Blog 39

Happy Halloween! For real this time! I would say this weekend was a success.  Definitely liked the clown costume more than the Regina one, but they both worked out well.  Today was a pretty lazy day.  I woke up at about 10:30, then went and got some breakfast at Baker.  I really don’t even like the food that much there but I mainly go for the all-you-can-drink chocolate milk.  My favorite.  Well after that I laid around for a few hours and didn’t really do much.  So I decided to take a nap. After my hour or two nap, I got up and finally took a shower.  I ate some oatmeal and popcorn and thought I should start my homework.  That didn’t turn out the well I wanted when some of the girls on my floor found that The Titanic was on.  I watched that for a little bet, then finally started studying for my psychology exam on Wednesday.  And since then I’ve been working on studying and watching some TV as well.  Tonight was Desperate Housewives night as well as Brothers and Sisters.  Recently I’ve gotten back into the show Brothers and Sisters since it’s on right after Desperate Housewives.  I don’t turn the TV off after it (which I should), so I just keep watching the TV.  Now I’m currently blogging while watching Everybody Loves Raymond.  Can’t get much better than this can it?  Well I’m out for the night. No class Tuesday!! Everyone go vote! Alright goodnight Bloggy!

Blog 38

Hey there Bloggy. Today I’m going to talk about the trip to California that I’m taking this week. I’m leaving on Friday morning and my flight is at six am so I have to wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning, which really sucks because I go to bed late since I’m always up studying, so I’m going to be very tired. Anyway, the reason I’m going to California is because my cousin Stacy is getting married. I visit California pretty frequently because I have a huge family and most of my cousins and aunts and uncles live in Los Angeles. I’m flying into LAX but the wedding is in Palm Springs at La Quinta Resort. I’m really excited to go to Palm Springs because I’m very familiar with Los Angeles and know my way around since I’ve been there so many times, so I’m excited to visit other places in California. My mom is so excited to see me. She misses me a lot and has separation issues, so I’m sure she’ll cry once I get off the plane because she is super emotional. But oh well. Anyway, on Friday night we have a dinner for my family, and then I have all of Saturday to just hang out by the pool in the nice weather since the wedding isn’t until Sunday night. The wedding should be fun because all of my family events are out of control and wild. I can’t wait until I get off the plane in LA because it’s going to be so warm, and I hate how cold its been in Columbus. Well Bloggy, I’ll see ya next time!

Blog 37

So I’m sitting here.. trying to do some last minute things to my paper before I turn it in.  I just realized I don’t even have an introduction yet.  But I have no idea what to talk about in the intro.  Usually in past papers I’ve just given examples of the arguments I’m talking about.  And since half of my paper is filled with real life examples, there are not many more to give.  Anyone have any ideas for me?? My paper is all about parents controlling children and their lives.  But anyway, it’s Halloween! : ) Not technically.. but whatever.  I’m still celebrating it as Halloween.  Tonight is my Regina George costume, and tomorrow is my clown outfit.  I was very hesitant about the Regina George costume today and wanted to change.  I almost wore a risky business outfit, with the boys shirt and long socks and sunglasses, but then I decided since I already cut holes in my tank top I had to be Regina.  I’m going to be FREEZING though.  Its supposed to be about 35 degrees out tonight.  And I will be wearing a tank top and skirt.  That sounds so horrible.  Why can’t it be warm like it was earlier this week?  That would have been perfect for my outfit.  I guess I’ll just have to suck it up; I can deal.  Well I need to get back to my paper now.  I’m at 6 pages so hopefully my intro will fill up the rest of the paper.  Wish me luck!!

Blog 36

Personal Anecdote: 

A few years ago, my friend and I were hanging out after school got out. We were sitting on my couch just watching TV, like any teenage kids would be doing.  She then received a phone call.  She only talked for about a minute and then quickly hung up.  She told me something had come up and she needed to go.  I was a bit confused why she was leaving so abruptly, but I didn’t question it.  This kept going on, whether it was right after school or late on a Saturday night.  I started to notice that her leaving quickly was becoming much of a habit.  One day when she was leaving my house, I decided to ask her why she was leaving so quickly.  She told me that she needed to pick up her little sister; her mom was drunk.  I then understood my friend was much more of an adult that I had realized.  Since my friend’s family was suffering from alcoholism, she had to take up one of the parenting roles in her family.  Her father worked all day, so it was up to her to make sure her younger siblings made it home safely from school and practices.   Even though she was still considered a child herself, she had many more responsibilities than the normal 16-year old.  Since she had a few complications in her family, she was forced to act like an adult.

