Facebook friends I should unfriend

There is a certain proportion of my Facebook friends who I should probably unfriend, I tell myself sometimes. But if I did, what (and who) would I have to entertain me? So I continue to follow these moronic people with whom I attended elementary school (usually) or worked (less often, but there are plenty of those idiots, too) and am then forced to physically restrain myself from making some snarky comment about their moronic post(s). Instead, I'll post about it here.

Here's something I noticed today on my Facebook "timeline", written by a "friend" from elementary school (I hope she didn't get much further than that in school; if so, I will have to have even less faith in our public schools):

Thank you to the ppl who broke in my car & took my wallet, credit cards, licence, birth certficate, insurance cards, school books/binders, tanning lotions, iPod, etc. first night I sleep good in weeks & wake up to that!

Please stop and think about what you have just read for a moment. See if you had the same reaction/question that I had.

.... 

Ready?

Now, because you are reading this blog, I'm assuming your reaction was something like "Why was all of that stuff in her car?" If so, good! If not, that's okay, I won't make fun of you... this time. But read on...

Let's break this down. Remember, all of the items mentioned above were stolen from her car:

--Wallet: I can understand leaving your wallet in the car for a few minutes, but based on the context of her post (I am going to ignore all the spelling and grammar issues this time around) I'm assuming this robbery happened overnight. Why would you leave your wallet in the car overnight?

--Credit cards: Same as above, but it makes even less sense to leave your wallet in the car when they are full of credit cards (and when, based on prior posts I've seen from you, you already have a major credit card spending problem).

--License: Again, this was probably in your wallet. It's a good idea to have your license in the car when you are also in the car, you know, in case anything happens, so you can be identified. 

--Birth certificate: This might be the strangest part of all. I do not understand this, UNLESS for some strange reason, she happened to be transporting her birth certificate from one place to another. Even so, I would not leave my birth certificate in the car overnight.

--Insurance cards: This makes sense assuming it's her car insurance, but I'm guessing she is referring to her health insurance card...

--School books/binders: This makes the most sense of all the items that were stolen. It just makes me really sad that she is in school. And I'm not sure you need your school books in the car when your school is the University of Phoenix.

--Tanning lotions: This girl is already way too dark. She is going to die of skin cancer. I do not understand how it is perfectly acceptable to scream at strangers that they shouldn't smoke, yet our society condones (and prefers) sun-baked bodies. Ugh. 

--iPod: So I leave my iPod in the car sometimes... if it were ever stolen, that would be my own damn fault, and I would not complain about it on Facebook.

Now let's examine some of the sympathetic comments made on my "friend"'s post:

Wtf!!!!! Ash dis has to be a.damn dream!

Wow. That is so insightful.

Oh honey! I am sooo sorry - lemme know if can do anything 

You should tell your friend to stop being such an idiot, maybe?

#Norfolk 

(Response from my idiot friend): Va beach nice neighborhood not mine my parents 

So she means a white neighborhood. And apparently it's okay to leave ALL OF YOUR BELONGINGS in the car overnight, as long as it's in a "nice neighborhood". Oops. Not so much.

Oh hell no! My shit got broke into twice in virginia. Sorry honey

So based on this poster's empirical study, no one should visit Virginia. Ever.

damn thats crazy 

It's crazy? Really? You're surprised?

Did you put a fraud alert out on your name

I like this above post. No sympathy expressed. Just some good advice.

:( oh my gosh. I'm so sorry girl, that's horrible! 

Not as horrible as having skin cancer...

Probably shouldn't leave your wallet and shit in your car.  

THANK YOU!

Sigh. That is all.

Doorway Blockers

My father told me at a young age that if there is a space to be filled, then people will fill it. I didn't really know what he was talking about, until now!

Some idiotic people, lots of them, in fact, will be casually moseying in a public place. A crowded place. They'll be following the flow of the crowd. And then they reach the doorway, and they stop. For no reason. And then they stand there and have a conversation. They could have that conversation anywhere, but the doorway is the best place. Because then the doorway blockers get to be rude and look at people like they're offending the blockers when they say excuse me and squeeze by!! Choose another space, please.

It’s not difficult

Today was the first day of end of grade testing…yay!  That means hours of silence followed by keeping the kids occupied before it’s time to go home.  I don’t mind the testing part because it’s peaceful and quiet, if also boring.

