Sunday was Mothers Day in Australia, and I had the opportunity to revel in some well earned spoiling from my husband and son. I got to sleep in, had coffee in bed, feasted on pancakes for breakfast, and my gorgeous husband made Indian for me, my mom and stepfather that night.

Mothers Day used to be this obligation where I lamented the empty commercialization of it all and valiantly tried to remember to send a card so I wouldn’t feel guilty. But now that I am a mother I really get the importance of this day. Hell, mothers should be celebrated once a month, not just one day a year!

Mothers are the foundation upon which society is built. They give us life. Feed and nurture us. Teach us our most intrinsic values. Mothers are there to soothe the nightmares and possess the magic lips to kiss away the pain. These days they are also just as likely to be a provider for their families. When you really look at all this responsibility, all this giving, isn’t every mom that mythical creature called a Super Mom?

I’m not saying that every single mother out there is perfect or better than the dads in the family. I believe mothers and fathers possess different roles and different strengths, and one cannot replace the other. Both are important.

Today I’m Celebrating Mothers

The vast majority of them devote their lives to their children. They make sacrifices on a daily basis and struggle to have answers to questions that they may not have figured out for themselves. Too often society, and women themselves, expect perfection and all knowing wisdom from mothers. When the truth is you’re thrown in the deep end from day one, and physically you’re already sinking and you know you have to figure it all out right NOW!

But really you have no idea what you’re doing and you just put one foot in front of the other hoping you don’t fuck it up too much and you don’t send your kids into years of therapy. Me, I’m exhausted from trying to get it right. Now I’m aiming for not getting it TOO wrong.

My mom got a lot of things right. She’s not a perfect cookie cutter mother - if such a creature exists - and I think she’d admit she has some regrets, but my mother is one of my best friends and definitely my greatest ally. Her love and support are unconditional and she sees inside my heart even when I am too scared to look there myself.

My Mom and the Power of Kindness and Empathy

As I sit here reflecting on the gifts my mother has shared with me, many come to mind. But the most important lesson - the one that has brought the most joy and connection to my life - is the power of kindness and empathy.

My mom is one of those people everyone likes. It’s almost impossible not to like her. She is the flashbulb who lights up the room. The buzzing bee who sweeps around making sure everyone is comfortable and taken care of. The one who shares her smile and warmth, her pure generosity of spirit with everyone she meets.

I can’t claim to be as open as mom, but I definitely absorbed some lessons from her that have made a big difference in my life. I try to show my loved ones that I value them. I am generally pleasant and friendly to everyone, whether they are serving me in the supermarket, taking my coffee order or calling me for direct marketing purposes. I learned from mom that what goes around comes around so everyone benefits if you welcome the world with a smile and a kind and generous soul.

Here’s a few quick ways you can get into my mom’s giving spirit and add a little sunshine to people’s lives:

Smile FREELY and for no reason

Everyone wants to be liked and understood so why not relax and let someone talk. Let them get their story out. They’ll feel heard and acknowledged and you’ll send them out into the world in a better frame of mind

Don’t judge people who are different to you. This doesn’t mean you have to hang out with people whose actions you don’t agree with, but we can’t all agree so why get upset and angry about it

Say hi to people you see around your local neighborhood

Chat to that perfect stranger at the bus stop or in the queue, or on the long train commute to work. It doesn’t have to be a big in-depth conversation. A little small talk and shared banter can brighten everyone’s day

Greet the people who serve you and ask how their day is going

Be gracious toward the elderly. Yes, some people may ramble on sometimes but it can get pretty lonely at the end of your life. Start your good karma today

Let other cars into your lane in traffic. We all get stuck sometimes so what’s the big deal about letting someone go before you? It really won’t slow you down that much

Help struggling parents with strollers and/or shopping and roaming kids. if someone seems to have their hands full, it doesn’t hurt to ask if they need some help

Indulge kids with their sometimes nonsensical chatter and pull funny faces to make babies laugh. In both cases, your spirit will feel better

Offer to help someone with their bags

Donate to charity, and be empathetic to street people. You have no idea how they got there or what they’ve suffered. Don’t negate or add to their misery

Tell your friends and family you love them

Be generous with your warmth, laughter and goodwill

Do something nice for someone for no reason at all

When in doubt, forgive. We all mess up. We all fall down. But when we forgive those who have done us wrong we free them, and more importantly, we free ourselves

Here endeth the lesson. I love you mom.