Hypothetical Scenario:

Children are supposed to live this ideal life, where there only responsibilities are their homework and cleaning their room.  We find many exceptions where these children are taking on adult responsibilities to help take care of themselves or their families.  But what if no child took on this responsibility? What if they refused to help out their family just so they could live a normal life like their friends?  Many families would struggle, and the younger children would suffer.  When the parents aren’t able to take responsibilities, they leave it to the child.  With a child who would refuse to help, many of the responsibilities would never get done.  Sometimes the responsible children don’t realize how much their efforts help.  Some families without dependable parents would go through difficulties if it weren’t for the older child.  The adult like children will take control of their dysfunctional families to give their younger siblings a more “normal” life.  

Blog 35

So for my Commonplace article, I read “Fat and Happy.”  It was all about raising awareness for obesity, and the dangers it is causing.  It describes how this next generation will not even live as long as their parents if we keep this child obesity thing the way it is.  Obesity is the number one most preventable death, but it people die from it year after year.  Then the article talks about how much money obesity is actually costing America.  Obesity causes many diseases in children and adults, which is costing us $150 Billion a year.  The article tries to give parents options to helping their children not become overweight.  Also, it talks about how schools are a major problem is trying to keep kids fit.  Schools are taking away recesses, which for some kids is their only exercise throughout the whole day.  Also, many middle schools and high schools have contracts with soda companies, so children are not only eating fat foods, but drinking them as well.  The article really just wants adults to be role models for their children.  It doesn’t matter if it’s their children or someone else’s child, but they still need to act as a role model.  If adults aren’t doing anything to keep themselves healthy, why should the child? It’s like a monkey see monkey do sort of situation.  If a kid sees their parent exercising and eating healthy, then most likely the child will want to do the same.  I liked this article and I think it was sending out a good message to children and adults.

Blog 34

Bloggy. How is it going? I’m currently watching Glee! So exciting.  But anyways, I need to blog about my CP article.  My paper was all about parents and their relationships with children, and how it affects the child’s life.  I decided to take that a little further.  I want to talk about instances when children become the adults in the family.  Children sometimes have to become the “responsible” ones, and for many different reasons.  Sometimes something has happened to a parent, or both parents, where an older sibling acts more as the parent.  Other times, a parent who has had drug problems or addictions with children can fail as the responsible parent.  In many cases, the oldest child will take responsibility for the younger children, or the girl in the family will act as the motherly figure.  I’m not really sure which way I will take this but I think with a few real-life instances, I will be able to prove my point a little better.  It seems that the parent will just leave the responsibility for the child, whether the child wants it or not.  But how do the children know how to handle that? Did their parents previously teach them, and are they just passing it on to their younger siblings?  I’m not sure if this is the exact way I’m going to take my article but I’m sure once I get started on it, it will get easier.  But for now I need to finish my ARP.  Goodnight Bloggy.

Blog 33

Hello Bloggy.  This week is going to be a very busy week for me.  Along with the paper we have due on Friday, I have a math exam that day as well.  Also, I have a math quiz Tuesday, paper homework due Tuesday, and Webwork due on Wednesday.  Then I have a psych exam next Wednesday, and since I didn’t do so well on my first one, I really need to get on top of studying for this next exam sometime this week.  But I guess all this work will be made up for since it is Halloween this weekend.  I’m just so excited.  I’m currently sitting in the basement of my dorm waiting for my laundry to dry.  I figured since I was done with classes today at 12:18 that I should accomplish something, rather than just take a nap.  Mondays and Wednesdays I finish classes at the same time, but I always just want to nap after since my day starts off somewhat early.  It was pretty tempting today but I made myself do work instead.  So after my laundry is done, I will have finished that, went to an REP for my psych class, finished some of my Webwork, and finished my blog for the day.  It seems like I’m managing my time somewhat well.  Then tonight I have a math help session for the extra credit problems, and after that 90210! :) I love when I have a TV show on at night so I have something to look forward to throughout the day.  And tomorrow is a new Glee episode!! What a great day.  Gotta go get my laundry out of the dryer! Bye Bloggy.