One of the students I was testing was wearing a shirt that read: “Its’ only Funny until someone gets hurt… then its’ hilarious!” [emphasis mine].

Let’s ignore the unnecessary capitalization of the word funny. Instead, let us focus on the misplaced apostrophe in the word it’s.  A big pet peeve of mine is the confusion between the words it’s and its.  To me, it’s not difficult.  The former is a contraction of a pronoun and a verb, while the latter is a possessive adjective.  But what this person had on their shirt was neither: its’.  I don’t get it.  I can understand people making a mistake when typing quickly.   But making the same mistake twice suggests that the person who designed the shirt is an idiot and doesn’t get messages proofread before printing t-shirts.  It also makes me wonder about the person who purchased the shirt for the boy.

Hmm

Have you ever watched a show about people with pet lions?

After you!

I was trying to leave school this afternoon, more specifically, waiting to turn left onto the main road out of the parking lot.

At that moment, two individuals, who I assume were parents, were coming from opposite directions and attempting to turn into the school. One needed to turn right and the other needed to turn left.

Both drivers gestured to the other, "after you!" with palm outstretched. Well isn't that polite! Neither man took up the offer, instead each gesturing to the other again. Haha! Still no one is moving. Ok, this is now obnoxious and idiotic. This false chivalry continues for 20 to 30 seconds. Finally the man who needed to take the left turn entered the parking lot, honking angrily as he passed by. I don't get it. Does that make him less chivalrous? Was his manhood injured by being the first to turn into the damn driveway? Was it better to keep stupidly holding up traffic? Now I just think both of them are assholes.

I don't know why I didn't honk.

Testing brings out the best

So it's testing time again; everyone's favorite time of year. Evidently, it's also the time some of us educators show our own deficiencies.

The other day, one of the staff math teachers let me know that she recommended that I have a 'read aloud' group of students for the math section of the test (some students get their questions read aloud to them as an accommodation). She let me know it wasn't because she didn't like me and wanted me to have extra work, but instead because she knew I could read the middle school math expressions correctly. At first, I thought she was joking. She must have seen the look on my face because she explained, "No, really. I've had some non-math teachers read "x^2" as " 'x' two" instead of " 'x' to the second power." I didn't know reading exponents was such an upper level skill.

This afternoon, I found out that one of the teachers had students take the 1st quarter part of the test (we are in the 3rd quarter). Yes, all of the quarter tests share the same book, but each section and its page numbers is clearly labeled on the front of the book. Additionally, the script we were supposed to read to the students word for word clearly said "3rd Quarter" at least twice. So now that teacher has to hunt down those students and have them take the correct test. How could you mess that up if you read the script? Oh, I think just answered my own question.

Can't Help Myself...Sorry, More Facebook Statuses...

People just can't hide their stupidity now that the free world is at their fingertips.

On Sunday, I noticed this status from a girl I know from middle school:

had a wonderful day with the boyfriend... church, wings for lunch, free tanning & some walking on the greenway!! :)

Okay, okay, I'm glad that she had a nice day, and it doesn't sound that bad.

Fast forward to Wednesday's status:

I have melanoma. found out today. Having emergency surgery tmrw on my arm. Please keep me in your prayers!

I'll let you flesh out all the rest on your own. Just had to share.

People Who Poop In Socks

Today, my husband and I went on a beautiful hike to the Fire Tower at Hanging Rock State Park. The view was incredible, and I hiked without whining. All in all, incredible. I also met some wonderfully friendly people also enjoying the unseasonably beautiful day. However, I still managed to encounter at least the remnants of a fool.

the Fire Tower is essentially a big empty building with a staircase on the outside. People hiking the Mountains to Sea trail are meant to use the inside as a backpacking shelter. Some other people decided that it should be used as a place to dump their trash, and so Chris decided that we would pack out 48 empty water bottles. Gold Star for the Day.

Chris owned his Gold Star for the year when he found a sock. A sock filled when human feces. And no, someone did not in fact wipe with said sock. They pooped IN the sock.

We got a good laugh in over that one, mostly because Chris hadn't actually managed to put his hand in it the sock. But really? Let's use some common sense. Where were you, Sock Person? In the wilderness. Where do animals successfully relieve themselves everyday, with almost no detection? In the wilderness. What does "nature" do to poop? It breaks it down and uses it for nutrients. What does a cold, backpacking shelter and a sock do? Preserve it forever, in a room designed for people to sleep in.

