Oysters This Weekend? Why Not?

I can see the weekend from here.

No blogging yesterday, I was dealing with a sick child. Nothing serious, just routine being sick. In any event, Happy Friday!

If you're looking for something fun to do this weekend, why not check out the City Roots 2nd Annual Oyster and Pig Throw Down? I wrote about oyster roasts in Fig awhile back. If you're interested in the throwdown, you can buy tickets here.

Lexington County Father to Be Charged With Murder of His Five Children

I don't even know what to say about this.

Lexington County, SC (WLTX) - Lexington County Sheriff Lewis McCarty says a father accused of killing his five children will face murder charges as soon as he's brought back to South Carolina.

McCarty updated the public Wednesday morning on the investigation into 32-year-old Timothy Ray Jones Jr., calling it unprecedented in his three plus decades in law enforcement.

"I've never seen a case like this," McCarty said. "We all see things in our career that have an impact on you. This case has impacted anyone...who's had anything to do with this."

Smith County, MS sheriff's officials say Jones waived his right to an extradition hearing, paving the way for him to be brought back to South Carolina late Wednesday.

The children's bodies have already been brought back home.

As a dad...as a human being...this is unthinkable. It's utterly unthinkable. I cannot comprehend or explain this in any way. I really have no words.

The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels today.

Women on "The View" Have Clarity on Guns and a Woman's Self-Defense

Take a look at this ad. Then read the rest of this post below the jump. Lots to unpack here.

Done? Ok, go below the jump.

Does Your Toddler Hate Itchy Clothing and Recoil from Loud Noises?

Why is everything a "disorder" these days?

For most toddlers, tantrums and clumsiness are just a part of life, something they grow out of. Yet a burgeoning number of parents, like Pamela Trigg, are reporting that their children exhibit baffling, intense behaviors. Some overreact, recoiling from loud noises or refusing to wear itchy clothes. Others underreact, showing little reaction to pain or crashing their bodies into walls.

Wait, what? First of all, no one that I know of (adult or child) likes to wear "itchy clothes". So let's just make sure we're not confused here. There's no such thing as "itchy clothes disorder". That's called wanting to be comfortable. And "recoiling from loud noises" is a symptom as well? Are you serious? If you find that baffling, like this "burgeoning number of parents" do, you may need to consult a therapist - for yourself.

Apparently, I've been suffering from "itchy clothing disorder" AND "loud noise aversion disorder" all my life.

Sure, sometimes kids just overreact to stuff, and sometimes they're pushing limits. However, under this theory of "sensory processing disorder" there is a whole new world of stuff opening up.

Parents can invest in “sensory-friendly” products and attire, from weighted vests to chewable jewelry. They can fit their homes with sensory gyms (some parents have launched crowdfundingcampaigns for home therapy equipment). They can send their children to schools that cater to students’ sensory intolerances and allow them to move around, take breaks and wear headphones. Public libraries host sensory storytimes, theaters stage quiet performances with modified lighting, museums conduct out-of-hours tours with cool-down rooms. Even hair salons are beginning to offer “sensory friendly” cuts.

Sensory friendly attire? Is that like the t-shirts that don't have the little tags in the back? Weighted vests? Are you kidding me? I would never put a weighted vest on a toddler. That sounds ridiculous, and it's probably not super-safe.

But quiet rooms actually sound nice. Maybe we could all benefit from some quiet rooms from time to time. I don't mean to discount actual disorders, but I think we're getting a little far afield here...

(via Althouse)

They Got Off Easy If You Ask Me

The Columbia parents who starved, beat, and tortured their own four-year-old son to death were sentenced to life in prison today.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/05/28/3472668/prosecutor-dss-ignored-many-pleas.html?sp=/99/205/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

This kind of evil should merit the death penalty.

Hey World! Shape Up! You're Disappointing Obama!

In a recent poll of current US Presidents, the world's approval rating has drastically slipped given recent events. In fact, the poll results revealed that the current President expressed "disappointment" when asked about the rest of the world.

