Column: Something About Nothing

We as humans have a hard time taking responsibility for our actions. The scenario plays out in my household all the time.

The other evening as we returned home from an outing I found the refrigerator door half open. I actually could not remember if I was the last person to open the refrigerator before we left on our journey. Of course, the first words that came out of my mouth as my husband walked in the door were: “You left the refrigerator door open.” The words out of his mouth: “I did not. You did.”

In reality neither one of us actually knew who the last person was to open the refrigerator unless it was a ghost that visited our home while we were gone. Neither one us wanted to be blamed in case the food had spoiled.

As I was reading the news this week and surfing channels on my television a few things caught my eye.

Of course No. 1 is Congress and our debt resolution problem. By the time you read this column it might or might not be resolved. No one wants to be blamed for our failing economy. I have a solution, flip a coin. Heads you win, tails you lose. How can that be any worse than what we are experiencing now?

That way the blame can be placed on Lady Luck if the plan fails and not on the republicans or democrats.

McDonald’s is changing their Happy Meals to be healthier. This comes also after being sued by a woman in California to take the toys out of the Happy Meals because this woman could not tell her children no when it comes to buying Happy Meals. Why do the rest of us have to change our choices because parents are having a hard time saying no to their kids?

I happen to love Happy Meals. My kids ate Happy Meals, and they are not obese. My kids did not live on junk food because I chose to not feed it to them at my home, and a Happy Meal once in a while did not hurt them.

I am fat because I chose to eat foods that add to my weight. I have a choice on what to put in my mouth. School lunches when I was growing up were not the healthiest lunches; however, when I was growing up there were not many obese children or people. I have a theory, and it could be wrong, but kids played outside and helped with chores at home. Kids did not have a lot of couch time to watch TV, be on the computer and play video games. Meat and potatoes were a staple in my home for meals.

I am not against television, I am addicted, remember? I am not against computers or video games, but they should be consumed in moderation. We have choices on what we teach our children and what we put into our bodies. The choice to be heavy was mine. The choice on what to feed my children was mine. I can’t blame McDonald’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken or anywhere else that I chose to indulge in that adds weight to my body. I have a choice of healthier foods there, but I like Happy Meals and I like their toys.

My last rant is about a program I happened to see on TV as my hand was twitching as I was going from channel to channel. It is called “Toddlers and Tiaras.” I have heard about the toddler beauty contests. but I have never watched this show before. In my opinion there is something sad about putting makeup on 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds so they look 20. There is something sad about putting hair extensions in their hair and yelling at them as to how to walk and be perfect so they win a trophy. In the episode I watched, I did not see any happy little girls as their mothers proclaimed. The theme of the program was, “Oh, she just loves to do this, and this is just a temporary sadness.”

I must admit I was a little bit of a stage mom. I made my daughter take piano lessons and sing in church. Yes, she did enter piano contests that she was none too happy about. Now she is an accomplished pianist and can sing a beautiful tune. She could have done that without entering contests.

As a mother I look back and yes I would do things differently. As mothers sometimes we project what we did not accomplish on our children so we live through them and make choices that had we been secure in ourselves we would not have made. I had a choice. I am not sure today what she would say about my choices but had I been the person I am today back then I would have made different choices.

I can’t help but wonder if the “Toddlers and Tiara” moms are missing something inside themselves as far as beauty is concerned and are projecting their disappointments on their daughters.

I think Eleanor Roosevelt said it best: “In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net.