advertisement
-
Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
- read more
mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
- read more
-
Labels, labels everywhere....
There is something that I need to talk about-a topic that has been making my skin crawl and keeping my feathers ruffled for long time.
Labels-all kinds, in fact, practically the whole lot of them-they irk me. When I hear someone or something labeled, I just want to stand up and shout, “NOOOO!”
Everywhere I turn there are people and someone who is labeling them. The screwy thing about it is that I spend way too time trying to teach my kids why labels aren’t important and undoing the damage done when they are labeled.
Thankfully, the teaching opportunities come mostly in stories we hear on the news-stories of news anchors whose not-so-friendly-fans send letters urging to do something about their obesity, telling them to get off the television for the sake of the children that watch her. Really-whose job is it to tell someone they are obese and they need to lose weight?
Hetero or not, what is does sexuality got to do with anything? People are living, giving and blazing trails in so many different ways, coming from such a variety of paths-what makes them happy is essential to whom they are and labels aren’t changing that.
What about being the Republican or the Democrat-do I really need a label to go do my civic duty and vote for the next leader of my city, state or country? Can’t I take my values and beliefs, try to match them with best candidate I think that can do the job and just go vote? Does someone really need to know what side of the fence I sit on, and should I really have to endure the ridicule when they find out?
The haves and the have-nots, who gets to determine who is better off? Why can’t it be just a little more equal, and why does the gap seem to get wider all of the time? More and more I wonder if it isn’t our attitude that wedges it wide, making it harder to bridge it, so that we can co-mingle, share and love.
In the meantime, I remind my kids daily to listen to what people are saying. An example, we watched the debates the other night and listened to both sides, taking in the words, while momma was making mental notes, so some fact checking could be done. Elections aren’t too far away and regardless of what side I sit on, I want to make the best decision and I want my kids to see the process.
We listen to the feelings of those who have struggled to be who they are. We give them due respect for being true to themselves. I pray that I am able to do that if the opportunity ever should arise and am thankful that I have a multitude of people to fall back on that have been there, done that.
We remind each other that it is what lives inside of a person that counts, and not what is on the outside. Short, tall, round or thin, we call a person their given name, not the name we want to give them.
Labels belong on boxes, cans and shelves, found in stores or storage areas, neatly organized for easy finding.
People don’t come in such neat packages, they are scattered throughout the world, raising kids, working, inventing, and writing, politicizing or doing whatever they need to do. Whether we support them or not, they don’t need labels.With less labels and a little more love, there will be fewer ruffled feathers, more talking and a whole heck of a lot less damage being done.
Looking at the picture I thought the blog was about food labels, given recent post about foods. I would love to see a blog about how our food labels are so misleading. Like what is the difference between natural and organic. As far as being democrat or republican, there is unaffiliated, or Liberal. I just tell people I am unaffiliated and then I can vote either way. I suppose there are a lot of people on both sides who have no problem stating which side they are on and arguing their side.
May 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tagslife (7)
christmas (3)
divorce (3)
growing up (3)
lessons (3)
single parenting (3)
teenagers (3)
accomplishments (2)
back to school (2)
boy scouts (2)
boys (2)
chaos (2)
family time (2)
gratitude (2)
home ownership (2)
kids (2)
motherhood (2)
new year (2)
resolutions (2)
sanity (2)
togetherness (2)
vacation (2)
yard work (2)
(1)
2012 (1)
active teens (1)
activities (1)
adult bully (1)
adventures (1)
age (1)
alright (1)
archery (1)
baby steps (1)
bad examples (1)
best friends (1)
birds (1)
birthday (1)
boys to men (1)
busy-ness (1)
calendar (1)
camp (1)
canoeing (1)
carpentry (1)
challenges (1)
child rearing (1)
children (1)
choice (1)
choices (1)
christmas tree (1)
cleaning room (1)
clubs (1)
coffee (1)
college (1)
college break (1)
coming out (1)
complicated life (1)
confirmation (1)
confused (1)
cookies (1)
cooking (1)
courage (1)
crawlspace (1)
cruise (1)
dance (1)
dead trees (1)
december (1)
decision making (1)
dentist (1)
dinner (1)
disappointment (1)
diy (1)
dogs barking (1)
drug abuse (1)
elections (1)
encouragement (1)
events (1)
facebook (1)
fall funfest (1)
family (1)
family table (1)
fearlessness (1)
fighting (1)
fired (1)
first jobs (1)
forgetfullness (1)
friends (1)
friendship (1)
fun (1)
funny anecdotes (1)
games (1)
goals (1)
good examples (1)
goodness (1)
grace (1)
grin (1)
happy birthday (1)
happy hour (1)
health (1)
help (1)
helping others (1)
holiday (1)
holidays (1)
homosexuality (1)
house projects (1)
housework (1)
hugs (1)
humanity (1)
independence (1)
independent (1)
individual attention (1)
joy (1)
jumbled mind (1)
kid=stories (1)
kids cooking (1)
kids saving (1)
kis growing up (1)
labels (1)
last goodby (1)
laughter (1)
laundry anarchy (1)
lemons and lemonade (1)
less hate (1)
living outside box (1)
lonely (1)
mac and cheese (1)
magazine surveys (1)
maintenance free (1)
manuals (1)
may (1)
me time (1)
medication (1)
mediocre homemaker (1)
memories (1)
mental health (1)
merit badges (1)
middle school (1)
milestones (1)
milk (1)
miss you (1)
mom meetups (1)
mom support (1)
moms dating (1)
money (1)
moral support (1)
more love (1)
neighbors (1)
nervous mom (1)
networking (1)
new years eve (1)
normalcy (1)
not a hugger (1)
numbers (1)
okay with the world (1)
oldest daughter (1)
opportunities (1)
parenting (1)
parenting more than one (1)
people are people (1)
people watching (1)
personal finance (1)
pets (1)
picky eater (1)
plants (1)
play (1)
plays (1)
poetry (1)
raising children (1)
relief (1)
rough patches (1)
sacraments (1)
sad (1)
scaredy cat (1)
self improvement (1)
sick pets (1)
snow (1)
social (1)
social media (1)
spouse (1)
stars (1)
summer break (1)
surreal (1)
surveying life (1)
symmetry (1)
tadpoles (1)
talents (1)
teaching (1)
teen angst (1)
teen bully (1)
teens dating (1)
teens driving (1)
thanks (1)
the big picture (1)
thinking (1)
thoughts (1)
time (1)
tolerance (1)
too many things to do (1)
tooth fairy (1)
traditions (1)
travel (1)
turning sixteen (1)
tweens (1)
unexpected (1)
valentines (1)
village (1)
virtual life (1)
weekend home (1)
weight loss (1)
westport (1)
wood floors (1)
working together (1)
worry (1)
wrestling (1)
writing (1)