I am a Republican

Alright, TWICE in the past three days I have been called a Republican. I refuse to elaborate on accusation #1 (Rebecca, shut up--you know what I'm talking about!). The old me would have laughed, then justified or hurled comments right back. But the new me is saying, there may well be viable explanation, but I'm not going to take offense and I'm going to explore and remedy if needed. 'Nuff said here. The second instance was at this crazy quiz someone posted on another blog I read (and she discovered, alas, that she is a Republican, too!). http://applebeesamerica.com/quiz.


I'm probably not allowed to do this, stealing someone else's quotation without prior permission, but I ran across it again tonight, and I have to save it for myself somewhere, so here it is (BTW, It's from Celeste on the blog http://lifewithoutschool.typepad.com/):

"A few years ago, several friends of mine discovered an amazing new reading curriculum which worked wonders with their “late readers”. It was extremely effective, transforming illiterate children into proficient readers seemingly overnight. The new curriculum was colorful, attractive, and especially appealing to boys, who begged to use it constantly. Many parents were delighted to find that the curriculum also simultaneously taught valuable arithmetic skills and fostered interpersonal communications. And the price was surprisingly affordable, putting it within reach of most families.

But you won’t find this curriculum in the pages of any homeschooling catalog on the market. Why not? Because this amazing reading curriculum consisted of….a deck of Pokemon cards."

How very true that is. This morning, though, Ollie finished another book, _The Riot Brothers_. I dare say we are turning a corner, moving beyond just Calvin and Hobbes and reading captions in the margins about Greek Gods. He has been picked on a lot lately by the adults around him for his obvious desire to be one of the grown-ups. At lunch today, he was asking me, "What is your favorite brand of wine?" and coming back with his own responses. In beer, of course it's Sam Adams (but "Those German beers, are they stronger than American beers? What makes some beers dark?"). In harder liquor, it's bourbon for him ("Don't you like a good single-malt, though, Ollie?"). He is concerned about Iran's nuclear threat. He does not support further U.S. engagement in Iraq. And did you vote for George W. Bush? If he's such an idiot, then why did more people vote for him than voted for that other guy--what was his name? The one with the same name as my Dad? Why do you have to be 18 to vote? Why do you have to be 16 to drive a car ("Well, Ollie, it would help if you were over 4 feet tall...")? I'm constantly having to tell him, "Ollie, go away and play with the other kids!"