The Sky is NOT Falling

It's funny. I drove in to work this morning and didn't see any houses repainted in rainbow colors. No children being forcibly removed from their parents.  No gay people having naked parades in the streets. I didn't get a notice from my son's school that they would henceforth be teaching the kids how to have the gay sex, nor did I see any churches burning down. 

You'd almost think that Minnesota's marriage equality law didn't pass yesterday. I mean, things just seem so "normal." I don't get it.

I guess the bill doesn't actually get signed until tonight, and the law won't go into effect until this August, so maybe the sky will start falling this summer instead.

Of course, this is really going to change things for my family. Now that "gay marriage" is the law of the land, my own hetero-marriage no longer means anything, so I guess we'll be getting a divorce. He will instead marry a man, and I will marry a woman.  It won't be long before our son comes home and tells us his teacher has picked out a boyfriend for him in his third-grade classroom.

And now that I have to actually explain the gays to the kids, they are going to be so confused and wonder why they even need a mom or dad. After all, the only reason we got married and had a family in the first place is because Jesus told us to. Now I just don't understand what it all meant.

I suppose now my best friend's wedding this summer will be cancelled so she can find a suitable woman to marry instead. I hope she keeps the same bridesmaid dresses though, because I already put a down payment on mine.

Yes, many, many changes are coming. It's going to be insane. You'll see. Just wait until the gays start taking over. It's going to be mass chaos on every level. Just you wait. . . .

Giving Thanks

Most people in America think of Thanksgiving as a time to thank God for all of their various blessings throughout the year.  But if you're without a belief in a god, as we are, who do you thank for your blessings? So here's a list I made up, just in time for Turkey Day.

• I thank my husband, for giving me two wonderful children and a happy home.
• I thank my children, for keeping my life so full of excitement and love.
• I thank my parents, not for giving me life, as pretty much anyone can do that, but for making my life what it is, and for being such cool people to hang out with during the holidays.
• I thank my in-laws, for treating me as their own, and giving my children such a wonderful extended family.
• I thank my brother and his wife, for being the kind of people that I look forward to spending time with, rather than just being required to spend time with.
• I thank my friends, who always give without being asked, and who keep me tied to my past and looking forward to my future.
• I thank my neighbors, who make this a great neighborhood to live in.
• I thank my dog, Walter, for keeping me on my toes and providing me with endless hours of stupid entertainment.
• I thank the doctors and nurses, who recently patched up my small intestine (again), so I can enjoy a fantastic Thanksgiving meal.
• I thank the local credit union that gave me a reasonable mortgage, so I could live in this beautiful house.
• I thank Facebook, where I can stay in touch with the family and friends I don't normally get to see face-to-face.
• I thank the people who make and sell the gallons of tea I devour each day.
• I thank all the people out there everywhere, making all the things I enjoy every day often with no thanks and at appalling wages.
• I thank Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert for keeping their eyes on all the shenanigans going on in Washington and informing me of them in a pleasing manner.

There are so many people I have to thank for all of the good things in my life, more than I can possibly mention in one meaningless blog post, but none of them are an invisible god.

So tomorrow, my husband and sons will head on over to the in-laws for a wonderful meal. I'll be staying home continuing my recovery from surgery, but that's ok, because I know I'll be there next year.  And anyway, it will give me extra time to catch up on all of the TV shows I'm thankful for, and spend the day perusing Pinterest, one more thing I'm deeply grateful for.  And on Sunday, my family will come over here for a second meal, so I will get to watch my toddler make my mother chase him down and catch him just to get one hug.  It's completely adorable.

Then, at some point this weekend, my husband will put up our Christmas tree, so we can begin our annual "war on Christmas" by partaking in every Christmas tradition imaginable, and all will be right with the world.

Happy Thanksgiving!

More Birth Control Ranting

Sorry to harp on this subject for two posts in a row, but the subject of birth control really does warrant consecutive posts, since it seems to be dominating our current national discussion.

I would have thought that 50 years after the introduction of "the pill," the hullabaloo would have subsided a little. Apparently though, the idea that women can and should control their fertility is still a very revolutionary one. What I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around is the thought that somehow not using contraception is a "family value."  It seems to me that contraception is the very foundation of family values.  After all, what better way to promote healthy families than by allowing couples to plan when to have their children and how many they can reasonably manage to care for?  When people are prepared and willing to welcome children into their home, those children will be better provided for and the family as a whole will be stronger.

On a personal note, I have been taking birth control pills since the age of 16.  I had a very smart mother who, although never giving me the impression that my becoming sexually active was ok with her, nevertheless told me that if I simply couldn't talk to her about it, then I should at least go to Planned Parenthood and make sure to be safe about it.  And that's exactly what I did.  And if I hadn't, I would probably now be raising a child with my then boyfriend, who was incredibly abusive on many different fronts.  If I were still with him, I would be miserable, and in turn would probably make a very miserable mother.  If I wasn't still with him, I would be attempting to share custody with a terrible human being and all of the struggle that sort of situation implies, which would probably be very painful for my child(ren).

As it turns out, I didn't end up pregnant as a teenager, and was thus able to leave an abusive relationship, go to college, enter the workforce, and find a more suitable man to marry and raise a family with.  The result?  I have 2 wonderful, happy children who live in a stable, happy home with two parents who are beyond thrilled to have them in their lives.  We were able to have our children at a point in our lives when we were emotionally and financially able to care for them, which means we are able to focus our time and energy on loving them and raising them to be good people, which will, in turn, make them better parents one day.

None of this would have been possible without access to birth control.  And yet, we are made to feel that using this wonderful gift of technology makes us lesser people somehow.  That by taking charge of our fertility, we are "sluts."  For most of human history, pregnancy was an inevitable outcome of having sex, and maybe for that reason it was necessary to use shame as a tool for preventing unwanted pregnancy.  But what's the excuse now?  Why must women continually be told that if they dare to use their bodies for pleasure, they should be willing to submit to the inevitable outcome?  We have the tools to prevent pregnancy now, and women should not be shamed into not using those tools to better their lives, and the lives of their children down the road.

Birth control is THE family value.