Meet Grayson

Grayson is a 9-year-old boy who lives with his family, goes to school and does pretty much what other 9-year-old boys do. With one difference. 

Grayson LOVES My Little Pony. He loves them so much, that when he needed a new lunchbox and his mum took him to buy one, he chose a My Little Pony lunchbox. And his mum, being the incredible woman she is, said nothing about the gender bias of the show and bought him the lunchbox. 

This story should end here. But it doesn't. 

Because Grayson carried that lunchbox to school, kids at the school started to bully Grayson.  How did the school react?  They asked Grayson and his mum what they expected would happen if a boy brought a girls' lunchbox to school. They told Grayson to hide it in his schoolbag. Then they banned Grayson from bringing it to school at all. So, rather than deal with the bullies and put a stop to Grayson's torment, they laid blame on the victim. 

I told Squish about Grayson last night (Banana was upstairs sleeping - she wasn't feeling well) and told her he was being bullied because he had a My Little Pony lunch box and liked the show. Squish and Banana both like the show, too. Out of curiosity, I asked Squish, "what do you think of this?" Meaning both Grayson's love of My Little Pony and the bullying. 

Her response made me think I'm doing a good job with my girls. She said:

"That's dumb. People should be allowed to like what they like and bring whatever they want to school without being bullied. If he likes My Little Pony, who cares?  No one else should."  She meant that no one else should care if a boy likes a "girl's" show. 

I hugged her and she said she wanted to write Grayson a letter telling him he should be happy about who he is. And to let him know WE care and we are speaking out for him, and with him. 

We are behind you, Grayson. 

To the cashier at Metro

Thanks for the compliment that at least I "knew what was for dinner" when I was in last week picking up ingredients for that night's dinner.  We were talking about how I couldn't find a certain type of noodles and how your family (your siblings) are so picky. 

The thing is, I don't always know what's for dinner. Most of the time I get home from work and think "we have to be out the door for {insert program here} by 5:45. What the hell am I going to feed the kids?"

Funny thing is, I have a crock pot, a full fridge and freezer and pantry, tons of ingredients, a good imagination and access to a few really good apps for cooking. Yet most days, I can't figure out what to make. 

Often, we have leftovers available to eat. But my kids usually won't eat leftovers. They have to REALLY like what was for dinner the night (or two) before to deign to eat *gasp* reheated pre-cooked leftover food.  

I have a finite amount of time from Monday to Thursday to get food stuffed in their faces, homework done (or at least started), piano practiced, swimsuits, towels and karate uniforms located (still can't find Banana's karate belt. Let's hope she grades for her yellow and we won't have to look for her white one anymore), art supplies gathered, music binders collected and somewhere in there I have to manage to feed myself or get some housework done. Usually it's one or the other. 

I'm not complaining, and I didn't feel your  comment was insensitive. I just had to laugh a little because you thought I had it all put together, when in reality, I'd only picked the recipes a couple of hours earlier to complement the one dish I knew I was going to make. 

At least I can pull off the illusion of pre-planning. 

That said...

What am I going to make for dinner tonight before we run out the door for swim lessons?