You're NOT Worthless

The past day or so the news have talked about Elizabeth Smart  and a speech she gave at Johns Hopkins at their Human Trafficking Forum. If you really want to know what she said here is the speech.

A friend of mine commented on her speech on Facebook and I really liked what he had to say. He said, "She talked about how a rape victim feels diminished and worthless. She mentioned how she felt what was most valuable to her had been taken. She also noted something one of her junior high instructors taught (during a discussion of abstinence), that someone who had sex before marriage was like a "chewed piece of gum" that no one would ever want to chew again. How sad that she was taught a pernicious lie like that! There are those with a very distorted concept of how God views His children. Teachers have such a weight of responsibility to ensure they are not teaching falsehoods to impressionable young minds. The media is tying this dangerous concept to the teaching of abstinence, which is unfortunate--the two are NOT joined at the hip. When abstinence is taught properly and in conjunction with the principle of repentance and Christ's atonement it builds and enhances the individual's self-worth, not diminishes it. Those who teach the "chewed gum" or "pull the nail from the board but the hole remains" lies would somehow limit the Savior's ability to cleanse and eagerness to forgive. No one, whether a victim of rape, or one who merely succumbs to temptation, should ever feel worthless, or that they cannot be cleansed, healed and forgiven. Our Savior took care of all that. I should have also added that at least twice during her speech she noted that she felt a deep reassurance that her parents would still love and accept her with no regard for the sexual abuse. The main thrust of her speech was to promote early education that empowers children at a very young age to fight back against predators, and to be very aware of potentially hazardous situations. She also made it VERY clear that asking "why didn't you run away or cry out for help" is not an appropriate question to ask a victim of abuse or abduction."

I agree with him. One thing that has bothered me is some media outlets are saying the "chewed gum" analogy was from her LDS teachings. I really hope that no one was ever taught that. When I was in Young Womens I was never taught that I was worthless if I broke a commandment and especially if ever I was victimized. I'm so sad if anyone was taught that. Please know that you are special, loved and of great worth, no matter what is going on in your life. 

I truly feel that we need to teach our children more about sex. I personally feel that abstinence is the first thing to teach my children about sex before marriage. I also feel that they should know about sex. If they make the decision to have sex before marriage they need to know how to protect themselves. I can't force my children to live the way I want them to. I can teach them all I can and all I know and hope they make the best decision. I would especially want to teach them that if they do have sex before marriage they are not worthless. They are still loved. Children especially need to be taught how to protect themselves. Teach them that they need to fight back. That no matter what happens to them, they are of value and they are important.

Here's another speech Elizabeth Smart gave that gives some instruction and tools to protect your children.

Freaky Fast Delivery = Bad Customer Service

I learned over the weekend that if a company prides themselves on being fast at delivery it most likely means that their customer service sucks.

Saturday night Hutch and I decided that we'd like to have Jimmy Johns for dinner. A new location just opened off of State Street which is about 8 blocks or so away. Also, our neighbors next to us had them delivered the other day so we thought, why not. We went on their website and picked what we wanted and saw we could order online as well. We put in our information and a notice popped up saying that we are out of their delivery area. We thought that was weird since it's so close and our neighbors (who are south so technically a few yards further away) had a delivery. So Hutch decided to call them. Here's how the conversation went:

 JJ: Hello Jimmy Johns
H: Hi, I'd like to do an order for delivery
JJ: What's your address
H: 1234 Same Street (fake street name for the blog)
JJ: That's out of our delivery area.
CLICK!
H: Do you...hello?...They hung up!

They didn't suggest coming in and picking it up or saying if there is another location that can deliver or anything. Not any politeness at all.

I went to the "Contact Us" section of their website and sent an email about it. I told them about the phone conversation and how it wasn't very good customer service how the person on the phone didn't provide any other information and how they rudely hung up in the middle of Hutch speaking then I mentioned (didn't go too much into it) how it was strange that they don't deliver 8 blocks away but will deliver 8 blocks + one house away (I phrased it better). I received a response that stated:

"Thank you for your feedback concerning the delivery area of the Jimmy John's in Salt Lake City.

Jimmy John’s was built around fast delivery.   If the store near you won’t deliver to you, you are out of our designated delivery area.  This is not a personal thing, it’s a strategic decision.  We have a very disciplined strategy with delivery and have found this to be successful in the past.  Going out of our area makes those in the area get delayed.  I apologize.  Hopefully you will still consider Jimmy John’s in the future.

Aimee"

I did write back letting them know it's not the delivery area that was the problem, it was being hung up on. (her email proved to me that she didn't really read my email - I hate it when people do that). They pride themselves so much on being speedy that customer service seems to be the furthest thing from their minds.

I'm big on customer service. Maybe it's because of the work I do but I'm on both ends of the customer service all the time. We won't be ordering from them in the future. We ended up driving to Subway, spending less money, getting more veggies on our sandwiches and talking with very friendly and helpful employees.

