Simply put, it's cold outside. And for this part of the country, having a wind chill of -21 is a big deal. All the schools are closed, my PSR lecture is cancelled but in spite of my most fervent wishes, I still had to come to work today. Oh well.

So I'm sitting here, thankful from my head to my toes that I'm inside and warm, and parents are calling and asking whether or not we have storytime today.

WTF?

It's twenty-fricking-one below ZERO!!!!!

What parent in their right mind would drag their babies out in this? (Parents in this neighborhood, that's who!)

So it begs the question: Why does the thought of having to spend an entire day indoors/alone with their child send parents into a "gotta get out of here" tailspin? Why does each and every moment of each and every day have to be filled with scheduled activities, play dates and Baby Einstein? Why do parents have absolutely no faith in their own ability to entertain, discipline and teach their own child? It boggles my mind.

Sure, my son was a handful at times. There were plenty of times when I questioned my own judgment, and there were times when I really wanted to just foist him off on a day care someplace and go shopping. But I didn't, because I'm his mother, and since I had him it was my responsibility to raise him. I took him everywhere with me, read all the labels at the grocery store to him, caught bugs and camped out and went swimming with him and read stories to him every night. And twelve years later, he's doing fine. He gets decent grades in school, he's a black belt, he plays trumpet and guitar and knows how to snowboard. He says "please" and "thank you" and cleans his own room and reads books(under protest most times, but still...).

He's not perfect. He gets attitude with me, and his belongings manage to get strewn from one end of the house to the other daily. But he's a good kid. And I can look at him and see that good and bad, he's a product of me. Not of daycare or play dates or Baby Mozart.

PS: And I sure as hell never took him out in below zero weather.