Teen Sets Self On Fire To Imitate YouTube Clip

And his mother is busy blaming YouTube. WTF?! Seriously? Your kid has no common sense, so you blame someone else? Fab.
Makes me wonder what caused this great parenting shift. Back in the day, when you did something stupid, your parents punished your dumb ass. Then they had to suck it up and apologize to others for your behavior. But now, it seems that parents refuse to let their kids accept blame for stupidity and/or refuse to believe their kids ever do anything wrong. Why is this?! They stick up for their kids, and then we wonder why the kids won't ever accept responsibility for their actions. Duh! 'Cause mom and dad said it's not their fault - ever!
Kids who shoot other kids are suddenly "victims" instead of convicts. Kids who steal are "misguided". Kids who bully are defended.
Well I'm sick of it. When my children make poor decisions I expect them to learn from the experience. I refuse to shelter them from right and wrong simply because I love them - because that would really be doing them a terrible disservice. But you know what's bad about that? Sending my kids out in into a world full of "It's not my fault" people and trying to explain their behavior :(
My rant is done, I just needed to share that. *whew* I feel a little better now.

Safe Havens Save Lives - So Why Aren't They Being Used?

On Friday night, on a nice looking street on Chicago's south side, a family was pulling into their garage at about 10:30pm after a day out. An 8 year old boy heard crying, and told his parents. They looked around, didn't see anyone, but they heard it. They were sure they'd heard a baby crying.
They called the police, who came with flashlights and looked around the alley. They focused on a garbage can. You know, the big, deep black ones. With a broken broom handle, they poked around and tried to figure out what was in there.
They lowered the can to the ground sideways to pull everything out. It had rained that day, everything was wet and dirty.
Including the newborn boy they found wrapped in a pair of sweatpants, his umbilical cord still attached. They scooped him up and cleaned him off, and to everyone's relief, he began to cry.
What an awful way to begin your life, by being thrown away by your mother. We met the little boy that heard the baby's cries, and he shies away from being called a hero. But the fact is, that family and those police officers saved that baby's life on Friday night. Instead of shrugging off a strange noise, they got help. That's pretty remarkable in these jaded times where everyone says, "Hey, not my problem."
Well let me tell you something - children being thrown in garbage cans IS your problem. It's my problem. It's their problem.
Until every child born here is safe and cared for -whether by birth parents, adoptive parents, foster parents- this will remain our problem. And we have a lot of work to do to stop it.
No one should begin their life like that.

CBS News Story

Happiness Is...

Driving down the boulevard on a hot, Chicago summer day, in my favorite car ever, listening to my favorite radio station when the DJ plays what he calls “the best cover song ever made”, which happens to be Let’s Go Crazy by Incubus, with my delicious lunch waiting in the seat next to me, while hitting all green lights.
Yeah.

MIA, Again

I know, I know. I've fallen off the bloggy wagon..... I swear I'll be back. Soon.

Fire Ring??

Fire ring? Sounds like an STD. But I have found out that it’s something you’d find at a camp ground. I’m a city girl through and thought, so I’m not quite sure how that works.
You see, Familia Martinez is going camping. Well, almost. We’re going to a camp ground and I will be sleeping in a tiny cabin while the Martinez Men sleep in a tent. I. Don’t. Camp. I don’t pee outside and I don’t sleep in tents. I’m making this concession because we haven’t done anything exciting with the kids in a while, and a trip to Disney World just isn’t in the finances. So Hubs had the great idea that we should get back to nature and what not. So now I’m spending my evenings reading about camping for novices and trying to figure out just what to do with a fire ring.
We have plans to go rafting, hiking and horseback riding. And while it’s not what I would have chosen, I find that I’m truly looking forward to it. It’ll be interesting to take the kids to do things we’ve never done, and to get them away from their video games for a few days.
Of course, my iphone will be in my pocket the whole time. I’ll go, but I won’t leave civilization behind completely :)

Watch Yer Booty, Thar Be Pirates

Isaiah ran into a pack of pirates yesterday. From the looks of it, they accepted him into their ranks.

I *Heart* Incubus

On Tuesday night we went to see Incubus. It was a beautiful night for an outdoor show, and I was close enough to see the lovely contours of Brandon’s bitchin’ abs. Um, I mean, to thoroughly enjoy the music.
This pic was obviously taken right at the start. How can one tell? Mr. Boyd had not yet disrobed.
I’m battered and bruised from the crowd, but it was well worth it. At one point I thought one of my ribs had broken, and was surely splintering into my lung, and I’d probably suffocate right there. Ah, good times. No more General Admission for me! I’m too small for this crap. Getting smashed, crushed…. Oh wait, Staind and Chevelle are playing the Congress Theater next month…. Hmmm…..

***Edit***
This is totally not my picture, but it's from that night :) I had to add it!