Thankful for... water

Photo Courtesy of John K

My day started out pretty normal.  Woke up, had some delicious oats for breakfast, snuggled with the dogs, and read.  Around 11 a.m., I went downstairs to let the dogs outside, and started washing dishes.  I was just soaping up a plate when Hubby called from work, telling me to not use our water for any reason.

Apparently, the water in my town tested above the pH threshold, and was unsafe.  There was a no use order  that caution against drinking, bathing, or using water for any purpose.  That meant, no teeth brushing, no hand washing, no dishes, no laundry, NOTHING.  This was bad bad news, as tonight was our town's Light Up Night, and I was supposed to volunteer.  So, here I was, no way to shower or clean up.  We did have a couple of jugs of water, but those needed to be conserved for drinking for us and the pets.  I had contemplated going to stay with relatives, or even in a pet friendly hotel, as we were getting very little information, and rumors were saying this could last for days.  Light Up Night was cancelled.

Hubby and I kept in pretty close contact throughout the day, and events unfolded.  He determined he would get some water from a store near his office (our town was pretty much out), pick up some food, and head home.  I was a bit of a grump, what with not being able to use water all day.  Hubby got home, we ate, and settled in for the night when we learned that the no use order was lifted!  HOORAY!  We are still under a boil order for using water for drinking or food prep.  We had to drain our hot water tank, and clear the lines completely, but that is a minor inconvenience.

It kind of embarrasses me what I wimp I have been, not being able to use our water.  It did not even last for 12 hours.  Millions of people have NO access to clean water and sanitation.  It really makes you think about the everyday blessings we take for granted.  So today, I am thankful, not only for my water, but for all the people who worked so hard today to get our water service restored in a timely manner.  Now excuse me while I take a bubble bath.

Bats in the Belfry

It is hard to believe we have lived in our house for three years already.  The time has gone so fast, and I am amazed that our third wedding anniversary is approaching.  Over the past few years, we have had a slight ongoing issue, one which we will mistakenly think has gone away, but every now and again pops up to remind us that it still exists.

This problem is a bat.

You may remember the first time I spoke about encountering a bat in our home.  Hubby actually wrote a much more amusing tale of that initial bat encounter, complete with awesome reenactment photos.  This was our first full summer in our home, back when we only had Dexter and Nora.

Fast forward to last summer.  Either we never had a bat in our home, or we were blissfully unaware that the bloodsucking flying rat was there, because last summer, all was quiet.  

This summer, it has been a whole different story.  We have encountered the bat (or other bats) three times so far since June.  Each time, we get a little better at dealing with it in a manner that is quick and relatively painless for all involved.  This past weekend, we once again did battle, and this time, I got actual photos of it.

The funny thing with this bat situation is, we forget how awful the bat is, until it rears its ugly head again.  And the second we see it, all those awful memories of past encounters come rushing back.  We now have 3 animals to protect, as well as ourselves, so we never will be able to just ignore the bat completely, but we have been able to successfully get it away from us as quickly as possible, and carry on with our business.

I am not going to lie, each time I encounter the bat, it shakes me up a little.  I get nervous walking into the basement, peering up at the rafters and wondering if that terrible beast is enjoying peaceful slumber above my head.  I fear that it will fly into my hair, and send me doing a shrieking jig around the basement.

We have tried to determine where the bat is entering, so that we can block up the path, but since bats can squeeze their way into the tiniest of cracks, it is really impossible to turn our house into an impenetrable fortress.  All we can do is be aware that we may encounter this bat again, and be on guard.

One of my neighbors told me that, because we live near a river, the bats can be worse here, because we have more insects due to the closeness of the water.  I also think that having a basement makes us more likely to have bats, since the rafters are such a cozy place for them to roost.

All I know is, if we ever move, this bat is never getting our forwarding address.

