Random 5 for May 29 – Weather, mosquitoes, theft, parenting, memories

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Irises from my yard.

Irises from my yard.

She’s off her meds again – After a very cold May the temperatures went up to the 90s. A  week ago we were barely bumping 60 and yesterday it was 92 with maybe one day of seasonal (76 degrees) weather in between. This is spring in the east this year. Mother Nature has truly been neurotic.

What a doofus! – Last year when I was cleaning my pond I saw little critters that had a tail with a big head. It wasn’t a tadpole but I wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it was some aquatic life form that I didn’t recognize in its larvae stage. I returned them to the pond. With all the talk of Zika something started nagging me at the back of my head. I googled (that God for him!) mosquitoes and those little critters that I so lovingly took care of were mosquito larvae. The good news is that both frogs and fish eat them. We never have a mosquito problem around the pond. Live and learn.

Have we come to this? – I stopped at a different grocery store to pick up a few items. On my way out I passed the baby formula. It was locked in a big case like gold bullion at Fort Knox. You needed an employee with a key to buy it. People steal it. It has street value. Who would have thought that? I understand (but don’t condone) stealing baby formula when you have a hungry baby and no food. To steal it to make big bucks is beyond my comprehension. Who raised these people?

Speaking of that – I overheard a parent coaching a child to lie about something they did so there would be no fine or consequence. Do parents do that because they don’t want to be inconvenienced? No trips to a parole officer? No fines for the parent to pay (because we never make the child pay)? Is it ever right to tell a child to lie about something significant? (Ok, we all said we didn’t chop down the cherry tree at least once.) In my house there were consequences. My parents never “rescued” me. You learn the most from the painful lessons. You don’t learn when there are no consequences.

Let’s end with my parents – I planted flowers on my parent’s grave. It’s a custom in our area. As I walked the cemetery the names brought back many memories. It’s a church cemetery so I knew many of the families buried there. Parents of friends I grew up with were there along with relatives and even some friends. I got a sense of nostalgia and a mix of feelings I can’t describe. Some memories, some sadness and wishing for that one more day with my folks.

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Morgan is resting up for Memorial Day celebration!

So how was your week?

 

42 thoughts on “Random 5 for May 29 – Weather, mosquitoes, theft, parenting, memories”

  2. The mentality now seems to be “if I can get away with it there’s no wrong done.” Seems parental discipline is not something that happens much anymore. I knew my mother loved me but I was scared of her!

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  5. Sweet Morgan. I have not heard about the baby formula situation. People are so different now than when I was younger, the things I see shock me most days. I was scared to death of my Mother and the nuns that taught me, I wouldn’t think of being bad. And it never did any good to lie.

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    • I was like you. Part is that my parents did not assume I was innocent. They were loving caring parents who always listened to my side. However, they let me get any appropriate punishment from the nuns (who were indeed terrifying). Strangely I never had a curfew. I just knew what my mother’s tolerance point was and stayed within it. My mother never tolerated backtalk even as a joke. Sometimes I am appalled at what kids say to their parents.

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  6. The baby formula thing has been going on for some time and it is sad on so many levels. Have you seen the prices on it? It’s a fortune!! Why? Desperation is always sad.
    The heat on Saturday was ridiculous. It went from April to August in a minute.
    I’ll just stare at Morgan for awhile and forget that I have to go to work tomorrow.

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  8. May and June in Southern California are usually cold and cloudy (at least at the coast). I always feel sorry for people who visit here at this time expecting sunny days and warm water. I don’t like it when it’s this chilly – I want to wear my summer clothes – but pretty soon it will warm up and I’ll probably be complaining about the heat. Fortunately, we don’t have the wild temperature swings that you are experiencing. Yikes!

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    • We don’t typically get wild swings. We are a couple of hours from the shoreline and fairly moderate. I never would have guessed that May and June aren’t lovely in So. Cal. I thought it was always wonderful there. Another fantasy ruined.