Food for thought.

Math Nerds

At least four of my Facebook "friends" have posted this status (or a similar one) in the past few days.

This year we will experience 4 unusual dates.... 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 .... NOW go figure this out.... take the last 2 digits of the year you were born plus the age you will be this year and it WILL EQUAL TO 111 .... STRANGE!!! Let me know if it works for you. It did for me.

One friend even asked "math nerds" to explain why it works this way. I explained, but I don't think my knowledge about this issue makes me a "math nerd". It just means my IQ is above 75.

I don't know how anyone could look at this "problem" and not instantly understand why it works out that way. When I think about how I am smarter than the average person and wonder what that means in practical terms... things like this make it so much more clear.

You see, it always works that when you take the current year and subtract the year in which you were born, the difference will be your age (or the age you will turn this year). Or if you take the current year and subtract the age you will turn this year, the difference will be the year you were born. Or if you add the year you were born and the age you will turn this year, the sum will be the current year. HOW CAN PEOPLE NOT SEE THIS? AND WHY DO YOU NEED A "MATH NERD" TO EXPLAIN THIS TO YOU?

Maybe I should go watch another episode of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" so I can once again restore my faith in humanity.

More Facebook Idiots

I still don't understand why some people - in particular, people a generation older than me - post personal information on Facebook such that EVERYONE can see it.

The WFU Psychology Department has an administrative coordinator named Teresa who is responsible for lots of things: printing and copying bills, colloquia and receptions, proofing theses, etc. She is basically the equivalent of Robin Hawkins. And during the first week of our program, she added all the graduate students as Facebook friends (her request, not ours). She also appears to be Facebook friends with the majority of faculty members.

So here's the thing. Apparently Teresa is going through a separation/possible divorce with her husband, and she has made ALL THE DETAILS public for EVERYONE TO SEE.

So it starts like this on Wednesday, 9:55pm:

--(Teresa) is happy her husband is back home!

But less than 24 hours later:

--(Teresa) is sitting here in shock. How can one man be so fickle?! Who knows whether my husband is back or not!

A couple of people comment that they are praying for her, and that God will make everything okay. They ask what happened. She replies, again, FOR EVERYONE TO SEE:

--He's been home Monday and Tuesday night. Had someone break into his home where he's been the last 3 months last night. So he went back there for the night. Tonight he suddenly comes in and says it's not working. How can you decide it's not working when you haven't given it a chance? I've had it!

Someone named Marvin offers some support. She replies yet again:

--Thanks Marvin! The last 3 months I learned that Teresa is an okay person without her better (or worse) half. And I'm definitely not going to put up with being jerked around. I'm so angry right now I don't know what to do! But I really am relying on God to get me through whatever happens.

Some "supportive" comments offered by Teresa's various Facebook friends include:

--Tee - stand your ground. I am all about reconciliation but earned. He cannot come back unless he earns his way back. At this point, you are stronger on your own. Call if you need me.

Yes, a strong woman deals with her marriage issues by telling 657 Facebook friends about them.

--If you need anything feel free to call. I'll be out and about tomorrow if you need lunch or something just call and let me know. I'm just glad to hear you have grown thru all this and standing firm on God's word and not letting the mess shake you.

NOT LETTING THE MESS SHAKE YOU? SHE IS WRITING PARAGRAPHS ABOUT IT ON FACEBOOK!

My favorite part is that she has gone back and commented on old profile pictures that include her (ex-?)husband:

--Well, that was in the days when he actually loved me. Definitely not the case any more! But I'm getting used to it.

I don't understand why this man wouldn't want to be with her!

Let's work together, or not...

At my school, there is an extra period at the end of the day. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, students go to some non-academic activity (which they choose every 6 weeks based on what teachers offer to teach). On Tuesdays and Thursdays, students either have tutoring or a semi-academic class, depending on their test scores on standardized tests. I am assigned to teach 8th grade during this special 7th period. Right now, it really isn't working that well. Students know they do not receive a grade, so many do nothing, or are so disruptive that little can be accomplished.

