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Show (CdDmWIKBMtt Review - Wednesday , May 7, 1986 - page 2 -- Editorial Mothers now expected to do more Mother isn't what she used to be. Now she is more. In 1907, when the first Mother's Day was observed in Philadelphia, the role of a mother and wife was to keep a neat, clean house where nutritious meals were prepared three times a day. She was supposed to nurture and teach her children, comfort her husband and keep the house running smoothly. However, over the past few decades society has ex-panded the role of wife and mother to include much more. Today, more often than not mother is expected to work, part-tim- e or full-tim- e, to help keep the family budget under control. She is a taxi service for children who keep busy running from school to gymnastics to baseball to music lessons. And civic responsibilities, once the domain of men, now require mother's attention and attendance. Not only is mother expected to be involved in PTA and par-ticipate in the American Heart Association fund drive and the Mothers' March of Dimes, now she is expected to take an active part in the local political process, be an active member of civic improvement committees and work for the general welfare of mankind. j This does not mean she can forget about those responsibilities that were the exclusive domain of mothers in 1907, however. She must continue to keep a clean house, nurture and teach her children and provide three nutritious meals a day. It's no wonder that many women are frustrated with the expanding list of requirements that make up this most demanding of job descriptions. What is a wonder is that so many sons, daughters and husbands continue taking for granted all that this beleaguered mother and wife does to keep the family running smoothly. One day of tribute a year is hardly just repayment for the efforts of the mothers who make the system work. Don't forget your mother on Sunday, when we give mothers' that one day of homage. But don't forget her the rest of the year, either. It's a job that's never been as hard as it is now. f letters to V the editor J Some people resent mountain graffiti Editor: Did it ever occur to you that there may be people living in this town that are all for community pride and school spirit but resent having the beauty of the mountains around us defaced by ugly aluminum block letters? I'm sure if we think about it we can come up with a better way to spend $6,000 on community im-provements. How about books for the library, how about a library? Why must we mess up the view? I know I'm in the minority but I'll bet if someone started painting big white G's around town you'd call it grafitti and the people who did vandals. --Stephen L. Johnson Let's give 4-d- ay school an objective look Editor: I've been giving this four-da- y week suggestion of the school teachers some serious examination. At first I thought, "Oh, UEA, after all my years of supporting you, now you're off your rocker." But then I remembered that the Legislature told the teachers to come up with a good plan to save money, to use judiciously the little money they (the legislators) so reluctantly granted, and to do a 100 percent job of teaching. When the teachers do this, when they propose and try such methods as year-roun- d schools (there are many types of models being tried) or longer hours with juggled class schedule, or career ladders, or others, many of the parents and public begin to scream that their own lifestyles are being disrupted, while the teachers are asking for another paid holiday, the teachers don't earn what they now get, they care only for themselves and money-gra- b without concern about the students. The list goes on Let me mention the fair side of at least one of these causes for distress: free holidays. I taught school for 36 years and was never paid for one single holiday. The schools are required by law to hold 180 days of school. That they do. If I took off more than my five allotted sick-leav- e days, my total salary was divided by 180 and I was docked that amount. While the kids were out on holidays for Christmas, spring or others, I was out, too, on an unpaid holiday. To receive summer paydays, my yearly salary was pro-rate- d in 12 amounts, or I taught special summer classes. And my hours were not 9 to 3:30 but more like 8 to 5. People who know me know this is true. Now about this four-da- y plan. The children will not lose any hours in school. When school is in session 180 days that makes 1,440 hours of in-struction. By adding time to each day, the children will still receive 1,440 hours of instruction four-da- y weeks. There were times when I wished my hours with the children could be lengthened when we were working on a particular concept and needed more time to clinch the point. Furthermore, many times children think since it's Friday, they can let down on effort. I'm sure this would not occur on the fourth of four days in school. Then think, parents, how nice it would be to have a three-da- y weekend. Many times parents asked me to let their children go on , Friday for their special trips and holidays. Also, children could use that extra day to do their home assignments. It isn't unreasonable. The teachers have been asked for a plan. Why not try it out. S. Petersen You're now reading an antique p.g. blah By MARCELLA WALKER You won't believe this but Thursday is the big Five O for yours truly. My kids have had a heyday ex-claiming over the fact I'll be half a century old. One daughter proceded to tell me that I would now qualify as an antique. I