Sea World...A Complicated Issue

This weekend Devon and I took the boys to San Antonio for a quick weekend road trip.  As we have done many times in the past, we visited Sea World, but this time it felt a little different.

I really can't remember the first time I visited Sea World, but my parents took my brother, sister, and I to Sea World several times when growing up, and I absolutely loved it every time. I have always been fascinated by animals and animal behavior, and this park has it all - animals, rides, shows, etc. I remember thinking that being an animal trainer must be the most awesome job in the world, and I had the fleeting idea that I would want to be an animal trainer someday! I remember reading about the requirements, and while I don't recall all of the details, I remember one of the qualifications was you had to be a very strong swimmer. A strong swimmer I am not, and so that thought ended, but I remained mesmerized by the animals and their abilities and willingness to complete various behaviors. There also seemed to be a genuine relationship between the trainers and the animals.

While I have always loved visiting aquariums and zoos, I have had some concerns and reservations about animals being kept in captivity. I think like many things though, I have tried to keep my concerns in context of a bigger picture. I have been fascinated with biology most of my life, but it wasn't until I studied biology in college that I became aware of so many issues ranging from habitat destruction to poaching to climate change. I know there are views all over the spectrum on most issues, but I think it is most important for individuals to be educated and informed. In our very busy, civilized lives, it is easy to get disconnected from the natural world, and when we are disconnected, it is easy to forget about how fragile everything is. I don't mean to make it sound like I view Sea World, zoos, or aquariums as the natural world, but honestly, that is as close as it's going to get for most people (in terms of seeing wild animals and developing an appreciation). I'm amazed at the diversity of individuals who visit Sea World, and hopefully after spending the day there, at least some of the visitors come away with a greater appreciation for the wildlife and the importance of conservation.

This year it seemed like Sea World had more exhibits dedicated to recycling, conservation, animal rescue, etc. They even featured Jack Hanna and Bindi Irwin in a short conservation presentation before the orca show. Talk about pulling out the big guns! I have no doubt this is to help combat the negative publicity from the Blackfish "documentary." I haven't seen the full documentary yet, but I have seen small parts and read about it. It sounds like even some of the people who were interviewed for the documentary regret participating because they felt like their input was taken out of context. In visiting Sea World several times over the past two decades, I have never seen a protester, but this weekend there were about 50 with signs protesting at the entrance to the park. I'm not sure why it upset me so much, but it did.  I respect the right to protest and for free speech, but I guess it kind of perplexed me in so many ways. Where have the protesters been for the last 50 years? Why Sea World and not so many other zoological settings with far worse conditions? Why not protest other actions that affect so many more animals with no benefit? In my opinion, in an ideal world there would be no animals in captivity, but there would be lots of things very different than they are.

So...that pretty much sums up my view on this issue. Like so many very complicated issues, I am torn, but I believe at least for now the benefit outweighs the cost. On a positive note, the boys had a wonderful weekend.

In closing, I want to share one of my favorite quotes by the environmentalist, Dr. Baba Dioum.
"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught."

The Beginning of Summer

I think the first day of summer is not for another month or so, but in south Texas, summer begins early and ends late. A few weeks ago Matthew and I made an impulse purchase of a backyard sprinkler, slip-n-slide, pool combo. The boys have been wanting to open it, but it hasn't been quite warm enough until today. They love it! It's been an enjoyable afternoon of watching them shoot each other with water guns, watching them splash in the water, and listening to their infectious laughs. Perhaps most entertaining has been Devon trying to teach Ian how to run and slide. I give Devon props for putting his body on the line as I would probably injure something. Devon definitely still has slip and slide skills, while Ian is still trying to get coordinated. Cutest of all is Matthew who just runs across the "slide" and then plops down at the end. While I dread the heat and humidity of summers in the Houston area, I'm looking forward to enjoying summertime activities with my boys.

