Confessions from Householdsix

Why They Shouldn’t Cut the Defense Budget

Amanda — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:16:22 +0000

When anyone brings up how large our nation’s deficit is, the first battle cry is “Cut defense spending!” Here’s why that’s not a good idea. The Department of Defense rarely cuts the budget where they *should* trim the fat. Usually it’s all our military families who lose out. The services we have that are contracts get re-bid to even lower bidders. This equal even crappier service. This would happen to our health care and housing to name two big ones.The cuts always seem to affect the families first.

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.

Girly Gazette

Amanda — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:53:27 +0000

If you can’t get enough of me here at Confessions From HouseholdSix, come stop by Girly Gazette when I post about life as an Army wife. My first post went up yesterday about dealing with deployment. I’m so excited! It’s a great group of women over there. I plan on posting once a month to start.

I have a ton of ideas swirling in my head about what I’d like to write, but it’s hard to narrow them down. If you have anything you’d like to see written about life as an Army wife, please let me know. I want to know what the readers want to see. My main goal is to dispel the myths the military has created. They give a lot of lip service, but that’s not always how things go down. I want to give the story a voice from my perspective as a real Army wife having these experiences.

Just Jen Bridal Hoodies

Amanda — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:02:55 +0000

Are you engaged to be married soon? Would you brides like to spend the day getting ready in matching hoodies with your bridal party like Molly from ABC’s The Bachelor: Jason and Molly’s Wedding (shown on March 8th)? As a gift to Molly, Just Jen also sent her a green bride hoodie with “Mrs. Mesnick” and matching sweat pants to wear after the wedding.

Just Jen hoodies come in cotton zip front, cotton pull over, and velour zip front, and many colors. Sizes range from XS-2XL, and the hoodies can be personalized. Just Jen is offering a 15% discount on bridal apparel on orders over $100. Use code BRIDE15 at checkout. *Discount for a limited time only.

*I have written this post as an entry into the Just Jen $100 GC Bridal Hoodie Blogging Contest hosted on ABlogOfGoodies.com.

Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop

Amanda — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:40:19 +0000

Hershey’s is giving back to the community this Easter season by making a donation to The Children’s Miracle Network. For each of these blog posts giving virtual baskets to our friends, Hershey’s will donate $10 up to $5,000. Let’s help them reach that goal.

I’m going to hit up some of my fellow milspouses for this one. I think they all deserve an Easter basket of their own, even if virtual. Hey ladies, at least these ones won’t tempt you with goodies you may be avoiding right now, right?

-Army Wife 101
-Pink Chandelier
-Household6Diva
-Sarah Ruth Today

And YOU! If you’d like to help get the blog total to $5,000, by all means, jump in a put up a post.

HERSHEY’S BETTER BASKET BLOG HOP RULES

* Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
* Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.
* Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket.
* Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.
* Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section. (This is important. Your post doesn’t count if you dont’ go leave your link.) You can also find the official rules of this #betterbasket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.
* Hershey’s is donating $10 per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to total of $5,000 by blog posts written by April 4th, 2010).
* Please note that only one blog post by each blog url will count towards the donation.

*I received no compensation to do this post. I did it because it’s for a good cause. I received my basket from being a contributor over at Girly Gazette. Kadi put us all on her list. Thanks Kadi!

Health Care Reform

Amanda — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:16:33 +0000

Once again our president is postponing an overseas trip to try and pass this bill. This is going to make or break so many political careers. The way the current bill is written, I’m betting it’s going to break a lot of careers. Let’s not forget it’s an election year for many in Congress. There are a lot of disgruntled voters out there who do not want this bill as is that will vote out the incumbents come November.

Here’s my issue. The government can’t even run Tricare and the VA properly for our military. What makes them think they can run health care on a MUCH larger scale? Let’s get the government health care programs already in effect working properly THEN go large scale. I know how hard I fight to get certain things that ARE covered to BE covered. Will the average person fight that hard, or will they just give up? If they give up, we’ll have people that have health care, but will still have doctor bills because they won’t fight when they have to so the system does its job properly. That just doesn’t make sense to me.

Let’s also not forget that Tricare is contracted out by region. Will the government contract out their current health care reform once it takes effect? It’s going to be ugly if they do. Why? Because government contracts don’t necessarily go to the best company for the job. They go to the lowest bidder. It’s always about the money in the end.

Some will say that some coverage is better than none. I’m not in agreement. I’ve seen firsthand through being an Army wife how our government works. Once they get a bill in place, no matter how shoddy it is, they will be EXTREMELY reluctant to change it. Let’s get it right the first time.

Pennies4Penny

Amanda — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:37:56 +0000

From Rhea at Mommy to Three Monkeys:

If you’ve been here at all, you will know that my sweet infant cousin, Penelope was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. She has spent the last 3 weeks in Rady Children’s Hospital here in San Diego. She has a private insurance policy that will only cover 60% of her very expensive treatments.

This weekend, we are having a fund raising auction.

Please visit Pennies4Penny.com beginning Friday morning (6am) to have your chance to bid and win on some amazing products. The outpouring of love and support for this little girl has just been amazing. We have secured donations from over 30 companies and individuals. Several of these sponsors have donated more than one item!

