Reason number 56 why we homeschool

Okay, so I don't actually have a list of why we homeschool, but you get the idea.

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on

Stacy, can I come over after school? (after school)
We can hang around by the pool (hang by the pool)
Did your mom get back from her business trip? (business trip)
Is she there, or is she trying to give me the slip? (give me the slip)

You know, I'm not the little boy that I used to be
I'm all grown up now, baby can't you see

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
She's all I want and I've waited for so long
Stacy, can't you see you're just not the girl for me
I know it might be wrong but I'm in love with Stacy's mom

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on

Stacy, do you remember when I mowed your lawn? (mowed your lawn)
Your mom came out with just a towel on (towel on)
I could tell she liked me from the way she stared (the way she stared)
And the way she said, "You missed a spot over there" (a spot over there)

And I know that you think it's just a fantasy
But since your dad walked out, your mom could use a guy like me

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
She's all I want, and I've waited so long
Stacy, can't you see you're just not the girl for me
I know it might be wrong,
but I'm in love with Stacy's mom

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
She's all I want and I've waited for so long,
Stacy can't you see your just not the girl for me,
I know it might be wrong but oh oh
(I know it might be wrong)
I'm in love with (Stacy's mom oh oh)
(Stacys mom oh oh)
I'm in love with Stacy's mom

What do you think? An appropriate song for children (K-8) to listen to? I certainly don't think so. Heck, I don't think it's appropriate for adults. It's a disgusting song.

So why am I posting about it and what does it have to do with homeschooling? We went to the fun fair at my nephew's school on Friday evening. A large part of it was outside, with games and food and a bouncy castle. Great kid fun. And there was a sound system, cranking out the tunes. Some Beatles stuff, some other fairly innocent stuff, and this song. It's not like the kids were in charge of the music either. The adults were playing it.

I don't care if it seems old fashioned of me; if teachers or school administrators think that a song like this is appropriate to play over the speakers at a children's event, something is very wrong. And if they claim to not know what the song is about, they are negligent at best. It is their responsibility to know. Ignorance is no excuse for playing sexually suggestive junk at a school fun fair.

No one batted an eye. No one in charge made a move for the player to change songs. The kids around me were singing and humming the tune like it was a T.V jingle. It wasn't even a blip on anyone's radar that the children were playing and running around while a sexually inappropriate song was blanketing them all.

I wish I'd said something. I really do. I may still email the school. I don't know what good it will do, but shouldn't they know that someone noticed? That someone cares that the music (at best) wasn't screened? I fear that this kind of garbage is so ingrained into the lives of children anymore that I will come across as the strange one (not that I would be bothered by that - I'm not exactly into conformity for the sake of not stirring the pot).

I guess I'm more disappointed than surprised. Disappointed that a song like this didn't raise any eyebrows but mine. Disappointed that children would know the lyrics to it. Disappointed that a place where parents believe their kids to be safe would pour this kind of garbage into their brains.

UPDATE - Heard back from the school. Here is the entire, disappointing conversation...

Me, yesterday
I just wanted to take a moment to comment on something that I observed (heard) at your fun fair. We don't have children at "insert school name" but I do have family there.

While we were outside playing games and eating, the music that was playing caught my attention. The song was called "Stacy's Mom." The lyrics in full can be found here http://www.lyrics007.com/Fountains%20Of%20Wayne%20Lyrics/Stacy%27s%20Mom%20Lyrics.html

In part, they include
"Stacy, do you remember when I mowed your lawn? (mowed your lawn)
Your mom came out with just a towel on (towel on)
I could tell she liked me from the way she stared (the way she stared)
And the way she said, "You missed a spot over there" (a spot over there)
And I know that you think it's just a fantasy
But since your dad walked out, your mom could use a guy like me"

I was quite stunned and disappointed that no one changed songs. No one seemed to mind at all that sexually suggestive lyrics were being played at a children's event. It's troublesome that whoever the adult was in charge of the music (as well as all of the staff who were outside) either didn't think this song was inappropriate or weren't paying attention to the fact that a song about wanting to have sex with a friend's mother was playing loudly over the event. If music is going to be played, someone needs to be accountable for the choice of songs.[/QUOTE]

The reply from the Principal

I am so sorry if you were offended by our song choices, but do want you to know that we tried to be proactive this year and had staff (as opposed to parents or students) create an appropriate selection of songs, spending hours listening to and filtering. Ironically, we had numerous people comment on how much they enjoyed the music and the welcoming atmosphere at the Fun Fair. I am certainly willing to discuss your concerns further, please feel free to either give me a call or make an appointment to see me.


