How had I never heard of this book?

I don’t remember exactly where I first found out about it, possibly on Amazon where they recommend books based on previous purchases.  Which can sometimes be annoying, and can sometimes be handy.  It tends to be a wash.

Anyway, I bought it for my 9 year old, and after he read it, he claimed it was now his second-favorite book after the Harry Potter series, which is high praise indeed.  When asked how many stars he would give it out of ten, he offered fifteen.

So, just know that this book is about a group of boys led by Mac (whose real name is Christian) who runs a very specialized business out of the fourth stall in an abandoned school bathroom.  He and his best friend Vince are partners and trouble begins when an older boy begins attempting to take them down from the inside.

There is violence.  Kids get beat up.  Kids do all sorts of things that you would think an adult with half an attention span would notice.

But that doesn’t make this book any less fun, even for forty-year old me.

It reads slightly like a film noir, slightly like The Godfather, and something akin to The Body.

If you’ve got a reluctant middle school reader, this book might be an excellent solution to that problem.

At least, that’s what I hear.

My nine year old son, though I love him dearly, has become a serious pain in the boot-ay. He doesn’t listen, he enjoys a bathroom humor a bit too much and at totally inappropriate times, has started talking back more, is maddeningly lazy, and is unable to interact with his sister without making her cry.

Sigh.

I’m told it’s fairly normal nine year old boy behavior, but I am already completely ready to sell him to the circus. OK, if they just offered to take him off my hands, I’d totally consider it.

I was talking to a friend of mine whose son just turned thirteen, and when I complained about the Munchkin (who is not so Munchkin-y anymore) she just laughed the hearty laugh of someone who knows that the worst is yet to come. For both of us.

We figured I’ve got at least ten years of frustration in store for me, and offered her bar-tending services should I ever need them.

Yeah, tomorrow sounds good.

via

Now, don’t worry about where I’ve been. It’s all better now, I promise.

For last last week’s poll, many of you seem to have a poor opinion of attachment parenting, with 33% of you not even bothering to think about it.  Ever.  28% think it’s great, and 19% don’t like it at all.

I blame the militant wing of attachment parents for this.   For me, attachment parenting echoes what dgm said in the comments section about not “forcing” anything on anyone and adjusting as you and your child go along.  I consider myself to be an attached parent, but never wore either of my kids in a sling.  It just didn’t work for either of them, but that doesn’t mean I am some kind of attachment parenting fraud.

So today I want to know how long it takes you to get ready in the morning…

Hey, the real Ben Browder won! Good for you, real Ben Browder!

Now the real Ben Browder is going up against a big-time music mogul and billionaire.  Who just so happens to be married to Beyonce.

VERSUS

Let me tell you about how I hate computer viruses.  I had a doozy hit me on Monday evening sometime, and it was one of those where you couldn’t even start your browser to look for how the hell to get rid of it.  I had two different antivirus programs running that didn’t catch the rootkit (which equals really bad) and it allowed eighty billion other trojans and other things into my computer.  Man, did I have a headache for two days.  But, all fixed now!

I read this article about a teacher at a California middle school who allegedly was in an “adult movie,” and was found out by some students, and placed on leave.

Now, I try to think of myself who is enlightened about the adult entertainment industry.  I mean, it’s there.  Boy, is is ever there.  And I don’t have anything against adult entertainment workers, and indeed I am of the thought that prostitution should be legalized.

However.

As much as I hate to admit it, if I found out that this person was teaching my son, I don’t think I would react so magnanimously.  I wouldn’t be calling for her resignation or anything, but I always think of what would happen if many years down the road my son were to see his former teacher in a certain type of film and what the psychological ramifications of that would be.

Maybe they wouldn’t be much of anything, but I just wouldn’t want to go there.

But then we get into the whole thing of private time outside of one’s occupation, and nobody wants to go back to the days when teachers couldn’t marry because that meant (gasp!) they would be having relations with their husband and ohmygod the world would explode.  And of course, that didn’t happen.

I know it is unfair of me to think that the teacher probably shouldn’t have allegedly starred in that type of film, but I honestly can’t help it.

Let me know if I’m alone in my prudishness.

And let’s not even get into the fact that it was some students who tipped off administration about the teacher’s film exploits.

It’s a tie! An equal number of you both hate and love the Oscars.  28% gave a big “meh.”  Which taken overall, is a bad sign for the Oscars.  I’m somewhere in the middle, but I think it has a lot to do with being born and raised in Los Angeles, there’s a sort of hometown pride thing going on.  We don’t have a football team, but dammit, we’ve got the Oscars!

Attachment parenting has been around for a while, and it seems to be a topic which raises similar feelings to the Oscar telecast.  It’s all about co-sleeping, wearing your baby, and breastfeeding.  OK, well, there is more but you get the picture.  People seem either hate it, love it, or couldn’t care less.

I went to Tarjay recently and bought my daughter some sippy cups.  I needed new ones because although she loves the kind with the straws, she has chewed said straws down to the nub.  So I decided to just get the latest in technology ”unspillable” kind, especially as she has a penchant for dumping water all over the floor and my leather furniture.

The cups were on the lowest rung of the display, and one cup was orange and one cup was pink.  I definitely noticed animals on one cup, and only quickly glanced at the other one. Whatever, it was pink.  As long as both of them weren’t pink, I was good.

Until I got home and opened the package.

OK, ignore the purple cup. Do you see the graphics on the pink one? It’s got a purse, a makeup brush, a compact, and a mirror, among other things.

Am I wrong to think that this is just a bit too mature for a two year old?

I love makeup. I write a beauty blog. My daughter enjoys watching me put makeup on.

But it just seems wrong.

Amirite?