Radio

For the past two days I have heard some of the most disturbing things on the radio while driving to work. I know some things are said and done on the radio for shock value, but others are just to prompt discussion. I will start with yesterday's conversation, since there was a news story similar to it, involving a celebrity.

I will not name the radio show, but yesterday morning they were talking about spanking. Apparently Kate from "Jon and Kate plus Eight" was caught on camera swatting one of her children. Apparently there was some huge uproar about how it was child abuse and inappropriate for her to use that method of discipline...and blah, blah, blah. Well the conversation was pretty loaded for both sides. Personally I have no problem with spanking. Now going to town on a child in anger...that is a different story. But a few swatts on a child's butt to get their attention and to teach them there are consequences to their actions, in my book, is enforcing discipline, which A LOT of young people lack these days. When you have children, it is your job to be their PARENT, not their friend. Children's ego's are not as fragile as we seem to think and spanking does not make a child violent nor does it make them think its ok to hit others. I was spanked as a child and I am not a violent person, neither one of my siblings are violent people. Did we hit eachother as kids, yes, but it wasn't because we were mimicking the spankings, it was because we are kids and since we lacked the mental and verbal maturity to express our feelings in a calm rational manner, hitting was the easiest way to express anger and hurt, as it is for most children. More often than not these days, I see children in full blown tantrums at stores and restaurants, and their parents do nothing about it. Now swatting them then and there is left up to your choice, however, I think the child does need firm discipline at that point, so take the kid to the car or bathroom, don't just let them scream away...its more embarassing for you than it is for them. And if your child is doing that in a public place, clearly you are not setting a clear set of rules and expectations for your child. I know small children are going to have meltdowns, but if your kid is honestly being a brat...your parenting skills need help. Now on the flip side of that, I feel its wrong for someone to tell me how I should raise my child. Personally I feel, the child is half my genetic code and I carried him/her for nine months, I went through the changes to my body, and I pushed the kid out...I reserve the right to tell that child what to do for the next 18 years of her/ his life. You may not agree with my form of parenting, you don't have to, but butt out and keep your opinions to yourself. Unless I am beating the crap out of the kid or starving it to death, or constantly yelling insults at the poor thing...BUTT OUT. Now good on Liv Tyler for being a concerned mom and helping children who are abused, however, unless you really know a whole situation, don't butt your nose into a situation you briefly glance at as you drive by.

The second disturbing conversation was about women eating on dates. There is such a double standard that its ridiculous! I know when you go on a first date you are nervous and want to make a good impression and you don't want to appear "high maintenance" so water and salad for dinner. However, when you do this, you are starving for the rest of the night. So what do you do? Well, the radio show asked men about what they think of women on both ends of the spectrum: women who do the water and salad thing and women who go to town when they eat. The general opinion was: it depends on the size of the girl. If she is tiny, she can eat what she wants because apparently she works out and has a great metabolism, but if she is on the heftier side (no specific definition as to how big is "hefty") if she eats a large meal she will continue to be a fatty and probably get bigger (not attractive), but if she eats a salad she is health concious and trying to loose weight. In my personal opinion WHO FREAKING CARES?! If you are judging a person based on what they eat for dinner you clearly lack the maturity to enter into a serious relationship, not to mention you have demented ideas on what is healthy and what is not healthy, and you are ultra shallow. Just because a girl is skinny doesn't mean she works out. I can provide two examples. The first one is this girl who was in my A and P class. She was Barbie. Come to find out, the girl ate junk all the time! McDonalds was her establishment. She didn't workout, she just took diet pills that made her sick. The second example is my sister (sorry Becca). She eats like a horse, hardly works out, and is stick thin. Some people are just lucky. Now me on the other hand, I have to watch what I eat, I workout three to four times a week for an hour and a half. I barely squeeze into a size four!! Any deviation from my normal routine and I gain weight in a matter on minutes! So I guess what I am saying is, if you are judging someone by what they eat on first date...you need to get a life.