"I poo... in blue!"
Maybe I'm a prude. But if your kid is old enough to wear a diaper that looks like pants, then maybe he's old enough to wear... oh, I don't know... pants?
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Gainesville Sports Examiner
Hey all, great news - I was recently named the Gainesville-area Sports Examiner on Examiner.com! I already have a few articles up, so check it out:
http://www.examiner.com/x-53316-Gainesville-Sports-Examiner
My page is dedicated to telling the stories of Gainesville area sports at all levels, from youth leagues to senior events and everything in between. There is so much to be proud of in our community – the development of a new league or camp, a unique person in Gator/Saints sports, a charitable endeavor by a local team, or a notable achievement by one of our outstanding area athletes. Most of you know that I'm a pretty big sports enthusiast, so I'm really excited to provide an all-encompassing platform to share area news.
If you have a story that you would like to see on the Gainesville Sports Examiner, please feel free to email me at kaplan_janice@yahoo.com to tell me about it. Thanks!
http://www.examiner.com/x-53316-Gainesville-Sports-Examiner
My page is dedicated to telling the stories of Gainesville area sports at all levels, from youth leagues to senior events and everything in between. There is so much to be proud of in our community – the development of a new league or camp, a unique person in Gator/Saints sports, a charitable endeavor by a local team, or a notable achievement by one of our outstanding area athletes. Most of you know that I'm a pretty big sports enthusiast, so I'm really excited to provide an all-encompassing platform to share area news.
If you have a story that you would like to see on the Gainesville Sports Examiner, please feel free to email me at kaplan_janice@yahoo.com to tell me about it. Thanks!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Jump-SLAP!
Are boys genetically programmed to jump up and slap anything they think is hanging within three feet of their heads?
This is my son's latest thing. Tree branch dangling above? Jump-SLAP. Doorway overhang? Jump-SLAP. Netting of a basketball hoop ten feet off the ground and nowhere near within his reach unless he's Kobe Bryant? Jump-slap-WHIFF.
Granted, I'd rather have him be like this than a kid who can't be bothered to reach for his drink because he'd have to move from his spot on the couch. But it's starting to drive me nuts.
This is my son's latest thing. Tree branch dangling above? Jump-SLAP. Doorway overhang? Jump-SLAP. Netting of a basketball hoop ten feet off the ground and nowhere near within his reach unless he's Kobe Bryant? Jump-slap-WHIFF.
Granted, I'd rather have him be like this than a kid who can't be bothered to reach for his drink because he'd have to move from his spot on the couch. But it's starting to drive me nuts.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Individuality, Interrupted
When I was a kid I often wore hand-me-down clothing from my older sister. My mom stayed at home and was notoriously frugal to make that work, so it was pretty much out of necessity. I never really minded this, as mom also took great care of our clothes so they didn't have holes in them and stains were treated pretty quickly.
Among the gems of my time-warp wardrobe was a pair of light green denim bell-bottom jeans. These were probably cute when my sister wore them in the mid-70s, but by 1980 they weren't exactly in demand. Still, I kind of liked the color and I didn't realize this fashion faux pas when I left the house that morning.
So you can imagine my surprise when I got a few funny looks here and there, and even a sarcastic, "HA... nice pants!" from a couple of girls a grade older than me. When I said a polite "Thank you" to them (I mistakenly took the taunt as a compliment), they laughed even harder. I was shocked, and I spent the rest of the day futilely trying to hide my pants. By the end of the day I was completely disheartened and secretly cursing my mom for making me wear them instead of just buying me a new pair of normal jeans.
After reading my story, you might think that I would be happy that the Alachua County School Board voted by a 3-2 margin to adopt a new uniform policy last night, effective at the start of the next school year. According to board member Barbara Sharpe, such a policy will "level the playing field" - so kids don't classify each other by the clothes they wear, or they won't be preoccupied by styles and brand names.
You might think again.
You see, I'm tired of over-protecting our kids' feelings. I'm all for being positive with them and encouraging good karma and sportsmanship, but when do we start preparing them for life? Instead of giving them tools to help them grow up and be confident with their looks and abilities, we're shielding them from any possible sadness or disappointment. We give every kid in the soccer league a trophy, even though some kids just aren't good athletes. We push every kid to read well beyond what they truly need to succeed, despite the fact that some kids just don't like it or aren't good at it. And now we'll make every kid look like a clerk at Blockbuster Video until they graduate from high school, just so they don't get singled out or preoccupied with D&G labels.
I learned something very important because of those hippie-dippy pants - how to stick up for myself. I wasn't getting a new pair of pants that day; we just couldn't swing it at the time, and that was the reality of the situation. And I had to admit, I did kind of like them. They were different (kind of like me, the dork that I was), and I thought the color was cool. Plus I didn't really have a choice.
So I sucked it up and eventually wore them again. And when I got a funny stare from someone I just ignored it. Or I looked them straight in the eye and smiled back at them. That usually shocked those kids; they expected an embarrassed slink-away or perhaps even tears. But they didn't get what they want, and then they left me alone. And that made me happier and more confident than any uniform could have done.
Today I wear what I want, and with confidence. I have learned what looks good AND makes me comfortable, and I wear clothing that shows who I truly am. That doesn't happen when you're shoehorned into a uniform. I also learned to hold no grudges - in fact, one of the people who commented on my pants way back when is now a Facebook friend of mine.
