Procrastination is your friend.

Welcome to the Sunday edition of Kristy's blog! This blog is brought to you by the mountains of reading I should be doing right now. =)

I'm both very pleased and humbled at the same time right now. I sparked some conversation with my blog! Not just conversation, either, but intelligent conversation! I'll grant you it's a small one, really between my mom, myself, and some other anonymous person, but it's fun to put stuff out there and get a response.

I'd like to make a request before I continue, however....if you're going to comment, and you're not already signed up for blogger, please add a line in your "anonymous" comment to let me know who you are. If I don't know you, feel free to just give your first name and maybe something fun like what state you're in. I'm not looking to hunt you down or stalk you or anything, but it would be nice to have a name to respond to. And it would be kind of fun to know where people are reading my blog!

Alrighty...so I'm going to start with addressing my comments from the last blog. My mom had a good point when she pointed out that we can't disqualify people for having sub-standard housing...but maybe we could work harder to provide them with up-to-code housing. Actually, it shouldn't take having a child to get quality housing, that actually would exacerbate the issue here in that some folks would have children just to get better housing. That's Not OK. So then we really should address the housing issue, which is an entirely different problem than the parenting issue, and makes it more complex to solve. So how do we address that? I don't know. I'm not trying to imply that I, with my minimal political science knowledge, can solve the problems of our nation with my tiny little blog. But it *is* an issue: there are so many kids that develop allergies, asthma, and other diseases from living in housing that has mold, bug infestations, and other such sub-standard issues. I just feel bad because that's not their fault...they're suffering from something entirely preventable. It also might not be their parents' fault...wow, I'm starting to get overwhelmed with the idea of trying to make the world a better place. Maybe that's why I like what I do: I make my difference in small, manageable, immediate-results ways. It's very gratifying. Anyhow, I also liked the comment about poverty:

Whether it be poverty of spirit, poverty of those things needed for basic survival, or poverty of knowledge (how to parent), we need to find a way to stop it so that we can focus on those who are our future.

That's really deep. And so very, very true.

As to my other anonymous comment...I am humbled by your thoughts. You're very right in assuming that I don't have kids (maybe you know me?), and I'm also completely unaware of what it's like to have children. It must be incredibly difficult. I had a week this summer where I was babysitting for twin toddlers long hours (breakfast to bed), and I was exhausted. And I didn't have to get up with them in the middle of the night, or go to class, or do really much of anything else. It frightened me a great deal, really, because I want children and I just can't imagine how people do it. Some people tell me that it's different when it's your own children, that you find the strength easier, but still...WOW. I have such respect for parents. I *love* the idea of time management classes to go with the parenting classes. But again, how many classes can we ask expecting parents to take, considering they are likely already to be tired and busy with their own lives? Again, these problems aren't going to be solved in two blogs, or really probably not in this blog alone, but it's interesting the questions that are getting raised.

My previous blog wasn't really in reaction to the abuse I had heard about in the Child Protection Team meeting...that's a whole different issue with different needs to fix. It just reminded me of the whole idea of how to teach people to be better parents, which is something I've thought about a lot since I started working with children. It's a touchy subject, and a hard one to solve, because when addressing it you have to make sure you make objective comments, realizing that your way of parenting is not always the best one. Each person has their own parenting techniques, and just because I don't like someone else's, say, it doesn't mean that they are wrong. And I'm not trying to knock all parents...I know that it must be tough...and nobody's perfect. Everyone has off days, everyone takes different shortcuts. And that's OK. Really, in my heart, the best way to be a great parent is to really really love your kids. When your intentions are in the right place, most of the other stuff usually falls into place.

So, anyway...I feel like I might have more questions than answers now, but I'd still love to hear more thoughts. Or, if there's something else you'd rather discuss, bring that up in the comments feature too! And the key here is to keep questioning, and keep bouncing ideas off of others, and sharing ideals and ideas and someday, as a group, maybe we can all come up with an adequate solution. Thanks for reading and taking me seriously! =)

In other news...the weekend was GREAT! Birthday parties, hanging out with friends old and new, and yes, Mom, smooching. I didn't come out on top in the bowling party, but I held my own, and in the second game I did better than the first, so I'm pleased. It ended up being candlepin bowling, which I've never done before. I've been duck-pin bowling, which is similar in that you use a small ball and the pins are not normal size...but candlepins are tall and skinny and duck pins are mini-sized regular pins. And in duck pin bowling you still only get two turns, it's basically mini-regular bowling. But in candlepin bowling, you get THREE turns, and you don't clear in between turns, so you can use those you've already knocked over to knock other pins over. That is, you can do that if you have skills, which I don't really have apparently. A good time was had by all, and if you're in the Boston area I can highly recommend the Milky Way Lounge and Lanes in Jamaica Plain. Also good is the food from Bella Luna in the same building. The pizza was deeeeeeeeeeeeee-licious! A good time was had by all. Happy Birthday to Michelle!

I think that's enough of yet another novel for today. My reading calls, and I think I can no longer ignore it. In the meantime...share the love and hug someone you care for this week. =)

music: "Keep Me in Your Heart" by Warren Zevon, "Hole in the World" by the Eagles, "Unwell" by Matchbox Twenty (for the philisophical, world-problem-solving section); "Where is the Love?" by the Black Eyed Peas feat. Justin Timberlake (for the personal update)