Blog 32

Well Bloggy, it’s Sunday… again.  Dayglow was way overrated.  There was way too much hype for this event.  It was fun for the beginning part, but once they let so many people in the building it became unbearable.  You weren’t even able to walk anywhere because you were so squished.  Although I did wait for the paint to drop, I was very hesitant.  I honestly just wanted to get out of there.  And that is not like me whatsoever.   I love dancing, and that is what I usually set out to do every weekend.  But this got to the point where it wasn’t dancing anymore; it was just standing there trying not to get trampled.  I know some people who enjoyed it, but then I know people who hated it as well.  One of the girls on my floor went to Dayglow, and she had a pretty funny story the next day about it.  Apparently, some girl was stepping on my floor-mate’s foot, and refused to get off.  When my floor-mate asked her to get off, the girl only stood there, on her foot, and laughed at her.  So, obviously this ticked my floor-mate off, so she decked her in the face.  Now the girl I’m talking about is one of the nicest girls I’ve ever met, so hearing this story was just great.  So I’m assuming her opinion of Dayglow probably wasn’t that great either.  I’m glad other people had fun though.  If only they wouldn’t have let that many people in it would’ve been a great time.  Oh well, this weekend is Halloween so no worries.  Goodnight Bloggy.

Blog 31

Alright Bloggy, I’m going to blog for tomorrow because I know with the game and my boyfriend visiting I’m not going to have much time to get it done.  My parents are coming to visit me on Sunday as well.  My little sister is a competitive cheerleader, and she has a competition at the Columbus Convention Center that day.  So I will get a good meal out of that on Sunday.  I don’t have much to blog about, so I’m going to blog about my roommate Allie.  She is currently single, and looking. Boys ;) She loves milk, and to eat.  That’s always a good quality to have in a girl.  What kind of guy wants a girl who won’t eat?  This is coming from a girl that eats a ton though, so if any guy didn’t like that I don’t think I’d be a fan of him.  Allie also is somewhat messy.  Our room always seems to be messy, but it is usually her side of the room.  She even made me vacuum even though it was her hair all over the floor.  She is also obsessed with painting her nails.  I think she paints her nails at least 5 times a week.  But anyway, If you want to get know Allie just feel free to let me know.  Haha she is so mad I’m doing this.  But what else do I have to blog about? Only my roommate. I mean I do live with her.  Having a roommate is just like having a sleepover every single night.  Good thing I love slumber parties.  Peace out Bloggy.

xoxo Emily

blog 30

Yo waddup Bloggy?  I’m not doing much.  Just drinking some chocolate milk trying to think of things to blog about.  Yesterday a few people on our floor and I went to UDF to buy ice cream.  Instead of ice cream though, I decided to buy 2 quarts of chocolate milk, since it was 2 for $2.50.  Great Deal.  But anyway, I’ve finished my first quart this morning for breakfast, and I’m working on my second now.  I love chocolate milk.  I never used to like it this much, but I’ve been drinking it quite frequently. My roommate is obsessed with milk so I’ve been putting chocolate syrup in it and making delicious chocolate milk with it.  Next I need to buy some strawberry syrup so I can make strawberry milk.  My ultimate favorite.  Allie (my roommate) and I went to CVS today.  I bought those little to-go cereals that are already in bowls that I just have to put milk in.  I bought 10 of them for $10.  I figured that was a pretty decent deal.  I bought 5 Cinnamon Toast Crunch, since those are my favorite, 2 Frosted Flakes, and 3 Lucky Charms.  All of the best cereals right there.  I also bought some red lipstick so I can paint red circles on my face on Halloween when I’m a clown.  Oh also I bought a pink gift bag for my boyfriend’s birthday present.  It was his birthday this week so he’s coming tomorrow to visit.  That shall be fun.  Dayglow tonight!!!!!!! I can’t wait!!! If you were curious I’m wearing a cut white tee shirt, white sports bra, leggings, and neon green sunglasses.  I’ll be looking so good.  Wish me luck, I hope I make it home alive.  

Blog 29

So Bloggy, I am currently trying to find more information for my paper.  One issue I’m having while writing this is finding good sources.  It seems as though searching for “too controlling parents” or “too much parenting” is not giving me too many options.  I feel like I’ve tried about everything but none of the articles really talk about what I want.  I’m looking for an article that talks about the effects on children with too much parenting, compared to too little.  I want to know about how independent children are in their adult lives in relation to how much parenting they had.  But I’m not finding too many results.  Also, another problem I’m having is trying to figure out a good order to put all of my information in.  I wish there was someone to just tell me which part with go first, which part will go after it, and so on.  I do plan on going to the writing lab at some point so I hope they’ll be able to give me a little direction on where to go with what I have.  My last thing I need after I get all of my information together is some more content.  I’m worried I wont be able to fill up all 7 pages with information.  It was pretty difficult for me to get to 4 pages for the last draft.  Hopefully after I find some more sources on my topic I’ll be able to write a few more paragraphs on all of that information.  Wish me luck!

