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Adventures in Babysitting

By Speeches

adventures in babysittingBack in 1994, I was toying with the idea of giving a speech in Toastmasters on my various adventures in babysitting. What follows is a draft of that speech. I just unearthed it as I was tooling around my hard drive looking for something else. It still needs polishing, but it has some funny moments.

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This weekend I saw Son of Godzilla. It was actually quite entertaining. I think what I found the most special about this particular Godzilla movie were the scenes of Godzilla teaching his child. Scenes of parenthood always seem to move me.

Although I am not a parent, I’ve been in training since I was five years old. That is when my sister was born.

At the age of 13, I got my first babysitting job. I’ve never been the same since.

Child-sitting can be exhilarating, joyous and fun. It can also be scary and adventurous. Your metal can tested during just three hours with a child.

The trials of child-sitting can be minor or great. One time, a three year old I was sitting was going through a time of nightmares. The parents neglected to tell me this. That night, she got up out of bed crying for her mother. Her mother wasn’t going to be there for a few more hours, and the child really needed to get to sleep. I ended up sitting in a rocking chair with her in may arms for over an hour.

The same child claimed to be potty trained. She came up to me and said she had to go to the bathroom. Well, I’d never dealt with this before. So I took her to the bathroom and helped her take off her pants. She then proceeded to piss all over the floor with out getting up on the toilet. ACK!!!! “Stop! Get on the toilet! AAAAAA!” I ended up having to change her clothes and clean the bathroom floor.

Not all of the things that happen while sitting are so bad. I usually have a great time playing with the child. It is amazing how complex a 2 or 3 year old’s personality can be. Of course I’ve never quite grown up. I enjoy playing with children’s toys. And children say the funniest things!
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Nobody Help Me

By Thoughts,

Last night, around 12:15 am, I heard someone crying out in the alley behind my apartment. At first, I heard him say something about mercy. Then there as a loud bang and he started shouting, “Nobody help me!” This would be followed by a few explicatives. As he passed the […]

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What Green Lantern taught me about courage

By Thoughts, , ,

Yesterday, I watched Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds as the DC Comics hero. It was a fun flick … but it also had a pretty profound underlying message.

The premise of the story is that there is an intergalactic police force who harnesses the green energy of will to keep the peace. Their biggest enemy is Parallax, who harnesses the yellow energy of fear. You see, fear is the natural enemy of will.

And, if you think about it … that’s very true.

Mark Strong as SinestroAt one point, Sinestro (one of the green lantern core, played by Mark Strong) is sparring with Hal Jordan (Earth’s green lantern, played by Ryan Reynolds) and he tells him, “Fear is the enemy of will. Will is what makes you take action; fear is what stops you, and makes you weak… makes your constructs feeble.”

When you put this into the language of universal laws or law of attraction, you can see the truth of Sinestro’s words. Whenever we give into our fears, give them power, all the positive thoughts and affirmations (our will to make our life better) will be for naught.

For me, the most thought provoking and powerful moment in the movie was when Hal was doubting himself and the woman he loved tells him what she had always seen in him.
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Evolutionary reluctance

By Thoughts

Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America's ClassroomsIn the most recent issue of Penn State’s Research magazine, which I receive because I’m a member of the National Association of Science Writers, there was a little article that caught my eye. It was titled “High school biology teachers reluctant to endorse evolution in class.”

I find this concept somewhat shocking. According to the article, “the majority of public high school biology teachers are not strong classroom advocates of evolutionary biology … despite forty years of court cases that have ruled that teaching creationism or intelligent design violates the U.S. Constitution.” Worse yet, 13% of teachers “explicitly advocate creationism or intelligent design.”

Now, for a bit of background … I have a degree in Biology and am a trained science writer. So, yes, I believe in evolutionary biology. The evidence is stacked up in its favor. And, yes, I think that creationism and intelligent design are complete bunk and I would rather not have teachers share them as viable options.

If we are going to be competitive in the global economy, we need to have a scientifically literate populace. And that’s not going to happen if kids aren’t taught the scientific method and are led to believe that evolutionary biology doesn’t have its merits.
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Half-Birthdays

By Thoughts

viewmasterToday is my half-birthday.

How do I know? Well, today also happens to be my father’s birthday.

When I was little, I used to get ViewMaster slides for half-birthday presents on my dad’s birthday. My favorite ones involved Winnie-the-Pooh and the one I best remember is Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Tree.

Receiving these gifts made me feel special and connected. I was Daddy’s Little Girl and I thought the world of him. To this day, I feel a special connection to my father and have been missing him dearly this month.

You see, today marks the second anniversary of dad’s birth since his death. He died in late January of last year, missing his 80th birthday by just a few weeks.
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