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Re: Random Post Whoring (2009)
[Re: svsg]
#535349
03/24/09 12:14 PM
03/24/09 12:14 PM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 17,300 New York
Sicilian Babe
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 17,300
New York
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The flying cow is a classic.
Kick the can?? TIS, you are showing your age! I grew up in the city, and kids were always outside. We played Red Rover, or jump rope, stoop ball (with a Spaldeen, which I haven't seen in years), or sometimes the girls would just sit on the parked cars and watch the boys play stickball (it never occurred to us to play!). We also used to walk to the candy store and someone with a nickel would buy a Turkish Taffy (definitely no longer exists). We would go back to the stoop and slam the taffy until it broke into little pieces, and then share it out with the other kids.
Mothers were always yelling out the window to their kids. Sometimes they would call you, then throw money down in a handkerchief and tell you to go to the store for milk or bread. If I ever opened up the back door to call the girls in, my husband would be upset with me for disturbing the neighbors. What neighbors? They're never outside.
President Emeritus of the Neal Pulcawer Fan Club
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Re: Random Post Whoring (2009)
[Re: Sicilian Babe]
#535370
03/24/09 04:26 PM
03/24/09 04:26 PM
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 5,944 East Bay
Blibbleblabble
Poo-tee-weet?
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Poo-tee-weet?

Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 5,944
East Bay
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Actually, that's not true. It's a state of fear caused by the media. The truth is, child abductions have decreased significantly over the years.
The FBI, in fact, insists that child abductions by strangers actually have declined. In the 1980s the number of such child abductions averaged annually about 200 to 300, according to the FBI. In 2000, the number of cases dropped to 93 compared with 134 in 1999 and 115 in 1998, when the FBI first began tracking these statistics. Couldn't that be because people aren't letting their kids roam the neighborhood anymore?
"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want." -Calvin and Hobbes
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Re: Random Post Whoring (2009)
[Re: DE NIRO]
#535386
03/24/09 08:35 PM
03/24/09 08:35 PM
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 25,984 California
The Italian Stallionette
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 25,984
California
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Let me get this out real quick. Server problems again???  This site seems to come and go, but mostly...it's gone. Good luck Geoff. Stay cool!!! TIS
"Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind. War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today." JFK
"War is over, if you want it" - John Lennon
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Re: Random Post Whoring (2009)
[Re: Sicilian Babe]
#535416
03/25/09 09:25 AM
03/25/09 09:25 AM
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 11,797 Pennsylvania
klydon1
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 11,797
Pennsylvania
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I think one of the worst things is that there is never any spontaneous play for most kids. They have to make "play dates".  Thank you. One of the new concepts that drove me nuts as a young parent was this new phenomenon, "the play date." When I first heard parents referring to it, I thought it was a joke. I can see if you have three or four-year olds, you may have to arrange play times, but I continue to see parents of fifth graders discussing play dates. I think in many cases the parents have a need to control and manipulate. I'm the opposite, my kids control and manipulate me, like it should be.  Anyway, I'll expand upon this rant. In our area we have one particular development where the moms, dads and kids are always smiling, well dressed and squeaky clean. The moms dominate the school PTA and coordinate activities around the schedules and interests of their kids. When I was president of the local Little League baseball and softball association and served on its board, these parents without fail would approach me en masse and tell me that certain kids had to be on certain teams. One dad, who was selected to be a coach, was brazen enough to come to the player draft with a list of 12 boys that he decided would be on his team.
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Re: Random Post Whoring (2009)
[Re: klydon1]
#535417
03/25/09 10:23 AM
03/25/09 10:23 AM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 17,300 New York
Sicilian Babe
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 17,300
New York
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Klyd, My former boss used to refer to those parents as "gifted parents". It's disgusting, and they always monopolize the school committees, etc., and do NOT like to let people into their little club.
We were building a new playground for the elementary school, and it was going to take quite a bit of fundraising. I dutifully went to the first meeting, which was attended by the usual cast of characters. At the time, I was VP of the local economic development corporation and, quite frankly, knew more local businesspeople than anyone. I offered my services, signed up for the fundraising committee, drew up a contact list of businesses that I felt would be amenable to being tapped, and guess what? I was never invited to one single meeting.
President Emeritus of the Neal Pulcawer Fan Club
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Re: Random Post Whoring (2009)
[Re: Sicilian Babe]
#535418
03/25/09 12:28 PM
03/25/09 12:28 PM
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 11,797 Pennsylvania
klydon1
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 11,797
Pennsylvania
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Klyd, My former boss used to refer to those parents as "gifted parents". It's disgusting, and they always monopolize the school committees, etc., and do NOT like to let people into their little club.
We were building a new playground for the elementary school, and it was going to take quite a bit of fundraising. I dutifully went to the first meeting, which was attended by the usual cast of characters. At the time, I was VP of the local economic development corporation and, quite frankly, knew more local businesspeople than anyone. I offered my services, signed up for the fundraising committee, drew up a contact list of businesses that I felt would be amenable to being tapped, and guess what? I was never invited to one single meeting.
You've got them too!  Here's another concept that goes with the "play date": the "team snack." This has been a staple for years in the youth soccer leagues when my kids played. There was always a parent with a sign up sheet at the beginning of the season, making a different kid each week be responsible for bringing a snack and a drink for each of his teammates after the game. This was fine when the kids were 5, but as they get older it can get a little embarrassing. I actually had a parent ask all the other parents exactly what the snacks were going to be weeks in advance. On our weeks for snacks, we'd often be approached by parents to see if we had extra snacks for their other kids who were watching the game. Some of these kids were 13. I always found it comical that throngs of young kids arrive at the fields in their minivans, play soccer for 40-50 minutes and return to their vans, slurping juice boxes and crunching Oreos.
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Re: Random Post Whoring (2009)
[Re: Sicilian Babe]
#535476
03/26/09 09:56 AM
03/26/09 09:56 AM
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 11,797 Pennsylvania
klydon1
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 11,797
Pennsylvania
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Did you also have a list of "permitted" snacks?? Our school did. We had to send in a snack, but it had to be a "healthy" snack. We weren't allowed to send in cookies or chips. It had to be fruit or carrot sticks. If we were feeling particularly adventurous, we could send in popcorn! Also, only milk or juice. One of my daughter's friends actually had her chocolate milk taken away from her. I remember telling a coworker (a childless one) about the list of permitted snacks. She was appalled, and wanted to know when our schools began to be run by fascists! We haven't had permitted snacks per se, but there were strong suggestions about keeping it wholesome. My wife got upset with me once when I secretly slipped those little packs of candy cigarettes inside the snack bags. I was just happy that i found a store that had carried old-fashioned candy. I love your co-worker's depiction of "gifted parents." In our elementary school there is so much teacher shopping and lobbying for inclusion in the gifted program. There are approximately 6-7 classes within each grade and there are large groups of kids, who always are placed in the same homeroom every year because of the "gifted parents." They always end up with their teacher of choice too. The school always worships these people too. When the after school bus for the "gifted parents'" kids was running late, the school administration hurried to empty a bus, which was pulling out of the school to take home the kids of the "less glamorous" parents, and then filled it with the kids from the gifted neighborhood, so they could get home on time. SB, did you ever see the episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" where they were entertaining the obnoxious parents of a rude, obnoxious and manipulating kid, whom they labelled as gifted. Nobody was allowed to discipline the brat because he was gifted. The phony smiles dropped from the parents' faces when Raymond's wife referred to him as "special." Anyway, those are a perfect depiction of the gifted parents.
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