"Please stop saying BOMB in public"....why the hell do I have to repeatedly tell this to my 4-year old?!?!

   For some reason Nixon has suddenly become obsessed with "throwing bombs" and running. Not real bombs, mind you. But he wants to tell me "Mom, I just threw a bomb at you, you blew up." I know pretend play is just that, pretend, but there are so many uptight assholes in the world today that might overhear that and actually think my child has a bomb and do something drastic.

   It's for that reason alone, I've started to tell Nixon, when he says anything about bombs, grenades or guns, in public "Nixon, it's okay to play pretend at home, but when we're out of the house you can't talk about those things. Some people won't know it's just pretend and they'll get very nervous and upset."

   I'm trying to curb this new verbal habit of his before he starts preschool in the fall (fingers crossed that he gets a spot). I want him to thrive at school and I'm not totally sure what the school's policy is regarding things like gun-play, to be honest, I'd prefer it to be a non-issue. As in something I never have to worry about because Nixon does not have issues with it outside of the home. Mac has stopped playing video games while Nixon is awake, we're more vigilant about the shows watches because of his behaviors. He wasn't becoming violent, more he was acting desensitized to real-life violence finding it funny....that was a big red flag for me and I was straight up "HELL NO" when that happened.
  I was watching the news, and there was a segment about a violent break-in caught on a nanny cam. The robber brutally beat the home owner and it was caught by the newly installed nanny cam. Nixon happened to come into the living room (he was in the kitchen, eating dinner) and saw the video, he started laughing. I was crying because I was so upset that I couldn't get him to understand it was a real crime, a real person being hurt and not a made-up funny TV thing. He kept telling me "And he kicked her in the face HAHA"
    He eventually noticed I was sitting on the sofa, quietly crying. He asked me what was wrong and I told him that the lady on TV was badly hurt by a bad man. The police were trying to find the man that hurt her, which is why the video was being shown on TV. I told him, honestly, it hurt my heart that he was laughing and I was scared that he thought hurting people was funny. I then told him that lady was a mommy, like me, and her baby was in the room watching her get hurt.
    He said "Mommy, that's sad. Did the man hurt the baby too?" Thankfully, I could tell him the truth, no the baby was not hurt.
    Nixon said "Mommy, don't cry. The naughties (police in Nixonese) will find him and he'll go away." I hope it sunk in, I don't want him thinking hurting people is funny.

   Ugg....who knew this was the age I'd have to worry about this shit with him?!?!

Guess who got a Furby for Christmas?

Nixon did!

But even Santa knew better than to bring this into the house. This was from his grandfather (my dad). And while its not something Mac or I would've bought for Nixon, it is an appropriate grandparent gift. It's annoying, rude, noisy and at times obnoxious. But, Nixon loves this thing and I have to admit, I'm a little taken by it as well.
Here's a few videos of the Furby:

Here are some pictures of the *creepy* little shit!

"I am the face of evil"

Almost passes for cute, right?? Just wait...

Furby is totally plotting my demise!

It should totally be saying "I will eat your soul"

I was tickling it and it looked like this....fucking creepy!

So, if anything happens to me in my sleep....the Furby did it! This thing is evil under all the robotic cuteness! And the fuckin' thing snores! Louder than my husband...and there is no volume button. It has one volume: obnoxious!

A moment of somberness

   It's a sad day, when less than 2 weeks before christmas families now have to plan funerals for their children instead of looking forward to their joy on christmas morning. The toys will go unopened, the stockings unfilled and the parents lives forever shattered by one (or two) evil person's actions.

   There is nothing that anyone can say to make this pain any less for those affected. No words of condolence  no amount of flowers laid, no rallying angry cries from the masses. Nothing can replace what was stolen from these families today. Today Connecticut was ground zero for another senseless act of violence and the victims were children. Real children. Little people who had only just begun to live their lives, now gone forever leaving behind a country (a civilized world) in disbelief and families who will never look forward to another December as long as they live. To them, December will always be a painful and heartbreaking month not one filled by a jolly fat man and good cheer. 

   Everyone learning the details of this horrific event is holding their children tighter, loving their families a little more and questioning how and why this happened in the first place. 

    Me? I'm numb. Numb from the realization that there really is no safe place for my child. The best thing I can do is not guide him to a life of fear, but instead help prepare him for a life of uncertainty and hope, just hope, it's enough to see him home to me everyday he's gone from my care. The world just became a little more scarier as a parent, but I refuse to let fear keep me and my family down!

   I'm not going to teach Nixon that all guns are bad. 
   I'm not going to raise him to think everyone with a gun is a bad person. His own father carries one at work, as do the police officers that I expect my son to turn to in case of trouble. I need him to trust that police officers are the good guys and they are there for him and his safety. (I realize this is not always the truth, but he needs to believe there are good people in the world)
   I am going to teach him what to do, in a worst of the worse case scenarios, if he hears gunfire. I'm going to teach him to stay as close to the ground as possible and take cover. 
   I am going to empower him with knowledge on how to stay safe in this crazy world his father and I brought him into. 
   I am going to love him like it's my last day with him. I'm going to save the harsh words and replace them with loving words. I'm going to smother him with hugs and kisses every chance I get. And I am going to tell him, every single day, that he is loved! Because I never want him to think he's not. I never want him to think he was bad and that's why something awful happened. 

    Evil people and evil deeds are a part of life. It's not necessarily a reflection on the people affect by said evil. 

   Let's stop focusing on the bad and evil things in the world and focus on the beautiful and loving things. Focus on your child's smile because you never know when it'll be stolen away. 

    Take a moment today and try to empower your kids somehow. Tell them what their good at, how much they mean to you or how amazing your life is all because of them! Stop breaking down kids. Broken kids are the kids who grow up to be broken and damaged adults. I should know, I am a broken and damaged adult. But my son, my life, helped me see that being damaged isn't a lifelong sentence. I can change and I have changed. I am not repeating my parents mistakes. Not every act of violence is the result of bad parenting, but who wants to take the chance that the one day you stopped saying "I love you" to your son or daughter, was the day they started hating the value of their own lives? Not me. 

  Be strong parents. Be brave, for your children. Be kind. Be loving. Most of all, be there for your children. Some people are just evil, I get that. But do what you can for society and raise a kind, caring, compassionate child into a strong, brave and resilient adult. Give the world the people it deserves, not the sociopaths it's got now. 

Look through these photos  and see what evil has done to this community. Cry, rage, question things but don't forget. Learn from today, and every senseless act of evil in the world. Don't blame all gun owners. Taking guns away from law abiding people won't prevent these things from happening. Demand schools do more to protect your child won't do anything to stop the crazies. Prepare your child yourself for the unknown and have faith that you've done your very best to ensure they are protected. 

   Cliche as it is: knowledge is power.