Dear Kid,

A friend of mine was in a dog fight. Not the cool, imaginary Snoopy and the Red Baron kind. A real, go to the hospital and have a boatload of stitches kind.

The bad part is that the dogs in question are her dogs. And she kept yelling to the ER docs, “I have to go, my dog is hurt!”

My friend (you don’t know her and she lives in a different part of the country) will be fine. Her dogs (generally very sweet loving creatures) will be fine. I’m not at all sure that I will be fine.

The dogs are big and high energy but well behaved. They live happily in a fenced-in yard where they have plenty of room to run and play. They also have neighbors.

Ill-behaved neighborhood boys.

Badly-behaved local hooligans.

Hoodlums.

Ruffians.

Who—not for the first time—came by the back fence and goaded the dogs into fighting.

Who does that?!!!

My friend has spoken to the boys’ parents. More than once. Apparently, the parents are complete and utter twits because they don’t seem to care (at all) that their boys are mistreating animals.

How clueless are these parents???

My friend is going to talk to them again. She thinks maybe now that she’s been so significantly injured the parents might take notice.

YO! Parents: Lawsuit on the horizon!

But it shouldn’t take the threat of legal action to get parents to raise reasonably behaved children.

Argh!

Sending happy healing thoughts to my friend and her dogs. And hopes that the boys’ parents get their act together before too long.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

Today, June 29^th, is Hug Holiday Day. (I’m in favor of hugs. I’m in favor of holidays. And I’m in favor of days. But “Hug Holiday Day” needs work. Why not “Give Someone a Hug Day”? Or “Heaping Up Goodness”? Yeah, not great, I know, but still better than Hug Holiday Day. Just sayin’.)

A hug is like a boomerang—you get it back right away. ~Bil Keane, “Family Circus”

Hug Holiday Day was created by the Hugs for Health Foundation as part of their premise that “hugs, friendship and volunteer support are vital components to the overall senior care plan.”

Lovely. Let’s get to the hugs.

I love hugging.  I wish I was an octopus, so I could hug ten people at a time.  ~Drew Barrymore

Studies have found that not only are hugs good for the soul (and for inspiring fun quotes), they actually help improve health. Hugs decrease feelings of loneliness and tension, lower blood pressure, and improve self-esteem and immune system functions.

I have a present for you, but I need to borrow your arms for wrapping paper.  ~Author Unknown

Hugs can help ease fear. Studies have shown what every toddler knows: you feel less afraid when you hug something, whether it’s a person or a stuffed animal.

I will not play at tug o’ war
I’d rather play at hug o’ war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs….
~Shel Silverstein

Hugs are nice. They are good for you, they’re free, and they’re fun. So go hug someone. Or two someones.

And remember that even though I’m not next to you, I’m hugging you long-distance.

A mom’s hug lasts long after she lets go. ~Author Unknown

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

As if we didn’t already have enough proof that the world was crazy, Dad has been giving me ideas for writing to you.

Dad. Who has been busy ignoring this project since I started.

Ideas. Good ones. (OK, not all of them are good, but enough so that I’ve noticed.)

And not just by providing experiences like Chicago in February (which was excellent in and of itself). He found the article about the crazy dress code in London.

The times, they are a’ changin’…

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

It’s Pi’s fault. It’s all Pi’s fault.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

The plan was to go to the gym with her last evening. It was a simple plan. I would drive home, she’d hop into the car, and we’d go to the Rec Center where she’d kick my butt from one end of the gym to the other.

Simple. Painful, but simple.

But it didn’t work out that way, because Pi fell asleep. So instead of hopping into the car, she was sprawled, with the TV still playing Say Yes to the Dress, sound asleep on the couch.

No, I didn’t turn around and go to the gym on my own. That would have been unthinkable. I walked and fed the Puppy, and then did a few things around the house.

Pi woke up. She stretched. I sat down next to her and she curled right up and went back to sleep with me as the pillow. (See, there was a good reason I didn’t go to the gym.)

Forty-five minutes she woke up.

I suggested we do something about dinner. Pi suggested going to Shapiro’s. It was a moment of snuggly warm weakness, and the three of us went out.

Shapiro’s sandwiches are about the size of Montana. Each half of the sandwich is enough to feed a small country. We snarfed happily.

Then the supremely unexpected happened. Dad suggested dessert. There was a negotiation, there was discussion. And then there was a walk over to Whit’s where we mega snarfed.

Then we rolled home.

I won’t fit into any of my clothes tomorrow.

And it’s all Pi’s fault.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

The Puppy and I were snuggling in the hammock.

Puppy: You left me.
Me: We left you earlier, but just for a while.
Puppy: Where did you go?
Me: First we went down to Fountain Square.
Puppy: Why did you go there?
Me: We went to a Climate Change Rally.
Puppy: I would like to go to a Climate Change Rally.
Me: Possibly another time.
Puppy: So did you?
Me: Did we what?
Puppy: Did you change the climate?
Me: Well, not yet.
Puppy: Then it can’t have been a very good rally.
Me: And then we had lunch.
Puppy: I like lunch.
Me: But this was not a lunch for Puppies.
Puppy: That’s not very friendly.
Me: It was a lovely lunch. Then we went to the Kirby Nature Preserve’s new Nature Center.
Puppy: I like nature centers.
Me: I think you would have liked going to on the hike with us.
Puppy: I LOVE hikes.
Me: Then we went to Putz’s for ice cream.
Puppy: I like ice cream.
Me: You’ve never had ice cream.
Puppy: But I’m sure I would like ice cream.
Me: I’m sure you would too.
Puppy: But you didn’t take me!
Me: No, we didn’t take you.
Puppy: I’m sad.
Me: But we’re back home now.
Puppy: Yes! You’re here now.
Me: And we’re snuggling.
Puppy: I’m so happy.
Me: I’m glad, honey. I’m happy too.

Love, Mom

 
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Dear Kid,

Revisionist History isn’t always a bad thing. 

When new facts come to light, sometimes what we thought to be true turns out to only be partly true (or thoroughly false). In which case, the historical record should be corrected.

Sometimes revisionist history is a fancy way of saying lying. “What?? No way. That check was in the mail over a week ago.” (I’ll explain what “mail” is another time.)

Sometimes revisionist history doesn’t really hurt anyone. “Wow. Purple really does look better. I meant purple all along.” “Those were really small 4″ brownies, so I’ll just write down here in my food journal that I ate only 2 of them.”

Other times, revisionist history is done with the direct purpose of making someone (let’s say the Dictator of the moment) appear in a better light than he deserves. I mean than the Immoral Media portray.

Sometimes people simply remember things differently (and by “differently” I mean forgot what actually happened and made up their own stories to fill in the gaps”). This (inevitably) leads to a Clash of Wills as everyone tries to ensure their version (the only True and Right version) is Acknowledged as Accurate and preserved for posterity.

History, revised or not, is never an easy subject. 

Especially for those living it.

Love, Mom