Twitter Fights, aka Getting TweetSlapped

Cartoon by Hubby

I am a professed social media fan.  I may be a little slow to catch on the new forms of social media (hello G+) and some I stay away from due to their potential to be a total time suck (Pinterest anyone?), but one thing I have come to love, after years of professing to hate it, is Twitter.  I love that I can get info faster on my cell phone's twitter app than the media news outlets.  When an earthquake was recently felt in Pittsburgh, Hubby called me to check in, and when I told him I knew nothing about it, he simply said, check your Twitter.

Twitter is, for me, a great way to sound off when frustrated, to make connections with people worldwide, and to promote my blog posts.  All in 140 characters or less.  I adore it, which is why I am annoyed to see what may be the dumbest thing ever- Twitter Fights.

Last night, by feed got flooded by two Burgh Tweeps fighting.  Tweep A had tweeted something and a bit later Tweet B said something remarkable similar.  It was a Pittsburgh joke about Jeff Reed, one that I am sure at least 100 other Burgh based Tweeps probably tweeted about, as it was not exactly a sophisticated joke.  But Tweep A got bent out of shape, and ranted and name called.  And Tweep B totally fed into it, instigating more and more.  In the end, they both ended up looking like, pardon my language, douchebags.

To be clear, these people were not fighting over hate speech, political ideas, radical thoughts, and anything that was contributing to the betterment of mankind.  No, these guys were fighting over a joke.  A dumb joke about Jeff Reed assaulting a Sheetz towel dispenser that stopped being funny about 10 minutes after the incident happened in 2009.  This was the single dumbest waste of time ever.

Why do people feel the need to engage in this behavior?  What point does it serve?  Anyone can be brave when sitting behind their laptop or smartphone screen.  And really, who cares if someone allegedly stole your tweet.  It is TWITTER, these things are not gaining entry in the Library of Congress.  I guess this falls in the same category as trolling, acting out in ridiculous ways on Twitter.  And I see so much of it.  I see people blatantly attacking others on Twitter, completely unprovoked.  I just cannot fathom how much someone's life must suck if picking fights on Twitter is the only way they can feel good about their pitiful existence.

Tiffany's Soapbox: The Glee Project

So, remember when I said I was kind of over Glee.  Turns out I was wrong.  And you know how I say I don't like reality tv?  Well, wrong there too.  So put those two things together, and you get something I surprisingly care about more than most tv shows: The Glee Project.

This is a reality tv competition where contenders battle it out for a spot on the next season of Glee.  I am not going to recap the whole season or all the ins and outs, if you want that, you will have to look elsewhere.  What I am going to do is say that I really hope Lindsay Pearce is not the winner.  Now before I get all kinds of hate mail from the Pearcling fans, let me explain.  It is not because I dislike her (though I am rooting for Damian), and it is not because she comes across poorly in the show (there is an unlikely possibility that is due to editing).  I am basing this completely on what I see her tweeting.

Sure, she is all rainbows and smiles to her fans and those who worship at the throne of her musical theater greatness (the girl is talented, no question, and does have an amazing life story).  But to her detractors, those who favor the other contenders, she is rude, argumentative, and behaves more like a 12 or 13 year old than a 19 or 20 year old.

 Despite the fact that these tween and teen tweeps dislike her, they often love Glee, so she is serving to alienate a chunk of a very fickle demographic.  I get that she wants to defend herself, but signing the tweets "later hater" is not something you are apt to see any other Glee cast member do.  I would imagine they are groomed in the ways of PR, and taught to take the high road.

So, my point is, I really hope that Linsday did not win, both for her sake and the sake of Glee's ratings.  Because if she DID win, and no one is helping to groom this young starlet in the ways to wisely use social media to build and support a fan base as oppose to alienate it, if they are allowing a Glee cast member to act this way, well, I predict she will act out in other ways as well, and it will affect the quality of the show.

Perhaps I am reading too much into what I see here, but I honestly feel bad that no one is helping her, teaching her to pick her battles, and not battle in a way that can last forever in the form of a screen shot.

