Never Say Never

When I was pregnant with my now 14 year old I said a lot of 'nevers'. You all know what I mean?

I will never let my child...

One of my big ones was that I would never take my children to McDonald's. I had only eaten there about 5 times in the first 21 years of my life so it was an easy thing to say. But after moving to a town where I made friends that had young children I started going there. It was the only place in town that had a play place that allowed the kids to bond while the moms had an entire conversation with only a few interruptions asking for ice cream. I even went twice a month for two years with some girlfriends!

It's so funny now to look back and think about my stand against it.

My other big never??

I would never let any daughters of mine wear clothing that had words across their tushie. But then....we got to gymnastics without a leotard. A quick run to the over priced gift shop resulted in shorts with flames and letters across that certain area. I justified it by saying that they were only to be worn at home. There, that sounded good. We've held to that for several years without many slip ups.

Until today.

We recently made the massive switch of fall/winter clothes to spring/summer clothes in the girls room. With three girls with one dresser and one closet that is absolutely necessary. What surprised me was that the girls wanted to do it almost on their own. I was thrilled and worried all at once. They really did do a good job, but I spent a few hours helping finish. But that meant that I didn't see the clothes that went in. Reagan came downstairs today dressed in clothes that are appropriate for a day with P.E. I approved and we moved on with the mornings activities. But as we were rushing out the door to beat the traffic I saw it. The word CHEER across her backside. I had no time to pick a fight. So I let her go without a word said about it.

Guess we'll be having McDonald's for dinner tonight.

And here's my proof

I have recently been publicly chastised for not allowing my girls to watch the Transformer movies. I will admit that to some it would appear that I shelter my girls. But to others it might seem like I don't enough.

Just to re-evaluate my choice to not allow this movie I went to three different websites to read reviews. I do think the Focus on the Family website does an excellent job reviewing but I also read from a secular review site as well before making a decision.

Here are the items listed under the 'parent advisory' section for the newest movie.


Sex & Nudity

Very frequent and sometimes rather intense sexual situations, especially in the beginning of the film at the college.

Throughout the movie the characters Alice and Mikaela as well other college age girls are wearing short shorts or skirts, tight reveling shirts and otherwise inappropriate clothing.

There is a camera shot that zooms in on Mikaela's backside as she works on a motorcycle.

When Sam goes off to college, he and Mikaela talk about having Internet datescomplete with candles, music, special outfits and the suggestion of X-rated hanky-panky.

There are posters of barely covered girls seen in the background, on the walls of Sam's dorm room.

There is a brief moment when a male dog is "dominating" (humping) another male dog at the beginning of the movie, and you see it twice.

There is another moment when the small robot that Megan Fox captures starts to hump Fox's leg.

A girl says Sam appears to have 'magic' in bed, then pushes him onto his bed and start passionately kissing, you can see under the girls panties.

Sam's mother says that she can skinny dip if the government pays for a pool she wants.

A few kissing scenes.

A young man is seen walking around with his pants and underwear down.

You see a man in a picture at a porn shop wearing a thong.

You see a robot's balls, but they are portrayed as wrecking balls. Agent Simmons says, " I am underneath his scrotum.

When Sam's Mom is "high" on her Pot brownie she makes a reference to her son getting his "cherry" popped and talks about how she heard it all, because she was at home.

When Sam's mom is high on her pot brownie, she runs around campus and is then tackled by her husband. She says, "Oh professor! I'll do ANYTHING for an A!" referring to having sex.



Violence & Gore

The movie opens with a huge fight, there are frequent fights through out the movie and they are very intense.

There is a scene where a small robot enters through the nose and probes the brain of the main character, Sam.

Many of the robots in this movie are very 'grotesque' and alien looking, rather than machine-like.

The movie ends like the first with a massive fight scene, and the fight is huge, and somewhere around 30 minutes long of intense fighting.

A woman transforms into a robot and attacks a group, destroying everything in its path. It is eventually hit by a car and gets destroyed after being pinned against a pole and then run over.

