Yesterday, I arrived at yoga in a VERY un-Zenlike state of mind. I was annoyed at the government; I was annoyed at the pundits and all their blathering on about it. I totally lost my mind at the Facebook posts of people demonizing the MEN in Congress. By the time I arrived at yoga I was in a state.
My big, huge, giant thought was if we are going to continue to man bash, WE, the women of the world have to stop raising men to be so bashable. I have absolutely come to realize that some behaviors are totally gene based. If you give a little boy a Barbie, there is not doubt that he will turn her into some sort of weapon and more than likely she will lose her head.
I do not know one little boy who came into this world and was nothing short of adored, in exactly the same way every girl I know was adored. They were played with and sang to and hugged and kissed and read to. Hopefully, they were taught to put the seat down, use their manners, cook a handful of meals and to respect ALL people.
At what point does it get OK to bash them? At what point does the line, "Boys will be boys" get old? At what point do the boys themselves feel as if they are superior to women and more importantly, at what point do they feel they have a clue as to what is going on in a woman's body?
WOMEN are raising the MEN of the future. We have GOT to let them know it is perfectly OK to be vulnerable and sweet and kind and as freaking adorable as they were when they were just learning to walk. It is so worth our collective energies to do this.
We had a discussion at dinner the other night and I honestly felt my teeth grinding in my mouth as I listened to my son discuss the fine points of women's reproductive rights. He is 17. He hasn't had a whole lot of life experiences yet and as such, he is a little on the naive side. I held my tongue (you can only imagine how hard that was for me) and I decided he needed to live a little before he could really form an informed opinion one way or another. You can't grow up in this house without having had some very strong opinions thrown your way. He is still finding his way. And no, he is NOT a jerk about it; he is just young. I will keep my thoughts private until the time comes to share them with him in a quiet way. Because I don't want him to be the kind of man who gets bashed.
I don't talk about my brother a lot. He was raised by one mother and three older sisters. Is could not have been easy to be him a lot of the time. He and I have a ten year age difference. HE is a great man. He is open minded with some conservative views that always add a bit of dialogue and drama to any family function. He can get certain family members riled up in less than five minutes. To the casual observer, it is nothing short of amusing. In one of life's great "ha-ha's" he is the father to one son and three daughters. I think he is fully prepared to deal with whatever comes his way having been raised by so many women.
Love and patience. It's what we all need. Today, think of the men you know and the boys you are raising and do not let anyone call them out on their being a man for the sake of their gender. If they are an idiot for a moment, well, so is every single woman I know at some point.
The government will get their act together. John Stewart will continue to explain it me in a way I understand and I will keep every one of my friends who has been furloughed in my thoughts.
Love and patience. We got this.
Music today - in honor of my brother's love of Axl while a teenager. Plus, the song fit and who doesn't love this one?
My big, huge, giant thought was if we are going to continue to man bash, WE, the women of the world have to stop raising men to be so bashable. I have absolutely come to realize that some behaviors are totally gene based. If you give a little boy a Barbie, there is not doubt that he will turn her into some sort of weapon and more than likely she will lose her head.
I do not know one little boy who came into this world and was nothing short of adored, in exactly the same way every girl I know was adored. They were played with and sang to and hugged and kissed and read to. Hopefully, they were taught to put the seat down, use their manners, cook a handful of meals and to respect ALL people.
At what point does it get OK to bash them? At what point does the line, "Boys will be boys" get old? At what point do the boys themselves feel as if they are superior to women and more importantly, at what point do they feel they have a clue as to what is going on in a woman's body?
WOMEN are raising the MEN of the future. We have GOT to let them know it is perfectly OK to be vulnerable and sweet and kind and as freaking adorable as they were when they were just learning to walk. It is so worth our collective energies to do this.
We had a discussion at dinner the other night and I honestly felt my teeth grinding in my mouth as I listened to my son discuss the fine points of women's reproductive rights. He is 17. He hasn't had a whole lot of life experiences yet and as such, he is a little on the naive side. I held my tongue (you can only imagine how hard that was for me) and I decided he needed to live a little before he could really form an informed opinion one way or another. You can't grow up in this house without having had some very strong opinions thrown your way. He is still finding his way. And no, he is NOT a jerk about it; he is just young. I will keep my thoughts private until the time comes to share them with him in a quiet way. Because I don't want him to be the kind of man who gets bashed.
I don't talk about my brother a lot. He was raised by one mother and three older sisters. Is could not have been easy to be him a lot of the time. He and I have a ten year age difference. HE is a great man. He is open minded with some conservative views that always add a bit of dialogue and drama to any family function. He can get certain family members riled up in less than five minutes. To the casual observer, it is nothing short of amusing. In one of life's great "ha-ha's" he is the father to one son and three daughters. I think he is fully prepared to deal with whatever comes his way having been raised by so many women.
Love and patience. It's what we all need. Today, think of the men you know and the boys you are raising and do not let anyone call them out on their being a man for the sake of their gender. If they are an idiot for a moment, well, so is every single woman I know at some point.
The government will get their act together. John Stewart will continue to explain it me in a way I understand and I will keep every one of my friends who has been furloughed in my thoughts.
Love and patience. We got this.
Music today - in honor of my brother's love of Axl while a teenager. Plus, the song fit and who doesn't love this one?
Take it slow
It'll work itself out fine
All we need is just a little patience
http://youtu.be/ErvgV4P6Fzc
It'll work itself out fine
All we need is just a little patience
http://youtu.be/ErvgV4P6Fzc
