Vikings Return

Daddy needed a haircut today.  And maybe a trim of the beard.

This is a screen shot of a video we did for our Viking series, during a relaxed moment where I got to take off my Viking hat a few moments.  I've sort of let my hair go wild lately.  Anyway, this and other videos are being set up for our new series coming up soon, but we're also working on the dinosaur videos, planning out ideas for that as well.  We've got some great stuff coming up at KidPak!

Oddly enough Daddy did actually get a haircut today, visiting my favorite salon: the kitchen.  That's where Mommy cuts my hair.  Mommy has been the hairstylist for Daddy the last twenty years or so.  I think outside of that, the only place I've gotten my hair cut was at the Magic Kingdom, and maybe once at a place that did it for free in Gainesville.

Madison was early to school again this morning.  She's wanting to get there earlier now, and have more time to settle in before the day gets really going.  This week they're going to have a tornado drill, which is convenient timing because I believe by Thursday there will be some rougher weather rolling in.  The tornado siren is one of the eeriest things you can hear, isn't it?

Madison did not have Live to Give today, which was good because Daddy was at work and we were busy preparing for a lot of different things, such as the new series above, our typical Wednesday night services, and an upcoming "Night to Shine" event at the church, which looks like it will be simply wonderful.

This will be on Friday, a high school prom set up exclusively for those with special needs.  It's a brilliant idea, and such a wonderful night of love and celebration.  We're looking forward to it very much.

Madison had taekwondo tonight, and she was somewhat sore afterwards, this from stretching muscles that she hasn't stretched in a while.  Getting back into the swing of things can be tricky when you're like Madison, who isn't one to just ease into certain things.  Rather, she can sometimes dive headlong into whatever she's doing.  End result:  slightly sore tonight. But she's having a great time, and loving it so much.

We got home tonight, and we watched a few episodes of "Kickin' It," which seems to be our pattern until we're done binge-watching that.  Madison was getting ready for bed, and the State of the Union speech came on, so we watched that - it had some big moments in it.

How incredible to see a Tuskegee Airman, one hundred years old, standing proud before the assembly there, as if he could get right into another airplane and start flying again.  He served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and many in the audience rose to their feet to give him a standing ovation.  But there were some that did not stand up for him, which is unfortunate.  In fact, let's just say it is wrong.  The bar keeps getting lowered on what kind of behavior to expect from our leaders.  This man has earned our respect.  The ones who remained seated have not.

Anyway, there were other emotionally charged moments too, such as the moving Presidential Medal of Freedom honor to that person with stage four cancer we were talking about yesterday.  A little girl got a scholarship so she can go to the school of her choice.  There was a reunion of a family with their dad, a soldier returning from his tour of duty.  It included a lot of made-for-television moments.  But just like always, one party stands and cheers while the other sits there looking like they're somewhat constipated.  And in the end, to put a punctuation mark on their dislike of the President, the Speaker of the House actually made a big show of ripping the entire speech in half in front of everyone.

The optics of this are just crazy.  Fact checks seem to support that the state of the union is, in fact, good.  But one party's followers are cheering now, because their leaders showed an angry defiance, scowling and ripping up speeches.  Yay!  While the other party's followers are cheering about good reports about jobs, the economy, planting trees, testimonies and things like that.  Yay!

So that's where we are with our leaders.  It's such an odd thing, because it is not a civil thing at all.  Any seventh-grader can look at this and say these leaders are not acting like grown-ups.  I mean, can't we all cheer about certain things?  Are we so full of pride that we can't be happy to hear about low unemployment numbers?  If someone tells the truth about things you agree with, things that are good for our country, stand up and applaud for the good that is happening.  So what if you yourself didn't happen to be a part of that process?  Be a decent human, and cheer for other people who are benefiting in a good way.  And if you don't agree with a policy or vision that someone has, yes, you don't cheer for that.  But at the same time, don't be disrespectful to authority.  Again, even if it were to someone you strongly disagree with.  If I were in that chamber last night, or ten years ago, or twenty years ago, I would cheer for good news for the people of this nation, no matter who is sharing that news.  And I would not cheer for a plan for the future that I disagree with.  But there are things that we can and should all agree on, simple truths.  But it seems that in Washington lately, there is nothing people can agree on.  A simple thing like celebrating a Tuskegee Airman - you'd think that's something we all can agree on.

But that doesn't happen with our leaders.  Every year with this speech, it's predictable.  These leaders are now paving the way, and showing everyone else how to behave.  Many are pointing to the past, saying that is why we're misbehaving.  The explanation is, "We're misbehaving because someone on the other side was misbehaving before, and so now it is our turn to misbehave back, and do it worse."

As if that makes it okay for you to misbehave.

Remember "Miracle on 34th Street?"  Santa works at the Macy's store, and he stops this vicious cycle.  Following his lead, Macy's starts honoring others, including the competing Gimbel's store, and they focus on the people they serve.

It's such a well-received and loved idea that all the stores begin to change their behavior too.  Suddenly, everyone is helping one another!  Sure, they all have competing ideas of where they want to go.  But they honor one another, and they honor the people they serve.

Yeah, sure, it's just a movie.  But that's what we need in Washington.  Everyone should take a lesson from Santa. We need to start honoring one another, and serving the people.