There have been efforts to try to revamp and fix it. I heard through the grapevine that it had been decided by the core subject teachers in my grade (I am an elective, non-core teacher) that certain things were going to happen. This seemed odd to me, that not all the 8th grade 7th period teachers would be included in this decision making, much less communicating what was 'decided.' I thought, 'I'll just clear this up at the next staff meeting.' So, I asked all the 8th grade 7th period teachers to meet after the staff meeting to figure this out. About half of us showed up. We talked about the problems, tossed around possible solutions. I thought it was useful to brainstorm, but I didn't think much of it since not everyone was there, nor had we spoken to the curriculum coordinator or anyone in the administration about possible changes.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I checked my email from one of 8th grade core teachers TELLING us all how it would be, including being assigned/told to teach a certain class based on student surveys. That caused an immediate impassioned reply from an elective teacher saying that that was not going to fly, which then caused another negative reply from a different core teacher. Finally, the curriculum coordinator emailed us all saying that nothing was changing yet and that we would ALL have to meet after Christmas to figure this out.

I just don't understand how, if we are trying to create an environment of cooperation between licensed professionals, someone (or someones) would think it useful to unilaterally decide what their peers would do. Keep in mind, this is not our supervisor, nor someone designated as the 'leader' of the group of 8th grade 7th period teachers. This was, instead, one or several teachers, believing they could tell other teachers what to do without their input or a vote. In the end, all that was accomplished was pissing people off and 7th period is still a mess.

Two important things we can learn here:
1) Communication is key.
2) This is not Animal Farm: Some of us are not more equal than others.

So you're not coming to the meeting?

At 10:07 this morning, after a solid hour of working on my take-home final exam (which I was doing, appropriately, at home), I received a phone call from one of my classmates asking why I wasn't at some TA meeting I didn't know about.

He then explained that the professor in charge forgot (oops!) to include me on the email telling everyone about the meeting and asked when I could be there. I explained that I was at home working on my exam and wasn't planning on coming to campus today. "Oh, okay," he said, "So when can you be here?" Apparently he hadn't listened at all to what I had just said.

I politely explained that it would take me 30-45 minutes to get there, but I still wasn't going to come in because I was in the middle of working on my exam (now 1 question away from being finished!) This seemed to annoy him greatly. This was also the moment when I learned that I had been on speaker phone the entire time, with everyone at the meeting (the one I didn't know about) listening in.

"So you can't come to the meeting?" the professor in charge asked. This question seemed odd, and idiotic, to me for a number of reasons. First, I had already explained that it would take me 30-45 minutes to get there, and the meeting presumably started at 10 (though no one ever confirmed this for me or told me what the meeting was about - but we'll get to that later). Second, I had also explained that I was in the middle of working on my exam - the exam I had planned to work on today because I did not have any other meetings or commitments. Third, were they just going to sit around for 30-45 minutes waiting for me to get there and then have a 5 minute discussion about an issue that could probably be addressed in, I don't know, an email?

Though everyone was evidently very disappointed/annoyed that I was not at the meeting I didn't know about and wasn't planning on showing up, they decided to carry on with the meeting - with me on speaker phone, like some sort of conference call. They then proceeded to ask me various questions (I still didn't know exactly what the meeting was about) and would then presumably discuss whatever I had just said for two or three minutes, even though I couldn't hear what anyone was saying. "So does that sound good to you, Robbie?" someone asked. "Does what sound good?" I asked, since I had heard nothing. Again, sighs of disappointment and annoyance.

So I'm still not sure what I was supposed to do, what the meeting was supposed to be about, or where I am supposed to go from here. All I know is that none of this was my fault - and that I would be finished with my exam right now if it weren't for all those idiots.

Biltmore Idiots

Someone mentioned to me that this blog had been tossed to the wayside, so I thought I'd put up a post to spur getting things back on track. Surely with the approaching holiday season, we will all encounter more than our share of idiots!

This post is actually based on an experience that Chris and I had some time ago, but we were reminded of it recently, and I thought it deserves a blog post.

Some time ago, Chris and I went to Asheville for the weekend to hear my brother's band play and see some touristy sites. Neither one of us had ever gone to the Biltmore, so we thought we'd buy the grossly overpriced tickets to get inside the biggest house in America. Just one time. However, we were too cheap to pay the $7 a person extra for the personal audio tour, consisting of an MP3 player that plays an audio description of whatever you're viewing. We thought that, being literate people, we'd be able to read about things just as easily and skip the annoying recorded voice.

