Men Are Like...

While in a local gas station the boys where exploring.  They found a stash of Koozies with different sayings on them.

Brennan in particular gets a kick out of witty sayings and collects t-shirts with different goofy statements on them.  He was super tickled by one that said "I have one nerve left...and you're on it."

I was concerned that they may come across one or two that I wouldn't approve of and just as I was calling them to me so we could leave, Tanner brought me one that said:

"Men are like..... Blenders.You need one, but you're not quite sure why."

I just said, "Wow, that's not very nice. Put it back." We headed out and for the boys that was the end of it. It has really stuck with me. 

First of all, I have a blender.  It's a Kitchen Aid professional blender that I requested for Mother's Day 3 or 4 years ago and I use it daily.  We are huge into fresh fruit smoothies in our house.  In fact I use it so much that this morning I had to order a replacement Clutch Rubber Coupling due to wearing out the old one (this will be our 3rd).

I brought up the offensive Koozie to Jared.  He was equally unimpressed. 

Here's my issue:  Jared has explained to me that men are really pretty cut and dry.  They want to be the absolute best and whatever it is they do. 

We as women have significant power over that. 

If we constantly tell our husbands (sons) they are invaluable assets to our family that are cherished and irreplaceable, they will strive to be the best at that.  If we tell our husbands (sons) that they have no value, are worthless, and just an extra mouth to feed they will strive to be the best at that.

Our society is constantly devaluing men and their role in the family.  It may seem like "just a Koozie" but my sons had a small lesson in how society values men that day.

As a home school family outsiders are constantly concerned about my children and whether or not they're "socialized."

According to Wikipedia this is the definition of Socialization:

Socialization is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, politicians and educationalists to refer to the process of inheriting norms, customs and ideologies. It may provide the individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within their own society; a society itself is formed through a plurality of shared norms, customs, values, traditions, social roles, symbols and languages. Socialization is thus ‘the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained."

^{I am more than happy to announce that my children will not be Socialized. They will not share this world's "norms, customs, values, traditions, social roles, symbols and languages," and hopefully because of that our "social and cultural continuity" will be severely disrupted.}