Earlier this week, hordes of kids - teenagers and young adults - rioted through Baltimore. They looted, destroyed private property, set fires and burned homes and businesses while most people simply looked on. They sat on the sidelines, wringing their hands but not condemning.
At one point, the mayor spoke her mind and called them thugs. Many black leaders condemned her for that statement, but not the actions that led to it. So, she retracted her words, saying she 'over-reacted'.
Huh?
This is the mayor. She is responsible for the police, who were under attack, and she sides with the hoods who put fifteen officers in the hospital? She doesn't condemn the actors who injured her employees? Really? There's a confidence builder for the men and women sworn to protect and serve.
Personally, I think the woman is an incompetent twit. More than a few reports say that she told the police to 'stand down', that the mob should be allowed to riot, to be given space. Ignoring the fact that many of the tax paying citizens she was elected to serve were having their livelihoods destroyed. She does not call in the National Guard.
Yet she gets one thing right by calling them what they are: thugs and then is such a wildly weak sister that she retracts it when a bunch of men take exception to it.
Now that's leadership for you...
On the other hand, also this week, we have a mom in Colorado who packs Oreo cookies in her four-year old daughter's lunch.
Oh. My. God! Crime against humanity!
The school confiscated the cookies the child's mother packed, and sent a condemnatory note home.
So here's my problem.
Not a word, not one single breath condemning the kids who burned down part of a city. Not a syllable against their parents. We're not allowed to call them thugs, because, even though it is synonymous with 'hoodlum' and 'ruffian', the black leadership likens it to the n-word.
In Colorado, a little girl doing nothing worse than eating chocolate cookies with her lunch is punished. She is humiliated in front of her peers by having a teacher take part of her lunch away. It probably was not done subtly or quietly. Four year old kids, in my experience, are not known for being quiet and meek, so I imagine there was an outburst that drew the attention of the little girl's classmates. There were probably tears and the teacher scolding. The child's mother is shamed with a derisive note all but accusing her of being a 'bad' mother.
Now, can someone explain this divide logically, because I sure as hell don't get it.
Is it because the black kids have more rights than the white kid? After all, Authority did not step into the mess in Baltimore and try to stop it. They let it go - for a couple of days, watched while business owners had their shops broken into and robbed - and they did nothing to stop it.
Is it because society fears the black mob more than we fear the single white child? After all, those black kids are bigger than a single four year old little girl.
Here's the divide for me: It is not okay for the Nanny State to intervene in or condemn the destructive bad behavior of a mob, but it is acceptable for them to tell a parent what they can and cannot feed their child?
Really? Why?
Think about it and let me know because as I said before, I just do not see any logic in the handling of these two situations.
Have a lovely day! (It's Friday!! Wa-Hoo!)
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Showing posts with label Baltimore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baltimore. Show all posts
Friday, May 1, 2015
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Good for Her!
I'm a traditionalist when it comes to disciplining children. Not all children need or respond to the same approach. Some you can talk to, reason with. Some, not so much.
Seven hours after my daughter was born the nurse came into my hospital room and said, 'Did you know that you're daughter has a temper?' First introduction to my newborn after we were separated. Great. Within hours I discovered that she not only has a temper, she has a mind of her own. Reason has little to do with things - sometimes more direct approach was needed.
My rules were simple and clear: First, I will ask nicely, 'please stop', 'please don't'. Second, I will tell you, firmly, 'I said please stop', 'I said please don't'. The 'I mean it' was implied - clearly. Third, 'pop', once on the backside.
She's smart, she got it. Most of the time the stink-eye and secondary warning was all that it took. But, she still, like all kids do, pushed the envelope. How far can I take this?
Because of the namby-pamby, 'talk to your children' bullshit of the 90's I was afraid to discipline her in public, but I did it anyway, when she needed it.
I rarely pulled the over-the-knee, full-on spanking my parents gave me when I needed it. I never used a weapon against her, like the dog leash my parents employed on my brother and me from time-to-time. But, when she was acting up in the store or in public and just would not quit, there were a couple of times when a 'whack' was in order. Kind of like smacking the television set or appliance that isn't doing what you expect it to do.
Finally, people are on board with the idea that sometimes corporal punishment is a valid tool in a parent's toolbox.
This incident has gone viral over the internet - and it's a good example of the kind of parenting that is sometimes needed to get sense through the thick skulls of our children:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/04/28/woman-called-mom-of-the-year-after-beating-a-young-man-out-of-baltimore-riots/
Do I condone hitting kids willy-nilly for every little thing? Heck no! Like anything else in parenting, it's a balance and physical discipline is a tool of last resort, but it is sometimes useful and appropriate.
From what I have read about this woman, a single mother of six living in a pretty rough area of a pretty rough city, she is doing her damnedest to raise her children to be upright, law abiding citizens to whom she can point with pride. Good for her!
That was my goal for my daughter, and I told her, more than once, 'if you reach thirty and I can look at you with respect, I will have done my job as a parent'. She beat that goal by a solid seven years - and I am proud of her and of the job that I did, but raising a child is never an easy task. There is always second-guessing, wondering 'was that the right thing to do'. This woman has the challenge times six, because every single one of her kids is a different person, with different needs, and she has to juggle all of them.
What I would like to know is where were the other parents in all of this? I have read various sources on the internet and it sounds as if there are some issues that might play into the entire scenario and change the landscape quite a lot. They're not being reporting in the mainstream press, yet, and I don't know whether the sources are honest and true, yet, but a little digging brings up some interesting facets to this week.