"The profile [of President Obama] that I published in the New Yorker was somebody that eerily, eerily seemed to be claiming himself--it was a sense of not giving up, but of deep frustration--that was the profile that I published in the New Yorker. Somebody frustrated and disappointed," said Remnick, who has proven to be deeply sympathetic to this president.

"And that's what's frustrating to me sometimes about Obama is that the world seems to disappoint him," he continued to laughter from others on the TV set. "Republicans disappoint him, Bashar al-Assad disappoints him, Putin as well. And the fighting spirit sometimes is lacking in the performative aspects of the presidency."

I can't say that I really feel bad for the President. You know, the world disappoints me constantly. The world disappoints everyone constantly. Part of becoming a grownup is realizing that it has always been ever so and then moving on with life anyway.

Huh...seems like he's frustrated with everyone who doesn't do exactly what he wants. What did he expect - that the whole world would just adore him and do whatever he said?

Grow up, Mr. President.

Father and Two Children Lost in Congaree National Park Have Been Found

Thank goodness.

I didn't want to put this story up until there was something good to report, and luckily, the family has been found. I know that the dad shouldn't have gotten lost to begin with, but this is one of those situations where you're just happy to have them back.

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

Good to have the lost sheep back.

"Golf holes the size of pizzas. Soccer balls on the back nine. A mulligan on every hole."

Apparently, some people think these changes would be a good idea for golf.

Those people would be wrong.

Is this the future of golf? I certainly hope not.

“We’ve got to stop scaring people away from golf by telling them that there is only one way to play the game and it includes these specific guidelines,” said Ted Bishop, the president of the P.G.A. of America, who also owns a large Indiana golf complex. “We’ve got to offer more forms of golf for people to try. We have to do something to get them into the fold, and then maybe they’ll have this idea it’s supposed to be fun.”

As an initial matter, I'm not sure that the decrease of the number of people playing golf is a function of golf's decreased popularity. It may simply be a function of demographics.

Let's face it, golf isn't an easy sport to just pick up and play. It's kind of expensive compared to - say basketball. You can't play it anywhere, like with soccer. And the learning curve is very steep.

For instance, just about anyone can step onto a basketball court and start playing basketball with minimal effort. It won't be very high-level basketball, but you can play it fairly easily. With golf, it's quite the opposite. A first time golfer faces a high degree of failure in learning to play. It's very hard to play golf even moderately well compared to other sports. I'm defining "moderately well" as the ability to go casually play once a month and not be looking for your ball in the woods the whole time.

Golf demands work, patience, and discipline. A lot of it. Young people don't get exposed to golf very much, either. Especially when you compare it to soccer, baseball, basketball. Why?

In general, it's not an easy sport to just pick up. Typically, whom do you see out on a golf course? Older guys - I'd guess an average age of 35-40 or so. That's mostly because older guys have more time to devote to practice, more money to buy the equipment and pay to play, and more patience to go through the learning curve.

So, you've got all the older baby-boomer folks kind of dropping off the radar now, and the golf industry is worried that the twenty-something millennials aren't going to play golf. Well, no. Not right now. Give them a few years. After they go through the phase of seeking their dream job of being an artist in Guatemala or something, they'll settle down, have a family, and grow up. And some of them will start playing golf.

You don't need to change the game to make it more "attractive" to twenty year olds. Changing the hole size is utterly ridiculous. The hardest part of golf for a beginner isn't putting - it's hitting longer shots. I'm not sure who came up with the idea of making the hole larger, but they're a moron.

Also, changing the rules is a stupid idea. The rules of golf are not difficult. You hit the ball and count your strokes in a sequence of increasing, positive, integers. Record your score. That's basically it. Yes, there are more complicated rules for golf. But you learn those as you go. No one ever says "Yeah, I don't play golf because the rules are too complicated."

