I'm not going to work it out, so just go eat Fruity Pebbles

This IS a rant. This is a rant of the Deanna Shrodes broadcast system. If this were a real rant… well, uh, it is a real rant, so here goes…

There are sometimes I just get in a mood where I say, “forget it, I’m not going to work it out. I’m not going to stress myself out and go crazy to make something work just because someone else or their organization have stupid ways of doing things and don’t give a care about how it affects anyone else.!!!!”

Translation: I'm so sick of the fact that many people in the world today are oblivious to PARENTS and their needs with their children.

Truly, many are clueless. This is evidenced by all the people who try to make an appointment with you during the time you are getting your children off to school, or at any given time that is obviously a time a parent can't do something or it would be very difficult to do so.

Some people aren't parents. Others are so far removed from the child rearing days or things were so different when they did it, they are just c-l-u-e-l-e-s-s about what life is like for parents today and how we must juggle schedules and the needs of our children. For years, our house was like an airport in the mornings, with departures at all different times when we had one in elementary, one in middle and one in high school. Life can get so crazy when you are raising a couple of kids. Does the rest of the non-child rearing world care about this? No, they really don't. Until it happens to them. For the ones who have been difficult on the parents of the world, I pray that a million Fruity Pebbles descend upon their heads in a huge wake up call!!!

Larry is having his shoulder operation on Thursday. We've known that for a few weeks. That's good --I’m so glad he’s getting it fixed. What we didn’t know is WHAT TIME. We have been asking for weeks. They said they were completely unable to tell us before today (less than 48 hours beforehand). I don’t understand this. It’s not like the doctor is delivering babies or something, for crying out loud. What kind of doctor, except for OBGYN’S cannot tell you when to come in for an operation? Do they just plan all their schedules on the fly? I have never had this happen before. Any time I have ever had surgery I know well in advance when it's going to be and what time. So with all this being up in the air, I had been hoping it would work out alright with Savanna’s school schedule.

It doesn’t.

This isn’t Larry’s fault of course. Poor Larry. He’s not happy about it either. He's stressed out just jumping through all the hoops he has to jump through with pre-op to get this done. I feel very sad for all he's had to go through. Today he went for his pre-op and they finally were able to give him this treasured piece of information that for some God-forsaken reason they did not know until noon today. He will need to be the hospital at 6 am and his surgery is at 8. I don’t know when he will be finished or when we will come home. Being that all this is right admist the time I would be getting Savanna up for school and take her to the bus stop, that won’t work.

So you know what? I’m not going to. That’s right, I am going to be a completely irresponsible mother and let her sleep. I am going to let her stay home from school with her brother, sleep in, get up late and eat whatever she wants. It’s time to party kids! Get up at 11 am if you wish. Eat endless bowls of Fruity Pebbles, and even add a few chocolate chip cookies. Yippee!!!!

I am not going to make arrangements for her to go to school. She can do all this while she watches Full House. This Thursday she can see the whole thing instead of leaving during the commercial to go to the bus stop. Oh how happy she will be. Then she and her brother can eat a Freshetta Pizza for lunch and more chocolate chip cookies while they wait for me to bring their father home. You heard it here first folks. That should make them very happy and I will not get any wistful calls saying, "Momma, when are you coming home?" because they will be so enchanted with their favorite foods, TV and endless sleep.

Yes, I’m completely ignoring the fact that she has school on Thursday and not giving one whit about the fact that I’m going to keep her home and let her have a rip roaring day of eating whatever she wants and watching Hannah Montana until she is blue in the face!!!! And if her teacher asks where she is I’m going to say, “You’ll have to call Dr. Frankle’s office and University Community Hospital to find out why she’s not there!!!”

Their last minute notification is not my emergency. So I am simply not going to do anything about it. Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!! This total irresponsibility is not half bad!!!! I am actually starting to feel a little sorry for Britney Spears. Maybe she got a bad rap.

Why not have her brother get her ready? I don’t need the stress and neither does she. Moms do things a certain way. He’s not going to wake her up on time like I do, and make what she wants to eat like I will, and if it’s raining I’ll be upset that she’s walking in the rain and worry about her the whole time I’m at the hospital. No, no, no. I’m just not going to do it.

Larry says, “these are doctors…you have to work around their schedules…if you want an operation, you do it on their time.” I understand that. Of course. No problem. What I don’t understand is, what kind of doctor except for one doing something unexpected like delivering babies can’t schedule a surgery time more in advance so as to allow people to know the details and plan and make arrangements for their children? Do these people not know that people have KIDS?!!! I guess maybe they are just used to doing old people’s shoulder operations who don’t have kids at home. Excuse me that my husband is still in his 30’s having a shoulder operation. Even OBGYN’s tell you when your C-section is! I think it’s CRAZY. That is just a lame excuse. Lame! Lame! Lame! (Can you tell I’m a little irritated here?)

I get so sick of people’s lack of consideration for parents, kids, and school schedules. This is why I do not attend our minister’s meetings anymore. They are held t 8 am on Tuesdays. What parent can come at 8 am on a weekday morning, working inside or outside the home? I just said, “no, I’m not doing it. I’m not working this out. I have to get my daughter to school.” We’re all getting our kids to school for crying out loud. Is the world oblivious to the fact that a majority of the people on the planet have kids and get them up and ready for school before they go to work? I really think they are. (I know Michele, you’re with me on this one…)

It’s obvious some people want the world designed to not include parents anymore. Well it’s like this, if we don’t have kids and parents then everyone would DIE OFF and we’d GO EXTINCT. If you are going to have kids that means you need to expect that parents come along with the package. Yes, it does take PARENTS to take care of children!!! So structure the world so it's possible.

It's like people who call me at 8 am. First of all, why is anyone on the planet calling anyone before 9 am? That's just an outright sin itself. (I never, ever call anybody before 9). But second, if you are a parent with kids still in the home chances are you are getting somebody ready for school and out the door anywhere from 6:00-8:30 am. The last thing you need is a phone call or an appointment during that time. That's "rush hour" in the home. When people call me before 9, I don't answer. Sometimes those in my household do, and then I just firmly say, "I'm sorry I'm getting my daughter off to school. I'll have to call you back" and hang up.

You know, if a parents does have an appointment during that time, you need to know about it WELL IN ADVANCE so you can make adequate preparations. What about this doesn't the rest of the world understand? When Larry and I go away on our ministerial business trips I have things lined up AT LEAST a month in advance, usually more. And if I don't have advance notice, I don't go. (Thank God for the Harts who take care of Savanna for us when we do go away and do such a wonderful job. I don't know what I'd do without them.)

But once again folks, do I give a flying flip about working this out? No, I don’t. Maybe I’m just going to adopt this new philosophy. "Your lack of planning is not my emergency."

By the way, don't worry, her education will not come crashing down. First of all she's smart girl. Second, it's only one day of school and she rarely misses.

So let the world live on Fruity Pebbles all day for all I care. Go on a Fruity Pebble 40 day fast for all I care.

Women don’t have to fix everything. I’m going on strike from handling last minute stuff that people throw at me. At least, for now.

Whew, I feel so much better to get all that out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I'm going to fold the clothes.