Tag Archive | children

What about the Children??

May14

Children_Hugging_307Last night I had the pleasure of attending a film screening of #PIFVA (Philadelphia Independent Film & Video Association)members. The works presented were thought provoking, entertaining and challenged my conventional thinking on a subject I thought I knew so well. I am not a movie critic so I won’t blab on telling you about each one. Know that they were all awesome (especially the one with my talented cousin – ok, I’m biased!!) but I encourage you to check out PIFVA to see when the next one is or what they are about. domestic-violence-children

Anywwwhoooo – there was one film that made me think about how society has a knee-jerk reaction of instant images of a battered woman when hearing the term domestic violence. Campaigns are headed up by major corporations, the marketing team coins a catchy slogan….but what about the children? What about the child cowering in the closet watching his/her mother being punched in the face by their father? The siblings that cling to one another in fear when awoken from their sleep by the screams of their mother? What are they learning about love, conflict, communication, boundaries, esteem and relationships? Domestic Violence is ugly. The ripple effects impact many and the scars are deep for the adults and for the children. I think to my own childhood and the horrific things that I witnessed and wish that there was someone speaking for me as I look at the world from Under my Tattered Brim!

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Happy Mother’s Day

May10

download_20150510_100120To all the Mothers –

Under Her Brim wish you the best on this day of honor for your unsung heroism, love, wisdom, guidance, selflessness and sacrifice. We tilt our hat in your honor from Under Our Brim!

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GFQ: Did Baltimore Mom Go Too Far or Not Far Enough

May8

Girlfriends_Question2-298x300Unless you have been living under a rock, we have all seen the image of the Baltimore Mom Toya Grahm publically reprimanding (slapping the stoop-id out of) her son when she spots him in the riots following Freddy Grey’s death. What I saw was not “Angry Mom beats her son for participating in riot” I saw “Scared and Desperate Mom beats son out of fear that he’ll become the next victim of police brutality.” Some say she was right on time, others say she was out of line. Before you answer, consider the 16 year old young man who was being transported from Tennessee to Philadelphia when he escaped the ‘prison transport agency’. The very first thing that the first person the news reporter interviewed said was “Where is this boy’s mother that he would be a 16 year old in prison.”

What do you say, too far…or not far enough when you look at this situation as a parent afraid for the life of your children….from Under Your Brim.Blog Signature

The Mommy Wars

May7

….like we don’t have enough to do

Mom VS MOM – By Ralph Gardner Jr.

“The pressure to be thin is brutal,” says a stay-at-home mom. (Photo: Ben Baker)

 Ann approached another mother at a school function recently and happily introduced herself. Not only were their younger kids in kindergarten together, she explained, but their older sons played in the same weekend soccer league. “She said, ‘Oh,’ and just walked away,” Ann remembers. “That was it. ‘Oh.’ It was a school event. It wasn’t like it was the steam room at Bliss where she was naked.”

Ann is certain she knows why her fellow mom dissed her, if in fact she did. It has nothing to do with Ann’s confusing on-again-off-again marriage, or the disparity in their net worths. (Ann is middle-class; the other woman is profoundly wealthy.) No, as far as Ann is concerned, the reason the other woman turned tail is that Ann works full-time. Her adversary, on the other hand, is a gloriously full-time stay-at-home mom — with all the attendant benefits that implies not only to her youngsters but also to the life of the school. A stamp licker, an envelope stuffer, an active member of the parents association, a person who can always be counted on to bring not one but two or three dishes to the annual potluck dinner — even if, as Ann suspects, she buys them and passes them off as her own. “In the school directory, you can see who has a job and who doesn’t,” Ann says, imagining the woman taking a black marker and banishing her to oblivion. Continue reading →

Church is not for the Faint of Heart

Apr19

“C’mon, we’re going to be late” I heard blast through the house. “I’m COMING!!!!” (I screamed back). Good Grief! It’s easy for you to be on time. After I deal with getting the kids ready, can I have a moment to slip on some lip gloss for goodness sake.  – I gotta get these kids together without starting a third world war or it will be a looonnngggg service…..for me in the pew.

It was the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship District meeting (or something like that) being held at a church in Chester, Philly, NJ….or somewhere that required an extended period of time with antsy kids in the car. Sunday School and Morning service at our church…run home, get some food together, grab a bite to eat, change the pants that a stain somehow jumped on my son,  replace the missing barrettes and re-braid my daughters hair, clean up and back on the road again to get there on time.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Lord and worship is how I express my love; however, the Lord knows that I am exhausted every Sunday trying to be a worshiper and an attentive mother. I don’t want my children to disrupt the service or interrupt another worship so I sit on pins-and-needles….hoovering, watching, waiting to deal with a fidgety kid, a bathroom run, the loud “STOP IT!!’ when one touches another all while looking poised and together, follow the service and actually hearing a Word….I am WORN OUT.  Continue reading →

What is my Motivation??

Mar23
Pencil and paper

A new day is like a clean piece of paper!

To wake up in the morning is a blessing.  When I first wake-up, open my eyes, say my prayers, stretch and turn on the news, I am ready to make my mark on the world!! Raawwwwwrrr!!!! The new day is as a fresh sheet of paper waiting for more of my life to be written on it. My actions, activities, interactions, goals met,  goals set and even goals dismissed. It’s a chance to make a change, move a stumbling block, press forward towards a goal….they sky is the limit and the options are limitless on this fresh new day. Continue reading →

SOMEBODY SHAVE ME!!

Oct27

“mommy”….”Mooohhhhmmmmeeee”…..”MOHHHMMMMEEEEEE”!!!

were the increasingly loud whispers that (to my horror) were coming out of the mouth of my little angel…..in church. My almost 3 year old had seen enough, heard enough and was getting restless. Can’t say that I blame him and I really don’t expect his undivided attention to last for so long, but there were certain rules to Sunday Service that he and I had come to understand. Tapping my leg and ignoring my wide-eyed-lifted-eyebrow-teeth-bared-tight-lipped stare…was a violation of our agreement.

He could quietly color in his Sunday Book, draw on his tablet, reconfigure his Power Rangers…. shoot he could build a house if he was quite. For his quietness (even though I didn’t believe in food in the sanctuary, I would reward him with an occasional fruit snack or two. Continue reading →