You want to get young people interested in golf? It's not that hard. Start kids early. Golf already does a good job of this with programs like programs like The First Tee. Could golf do better? Sure. But reaching out to younger folks doesn't have to entail radically changing the game. Kids are smarter than we give them credit for.

If you can make golf a fun and positive experience for younger kids, they'll develop into young adults who love the game and play. You don't need to start introducing soccer balls on the back nine.

Kids React to a Walkman

Here's a reminder of how old I am. They gave young kids a walkman and gauged their reactions:

I was old enough to start getting into exploring my own tastes in music right about the time that cassettes were being replaced by CDs, so I had both. However, the only way to make your own "mix" was to make a "mix-tape" by recording songs off the radio onto a cassette. Mix-tapes were really big. It was the prehistoric ancestor of having your own playlist on an iPod.

Besides arranging the songs, the real trick was to make sure that you timed the start of the recording and the ending of the recording properly. If you started to early, you would get the DJ talking or the previous song - stop too late, and you get the same problem at the end. Also, you had to be really quick on starting the recording when the song you wanted came on the radio. Usually, I would miss the first couple seconds of the song unless I was just hovering over the tapedeck.

One of the first songs that I put onto a good mix-tape was Two Princes from the Spin Doctors. I still like that one.

I need to dig up some of my old mix-tapes. I'm sure I have them around somewhere.

Future Gamecock Recruit's Video Resume

Henry, my two year old son, has started enjoying baseball. Between his grandfather and me, Henry has attended four Gamecock Baseball games this year.

Needless to say, Henry has become a big baseball fan. Watching the "baseball guys" (as he says) has inspired him to take an interest in hitting a baseball himself. Henry was also the recipient of an actual baseball from Elliott Caldwell, who is a hard-hitting Junior on the Carolina Baseball team, so Henry has a favorite player. You can follow Elliott on Twitter here, if you're so inclined.

After watching the Gamecock hitters so far this season, Henry has decided to work on his hitting. The results are below.

Now, you're probably thinking How many takes did it take for Henry to hit the ball like that?

One.

That's right. First time. Old "One-Take Henry", that's what they called him in his Hollywood days. We'll work up to hitting live pitching soon, but until then, hitting off the tee is going pretty well.

Don't worry Coach Espo, I won't take any recruiting calls from that college up in the upstate.

It's Almost Baseball Season

It snowed yesterday, but baseball season is around the corner. Tonight, Coach Holbrook is giving a talk on the upcoming season for the USC Baseball team -- should be good. I'll have a full report afterwards.

We're all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children's game, we just don't... don't know when that's gonna be. Some of us are told at eighteen, some of us are told at forty, but we're all told. 

Sunday Morning Thread - Test Taking Tips

No, the Obamacare website isn't fixed yet, but I did make you some tasty french toast. Don't worry, french toast makes everything better.

On an unrelated note, here are some funny answers to test questions from what appear to be elementary school and middle school students. A few of my favorites are:

1. Name the quadrilateral.

2. How do you change centimeters to meters.

Duh.

Study hard, kids.

My Child Doesn't Make Me Happy

I have a two year old son, and he's great. We have a lot of fun together, but we also have some tough times. For instance, he was not really able to sit quietly at dinner last night. That's because he's two years old. It certainly would have been less stressful to leave him with a babysitter and have a quiet meal without milk spilling all over the place and constantly getting him to sit still.

Anyway, I saw a post on Matt Walsh's blog, and I think he hits the nail on the head, as he usually does.

All of the pain, sacrifice, and suffering of parenthood dismissed with a shrug and a sigh — “it might be tough sometimes” — and covered up in a layer of rainbows, puppies, sunshine, and gum drops. And lies. Because that what it is when you tell someone that having kids will make them happy: a lie. Kids won’t MAKE you happy. Nothing will MAKE you happy.

My own kids do not, in fact, make me happy. I love them to death. I am a proud father. I am honored that God gave them to me. I am overjoyed. I am in awe. I am in love. I am happy. But my kids do not MAKE me happy.

