Tee hee, it's a good thing you don't have to ante up a penny for my thoughts, because I have two for you today. :)
FIRST OF ALL, I am very excited about the documentary, MAKERS, that will air on most U.S. Public Broadcasting Stations tonight @ 8p.m. EDT. I was up late last night with a crabby little B3 who had been violated by vaccinations at his well baby check and was feeling blicky, and caught a little of bit of Charlie Rose's show which showed a little preview. I think it will be fascinating.
I was also fascinated by a couple of things Gloria Steinem, who was interviewed, along with Amy Richards, by Charlie, had to say. The first was that there is actually science out there that says how a country treats its female population, particularly its view on violence toward them, is the single best indicator of how a country will treat people in general in their dealings through warfare. When you really consider that, Young Lovers, that is some serious food for thought.
The second thing was that she said men who want children need to be doing at least half of the actual child rearing. Maybe even more, because, women give up almost a good year doing it all in the gestating and birthing process.
I think it helped that we started having our children quite young before our careers were really molded or our adult personalities were really set in stone. Also, BoyLovey, Axl, is a raging feminist in this area, so I'm lucky. But as our male friends, brothers and cousins get older and are starting families, we've seen a lot of "my career..." type comments as the lead into some pretty heady child care arguments. So, wow! Just WOW!!
The third thing is the thing I loved the most. She said the magical words, reproductive rights also mean the right for a women to have children as well as not. I LOVE THIS, YOUNG LOVERS. I love this. I am a woman who chose to have children. I feel it is one of the most worthwhile things I've done with my entire life. I also feel it is one THE most undervalued things in this world.
I'm not talking Pro Life vs. Pro Choice. That's a completely different thing. I'm talking about the sacrifices a woman makes to raise children. There's a serious gap in respect for intelligent young women who dedicate twenty to thirty years of their live to focusing primarily on the welfare and development of fledgling human beings. And there's certainly no fair financial compensation that equates a career in mothering to any other career of that time span. Ms. Steinem suggests maybe there should be.
Unfortunately, in my mind, that brought up the political debates of days of yore, when Dick Cheney promised compensation would come to mothers and fathers who stayed home with their children, and especially if those children achieved well in school... Uh, yeah... still waiting for that check, sir... but I digress...I mean, honestly if I had my way, there would be a remote village for child rearing where we could work at our own pace, free of persecution... yeah, it's a little like Brad Pitt's mindset in Fight Club..."the leather clothes you wear will last a lifetime"... LOL... seriously though, I am excited about this program!!
You can check the official trailer HERE. (Amy Richards has some interesting thoughts to share about today's women (and men), thinking they aren't/shouldn't/can't/aren't good enough to count themselves as feminists. I really think this program will be good for us all.)
NOW FOR MY SECOND THOUGHT OF THE DAY... Why do people always assume the worst about other people?
As you know, I had a major damage incident last week resulting temporary walking limitations. But life goes on, and I don't stay down for long. My Grammy will turn 86 this week and there was a big party in Chi-Town. So of course we loaded up the Blue-Bug-A- Bago and headed off. And of course SonnyBlue forgot his bathing suit. And of course, the hotel had a pool. Luckily there was a Target close by.
Now Sonny is becoming a man and can handle some purchasing on his own, but this was Chicago and it was late at night. So I decided to go in with him. I forgot the magical super duper cane back at the hotel, so I linked my arm in his for waddling support. He's a handsome young man of sixteen and I'm a handsome middle aged woman of 38, if I do say so myself, so I'm sure we do make a handsome pair. But I'm also pretty sure the leggings under the hippie skirt and fluffy moccasins that I was wearing over my giganto ankle wrappings were pretty good evidence of my elderly-ness. And of course any well bred son would escort his decrepit mom. We weren't hand in pocket for heaven's sake! ;) Well at least that's what a modest, small town, Mid West gal would think any way...
We didn't even get in the door, Young Lovers, before a man, who was smoking eight feet from the entrance, gave us a disparaging look and mumbled something less than complimentary about cougars. FOR REAL!! I should note that Sonny is a big fan of all things Cougar Wife related and thought this was just great. We had a good laugh and traveled on.
Cuing soundtrack... CLICK HERE ...
But it continued in the baby dept. We were picking up some extra swim diapers for B3 and found some little guy sized swim trunks, that would be great for him as he grows into next summer, on sale. So as we were making our selections, the SalesLady asked, "Have you folks already had your baby or are you expecting?"
I was incensed!! HORRIFIED. Sonny saw it as a way to practice his Improv skills and totally told that old biddy, with a completely straight face, that "our baby is a year old." AND THEN PROCEEDED TO SHOW HER PICTURES ON HIS PHONE.
For real.
I was never so relieved to get a check out counter in my life!
That is, until the cashier politely acknowledged me first, and then as he saw Sonny handing me a wad of bills to pay with (no pockets in the cripple hippie skirt...), he asked him if he'd like to open up a Target debit account. I wanted to scream, this boy is only sixteen years old!!!!!!!!!!! But Sonny wanted to continue play acting. He smiled and said, "No thanks, the little lady here, doesn't approve, do you, sweetheart?" And while I stood there hopelessly stunned at both of them, he continued, "No, she doesn't want to save fifteen percent," grinned at the guy and tugged my arm to lead me away.
Finally, there was an elderly lady sitting on a scooter at the exit door. She smiled widely as we stumbled by, and gave me a very knowing WINK. I don't know by this point, if she could tell I was just a fellow cripp out with my boy, or if she figured I still had IT and had landed myself the jackpot of young lovers/keepers... Maybe she was a feminist?????????? ;) Heck, why not? Sonny and I laughed all the way to the parking lot.
Embrace LIFE, Young Lovers. Even when people are assuming the worst. You might even have fun doing it.
P.S. Still waiting for a pair of little velvet shoes... gift cards hang in the balance... ;) Do it!!
<3FROM ME2U, LOVE, RALEY BLUE<3