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“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”

- Angela Schwindt, Teacher and Author

Happy Birthday to my beautiful boy: 4 years old today

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Today, I had a most unproductive day. Last night I wrote out a list of what I wanted to achieve today and the only item I managed to cross off was number 4 on the list: spend quality one-on-one time with Bunny (my son).

We cuddled and watched cartoons. We did puzzles and read books. We ate ridiculous amounts of vegemite on crackers, and seemed to spend hours discussing the complex relationships between Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends and why Diesel doesn’t play nicely with the ‘Steamies’. I’m sorry if you have no idea what I’m talking about here. Believe me, I wish I didn’t know about Thomas either.

The tasks that didn’t happen were not in themselves vital to mankind, but I do feel dissatisfied that I didn’t even attempt to stick with the list. The other items on it were:

• dye my hair - nope it’s still faded brown laced with grey
• help Bunny to paint on a couple of plain t-shirts I bought him - fabric paint is in the cupboard and the t-shirts, well I have no idea where they are
• vacuum - just couldn’t be bothered to piece the heavy contraption together and lug it around the house
• clean the oven - too much like hard work
• polish the next part of SHE-POWER Fiction and write a final draft of a truly enlightening post - um, sorry guys

I’ve spent a lot of today feeling guilty about this lack of productivity. It’s not like I set unachievable goals for the day. Six items to tick off is hardly putting on the pressure. But today I just couldn’t get motivated to DO anything. Maybe it’s the weather.

It’s been rather wet and chilly here in my south coast pocket of NSW, Australia. Winter’s coming in fast, which is pretty crap really because this summer was completely sub-standard. Too much rain, too much wind, too many overcast days and not enough scorching sunshine.

Like many people this has left me feeling resentful toward the change of season. I feel short changed and have found myself standing in my backyard berating the weather. Loudly. It doesn’t seem to mind, and I have yet to be struck down by a sudden bolt of lightening, though Mother Nature could just be toying with me before she punishes me for my disrespectful raving and use of foul language. I may have to keep a look out for sudden tornadoes that pop up and strike my neighborhood, missing everyone’s else’s house except for mine. If it can happen on Wisteria Lane, then no one’s safe, I say.

Or maybe the weather is just an excuse I’m grasping for because I feel lazy for choosing to drop out of responsible adult life today. Even though I am a mother and spending time with my son is part of my ‘job’, on the rare occasion I do nothing else except have fun with him I feel like I am piking out and doing the wrong thing.

On those days when my husband asks “How was your day?” I try to come up with something else that I did, just so I have something ‘grown up’ to tell him. Something that sounds like work. Because to non-stay-at-home parents it doesn’t sound like work to play trains, chasings or play dough.

Although when you do it day in and day out, it is just another part of your job description. It needs to be done just like making the beds and doing the food shopping, but it’s worse because it can feel like your brain is being eaten by an insatiable monster you gave birth to. And some days you get so tired of the giving and the listening and the endless patience required that you’d pay anything to go sit in an office cubicle and tap away at a computer. Anything.

But today was not one of those days. Today I wanted to be a kid and live only in the moment like my son does. I wanted to throw out the list and say to hell with being productive. Of course, Bunny embraced this undivided attention whole heartedly with no clue of the internal struggles mummy was going through as she drove Percy along the track.

My son does not care that I need to keep a household running and feel like a productive member of society. To him, I am mummy. Nothing more. Nothing less. Today, I thought that sounded pretty good.

