Friday, April 26, 2013

Friday Fragments


Thursday was Take Your Child To Work Day and thus Hope spent a few hours in his office with Brandon. She always wants to do this, but I expect she was ready to get back to school after a bit of child labor in the office. I think Take Your Child To Work Day is a good idea, but I have to wonder about how people with with no kids like it when others show up at work with their kids in tow.


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This is a short conversation my daughter heard between 5 year old EJ and a friend who had come over to play.


EJ says to her friend, "Want to play a real game?"
Friend: "What do you mean?"
EJ: "You know, one without a cartridge."

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I think that I am usually a cheerful person and that I see most things with a positive frame of mind. That being said, there are some things that bring out my cranky side. Specifically, I really, really don't like practical jokes. At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old woman, I just don't see the humor in doing something to someone else that scares, embarrasses tricks or shames them. I just don't understand the "gotcha" element of getting a laugh at someone else's expense.

While I'm at it, I also get a little crotchety when the weather reporters feel the need to tell me that I need a jacket or an umbrella or that I need to leave early on a snowy day. If I can't figure those things out from a straight report of weather conditions I have bigger problems than being grumpy.

Okay, I'm back to being cheerful and positive now.....thanks for listening.





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17 comments:

  1. Hey, I'm with you on the practical jokes. I don't see the fun in it for the most part, especially the mean ones. I love the "real game" thing. Last weekend we went to dinner to new Japanese friends home. They have two cute kids and after dinner the kids wanted to play a game -- we did a board game called Sequence and had such a good time! I thought, this is what it should be. People playing games with each other, on a table, talking, having fun. It was lovely.

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  2. Ha! Your mini rant made me laugh. I brought my younger daughter to work one Saturday and my boss was so surprised to see her typing a short story and then illustrating it. Me, too! I was so proud of little Lisa.

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  3. Love the conversation between the two kids - cute! And I am relieved to find out I am not the only one who hates practical jokes - thank you for sharing that!

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  4. Glad to see I wasn't the only grumpy one this week! I'm with you on the practical jokes! I like surprises, but not joke surprises. When take your kids to work day began, my youngest were still in middle/high school. It was awkward taking them out to sit and watch me work with other kids, so, it didn't happen! Good experience for the kids, though, to see what parents do at work. I will always have board games around the house for anyone to play! Good post!

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  5. Jeanie, grump away - it does us good sometimes. Loved the conversation about "real" games.

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  6. I completely agree that practical jokes are neither practical nor a joke. There's nothing funny about anything that can harm or embarrass anyone else. That's why I've never liked America's Funniest Home Videos; most of them aren't funny.

    I've always enjoyed the "take your child to work" concept because I enjoy working with kids even though I don't have kids of my own. It's an opportunity to teach, even if it's teaching how the photocopier works because "Mom needs copies of this." Where I am a bit of less the social norm, is I never liked it when women on leave bring their babies into the office. That messes with productivity and usually means something doesn't get completed or everyone stays late. Babies don't even make copies.

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  7. A still enjoy a "real" game from time to time. Kids conversations are GREAT!! Hope you have a great weekend!

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  8. Oh I know...I totally don't like to have practical jokes played on me...and so I usually don't play them on other people either!

    I am a sympathetic person and I always feel so sorry for anyone being teased or be-littled.

    I Hope you will have a good weekend my friend.

    Love, Linda

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  9. I don't like practical jokes either...I think take your Child to work day is a good idea...our kids always came to work with us...I think it helps them know what their parents do...we have our own business...my daughter came to the office with me...my son worked with my husband in the field...he is now a service tech for our company...has been for almost 11 years now...Hotrod now comes to the office with me every day....he's starting to help me with shredding papers....getting papers from the printer....
    I'm usually a positive person too..but sometimes things do rile me up....

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  10. Practical jokes are expected in our family, but it is a family thing. This is done primarily on April Fools Day and usually consists of a tall tale rather than a prank. One thing I hate is someone hiring a stripper to celebrate an occasion. I warned my coworkers if they ever wasted their money on that for me I would simply walk out of the room and that would be that. They knew I meant it.

    Loved taking my kids to work and seemingly everyone enjoyed all the kids, even the ones without kids. But probably they went home and grumbled to their family/friends.

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  11. That was cute how you sneaked in your pet peeves.

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  12. Read your posts...caught up and love to hear how you and your family are doing. Todd's girls went to work with him today... a day late I guess. Shay the five year old came here for a while first. She had a bag of toys with her to take. I asked what all that was for... she raised her eye brows and said, "Daddy's office is really boring!" (o: We need to get together soon.

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  13. We're all entitled to have a bit of grumpiness now and then. I think it relieves the pressure so we can smile again. :-)

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  14. When I was still teaching in a small private school, I "took my son" to work with me every day and he was even in my class.

    Not such a "treat" EVERY day to be mom AND teacher.

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  15. A cartridge-ha! Funny and a tiny bit sad too. I'm glad they still want to play real games.

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  16. Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I don't mind harmless April Fools pranks-especially if they're performed by a child-but everything else makes me crabby, too.

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  17. Love the game comment. I am with you on the weather people - I am also sick of the snow. I know we need the moisture, but couldn't it rain. Getting around with this cast on my leg is getting old and making me cranky - Ha!

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