Can't remember.

Hey, what about the weather? !!!!!!!! Nice.

Hoon, with the almost 2 to 1 ration of women to men at SEMO it is a wonder that GL's son got any school work done. He probably had attractive cheerleader types knocking on his door all hours of the night wanting to test his knowledge of the square root of pi and the finer points of the Pythagorean theorem!

Really? Two to one? What does that say about guys? Most don't go to college?

Hoon, you have to be writing in English, but it just doesn't compute. Are you making fun of my adverbs??? Or my son's dirty fingernails?

This weather is absolutely Septemberly...

Add in Affirmative Action into the equation!

GOAT, I can't even keep up answering all those questions. Here goes:

1. Really

2. Yes, two to one....great for heterosexual young men going to SEMO majoring in one of their many "pay and get the A" degree choices.

3. It says that guys are pigs and dogs.

4. Who cares as long as they aren't poor or dumb.

5. yes.

6. yes.

Well, I think i might be finally selling my house! Thats good news to me! I've really been wanting to move! The Statesman blogs get very interesting someimes! I am ejoying this weather so much!

Congratulations, Grandpa Swift! Grandkids are the icing on the cake!

Thanks gl!

Buying a new house is also good news especially when it's your 1st one. We're buying our 1st house and here in Dexter. Moved in in December. You know what that means? we're planting our roots here! Took us 11 1/2 yrs to do it but we did.

HOO HOOOOOOOOOON!

What the hell did you eat GOAT? Man! That smells awful.

Now back on topic.....is it not a joy to see these youngsters excited about school and one grade older?! Just awesome. To those of you whose rug rats don't enjoy school, check yo' self and make sure you aren't the reason! Kids are awesome. All ages, just awesome.

At what point in the school year did you start moaning, groaning, complaining about being underpaid, marking days on your calendar, and rush out of the building right behind the school buses?

I am a tank.......NO tires on HOON!!!!!!!

Flipper, I am ONLY prejudice against dumb and lazy people. I would guess the GOAT was a quality teacher. Stay out of the tuna nets.

Hahaha! Dolphin, you are a good bud!! Thanks for the vote of confidence.

However, I have to admit that I was absolutely BEAT well before May. It took all summer for me to recuperate. I never did rush out before the school buses, though. I always had things going to keep me at school late - one extracurricular activity or another.

I've never liked the teachers who raced the school buses. If they can't be dedicated, they should work at Walmart. (and you know how I feel about that..)

I seem to remember a long-ago blog conversation with our bad boy hoon about teaching...Unlike his current bad-*** persona, I believe he sounded pretty dedicated himself.

No, and I'm not at all disappointed. Those awards like "The Heartland's Best" are glitzy, but there are SO, SO MANY teachers out there who work hard every day, are selflessly devoted to the profession, and NEVER get (or WANT) any public adulation. On the other hand, I know of at least one teacher/administrator/teacher-again who did get the public accolades, and she was as conceited and overbearing a "Glory Hound" as ever I saw!

Don't get me wrong: I think it's great that KFVS wants to recognize good teachers, but I'm sure they realize that these "Heartland Best" teachers are just representatives of all those who give and give and give - and never take.

As for hoon's comment about teachers griping about being underpaid - well, we all knew that when we entered the profession, and it's super foolish to gripe about it. Goes right along with racing the school bus...

Good stuff GOAT......sounds like you were solid and there for the kids. There are a lot of bus racers, whiners, moaners, and people who seem as if they didn't KNOW what profession they were entering....but like you say, the majority are solid professionals who have the kids best interest in mind and go the extra mile to help them improve and learn.

How 'bout those dipshit parents? Now there is a subject! I am amazed at how even some of the better kids in schools have mommy and daddy at home who are clueless about helping educators do their job of educating, disciplining, and motivating their little baby boys and girls, some of which are 17 years old and are still little babies.

Thanks, guys! That's sweet! And, no, mrsd, I never taught that far south.

Hoon, you're not gonna trick me into jumping on the bash-the-parents bandwagon, either!! That's a blame game that goes nowhere. However, in all the years that I taught, I did notice that parents were more supportive of discipline in the "old days" than they are now.

What the??????

My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns SKD!

GOAT...everything I type isn't a trick.....many of today's parents are truly fools and should fall under the limited breeding of the poor and dumb Layne so gracefully speaks of. No bandwagon, more lack a short bus type of wagon.

