We Interrupt This Blogging Interruption

Or, Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

I've noticed my lack of blogging lately. It's quite bothersome to me especially since I read my blog more than any other soul on this planet. It is so annoying bothering to open an internet browser and come to this blog looking for new content only to find the same old post that's been there for who knows how long now! Sheesh, I'm boring the heck out of myself, and I suppose I sound quite kooky right about now.

YOU try being the mom of a 13 year old girl who went from playing dolls one day, to thinking boys are suddenly the coolest creatures to ever grace this planet the next. What? This is nothing new? Every parent of every girl ever born has gone through this? Well, this is my first time around so I'm a little shaky. I thought I had AT LEAST 10 more years before I would have to deal with this type of thing.

Guess what else? 12 and 13 year old girls are NOT the sugar and spice and everything nice we've been hearing about all these years. In fact, they are pretty darn vicious at times, particularly to each other. So there's that as well, which involved a heated trip to the guidance counselor, and talking. That's basically what guidance counselors do, they just sit around and talk about stuff all day, and nothing changes. I guess they hope that if they nag these kids long enough they might suddenly get the concept that it is necessary to respect other people's feelings, their property, and their beings.

Who am I telling? These are things that should actually be taught by, you know, parents? I'm forced to wonder just what kind of homes these kids are growing up in. We're not perfect by any means, but my goodness, I wouldn't dream of sending my child off to school without at least her own pencils to use. Those kids cleaned out every bit of school supplies I sent with my daughter the first WEEK of school. They constantly take her things, get into her back pack, and take whatever they like, I mean there is absolutely no respect for other people's property at all. Then, they even have the nerve to demand she buy them things like candy and soda from the school store, which why in the hell are they selling those things to these kids any way?

I couldn't figure out why my daughter wanted so much money every day, it seemed like every morning she was asking for money, 5 dollars here, a couple there, suddenly I woke up, and demanded to know what all this money was going for, that's when I found out that my daughter was basically running her own personal charitable organization and providing treats nearly daily for all of her friends, and even kids who weren't even her friends. Needless to say we cut that off immediately. No more money. Suddenly, she has a lot fewer friends. Funny how that works.

She's learning some hard lessons, 1. you can't buy friends, 2. you can't let other people define you, 3. some kids have no home training at all.

Not only did these girls stop being her friend, they have been particularly nasty about it as well. One has taken to smacking my daughter in the head all the time, which she only just told me was happening a couple days ago. Of course, I've been very frustrated with everything and have been trying to talk her through all of these things, but I draw the line at her being smacked in the head by some little twerp at school, so we had to have a "meeting" with the school about it, in which I laid out in no uncertain terms that when my daughter is at their facility she is in their care, and they are therefore responsible for her safety, and are to ensure that my daughter will not be smacked in the head on a regular or semi-regular basis.

So far the smacking has stopped, but it's only been a couple of days. We will see. My first instinct was to tell my daughter to punch the girl in the face, but my kid is apparently scared of this girl. All right, I understand that, so I had to go in there and stomp my feet a little about it. I had a bully in my life when I was my daughter's age, I would have loved for my mom to go the school and speak up for me, but that didn't happen.

Anyway, the school year is almost over, and I can't say who is more glad about that. I'll be back later. Hopefully I'll get around to it sooner this time.

The Loss of a Great Woman

R.I.P.

A very good friend of mine lost her mother last week. It has been a sad and difficult time for their family. I was fortunate to have known her mother fairly well, and know what a huge loss her passing is for their family. She will truly be missed by a great number of people. There was a beautiful service for her which I attended, and it was quite touching. People had many wonderful things to say about my friend's mother, all of the things they said were absolutely true. She was a kind heart with a sweet spirit. God Bless and keep her soul, may she rest in peace.