We’re starting a new feature here at The Imperfect Parent, where once a week we’ll post a photo of, as the title says, random crap. I’ll kick things off with a pic of one of my favorite things:

I can’t even remember now how Moose made it into our home — perhaps an inheritance from a long-dead aunt, or a drunken impulse buy at a Wisconsin gas station/cheese emporium/gift shop. Maybe it was even left here by the previous occupants, who knows. All I do know is that it’s 100 pounds worth of awesome.

Is the base really a slice from a birch trunk?

Oh, yes.

And it’s all hand carved?

Absolutely.

That’s nice and all, but what’s so special about it?

This, my friends:

continue reading…

Today I read about a 12-year-old boy who wanted to be a girl. He/she convinced doctors and psychiatrists that he was a girl trapped in a boy’s body. This is creating an uproar amongst the ultra-conservative and religious right as they claim that this is a result of “homosexual agendas” and taking advantage of a confused individual to promote homosexuality. This leaves me with a head scratch. If he turns into a she, is she really gay if she decides to have relationships with men? I think not. I also don’t think this has anything to do with promoting a “homosexual agenda”. People are born with anomalies, abnormalities, disabilities and genetic malfunctions everyday, why would a criss-cross of x and y chromosomes be any different? Would you say to someone born with a heart defect that they couldn’t have corrective surgery because they would be promoting a cardiovascular agenda?

However, the real issue in my mind is whether or not a 12- or 14-year-old boy truly understands the severity and finality of the situation and the operation, and if they are mature enough to cope and reconcile with a host of very real and potentially difficult emotions.

I won’t even comment on how the taxpayers in Germany are footing the bill, because that’s their problem.

From The Daily Mail:

Even at the age of two, Tim insisted he was a girl trapped in a boy’s body.

And when puberty began to approach at the age of 12, he convinced his parents that something had to be done.

With their agreement, he became the youngest sex-change patient in the world, receiving hormone injections which arrested his male development

Now, at 14, Tim has become Kim – a blue-eyed blonde with a growing bust line who is allowed to wear make-up at weekends.

She has no boyfriends at present but her parents say she is interested in what, now, is the opposite sex.

Her treatment, which has cost £18,000 so far, is being funded by the German taxpayer.

Tim turned “Kim”, age 14

Photo from The Daily Mail

UPDATE:

A three-day search involving hundreds of people in the Flathead Valley and beyond ended tragically Friday night, when the body of 3-year-old Loic J.M. Rogers was found.

It has since been reported that the toddler drowned in a septic tank only 10 feet away from where he went misisng.

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This time, it’s a 3 year old toddler in Montana that vanished from from his Grandfather’s driveway in the matter of just minutes.

Police are investigating local sex offenders. I don’t even know why there is such a thing as “local sex offenders”. Sex offenders should never be local. If someone has victimized a child, why, oh why, are they living amongst us???

Please let this little boy be okay.

From Fox News:

Loic J.M. Rogers was reported missing Wednesday night. His father said he took the boy out to the car at 7 p.m. Wednesday and went back into the house to get Loic’s little sister.

The father “said he was inside only for a minute,” Meehan said. When he came back outside, the boy was gone. The father said he searched for about 20 minutes before calling law enforcement.

An Amber Alert was issued Thursday.

“We don’t have a lot of leads, but we feel pretty strongly that there probably is foul play involved,” Meehan said. “That is based solely on the fact that we haven’t found the boy and we should have, under the conditions in the area we were searching and the number of searches and the number of people searching.”

Photo from AP: Loic J.M. Rogers, age 3

Like a lot of kids, my youngest son is prone to blurting out riveting observations at any given time. Fascinating things like, “You’ve got a blue shirt on!” and, “Mom’s at work!” Thanks, Commandant of Perspicuousness! While hanging out in our basement playroom this morning, he pointed at the laundry room and said, “Penny [the cat] just went in there!”

I asked, “Went in where?”

“Into Mom’s Laundry!”

I like that. I like that very much.

This is common knowledge for us old timers, but here’s a tip to you newlywed men out there: if you want to someday be able to retire from doing laundry, simply feign incompetence. But this is not as easy as it sounds. If you are of reasonable intelligence you can’t go the bumbling idiot route or she’ll never buy it — for instance, a red sock in the load of whites is way too obvious. No, you have to be more subtle. Use a bit too much or too little laundry soap, use the wrong water level or temperature, forget the dryer sheets, and my absolute favorite, consistently fold items in a neat but completely wrong way. It will be a needling irritation that builds and builds until your wife banishes you from laundry duty forever.

You’re welcome.

It is now coming out that Shawn Hornbeck may have been the one to push/pull little Ben Ownby into the white truck Devlin was driving, making him an accomplice to the crime (although prosecutors say that charges won’t be pressed).

Man, oh, man, this is one fucked up kid. I’m not saying it’s his fault, but man, he’s got to have some major issues! (Like, duh!)

From KMOV TV:

Law enforcement sources tell News 4 that Hornbeck was forced to help grab Ownby, and even push the boy to the floorboard of the white Nissan truck. We’ve also learned that Ben was held with a gun and duct tape.
Pediatric psychiatrist Dr. Robin Park says that Devlin would have had to desensitize and brainwash the Shawn for months to get him to do something so clearly wrong.
Police speculate that in Devlin’s eyes, Shawn, at age 15, was getting too old.
Devlin may have struck a deal with Shawn to help get a new victim. This did not surprise the expert.
Hornbeck’s family attorney says that Shawn will in no way be prosecuted for his involvement in the crime. The experts feel sympathy for a child who would go to such lengths.

I think there’s going to me a lot more shocking details to come. We don’t even know the half of it.

Click here for the video report.