I won't believe everything he says about you, if you don't believe everything he says about me :)

Each month Ian receives a homework packet with four "homework" assignments for the week. Tonight's assignment asked for Ian (the student) to write one or two sentences describing things he does with his mother. As is typical, Devon and I split up tonight to help each little guy. Devon worked with Ian on his homework, while I got Matthew ready for bed (i.e., jammies, sleepy snack, read a book, etc.). After Matthew was almost ready for bed, I went to check on Ian and found him coloring his picture of us together. 

What did Ian choose to write about?  When I think of things Ian and I do together, lots of things come to mind: read books, go for walks, play games, work in the yard, etc.  He wrote he likes to go to Sea World and scratch lottery tickets with his mother! :)  I can just imagine his kindergarten teacher reading his sentences, and thinking...WOW, great job mom. ;) It is a true story though - Ian and I do scratch lottery tickets together, and he loves it. 

So where did these lottery tickets come from?  A couple of months ago, Ian's elementary school had a spring festival to raise money for the school. One of the many activities was a silent auction where various themed baskets were auctioned off. I'm not really sure what came over me that day, but it was about 15 minutes before the end of the auction, and there was a basket with over 150 lottery tickets in it, and I decided to outbid the previous bidders. I really thought someone would put in another bid, but that was not the case, and we went home with a massive basket of lottery tickets. When I found out I had won the basket, I braced myself for Devon's response. Fortunately, he handled it with a great sense of humor and saw it as a nice donation to the school.  Each night Ian and I scratch a ticket, and if for some reason I forget or we run out of time, Ian lets me know! We had a string of nights where we ran out of time, forgot, etc. I ended up finding a chart that Ian made where he kept up with number of nights where we forgot to do "scratchies."  Anyway, apparently this is an enjoyable activity for him. :)  I don't think he really understands what a lottery ticket is. To him, it's a game. I'm hoping in the end we will break even, and it will have made for a fun little event for several weeks. 

As for his teacher, I hope she has a good sense of humor too. I can't remember the exact situation, but I remember talking to a parent my first year of teaching, and we were discussing how what students say often needs to be taken with a grain of salt. This particular mom said something to the effect of, I won't believe everything he says about you, if you don't believe everything he says about me. I think this is a good rule of thumb to live by. 

First Blog...Potty Training

So, this is my first post on my new blog.  After being inspired by a friend who regularly blogs about her sweet little family and their adventures, I have decided to try blogging. Not only does my friend keep a blog, but she also prints off her blog once a year, so her daughters will be able to read and see their stories later in life. I'm hoping I can keep up with this, not only for my boys, but so that I don't forget all of the little things that happen! Anyway, here goes...

Potty training.  Ian really had no motivation to potty train. We, especially Devon, worked very hard with Ian for a long time, but he was definitely on his own schedule. Because we both work, Ian attended daycare/preschool.  One of the requirements to move out of the 3 year old room and into the next room up, was you had to be potty trained.  As hard as we worked at it, his 3rd birthday came along, and he still didn't want to give up the pull-ups!! Fortunately, once his friends moved up at school into the next room, it only took about a month and then magically he was ready to be done with pull-ups and hello undies! There was no challenge at this point. Once he decided to use the potty, it was a success (literally in one day!), and it's been smooth sailing ever since.

After the potty training experience with Ian, we decided that there was no point in trying to rush Matthew. When he was ready, he would let us know. Before his second birthday, he started expressing interest in undies and the potty, so we started working on it, and it seemed like he would be fully potty-trained before turning 2. I'm not sure what really happened, but he stopped telling us he needed to go, and we were having many more accidents than successes, so it was back to pull-ups which is where we are today.  His preschool teachers are convinced he's ready for prime time because they say he doesn't have accidents at school, but at home he doesn't tell us when he needs to go.  Devon decided to try to motivate Matthew with a "potty puzzle." Every time Matthew tells us he needs to go potty without having an accident in his pull-up, he gets a potty puzzle piece. Once he completes the puzzle, we have an ice cream party. Matthew loves this, and it has created a little bit of peer pressure because Ian highly encourages Matty to earn potty puzzle pieces too (Ian shares in the ice cream party!).  Anyway, today, Matthew put up his last potty puzzle piece to finish off this puzzle, so of course that meant ice cream, and everyone was all smiles around this place tonight. :)