I think there were about 8 other people there that day that made the same decision. The other 10,000 or so people spent their day bumbling around the mansion in perceived silence. Because they had silencing headphones on and a voice playing in their heads, they thought that the people crowded around them couldn't possibly hear what they were doing. So as we stand looking at art, at old bedrooms, at whatever, all that Chris and I hear is a chorus of flatulence. Everyone, everywhere in the Biltmore, is letting loose.

At first, it was funny. "Let's go to the nicest place in the country, and then fart freely and loudly!" We kept bursting into laughter, but no one else was in on the joke. However, after one long trip up a flight of stairs behind a man who farted with every step, the silliness wore off.

How could these people be so unaware of their surroundings? Just because YOU have headphones on and can't hear anything doesn't mean that everyone else has suddenly gone deaf, too. And even if they have, does that mean that it's now appropriate to constantly fart?

Finally, Chris and I ran across another couple in the same predicament in which we found ourselves. Finally, we decided the solution to this problem would be to comment, loudly, whenever someone farted. That way, we could indicate who was ruining our our frou frou tour with their gas. However, apparently talking is ruder than audibly farting, so we stopped. C'est la vie!

Know you didn't.....

Upon my arrival at work today, I checked my mailbox in the main office. As expected, there were two tests I had sent to the testing center (for 2 students who receive separate setting) a couple of days ago. Of course these students have not been in school for the past couple of days. This is where the fun begins....

On the bottom of one student's page was written...and I quote...

Now show 11/3 Teacher Aid's Initials
Now show 11/4 Teacher Aid's Initials

The same exact thing was written on the front page of Student #2's packet. (Just wait, it gets better.)

I walk over to another teacher (who is also in the EC department) and I say. "Ms. C, I know I'm about to hate on your boy, but look at this."

At this point I hand her the papers, She smiles and gives a slight laugh and says, (and I quote) "Oh, he left off the K."

Now you may find this hard to believe, but I promise I said the following sentence with the most serious face I've ever put on, "Actually he added a w."

I then said, "Have a great day." Walked out of the workroom, made it back to the office of my school and died laughing. And I do mean I almost died, I laughed so hard.

Good job America, We entrust the education of our children to these people. Not to mention they teach kids that need a little (or a lot) of extra help. Way to go. Ms. C likes to talk about how she grew up in the neighborhood our students live in, but that she was smart enough to over come it. I'm not so sure. And I wont even go into the fact that some accredited university (which shall remain nameless), is giving this woman a Master's Degree.

So say what you will about the movie, but every day I come to work, I realize as a nation we are WAITING FOR SUPERMAN, and he can't get here quick enough. Just because you work in a school doesn't make you educated.

Why don't you know how to use an apostrophe?

When you make a contraction the apostrophe REPLACES the letter(s) you are taking out. It does not go randomly in the word wherever you feel like putting it.

For example:

You all is shortened to y'all. The apostrophe takes the place of the "ou." So you should not write ya'll or 'yall unless you are mentally handicapped in some way.

Also, if you make a photo album for Halloween of the year 2010 but you want to be hip and cool and not write the 20 in the front of 2010 you should write '10. The apostrophe takes the place of the missing numbers "2" and "0." You should not write Halloween 10' unless you were 10 feet tall for Halloween. Which leads me to the next point.

The apostrophe can be used as a symbol for a unit of measurement called the foot. This is a measurement of length in case you are stupid. So if you are 6 feet 2 inches tall you can write 6'2". (the " is a symbol for inches). On the other hand, if you are selling a bicycle with a 58 inch frame you should not write 58' frame. That would mean the frame is 58 feet tall.

We are doomed.

People Who'd Rather Make a Rule Than Fix a Problem

Toys Banned from Happy Meals

So the story linked above has gotten a lot of attention lately. It's not the first time that something like this has happened. Basically, to encourage healthier eating habits in Americans, the City Council of San Francisco has banned toys in meals from restaurants that don't meet certain health standards. Don't get me wrong...I think that we're incredibly unhealthy as a country, we need to change our eating habits, etc. All that jazz. But this is like when the city of New York banned trans fats at all fast food restaurants. Yes trans fats are terrible and yes kid's meals are often terrible for you. But I have a HUGE issue with policies like this:

When did we decide that you should just make a rule, a law, an ordinance that prevents everyone from partaking in something because some people are making poor choices, while others are making good ones?