I do not dislike her, as I do not know her personally.  I simply dislike where I think this could lead.  She is, in essence, a kid, and I think she needs direction if she wants a long lasting professional career.  I think it is sad when virtual fighting becomes the norm.  But let's face it, show biz is tough, so she better get a thick skin and learn to ignore this stuff.  Otherwise, she will become the Rashard Mendenhall of Glee.

Later haters.

Tiffany's Soapbox: Summer's Eve

When I was a child, we had an elderly neighbor named Edna Bigly.  It seemed to me she was ancient, but in reality, she was probably about 80.  We would visit her often, and I remember a story about her once telling my mom how disgusting television commercials were.  She specifically disliked the commercials for Summer's Eve, and said that those women did not need to be talking about washing their vaginas on television.  Back then, I found this hilarious and prudish.  But today, I join the ranks of Edna Bigly.

I think the new Summer's Eve ad campaign is disgusting, and completely objectifying of women.  The commercial is slick, and of high production quality.  It features women from different historical time periods, and talking about this thing being the cradle of life, the center of civilization, a thing fought and died for by many men and perhaps the most powerful thing on earth.  Then it cuts to a woman buying douche and says, so show it some love ladies.  The catch phrase at the end is  "Hail to the V". Um, what?  So, the thing that rules the world is vagina?  All women really are is a vagina, in other words.

What marketing director okays a message like that, when your entire customer base is female?  Apparently the same one that uses racial stereotypes, and suggest a campaign that indicates a fresh douching will give you the confidence to ask your boss for a raise.

I find the whole premise of this ad campaign disgusting.  I get that your products are geared towards the lady zone, but come ON.  You pretty much just set the woman's movement back an entire millenia.  I am sure some feminists love this campaign, and see it as women owning their sexuality.  But to me, I think it is just the opposite, with women being treated as sexual objects.  And, ew, get that grossness off of my television thanks.  I know this makes me sound old and cranky.  I rarely watch tv, and when I do, it is usually dvred, so I skip commercials.  A recent heat wave, however, has me parked in front of my tube in the air conditioning, and I am simply appalled at what I see.  I am sure it does not help that I have been watching a lot of WE, Bravo, and Oxygen.

To be fair, these are not the only commercials I find gross.  The new Huggies commercial, where the little boy urinates all over the room is awful, as is the Luvs commercial where cartoon babies are in diaper filling contest while the song Poop There It Is plays in the background.

So why the graphic grossness about sensitive bodily parts and functions?  I attribute it to the social media age, where anyone can, and most usually do, share any and every intimate detail of their lives, including things about their vaginas or bowel movements.  People forget to filter themselves, and now that is apparently the accepted mode of operation, even in the marketing world.  Well, get it off  my television.  And get off my lawn.

Sweet and Sour Tiffany: Extreme Couponing

A huge trend in the housewife/mommy circuit right now is the concept of extreme couponing.  It used to be ladies were just sharing their coupons among friends, but now there are how to books and seminars devoted to how you can save thousands of dollars a year by couponing and watching deals in the sale ads.  Heck, there is even a television show devoted to extreme couponing.  So, I can think of no better topic to discuss for another Sweet and Sour installment.

The Sweet

No one will argue that today's economy is tough.  High unemployment rates, ballooning costs of living, and stagnant salaries all mean we should be trying to get more for our money.  So, it only makes sense that some people will do whatever it takes to make it in tough times.  If that means scouring newspapers and the internet for coupons, so be it.  It could mean the difference between the water staying on or the lights getting shut off.  So I totally get it.

A lot of people have a "go big or go home" attitude, and for them, saving 35 cents on toothpaste and 75 cents on bread is just not enough.  I think for people who are extreme at anything, it involves a rush.  Who would not feel like a total champ knowing they got $1000 worth of groceries for $100?  If people get high from that feeling, as weird as I may find it, then that is a whole lot better, physically at least, than drugs and alcohol.