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  9. I’m not a parent but I can’t imagine teaching your kids to lie. What does that mean for our future society? Scary!
    Maybe the CDC should take a cue from you, Kate, and use fish and frogs to combat Zika.
    Morgan looks like she must have earned that nap!

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    • I know they need to control the virus but I’m not a fan of widespread pesticide spraying. It kills more than just mosquitos. I get a few bites every year but mostly from other people’s parties. We have a screened-in porch. Also here in the north we don’t get the big populations because they die off over the winter. Morgan is currently “sitting” for a family of chipmunks. The make her run back and forth in the porch. It’s exhausting work.

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  11. We all know about the “affluenza” teen and what happened there. I’m sure it is more rampant than just the ones who end up in the news. In LA we are still in May Gray, moving into June Gloom. I love it as it keeps the temps down. But we’ll be heating up later in the week… although only to high 70s in my part of town. The 90s… no thank you… especially if it is served up with humidity!

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  12. Parents coaching their kids on how to lie and “beat the system” is how we wound up with Donald Trump. It’s a very entitled “the rules don’t apply to ME” mentality. I see it in the parents who block my driveway weekly (I live near a middle school). If I call them on it, it’s never, “I’m sorry, I’ll move,” it’s:

    “I just had to run inside for a minute.”

    “I wasn’t blocking your WHOLE driveway.”

    “Well, where am I going to park, then?!”

    “How was I supposed to know you use your garage for your car?!”

    I’ve given up trying to talk to them. Now I just calling parking enforcement.

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  13. Please tell Morgan, she has the right idea since there’s a nap definitely in my future.

    I happen to love cemeteries. Must be the Italian in me. New York has several I frequent usually after I read about someone. Lately it was Alva Vanderbilt Belmont who built herself a church at Woodlawn, in the Bronx. It was in terrible disarray because one’s family inherits the upkeep, but I”m told, no one liked her so no one cares. SIGH….

    Yes, the weather has been muggy here too. I ran in shorts and a T-shirt when just a few days ago had on a hoodie. Nature, she’s a prankster alright.

    And who knew formula was the new heroin on the street. Wonder how it’s sold. Can’t put it in nickel bags. A Starbucks cup perhaps?

    Look forward to the Random 5

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  14. Nicki did a post on visiting graves this weekend too.

    I don’t find any solace in cemeteries. Either my “dearly departed” are everywhere or nowhere so I talk to them anywhere I am . . . as the spirit moves me.

    Mystery solved ~> the parents who coach their kids to lie to avoid consequences are the ones who steal baby formula.

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    • I talk to my mom anywhere but when I go to the cemetery, I get flooded with memories. I’d also get a midnight lecture if I didn’t put flowers out. My mother was adamant about that.

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  15. We’re having similar weather. It snowed 2 weeks ago, yesterday it was as hot as the hubs of Hell. Sticky. Miserable. My yard blossomed over night and is now drooping.

    I don’t understand the rationale behind the “no parenting” trend except this = pure laziness. They will reap what they sow though … when self-centered brats don’t want to be bothered with them years later.

    Happy Memorial day! MJ

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  16. Wow. Teaching your kid how to get out of the consequences of bad behavior is some bad parenting. I was reminded of my brother in law’s extreme other viewpoint. His high school son ran away from a party when the police arrived because drinking and drugs involved and not parents on site.

    Next day the homeowners of party place called my BIL and explained that the police had been by and they were pretty sure my nephew had been there and just wanted him to know. He marched my nephew to the police station to confess and explain why he ran away. Nephew really didn’t get much more than a lecture from the police on not running but he wasn’t allowed to get away with it. Despite getting away clean the night before.

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    • So true. I remember when I was a kid, the “boys” used to steal beer out of garages (mostly their parents). They would always sweat it out to see if anyone noticed. Somehow drinking beer doesn’t seem like a serious offense these days compared to others.

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    • I’m guessing it was easy to steal from a grocery store (although the cans are big) and they were easy to resell on the street at a discount. I don’t remember seeing them locked up at my usual grocery store but I will check.

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