This example is a controversial one, but to me, it's evidence of a problem that teaching middle school highlighted for me. There is no such thing as personal responsibility any more. If you asked a child what this means, they would have no fucking clue. If you asked many young adults, once again, no idea. I think that personal responsibility has been abandoned in favor of rules to follow like the one above.

Instead of teaching people that if you eat unhealthy foods your entire life, you will get fat and have heart disease and diabetes and die, we say "happy meals are bad and can't be sold." This means that if you were like me as a kid, and you weren't fat and you ate healthy foods 80% of the time, and you went to get happy meals as a treat, because it's okay to treat yourself to unhealthy yet delicious food that comes with a toy occasionally, that's over. That's not okay, because of a stupid ordinance that someone passed that does nothing to fix a problem.

Instead of teaching kids the value of being on time to class and having respect for other people around them, we have bizarre systems of behavior in the hallways of our schools, where people have to march in lines and make no noise and be policed for 100% of their lives at school. Then, if a teacher isn't policing because THEY have no sense of personal responsibility, the kids start to act like monkeys and show up for class 10 minutes late.

Have you noticed that left turn "yield on green" lights have disappeared? That's because apparently no one is smart enough to use these systems of lights. No one is responsible enough to drive responsibly! Oh, wait! I am! You are! Too bad, you don't have a choice, anymore.

I realize all these are just little examples, that cities and states are allowed to pass ordinances as they choose. But I feel like they are all small parts of a large whole. Our lives have become a set of rules to follow, and I think this is why no one thinks the rules apply to them. People can't distinguish between what is important and what is just shit for them to do. I don't know, I just have a huge issue with this system. It doesn't work.

Took this photo a few years ago

I hate to turn this blog into a list of facebook status updates

...but this one is just too hilarious.

Watched the The Doctors this morning what the hell is "SWAMP BUTT". I have never heard of this so for u out there that have swamp butt GOOD LUCK!!! HEE HEE

Punishment

I saw this on facebook this morning, and thought it was bizarre. That being said, I have no kids, so who knows what in the hell I'll be doing. On that note, I grew up with person #4, and she is a VERY intelligent person who I am sure is a great parent (note how she gives 2 actual suggestions without bringing in politics and religion or saying questionable things).

Person #1 PARENTS: I need your help...
Our precious Ellie is now 14 months old. We are trying to come up with creative ways to discipline her as her sin-nature is becoming more evident. With Josh at this age we usually popped his hand or occasionally his bottom, but since she's a foster daughter, we can't use any corporal punishment...any ideas?
18 hours ago · Comment · Like

Person #2: What is she doing??? I know i dont have children but my oldest sister uses the "time out", sitting in one spot.... i think it works good with one of the twins, the other doesnt care to much. She started this when they were really young....
17 hours ago · Like

Person #3: put her in time out or the playpen if she still uses one with no toys etc. DO NOT use the crib. This is for sleep and it will confuss her. In the playpen if you remove the toys and tell her, she will cry, but willlearn. When it is playtime the toys will be in there with her.
17 hours ago · Like

Person #4: I use time-out. The suggestion I read was one minute of time-out for however many years old they are, so it would be just one minute for Ellie. I know every child is different, but I was amazed how well it worked for my daughter. I'm trying to remember what it was like at 14 months old . . . does she still sleep in a crib? If so, I used the crib for time-out--I didn't even close the door or anything, I just told her "no," made sure she knew what it was for, and then put her in the crib (told her "time out") and left the room for 1 minute, then came back and got her out. It might sound simple or silly, but it really worked well for us. Now that she is 3 years old, she gets 3 minutes in her room with the door closed for time out.
17 hours ago · Like

Person #4: ‎(I posted my comment before the one above it showed up for me--the one that mentioned not using the crib. Just wanted to clarify that I was not trying to contradict anyone. We don't have a playpen, but that would obviously work well if you do.)
17 hours ago · Like

Person #5: sounds like you have some good advice here. try reading the babywise books too. if that doesn't work, forget corporal punishment & cut off her hand, cut out her eye or whatever....HA!!!
17 hours ago · Like

Person #3: I like the above comment. We just wore their little bottoms out. The BIBLE says SO!!!!!!
17 hours ago · Like · 1 person

