Current Events

I basically have no idea what is going on the world right now. Apart from Christina Aguilera's flub of the National Anthem, and something about the Philly city government's shady doings with their retirement program, I am 100% clueless. The only reason I am "up" on these is because The Baby was man-handling exploring the operation of the remote the other day during Sesame Street and happened to switch over to Fox News.

By the way, I do not have a cat, but
The Baby would do the same thing to a
newspaper given the chance. 

I am ashamed to admit it, but I do not follow current events at all. Though my intellectual brain understands that it is important to keep abreast of world news, my mommy brain can barely handle the Letter of the Day, much less the headlines of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The use of news print around here is relegated to table cover for paste projects and painting by numbers. My daily interaction with the Internet includes Facebook, Blogger and nickjr.com. (or Barbie.com if we are feeling scandalous). I glean an occasional tidbit or two from the first two, and I can tell you exactly what is going on in Barbie's love life, but that is about it.

It has not always been this way for me. There was a time when I was quite knowledgeable about world events. Those days are long gone for now.

I mainly blame this on three things.

First of all, I don't make time to follow what is going on in the world. Though my day has very little structure to it, compared to the amazing mommies out there who operate like a fine Swiss timepiece, the routine is pretty simple. We get up, we play, we eat. Lather, rinse, repeat.  (I left out the sleeping part because, really, who am I kidding?). I barely find time to check my voicemail, much less find out what is newsworthy these days.

Secondly, The News doesn't often seem relevant to me. I don't chat with co-workers at the proverbial water cooler, nor do I often find myself engaged in intellectual conversation with other adults. It's not that I don't socialize with grown-ups. I do. But, while surrounded by the Little People village and Melissa and Doug, we, in the play-date set, do not talk politics or the economy. Our current events are more like what is your kid's nap schedule, or what happened to Steve on Blues Clues? For a more deep discussion, we may bring up the outrageous price of a gallon of milk, or the latest debate on potty-training readiness.

And last, but not least, I find the news quite depressing. It is hard enough to keep your head out the oven when you are stressed out about your child's refusal to clean up at preschool, or you are spreading out a decent night's sleep over 4 days. It may seem selfish, but I cannot add more to my mental list of things to worry about. I know it sucks out there, and believe me, I count my blessings every day. I just choose to leave it at that.

I will say, that blogging has slightly rekindled my interest in knowing what is going on in the world. I have come to realize that people actually pay attention to current events, and take the time to comment on them in public forums. It has made me feel slightly guilty about my complete lack of interest.

In my heart, I know that we cannot make the world a better place if we don't know how it works. And I certainly do not want my kiddos to grow up apathetic to current events. I would first appreciate if they can learn how to put their toys away, communicate without screaming or pouting, and sleep for more than two hours at a time. But we can definitely spend some time acquainting ourselves with who and what is making news right now.

Do any mommies have advice for keeping yourself (and your family) in the know, while balancing all the other needs of the day?