The Sour

I think, in reality, extreme couponing is not what it appears.  To me, I see a lot of people getting GREAT deals on a bunch of crap they do not need.  Who cares if you can get 40 boxes of diapers for a dollar if you don't have kids, and will never have kids?  Who cares if you can get condiments for pennies if no one in your household uses them?  I often think that these extreme couponers are shopaholics who use the money they are "saving" to justify the amount of totally useless crap they buy.

And while the coupons are saving them money at the checkout lines, they are costing them in other ways.  I have heard that these couponers spend up to 8 hours preparing for the shopping trip, and up to another 4 doing the actual shopping.  Plus the costs of buying the magazines/newspapers to get the coupons, or the paper and ink to print the online coupons.  WHAT A WASTE!

***

In short, I am sure coupons are valuable to some people, but I personally cannot justify it.  Why waste hours trying to save money, when that time with your family could be priceless.  And if you are buying things you do not need, are you really saving at all?  I know some people do it, and later donate the items to get a tax break or credit.  Meh, I would rather save myself the hassle, go to Aldi's or SuperWalmart, and spend my time enjoying life.

So that being said, if the Sweet and Sour didn't completely fill you up, move along to the fortune cookie.

Sweet and Sour Tiffany: Royal Wedding

I tried hard to not talk about the Royal Wedding, but it became glaringly obvious that I was one of the few bloggers out there in the blogosphere NOT talking about it, so, I decided to cave.  I know so many people in the United States woke up at the crack of dawn to watch the wedding.  I chose not to, and shied away from a lot of the media coverage, though I will admit I looked at a website or two.  I am more interested in the whole cultural focus on the wedding, the coverage, every last detail.  So, yes, I am caving, and talking about the wedding.  But instead of being all schmaltzy, I am going to take a look at the whole hulabaloo, both the Sweet and the Sour.

The Sweet

While I did not get wrapped up in "The Wedding", I certainly understand why a lot of people did.  First off, talk of princes and horse drawn carriages just reminds us of fairy tales.  In a country where royalty does not exist, the idea of a girl marrying Prince Charming for real is ridiculously romantic.  Many little girls love the idea of being a princess, marrying a prince, and living happily ever after.  Just ask Disney.  So, to me, it is no surprise that women in America are so interested in this wedding.

In fact, women tend to be drawn to wedding festivities of every kind.  I personally do not like weddings all that much, though I like them more now that my own is over.  I always hated going to them as a singleton; so depressing.  I am in the minority, however, as most women I know go coocoo crazy over weddings.  They love talking about all the details, the dress, the ring, the music, the flowers.  So, the fact that women are talking about Kate like they are BFFs is no surprise.  Women love a good wedding.

However, I think the biggest thing I "get" about the fascination with this wedding is that this is history in the making.  The future king of England has taken a wife.  That is historic.  His wife was a commoner.  That is even more historic.  People the world over want to be a part of the history of the moment.  Those who were around for Diana's wedding can still remember it, and so it will be when Kate's child marries.

The Sour

As I said, I am just not a wedding person.  The fact that I was single for so many of my friends' and relatives' weddings was just depressing.  I also am not a big fan of opulence.  I am a simple girl, with simple tastes, so I am not terribly interested in seeing the crown jewels.  The fancy schmancy wedding, to me, just seems like a waste of money.  Good for them that they requested that money be given to charity instead of gifts, but how much money could they have given to charity themselves had they had a simpler wedding?

Also, the media coverage was really over the top.  One would think there were nothing else going on in all the world, when in reality, the economic situation in many countries, including England, is less than wonderful, and Americans in the southern states are dealing with yet another natural disaster.  So, perspective here might be helpful.

The thing that drives me craziest of all is the ridiculous merchandise tie ins.  Royal Wedding nail decals, condoms, and lord only knows what other crap can be found on places like etsy.  Seriously, I am glad my wedding favors were boxes of candy, as opposed to some stupid and creepy masks of our faces, or some other ridiculous piece of merchandise.

