Time for a Rant (or two)!

Okay, I've been posting on this blog for several months now, and I haven't really gone on any rants. You all surely know what I mean by rants, right? Basically my emphatic opinion repeated over and over and over again.

But today, now suddenly, I feel the need to rant in two particular directions. I apologize if you get upset by any of this. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT DIRECTED AT ANYONE IN PARTICULAR!!!!! None of the people I am technically sending this rant out to are my Facebook friends (that I know of). None of this is targeted at one particular individual. I'm just tired of everyone else getting to put their feelings out for everyone in the world to see and being too chicken to do it myself. So instead of being offended, be proud of me, for finally being brave enough to add in my voice (safely behind my computer screen...maybe not so brave?)

SCHOOL RANT

Dear parents,
      Do not blame your child's teacher for your child's grades. The homework that was assigned to your child was your child's responsibility. If your child makes the choice to not pay attention during the lesson, they will not score well on the homework or test. If your child makes the choice to not do their work, they will be docked points for late homework or be marked down on the test. If your child makes the choice to throw their papers with bad grades on them away before you can see them....that was your child's choice. I'm sorry you didn't see that worksheet; I didn't just make up a grade. I used a very standardized method of taking the number of items your child had correct and dividing by the total number of points on the homework/test to calculate the grade they earned! If your child chooses not to correct work I give them the chance to correct, that is their choice, not mine. If your child chooses not to study their vocabulary words or states and capitals, that was their choice, not mine. I am doing everything I possibly can for all 82 of my students. They are not at school long enough for me to sit down with each and every one of them and conference daily on what they do/do not understand, how I can help them, what they can do to get their grade up, etc. I try! I do my best--if I see a student struggling, I step in. But if your child chooses not to ask questions, I can't help them. And believe me, if I feel I did not teach something well enough, I probably won't record a grade for that assignment! I hate acting like a victimized person here, but you seriously need to cut your child's teacher some slack. I love and worry about your child, too...along with the other eighty-one of them, plus all the kids I had the years previous. You have one fourth-grader to manage--I have way more than that. Neither of us have an easy job, so instead of playing the "blame game," let's work together. Do not attack me. I don't respond well to that at all, as I'm sure neither do you. Put some responsibility on your child, as I'm trying to do at school. They will thank you when they get their first job. Because are you seriously going to call into their boss and complain about their paycheck for them? I sincerely hope not--you are not helping your child that way. And that's really what this is all about, right? Helping your child to learn responsibility and how to read and manage their time and about their nation and the world around them? That's my angle, anyway. What's yours?

DATING RANT

I once had someone tell me that I was too picky when it comes to dating. That I was letting things end before I really had a chance to see them develop. To me, the entire point of dating is to eventually find someone to marry. And based on this overall end goal...YOU'RE DARN RIGHT I'M PICKY!!!! I went all through middle school and high school without being asked on a single date. Nobody asked me to homecoming. Nobody asked me to Snoball. Nobody asked me to prom (I did have one prom date, but he had heard I was going to ask him anyway and then did the asking, so that doesn't count). I was the "good girl"--in the band, on the academic teams, home in bed by nine or ten every night. I did my homework, I had school spirit, I earned the lead role in our senior musical and worked my butt off every night at practice yodeling and singing and basically memorizing everyone's parts because I was so in love with it all. I had perfect attendance (aside from orthodontist appointments and one sick day) over the course of my sixth through twelfth grade years. And yet despite all this, nobody wanted to date me. I would have made a great girlfriend, but nobody wanted to bother with me. Fine, whatever. I'm not going to act like that person who was wounded in high school or junior high and uses it to get back at everyone for the rest of her life--that wasn't my point with my little history lesson. My point was that if anyone has the right to be picky, it's me. I went through years of being looked over by guys who saw me as what? A sister? Just a friend? Random smart girl in my English class? Didn't notice me at all? All this did wonders for my self-esteem. Again, I'm much better now. I have much more confidence than I ever did. I don't feel like an ugly person anymore (because what other conclusion is a sixteen-year-old going to come to?). But I also know now exactly what I don't want. I know how I deserve to be treated and how I deserve to feel about someone. So I'm sorry, but I'm going to be picky. I'm going to stop dating a guy because we have nothing in common. I'm not going to text back a guy with a completely contrasting personality. I am going to be bothered when I'm taller than the guy (long story short:  tallest kid in class for a long time, strange height complex, feel like a freak when I'm taller than people my age or older...not cute, but freakish). AND YES, I want there to be some kind of physical attraction! So excuse me if I give it three or four dates and don't see anything there. Excuse me if I don't want to waste my time (OR HIS!) on something that I don't see going anywhere. I always felt like the girl who had a crush on someone and was never crushed on. Well, guys, your fellow man blew it for you, because I'm done. If you want to be with me, you'd better pursue me like a man in the desert would pursue water (not my words, but I love the picture that creates). And if you're starting to get a vibe that I don't want to date you, BACK OFF! I'm still that nice, slightly insecure person voted "Everyone's Friend" and "Most Dependable" in high school. I'm never going to be able to say it to your face in super explicit, clear-cut terms. Sure, maybe I watch too many romantic comedies and maybe I read too many romance novels (not the trashy ones with the half-naked girl on the front) and maybe being a writer and creating my own heroes in my head hasn't helped your case. Maybe what I'm seeking doesn't exist; if it does, I'll figure that out when I get there. But here's the thing...I don't plan on settling for just anyone. I'm reaching high, shooting for the moon, baby. And even if I don't get that, I'll still land among the stars. And a star would be pretty amazing, too, I think.

Thanks for reading (if you got this far!) Comment if the spirit so moves you :)

Stay gold!