Just because YOU think it's OK doesn't mean that we do!

As parents, we all are charged to raise our children to become decent, law-abiding citizens.  In our case, we also want them to be faithful Catholic adults.  Because of our responsibilties, there are things that we will not allow our children to do, say, or have.  Yes, we may be strict and boring and conservative, but if that's what it takes to raise our kids to become the adults we want them to become, so be it!

We have tried to keep our children from hearing foul language.  Yes, we know that it's inevitable that they'll hear it somewhere at some point, but they're young and we'd rather have them hear decent words as they're learning to talk and building their vocabularies.  We've already had issues with the word "stupid" so we know that it's very possible to have issues with other words that are a bit stronger and more offensive than that one.  People who are close to us know this, so I must ask:  Must everything be "that damn this" and "that damn that?"  Why do you continue to call people and things stupid when you know we don't allow our kids to use that word? 

I have two boys, so burping and farting are common in my house, despite my best efforts to teach my sons good manners.  However, I continually encourage them to use good manners and demonstrate appropriate behavior.  So when I ask my son to not talk about pooping at the dinner table, I would appreciate people not saying "I don't mind if he talks about that."  I don't care what you mind -- I asked him to not talk about bathroom topics at the table and I expect him to obey his mother.  Feel free to talk about pooping during meals when we're not around.

We also don't approve of certain questionable influences, which several people don't find questionable.  But we do and we're raising our own kids, so we'd appreciate it if you'd respect our boundaries.  Here are some examples of things that are not allowed in our home:

Wizards/Witchcraft/Vampires/etc:  These all have occult influences and we do not want our children to be exposed to them.

Pirates:  Pirates rape, pillage, and steal.  We don't really want our children emulating this sort of behavior.  Would you?

Cheerleaders:  Look at their outfits.  We have sons.  We want to raise them to be gentleman who respect women, so ogling them is not something we encourage.

Crass children's shows:  Sorry, but Spongebob Squarepants is rude and inappropriate.  So are half the other children's shows on the air.

Whatever happened to modesty?

I was reading an article/discussion online yesterday about whether it's appropriate for children to be naked in public.  The author was specifically discussing allowing her children to swim in the ocean nude, since they hadn't brought their bathing suits.

In my opinion, the answer is NO!  Not only is modesty a lost virtue, but there are so many perverts out there with digital cameras and camera phones who could easily take nude photos of your children and post them online or use them for their own sick gratification.  Yes, they're young and innocent, but that is precisely why we need to protect them and keep them safe!

My personal weight loss challenge

I will start off by saying that I am well aware that I could lose a few pounds.  Maybe even a few dozen.  And I was disappointed in how I appeared, but didn't want to let vanity take over.  So it took my doctor telling me that I had to lose 8 pounds in 6 weeks to light the fire under me!

I decided to start the South Beach Diet on Ash Wednesday.  I figured that sacrificing the food I love would be a good Lenten practice.  I chose the South Beach Diet because Dr. Escalante recommended that I stop eating fruit (except for berries) and decrease my carbohydrate intake except for vegetables.  Genius me figured that if I munched on grapes and apples with the kids and ate whole-grain bread and pasta, I was eating healthy.  But apparently, the sugars in the fruits and grains were the reason why I've had such a difficult time losing weight over the past year.

So after eating vegetable frittatas for breakfast every morning for the past two weeks and having my husband either mock or pity me at dinnertime, I am proud to say that I have lost 4 pounds!  I am halfway to my goal with about 4 weeks of Lent to go.

I have completed by 2-week Phase 1 of the SBD, so I will start introducing more whole grains into my diet over the next few weeks.  Let's see how that works out...