Blog 28

Hey Bloggy.  Yet another stressful day has passed.  I cried for only the 2^nd time since I’ve started college.  I tend to cry a lot.  Tonight I cried because I was so frustrated with my math webwork and no one on my floor would help me.  It was so sad.  But after I started crying everyone came and helped me.  How great is the 4^th floor.  I’m currently sitting in the study room in our hall listening to Usher.  Yeah!  I’m really not accomplishing anything listening to this music.  Oh well.  I finally finished my webwork though.  Actually, one of the problems I left with only 33%, but I’m satisfied with that.  So I’m going to Dayglow on Friday!! I’m so excited.  For those of you who probably have no idea what I’m talking about… It is this giant dancing paint party filled with black lights and neon paint and white shirts.  That will be my highlight of the weekend.  Also, there is the football game Saturday morning, then my boyfriend is coming to visit that night.  Then after that, Sunday my family is coming up to Columbus for my sister’s cheerleading competition.  So they will take me out to lunch and feed my good food.  Probably the best part about my parents coming to visit.  Alright I’m pretty tired I need to get to sleep soon.  But before I go to sleep, I think I may eat one of the pumpkin muffins my roommate’s mom made her.  Sweet dreams Bloggy.

Blog 27

So Bloggy, I finally scheduled my classes.  It turns out, the reason there were no good times for my classes was because I was looking at Winter 2010 instead of Winter 2011.  Wow.  But the econ class I had planned on taking was filled up by the time I got to schedule, so I had to settle for a later time.  So sad.  But anyways, I think I have a final decision on my Halloween costumes.  One night I’m planning on being a clown.  I bough rainbow thigh-high socks which I plan on wearing with either a red leotard or a red shirt and white shorts.  Then I also have a red bow tie for it and a red clown nose.  Precious I know.  Then I’m going to paint red circles on my cheeks that night.  I’m so excited.  But I’m having an issue finding a red leotard that works.  I checked American Apparel but the stuff there is so expensive it would be the same as buying an actual costume.  Any ideas?  The 2^nd night I plan on being Regina George from Mean Girls.  I just have a black skirt, white tank top (with holes in it,  obviously)., and a purple bra.  Pretty simple outfit but somewhat creative.  I’m more excited for my clown outfit though.  I also wish I had some sort of suspenders to wear with it, but there are not to many places that carry cheap suspenders.  Anyway, Halloween shall be pretty fun and I’m getting very excited.  It’s pretty much my favorite holiday.  See ya Bloggy!

Blog 26

Happy Monday Bloggy.  So I am currently working on trying to figure out my schedule for next quarter because I schedule tomorrow.  It’s a pretty hectic situation.  I talked to my advisor.. and she suggested Math, French, and honors Econ.  I’m a little worried about the econ.   Since I’m an undecided major, I’m just trying to get most of my GECs done now.  But with the classes I want, there are no good times offered.  Unless I want a class at 8 am (which I don’t), the earliest offered for me is at 1:30.  Why are there no times at like 10 or 11? I did a 9 o’clock one this quarter and that worked out fine.  It’s like if I don’t do the class at 8 then I have no other options.  So I’m somewhat torn as to what I should schedule.  This also means that the earliest I get out of class is 4:18, which I’m not a huge fan of.  This is such a stressful situation. I just wish I could have the perfect schedule.  If 1:30 is my earliest class, I will get absolutely nothing done before that, but if I schedule it for 8, I know I will end up skipping it.  I hate scheduling.  Oh and I tried the schedulizer website, but it did not do anything for me.  It gave me all these options that I got excited about but turns out those are already filled up.  It’s just wonderful being a freshman, being at the bottom of the food chain. 

xoxo Gossip Girl

Blog 25

Second Blog of the day.  Allie Mandel as the subject.  My roommate of course.  No I’m just kidding, but it’s quite difficult to come up with things to blog about.  I feel like I’m not very up to speed with what is going on in the world, but mainly just with TV.  I really haven’t been watching any of my favorite TV shows and it’s quite upsetting.  Also I used to watch the news every night before I went to sleep, but I have yet to do that since I’ve been here.  I haven’t had very much time with all of this studying and homework.  It seems the only show I’m really keeping up to date with is Glee. I know many people probably don’t like that show, but I really do.  Britney is probably my favorite character.  She’s pretty much an airhead but that’s what makes her so funny.  Also, I have really wanted to see that movie Easy A.  It looked pretty funny.  I haven’t heard many reviews from it though.  I just don’t have any time to do anything like that.  My life just consists of eating, sleeping, classes, homework, blogging, and weekends.  It’s really quite simple.  These blogs everyday are getting pretty difficult to do as well.  They always just slip my mind, and I will remember the next day that I didn’t do it, and have to try and catch up on them.  I’m not doing the best job after this week.  Maybe next week will be a better one.  No exams for me until next Friday.  Well Bloggy, This one sided conversation has been great.  Talk to you tomorrow.  