My reply

Thank you for your quick reply.

I am stunned and really saddened that a song about a boy who explicitly wants to have sex with his friend's mother is considered appropriate. I can't imagine what it would take for a song to be rejected in that case. Given your apparent lack of concern over such an overtly sexual song being played at a children's event, I see no reason to get together to discuss anything. It's pretty clear that I'm out of touch with what is considered fine versus filth by our public educators.

I can't say that we will be bringing our kids back to support your fun fair again next year, though, knowing what kind of lyrics they could very probably be hearing. Call me old fashioned (or just in possession of some common sense), but sexually suggestive songs aren't what come to mind when I think of creating a "fun atmosphere" for children.

Square Foot Gardening

We're trying something new this year. "Square Foot Gardening." It's a rather radical approach to back yard gardening that minimizes space and maximizes yield. We are doing it on a small scale with some tomatoes, peppers, cukes and assorted greens and things like beets, radishes and broccoli. We went with two beds that are four by two rather than four by four. Here is the first one.


The tomatoes (and cukes in the next pic) will be supported on a net which we'll be installing shortly. They will grow vertically to both save space and allow for a more manageable growing and harvesting situation. Growing them vertically allows for better plant support as well.

Here is the second garden.



The Lemon Cucumber is a new experiment this year. I can't wait to see how they turn out. Ditto the Pak Choi.

I'll blog about the garden's progress as the season goes on. We'll mulch the beds once the seeds sprout. I suspect we'll need to water them this year (as opposed to last year when we barely needed to water anything).

And a special thanks to Linda Crago at Tree and Twig for her tireless dedication to heirloom plants. She is my source for the tomatoes, broccoli, the Sweet Pimento and the many of the seeds. Plus much of my inspiration.

Rib fix

Okay, again I'll apologize from the outset that I am not a photo food blogger. There are no pictures of the ribs we enjoyed so much last night. Only fond memories in blog form.

I've been craving ribs since the weather turned nice. Even went to a "pasta and rib place" nearby. They really should not claim to be a rib place at all. They burned them. Though they burned the onion rings too, so really I shouldn't have expected much.

After that disappointment I knew what I had to do. Buy my own ribs. Though that in itself proved to be a little frustrating. First, there were ice crystals on the meat. They explained that they are shipped to them on ice and that their cooler sometimes goes below zero. But that the ribs weren't frozen. Um, yeah, they were. So I didn't buy more to freeze for later.

And maybe I need to learn butcher-speak, but when the woman behind the counter asked if I wanted the long racks cut in half I expected them to be cut down so that they would fit better on a grill. Instead they left the length and cut them to create ridiculously narrow racks of tiny ribs. I've never seen that done. Maybe it would work for appetizers? I don't know. So I had to endure their lecture on "cut in half" versus "cut across" before they would cut two new racks in a way that actually made some sense to me. Note to self, maybe look at going elsewhere for ribs.

Anyway, after all that I set about making a good rub for them. I have a book by Steven Raichlen that is all about rubs, bastes, sauces and such. Since I was also going to be smoking a couple of rump roasts for later use, I chose a rub with no sugar in it, opting to mop the ribs with a mix of a Lambic beer with cherry and some cola for sweetness. I let them sit for a few hours and soaked a mix of maple and apple woods.

I have a gas grill, not a smoker. So I use the indirect heat method with a smoker box that I bought. It's a metal box with holes in the lid that sits right on the bottom of the barbecue. I use two parts wet wood chips to one part dry. Once they got smoking I put the ribs on. I don't think the heat was high enough, though. Even with mopping they dried out a bit. Re-reading Mr. Raichlen's notes it seems that a slightly higher temp (up to 325F) for a bit less time would produce a better result. Duely noted for the next time.

Since we weren't going to have them that night I went ahead and wrapped them in foil and popped them into the fridge. I love that about ribs. They can be smoked ahead of time and reheated later.

I made a barbecue sauce (thanks again to Mr. Raichlen for the inspiration) from cola, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, a little steak sauce, honey, molasses, garlic and onion powders and some allspice. The recipe called for liquid smoke, but I have none. So I used some smoked paprika. Hot smoked paprika. It made for a delicious sauce that was too spicy for the kids. Bummer. I cut it with some store bought stuff that is pretty good in a pinch (President's Choice Smokin' Stampede Chipotle Beer, I believe it's called) and all was fine. The ribs glazed up beautifully and we tucked in to a meal that served to both satisfy my craving and whet my appetite for more. I will definitely work on improving this recipe as the summer goes on!