I Propose A New Holiday...

Last week was a really rough week for me. This weekend as I sat around and nursed both myself and hubby well from the sick, I thought about all the events of last week. I thought about the children, their parents, even the people I work along side. I thought about all the things that had me so riled up for the week. After I thought about it, I took some time to just exhale.

As a people, we have lost control of our children.

There is this saying that it takes a village to raise a child. The village is no more. The villagers have abandoned it. We are so consumed with ourselves that we have forgotten that we still need to look out for each other. We need to look out for each other's children. We put them off on any and everyone else. That person usually only does it for profit. I don't remember a lot of kids having to go to day care or summer camp when I was little. There was always a Mama or Grandma or Mu'dear. Oh yeah, and Big Momma, too!

I think back when I was a child. I was raised in village, so to speak. The village was between 6 and 13th streets and bordered by Kings Road and Myrtle Avenue. Sometimes we were allowed to cross that village line, but there always seemed to be someone in that other 'village' that was linked to your village. We got away with NOTHING (well, almost). There were universal rules that all children in every village knew to follow. My grandparents and great grand-parents knew someone on every block in what must have been a five mile radius of my house. They would report the village goings-on of me and my playmates. We were never lost. There was always an elder in the village to protect us. As children we had the freedom to explore everything, and guardians to make sure we got away with nothing! I knew that if I pulled some silly stunt 3 blocks down the road, that not only would I hear it from Mrs. Rodgers (all the kids called her Auntie), but that by the time I made it home before the streetlights came on (remember that?!) my grandparents would know also. Dayumn... and this was before the cell phone or 2 way. I remember my friend Jo-Jo and I got 2 billy beatdowns and 3 cussing outs one day on our way home from doing something we just SHOULD NOT have been doing (just how Auntie saw that, I will never know!) Doing something silly in my five mile world could result in multiple punishments. No parent got upset. They understood the needs of the village and did their best to raise the child. From those punishments I learned respect and responsibility. I also learned that it might not be so smart to pull the skinny branch from the tree for my 'whuppin'!

We have lost that. The village no longer takes care of the child. How sad!

I look at some of my students this morning, some that have come back to school this week with a new attitude (Miss Thing from last week...grandpa did something. It has been a good day!) and some that are still giving me issues (glue eater) and some that just are an all day affair (remember Mr. Home School?) and I think to myself what can we do now, that we did back then, that would help them?

I thought of the whippin's. HMMMMMM?

Naw, can't do that because then we would all be in jail. So I propose this: Tomorrow, let's have the first ever 1/2 day holiday. We can start around 10. As a people we need to work on that late thing, too. That will be another holiday. No, we can't beat up folks children, but you can SHAKE THE SHIT OUT OF THEM!

Pant's sagging around the ass? SHAKE 'EM!!

Talking back? SHAKE 'EM!!

Taking all grown!! SHAKE THE SHIT OUT OF THEM!!


Now really you can't go around shaking folks children (unless it is your child then shake until their teeth rattle), but you can at least shake your head and say a quick prayer that somewhere that child gets the guidence that they need. Maybe you can even be that guide.

We need to get back in that village mindset. Quick.