Peace and love….

I love Christmas!

This is usually my catch phrase this time of year, but this year is different.  This morning my Feline Companion and I were having coffee and were discussing how crazy life gets this time of year.  This time of year normally brings my heart great cheer. But not this year.

This year there is a grumbling in the air, Pourquoi? I’d like to ask, but I do not dare. There is nothing but ugliness around, Is it to this we are bound? When in despair, the Norfolk Police Department did appear. (Please forgive my attempts at rhyming)

The NPD has officers in schools, teaching children to read. Beside them my co-worker does sit, doing his part to mentor our youngsters that will someday become men. It is part of the NPDs effort to get their officers into the community, and the community must mend. The local paper discussed the ratio of the various races in town, to the percentage on the police as they are found. There is a discrepancy they reported. What the heck the population shouted! The Norfolk PD says they cannot recruit enough officers in the wanted percentages. There are other opportunities that pay better was the message.

There is a link between education, character and prison beds (what?). It is said that the number of beds required for a prison can be calculated by the number of third graders who cannot read. How sad is that? How many of us grew up on Cat in the Hat? It may be a good place to start again. Let’s encourage our youngsters to read. Not just read, but comprehend. It starts with parents. We (the parents) need to be the grown ups, lets not ask our kids to grow up so quickly. Give them the opportunity to be kids, let’s give them a safe place to be kids.  Maybe Hillary was right, maybe it does take a village.

Parenting is hard.  When you have a child; you (both of you) have made the choice; consciously or not. Step up, accept the responsibility (and accountability) that your decision requires. Our children are under our care for the formative periods of their lives. We, as the adults, need to be there for them.  We may not always be their best friend – but we have to be the parent first.  There is no room to inject race, color, blood type nor good hair styles. Good parenting is all about character, and passing the traits of good citizenship and character along to our young.

Enough of this blah’ism!

So let’s get back to the reason for the season, it is a celebration of life!  As Advent ends the Christmas season is only beginning.  Let’s celebrate life!  Let’s be nicer to one another, a little bit more forgiving of one another and forgive my poor attempts at rhyme.

I wish you all, my friends, family, and yes – even that guy that pissed me off, a wonderful, merry and joyful Christmas.  Let’s not take the Christ out of Christmas, he is after-all, the reason for the season!  Peace and Love?  It may not feel like it this very second, but you know what, we still have time.  It’s not Christmas yet, and I believe in miracles.