***

When it is all said and done, I may not be interested in the Royal Wedding, but I certainly understand the appeal of it.  The ceremony is one that is affecting history.  Of course people will make a big deal out of it.  Just like the Americans did when we had an inaugural ceremony to swear in our first African American president.  We all want to be a part of history.  And yes, I will always remember where I was when the future king of England got married.  I was in my bed, sleeping next to my very own Prince Charming.


So that being said, if the Sweet and Sour didn't completely fill you up, move along to the fortune cookie.

Tiffany's Soapbox: Let little girls be little girls

Sexualizing children is nothing new. But it never ceases to be highly troublesome to me.  Back when Britney Spears first started sexing things up, I found it uncomfortable that little girls were emulating her overt sexuality.  What ever happened to little girls looking like little girls, and not tramps in training? The same effect can be seen with the millions of Mylie fans.  I get that these "music artists" (I use the term lightly) are trying to break out of their little girl molds, and be taken seriously, but when you pander to the pre-pubescent market for years, then suddenly go all spongebob slut pants, little girls are still going to be looking up to you, following your lead.  The result is a bunch of girls, too young to even be considered tweens, who start to think their body is the only way to catch a person's attention.

I remember a while ago, when a youtube video surfaced of a dance troup of 7 year old girls gyrating to All The Single Ladies.  There was public outcry that the dancing was too sexual, but many are defending it, saying that is just how dance competitions are.  Should dance competitions be encouracing little girls to grind their hips, while wearing fishnet stockings and barely more than a bikini? The world is full of very sick and twisted people, and I think it is frighteningly easy for these little girls to get exploited.  That video is a prime example.  To locate it, I googled "controversial little girls dance".  There it was, first listing, but there were others of girls dancing, as well as videos of so many people saying, it was just taken out of context.  I say, change the context.

The list goes on and on for me.  Little girls painted up in beauty pageants.  Revealing Halloween costumes for little girls.  Sexy clothes for pint sized fashionistas.  It scares me.

The latest thing to spark controversy is the fact that Abercrombie and Fitch is now pitching padded and push up bikini's for the 7 year old set.  Is it any wonder girls have so many body issues?  Is it any wonder eating disorders, cutting, and teen pregnancies are starting younger and younger?

While in all these cases, the girls may not be doing anything wrong, you have to, as a parent, be concerned with how others will perceive the girls. These are children, helpless to defend themselves from potential pedophiles.

Why be in such a hurry for your little girl to grow up? The world can be a scary place, why not keep her innocent for as long as you can?

Ch-ch-changes!

Life in our little area of town is going to be changing soon, and I guess it is time I start preparing for the eventuality.  We will be getting over 20 new neighbors by the fall.  Let me explain.

In our town, there used to be a branch campus of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, or IUP.  Several years back, they closed the campus, and the land just sort of sat there.  There was a basketball court, several lots, and some parking that came in handy on street cleaning night.  Then, we received word that the land had all been sold, and a housing development was going to go in.  People were displeased to say the least.

Not only would this create potential for more traffic in an area heavily populated with small children, it would upset the balance of the tight knit community of neighbors.  As it was, things were different enough for them, what with Hubby and I moving in, then the long time resident across the street from us selling her house to another young couple.  But, despite all our protestations, the development is all systems go.

So much so, in fact, this winter, the end of one street was blocked off, and in came the construction crew.

First thing torn up was the parking lot, then the basketball courts.  Next thing I knew, the whole lot had been torn up and cleared.  Now, 3 houses are up, and the foundations for several more are ready.

This is going to be a huge change for my small community.  The upside is, the houses are for senior citizens on fixed incomes, so hopefully, the community will stay quiet and peaceful.  Apparently, similar housing communities were built in parts of Pittsburgh, and are doing well.  I guess we can only wait and see.

To us, this is not such a huge change, since we have only lived in town less than 2 years.  But some families have lived here 30 years or more, and had absolutely no say in this decision.  I can only hope this works out for the benefit of all.