Person #6: We don't spank so our current method of discipline is mainly teaching, distracting her with something else, and repeating what we want her to do (and not do lol) over and over and over...lol Some days I feel like a broken record but I know that, at her age, it's what is needed right now. She's learning. :)
17 hours ago · Like

Person #2: My sisters twins are 2 1/2 , they've been doing time out and she disciplines them with sometihng they like... gum or a piece of chocolate. Im sure if she can do time out with 2 you can get Ellie to stick with it.
17 hours ago · Like

Person #7: We used the crib with the boys...she will know the difference between sleeping and "time-out" regardless of where it is...crib or playpen...as you do/say different things for sleeptime or time out....this works really well if she's a social baby, but not so well if she likes to be alone. A firm "NO" was sometimes all G needed...or that plus the crib/playpen. Babywise is good too...I have the second one (for 5-15 months) if you want to borrow it. We also used the bottom for the boys, but I know you can't do that with Ellie....
17 hours ago · Like

Person #8: hates being separated from the action so the threat of timeout in her room usually makes her stop whatever misbehavior she's doing, although she's so strong-willed that she may do it again in a few minutes which is where the dreadfully difficult "consistency" comes into play. If its something they fight over then I take the toy/whatever away. Plus I make sure to praise her bigtime as much as I can when she's good or does something nice.
17 hours ago · Like

Person #9: I agree with Sarah, we used the drib for timeout with dylan and they are not stupid they know they know the difference. It worked with Dylan because the only thing that affected him was isolation. he hated it!
17 hours ago · Like · 1 person

Person #9: ‎...actually we used the crib not the drib
17 hours ago · Like

Person #4: Oh yeah, another thing we do sometimes if time-out isn't working (my girl can be as stubborn as me!) is to take away a toy and put it up high--usually where she can see it, but not where she would be tempted to try (dangerously) to climb up and get it. Then we keep an eye out for her doing something good and tell her she can have it back for being good.
17 hours ago · Like

Person #10: Uhhhh duhhhh...bring her to Nana's...LOL! Love you sweetie!
17 hours ago · Like

Person #11: Ella gets put in the naughty corner--she hates isolation, she is am amiable personality like her mama, after all. lol
17 hours ago · Like · 1 person

Person #12: Use the "naughty spot" like on Super Nanny and make sure you say it in an English accent. Buy a cheap piece of red cardboard at the store and draw a sad face on it. Put it somewhere semi-isolated and maybe you could have like three little yellow sad faces and give her one for misbehavior and then if she gets three she goes to the naughty spot? On the flip side, have three happy faces and a treat if she earns them. Just throwing ideas out...
16 hours ago · Like

Person #13: I think Time-Out is probably your best bet. And personally, I disagree with doing it in their rooms/crib. My reason for that is b/c my boys go to their rooms to play and their beds to sleep, not to be punished. Again, just my opinion. I like the idea of making your own little "naughty spot" rug. And if you use the English accent, can I come over and watch? :)
16 hours ago · Like · 1 person

Person #1: Thanks for all the suggestions..we're trying time-out in the hall...we'll see how it goes...it's just so hard to not pop that little hand...It's usually her getting in trouble for touching things she's not suppose to...we'll see how it goes...

Cara, if I break out the British accent, I'll let you know! Haha!
11 hours ago · Like

A few thoughts:

1. If said child is so precious, then why is it "so hard" to not hit her?
2. I think it's funny that someone jokingly said to cut her hand off, and then another person then said immediately "I agree, corporal punishment is good because it's in the Bible."
3. I like it when the person said "we use the crib, MY kids are smart enough that they know the difference between sleeping and punishment." I hope that she was implying that the other people's kids were stupid, and if so, I agree.

Bills

So, I got a bill in the mail the other day from a company whose services I require. This bill said I was past due on my payments, which aren't made at a monthly interval. The company sends me a bill, and I pay the bill. Promptly and on time. I had to laugh when I looked at the information in the following boxes:

Dute Date: 10/01/2010
Date Billed: 10/10/2010

How am I supposed to pay a bill that I haven't been billed?

Chris has a similar experience with renter's insurance. Basically, they just send him a past due notice every month instead of a bill. Of course, he pays the bill, and he pays it on time.

Are these places just out of stationery for people who pay shit when they're supposed to? Do they get to use that stuff so infrequently that they've forgotten it exists?