Goat, my friend mentioned that to me this morning in our ritual after-getting-the-kids-on-the-bus phone call. She's completely PO'd and appalled that they would allow teachers to carry a gun to school for the reason you mentioned. As with any other new subject, I'm torn. I need to weigh the options. In one way, I think every teacher should at least know they have the right to protect themselves if they tick a student off to the point of being homicidal. Then there's the point of kids stealing the teachers guns. But, is there honestly a difference? The kids who have accomplished school shootings thus far have had access to guns from somewhere other than teachers...so do you think a teacher that packs one in their lunchbox and keeps it completely hush-hush will make any impact on where a kid gets a gun from to go on a rampage?

Hoon, you seem to be the no-nonsense type of parent. And though I know this is supposed to be a "good news" topic, I'm just curious as to what you think about discipline...such as most effective type. A lot of parents nowdays aren't completely stupid...most of them know that things such as spanking like mom and dad used to do works, they're just too scared to do it! Thanks to that wonderful thing called DFS, we parents have restrictions on discipline, and unfortunately, our kids know it! I was told specifically that you can spank your child, but it can only be with your hand, and only a couple of swats. But, if those couple of swats leave any type of bruising, you have to turn to a different type of punishment. I'm sorry, honestly, if that's the case, schools shouldn't be allowed to use paddles, and the LACK OF discipline is what's wrong with kids today! What would have happened 30 years ago if a kid took a gun to school. Yeah, you know the answer...that's why school shootings were almost unheard of, and now they're an epidemic.

Layne....what about that one kid who ran over your bike at the Gulley's?

Discipline....one of my favorite topics.....people in the schools should have options......kicking kids out if needed....some type of inschool isolation....detention....Saturday detention....and yes corporal punishment. Mostly...they need backing from parents and these days, that doesn't happen.

I think that our the use of corporal punishment is a sound choice. I agree that too few parents will stand behind that idea. Of course when DFS can come in and take children out of a home because of "abuse" issues it makes the parent leary. God gave the backside good padding to be used to get the attention of wayward youth. There is a difference between punishing a child and beating a child. I am sure the majority of us commenting here have been the recipient of some form of a whooping in our lives and none of us turned out be mass murderers or completely deranged. Unless of course you ask our kids.

dolphin - sorry to hear this...I hope it wasn't his funnybone b/c who would find the humor in that??? ;) Best of luck in his recovery and I mean that!

Go figure it! The bone he broke was the one I just mentioned...though it's not spelled that way. Who woulda thought?

Shhhh! Bobby, don't let any of my secrets out!!

BJ, I absolutely love the way my son and daughter-in-law are disciplining my adorable two-year-old grandson! He was taught from the beginning that when he misbehaved (especially those little temper tantrums) he would have to stand in a corner until they told him he could get out. At first, they had to hold him in the corner, but now all they usually have to do is say, "Am I going to have to find a corner?" and he'll mind. One time we were in at the Pasta House in Cape, and he decided he wanted a new roll, instead of finishing the one he had. His mama said no, so he threw a fit. She made him go stand in the corner by the booths. When he came back, he seemed to have forgotten all about the new roll.

The thing is -- even if the issue is insignificant, like a roll, it's important for parents to establish control very early. Of course, some kids are harder to control than others, but if you don't catch them early - you're lost! Then, the teachers have to do what you didn't, and that's veeeeerrrrrrry tricky!!!!

He's probably not as bad with you as you think he is. In my experience, the first child is so much easier to discipline. It's like when you have dogs; if you have two, they feed off each other and don't want to listen to you.

When I had one child, I thought I was the World's Best Disciplinarian. Nothing to it! Then the second one came along, and I thought I was a total failure as a parent!

Tell Superman to stay "grounded" for a while. Back to paddling....BJ, show me a parent and kids who never got a whipping or swatted and I will show you kids who act the way they want and get what they want. Those are the kids that are loud in churches, throw fits in stores, and end up in the principals office being defended by parents. Positive reinforcement is another tool and should be used MOST often.......no doubt. But acting as if that is the ONLY tool that should be used is liberal hogwash and cumbaya crap. Don't know how old your kids are, but you better prepare yourself to swat a hand or butt and even give a formal paddling...hopefully not beaten often like you were....in order to gain their attention and respect. Sick of all these kids who are told NO....NO, don't do that....NO......Stop it.....I am not going to tell you again.....I said stop it......

