We took our second trip to the Little Rock Zoo (in 9 months) this week. Compared to the Memphis Zoo (which we visited at least 2-3 times a month while we lived in Memphis), it is a big disappointment; however, the visiting bird show was almost worth the price of admission. I’ll admit, the kids and I were both awed and terrified of the hawks and vultures that tapped our ears with the tips of their wings as they flew past our heads.

We didn’t sleep in as much as I wanted this summer, but we definitely visited the neighborhood pool more times than I can count. This may be the first time I’ve had an authentic (read non-tanning bed and non-tanning cream) tan since I was in middle school. The highlight of the summer for me came when Phillip learned to swim by himself (with his lifesaving vest), so that I could move from wrestling with him IN the pool to sitting on the side of the pool, thereby allowing my legs to see the light of day (at least from the knee up).

I am looking forward to starting our third (!) year of homeschooling on Monday, but I will miss the easy pace of summer. We’ve all gotten bored a time or two, but it has been a nice change.

In an odd twist of events, this is the same job that he accepted at UAMS last fall, then he backed out of the deal to go to the Commercial Appeal in Memphis.  He left on good terms, though (obviously) because they called a few months ago to ask him to consider coming back.

I won’t get into everything that happened at the Commercial Appeal to lead to Lannie’s departure, but needless to say, a lot changed in the last couple of months and he wasn’t happy with the situation.  We were also in a good position to move, since we had not bought a house here.

Over the past couple of weeks, we decided to move, Lannie finished his last 2 weeks at the CA, and we signed a contract on a house in Little Rock.  Lannie will start his new job on Monday, but the kids and I will have to wait until we close on the house to move in mid-December.

My head is still spinning a little at how quickly all of this has happened.  In the midst of all of these other decisions, we have also decided to homeschool Elizabeth again.  She’s a little unhappy about that, even though her semester at public school has been less than ideal.  I’m hoping to find some active homeschool groups in Little Rock to ease her transition a little.  I think she would be happy with a weekly program, similar to the program that Caleb has attended this fall.

I’m not looking forward to waiting three or four weeks to move while Lannie is in Little Rock, but I know it could be a lot worse.  I’ve been thinking a lot of my friends who are military wives, some of whom have had to be alone with their kids for ten months to a year at a time without seeing their husbands.  I am so glad this will only be for three or four weeks!  Plus, he will be home for a couple of days for Thanksgiving, so that will break up the monotony a lot.

I rarely get comments about my husband’s job as a journalist, although I have a feeling some of our more conservative friends think it’s an unsavory job.  Kind of like lobbyist or community organizer.

On Monday, the boys and I attended a homeschooling function, and Caleb immediately gravitated toward a group of boys that he knows from his bowling league.  I had a suspicion that some of these families were a little redneck (after all, their kids are in a bowling league), but we had never really talked about anything other than homeschooling and kids.

After a few minutes, two of the moms cornered me and started questioning me about something my husband published in his paper (yeah, because he’s the publisher, snort).  There was an article in the paper (picked up by AP) about a 106-year-old woman who voted for the first time in her life.  She is an African American, and she voted for Obama because, “She never thought she would see a black candidate for president.”

The women from the homeschool group were upset with the voter (and the newspaper and subsequently, me) for two reasons: (1) they didn’t understand why “all black people think they have to vote for Obama” and (2) they didn’t think “this woman had any business voting since she had never voted before.”  I’m serious.  They actually said she didn’t have any business voting.

The whole conversation about why blacks (whispered) vote for Obama was prefaced with the typical statement, “I’m not a racist, but…”  Then they launched into a racist diatribe about everything from why black Obama supporters have so many signs and bumper stickers to why their sons won’t be able to get jobs because white males don’t have any rights in this country (again, I’m serious).

At first, I tried to reasonably argue that I perfectly understood why a 106-year-old black lady would be excited about voting for Obama.  I’m sure she had lived her entire life thinking that there were some things that African Americans would never be able to do in this country because of racial stereotypes.  She grew up as a sharecropper in Mississippi and later worked as a seamstress in Memphis.  She had been oppressed by racism in ways these women (and I, for that matter) could never imagine.

After a few minutes, I realized that they weren’t interested in talking reasonably, so I started trying to back out of the conversation.  Then I realized that these women teach their children at home.  They are passing on their values to their sons, and their sons play with my son.  So I opened my mouth one last time.

“You know,” I said, “I already voted for John McCain last week.”  Tennessee has early voting.  “But if I was on the fence about who to vote for, listening to you would make me vote for Obama.  I don’t want to be identified with you or your politics.”