Blog 23

Hey again Bloggy. 2 blogs today to make up for whichever one I’ve missed.  So I think I’m going to blog about all the fat my roommate and I have in our room.  By fat I mean fattening foods.  It is really quite a problem.  My roommate, Allie, just got fresh baked cookies and muffins from her parents when they visited.  And since my parents did not visit this weekend, they sent me a care package filled with peanut butter fudge and taste of elegance cookies.  I doubt anyone knows what taste of elegance is since it’s from the Dayton area, but it is a delicious cake shop with the best icing ever.  The cookies my parents sent me were stuffed with icing and dipped in chocolate.  Then yesterday, my roommate’s parents took us to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.   It was delicious.  Her parents and brother decided to leave everyone’s leftovers with us.  So we have a fridge filled with Cheesecake Factory food and a bag filled with so many deserts.  I don’t think I’ve been surrounded by this much good food in quite some time.  Now I have the issue of this whole gaining the freshman 15.  When I first got here, I thought all of the walking to my classes would just cancel out all of the food I was eating.  But now since our room is filled with food, I think this may become somewhat of a problem for us.  Well, wish us luck Bloggy.  I’d rather not go home for Thanksgiving and be the chubby one in my family.  I’ll blog later.  Peace Bloggy.

Blog 24

Hey Bloggy. Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while, I’ve had quite a bit of studying to do.  I had my first two midterms this week, and they were quite difficult.  College is such a big step from high school classes.  I’ve studied harder and for much longer than I ever did in high school, but my grades are not as good.  I’m so used to not having to study and relying on homework to keep my grades up. Not like college whatsoever.  This midterm was kind of a reality check for the rest of this year, and shows how much time I will have to put into my classes to get good grades.  That also means I need to keep up with my blogging, which I’ve somewhat fallen behind on.  I think I will try to make up all of my missed ones tomorrow, for I don’t feel like writing 4 blogs tonight.  I don’t want to fall behind on these anymore than I already have.  So now I have 100 more words to talk about whatever I want.  Hmm..

Well today wasn’t the best day for me.  Not only have I been sick for the past week, but my not very good grade on my psych exam didn’t exactly cheer me up.  Oh and my Buck ID fell behind my dresser today which caused some issues trying to get it out.  And I popped a blood vessel in my eye. So attractive.  Sorry for such the negative blog. I will try and make my next one a bit cheerier.  I did get a Halloween costume today though.  I’m going to be a clown. Pretty excited about that one.  Well I shall blog again tomorrow. Maybe tonight, who knows.   Love Emily

Blog 21 Quotes

Parents enroll their children in a variety of activities during their youth to prepare them for the rest of their lives.  Every parent wants his or her child to be as well rounded as possible.  Parents of 4 and 5-year olds who attended a prestigious private school in New York were asked about their reasoning behind their children’s full schedules.  One mother responded with, “I remember getting chosen last by the other kids in pick-up sports.  I don’t want my son to ever experience that humiliation” (Crain 3).  It seems that parents would rather protect their children from harm rather than let them experience it on their own.  A sheltered child, in many cases, will be less educated than one who was allowed to play outside and watch television shows.  There is a social type of education that a child needs to have which is not taught to him, but only learned through observations.  Children also can learn more through their own actions and experiences rather than just being told.  Paul Goodman, a radical social critic, states that, “People must be free to make choices, even wrong choices, to learn from their mistakes” (Crain 3).  If a child never makes a mistake, then what is he ever going to learn?  This is when the free time in a child’s life becomes very important.  Kids use activities such as recess or playing in the yard as a time to explore.  They learn things about their environment and themselves, that no one will ever teach them.  

Blog 19

In the article, “Teen Control Backfires,” a study found that too much parental control can be just as bad as too little.  Some will argue that parents of teens and tweens have more difficult tasks than parents of young children, where the parents of the older kids have to try and find a perfect medium.  In this study, if a parent gave their child too much freedom, the child was more likely to take more risks, and behave poorly.  They conducted the same study for parents that were too controlling.  It seems as the parent needs to be somewhere in the middle of the two to be considered a “good parent.”  Somehow the parent needs to learn to balance being too intrusive from being too laid back.  The article suggests allowing teens “nights out but know who with and where,” instead of not even asking where they’re going.  Sara Goldstein, an assistant psychology professor stated that “it’s important for parents to make adolescents feel like they do have some freedom.”  I agree with that statement, for when a child feels like he is being sheltered or babied, he will act out against the parent.  Unless the parent wants their child to act like that, it is best to give them some form of freedom.  Trust must be established in the parent-adolescent relationship for it to be successful.  Parents need to remember that a good balance is key.

