I just wanted to take a minute to feature Lorie because she always leaves such nice comments here at Confessions from HouseholdSix even when I don’t always get time to reciprocate on her blog.

Jerri Ann has been covering the Little League World Series! That’s an event that is (practically) in our back yard. Every August, all the hotels from the PA/MD line to Williamsport are booked. Restaurants are crowded. Traffic is a nightmare in north central PA. Through it all, the world is watching our little section of the world. It’s pretty exciting. It’s also pretty exciting that I know a blogger who covers the event! Now I don’t have to rely on the lame local news. I can just read Jerri Ann’s accounts like the one about Coach Smiga and the Sandy Plains team.

Be sure to catch Jerri Ann talking about sports journalism at Blog World Expo. It’s sure to be interesting and informative given her experience. Jerri Ann started blogging about sports at her blog, Mom~E~Centric, and has branched out to other sites and her local newspaper from there.

*Jerri Ann has a variety of other sports articles at VernonCroy.com and Hotcappers for those not so much interested in the Little League World Series.

Another thing, DON’T SHOP WITH A STROLLER AND A CART. That’s even more annoying than your kids running everywhere because you hog up the whole aisle as you push the stroller and your significant other pushes the cart side by side. This is the equivalent to the family of four getting a shopping cart per person to fill with groceries and clogging up the produce section.

Lastly, and this mostly pertains to the big box stores, TAKE YOUR SCREAMING KID OUT OF THE STORE. If your child starts producing blood curdling screams because you won’t buy him a toy, don’t continue to shop for the next fifteen minutes. If he won’t calm down after a minute or two, for the love of all that is holy, LEAVE. Even my kids will look at you funny when you go all through the store with a screaming kid. They don’t like it any more than adults do. All the adults in the store secretly want to slap you, the parent(s), for not having a lick of common sense or courtesy.

*I obviously need to stop running errands on weekends. People who shop during the week usually have more common courtesy than those shopping on weekends. These conditions seem to exist whether a store is crowded or not.

We already see the effects of this. For example, our house is slated for demolition. When? No one knows. Whenever they get the money to continue the project. In the meantime, it can be like pulling teeth to get things fixed. The attitude is that the house will be torn down anyway, so why bother? Um, hello? We still have to live here in the meantime. What about hiring QUALITY contractors so the job gets done right the first time? This would save much more money long term than to hire the cheapest bidder who slaps up about 24 new housing units in seven months, and the very first residents of those houses say they have a lot of issues as well with their houses.

The kids are affected too. There are hardly any programs for kids under 10. For some reason on our post, preschool was moved to the afternoon last fall. What would make a person think that trying to have any semblance of order among the three year old set from about 12-3pm would happen? Silly me, I prefer as a parent to have a child who has napped, and even then the mood swings are variable.

My point is before people just generally cry “Cut the defense budget!” Let’s look at the whole budget and see where the fat can be trimmed. Defense isn’t the only area where our country perhaps overspends. Read bills and referendums before you vote on them. Write your Congresspeople to tell them how you feel as a voter on the issues. There’s a lot of special interest money flying around DC as well that gets attached to things you wouldn’t think it does.

The rudeness continued in the store. There was a whole family in there with several members and four shopping carts clogging the produce section. If you all have to shop together, please be mindful of the other shoppers and don’t stop and clog up the aisles with all your carts and people by the mushrooms. Thanks.

I also noticed the staff wasn’t as cheerful as they usually are, and the pleases, thank yous, and excuse mes weren’t as plentiful among patrons.

To top of this lovely trip, I forgot where I parked and it was raining significantly harder when I left the store. It’s always fun to try and find your car in the rain.

The day wasn’t all bad. I stopped into Bed Bath and Beyond for some kitchen and bath storage solutions and everyone I encountered there was kind and courteous. I even had someone let me out of the aisle of the parking lot to make my left turn which is always nice.

I have news for you Mr. Marshall. My first born has Asperger’s. He is considered special needs. I DID NOT have an abortion prior to conceiving him. Explain that one. Or is it that we womankind as a whole must be punished for our sisters’ sins? You know, because we women also caused Katrina and 9-11 too. We have chosen such atrocities as working outside the home to do horrific things like put food on our families’ tables. Yes, as Lewis Black said (with his great sense of sarcasm), “God looked into the kitchen and there was no stew on the stove,” so he smite us all.

All the parents had to say was “It was all in good fun,” and “Did you apologize?” Seriously? That’s it? Maybe I’m from a different time, but if a neighbor brought me home, there were consequences. Not only that, but they don’t know who’s on the other side of that door. I have anxiety issues about stuff like that because in high school I’d get these phone calls from a familiar voice I couldn’t quite place saying all kinds of nasty things to me or detailing what I wore to school that day. They even would talk about watching me walk home from school. When we got caller ID to see who it was, it turned out to be the next door neighbors’ 20-something son who still lived at home. So excuse me if I’m a little jumpy, especially with a husband in the field for the weekend. Not to mention I had a 3yo trying to get to sleep. Are they going to deal with my child when he can’t sleep because their kids are little assholes?

What really appalls me is it’s not the teens in our neighborhood. It’s the kids in the 8-12 range that have this sense of entitlement, attitude issues, and general lack of respect for others. What are these kids going to be like as they get older? Of course I suppose I shouldn’t really expect much from people who can’t even keep their cats and dogs where they belong. If people can’t even follow leash laws, then why would they pay attention to their kids’ whereabouts too?

1. “You can’t fix stupid.” – Ron White said it, and it’s just so true.

2. “Damn kids.” – The kids now in their late teens and 20′s are annoying (in general). These Millenials or Generation Y is all about them. What’s in it for me? And they can be rude with their texting and cell phone use when not appropriate. And no matter how cool the guys think they are with their little Hondas with the sub woofers and the spoilers on the back, you’re not. You want to impress a girl, get a real sports car. Go take that money you spent on that Honda and the upgrades and go get a Camaro, Trans Am, or even a Mustang.

3. “Damn woman drivers” – I know this is a stereotype, but I see it SO often. A woman in her minivan or SUV talking on her cell phone in la la land while driving and almost causes an accident or 3. Drives me insane. Or even take the phone out of the equation. I’ve just noticed that when I’m near a driver who isn’t paying attention to the road, it’s usually a woman for whatever reason.

4. “At least we pay attention to our kids.” – when we see very young children (think preschool and toddlers) running amok with no adult supervision outside in the neighborhood.

5. “Do you have sand in your vagina?” – Muttered under our breath or when said whiny child has left hearing vicinity. Will say it to a whiny adult’s face.

6. “Whose dick did they suck to get that?” – usually in reference to a person (male or female) we know who isn’t good at their job, but got a higher position in the Army.

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