Snow No More

Alright I will probably bring on the wrath of my entire town when I admit this: Late last week and over the weekend, I was a little sad to see the snow leave.  It made for such beautiful pictures, and seeing the dead grass was a little depressing.  I knew it would be a while before things would burst into bloom for Spring, so it saddened me to not at least have pretty snow to look at; I have since changed my mind about all that however.

Because last night we got hit with a snowstorm from Hades.

 The weather forecasters called for a max of 3 inches.  We got at least 9.  Probably closer to 12 when it was all said an done.  And it started snowing at 3 pm.  Road crews did little, if anything, to prepare for bad roads during rush hour.  The result?  Hubby's 1.25 hour drive home ended up taking him 5 hours.  Completely ridiculous.  Needless to say, he did not make it in today.  The roads were still a mess this morning, oh, who am I kidding, half of the roads in our county are still  pretty much untouched by anything other than the sun.  I am just happy Hubby made it home safe and sound.

I decided to venture out today, to see if the snow resulted in any good photo ops, and boy did it ever!

And while I appreciate the opportunity to get one more awesome set of snow photos in for the year, which you can view here, I am totally ready for Spring.  Even if it means dead grass for a few weeks.

So, Mother Nature, no more snow, mmmkay?

Snow blows!

Tiffany's Soapbox: Drama Queens

Note: This is the first installment of a new series where I sound off about things that bother me, annoy me, or are just plain ridiculous.  I try to keep this blog positive, but we all need to sound off at times.  Feel free to disagree with me, but please keep it respectful.

Normally, I try to keep the blog free of offensive words, and maintain a family friendly atmosphere, so I will warn you up front, this post will contain harsher language than normal, but it serves a purpose, so I hope you keep reading.  There is something that has been troubling me for a while now, and it is the increased level of drama that occurs with teens and tweens, particularly young girls.

When I was young, if you fought with your friend/parents/boyfriend, you handled it by either writing in a journal, or confiding in another friend, crying over pizza, and maybe making a few prank calls to the boy involved.  Only the really "bad" girls fought in public, and most girls kept things private, and dignified.  Your dignity was often all you had, particularly when suffering a bad break up.  Today, whenever anything happens, from a broken nail to cheating mate, it is splashed across social networking sites and texted at the speed of light.  Nothing is sacred, nothing is private, and young girls no longer have dignity.

What is it about our culture that is teaching young girls that it is ok to engage in this ridiculous drama, to post semi nude or scantily clad pictures of their teenage bodies online, to call each other bitches and whores, to hand out meaningless sex acts to random people as casually as they do their phone numbers, and to publicly broadcast "FML" everytime they do not get their way?  I cannot help but think that reality tv shows like Teen Mom, Jersey Shore, Bad Girls Club, and countless others contribute to this behavior.  These shows all feature young girls in ridiculous drama filled lives, and not only are they encouraged to behave this way, but behaving this way makes them famous, and sometimes wealthy.

The part I find even more disturbing is when parents not only encourage such behavior, and support their daughters decisions to act this way, but when they act this way themselves.  What in the world possesses grown adult women to say mean and hurtful things about CHILDREN on sites like facebook and twitter?  Yes, parents are entitled to form opinions, but I think those discussions should be held in your personal, offline life.  And yes, any parent wants to defend their children, but why not teach our girls to have the dignity to walk away from these situations, instead of perpetuating them?

I think that the encouragement of this culture of drama is going to end up hurting women in the long run.  As women, we have fought so hard to be seen as equals, to be allowed to serve in the military, to have the right to vote, to earn equal pay.  Now, people are going to stop taking us seriously, and will once again begin labeling us "hysterical females".

I am not sure what the answer is, other than for us as women to start promising ourselves to treat each other with more dignity and respect, and instill that same idea in our daughters.  Chose dignity over drama.  We all will be better for it.

Baby it's cold outside...