Cunningham, Aimee. "Teen Control Backfires." Scientific American Mind 16.2 (2005): 9. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Oct. 2010.

Blog 18

I read over my next article, “Parents Behaving Badly? The relationship between the sportsman ship of adults in youth basketball games,” and although this was a pretty specific topic, it had some good ideas.  In this article, there was a study conducted on different individuals in the sport environment.  Usually childhood sports are supposed to increase sportsmanship, and they are meant to build character and give kids good social skills.  In this study researches wanted to see the effect on the the sportsmanship with adults present, whether it was parents or coaches.    The research basically tells us that if the sport administrator is not doing his or her job, then the child is not gaining anything from his sport.  The administrator, or coach, must have good sportsmanship or the athlete most likely will not.  It seems that the child will always look up to the adult with great impact in their life, even if it is not a parent.  The study has also found this to be true with things such as smoking, alcohol use, and antisocial behaviors.  This article does not truely focus on the questions I was initially asking about controlling parents, but it gives me an idea about why the children will allow his or her parent to act like that.  Adults play a huge role in children’s life, and children are lead to believe that if the adult wants to run his or her children’s life, then they are allowed to.  This thought continues as the child grows into a teen and sometimes an adult.  In some cases, if this person is not told otherwise, they can be lead to believe that their parent is always right.

Arthur-Banning, Skye, et al. "Parents Behaving Badly? The Relationship between the Sportsmanship Behaviors of Adults and Athletes in Youth Basketball Games." Journal of Sport Behavior 32.1 (2009): 3-18. Academic Search Alumni Edition. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2010.

Blog 17

My second article that I read over is “The roles that parents play in the lives of their young adult children.”  This article discusses the relationships between parents and their children.  It brings up the topic of adult children living with their parents, and how that effects the children.  Most of the children that are living at home as adults feel “confused on their role in the household.”   These children also felt as if their parents still have the control over them and their decisions.  They feel as if they “don’t have a voice” against their parents.  When adults come back home to live with their parents, they develop a new relationship between them and their parents.  Now the question arises of how the parents should treat their children.  Should they support them financially and emotionally? Or since they’re now adults should it be their own problem?  This causes much stress in the relationship and may potentially ruin it.  This doesn’t exactly cover the issue of the hovering parent, but may actually be one of the causes of it.  If a child won’t leave home, is the parent forced to take care of them? There are many different views on what a parent should actually provide for their children, especially when the child is an adult.  It’s a whole different situation from when the child is young and when the child is an adult.

Vassallo, Suzanne, Diana Smart, and Rhys Price-Robertson. "The roles that parents play in the lives of their young adult children." Family Matters 82 (2009): 8-14. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 9 Oct. 2010.

Blog 16. Article 1

The first article I read over for my paper was the article “Controlling Childhood” and this basically covers everything I had questions about.  First off, it explains why parents feel the need to “hover” over their children.  Parents feel the need to keep them safe from all of the evils of the world, and never want them to experience feelings such as humiliation or failure.  They will train their children to be seemingly “perfect” so they never will fail.  This article then explains that children need to experience these things so they can learn from it.  If a child jumps off a rock and gets hurt, they will learn to either jump off the rock a safer way, or learn not to jump off the rock.  The controlling parents that don’t let their children explore are not teaching them anything.  Children need to explore the world to actually learn anything for themselves.  The article next talks about “over-scheduled” children.  Parents seem to over book their children with sports and academics to “build them the perfect resume.”  It seems all the parents are worried about are their children’s applications to college.  If their child can get into a good school, they can achieve anything.  And by forcing them to play these sports and join these clubs, it seems as they will get into those schools.  Finally this article talks about how schools are also setting their standards higher for children, which in fact gives them less time to explore, and be themselves.  The article says, “In order to raise academic achievement, schools have largely eliminated unstructured play in kindergarten. Many schools have cut out or sharply reduced recess as well.”  This loss of free time goes back to making the child rely on adults again.  They need time set aside for themselves so they can experience life.

Crain, William. "Controlling Childhood." Encounter 2008: 3+. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2010.

