This day just keeps getting better...NOT

WARNING: POOP DISCUSSION AND A LOT OF RANTING

Today was good. For the most part.

Jack has been running a low grade fever on and off since Thursday. Unfortunately, this fever also contains runny poop and while he seems fine overall, we are concerned about him not nursing and drinking as much as he normally does and honestly, going from a once-a-day solid poop to 3-4 times-a-day giant poosplosions is a bit unnerving. So, I am having Todd take him to the doctor anyway. Just in case there's something else possibly going on. 

Our new ottoman came. I love it. It will hopefully prevent Jack from getting future (non) concussions but we shall see. It's huge and heavy and Amy helped me carry it up three flights of stairs because the UPS guy was a total pussy. It wasn't THAT bad. Wimp. Honestly, he's pretty cool. He doesn't remember it, but he did carry up Jack's crib last year and that weighed much more. At least, I'm pretty sure it was the same guy. 

So, onto other things. I will begin by saying that I am not an expert in our government, nor do I wish to be. However, I know enough to know that we have a balanced government and that there is a process for making changes. People are always quick to accuse presidents of not doing this, or doing that and we, as a general population, tend to gripe and scream about said changes not following through. This has nothing to do with the president. He is only one man. One man with very little power. Sure, he can say "hey you, I want to get this done" and Congress can say "sure" or "eff that noise, we don't like you this week" and not pass said bill. It's not a perfect system and is by no means honest, but it's the best that the Founding Fathers could do THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 

This really is a country run by the people. Granted, they're the rich people, but that's because they can afford publicity. Within the Constitution (I believe, I don't have notes in front of me) there is a *clause* that pretty much says "hey people, you can make changes if you think that we've gone off the deep end" and they recognized that the general population electing representatives was going to be a bit shady. We all go around saying "WELL THAT'S NOT CONSTITUTIONAL" without actually knowing what those words mean. Take the 2nd amendment for example. First off, this was written at a time of war. There was not a government sanctioned military. There was an army that was thrown together of all the state militia in order to fight in the Revolution. Get it straight. It's not your god given right to shoot anyone that walks on your property or amass insane amounts of weaponry (unless you live in Texas).

Okay, back to my original rant. I read today on someone else's FB wall (to which I did not respond because I couldn't repress my rage and after perusing this person's own page, I was shocked to see that she had studied "law" in her "about me" it's paralegal studies) in response to a post about picketing gas stations on the 15th: "This is total crap! I was told the price of gas by this summer is going to 6 $ a gallon. NO WAY! Obama is going to have to do something or everyone including myself is going to burn down the whitehouse!!"

I need a moment to collect myself.

HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING??? WHY WOULD YOU WRITE THIS SORT OF THING ON SOMEONE'S WALL??? Seriously, dude? Obviously you weren't paying any attention in any of your government classes. I want it to be known that I do not blame our president for the current state of the Mideast. As much as I disliked the old president, I'm not within the group of people that blame him for 9/11 or the wars we've been in for the last 10 years (although, I do believe there were some backhanded shady details left out as to why things went down as they did, I'm willing to grant him some slack-he had a hard time putting together all those words to say to us). It's all falling to shit and while we do have the means to create a temporary solution, we cannot rely on reserves alone. I realize that I just bought a gas guzzling minivan and that I should rot in hell for what I'm about to say, but if this person wants to make a change, perhaps she should invest in a more fuel efficient car? Vote for a better congressperson or representative? BUT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, DON'T THREATEN TO BURN DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE YOU MORON. 

My second rant for the evening is this piece of shit work that was written by Time. I'm all for studies and trying to make this world seem a little less chaotic. However, this article blew my mind. The choice to become a parent, especially in modern times what with birth control and adoption and sterilization, is not taken lightly. At least, for most people. I was a parent the second I saw two lines on the urine covered stick (this is why abortion should remain a choice-even if you put your baby up for adoption, I have a hard time believing you can just forget you're a parent). I fully support people that do not have children and while I'm always curious as to why they don't want them, I understand that the responsibility to take care of another person for the REST OF YOUR LIFE is not for everyone. However, trying to prove that parents really aren't happy being parents and that we all lie to ourselves to get through the horrors of diapers and fits and homework is downright offensive. 

I especially like the part where it says "Researchers have known for some time that parents with minors who live at home report feeling calm significantly less often than than people who don't live with young children." Uh...NO SHIT. You're responsible for this tiny, death seeking, horribly unbalanced, stinky, sticky, slobber and snot covered miniature person. There is no time to be calm. YOUR LIFE IS THAT OF CHAOS AND SHIT FROM NOW ON. I think I'm most offended by the harsh comparisons of children to shiny televisions when the cheap versions offer the same entertainment. Makes me wonder if John Cloud has kids. 

I'm the least calm person I know. I do happen to know of people that are less rational than myself, but when it comes to kids and knowing that you are completely and utterly responsible for every moment of their lives for the first 18 years of their life, it's a bit unnerving. Babies have no sense of logic or time. Yes, there is a certain amount of lying that a parent does BUT THIS IS NECESSARY. You have to believe that tomorrow night will be better or you will smother your children in their sleep. This is a defense mechanism. I have to believe that my child is not actively seeking death to refrain from putting him in a plastic bubble or wrapping him in duct tape and packing peanuts (because bubble wrap pops!) and this is something that I do willingly.

I went through a lot of depression and anger trying to get pregnant (this story is coming eventually, I promise. I'm still editing it) and there is nothing in this world that makes all of that worth it than looking down at my sleeping son. I may convince myself that every shitty diaper I change means that his GI tract is working or that every time he bites me that he is just testing out his chompers and ins't being a vindictive little turd, but that's how parents make it through their days. It is not a delusion that parents think that we're doing this "for the greater good" or that we have to convince ourself that the good outweighs the bad. There is no convincing. The good outweighs the bad eleventy billion to 1 EVERY SINGLE DAY. 

I always hope that people become more open minded as our cultures evolve. I jokingly consider myself an "optimistic pessimist" because, while I always want to see the good in people, inevitably I merely smell the shit that is percolating from under the pretty floral facade.