Optimus Prime rips Grindor's head in half in a fight scene, and we see robotic fluids and pieces fly everywhere.

Megatron impales Optimus Prime and one of his blades and detonates a charge, blowing a good portion of Optimus' body apart, killing him. Violent and graphic in a non-violent sort of way.

Devastator tries to eat Mudflap, but Mudflap attacks him from the inside out and eventually blows a hole through Devastator's head and escapes.

There is a lot of people getting crushed, shot and killed.

Lots of robots getting blown apart, crushed and sliced into pieces.

There is one scene in a meat locker surrounded by dead pigs.



Profanity


A small transformer uses the "f" word once.

"Bitch, barely audible godd-mn, damnit, bastard.

"Two robots talk about "ass kicking" and how it's supposed to hurt during a fight.

The word "pussy" is also used once. (Non-Sexual)

Profanity is used often and somewhat gratuitously.

Words such as friggin', freakin', and several times characters and robots stop just shy of using the "f" word, but it is implied very obviously.

"Mom says the "S" word twice in the first 10 to 15 minuets of the movie.

A soldier calls some one an a$$hole



And here is the advisory for the first one.

Sex & Nudity

Some innuendo early on in the film.

The main character's love interest is shown in revealing outfits and acts in a sexually provocative manner.

After Sam has locked his room to hide the Transformers and his love interest, his parents order him to open his door and then ask him if he was masturbating. When Sam replies no, the mother suggests that "you can always call it Sam's happy time if it makes you uncomfortable".



Violence & Gore

Soldiers aim their guns at a chopper that's infiltrated and landed at their camp. As it starts to transform into Blackout, the soldiers open fire on it, but to no avail. Blackout then fires back at those soldiers and their camp, with all sorts of property damage and presumed wounds or deaths.

One man is shown being zapped by Blackout.

No blood or detail though.During the fight between Barricade and Bumblebee, Frenzy attacks Sam.

Frenzy is defeated by Michaela cutting his head off with a reciprocating saw, and Sam kicks the head away.

The fight between Optimus Prime and Bonecrusher ends when Prime uses his retractable blade to cut Bonecrusher's head off.

Megatron rips Jazz in half. But there is no blood and you see it from far away.

In the desert sequence, men shoot at the scorponok robot from a C130 and when they're done he goes back underground and his tail comes off.

Barricade throws Sam into the air and causes him to hit the window of a car which breaks.

Frenzy throws razors at two men which hits them in the stomach and kills them.

Barricade hits Bumblebee with something sharp, then Bumblebee tackles Barricade into a building, nearly killing him.

Scorponok stabs one of the men with its tail in the desert sequence, bangs him on the ground, and pulls him underground. We hear him scream.

Close to the end, Frenzy shoots out his flying blades at some men but misses and eventually chops his own head off.

Sam kills Megatron by putting the allspark in his chest.

Throughout the movie nearly all of the violence is a robot attacking another robot or a human attacking a robot. None of the robots bleed. There is no gore.



Profanity

One use of f*cker used in, "Burn you F*cker!" But it is muffled and hard to understand.

At least 2 barely incomplete "f" words (both used with "mother"), 6 "s" words, 4 hells, 3 asses, 4 pisses, 2 damns and "G-ddamn."

Also 2 b**ches is used and a "finger" is flashed.

The air freshener dangling from Bumblebee's rear view mirror in the beginning, reads "Bee Otch".

In one scene, Sam repeatedly yells the "s" word when being chased.

There are many things on there that wouldn't bother me, but a whole lot more that would. I also know that my girls might not even notice a whole lot of these!

It is true that I will never be able to protect my girls from all the harsh realities of the world...but I do have the ability to review things that they might see and make a decision that is best for our family.

I wish I could tell the two people that made me feel so foolish to take a few minutes and realize that they can raise their children the way that they want. And I have the right to do the same!

***I copied and pasted these advisories directly from a website. Please excuse anything that you believe to be offensive or incorrectly spelled or stated.***

What's in a name?

I left something very important out of my 'Baby Names' post.

The meanings!

