Sesame Street - Always Inspirational

Daily, I listen to NPR, watch Telemundo, CNN, the BBC and anything considered news .  I am a true news and political junkie.  So, when I stumbled across NPR's All Things Considered Segment on Sesame Street's Song- "I Love My Hair" I was glued.

Sesame Street  head writer and Muppeteer, Joey Mazzarino, Sesame Street, wrote the song for his 5-year old daughter, Segi. 

The little puppet sings about loving herself and appreciating herself.  The video teaches self-esteem and acceptance.  I was brought to tears of joy (again).  The video reminded me of Carolivia Herron's book, "Nappy Hair".



Tenaj and Phoenix, Fall 2010



Growing up in the midwest, I was blessed to have a mother and father who showered my sister Tasha and I with praises.  Our parents helped us to learn how to love ourselves.   I could always look at my beautiful mom and just love everything she represented.



As a mother, I can see how happy my girls are with themselves.  There are so many external factors that can easily influence a child.  However, like many children, my daughters, Tenaj and Phoenix, are constantly discovering life.  I watch Sesame Street with both girls and am constantly amazed with the segments.  My amazement transcends to my memories as a child.  Thank you Sesame Street!

 

Is that color?

"Tenaj!  Tenaj.  Help me.  I can't find my glasses.  Help me find them."  She would come into the room, chuckle with her dad and then proceed to help me locate my spectacles.  Sometimes, they were right in front of me.  Each year, I felt the world become more bleary.  Every year, I'd ask my optometrist if I was a candidate for Lasik.  He'd reply that with my degree of myopia, that I would be better off going to his specialist- the charge,  definitely out of my price range. 

I can see clearly now

Flash forward a few years and now, every morning, I smile and thank the creator for waking me up.  I can turn over and see my husband sleeping softly or my youngest who has crawled into the bed to snooze. I don't have to call my oldest daughter into our room at odd times to help me find my glasses.  

March 2010, I made a major decision.  After many months of research and interviewing the right centers,  I used my flexible spending account money from work to get Lasik.

The procedure took less than 15 minutes (I had both eyes done) and I was actually able to see the same day.  My husband went with me.  I held onto Paul's arm as we journeyed inside.  He loves watching operations so he took much joy in watching the live feed of my procedure.    Afterwards, we lunched at Ruby Tuesdays.  This experience was memorable.  Paul asked one of the waiters to sing for me (his voice was similar to Ricardo Montalbán) and I was definitely a happy camper. 

I love being able to see.  I can swim without worry (i.e. bumping into people or paying lots of money for prescription goggles).  I can see trees and colors clearly. Details are so much more important to me. Most of all, I enjoy not having to order contacts and wear glasses.  My glasses were so expensive, because of the high prescription. 

I feel as if I have a new lease on life.  The past few years, I have prayed for some remarkable changes to occur.  Slowly, as I stay true to myself and open to the offerings of life, my prayers are materializing.   Everything is possible.

Rushing to Judgement- Shirley Sherrod Saved

Ms. Shirley Sherrod

I love the news.  Any and all news, I want to know what's going locally and globally.  I am a political junkie and living in DC has only deepened this passion. But the recent incident involving Shirley Sherrod made my mind swirl.  When the news initially broke that she was forced to resign (by pulling over and submitting her resignation).  Nothing made sense and the news media did not connect the dots.  

Ode to all news media and major organizations- fact check before publishing any content, hence the full story of Shirley Sherrod. A snippet of her speech was taped by conservative web publisher and Tea Party advocate Andrew Breitbart.  Many major news agencies ran the story and no one bothered to fact check or listen to the entire speech she gave before the NAACP banquet.  No one wondered why the farmer she spoke of highly still regarded her as a heroine.

It is clear that there is something wrong with Andrew Breitbart's politics, especially since he was intentionally running a smear campaign to bring down the NAACP.  The only organization that came out on top was the Black Caucus.  They were the only organization that listened to the speech in its entirety before posting judgement.

In the end, Shirley Sherrod has been vindicated.  Did journalists really learn from this episode?  Why is the tea party not feeling the heat?  Finally, Andrew Breitbart, who started this debacle, should have all of his work re-evaluated. 

Yardsale

Tenaj enjoying her moment

I yell at my children all of the time. I also don't mind when other people politely correct my children either.  Goodness, I was corrected on many occasions as a child.  However, it's different when someone is outright rude to your child or any other child. 

Recently, my daughter helped a friend with a yard sale.  She worked with another young lady to encourage neighbors in the trendy Takoma Park neighborhood to buy their wares.  The items were true steals and the girls had a chance to laugh gossip and be creative in their sales techniques.   I beamed with joy as my older daughter took to her new tasks, while my little one pranced around, watching her sister with adoration. 

The day was definitely perfect.  I entered the house to prepare lunch.  I returned to the yard, with hot dogs, lemonade, and chips, only to find my oldest daughter visibly shaken and a bit distraught.  I went into a mild panic mode.   You see, my daughter is usually pretty level headed.  It takes a lot to rattle her and I admit, she can be pretty clueless when people do mean things.  My husband is the realist, while I have sheltered my kids from a lot of things.

Tenaj, Phoenix and my niece Krystal

As I set the food down, I noticed  that some of the goods were sold.  "Wow.  You both sold quite a few good sales while I was inside!"   My daughter turned to my with a wry smile, "We did.  But there was a problem.  As we were yelling, 'Yard sale!  Come get fantastic good for a bargain', to everyone passing the house, the guy across the street yelled back- 'Of course we know you are having a yard sale.  It's quite apparent.  You don't have to advertise.'   He came back five minutes later with his friend and they purchased a table.  I felt weird, even as his friend purchased the table."

Normally, I try not to react, because my temper is quick.  I calmed myself down and I reiterated to my daughter that unfortunately, there will always be miserable people in the world.  I couldn't help but wonder, why would someone be so mean-spirited to children and teenagers.  True, my daughter is rather tall for her age, but she still looks like a child, not a grown-up.  Perhaps the guy felt guilty about his words and came back to purchase items.

I hate when my children have unpleasant experiences.  I know that every situation forces them to learn something and to get stronger. But all children should be allowed to be children.