Blog 15

In my paper about "The Witch" episode, I am focusing on the effect of over-controlling parents on their children.  I want to know what the reasoning behind parents acting this way is.  I’ve already been through this in my last blog, but I want to answer questions like why parents want to live through their children, and why do parents have such high expectations for something their child doesn’t even enjoy? Does this effect the child’s independence later in life? Will it prevent them from being able to make decisions on their own? Does the child feel obligated to please their parent? Or is it that they want attention from their parent, so engaging in the same activities their parents were in will get them attention easier.  After reading these articles I should be able to get a grip on most of these questions.  

Works Cited

Crain, William. "Controlling Childhood." Encounter 2008: 3+. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2010.

Vassallo, Suzanne, Diana Smart, and Rhys Price-Robertson. "The roles that parents play in the lives of their young adult children." Family Matters 82 (2009): 8-14. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2010.

Arthur-Banning, Skye, et al. "Parents Behaving Badly? The Relationship between the Sportsmanship Behaviors of Adults and Athletes in Youth Basketball Games." Journal of Sport Behavior 32.1 (2009): 3-18. Academic Search Alumni Edition. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2010.

Riesch, Susan K., et al. "Furthering the Understanding of Parent–Child Relationships: A Nursing Scholarship Review Series. Part 5: Parent–Adolescent and Teen Parent–Child Relationships." Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing 15.3 (2010): 182-201. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2010.

Blog 14. The Witch

I chose to re-watch the episode “Witch” from the first season.  I liked the whole theme of parents putting too much pressure on their kids and not letting them live their own lives.  In this episode, Buffy decides to try out for cheerleading.  Girl’s on the squad start getting hurt, Buffy realizes these aren’t natural causes.  There is a witch somewhere casting spells to hurt these girls, eventually getting them kicked off the squad.  Buffy figures out it is one of the alternates, Amy, who is doing this to the girls.  Amy’s mom, Catherine, was a super star cheerleader in high school, and they would call her “Catherine the Great”.  Buffy knows Amy is forced to live in her mom’s shadow.  Later in the episode, we find out that Amy’s mom’s expectations for Amy are much higher than a normal parent’s expectations should be.  When Buffy and Giles show up to Amy’s house to talk to her mom, they are shocked to find out Amy’s mom has switched bodies with Amy just to cheer on the cheerleading squad.  When Buffy says to Amy (in her mom’s body), “She switched your bodies didn’t she? She wanted to relive her glory days”, she pretty much explains the situation perfectly.  Amy’s mom believed that since Amy was not living up to her standards, she was “wasting her youth,” so Catherine decided to take it.  Some parents are way too harsh on their kids when it comes to expectations. Why do adults want to relive their experiences through their kids? Do they not realize it’s their child’s life not theirs.  Parents should learn to be happy for their children and not try to control their lives.  

Blog 13

Today I watched the episode “The Dark Age”, and it was mainly based around Giles’ past.  Buffy and her friends joke around during the beginning and talk about how Giles has never done anything fun in his life and the only thing he thinks about is probably schoolwork.  A man shows up to the library one night looking for Giles, but he wont answer the door.  Some zombie comes out of nowhere and kills this man, and the police find him in the morning.  It turns out Giles knew this man from his younger days and used to hang out with him.  After more zombies start coming for Giles, Buffy gets concerned.  He tells her about his past and how him and his friends used to summon this spirit to get a “high”.  Apparently one time it got out of control and this spirit took the body of one of his friends.  The only way Giles was able to take care of this was to kill his friend.  Now the spirit is back and wants to kill everyone that was in Giles’ group of friends.  Giles then puts Buffy and her friends in danger after they find out about this spirit.  This episode takes on the idiom of having “skeletons in the closet”.  Giles has one, pretty much literally.  Everyone finds out about the man he killed, and the spirit he used to conjure up. This episode shows that everyone has their secrets, and many times they are not what would be expected.  How do people keep such big secrets like this?  Why is it such a big deal that these secrets are kept? And is it necessary to keep a secret from people that may be put in danger because of it?

Passion.

So the episode of Buffy  (“Passion”) that I watched today started off with Angel hovering over Buffy in her bed, watching her sleep.  This totally reminded me of an Edward and Bella situation.  I loved it.  This episode was mentioned in the “High School is Hell” article.  The whole metaphor was about Angel not being himself anymore after he slept with Buffy.  When Buffy and Angel slept together, Angel reached a point of true happiness, which caused his soul to be taken from him.  After his soul was taken, his only goal was to kill Buffy.  He will do anything just to make her miserable.  He starts by killing Willow’s fish, then tries to kill Buffy’s mom, then eventually kill’s one of Buffy’s teachers.  Buffy has a very serious talk with her mother, and tells her all about how Angel has changed.  This really made the theme obvious, considering they purely talked about how Angel was not the same as he used to be.  Why does this happen in so many relationships? I guess having sex either makes a couple even stronger, or ruins their relationship.  It can change a relationship for the worst if this is all one of the people is looking for.  Even though Angel wasn’t just looking for sex in his relationship with Buffy, that is what happens in many cases.  Usually it’s the girl who gets screwed over in relationships like this, but it can happen to the guys as well.  It’s always smart to play it safe in a new relationship, and make sure the choices that are made won’t hurt what you already have.

