Paranoid parents and Observation of “Have a Party with your Bear” Day

Left home a little earlier this morning because I knew I needed to stop at a gas station for a fill up. Pulled up to the stop sign that marks the end of my subdivision, and I saw a queue of three cars sitting there. I figured they were waiting to go, which is what people normally do when they’re at a stop sign, but to my bewilderment (and thankfully before I pulled in behind them), the last one began to back up. It backed all the way down the road. The second car then proceeded to also back up. I thought, “Oh, the first car broke down and they’re trying to get around it.” No, once the second car cleared, the first one backed down the road too. They all drove back into the subdivision.

Huh?

But okay, after watching this baffling hullabaloo I made my way to the stop sign and turned. Waiting to merge onto the main road, I saw that traffic had paused for a school bus making a pickup, and in the backed-up string of cars was no fewer than five yellow buses. Apparently I hit the exact time for school bus central. And then I wondered, are parents in my subdivision driving their kids to the bus stop which is at most, a block away, and then waiting in their cars until their children are safely picked up? My subdivision is tiny–only thirty-two houses down two roads that both end in cul-de-sacs–and located in a nice, safe, relatively affluent, area. Yet parents don’t feel it’s safe for their children to wait for the bus?

In less mind-boggling news, yesterday was official “Have a Party with Your Bear” Day. When I came home, it was to find most of the bear denizens of our home waiting with excitement and anticipation for their party:

How could a person with any compassion disappoint those furry faces? So Matthew and I had tortellini for dinner with pie for dessert, and then we put on Monsters Inc., which we thought a fitting presentation in observation of Have a Party with Your Bear Day. The feature was met with general approval and praise by the bears.



Writing Stuff:

Received 2nd and 3rd quarter royalty statements from Scrybe Press for sales of Ascendancy of Blood. Thank you to everyone who’s bought it, and remember, it makes a great stocking stuffer for the holidays!

Wrote a review for Tangent of this week’s Sci-Fiction offering and emailed it to my editor. It was a very short story this week, a change from the novelettes and novellas that Sci-Fiction has been publishing of late.

Also, I saw a new market had sprung up, Aeon. They only accept electronic submission from their “List” of professional writers with track records (they take snail mail submission from others), so I fired off an email to their editors asking whether I qualified to be on their “List.” Yes, apparently I do. Always happy to save money on postage.

New words: 500
Working on the Princess fantasy now. I think I’m actually close to finishing. Through my Club 100 efforts I’ve managed to keep plugging away at this one, and now I find myself past the climax and coasting toward the denouement. Coolness. It’s cresting at 6K word processor count. I’m really going to have to work to keep this one under novelette length.

Club 100 for Writers
12/100

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7 Responses to Paranoid parents and Observation of “Have a Party with your Bear” Day

  1. amokk says:

    I don’t believe it’s fear as much as lazy. But I could be wrong.

    • Eugie Foster says:

      Laziness? Children’s laziness not wanting to walk to the bus stop, or the parents? Unbelievable laziness in any case. It’s a block at most!

      • amokk says:

        Well I just don’t know. Probably a mix of both. Parents are too overprotective anyway, so it’s enforced laziness for the desire of “security”.

        “The kids are safe because I saw them get on the bus. I don’t care if they never walk, as long as they can’t be harmed!”

        Kids raised like this have a hard time later in life.

  2. harmonyfb says:

    Yet parents don’t feel it’s safe for their children to wait for the bus?

    It’s not. 🙁

    Yesterday, an 8 year old walking to the bus stop here in town was struck and killed by a car. Last month, a 16 year old getting off the bus was struck and killed by a car.

    At least three kids have been abducted and murdered, and at least four or five more were threatened by abduction in this or surrounding counties since I moved here in 1988.

    My kids don’t ride the bus.

  3. gardenwaltz says:

    i have a feeling that there is going to be a
    SURPRISE PARTY WITH YOUR BEAR event in my family’s near future. that is too cool of an idea.

  4. theroach says:

    Yet parents don’t feel it’s safe for their children to wait for the bus?

    The funny thing is that everyone is under the impression that it’s become more dangerous in the USA. When in reality, during the last 10+ years, the numbers have been going only down.

    Mostly, it’s the TV stations’ fault, though. ‘Real Crime’ and ‘Rreal Life’ shows have grown, and people think that, because it’s on TV more often, it must also be happening in reality more often. Which in turn suits the control freaks in the government just fine…

  5. Anonymous says:

    Checks and marketing

    Great to hear about the money. And a new market…Whoohoo!

    Joel
    waywriter.blogspot.com

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