There are several reasons why I don't agree with uniforms. First, I haven't seen where it's such a huge disruptive problem. In fact, there is already a dress code in place and it seems to work just fine. Instead of policing spaghetti strap tops or shirt sayings as they do now, they'll just be making sure clothing is the right color and we have it neatly presented. No time saved there. Second, the school board voted for this despite an avalanche of mail from parents against the proposal, basing their vote instead on the "people they've talked to" (in other words, their friends). Third, now we have to buy TWO sets of clothing - uniforms for school, plus play/weekend clothes. Not sure how the school board thinks that this will be cheaper for the parents.
But my biggest reason is that I think we're shortchanging our kids in the long run. In life we don't get trophies merely for participating, we don't fit into academic molds of who we're supposed to be, and we don't have a dress code. Sooner or later, we have to learn how to suck it up and deal with who we are. We have to stick up for ourselves. We have to get our feelings hurt and deal with our shortcomings and experience disappointment from time to time.
As a parent, I see how hard that is to let it happen to our kids. But we have to let it happen, so we can teach them how to handle it. The uniform policy is a lazy way out, in my opinion - instead of teaching them coping skills and letting them be creative, we're washing our hands of it so we don't have to deal with it.
Barbara Sharpe, Wes Eubank and Ginger Childs, I hope you've enjoyed your tenure on the school board. And I'll be happy to help you update your resumes when you're voted out in November. For a fee, of course.
Among the gems of my time-warp wardrobe was a pair of light green denim bell-bottom jeans. These were probably cute when my sister wore them in the mid-70s, but by 1980 they weren't exactly in demand. Still, I kind of liked the color and I didn't realize this fashion faux pas when I left the house that morning.
So you can imagine my surprise when I got a few funny looks here and there, and even a sarcastic, "HA... nice pants!" from a couple of girls a grade older than me. When I said a polite "Thank you" to them (I mistakenly took the taunt as a compliment), they laughed even harder. I was shocked, and I spent the rest of the day futilely trying to hide my pants. By the end of the day I was completely disheartened and secretly cursing my mom for making me wear them instead of just buying me a new pair of normal jeans.
After reading my story, you might think that I would be happy that the Alachua County School Board voted by a 3-2 margin to adopt a new uniform policy last night, effective at the start of the next school year. According to board member Barbara Sharpe, such a policy will "level the playing field" - so kids don't classify each other by the clothes they wear, or they won't be preoccupied by styles and brand names.
You might think again.
You see, I'm tired of over-protecting our kids' feelings. I'm all for being positive with them and encouraging good karma and sportsmanship, but when do we start preparing them for life? Instead of giving them tools to help them grow up and be confident with their looks and abilities, we're shielding them from any possible sadness or disappointment. We give every kid in the soccer league a trophy, even though some kids just aren't good athletes. We push every kid to read well beyond what they truly need to succeed, despite the fact that some kids just don't like it or aren't good at it. And now we'll make every kid look like a clerk at Blockbuster Video until they graduate from high school, just so they don't get singled out or preoccupied with D&G labels.
I learned something very important because of those hippie-dippy pants - how to stick up for myself. I wasn't getting a new pair of pants that day; we just couldn't swing it at the time, and that was the reality of the situation. And I had to admit, I did kind of like them. They were different (kind of like me, the dork that I was), and I thought the color was cool. Plus I didn't really have a choice.
So I sucked it up and eventually wore them again. And when I got a funny stare from someone I just ignored it. Or I looked them straight in the eye and smiled back at them. That usually shocked those kids; they expected an embarrassed slink-away or perhaps even tears. But they didn't get what they want, and then they left me alone. And that made me happier and more confident than any uniform could have done.
Today I wear what I want, and with confidence. I have learned what looks good AND makes me comfortable, and I wear clothing that shows who I truly am. That doesn't happen when you're shoehorned into a uniform. I also learned to hold no grudges - in fact, one of the people who commented on my pants way back when is now a Facebook friend of mine.
There are several reasons why I don't agree with uniforms. First, I haven't seen where it's such a huge disruptive problem. In fact, there is already a dress code in place and it seems to work just fine. Instead of policing spaghetti strap tops or shirt sayings as they do now, they'll just be making sure clothing is the right color and we have it neatly presented. No time saved there. Second, the school board voted for this despite an avalanche of mail from parents against the proposal, basing their vote instead on the "people they've talked to" (in other words, their friends). Third, now we have to buy TWO sets of clothing - uniforms for school, plus play/weekend clothes. Not sure how the school board thinks that this will be cheaper for the parents.
But my biggest reason is that I think we're shortchanging our kids in the long run. In life we don't get trophies merely for participating, we don't fit into academic molds of who we're supposed to be, and we don't have a dress code. Sooner or later, we have to learn how to suck it up and deal with who we are. We have to stick up for ourselves. We have to get our feelings hurt and deal with our shortcomings and experience disappointment from time to time.
As a parent, I see how hard that is to let it happen to our kids. But we have to let it happen, so we can teach them how to handle it. The uniform policy is a lazy way out, in my opinion - instead of teaching them coping skills and letting them be creative, we're washing our hands of it so we don't have to deal with it.
Barbara Sharpe, Wes Eubank and Ginger Childs, I hope you've enjoyed your tenure on the school board. And I'll be happy to help you update your resumes when you're voted out in November. For a fee, of course.
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