So, what have I actually said in this post that is meaningful and worthwhile? Hmm, nothing much. Well, that is exactly what I accomplished today. Now, I like the symetry in that, don’t you?

Photo by Fabiola Medeiro

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I so wish I was jumping for joy like this fella in the photo. In fact, I’d settle for walking around the house without coughing and having my nose run everywhere. After twelve days of a stinking, mangy flu, I’m not feeling my usual sunny self and I am ever so slowly losing my mind!

Why should you care? Well, after yet another day of throwing myself from the couch to my bed, whining and moaning in despair, I’ve had lots of time to think and have come up with an effective how-to list for surviving family illness.

Number ONE with a bang - DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN. They may look cute, and be all cuddly and stuff, but it’s all an evil facade. Their real reason for being here is to contaminate us! They’re death traps I tell you!

All kind of infections and bugs lurk within those smiling faces and that downy soft skin. This is the most important lesson I can impart. Do not have children if you want to stay healthy.

If you’ve already screwed up and had children, well that’s it, you’ve got an an uphill battle now. May as well look at some emergency measures just to try and hold you together. Please see the following:

• Never under any circumstances care for sick children yourself. When they’re sick they sweat, billow out snot and drool, and all that infectious gunk gets on you. Not healthy. Some do-gooders will go on about it being your responsibility - ignore them. Relatives are vital here. Drop the kids off with their grandparents, uncle, aunt, basically anyone who will take them and hasn’t served time. The Emergency room at the local hospital is also an option, but you’ll need someone waiting in the car with the engine running so you can make a quick exit.

If you ignored the above advice, there’s probably little I can do to help you, but because I’m a kind and generous soul, I’ll try.

• Do not spend all night when you’re supposed to be resting, getting up and down to a sick child. So, they’ve got a fever, you’re suffering too. Let’s get some perspective here! Slip them an extra dose of panadol. It’ll get rid of the temperature and knock them out. Problem solved.

• Do not try and sit up late with some crazed idea that you might be able to write a blog post, even though you can barely stand. The only thing that will happen is you’ll sit there, stare vacantly at the screen, then fall asleep on the keyboard and wake up with a crink in your neck to add to the headache and the runny nose.

• Drink plenty of fluids and eat lightly. Apparently beer and wine don’t count because of the histamines, but any doctor that says whiskey, vodka and gin won’t clear the head and warm the chest is a quack and deserves their license to be revoked. Chocolate biscuits do count as a light meal as long as you don’t finish the packet.

• When your doctor gives you antibiotics, they actually expect you to take them. Putting them in the bathroom cabinet will not suffice. Apparently they don’t work from a distance. A related point is…

• Have someone else dole out your child’s antibiotics. (Didn’t I tell you to get rid of that kid?) The simple act of giving your child their prescriptions will make you think you took yours, but you didn’t! Now the rugrat is getting better and you’re still sick and the little mite wants to know why mummy won’t take him to the park. Mummy’s dying, don’t you get it, child!

• Do not spend the days you’re supposed to be resting doing the washing, the floors, the kitchen and all the other parts of the house that are getting dirtier and messier by the minute. Get a cleaner. Enlist your partner. Enslave the kids.

• Make sure you call everyone you know to whine about how sick you are. It will bore them to tears, but you’ll feel better and everyone will get the point that you really are the most important person in the world.

• Forget about exercise. And definitely do not go for a run on the first day you start feeling better. You may find yourself overheating and puking your guts up in the park with some horrified granny glaring at you and rushing away in her walker. Not that this happened to me of course.

• My last point is vital. You are not a parent when you’re sick. It’s everyone for themselves. So the kids are killing each other and want to ride their bikes on the main road. Let them. Who has the energy to fight? You can’t worry about every minor detail, can you? Everything your children say is right this week. Ice-cream and chocolate topping is dinner. Green jelly is basically a vegetable and yes, your son can watch Thomas the Tank Engine all day.