My kids don’t make my happiness. That isn’t their job. My happiness isn’t a responsibility that falls on their tiny little shoulders.

I can't excerpt the whole thing, but you should go read it.

As usual, Matt is spot on. He goes on to make the point that being happy is a choice. It's a decision that we all make every day, and that's exactly right. The happiest people I know are happy simply because they decide to be.

This isn't to discount the fact that there are some people out there who just aren't "wired" to become parents. There are plenty of people I know who choose not to have children, or even get married. And they're happy people for the most part. The larger lesson is that happiness is a personal decision.

What the Hell Is Wrong With People?

I have a two year old son. He's pretty much the most important thing I have going on right now. Most of my time at home centers around him. I'm not saying that I'm Dad of The Year, but I'm doing OK. However, I just don't understand how people can have children and live like animals.

The story in The State throws in the splashy stuff about the loaded guns, which is certainly an issue, but what I just don't understand is how people can live in such horrible conditions.

The deputy found a 12-gauge shotgun and .22-caliber rifle, loaded and with the safety mechanisms off within reach of the children, ages 2 and 4, in the master bedroom, the report states. The deputy found more dirty clothes, rotting food and soiled linens on the children's beds. The deputy confiscated the weapons, the report states.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/10/22/3052587/dss-loaded-weapons-filthy-conditions.html#storylink=cpy

The loaded weapons are obviously an accident waiting to happen. If you've read my blog at all, you know I'm a gun guy, so I don't have problems with having guns in a house, but you've got to be smart about it. You can't just have loaded weapons around with kids in the house. Especially at that age. They're old enough to get into things, but not old enough to know how dangerous things are. There's no excuse. It's monumentally stupid to the point of being criminally negligent.

However, what really gets me is the rotting food in the children's bed. What the hell is wrong with these people? That's not just an accidental thing. You've got to really be neglectful to allow food to rot. And in your child's bed? Are you kidding me? Heck, animals don't even live in conditions that bad. I apologize to the animals I offended with my earlier comparison.

I see stuff like this, and I realize how far our problems go. In my last post, I was discussing what books we should be reading to be good citizens. These people need to be reading fundamentals on how to clean up after your children before we start in on The Federalist Papers.

I just don't get it. What do you do with people like this?

Who Wants a Hamburger?

My two-year old son copies everything I do. (In point of fact, he's not quite two. He'll be two later this week, but as a lawyer, I'm rounding the time up and billing for 2.0 years. But I digress.)

Back to my son. He copies everything I do. One activity that he sees me doing all the time is grilling food out on our deck. He follows me out to the grill and watches as I light it, put food down, flip it over, and take it off. The whole process of dad grilling fascinates him. 

Since his birthday is coming up soon, his maternal grandmother got him a present that now allows him to be just like dad. In fact, we set it up on the deck right next to my grill.

Henry Caskey - Grilling up Some Cuteness

As you can see, he's wasted no time in getting busy grilling up a hamburger and hot dog for mom and dad. I would note that he has an excellent grip on the tongs, as I capture this right before it was time to flip the bun, burger patty and rotate the hot dog. That's why the grill is open. He knows that the proper way to grill is to keep the lid closed for most of the time.

In fact, he would not allow me to come over and look inside the grill after he had started cooking. It wasn't time to open the grill yet, Dad.

 We'll have to upgrade him to planking some salmon on the grill eventually.

 

The Pacifier Controversy

As the parent of a child who is almost two years old (He’ll be two in September) I’m definitely still in the “Rookie Parent” camp. Like all other parents I’m protective of my child, but I’m pretty easy-going about most things that aren’t that big of a deal, and I don’t pretend that my way of doing things is better than anyone else’s. However, I have started to realize that there are some parents who have deeply held dogmatic beliefs about child-rearing techniques and methods.