Who is in charge? A 3 or 4 or 5 year old or a PARENT?

Wham!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The contrary point of view to corporal punishment is that violence is a behavior children learn from adults. Psychologist Alice Miller has written extensively on the subject. That viewpoint sees corporal punishment as not just a form of child abuse, but as having catastrophic consequences for society and humankind. Ms. Miller writes on her website, "Humiliations, spankings and beatings, slaps in the face, betrayal, sexual exploitation, derision, neglect, etc. are all forms of mistreatment, because they injure the integrity and dignity of a child, even if their consequences are not visible right away." http://www.alice-miller.com Ms. Miller's book, "For Your Own Good" is an eyeopener.

FJ and IB.....Corporal Punishment works if used correctly. Used the wrong way or by an uncaring parent or educator, it should be labeled abuse....but used as a tool to shape behavior, it is a pleasure to have and use! Injure the integrity and dignity of a child, hurt their feelings self esteem, promotes violence...hahahahahahahahahahahaha

Wham! Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Cumbaya...My Lord....Cumbaya.

The point is - the kids should know that corporeal punishment is a POSSIBILITY. There has to be an ultimate, swift, no-nonsense stop-sassing-quit-arguing-and-behave consequence to out-of-control behavior. Corporeal punishment works best when it's just THERE, hanging over their heads like a big vulture. Most kids never, ever need that harsh a solution, but there are some who need to know that it can happen.

The kids who have been taught to respect their "elders" at an early age won't ever need to be paddled at school.

Of course it's not "politically correct," but there's always someone out there who'll take advantage of political correctness.

Oh, Lordy, I hate to admit it, but I agree with hoon on this one. (I didn't say that!)

I am being honest and I now do not think that it is appropriate to hit a child, spank or whatever you want to call it. As far as I am concerned all you are really teaching the child is if someone doesn't do what you want, hit them and make them do it. Not a good idea. You are a intelligent grown up. Surely you can find a better way.

I don't consider myself a liberal, but if that is what you call a person who doesn't believe in spanking then I will proudly run that flag up the pole. I don't or wouldn't condemn anyone else who would spank, I just wouldn't do it myself. Never again.

I don't believe in beating a child by any means, but a good swat or two for something such as being out in the road after being repeatedly reminded of the consequences is basically the only thing to resort to. Honestly, I would rather let my kid make the decision and suffer the consequences (good or bad) to learn his lesson...but when it comes to something like being out in the road at the age of 5, I would MUCH rather spank as a punishment/consequence than let them get hit by a car! I was spanked for EVERYTHING under the sun when I was a kid...and I don't agree with that...because I knew the feeling that when you were spanked, it kinda made you feel worthless in ways...but like hoon said (can't believe I'm agreeing), sometimes it's just what you HAVE to do, and it should always be known as an option to resort to if the crime is severe enough.

My kids aren't perfect by no means...but they do know what they need to know to not only keep safe, but also be respectful, and hopefully one day be very productive citizens instead of drug dealers, murderers, or thieves.

Spanking is an act of violence against a defenseless little person who can be expected to grow up and mimic that behavior of striking out when in a frustrating situation. Which gets to the heart of the matter -- spanking says a lot more about the psychological state of the adult than about the behavior of the child being hit.

Dear Abby conducted a poll of her readers some years ago and about 70% of the parents responded that they learned from the experience that it was a mistake for them to have kids. They wouldn't have any children if they had their life to live over again. I read somewhere that her survey was duplicated with similar results. Someone with that attitude is much more likely to respond violently towards their child(ren) that they see on some level as wrecking their life.

I'll bet dollars to donuts that those parents are proportionately committing much more violence against their kids. Hitting a kid is one way of effectively getting out their frustrations because they get the immediate feedback of the child crying or screaming.

I suspect that the 30% of adults that value being parents are more patient and more likely to respond with love and restraint when they discipline their children. And they are certainly more likely to completely swear off striking their child out of frustration, any more than they would strike an obnoxious co-worker or an irritating person in line at the supermarket. (Shut-up you windbag!! Whack! Smack! Good strategy for getting a police record.)

