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Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
I've Made It Through the Rain
Cheerleading is over. It ended today, Sunday, October 26th, 2008 at 9:54am and I think it's over for good.
I say "I think" for a few reasons. We still have a banquet to attend in November and McKenna still has thank you cards to write to her coaches. I also say "I think" it's over because it's slowly ocurred to me that should McKenna ask to cheerlead again next year, I will not be able to say "no". I can say no to Pop Warner, easily. But can I really tell my child "no" to doing something she enjoys? At some point, I have to trust her to make the right choices, in essence, I have to trust me and Rob on how we have parented her.
For the next 10 months, therefore, we have decided to fill her time and brain with other things. Sunday morning cheerleading is being replaced by church attendance and Sunday school. Her cute little uniform will be replaced with a leotard or jazz pants for either ballet lessons or musical theater class respectively (she thinks she wants musical theater and who am I to argue). Supporting a team will come in the form of helping us with Robbie, cleaning the house and assisting us with cooking dinner.
Am I a prude? Perhaps...but every parent should be, because in our prudishness, she knows that she is loved.
I say "I think" for a few reasons. We still have a banquet to attend in November and McKenna still has thank you cards to write to her coaches. I also say "I think" it's over because it's slowly ocurred to me that should McKenna ask to cheerlead again next year, I will not be able to say "no". I can say no to Pop Warner, easily. But can I really tell my child "no" to doing something she enjoys? At some point, I have to trust her to make the right choices, in essence, I have to trust me and Rob on how we have parented her.
For the next 10 months, therefore, we have decided to fill her time and brain with other things. Sunday morning cheerleading is being replaced by church attendance and Sunday school. Her cute little uniform will be replaced with a leotard or jazz pants for either ballet lessons or musical theater class respectively (she thinks she wants musical theater and who am I to argue). Supporting a team will come in the form of helping us with Robbie, cleaning the house and assisting us with cooking dinner.
Am I a prude? Perhaps...but every parent should be, because in our prudishness, she knows that she is loved.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
She's Friggin' Six!!!
As we all know, I am not a fan of cheerleading. I am a fan of McKenna, however, so when she asked me to sign her up for Pop Warner cheerleading, I obliged.
PROBLEM 1: Cheer: "We're gonna' pick up the pace, so put your foot on the gas, cause we're gonna' kick you in the _____." (rhymes with gas).
Yes, I have a problem with teaching that to 6-year olds, and yes, I said something to the commisioner of the Pop Warner league. Her response: "Oh, the Rockets are doing that? They're not supposed to do it this year. It's for next year." Right, teaching that to 7-year olds is much better...
PROBLEM 2: One of the football coaches is a complete asshole. He yells in the kids' faces at point blank range. Oh, did I mention that the kids are 6 years old? Recently, he was yelling at his son for not paying attention to what he was saying. He then took a swing at the boy as if to kick him, but the kid ran away (Dad ran a few steps after him, but realized it probably wasn't a good idea to do in public). You should know that I'm not sitting by and doing nothing about it. I just need to calm down before I talk to the president of league. As long as Pop Warner accepts the behaviors of that man, they will never get a dime out of me and I will make sure everyone I talk to knows what type of organization Washington Rock Pop Warner is.
PROBLEM 3: McKenna got her cheerleading pics taken. We decided to order just her picture with her on the cover of a magazine (a pretend magazine). The article titles were "Interview with McKenna Moore", "Name Her Moves", "Find Out How She Does It" and "#1 Squad in the State". Very cute. I then read the last title: "Check Out Page 41! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Now, I'm sure there are those of you out there that don't see this as a problem (my guess is that you're a man...). This, however, is a blatant sexualization of girls. Why not something like, "Learn Her Workout Habits" or "Check Out Her Reading List"? I know, some of you are thinking what a prude I've become and have possibly laughed out loud when reading the previous sentence. My question to you would be why is it funny to you? Why do you think I might be unrealistic? Just because "it's everywhere" doesn't mean we have to just stand by and let it be. I called the photography studio and asked for that particular headline to be removed. "Why? What does it say?" When I informed them of their own product and what was written on the magazine cover, the response was, "Really? That's odd? It is obviously referring to her.* Can we get you something else?"
This desensitization to how we treat young girls angers me to no end!!! After a brief verbal kick in the ass to the WOMAN on the other end of the phone, she finally said, "You know, you're right. Maybe we should order a new template." I doubt that will happen.
I think I'm going to start a campaign to call for an end to this type of marketing. Maybe there's already an organization out there. I'll have to check into it and post it on the site. Meanwhile, I look forward to receiving a free 8x10 of McKenna without her being referred to as "Hot! Hot! Hot!"
* Rob, I told you so ;-)
PROBLEM 1: Cheer: "We're gonna' pick up the pace, so put your foot on the gas, cause we're gonna' kick you in the _____." (rhymes with gas).
Yes, I have a problem with teaching that to 6-year olds, and yes, I said something to the commisioner of the Pop Warner league. Her response: "Oh, the Rockets are doing that? They're not supposed to do it this year. It's for next year." Right, teaching that to 7-year olds is much better...
PROBLEM 2: One of the football coaches is a complete asshole. He yells in the kids' faces at point blank range. Oh, did I mention that the kids are 6 years old? Recently, he was yelling at his son for not paying attention to what he was saying. He then took a swing at the boy as if to kick him, but the kid ran away (Dad ran a few steps after him, but realized it probably wasn't a good idea to do in public). You should know that I'm not sitting by and doing nothing about it. I just need to calm down before I talk to the president of league. As long as Pop Warner accepts the behaviors of that man, they will never get a dime out of me and I will make sure everyone I talk to knows what type of organization Washington Rock Pop Warner is.
PROBLEM 3: McKenna got her cheerleading pics taken. We decided to order just her picture with her on the cover of a magazine (a pretend magazine). The article titles were "Interview with McKenna Moore", "Name Her Moves", "Find Out How She Does It" and "#1 Squad in the State". Very cute. I then read the last title: "Check Out Page 41! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Now, I'm sure there are those of you out there that don't see this as a problem (my guess is that you're a man...). This, however, is a blatant sexualization of girls. Why not something like, "Learn Her Workout Habits" or "Check Out Her Reading List"? I know, some of you are thinking what a prude I've become and have possibly laughed out loud when reading the previous sentence. My question to you would be why is it funny to you? Why do you think I might be unrealistic? Just because "it's everywhere" doesn't mean we have to just stand by and let it be. I called the photography studio and asked for that particular headline to be removed. "Why? What does it say?" When I informed them of their own product and what was written on the magazine cover, the response was, "Really? That's odd? It is obviously referring to her.* Can we get you something else?"
This desensitization to how we treat young girls angers me to no end!!! After a brief verbal kick in the ass to the WOMAN on the other end of the phone, she finally said, "You know, you're right. Maybe we should order a new template." I doubt that will happen.
I think I'm going to start a campaign to call for an end to this type of marketing. Maybe there's already an organization out there. I'll have to check into it and post it on the site. Meanwhile, I look forward to receiving a free 8x10 of McKenna without her being referred to as "Hot! Hot! Hot!"
* Rob, I told you so ;-)
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