Fractional Friday

My brain is kind of sporadic today so I thought I borrow an idea from DysfunctionalMom. She refers to them as Friday Fragments - things that are too small for an entire post, but too good to discard. Can't say any of these are "too good to discard" but it's definitely where my mind is at today!

1. Crazy, rainy, gloomy weather has made for nice cool days to run, but not much else. (Not to mention my hair - had to just give up on fixing it...stuck in a bun for days now)

2. DQ has thrown me into a panic and had to visit the Principal at school. She investigate the issue with the social worker and they are now "keeping their eyes and ears open."

3. Friends are moving which means we are helping. Hopefully it won't rain.

4. Soccer season has officially started and DQ's first game is Saturday. (Hopefully we have uniforms)

5. I've been a slacker in the running department, but thanks to my ever-thoughtful-hub (who kicked me out of the house to make me start running again) I'm getting back into it. Now I am supposed to have a 20mi run this weekend, but am not sure where to fit it in my timeline of everything else I need to do.

What are YOUR mini-weekend thoughts? Anything good planned ahead?

**I'm starting to think I tweet too much...everything is in short bursts. Have a wonderful weekend**

When is young too young?

One night over dinner, a woman at a restaurant remarked about my daughters and how she
"thought girls were easier that boys."

I politely smiled and responded with "I think they are equally difficult, it's just that girls are a bit easier when they are young and then they switch places and boys become easier during their teen years." She looked over at me and said - "actually, the difference between boys and girls in their teen years is that girls will tell you what they are doing and boys will just say 'ok, mom' and do it anyway."

It was a conversation between strangers and personally I cannot attest to raising teenagers yet, but I was confronted with a situation I was not quite ready for (I think I say that a lot these days) that made this conversation come blaring back into vision.

SEX - when do you bring it up? When does the topic of sex become a conversation to have with your children?

Shortly before bed one evening, DQ is getting dressed and I am waiting to read her bedtime story when she starts telling me that a little boy was telling her about a "girl who sucked a boy's thing." Out of the blue this revelation is told to me and I am caught off guard so I ask, "sucked his thing? What thing?" Hoping against all else that she is not talking about blowjobs, but she informs me by pointing that is indeed what she is referring to.

WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY NOW?? (mentally searching for the right answer)

So I probe a bit more into the conversation she and this little boy had (at school) to which I finally ask, "And, what did you say to him when he told you this?" DQ says "I told him Ewe - that was gross." Stuck somewhere between wanting to laugh at the comment, be a good parent and explain this correctly to her [without a lifetime of screwupedness], and wanting to shelter her and let the conversation go (she's only 6 - this cannot be the age for the sex talk can it?) I ventured into the realm of 'good parent' and tried to explain how to handle this situation if it were to come up again.

I am not entirely sure, but I can't imagine I need to explain what "sucking his thing" is to her(not yet anyway), I was however more concerned with the fact the conversation took place and what other conversations are being had by these children. I decided to explain to her that this was something she should not do, no one should ask her to do this, or touch it or show it or see it. These are private parts for NO ONE to see and if someone asks she should say NO as loud as she can and run away. She should then go tell an adult.

She took it all in stride and went on like it was no big deal, all the while, me-the parent, is still searching for the answers. I have to admit *hangs head in shame* my first thought when she told me this was to tell her that is gross, nasty and bad and tell her that is how babies are made. I thought if I could scare her, perhaps I could protect her, but just as fast as the thought appeared, I also realized that not knowing the truth is sometime more destructive in the long run than having some accurate knowledge.

I was preparing for 'the talk' at about the age of 8...never in my wildest dreams did I think these topics would show up now. Now, I'm not sure what will come up next - when did kids stop talking about playground topics and start talking about sex topics?

What do you think is the right response?

Bucket List

I got tagged by JandJAcres to do a MEME - The Bucket List. If any of you have seen (or heard of the movie) it's pretty self explanatory. I need to write out 8 things I want to do before I "kick the bucket." I really like this idea (then again I'm a fan of the movie) so here goes.

1. Run a Marathon
   
2. Finish my Masters
   
3. Get a PhD.
4. Visit/Tour Europe
5. Own/Drive an Corvette
   
6. See the Pyramids
7. Own a pair of Manolo Blahniks
   
8. Cruise Alaska

Most of it seems pretty do able - although I doubt it will be anytime soon! :) I am supposed to tag 8 people but instead I'm going to put it out to my readers like this...

If money was no option and what would you chose to do first?

If you want to do the MeMe...link back and let me know, I'd love to see your answers.

Dear God...

"God is great, god is good, please take care of my family
AND
I wish I may I wish I might...god I wish I was a teenager."

This was my daughters prayer one night. Yes, it was a mix of elements but it was sincere. My daughter, who is only 6 is counting the moments until she is a teenager - I on the other hand am in NO HURRY!

I look back on my own awkward teenage years and think "God, I am so glad I survived them and I would NEVER want to go back." However I remember being a child and being told I couldn't do something by my parents and thinking to myself, "when I'm a teenager, I'll do whatever I want to." But, it was never that simple.

I'll admit there was something appealing about the prospect of being older when I was a child, but I failed to realize the 'responsibility' aspect of it. All I saw was freedom-I never once saw the "you must earn the right" to be able to do what it is I was after - suffice it to say, when I reached those years, I was quickly made aware.

I giggle to myself now, as I listen to my 6 year old daughter, urgently pray at night for god to make her a teenager while Mom urgently begs him to not let her grow up so fast. I try to explain to her to enjoy this time because it goes by far to quickly and those years of being a teenager are awkward and difficult, but she doesn't see this. She only sees her freedom.

If you could go back to your teenage years, what advice would you give to yourself?

Holidays and Hurricanes

It's Monday and it is a Holiday. I want to keep send a special note out to everyone and say Happy Labor Day!! While I am off enjoying my day off there are others who have fled their homes from the gulf coast region as Gustav makes landfall.

I have been up all night, unable to sleep constantly checking his progress - when my hub asks what is wrong all I can say is that this feels a bit too familiar from the last time. We were there for Katrina and I remember all to well what it was like to have fled and waited and wondered what I would be returning to and then to come back to the desolation that remained.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this - for everyone who is fortunate enough not to live in this area I send a very happy holiday wish out to you.

Have a wonderful day!
~K