Say What?!

A few weeks ago when the kids and I were at the library I found a book called Someday We'll Have Good Manners by Harriet Ziefert and I thought "that's great, it's always good to reinforce good manners" so I checked it out. Later at home I cracked it open with Gabe and Zion and started to read. I guess the "someday" in the title should have been a clue, this book is nothing like what I thought it would be (and now as I go back and read the inner flap I know I should never have checked it out). The book starts out "When we grow up, we're going to have very good manners." Each page has a statement such as "I'll be so polite." and "We won't barge in." and "We won't interrupt." which are all good things. Unfortunately underneath each picture is a drawing of two children demonstrating atrocious behavior. Doing exactly opposite of what the statement says. I kept thinking as I'm reading "OK, where is this going?" and asking Gabe what is wrong with each picture and hoping that the ending with have a good moral. The second to last page reads "Someday we'll be grown up. Someday we'll have manners." and I flip to the last page and it reads "But for now, we're just kids." (which I did NOT read out loud) and I say WHAT?!!!!!! How is that possibly OK? You don't give your child an excuse to get away with that crap behavior! None of the things the children demonstrated in the book are possibly OK at all, not for Gabe at 4 and not for Zion at 2 and there's no way in heck I'm waiting until my kids are adults to see them have good manners. I hate to break it to you people, if you don't teach your kids good manners when they are young, like straight from the womb, the likelihood that they will just suddenly develop them when they become an adult is practically nil. A rude child simply becomes a rude adult.

Why, why, why?! I just don't get it! This book isn't funny, it isn't useful, it's awful! The last thing kids need in our society today is another excuse to be self-centered and horrible. Children can be children and have fun and still have good manners. Harriet Ziefert, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Just in case you're wondering, this is how the inner flap reads: Of course these kids know how to say please and thank you! Of course they know how to wait in line politely and to give up a seat to someone who might need it more. They certainly know how to sit at a table and pass the food nicely. But will they? No way! That's for when they are grown up and boring! When they get older they'll have good manners, but for now...they're just kids.

Arg! Make it stop!



OK, rant over. We now return to our regular scheduled programing.

Children's Book Idea

This post is for a friend of mine. A friend of her aunt's who is actively involved in the toddler group of her local Le Leche League was trying to find children's books positively portraying breastfeeding mamas and came up short. She contacted the user's group for some children's books illustrators and was told that the major publishers won't allow it and that they only want pictures showing babies being given bottles. She and her friends at her LLL group have started a petition at www.ideablob.com to get a grant to make such a book. If you like this idea then go to the webiste, register and vote - but do it today because voting ends at midnight! Thanks!

Need a Good Read?

I have a weakness for historical fiction, especially if it involves a mystery. One of my favorite authors of historical fiction is Pat McIntosh. She paints such a fabulous tapestry of 1400s Scotland one would think she was writing from her own life experience, if that's the case however let me assure you she looks absolutely fantastic for her age! I'm so completely infatuated with the protagonist in her stories, Gil Cunningham. I mistakenly read The Nicholas Feast first which is actually book two. I ended up being quite relieved however, as there was a particular situation introduced in book one (The Harper's Quine) that would have given me much anxiety had I not already known how it was resolved by accidentally reading ahead. I don't want to tell you what it is though, I want you to go out and get the books. I was very thrilled last night to discover that there is a fifth Gil Cunningham Murder Mystery pending. Now I need to go do a "saved search" on my library's website so that it will notify me when the book comes in, I love that!

Another really good one is The Kingsbridge Plot by Maan Meyers (which is actually two authors in one). The beginning of the book was a little crude for my taste (one of the characters is, well, really crude) but I persisted and was rewarded with an excellent story based on true happenings in colonial America. I haven't read other Maan Meyers books yet (they're on my to-read list) but partly because I've gotten addicted to The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. I mean, honestly, how can one not fall immediately in love with Mma Ramotswe. During my last pregnancy I had a little ritual that I would go through regarding these books. Rob was traveling a lot so I had my evenings to myself (once the kids were in bed of course) so I would bake a loaf of bread and time it so that it was coming out of the bread machine (yes, I use a bread machine nowadays. It's cheating but give me a break, I'm pregnant with two kids) after the kids were down. I'd make a hot cup of Safari Spice tea, slather a couple slices of hot bread with butter and hunker down with whichever Mma Ramotswe book I had my nose in at the time - heaven! Anyway, if you read these books and don't immediately want to hop a plane to Botswana there is something wrong with you.