Case in point: I took my son to day-care today, and he’s being fussy because he wants to stay with me, rather than go to day-care with his friends. I know this will change eventually, and he’ll probably make me drop him off two blocks away from the school because he’s embarrassed of his dad. So I’m in the elevator with him and a stranger, and my son is just standing there whining in more of a cry that isn’t really any words – he's just making noise in protest, really.

I looked at the stranger and said something along the lines of “When he was younger, I could just pop a pacifier in his mouth and get some quiet, you know?” That's all I said. Pretty harmless kind of a half joke.

I was kind of just expecting a laugh or some kind of commiseration from the other adult in the elevator. However, that wasn’t the response I got from my elevator cohort. They kind of gave me a stern and icy look was like I had said: “When he was younger, I could just give him a glass of bourbon and get him to pass out.”

This little trip in the elevator suddenly got really awkward when this person responded with “I don’t believe in pacifiers, they’re controversial.” I wasn’t sure what to say to that. Luckily, the elevator ride ended, and we excused ourselves, as the elevator carried the stranger up a few more floors. On the ride into work I was thinking about what they said: “I don’t believe in pacifiers...”

That really doesn’t make sense to me. This person doesn’t believe in them? Pacifiers aren’t something that you take on faith, like God’s divine providence. It’s just a little rubber/plastic thing that you give to babies. It’s not something that you believe in. It’s just a thing. And controversial? I was not aware of that. I did a little research, and found that there are plenty of parents who think that pacifiers are either the devil’s creation, a tool of the baby-industrial complex, or a combination of both.

And the parents who don’t use pacifiers are Very Proud of this fact and want everyone to know they don’t use these evil and highly controversial things. Pacifiers are controversial? I don’t think so. Abortion is controversial. Religion is controversial. Whether to intervene militarily in Syria is controversial. The scope and role of the Federal government is controversial. According to some “mommy blogs” the use of pacifiers belongs in the same category as all of these other things.

I’m not saying that I’m on Team Pacifier, but I’m certainly not going to go around and judge people who do or do not use pacifiers with their children. It’s just not that big of a deal. When your 6 month old kid is crying at 3:00AM, you try anything you can to get him to stop crying. I just can’t imagine standing on the principle of being on Team No-Passy and letting my son cry when I could give him a pacifier and solve the problem. That’s not the time to be a suffragette for Team No-Passy. You want to go to sleep, and you want to soothe your child. There’s a reason that pacifiers work. I’m not sure what it is, but there’s a reason.

Anyway, I just think if you love your kids and act in their best interests there’s plenty of ways to do little things. The funny thing is that parents have all of this conflicting advice. I mean holy moly, don’t even start looking at all of the people who have strong feelings about breast feeding. The people on each side of that issue make the Civil War look like a high school debate.

Just be a good parent, relax, and quit trying to tell everyone else what to do. But it's probably not a good idea to give your 8 month old bourbon. I've read lots of studies that babies prefer scotch. (Just kidding. Please do not send me an irate e-mail about giving babies bourbon or scotch.)

Marines Don't Leave Anyone Behind

Even on 5K races.

A marine who gallantly dropped back in a race to help a nine-year-old boy finish has become an internet sensation. Lance Corporal Myles Kerr was competing in the annual run while home on leave in Charlevoix, Michigan when he spotted Boden Fuchs struggling to keep up.  The boy reportedly asked 19-year-old Kerr: 'Sir, will you please run with me?', after losing the group he was running with.

Lance Corporal Myles Kerr doesn't leave a 9 year old behind.

It's nice that the boy would have the courage (risking rejection) to ask for someone to run with him, and even better that the Marine would do so. I bet it made that little boy feel great that he got to run with a Marine, and actually crossed the finish line ahead of him.

I'm pretty sure that Lance Corporal Kerr is going to be an awesome dad.

P.S. Someone needs to tell the British journalists that the Marines and the Army aren't the same thing.

h/t Ace

Let's Talk About Abortion

If you haven't noticed, Texas does things a little differently than other states. I referenced this in yesterday's humorous post. On a more serious note, Texas has also made the news recently with a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks. This bill was opposed by Texas Democrats, and notably, by a Texas Senator named Wendy Davis, who sparked a #StandWithWendy following on Twitter last night with her filibuster of the bill.

