Kellyology

So it seems that my real life is getting in the way of my imaginary life on the Internet, and I haven’t even had time to Twitter!

The horror.

While I’m busy playing in my real life, I thought I’d leave you with a link to a little video called The Politics of Preschool.

Enjoy!

Me to myself slightly out loud, “F***ing so and so, if they think that I’m f***ing waiting all f***ing night on his f***ing report they are f***ing wrong. D***it.  Why do they have to be such a f***ing pain in the a**.”

Big D walking into the room, “Don’t cuss.  It’s not becoming.”

Pause and then I laugh hysterically.

Me laughing hysterically, “You know you just became a 60-year-old man (my Father).”

(Oh, and I didn’t wait all f***ing night for the report.  I went to bed.  And you know what?  It’s 7am here and it’s still not done.   F***ing guy!)

(Note to my husband…See, I took out the”uck.”  Satisfied?)

(Note to my Father…I know.  He’s right.  Sorry.  I’ll do better.  See?  That’s me.  Hanging my head in shame.  But you have to admit.  I got it from you.  Remember the “working on the car incident?”  I’m just saying.)

A few years ago, right before the first time President Bush was elected into office, my Mother became a United States citizen. I would like to say that she became a citizen because of a great love for this country that she had lived in since she was 16 years old. But really it was because of finances, and the fact that if she were to die before my father the tax exemption law that applies to spouses who inherit from U.S. citizens does not apply to spouses who inherit from non-citizens, even if the spouse is an US citizen himself. And she didn’t want my U.S. citizen of a father to end up being punished financially for being married to a non-citizen for over 40 years. So she became a naturalized citizen.

When you become a naturalized U.S. citizen you are required by our government to denounce citizenship to any other country. And to some this seems an easy decision, an easy choice, and an easy act. But my Mother is proud of the country from which she came. She talks often about its many superiorities to the U.S. Sure she admits that the U.S. is superior in many ways as well, but she probably would add that any superiority that the U.S. may have does not negate its weaknesses. And many of its weaknesses are hard to get past, like the attitude that there is absolutely no better country out there.

Also the fact of the matter is her home country was part of her, part of who she was. And denouncing it for her was like denouncing that she had blonde hair, or green eyes, or the fact that she was a woman. The act seemed illogical, not natural, and hard. But she did it, and she looked at her sacrifice as an opportunity.

The presidential election was only a few months away. And for the first time in over 30 years, she was able to vote in an election that in the past she had only been able to watch. So she jumped on the citizenship boat with a newly found fervor. She studied newspapers. She watched all of the news channels. She researched the candidates. And carefully, thoughtfully, and purposefully she cast her vote in the presidential election.

And her candidate won the popular election and became our President. Wow. The system worked.

The next election arrived. Again she studied the newspapers. She watched all of the news channels. She researched the candidates fully. And carefully, thoughtfully, and purposefully she cast her vote in the presidential election. It was an easy, logical vote really. Surely everyone could see her candidate for what he was, and the other candidate what he was as well.

But this time her candidate lost. Sure he won the popular vote, and yet he lost. What? This lesson about the United States government was a hard lesson to learn.

And here we are now, at the cusp of another presidential election. Again my Mother is studying the newspapers. She watches only the news on television. She now has added the Internet to her research. She has researching the candidates fully.

However this time, she is floundering.

She has the feeling that a lot of U.S. citizens have today. We are coming out of a period of disgust from the last presidential election where our vote, the popular vote, did not seem to matter. We are watching a horrific display of weak ego and nastiness from our peoples’ candidates. We are seeing again that our opinion of who we want representing us as US citizens does again seem not to matter. We, the average in the United States, are inconsequential. We, the average, just have to live with what a few elite think is best for us. We, the average, are not children, and yet we have been told that we don’t know what’s good for us.

Our vote does not seem to count at all.

“If the popular vote does not win during the Democratic primaries, I don’t think I can vote in the next presidential election.” My Mother said to me in frustration.

“But you have to vote,” I said. “You have to because the Republicans will vote for whatever Republican is their candidate, no matter who he is. We need your Democrat vote. You have to vote no matter who is nominated.”

And then I thought to myself, “Really? Our representatives act as if they are going to do whatever they want no matter what our vote says. Besides, she’s a Democrat in a Republican state. What’s the point?”

So I’m asking you. What’s the point?

Tell me.

Please.

I would surely hope that the sacrifice my Mother made for this country is not only for the money that she and my Father spent a lifetime building together. I would surely hope that the other sacrifices many of our citizens have made with their jobs, or their pride, or their lives meant that their vote still counts. Why? Because they have given up hugely for this country.

How dare the few elite minimalize these sacrifices?

You vote for whom we tell you to vote.

For you represent me. Not your weak ego. Not your future promise of a special job. Not for your financial gain.

For me. For my Mother. For all of our sacrifices.

For all of our votes.

You vote for whom we tell you to vote.

Or we may never sacrifice for you or this country again.

One down. Many more to go.

Everyone knows that my children look like me.

I can’t help it. Physically my genes dominate.

But on the insides, Big D’s genes dominate.

Math skills? Little B got those.
Slow reader? Little B got those.
Popularity? Little B got those too.
Kindness? Little B got those.
Sensitivity? Little C got those.
Love for all things academic? Little C got those.
Strength and conviction in knowing who he is? Little C got those.
Always right, or at least thinking he is? Little C got those.

You see where I’m going here? The outsides are me. And all that inside goodness that I love about my man, at least most things, my children got. It’s fabulous. But at the same time I wonder to myself, will they at all be like me?

And then yesterday I got my answer…

Me, “I don’t want any fighting until both of you are dressed and ready for the bus stop.”
Little B, “And then we can fight?”

Yes!

The Smart Ass Gene! Alive and well in the Kellyology household.

I got it from him…

And they got it from me.

But wait. There’s more.

This morning I walked into Little C’s room to get her ready for school. There she sat on her bed in her pajamas reading this book

Me, “Time to get dressed for school!”
Her, “Can I finish this book first?”
Me….a little choked up, “Of course!”

Sure. We almost missed the bus again today. But somebody in this house loves books as much as I do!

Discovering this fact was totally worth it.

The love for reading gene is alive and well in the Kellyology household.

And she got it from me…

All is right with my world.