Now, don’t thank me all at once for these valuable tools to survive illness and family life. I know they’re revolutionary, but hey I’m a genius. You leave the hard work to me. Just sit back and enjoy.

I’m off to work on chromosomal gene theory now.

Kelly

Health Warning - Anyone without a sense of humor should disregard this post entirely. Actually, forget you ever saw this blog. If you don’t understand my humor, even the deranged stuff, then we’re probably not right for each other. Find someone else. You will love again.

Photo by mikes&mugs

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When I was a girl, my dad would play the guitar for my brother and I and sing our favorite folk songs before we went to sleep. He rarely yelled when we were in trouble and he was big on the “I’m disappointed in you” stare. For me, there was nothing worse than daddy being disappointed in me.

I can’t attest to how he was as a husband, but I remember being grateful that my dad was taking me to the beach and to music festivals while other kids had fathers who sat on the couch watching sport and drinking beer all weekend.

This week, Leo Babauta from Zen Habits told his readers they could ask him 100 Questions on any topic. This was what I asked him.

“What do you think are the qualities of a great husband and father, and are you happy with the job you’ve done so far?”

This is an extract from Leo’s answer:

“I think just a desire to spend time with your wife and children, and to love them and talk with them and have fun with them, is all that really matters. Also, accept them for who they are”

I’d agree with this, and I’d also add the following.

A Good husband and father…

puts his family first
shares parenting
guides his children to be good citizens
is honest, faithful and reliable
is able to admit when he is wrong
knows romance is not a slap on the ass and “how about it?”
is encouraging and supportive
leaves work at the door when he comes home
does his share of the household chores
knows his wife needs time out and hobbies too
listens and can communicate
shows his love and appreciation
is considerate, kind and forgiving

I am grateful that I have found someone to fill these shoes, and I try myself to reflect the SAME QUALITIES BACK TO HIM. Love is a complicated thing. Sometimes it’s easy and light, without a care in the world. Other times it’s a backbreaking slog through trenches of mud. Human beings are not infallible. Even the best of us can get lost and let our loved ones down. That doesn’t matter as long as MOST OF THE TIME we are empathetic and loving, trying to meet each other’s needs.

Marriage is about having each other’s back. About looking ahead and side stepping those trenches together. Or pulling each other out of the mud when it’s needed. Your list of a good husband and father might not look like mine, but I hope it resembles the man you’re living with. Because that’s as good as life gets.

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I love trivia and learning new things, so I tend to read far and wide. The following is a list of 25 Fast Facts About Women Around the World. Some are quirky, some serious, and others are just downright depressing. I tried to offer a balance of each, and hope that there’s something to make you smile, as well as something to make you think.

Here’s the 25 that got my attention and made the list.

1. 80% of the 50 million people around the world who are affected by violent conflicts, civil wars, disasters, and displacement are women and children

2. In 2004, 48.8% of the seats held in parliament in Rwanda were held by women. Contrast that to Cuba where 36% of the seats were held by women, and the USA, where 14.3 % of the seats were held by women. Saudi Arabia and the Solomon Islands are just two countries where there are no women in parliament (UNDP, Human Development Report 2004)

3. In 76 countries, less than half the eligible girls are enrolled in secondary school

4. Women own only 1% of the world’s land

5. Approximately three million women in the USA sport tattoos

6. A Saudi Arabian woman can get a divorce if her husband doesn’t give her coffee

7. 43% of Australian marriages end in divorce. of those who remarry, 65% of them will divorce again. By the time you try for marriage number 3, your chance of getting divorced is about 75%