Nostalgia

Years and years ago when I was little (like under 7 or so) our family used to rent vhs videos (because that was all they had then) from a little video shop in our neighborhood. For a while we had to rent the vhs player too because they were really expensive to buy.

I vaguely remember when we bought a vhs machine. We were so excited to be able to watch them on our own machine. I wish I could remember what the first vhs we bought was, but I don't.

I do remember though, that our first vhs machine did open on the top like these shown.

When we'd go and rent the videos my parents would let us each pick a movie. I can't remember if we each picked one each time or if we took turns each time being the one who picked the movie. There was one video that I always picked. I'm pretty sure my family was annoyed at that. I do remember my mom suggesting other movies but I also picked the same one. It was a Disney movie of  Silly Symphonies. It had a bunch of little stories on it.

There was one that I remember, only one I remember from that video. I remember there was candy and I remember a guy helping a girl get ready to be the princess and he takes a piece of candy and pushes it on her lips to make lipstick. All these years since my young childhood that is all I remember of that movie. I have been trying to figure out what it was (just recently discovered that it was a Silly Symphony) for years and years. The other day, to much of my excitement, I found it on youtube. Thank goodness youtube!!



It's called "The Cookie Carnival" I've never been so grateful for youtube before.  I can't even describe how excited I was to find it. It was like finding an old friend (I know silly) but it was a part of my young childhood that I actually remember. I hope you enjoy this small part of my life.

TUBES!!

If you were in the cast of "Curious Savage" that Midvale City did a few years ago, you would find my subject to be funny. It not, it's ok too.

This blog entry has nothing to do with that show though; but it does have something to do with tubes. Our cute little Agent P will be getting tubes in his ears soon. He has been getting ear infections a lot and his speech isn't where it should be for his age. So we went to an ENT and it was decided that it would be best to have tubes put in. I also had tubes in my ears when I was little. So he gets his ears from me. It's an outpatient procedure so he will be home that day.

Some people have asked me what exactly it means to have tubes put in and what does it do and other questions. Here is some information for the Mayo Clinic:
Ear tubes (tympanostomy tubes, ventilation tubes, pressure equalization tubes) are tiny cylinders, usually made of plastic or metal, that are surgically inserted into the eardrum. An ear tube creates an airway that ventilates the middle ear and prevents the accumulation of fluids behind the eardrum.
Ear tubes are often recommended for children who have persistent fluid buildup behind the eardrum, especially if the condition causes hearing loss and affects speech development. Your child's doctor may also recommend ear tubes if your child gets frequent ear infections.
Most ear tubes fall out within six to 12 months, and the holes heal shut on their own. Some tubes need to be removed, and some holes may need to be closed surgically.

It's nothing too serious. He will need to be put under for the procedure so that is always a concern. I do ask my blog readers to keep him in your prayers for the next few weeks that everything will turn out ok.

He's one tough kid so we're not too worried. The great thing about this procedure is he'll be able to hear and understand us better and his words will be more clear. The increased communication is going to be exciting.

On other family news, I'm excited to say that Hutch has a summer internship!! Yeah!! He will be working at CHG Healthcare for the summer. (he got two offers and picked CHG) I'm excited for all that he will learn and do while working there. It will be a lot less stressful than this previous semester. Then two more semesters (winter and spring) and he'll be a college graduate!!

I do love my boys lots and lots!!!

No Regrets

This past weekend was auditions for a favorite show of mine, Ragtime. When the season was announced and I saw that they were doing that show I had decided then and there I was going to audition. But I didn't. Not because of nerves, not because of scheduling, but for my health. A year or so ago I made a promise to my best friend that I wouldn't do a show until I was healthy. We both agreed. So I decided not to audition. I just recently started to get serious about losing weight. I'm exercising every day and counting calories. It's going to be a long journey but a journey completely worth it. So even though I didn't get a chance to audition for a dream role (the part of "Mother", she has great songs), I know that other opportunities and shows will come along. Maybe someone will do Ragtime again.

So until then, here is Christiane Noll portraying "Mother" and singing one of my favorite songs from the show.

Catching Up!

Thought I'd take a few minutes and catch up a bit.
We had a fun, quiet Valentines Day at our house. We had spaghetti for dinner (one of Agent P's favorites) under candlelight. Agent P thought it was so fun to have candles lit for dinner. He tried blowing them out while we ate but we had them further away. 

Here is a pic from our dinner. It's safer for us to have Agent P only be in his diaper when he eats spaghetti. It gets pretty messy as you can see from his big forkful of noodles. And yes, that is chocolate milk in fancy glasses. We've got class!

This is the valentine Agent P made for us at Day Care. They asked for us to send a picture of him and this is what they made.They had a Valentines party at Day Care on Valentines day. I made Agent P these valentines for his class.

I got the printout from pinterest (love that site). If I hadn't been sick, I would have gone to the craft store and bought googly eye to glue to the sucker.