Pennies 4 Penny is in the process of securing a non-profit tax ID number. So when you win a bid, you will be able to deduct it on your taxes. You’ll be getting some awesome deals and donating to a wonderful, feel-good, warm and fuzzy cause:

Penelope

So please stop by this weekend and have a good time out-bidding your friends, all while helping this little angel beat her cancer!
Meanwhile…there are a few other awesome people out there organizing some fund raisers for Penny. If you are able, please check them out:

Elle from Somewhere Between Sex and The City & Elmo’s World is organizing an online virtual bake sale. Please visit her site for details if you are interested in buying some goodies or donating your baking talents to our cause.

The Queen Bee Market is being held on May 1st. It’s a “hip, modern, and fresh handmade art and gift show” taking place in Carlsbad, CA. This year they will have buckets placed around the market where you can leave your “pennies for penny.”

Mandy Campbell is a cousin of Penny’s dad, Aaron. She has created T-Shirts for Penny’s cause and you can order them right from her website, Campbell Family Party of 3. All the proceeds will go directly to Penny’s medical fund.

Kids Are NOT Being Kids

Amanda — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:28:33 +0000

Have you heard the phrase “Kids will be kids,” from your child’s school? Has it made you want to smack some sense into someone? I just read for the second time this month about a child being bullied at school. I’m tired of these schools saying they have a zero tolerance policy, and yet if you say something about your child being bullied, it’s “kids being kids.” Which is it? Do you have zero tolerance, or do you want zero responsibility?

EVERY year since my son started school he has been seen by his peers as different and has subsequently been picked on as a result. We now know a lot of this is due to his social awkwardness of his Asperger’s, but still. At his previous school it was so bad he said his stomach hurt. He did not want to go to school. Time and time again I would tell the teacher and the principal, but they wouldn’t do anything. Finally, our son had enough and just snapped. Of course they wanted to punish him, but I said “NO! We have TOLD YOU about these incidents. How much do you expect a child to take before they retaliate? He may not have handled it in the best way possible, but he’s told you, and we’ve told you this was happening and YOU did nothing to stop it. You WILL NOT punish him for standing up for himself when YOU would NOT help him.” And they didn’t because they knew I was right. They were turning a blind eye. When they asked me what they should tell the other parents if there were complaints against my son, I said, “Tell them the truth. Tell them THEIR child bullied my son so much and the SCHOOL did nothing to stop it. One day my son had enough and stood up for himself when no one else would listen. Maybe their kid learned something.”

We’re getting to that point in this school now. I’m waiting for the day I get the phone call that my son punched someone who just pushed him too far because the school is turning a blind eye. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve said there’s an issue.

I’m finding these attitudes at school are a direct result of parenting from at home – or lack thereof. Too many parents don’t want to see there’s an issue or want to be their child’s friend. I’m not here to be a friend. I’m here to try and raise two productive members of society. For example, a snowball fight that took place in our front yard this winter. I told the kids to stop because they hit the house. They continued and hit the house again. My husband went out there and yelled at them again. The other kids went and told their parents. The dad came over. Well, it was 4 kids against our one. Your kids are all older than our 8 year old, so do you REALLY want to have this argument? Of course being in Army housing a lot of these kids think because their daddies are LTCs and COLs they can do what they want. Too bad I don’t care who your daddy is. If you’re a brat, I’m going to call you out on it. Your daddy’s rank has nothing to do with your behavior except that a soldier of his rank should have better control over his kids in the eyes of the Army.

So parents, STOP TRYING TO BE YOUR CHILD’S BEST FRIEND. You’re not doing them any favors. You’re really doing them a disservice. Teach them what the word “No” means once in awhile. The world will collectively thank you.

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Amanda — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:44:34 +0000

How are you spending your St. Patty’s Day this year? We usually go out to dinner so I can have corned beef since I’m the only one who eats it. My husband is almost pure Welsh, so that’s his excuse to get out of it. The kids just aren’t fans.

This year since St. Patty’s Day falls on a Wednesday, it’s pizza night! You can find us at Jigsy’s in Enola. And yes, I’m going to do a little plug here because tonight, kids under 10 are free, and kids 10-15 are just $3.99. Everyone else is $7.99 for the dinner buffet 5-8pm. You can’t beat that. Stop in and see what Miss Kim has cooked up.

Please Vote for Me

Amanda — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:27:05 +0000

Yes, I’m doing one thing I’m not a fan of – asking for votes. I’m entering the Little Remedies blog contest because it’s $1,000 cash. That money would go a long way towards a weighted blanket for Zach with his sensory needs, or gluten free foods for our household, or many other uses. I can’t promise if I win that I won’t put it towards a laptop since I’ve never had one, and would like the portability a laptop would provide, but I know me, and the kids’ needs would come first if I won.

You can vote once per day, and must click this badge to vote for me. Your vote also enters you to win a prize. Please and thank you. This is me begging for votes. Sorry if I suck at it.

Honey, I think We Ruined the Magic of Childhood

Amanda — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:17:41 +0000

Zach, our eight year old, recently asked about Easter. My husband gave him the religious story about the holiday and explained that’s what it’s really about. Zach then says, “What about the bunny and eggs?” My husband told Zach that’s the commercialization of the holiday. It’s how stores make money. I of course chimed in with my sparse knowledge on the religious front and more so on the commercial front. Then we rode in silence for awhile and I said to my husband, “Honey, I think we just ruined Easter.” Oops. Thankfully, I think our other farces like Santa and the Tooth Fairy are safe. With the way Zach’s brain is wired with the Asperger’s, he’s VERY literal. So the information we told him ONLY applies to Easter in his mind. At least for now.