8. The women of the Tiwi tribe in the South Pacific are married at birth

9. It is illegal to be a prostitute in Siena, Italy, if your name is Mary

10. In parts of Malaya, the women keep harems of men

11. The two highest IQ’s ever recorded (on a standard test) both belong to women

12. In Kenya where 38% of the farms are run by women, those women manage to harvest the same amount per hectare (2.47 acres) as men, despite men having greater access to loans, advice, fertilizers, hybrid seeds, insecticides. And when women were given the same level of help, they were found to be more efficient than men, and produced bigger harvests

13. Over half a million women die in childbirth every year in Africa and Asia

14. Nearly 1/2 of all Indonesian women have had their first child by the time they are 17

15. In the USA, unintended pregnancies account for almost half of all pregnancies

16. According to The World Health Org., 40 per cent of girls aged 17 or under in South Africa are reported to have been the victim of rape or attempted rape

17. In Sweden, 76% of mothers work, the highest percentage in the developed world

18. Australia, New Zealand and the US are among a handful of governments that do not require women to be paid some form of maternity leave. In countries as diverse as Russia, Colombia, Laos and Morocco, the government foots the entire bill for three to six months of maternity leave

19. By age 55, 95% of all U.S. women have married

20. In 2007 the world’s richest self-made woman was Ms Zhang Yin, a Chinese paper recycling entrepreneur

21. Only 5% of Hollywood feature films are directed by women

22. Today, Japan leads the world in condom use. Like cosmetics, they’re sold door to door, by women

23. Seventy percent of women would rather have chocolate than sex (Poll taken in a 1995 women’s magazine)

24. Australian women have sex on the first date more than women the same age in the USA and Canada

25. China is considered the next big marketing opportunity for the tobacco industry because only 3.8% of Chinese women smoke, compared with 63 % of adult males

When you research the state of women around the world, I am sad to say that finding inspiring facts and figures is difficult. There is much that I left off this list, simply because I didn’t want to send everyone into a black mood for the day!

We may look around at progress in developed countries and feel women are better off than they’ve ever been, but we are such a minority. The story is completely different for much of the world’s women, who are suffering from the same persecution, and deplorable health and living conditions that they’ve endured for centuries. I’ll try to remember that the next time I’m complaining about my life.

If you have access to a computer, shelter, breakfast in your tummy and are able to read this, then you already have so much to be grateful for.

Have a great day.

Kelly


Photo by elchapincito.

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This is a continuation of Tuesday’s article, How to be a ‘Super Mom’. It gives a few more tips for how to raise happy, healthy kids, while staying sane and happy yourself.

Motherhood shakes up your life, changes your priorities and involves an element of sacrifice. However, there should be a limit to this sacrifice because martyrdom is exhausting and robs your children of a special opportunity. The opportunity to see who you are as a person, your unique gifts, your ultimate happy self. Our children need to learn that mom is not just their to serve. Mom is a human being with needs, dreams, someone who should be valued and appreciated.

To recap, the first 5 Tips were:

1. Take care of yourself first
2. Spend one-on-one time with your children
3. Banish guilt!
4. Decide on your family values, and LIVE THEM
5. Protect the family unit - husbands need love too

And now to continue…

6. Get a life and leave your child’s alone!

Do not try and fulfill your own dashed dreams through your children. They have their own personality and their own journey. They do not need the extra baggage of trying to please you. Life is hard enough; your children will be exposed to enough pressure and judgment from the others. They do not need the added pressure of giving you what you could never achieve in your own life. We all want what’s best for our children. But we need to focus on THEIR BEST. Not ours.

7. Love your children unconditionally

Sometimes our children are easy to love, sometimes they are not. Sometimes we wonder why they are so determined to make life hard for themselves, or for us. We despair of what will happen to them out in the big, bad world. There is only one thing to remember here. Your children can only be WHO THEY ARE. You can help them find their best self, teach them about positive choices and consequences, but they must make their own mistakes. You just practice loving them NO MATTER WHAT.

8. Surround yourself with people who make you feel good

Children are stressful. Raising them and making the big decisions in life is stressful. Surround yourself with people who love and support you, and make you laugh. Do not give your time to those who will judge you, criticize you or try to make you feel less than you are.