On Saturday Hutch and I and his aunt Tifany took Agent P to the Zoo. The sun was out and the weather was pretty good for once so we thought we'd take advantage of it.

 Here is our usually picture. We take one each time we go to see how much he has grown. It's funny that Agent P is already used to it. Once he see it, he goes right up to it and gets into position.

 Agent P's favorite is the Giraffe so we made sure to get it on the Carousel.

 Aunt Tify on a tiger.

Hutch on a lady bug. A very manly lady bug. :)

Agent P's Oma (Grandma) and his Aunt Tifany both recently moved. I decided to have Agent P make them a House Warming Gift. I can't show you the gift yet because they haven't received them yet. But I will show you what Agent P did after he was done painting...He painted himself.

On Monday, Presidents Day, we had a lot of fun playing together. Running around the house, watching movies and having a great time. One new thing we did was we made homemade laundry soap. It was fun that Agent P wanted to help.

He really likes to help in the kitchen. When I'm cooking he always brings his stool over and tries to stir or do what he can to help. He likes to help with the dishes too but I think it's more so he can play in the water.
Last, but not least for this update, Agent P got a big boy bed. My parents had a twin bed they weren't using so they brought it over so Agent P could use it. And what's the first thing a toddler does with a new bed? JUMP ON IT!

He LOVES to jump on it. And while he's jumping he says, "Jump Jump Jumping Jump!" He seems to really like his new bed. In a few days we'll take him to the store to pick out his own bedding. Will it be trains? Buzz Lightyear? Perry the Platypus? I guess we'll wait and see!

As you can see, we are having a lot of fun in our house! Maybe that's why I haven't blogged in awhile, we're busy. :) An update on Day Care: it's getting better. He still cries but not as long and he is starting to participate in the crafts. Hopefully after a few more weeks, he'll start to love it.

Day Care-Day 2

As many of you know, we have the most adorable and loving son in the world. Sorry to break it to you all, but we do. :) Agent P has been a joy since the moment he came into this world. I love him more and more each day, each hour, each minute, each second! We have been truly blessed to have him in our family.

With me working and Hutch at school full-time (so he can get done faster) we have had to rely on family to help us out by watching him during the day. Due to busy schedules, health and new jobs we are down to my mother watching him. She loves spending time with him but isn't able to watch him every day. So we had to make the hard decision of putting him in day-care. I know that day-care is a great thing and has been wonderful for many people. The hard thing is when we started talking about putting him in day-care, everyone seems to feel I needed to hear all of the horror stories they have heard. (very few actually experienced anything bad themselves). So I was very anxious and upset about having to put him in day-care. I was almost to the point of saying, "we're selling our house, I'm quitting my job and we're moving into my parents basement!" We knew that wouldn't be the best plan.

Since I was a wreck about the whole thing, my wonderful husband took the job of researching places. There's a day-care where my father works that was a wonderful price because it's discounted if you work there or have a family member work there. They were full for his age though and we have had a hard time getting anyone there to answer questions or return calls so we knew we had to look elsewhere. Hutch found a few places and went and toured them and asked lots of questions. He got it down to two places. And after talking about it together we got it down to one. We decided before we make a final decision that I should tour it and meet the teachers and the people that work there. They are very nice people and the teachers were great. They have a great schedule and the class he would be in is a small one. After the tour we got into the car and I just started bawling. We ended up going for a drive for a bit. We prayed about it and I know it is best for Perrin to go to the day-care. (yes, me being able to be home with him is the #1 best, but that was not an option). He is going to make some friends, learn to play with others better, and learn his colors, shapes, letters, numbers, etc.

Yesterday was his first day. I bought him a Toy Story backpack to take with him. (for his diapers, extra clothes and blanket). The day went well. When Hutch dropped him off he went into the room and started playing with the toys. He did cry a few times when they would change rooms or do something different. He ate his treats but wouldn't eat his lunch (he's a picky eater-I'm working on that). He also took a nap without a problem. He was excited to see Hutch when he picked him up. Last night he was very affectionate and playful.

I called the day-care just a bit ago to see how he was doing on his 2nd day. I have heard that the 2nd day is usually hard because it shows that it wasn't a temporary thing. And Agent P likes to follow suit. He is having a rough day and isn't happy. When I called he was sitting on the teachers lap and not playing with the toys. The manager said most kids will take a few weeks to get used to it and they aren't too worried about him. It still breaks my heart. The manager suggested I call again this afternoon to see if he's any happier but not to be surprised if he's not.

I know he's going to be ok and that this is a good thing but no parent likes to hear their child is not happy. We'll just keep praying that he'll like it and get used to it fast. We also hope he realizes that we will always be there to pick him up at the end of the day.

I do realize that I'm over-dramatic about whole thing, but that's who I am. I'm an overprotective mother.

(Agent P loves that he can see himself on my iPod when we take pictures. So my iPod is full of pictures of him making faces)