More Buffy

Hello Bloggy.  I’m on the second season of Buffy still, and I watched episode 16.  The beginning of the episode starts off with Xander and Cordelia dating.  I don’t have a clue how this came about but apparently Cordelia’s opinions of Xander must have changed at some point, and now she likes him.  Cordelia’s friends keep giving her crap for dating a loser, and since she’s always very popularity conscious, she decides to break up with him.  I could tell that Cordelia didn’t actually want to lose him, but she would rather have her friends than a boyfriend.  Xander reacts to this breakup by finding Amy, the witch, and blackmailing her into helping him cast a spell.  He wants a spell that will make Cordelia fall in love with him, but instead the spell works out differently.  The spell ends up attracting every girl in Sunnydale to Xander, and this causes much mayhem.  The girls get brutal and try to kill the other girls and even try to kill Xander.  Giles is actually the one to save Xander in the end, which is surprising since Buffy is usually the one to save the city.  Finally after all of the women no longer are attracted to Xander, Cordelia stands up to her friends and tells them she can date whoever she wants to date.  So in the end Xander got what he wanted.  Cordelia shouldn’t have let her friends push her around like that, and their opinions shouldn’t have mattered so much.  So many people in high school will do anything to fit in, and do things like break up with their boyfriends just because he isn’t cool enough.  Although a friend’s opinion is important, no one should ever let it control them.  It’s always important to be yourself. We hear that all the time but its pretty major to actually take that advice.  

Reptile Boy

Today I watched the 5th episode of the second season of Buffy, and it was a pretty action-packed episode. It took on the scene of a typical college frat party.  Lots of kids and lots of drinking.  Cordelia convinces Buffy to go with her, since the frat boys were all over Buffy, and obviously Cordelia just wants to fit in.  When Cordelia and Buffy get to the party, Cordelia immediately runs off with one of the boys.  Buffy hangs out alone for a while, until one of the frat boys asks her to dance.  They talk for a while about Buffy’s maturity, and he convinces her to take a break from reality and just have fun.  So of course, when Buffy is offered a drink, she takes it.  Not too smart of a decision on her part.  Buffy and Cordelia were obviously given some drugs, and passed out on the bed.  They woke up in chains and were sacrifices from the frat’s master.  Buffy saves everyone in the end, and they all end up ok.  I think the theme of this episode is everything that your parents tell you about a college party.  No taking any open drinks, no going off alone with someone you don’t know, and don’t go anywhere by yourself.  The girls failed all of these rules.  Anything can happen when aren’t in control of the situation, and by taking the drinks the girls were no longer in control.  This happens very often in real-life situations, and I think many kids are aware of this.  Usually the kids that are taken advantage of are not put up for sacrifices, but nothing good ever comes out of it.  Buffy should have paid more attention to her surroundings, and not let the boy get control of her.

Season 2 of Buffy

Bloggy! It's Friday! Hulu's first season of Buffy expired on September 30, so I had to start off with season two today.  I was a little lost with what was going on with all of the different characters, but eventually the underlying theme of killing vampires came back.  Buffy comes back after being gone all summer, with no killing of anyone.  Apparently, Buffy killed of the Master at the end of last season, and she was very disturbed about this.  This whole episode was based around Buffy’s attitude and how she was treating everyone.  Buffy is not really herself anymore.  She ignores her friends, is rude to all of her peers and also to her parents.  In this episode, the vampires in Sunnydale are trying to bring back the Master back to life.  In last season (which I missed), the Master had somehow killed Buffy for a few minutes.  The Master coming back to life obviously upsets Buffy, but she is much more upset than in previous episodes.  It takes her until she finally crushes his bones with a sledge hammer to mentally be back to herself again.  If Buffy never really got closure with the Master’s bones, would she have stayed like that forever? Would she have lost all of her friends since she had acted so rudely to them? I guess this is related to people in reality who suffer from depression.  Many people will lose their friends because they don’t act like themselves anymore, and are no longer enjoyable to be around.  Luckily, Buffy’s friends really are true to her and acted like nothing was wrong in the end.  They must be pretty good friends to ignore how they were treated.  See you later Bloggy.