9. Set boundaries.

Predictable boundaries make children feel safe, whilst teaching them how to be good citizens, so they are empathetic to their fellow human beings. So they are loving and empathetic to you! Set boundaries so your husband or wife knows what you need and your children know that you have rights too. They are one part of the family. They are not everything. This is crucial to their understanding of how they fit in the real world. A self-obsessed 30 year old, who still throws tantrums to get what they want is not an attractive sight.

10. Do not be a One Woman Show – Get Help When You Need It!

Being a ‘Super Mom’ does NOT mean doing it all. Delegate! Learn to BE A GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER. Even if you are a stay-at-home-mother, you are not a slave. Make sure your husband has some chores to do so he appreciates what it takes to run a household. Take time out for yourself. Keep your girl friends. Never had girlfriends? Find some! Join a gym, talk to women in the park, anything. But get a life of your own. And when it’s all too hard, ASK FOR HELP!

These ideas are just the tip of the ice-berg, and I do not claim to have all the answers. Parenting is deeply personal because it encapsulates everything that we are and everything that we hope our children will be. I welcome the opportunity to hear some of your thoughts, and will leave you with one last mantra I live by.

IF YOU TRULY GIVE YOUR BEST, THEN YOUR BEST IS GOOD ENOUGH


Photo by Christine [cbszeto]

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PARENTING IS THE HARDEST JOB IN THE WORLD. There is no rule book, it’s a job which receives no sick days or holidays, and there’s that gnawing fear that we may not be doing a good job. That we could, in fact, be stuffing it up entirely.

Children are wonderful. With their trusting hearts, gap-toothed smiles, and small, peanut butter hands which are always drawn to our best clothing. Children are so alive, so trusting that they make us want to be perfect. And herein lies the problem, because of course we are not.

So, is it ever possible to be a ‘Super Mom’? The mother you always dreamed you would become. I say yes, you just need to consider what you define as ‘Super’. Here are the first 5 of my Top 10 Tips for becoming a ‘Super Mom’:

1. Take care of yourself first

I know some of you are balking as I write this, but you cannot be a good mother if you do not meet your own needs. Mothers are usually the hub of the family; the ones who keep everyone and everything together. You need to be at your best, and this means giving yourself the love and care you deserve. Ask yourself what you want, find the joy in your life and don’t sacrifice it for anyone. The happier you are, the more energy and love you have to give your family.

Remember, you are also a ROLE MODEL for your children. Show them a positive, fulfilled woman in charge of her life. A woman who has a loving partner and a LIFE OF HER OWN. Don’t show them that their future involves being tired and angry, bitter and negative. Or worse yet, the door-mat for a selfish husband.

2. Spend one-on-one time with your children

To develop a healthy self esteem, children need to feel they are special, the center of our universe. This does not mean giving them everything they ask for or structuring our whole lives around their demands. It does mean setting aside blocks of quality time to be with them. Time where we let them lead, where we see only them, their talents. Time where they feel the full impact of our love and admiration. When they know without a shadow of a doubt they are everything to us.

3. Banish Guilt!

Our children, other mothers, our husbands, our own mothers, and even society are well versed in throwing around mother guilt. Don’t buy into it! So, little Johnny wants a PLAY STATION and you can’t afford it; or you can’t do canteen duty ‘like the other mommies’ because you work. Tough luck. He’ll get over it! We all have different needs and circumstances. Not giving your children everything they want, or being there all the time will not harm them. In the long term, loved children, whose parents nurture and praise them, will flourish. And that’s what counts.

4. Decide on your family values, and LIVE THEM!

Do you think you’re a good person? What do you value most in life? Coming up with answers to these questions will help not only your life, but it will clarify what you want to teach your children. Because whether you like it or not, the way you live, how you treat people, what you place importance on, will be learned and mirrored by your children. Decide on the code of honor your family will live by. Teach it to your children - not just with words, but actions too.