I know that people on both sides are very passionate about abortion, and that many people are very uncomfortable discussing the issue at all. It's not something dusty and dry like economic theory. We're not talking about tariffs and international trade. It's an intensely personal and moral issue that goes to the core of our being.

So, having said all that, I'm going to tee it up for discussion here, and if nothing else, put my thoughts out there on the Texas Bill and a 20 week rule. This is the internet - strong opinions come with the territory.

First of all, this is a tough world and people have to make tough choices at times, but what we are talking about here - an abortion after 20 weeks - is terminating a viable infant. I think there is a certain reasonable ground in which abortions can be performed, but that time is not very long. For instance, one of the big questions that are put to pro-life folks is What about the case of a woman who becomes pregnant through rape? Let's talk about that:

First, I'm fine with exceptions. I don't fall into either camp of: (a) abortions for all women, all the time, right up until the baby is born or (b) no abortions, ever. This issue isn't one that lends itself to either one of those solutions. So let's talk about a common exception that gets brought up: rape.

In the case of a woman who become pregnant through rape, I don't think that she is going to wait twenty weeks to make a decision about whether or not she wants an abortion. Why on earth would she wait that long? My guess is that she would make the decision as soon as she realized that she was pregnant, not four months later. No fact is going to change between week 4 and week 20. Basically, I think it's such an odd hypothetical as to not really merit much consideration. It's just a little too hypothetical and out of touch with reality for me. If you're raped, and get pregnant: have an abortion before week 20. Why?

For me, when I think of a 20 week old, I naturally think of what my child was like at 20 weeks. He had developed a head, lungs, all of his limbs, he had developed his sex, and distinct chambers of his heart. He was moving around. That's what you have at 20 weeks. It's not theoretical - it's a child. At 20 weeks, he was my child.

To me, the best evidence of how awful late-term abortion is the fog of language that we use to describe it. It's almost entirely euphemisms that minimize the act. To specifically and accurately describe what actually happens in a late term abortion is to condemn it.

Women have rights to control their body. But again, you can't take everything to the extreme. For instance, my rights end when I punch you in the face. I can't do that. With abortion, it's the same principle. People who advocate for late-term abortion are advocating destroying a viable human being. If your response to that is that you value the rights of a mother more than the rights of a late-term infant, my guess is that you're not a parent.

Anyway, I'm probably going to make some people mad with this post, but that's not my intention. I'm just putting my thoughts out there to get people thinking. By the way, random fact: the hard-right country of France has a 12 week window for abortions. So Texas is proposing to give women an addition 8 weeks longer than France does.

Can Government Solve the Stay-At-Home-Mom Debate?

This piece from The New Republic (via Althouse) explores the phenomenon of highly educated, high-powered women who opt to be stay-at-home-moms, rather than push ever higher in their professional lives. It also offers a solution.

To understand why female lawyers, doctors, bankers, academics, high-tech executives and other, often expensively pedigreed, professionals quit work to stay home, you need not search their souls for ambivalence or nostalgia....

I'm not sure I entirely agree with that. I think that many high-powered, professional women are somewhat conflicted or ambivalent about it. I know that they are at least afraid of being judged by women who are in the other camp.

Specifically, stay-at-home-moms are afraid of being judged as not ambitious by the women who pursue successful careers. On the flip side of the coin, I think that some professional women are afraid of being judged as not being as child oriented as they could be. It certainly takes long hours to climb the ladder in certain professions.

To reject a high-flying career, as this man did and so many women have done, is not to reject aspiration; it is to refuse to succumb to a kind of madness.

I certainly agree with this. The old feminist mantra was that as a woman, you could "have it all". That's just not possible, especially if you're in a profession where you have extreme demands on your time if you want to beat everyone else out for advancement.