Well, we have hit that time of year where it is officially cold outside.  Particularly in the mornings.  This morning, there was a heavy frost, so Hubby had to go out and start his car to let it defrost a little before leaving for work.  I was sitting on the couch, and it was just a cold miserable feeling, knowing Hubby had to go back to work after 4 days off.  I knew I was going to miss him a ton, and it was just a sad way to start my morning.

That is until....

Hubby kissed me goodbye, and then nonchalantly walked over and opened our dog's crate, and said "have fun".  He thought he was teasing me, that the puppy would want to jump and play and lick my face.  Instead, Dexter, ambled over to the couch, hopped up, and snuggled down under the blanket with me.  We cuddled and napped for 2 hours.  It was the perfect way to start my morning.

Happiness really is a warm puppy.  But I am still going to crank about the cold.

Of course...

Remember how I said Hubby would be off for 10 days or so, and his goal was to drive me nutso (not really lol)?

Remember how I insinuated I would be counting down the days until he went back to work?

Today he went back.  And of course, I am sick.

I miss my Hubby.

I am stuck at home with no car.  We took it in for inspection, and it needed new breaks and a bearing.  They did not have the parts, so they could not fix it until today.  So, here I am, no Hubby, no car, sick with a cold or sinusitis or something.  I have been taking Nyquil, which makes me have the most whacked out dreams ever.

Luckily, before this cold hit me yesterday, I cooked up stuff for tonight's dinner, so I really have no work I absolutely need to do today.  Which can be a good thing or a bad thing, because now I can lay in bed, in my Nyquil delirium, and think about how much I miss Hubby.

I guess I could distract myself with the movies on Netflix.  Nyquil, Netflix, and No Hubby.  Boo for today.

So now, I have a new countdown.  Only about 7 hours until Hubby is home.  And I can be this happy again.

Do you remember....classroom parties?

Normally, I do not use my blog as a place to complain or sound off.  In fact, I usually leave the cranking to my husband.  But this really ticks me off.

I heard on the news today that yet another local school has banned birthday treats and classroom parties in the name of fighting childhood obesity.  Really, REALLY?

This angers me on a couple of different levels.  First of all, do you really think an occasionally cupcake is how these kids got obese?  No, and there are ways to make these treats healthy.  Put guidelines on them, yes, ok, I can agree to that.  But banning them completely seems so big brotherish.  If a parent wants their child to abstain from treats, let them decide that, not you, school district.  Any parent involved enough in their child's life to make birthday treats is probably an adequate judge of his or her child's nutritional needs.

Secondly, if these schools are so concerned with childhood obesity, why are so many of them cutting gym classes, and funding for athletic activities?  And why do so many sell sugary soda and juice drinks at lunch time?  One school I was at for a job a few years ago served ice cream.  To kindergarteners.  Yeah, I can see your "concern".  Just like that controlling boyfriend I had back in college.  He labeled his behavior as concern as well.

Why were birthday treats and classroom parties ok when we were kids?  Oh, that's right, it was ok, because childhood obesity was not an epidemic when we were kids.  So, this MUST be the cause right?  What flawed logic that is.  Why not look for what is different between now and then, like the hours of video games and television shows kids consume, leading to a sedentary lifestyle by age 4.  When we were kids, we got out and ran and played.  Or maybe it is the fast food that so many people end up feeding their kids, because they are exhausted after both parents putting in 10-12 hour days, that no one has time to cook nutritious food.  When I was a kid, we never ate fast food.  I mean, maybe once every 4-5 months, and it was a treat.  My parents always cooked dinner, sometimes enough for a few nights if they both would be working.

Look, I get the concern, really I do.  You know why I get it?  I was a chubby kid (shocker, I know).  And my chubbiness was because I was a sedentary kid.  I did not play any sports, I did not live in an area with other kids to run and play with, so I sat inside and read all the time.  It was no fault of my parents, who always provided me nutritious food.  And it certainly was no fault of little Sally's parents for bringing in cupcakes for Sally's birthday.