About Me:

Aloha! I'm Wendy Kennar. I'm the mother of a seven-year-old son and a wife living in Los Angeles. I was a public school teacher for twelve years until a chronic medical condition made it necessary to leave my teaching career.

I've always been described as "quiet" - really, I'm just biting my tongue. I've got lots to say, and lots of thoughts to share, I just prefer to write them. That's the purpose of this blog. Each Wednesday, I post a personal essay offering my observations and thoughts.

A few fun facts about me: I've wanted to be a writer since second grade, when my teacher, Mrs. Jones, made me a "book" with a yellow construction paper cover. I have never learned to whistle, have always preferred sunflowers to roses, and have spent my life living within the same zip code.

Through the years, my writing has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, United Teacher, GreenPrints, L.A. Parent, DivineCaroline.com, RoleReboot.org, XOJane, and Brain, Child Magazine. Additionally, my personal essays have been included in several anthologies, including: The Barefoot Review, Beyond the Diaper Bag, Lessons From My Parents, Write for Light, Being a Grown-Up: A User's Manual for the Real World, Ka-Pow!, How Writing Can Get You Through Tough Times, Breath and Shadow, The Grey Wolfe Storybook, and Sisters Born, Sisters Found.
I am a regular contributor at MomsLA.com, and you can also find me at Goodreads.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Feel free to comment and share my blog with others!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Five Things I Can't Explain to My Son



   Life isn’t fair.  As adults, we know it, we see it, we live it.  For children, they learn this uncomfortable lesson in different ways.  Sadly, my toddler son sees it all the time.  Not all people follow the rules.  Not all people do what they’re supposed to do.  And even though they aren’t, we will continue to do the right thing.  The “right thing” doesn’t always match with what my son sees out in the real world, and I am sometimes at a loss for explaining what he does see.  
   Here are my top five things I can’t explain to my son. 
  1. Billboards showing women wearing their underwear.  My son is learning that only ladies wear bras and that mommy doesn’t leave the house until her bra is on and a shirt covers her bra.  Mommy can’t go outside wearing only her bra, yet there are large billboards all over town showing strange women in their bras and underwear.
  2. Adults wearing pajamas while shopping at the market.  My son knows we don’t leave the house until he is dressed.  (Sometimes getting dressed is more of a struggle than others).  Yet, on our weekly visits to the market, we see adults shopping in their flannel pants or their Hello Kitty tee-shirt and drawstring pants.
  3. Men standing on a street corner in their underwear.  A few months ago, five minutes away from our home, three men stood on a street corner wearing boxer shorts, shoes, socks, and neckties.  They held signs advertising a new men’s clothing store that opened nearby.  Adults were getting paid to do something my son (and his father) aren’t allowed to do - stand outside in their underwear.
  4. People littering.  As soon as my son was old enough to understand, he was taught that we do not throw trash on the ground.  We don’t throw trash anywhere except a trash can or recycling bin.  Accidents happen, things fall, but we pick them up.  And we do - we pick up the stray raisin or cheerio that has escaped my son’s grasp and fallen under the table of the restaurant we’re eating at.  Other people don’t.
  5. Not all people wait, share, and take turns.  This a biggie.  It’s hard for little ones (and not-so-little-ones) to understand you can’t always have what you want, when you want it.  My son knows that sometimes he has to wait for a turn on the slide or he has to get off the swing after a while so another child can have a turn.  Apparently, not all parents are teaching their children these lessons.

3 comments:

  1. Honey,
    Ryan is blessed to have you as his Mother! Your sense of what is right and wrong in the world is amazing. I know our son's values will be solid growing up.
    I Love You!
    Paul

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just don't understand why some people just do as they please and don't consider how other people feel or the right way of doing things.I also don't understand the parents that just let their children do what ever without teching them they can't always have what they want when they want it. It seems rules and regulations don't apply as much as they did years ago.You are truly teaching Ryan right from wrong and this will stay with him forever.You are a WONDERFUL mommy to him.I love you and I am so proud of you.
    love,mommy

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  3. Due to the fact I work in a golf shop, my pet peeve, is when a person doesn't wait his turn and cuts to the head of the line. At this time I am forced to address this rude person. I explain that others are in line and he must wait for his turn. I also have issues with people who run yellow & red lights.Your Mother & I are proud of you.

    Love, Dad

    ReplyDelete