I loved the name McKinley and never thought to look it up and see what it meant. When Kennedy came home from the hospital I decided to look them both up.

Get ready.

McKinley-Gaelic-son of Finley

Kennedy-Gaelic-misshapen or ugly head

What had I done?

I was afraid, but had to look up Reagan before she was born.

Reagan-Gaelic-little king

Not again!

Who would have guessed they were all Gaelic? There are some other similarities. They're all last names and they're all unisex. I don't like that last part. The biggest similarity...all the meanings stink! What have I done?! Then it happened, I found a presidential website.

McKinley-son of the fair hero

Kennedy-Royalty

Reagan-Regal

So McKinley didn't improve much but Kennedy and Reagan were much improved!

Luckily the middle names saved us.

June-born in the sixth month

Elaine-light

Teal-green/blue or duck

Wait, saved us? What was I thinking? My poor children.

Baby Names

I knew years before I had children that I loved presidents.

It started in 5th grade when I had to write a report on each president to be able to attend an end of year field trip. I was fascinated. The summer before my freshman year at college I was at the doctors office for my college physical. It was thorough and I found out a few years later that not everyone had to have one. Hmmm...

Moving on.

As I was sitting in the waiting room I saw a newborn that was just beautiful. When I commented on her the mom told me her name was McKinley. My mind went right back to 5th grade.

I've had other ideas though, it hasn't always been presidental. My first choice was Auhnnah. I liked it so much that it's what I named my bowling ball. In case you can't tell what that is, it's like Anna but with a soft 'a' sound. I also loved Maggie and Katie. I shared Maggie with my grandma Margaret thinking she'd be honored but not knowing why I was saying it she told me how much she hated being called that. So, that was out. I also went through a 'Mc' phase. Get ready. McKenna, McKayla, McKinley, and for a boy, McGregor. Boy am I glad I didn't do that! So are my children.

When Shawn and I sat down to have our baby name conversation I asked him what his favorite girl name was. The most beautiful, sweet name he could think of. His answer? "Amy." My answer? "You don't get to play this game anymore."

No offense to any Amy's out there but I wanted something distinctive, a little unknown, new, exciting. Amy has been very well used. We tossed several back and forth and both shot down each others a lot. Since the OKC bombing had just happened Bailee, Chase, and Colton were out. For a boy I loved the name Brock. Shawn didn't like the idea of two 'k' sounds so close together. Brock Conrad. He suggested a middle name that we would use also. His idea? Lee. Say it. Out loud so you'll really enjoy it. After way too long we decided on McKinley and Brady Alan. Brady because his family had watched 'Days of Our Lives' for years, and Alan after his younger brothers' middle name. McKinley for obvious reasons.

After McKinley was introduced to our families Shawn's oldest brother asked if we were going to name all of our children after assassinated presidents. I of course said no. He then told me that our next girl could be Kennedy. Hmmm. I thought again of 5th grade. From then on Kennedy was always on my mind. Garfield and Lincoln were the other choices. Thank goodness she was a girl! When we found out we were having another girl we started thinking...there weren't anymore suitable assassinated names. I liked the name Madison but felt like it had been used to much. I also loved the names Hayes and Monroe (yes for girls) but Shawn shot those down. Going back to Amy I felt like he deserved the right to shoot some down. When someone pointed out that Reagan had been shot we knew we had a name.

How sick are we? I had a good friend from high school who told me she thought I was disgusting to do this to my children. We're not good friends anymore. She doesn't have children yet. Probably because she can't come up with any good names.

I think it's neat. Their names are mentioned on the news a lot, they have libraries, there are street signs with their names on them, there are always books about them, and people love to
hear about how we came up with it. They liked our trip to the Mount Rushmore area and the Presidential Wax Museum. Now that we've gone to Disney World our next dream vacation is Washington D.C. We can't get enough!

So there it is. The whole truth and nothing but the truth. Now everyone knows.

Oh, in case you were wondering, if we'd had boys I'd planned on Harrison and Jackson. Maybe I'll have grandsons named that!