Achieving professional success is admirable, but what's the point of making all that money if you don't have a life? I think it's a question of what each person finds to be most fulfilling. That will be different for everyone, and it doesn't mean that either choice is better in the abstract. The bottom line is that life is full of trade-offs. You can't have it all. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either a fool or is selling something.

The problem with this piece is the solution it proposes. The proposed solution is to have the government come in and mandate maximum working hours for professionals. Everyone will be barred from working long hours, so the folks who want to spend more time with their families don't have to compete with those who sacrifice family time to achieve professional success.

The main reason white-collar workers can be driven to work 80-hour-or-so weeks is that very few of them have government protections. Most of them are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act, which mandates the 40-hour-week and overtime pay. American managers aren’t allowed to join unions. Other countries have laws that protect against overwork even for professionals, such as standard or maximum number of hours anyone can work in a week.

This would never work here in America, and it's a horrible idea. Can you imagine a law that mandated the maximum hours lawyers could work in a week? The bell rings at 5:00PM and all the lawyers go home for the day? Oh, you had an issue that needed some extra attention on Friday? Sorry. We'll get to it on Monday.

Or for doctors? Oh, you went into labor at 6:30PM on a Friday? I guess we'll just keep you in a holding pattern until Monday morning. The doctor has already done her government mandated time. We could just let a nurse do the delivery for you, though.

A fundamental part of the American ethos is hard work. Hard work separates the great achievers from the slackers or those who choose not to work. Everyone isn't equal, and you can't just tell the folks who want to sacrifice their home life for their careers that they have to go home now. Different people have different priorities.

Wow, talk about a restriction on choice, too. This sounds like a prohibition on ambition. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not taking sides in the stay-at-home vs. career mom debate, but the government can't simply solve this problem by requiring that people only work 40 hours a week.

Hey! You can't work so hard and go the extra mile because there are others out there who choose other priorities, and it wouldn't be fair to make them have to compete with you.

Life is full of choices. Be a grown-up. Make your choices and live with them. The government isn't here to make everyone the same.

 

Best Toddler Christmas Gifts

I know...I know. You're all wondering what you can get your toddler (or a friend's kid) for Christmas. No need to worry, though. I've got the ultimate gift list for the Southern Toddler. If you want your child to start living the Permanent Press Lifestyle^TM, then you need look no further. Here are three great Christmas gifts for your Southern Toddler.

(1) First, all children need to go places. They have work to do! There are  books to pull down from shelves and cabinets on the other side of the house to open. How is a busy toddler to get there? Look no further than the John Deere Foot to Floor Tractor.

Here's the best part. It's $28.99. In American money. I defy you to find a better deal on a sit-on-top kind of toy like this. This is easily one of the best Southern children's toys you can get value-wise. It works great inside or out.

(2) Moving along, after a long day of pedaling around, a young Southern toddler needs to kick back and blow off some steam. What better way than to go fishing, right? Every good angler knows that the first step in going fishing is that you have to have a good fishing vest.

Obviously, LL Bean rolls out a great fishing vest, but did you know that they make a small one for the little fisherman in your family? Boom. And it's only $39.50. This sucker has all sorts of pockets everywhere, so it's perfect for carrying around all the worms, frogs, and bugs that you find. You can just thank me now.

(3) If you're looking for something educational, that's sweet, but seriously, toddlers are getting their ABCs and 123s from their parents. You don't need to duplicate that. Every good duck hunter knows that identification of ducks is an important skill to have. Accordingly, you'll want to get your young toddler a plush wood duck from Orvis.

Apparently, the lawyers at Orvis say you shouldn't get this for a child under three, but look, y'all. Watch your children and make sure they don't pry the little eyes off and eat them. Got it? Good. Anyway, it will be a great starting point for identification of ducks. After a few years, you're good to go with the first shotgun. But that's a whole other blog post.

[h/t to Mrs. Permanent Press for inspiration for this post]