But whether a beaten child is loved/wanted by his or her parents is irrelevant to the child learning by example that the way to react to a "misbehavior" is with violence, and when they grow up they will continue the cycle of violence unless they can rise above their upbringing.

FJ....that is great....YOU take advice from Dear Abby. I will use common sense. You think we are talking about beatings and violence, and we are talking about responsible adults making a thought out decision to use a swat to the rear as a tool to mold behavior.

FJ...why has there never been a corporal punishment case in the state of Missouri LOST by a school?????????????? Because it is a tool that is used and should be used.

Sorry your bed wetting liberal cumbaya loving political correct butt thinks that time out and begging kids to act right is the answer.

Good post dolphie. I 100% agree with you. And if I was a betting man, I would say that FJ and Truth probably had a spanking or two when they were kids. And although I tend to disagree with them 99.9% of the time, they seem like descent people.

I think that I am a pretty good father, with two pretty good kids and I use a little of both. So keep on spanking people, and for those of you who don't. Well, get ready to constantly get your child out of trouble. I truly believe that is one of the main reason kids do not respect adults like they use too. LACK OF DISCIPLINE!!

Truth, try this little experiment. Next time you are out running errands or eating dinner, count how many times a teenager or young adult(under25) holds the door open for someone or says thank you. I think you will be surprised, in a bad way. I know it sounds corny, but it's little things that go a long way, and I think kids, and some adults for that matter, have lost that since of respect and kindness.

In the end, it all goes back to the parents and how they raised their children(for the most part).....Man I'm glad I am the PERFECT father.

On the topic of spanking, I wanted to clarify something.

I do believe in spanking as a last resort form of punishment, but I DO NOT believe in the use of a belt, paddle, or anything of that nature. The one thing my dad wouldn't EVER do was use any of the above on me, because when a parent is frustrated, they have the possibility of going overboard with these things. If you use your hand, you feel what they feel. The saying "this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you" is something I heard growing up, and I didn't understand what my dad meant until I became a parent and had to spank my child the 1st time.

Hoon, I agree with you partially. I don't believe paddlings in school should be allowed. It's not the idea of someone else disciplining my child. It's the simple fact that DFS will take your child if you use any object as a tool in spankings. My 5th grade teacher was SOOO mad at me when she paddled me, and I swear to you my feet came off the ground with all 3 swats. I couldn't sit when I got back in class. I know educators aren't allowed to physically discipline children using their bare hands, but using a paddle goes against what we as parents are allowed to do. Both of my children have great teachers, and their teachers won't tolerate much. I think that kind of attitude in place of being pushed to the point of paddling is the best tactic for schools to use.

hoon, have you ever had to battle with the DFS? Probably not. They've been called on us twice on bogus cases, both found to be bogus, yet we still got warned that if another call was made that they had to investigate, they'd take our kids! I'm not leaving bruises...I seldom ever have to resort to that kind of discipline...but now that I have the fear of having my kids taken away just because someone calls over something they don't agree with, I have to watch my back every second we go anywhere in public. I don't care if no one has lost a corporal punishment case in the state of MO or not! I care that DFS can come take my kids any time they damn well please!

hoon...that ain't a comment that you leave about someone whether you know they're true identity or not. I have NEVER left a bruise on my kids. The whole DFS thing was:the first time, my husband was playing with my youngest son at the doctors office, and a girl from the lab called because she thought he was playing too rough. Everything was found to be safe and sound, and it was over. The second time, an ex-friend's kid (they're ex-friends because they got busted smoking weed around their kids) accused my husband of throwing him up against a wall at his grandpa's house (while the kids were in the grandpa's custody b/c of the drug thing) and the grandpa even denied it when asked by DFS because it didn't happen. Not to mention that the child who said all this had the words "pathological liar" on his file with a local school. These were the 2 times I've had to deal with DFS, and both times were bogus, but they HAVE to investigate every call, and for good reason. Don't lash out at me in a disrespectful manner like that when you have no idea what my story is!

I meant your husband is a bad rough houser.

IB....the broken record is skipping.

Question: When you have a room full of Politicians, like our Congressonal Hall,and one person, the President is talking - All of a sudden a person yells "You Lie".. That person does not identify anybody by name. Yet everybody there automatically knew who he was talking about. They demanded this person apoligize to the President. I think they all knew who the liar was - What do you think ????