I voted for McCain because I am a social conservative, especially when it comes to abortion.  I also think his economic policies are more viable than Obama’s, although the part of me that knows Christians should care more about those who are poor and suffering than they should about their own wealth makes me question whether either candidate is a great Biblical model.

The bottom line is that there are good reasons to vote for John McCain that have nothing to do with voting against Obama.  I didn’t hear one word from either of these women about how much they liked McCain.  His name didn’t even come up.  This election has become all about voting for or against Obama, and that makes me sad.

Caleb is usually a pretty independent kid, so we were not too worried about him, but I guess he has become a little more dependent on us this year because of being home with me most of the time.

Caleb also is a bit of a “loner,” which means it can be difficult to fit in with the group when he is in a large group. He does well one-one-one with friends, but large groups are intimidating for him. This “loner” mentality meant he broke away from the pack to participate in a class that he liked during free time (the tech track, which taught him how to run sound and lights– his dad was so proud). He also spent a lot of time reading while the other boys in his cabin were busy planning pranks on the girls.

I should point out here that unbeknownst to me, this church group has a penchant for pulling pranks on each other (and the rest of the campers). If I had known that beforehand, there is no way I would have let him go to this camp with that group. My own youth group in high school was notorious for prank-pulling and general obnoxiousness at Siloam Springs before my dad laid down the law as their pastor, so I know a thing or two about being the uncomfortable odd-man-out in the middle of a fun-loving group.

Caleb spilled his guts about what all happened to him at camp before we pulled into the drive-way when we went to pick him up from the church on Thursday. His cabin mates filled his shoes with toothpaste (see above– he didn’t clean them out or wear them all week), spread mashed potatoes in his hair while he was sleeping, stole $20 from his bag, and called him “gay” when he wanted to take his tech class. One of the boys gave him a daily spanking for reading during free time.

I was appalled! Knowing, however, that 9 and 10-year-old boys will be boys, I was more appalled at the response of the male counselors in Caleb’s group. They told him “Prank pulling is just part of camp” and “Get over it.” That’s it. No tips on how to handle the other boys, no reprimand for the other boys, nothing.

Lannie and I cleaned out Caleb’s tennis shoes (between the two of us, it took about 2 hours and 2 washer/dryer cycles), and discussed whether or not to complain. We decided it wouldn’t really matter. This group has a deep-set mentality about pranks, and they’re not likely to change their minds by listening to us. Even though I think responsible adults should be protective of kids who don’t like to participate in this kind of thing, I can safely say that these aren’t responsible adults. We just decided to visit some other churches (we haven’t joined this one yet), and move on.

Lannie did mention that he thought my “mother hen” response was a little typical of a helicopter parent– you know, the kind that hovers over her children in case something bad happens. What do you think? Did I over-react? Would you have reacted the same way? What should I have done differently, and how can I give Caleb appropriate defense mechanisms so this doesn’t happen again?

Lannie called me on the way home from work yesterday and wanted to go out for dinner. He had been seeing IHOP commercials and was craving pancakes. I already had dinner in the oven, but I saved it for later, and we took Phillip to IHOP.

Normally, a last-minute dinner out like that would have been an ordeal with all three kids, but since the other two are gone this week, it was just the three of us. Phillip was in a pretty good mood, so I felt good about taking him out.

We sat in a booth with a glass partition separating us from the lady in the booth beside us. Phillip had one little outburst when the waiter came to take our order because he had been playing with the syrup, and Lannie took the syrup away from him. It wasn’t a big outburst, just a little yell of protest.

I was distracted by Phillip and the waiter when suddenly Lannie turned to the lady in the booth next to us and said, “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make comments to me about how to raise my kid.”

I looked at him quizzically, then the lady yelled at Phillip to “Sit down and shut up!” I think the original comment had been directed to Lannie about how Phillip needed a spanking, because she then threatened to spank him herself!

Lannie told me later he was proud of the way he controlled himself, but he threw down his menu, picked Phillip up, and headed out of the restaurant. He turned back to the waiter and told him, “It’s not you.” As I was chasing him out the door, I heard the man in the booth behind us chewing out the other lady, saying, “I’ve never seen anything as rude as that in my whole life!”

Thinking about it later, I wondered if maybe the lady had some kind of dementia. She was about 70 years old. Lannie thought she was just mean. He said he thought the threat to spank Phillip was a real physical threat, and he had to get him out of there.

We did find another IHOP down the street, so Lannie got his pancakes. We all eventually had a pleasant meal.

She immediately turned to me and said, “You’re not going to write that in your blog, are you?”

Indeed.