5. Protect the family unit - husbands need love too!

The best gift you can give your children is to maintain their “happy home”. Note the use of the word HAPPY. Do not stay with a man you don’t love and/or respect. Your relationship with the father of your children is the first example they will ever see of what love is. Teach them that while love may not always be easy, it is fair, safe, respectful and supportive.

My next post will complete this list. In the mean time, I’d love to hear some of your thoughts about what it takes to create a happy, healthy family in today’s crazy world.

Until tomorrow…

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I was reading The Lorax by Dr. Seuss to my son tonight, and as the rhyming text rolled off my tongue in sing-song waves I couldn’t help but marvel at the literary brilliance that was Theodor Seuss Geisel.

The Lorax is not one of his better known books, but it has always been my favorite. It’s very much an ode to the dangers of greed and unfettered progress, and as a kid I always loved books and songs with a moral message. I was an anti-capitalist, environmentalist Liberal long before I knew what one was. My dad used to play his guitar to my brother and I every night before bed and one of our favorite songs was an old folk tune called “Throw out your TV”, which tells you a lot about my alternative childhood.

But back to Dr. Seuss. If you have children and you are not reading them Dr. Seuss, then get thee to a book store!

Never has there been a children’s writer who could tell such imaginative stories, draw amazing technicolor graphics that make the characters come alive on the page, whilst also delivering a positive moral message that is too clever and crazy to be preachy.

However, your reading style and rhythm is crucial when introducing your children to Dr. Seuss. If you don’t put expression into the words it just won’t be the same, so relax, maybe have a gargle, do some vocal exercises, throw yourself into character and embrace this roller coaster reading task. Your children will love it, you can immerse yourself in the magic of childhood once more, and best of all, you’ll be instilling a love of words and books. A love that will feed the mind, nurture the soul and keep your children company through the long years ahead.

Some of my best friends have been characters in books, and today I’d like you to meet one. His name is The Lorax.

“The instant I’d finished, I heard a ga-Zump!

I looked.

I saw something pop out of the stump

of the tree I’d chopped down. It was sort of a man.

Describe him? …..That’s hard. I don’t know if I can.

He was shortish. And oldish.

And brownish. And mossy.

And he spoke with a voice

that was sharpish and bossy.”

And just to show you why I love The Lorax so much, I’ll leave you with a few of his inspirational words.

“UNLESS someone like you

cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better.

It’s not.”

And THAT is why I worship at the altar of Dr. Seuss.

Excerpts from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

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I found this video on YOUTUBE, where a young guy named Will Albino walks through the Padua Academy in the USA asking the female students there to sign a petition to end women’s suffrage. As you might guess from the title of my post, scores of young women not only sign the petition, but show they have absolutely no idea what it is, with one student saying “women’s suffrage is really bad”.Now, we must allow for selective editing here. Maybe just as many women didn’t sign, but were not included because let’s face it, a 50/50 split wouldn’t make a point would it? However, it does make me question what basics our kids are not taught in school today. Have English and History gone out of fashion? And in a country like the USA, where voting is voluntary and only 54% of eligible voters cast their ballots in any particular election, I have to wonder if these women would still sign the petition even knowing what it was. Maybe Paris Hilton should do an advertisement encouraging people to vote, then young women might actually know what suffrage is. In Australia, I can’t say the situation is much better. While we have compulsory voting for all eligible citizens, nothing can make apathetic people (anyone under 30?) care enough to give their vote the consideration and thought it deserves. As for our education system, again I would say our young people are faring badly. If any of the Big Brother contestants this year are representative of their Generation Y peers, teenagers can’t spell and reading went out of fashion with the yo-yo. Then again, when you’re 18 years old and wear t-shirts with Porn Star emblazoned across your tits, while singing “Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me”, maybe you never see a reason why you would need an education, or even that pesky right to vote.

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