Bloodbath And Beyond

The Starry Night Cracker (Hamadryas laodamia)

Here are some options:

A Tide™ pen.

I’m a generic kinda lady. I hate promoting brands 99% of the time. BUT if you catch absolutely any kind of stain before it gets ground in, you can get most of it out with one of these babies. I’ve tested it on blood, chocolate, coffee, guacamole, pizza sauce, red wine on, on that one time i accidentally slopped some oil I was supposed to be using on antiques onto a fancy rug (also an antique but not the one I was gunning for). If you’re washing something delicate, pump it onto your finger a couple of times and gently rub it in. I’m not sure what they put in these things but I’m pretty sure it’s an arcane secret.

Dish soap

Granted, this is a little trickier for upholstery/carpet, but it can still be done using a rag, some water, and some patience. But for clothing, just pour some soap on the stain and rub it in under cold running water.

Absolutely any clear alcohol is your new best friend

You know the old “white wine to clean red” trick? Well, this is its updated sister I like to call “you, too, can use coconut rum to get red jello shot out of your nice white dress”. It’s a nice party trick. Straight vodka works even better. For every day situations involving any kind of alcohol-related spills (including markers)–and especially work situations–rubbing alcohol is ideal. To quote another adage, this one from every chemistry teacher you will ever meet, “like dissolves like.”

Hydrogen Peroxide

It can get blood out of absolutely anything, including your mattress. It reacts with the iron in hemoglobin, which breaks down the molecule, causing it to lose its red color. So make sure you’re not using a cast iron skillet to wash your period underwear in.

Vinegar

This will dissolve lime buildup overnight. Fill a bag, tie it around your showerhead, and presto. You can also use it to scrub the area around your sink and to break up any buildup in pipes. (Limeaway™ is for rich people.) 

Baking soda

This is great if you have a pet or child who peed on the carpet. Just cover the area, wait until it dries, and vacuum it up. The longer you leave it, the better it will do at removing the smell. It’s also good removing mild odors from a small space, like a fridge or a laundry hamper. 

Charcoal

So I’ve been seeing lots of posts lately talking about how awful it is to make kids sit still all day, and how especially awful it is to give them drugs if they can’t.

And I agree. It’s horrible.

But what a lot of these posts miss is WHY kids have to sit still in school all day, and therefore they miss the solution. It seems most people think the solution is “stop telling kids to sit still.”

I’ll tell you what happens if I don’t tell my kids to sit still and be quiet

- Kids get hurt

- Things get broken

- It’s too loud for anyone to focus/kids with anxiety get panic attacks

I know because I’ve seen it.

So what’s the solution? Drug them?

No. The problem is class size. If I have 30 kids and 30 desks and 30 chairs in a classroom, there’s no room for anyone to move without bumping into things. 30 voices is too many to have talking all at once. And even if 29 kids are working or reading quietly, it only takes one to disrupt their focus.

But it’s not even just class size. It’s the entire structure of the school system. It’s the idea that all of these kids need to be in the same room at the same time learning the same stuff and being tested the same way.

The modern education system is designed on a factory model. It’s an exercise in mass-production. We mass-produce obedient citizens who will listen to the authority, be productive, and pay their taxes.

If I see 130 kids in a given day in 5 batches of 20-30 students each, I don’t have the opportunity to really meet the needs of each individual. I have to treat them as a batch, a shipment of individual units that needs to be passed along the conveyor belt to the next work station - I mean classroom - when the bell rings.

I can’t develop a rapport with each of their parents. I can’t accurately assess each of their skills and needs. I can’t create tailored lessons that help them grow and learn. I can’t create a space that lets them move freely without breaking things or getting hurt.

You know who can do that? Parents. If you have 1, 2, 3, 5, even 12 kids, you can create a tailored, individualized education experience that meets their needs and helps them develop into a creative, confident, capable adult.

I do what I can in the position I’m in. But I cannot be a mom to each and every one of these kids. And in order to make sure they don’t get hurt or break something while they’re in my care, I have to make them sit down. And in order to maybe get some semblance of learning done, I have to make them be quiet.

I can only hope that their parents, or some other adult in their lives, realizes just how bad this system is and that these children aren’t being educated - they’re being passed along a conveyor belt. And even the QA department isn’t really doing their job.

Maybe if parents understand that the system isn’t just broken, that it was designed this way, then maybe they can start pulling these kids out and taking charge of their education.

I would love to lose my job because there were no students left in the public schools. Because every parent realized it’s not a good idea to let the government control what your child learns. Because every parent realized their child’s education was their responsibility, not some bureaucrat’s.

@holbytlanna I love the term “free range children,” that’s perfect.

The factory metaphor didn’t come from me though. There’s a great TED Talk from Sir Ken Robinson that explains what has happened to education. Not sure if I agree with 100% of his assumptions and conclusions, but he seems to get the core problem with the system and how it connects to ADHD and the over-medication of children.

Bat babies.

if you say no, and they still kiss you, that’s not okay

if you say no, and they still get handsy with you, that’s not okay

if you say no, and they still make you have sex with them, that’s not okay

if you say no, and they do something to you physically or sexually that makes you uncomfortable, that’s not okay

if you say no, and they verbally make you feel bad about it, that’s not okay

if you say no, and they guilt you into doing something sexual with them, that’s not okay

if you say no, and they threaten you, whether verbally or physically, that’s not okay