First, it seems that Freddie Gray's spinal injury might have been pre-existing. The Baltimore Sun and others are claiming that he received a lawsuit settlement for lead paint exposure, but when he filled out the court documents, he declared 'auto accident' as one of the causes. Surely a young man, even if he was a minor at the time, knows the difference between lead paint exposure and an auto accident? Yet the Sun and other papers are pointing to the lead paint Gray's sister says was the basis for the suit.
However, at this website: http://allenbwest.com/2015/04/bombshell-is-this-the-truth-about-freddie-gray-spinal-injury/ there are images that show that a Freddie Gray of Baltimore, MD was in the process of obtaining a structured settlement from Peachtree resulting from a claim against Allstate Insurance.
Could it have been a claim associated with lead paint? Yes. But then why, as the Sun reports, did Gray claim in court filings that it was associated with an auto accident? It makes no sense.
Whereas the declaration by the mainstream media that Gray's injury that resulted in his death was caused by the police plays into the media's hands. Just like the 'hands up, don't shoot' story from Ferguson. It sells papers and creates buzz that isn't resolved.
We may never know the truth about what led to Gray's demise - whether it was direct action by the police followed by deliberate inaction (the latter having been clearly shown, since they did not take Gray to the hospital until it was too late), or whether it was the result of a pre-existing condition that was then ignored.
All I can say, with certainty, is that if there were more parents like Toya Grant, willing to take on their children and keep them from behaving stupidly, this world would be a much better, safer and more stable place than it is.
Good for you, Toya! You go girl!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me at Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Seven hours after my daughter was born the nurse came into my hospital room and said, 'Did you know that you're daughter has a temper?' First introduction to my newborn after we were separated. Great. Within hours I discovered that she not only has a temper, she has a mind of her own. Reason has little to do with things - sometimes more direct approach was needed.
My rules were simple and clear: First, I will ask nicely, 'please stop', 'please don't'. Second, I will tell you, firmly, 'I said please stop', 'I said please don't'. The 'I mean it' was implied - clearly. Third, 'pop', once on the backside.
She's smart, she got it. Most of the time the stink-eye and secondary warning was all that it took. But, she still, like all kids do, pushed the envelope. How far can I take this?
Because of the namby-pamby, 'talk to your children' bullshit of the 90's I was afraid to discipline her in public, but I did it anyway, when she needed it.
I rarely pulled the over-the-knee, full-on spanking my parents gave me when I needed it. I never used a weapon against her, like the dog leash my parents employed on my brother and me from time-to-time. But, when she was acting up in the store or in public and just would not quit, there were a couple of times when a 'whack' was in order. Kind of like smacking the television set or appliance that isn't doing what you expect it to do.
Finally, people are on board with the idea that sometimes corporal punishment is a valid tool in a parent's toolbox.
This incident has gone viral over the internet - and it's a good example of the kind of parenting that is sometimes needed to get sense through the thick skulls of our children:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/04/28/woman-called-mom-of-the-year-after-beating-a-young-man-out-of-baltimore-riots/
Do I condone hitting kids willy-nilly for every little thing? Heck no! Like anything else in parenting, it's a balance and physical discipline is a tool of last resort, but it is sometimes useful and appropriate.
From what I have read about this woman, a single mother of six living in a pretty rough area of a pretty rough city, she is doing her damnedest to raise her children to be upright, law abiding citizens to whom she can point with pride. Good for her!
That was my goal for my daughter, and I told her, more than once, 'if you reach thirty and I can look at you with respect, I will have done my job as a parent'. She beat that goal by a solid seven years - and I am proud of her and of the job that I did, but raising a child is never an easy task. There is always second-guessing, wondering 'was that the right thing to do'. This woman has the challenge times six, because every single one of her kids is a different person, with different needs, and she has to juggle all of them.
What I would like to know is where were the other parents in all of this? I have read various sources on the internet and it sounds as if there are some issues that might play into the entire scenario and change the landscape quite a lot. They're not being reporting in the mainstream press, yet, and I don't know whether the sources are honest and true, yet, but a little digging brings up some interesting facets to this week.
First, it seems that Freddie Gray's spinal injury might have been pre-existing. The Baltimore Sun and others are claiming that he received a lawsuit settlement for lead paint exposure, but when he filled out the court documents, he declared 'auto accident' as one of the causes. Surely a young man, even if he was a minor at the time, knows the difference between lead paint exposure and an auto accident? Yet the Sun and other papers are pointing to the lead paint Gray's sister says was the basis for the suit.
However, at this website: http://allenbwest.com/2015/04/bombshell-is-this-the-truth-about-freddie-gray-spinal-injury/ there are images that show that a Freddie Gray of Baltimore, MD was in the process of obtaining a structured settlement from Peachtree resulting from a claim against Allstate Insurance.
Could it have been a claim associated with lead paint? Yes. But then why, as the Sun reports, did Gray claim in court filings that it was associated with an auto accident? It makes no sense.
Whereas the declaration by the mainstream media that Gray's injury that resulted in his death was caused by the police plays into the media's hands. Just like the 'hands up, don't shoot' story from Ferguson. It sells papers and creates buzz that isn't resolved.
We may never know the truth about what led to Gray's demise - whether it was direct action by the police followed by deliberate inaction (the latter having been clearly shown, since they did not take Gray to the hospital until it was too late), or whether it was the result of a pre-existing condition that was then ignored.
All I can say, with certainty, is that if there were more parents like Toya Grant, willing to take on their children and keep them from behaving stupidly, this world would be a much better, safer and more stable place than it is.
Good for you, Toya! You go girl!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me at Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
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