Giving Thanks: 2009

Forgive my predictability here, but these are a few of the things for which I am grateful:

* for being old enough to be irreverent and young enough to wear cowboy boots, and get away with both.

* for my old Passat that keeps hangin’ in there.

* for kids I would be honored to know even if I wasn’t their mother.

* for friends who make me laugh until I cry.

* for big brothers who call me “Kid,” and “Sweethaht.”

* for classroom moments that take my breath away.

* for little boxes of paint that wait patiently in the closet.

* for my mom who teaches me how to grow old gracefully.

* for Sadie who tugs at my heart from 900 miles away.

* for coffee and chocolate.

* for my Bose Wave Radio/CD Player that I turn on even before I set down my keys.

* for books and exquisite sentences that must be read over and over again.

* for the Atlantic Ocean, four minutes away.

* for every day that brings one damn gift after another.

Fractured Fairy Tales

Inspired by a feminist coloring book we saw online, a friend and I were playing with captions we'd like to see ourselves. So, as you read these, imagine black and white outlines (of the appropriate character), just waiting for that little girl to color (hopefully OUTSIDE the lines).

And for those of you who would point your finger and accuse me of "male-bashing," I must object. For in reality, what this is, is "Prince-MYTH bashing." It's a feminist deconstruction thing...

"Snow White left 7 little men who catered to her every whim, for a man who expected her to do the same for him. It didn't take her long to realize just how Dopey she had been."

"When Rapunzel first met the Prince, he pulled on her hair. After she married him, she pulled out her own."

"Sleeping Beauty didn't realize just how precious a nap was, until she married the Prince and had his kids."

"The Little Mermaid traded eternal life for a man. After she married him, she realized what eternity really felt like."

"Cinderella didn't know that she simply traded one dirty chimney for another."

"The Wicked Witch wasn't really wicked. She was just trying to keep Sleeping Beauty from making the same mistakes she had."

"Beauty was told that if she loved the Beast enough he would change. No one told her that what he would change into was a MAN."

"If your father introduces you to someone named 'The Beast,' run Sweetheart. Run like the freaking wind."

Feel free to offer your OWN 'Fractured Fairy Tales...'