Thank you... and I agree...I am sure that our experiences do affect my views. My kids are sadly VERY aware of racism, and my nieces even more so. :(

We watched up until Obama was finished speaking, then had to turn it off and get back to school. My kids watched intently because they knew it was such a historical event. :)

Well, I disagree with many here. I do NOT think it is necessarily racism for a child to describe someone by their color. I do, however, not allow my children to use such a description. We strive in my family to teach our kids to see past race - to judge not on color of skin, but on content of character - just as Dr. King wanted. When I say, "you know, the black girl" it just feels wrong coming from my mouth. I wouldn't want someone referring to me as, "you know...the white girl." I would want them to say, "you know...X's mommy" or "you know, the woman who works with the nursery at church" - and not define me by the color of my skin. This country has a long way to go. But, for me - having an African American best friend, an African American Brother-in-law and two bi-racial nieces - one of which, in kindergarten was called a "ni*****" by a classmate - it is a hot topic with me and my kids in my home. To each his own. I don't think you are racist to allow your kids to refer to someone by color (necessarily), but for me and my kids, we do not.

As for Aretha's hat....taaaaa dow! LOL But did it or did it not fit her totally? I mean, that woman can wear about anything...she opens her mouth to sing and you just stop thinking about what she looks like. I love her voice.

It really didn't strike me as all that bad. I obviously couldn't pull off a gold outfit...but I have fair skin. Heck, kudos to anyone who can wear gold and still look good. I think Michelle Obama looked nice. :) (And for the record, I didn't even vote for Obama, so I am not just biased or something).

This would be a day off in my house with that scenario, I do believe. LOL

I am just curious. I never really had a nickname for my oldest son. He was always "buddy" or something like that. However, my little one has had a myriad of names that make absolutely no sense. For instance, when he was about 9 mos old, my dh and I called him "booger." It totally upset my MIL. LOL Then, later, my dh decided to call him "Squiggly Woggy" and now I tend to call him "Scritchy Scratchy." At first, he would put up a fight..."THAT IS NOT MY NAME" but now, he just ignores our stupidity and goes on. The thing is, when I look at him...I think, "wow...he really is scritchy scratchy." :001_tt2:

Something I never thought I would have to say??? "Stop using potty words to talk about your brother." (the little one is fascinated with pee, poop, butts, UGH!)

Well....unless they are racist (which it seems they aren't since they like your friend and your dh), why woudl you ever feel the need to clarify what color the people in the church are? Now if you were off to a nudist beach or something, yeah, you might want to give a head's up...but a predominately AA church??? :confused:

Looks like you are giving yourself one day a MONTH (LOL - the 30th just says, "no school.) Isn't that enough????:lol: Personally, when things get hectic, I have a built in FLIGHT :leaving: response and start cancelling out the wazoo. No, I need my days off - the kids need those days too. If it makes you unhappy, and/or if it makes the kids unhappy, then I say start cutting. I like for life to be simple. Your schedule would overwhelm me in a second!

Eek. What kind of dog is he? My stupid dog would eat it. He very often eats crayons and plastic "men" the kids have...and he gets very sick afterwards.

Thank you Yvette. I totally understood what you meant by your post. I think it is great that your child never thought to refer to others by skin color alone! My oldest son didn't either. However, my younger, living in a predominately caucasian area (translation, small town USA), did start to notice based on skin color. That is when I made it know that people have all different skin colors - even in our own house (my dh has a dark olive colored skin and black hair whereas I am very fair skinned and my boys are a cross between the two - not as pale as me, not as dark as him) and that color of skin was not a way to describe people. I wont even allow my kids to refer to people as "the black girl in co-op," etc. I immediately tell them to pick another feature and describe her to me that way. I am always amazed at what comes out..."the pretty little girl whose brother is in my art class" or "the tall girl who was wearing a pink skirt today." :)

You know, I never really thought about explaining this day to African American children and how they may start to feel about the white people who harmed people of their own race so many years ago. Thank you for bringing this up - just for me to get another perspective on this thought. It breaks my heart.... I can only imagine how hard that would be for them. :crying:

Please...please...please don't let this topic get into something that discusses racism. This is NOT about racism and pinpointing what is and isn't racist. This is about celebrating the life and work of someone who made a real change in our country. I do not want this topic to have to be closed for being a heated subject. PLEASE. Let's just let those who celebrate share their ways of celebrating and leave it at that. :)

Happy Birthday to him!

My nieces are bi-racial (my sister's husband is African American) so this is definitely something that just hits home for us. My kids love their cousins and have never once even mentioned that Madisyn and Cameryn are brown in color. They play together, we have family picnics together - there has just never been a divide for any reason...and I think this is why my kids were SHOCKED to think that uncle Darrin and their cousins would have had to sit elsewhere on the bus 50 years ago! Or that their cousins couldn't have gone to school with them and they would have had to drink from different water fountains and play on different parks. Thank GOD this is not the kind of world we live in now. Of course, racism still exists...so does rape and murder, but I think the election of our first African American President (I voted for McCain but not because Barack Obama is bi-racial) is proof positive that this country has changed...and that all started with a DREAM by a man named Martin Luthur King, Jr. :)

Hehe...with my kids being so young, we DO celebrate the President's Days. My little is 5 and doing K/1st grade work and these serve as his introduction to these highly influential historical people. :)

Oh my...you know, I didn't even think to bring up Obama being sworn in tomorrow. Thanks! I will have to be sure to tie the two together for my kids!! (DUH!) LOL Your 12 year old definitely "got it!"

Wow - I bet your kids are so very interested in what you have to say about the times that you lived through with your dad as a police officer. My kids listened intently to me just talking about how it must have been.

I use Flint River Ranch from www.flintriver.com. The 20 pound bag is $38.95 which is probably also high...however, it is a human grade food, and keeps my allergy suffering dog from itching to death. It has been a Godsend. I the food you are buying is a lot more expensive, you may want to give flint River a try. It is good food and only about double the price of grocery store dog food.

Thank you for the link above Nicole M. That will be perfect for my oldest as well.

I have both the red one and the white one.

If you desire two, then yes, two from the same litter is great. If you just want one, do NOT get two. Your one pup will be just fine with his human companions and there is no need to get an extra dog just for the puppy. I can't even imagine that! LOL

We just finished reading some books about MLK and what he did for this country. We are also going to make a birthday cake for Martin Luthur King, Jr. today. I was amazed at how closely my 5 year old listened to the stories. He asked me several times if MLK was still dead and I told him, yes, that once someone dies, they are always dead. He got tears in his eyes, which made me so sad. He is such a sweet and tender hearted child. I have to admit, I always cry when I read the words on MLKs tombstone.."Free at last, Free at Last, Thank God Almighty, I am Free at Last." Just gives me cold chills to think of all he did for this country. I can't even imagine living in the days when black and white people couldn't even share the same water fountain, buses, or schools. To my kids, it is almost impossible to fathom. :patriot:

Ours shakes all 3130 sq feet of our house in the spin cycles. :( I have no idea why...but we moved it downstairs just for this reason. Ours is on a stand that raises it up so I can switch the laundry without bending over and the stand is on the hardwood floor.