wonder if she has visions of selling me for a bundle now that I am so old. I keep telling them I am not old. I informed them that they will be 50 before they turn around. It does not take very long to get here, whether they believe it or not. It is all a state of mind, I tell them, and my state of mind says I am only 25. The arthritis says 50, but I ignore it. One sage said, "You are only as old as you would be if you did not know how old you are." I like that. If I didn't know how old I was, and considering all else, I would still be 25. Keith Christeson said he has been holding at 49 for 11 years arid that sounds kind of like a good idea. Maybe I can hold there for a while. .'After all)- it is only a quirk of fate he is by five months and I keep telling him he should mind his elders, but he pays no attention) , I am the only one who is coping with it, I think. Or am I? Would I be writing this column about it if I was really coping with it? I don't know. I thought so. After all, I confessed my age and that ought to show something. I had always thought that by this age I would be rich, which I am not. I thought I would be worldly wise, which I am not. And I thought I'd be the mother of 12, which I am not. Although counting my five, my son-in-la-and daughter-in-law- , and grandchildren I am getting close. I didn't dream I would be a weekly newspaper editor when I reached this age. I had once hoped to be a writer for the New York Times, but this is better. I didn't dream I would live in Pleasant Grove, and that is one of the best things that has happened over the 50 years. I didn't dream I would be involved yin the Chamber of Commerce and, that has been such a lot of fun. I didn't dream I would be on the Arts Council, the first in our fine city, and that has been a challenge of the best sort. I didn't dream I would be looking back at 20 years of service in the PTA, but I am. I think I hold about four jobs in the church but they are the source of great joy. It is all these things that keep me so young, don't you think? Since it is number Five 0 coming up, that means I ought to go with Hawaii 50 and have a luau. I told the family that and they looked at me a little strange. After all, it will probably snow on my birthday and that is not too luau-ish- . When my sweetheart asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told him a new dress, something soft and pretty. He said he'd get me some glue and cottonballs. I told him to forget it. ' And so it goes. But it has been a wonderful 50 years, so eventful and so short. I hope the next 50 are just as good. Maybe, the last 20 of the next 50 could be a little less busy, however. 51 ".V:..;.;;; that I was born on May 8 anyway. It could have been later in the year. My mother can't believe she has a daughter this old. My kids cannot believe they have a mother this old. And my sweetheart can't believe he ias a wife this old. (I am older than Never fear. Marvel Mother is here! grassroots f Y - Copyright 1986 Becky Grass Johnson By BECKI GRASS JOHNSON Countless times we've watched as medals have been awarded to policemen, astronauts and war heroes. Standing ovations are given to athletes, entertainers and politicians. Just once I'd like to see the mother who drove the kin-dergarten car poor make the ten o'clock news. Instead, one day a year has been set aside to honor mother. The Sunday newspaper the week before, is twice as thick and bulges with ads for just the right gifts to please and delight even the most finicky mother. Merchants suggest that your shopping list include anything from a coupon for a free oil change and tune up to a box of Calgon, " designer gowns and a dustbuster. and it wouldn't be Mother's Day without purchasing just the right card to express your feelings. You can buy a beautiful, 1 acy looking card with sentimental poetry, or you can buy one, with a picture of Whistler's mother sprawled on the floor. The verse inside begins, "You're not the only one who's off her rocker." Newspapers and radio stations sponsor "The' World's Greatest .Mom" contest. Invariably the Xvinners are the mothers of eight or 'more children. They render twenty hours of community service each week, play racquetball and keep retrieve a baseball mitt from the roof of the house. Most women just sit b ack and smile because they know that "marvel mother" specializes in basket weaving and lives in the city of Oz along with the last unicorn. Sometimes the expectations "placed on mom seem limitless itoecause through the eyes of a child, mom can do, anything. Her love has a m agical healing power whether it be a scraped knee or bruised ', feelings. One morning at the breakfast table our three-year-ol- in the middle of munching her toast, suddenly cried out in pain. Tears : sprang to her eyes and her hand flew to her mouth. "What's wrong, honey? Did you bite your tongue?" I sym-- ! pathetically asked. She woefully nodded. "Shall I get you a band-aid?- " I volunteered. - "No," she replied bravely, "Just kiss it better." Somehow between the fanfare of - shopping for just the right gift and the tributes to the perfect mother, we've lost sight of what mother's day is al about. It really has little to do with how clean Mom kept the kit-- , chen floor or whether or not her . children made it to Harvard. It has more to do with why a mother will rock a sick and crying baby through the n ight or take a second job to keep a son or daughter on a ' mission. Mother's day should be a celebration of the kind love that only a mother feels for her children. And her reward doesns't come from the cards, flowers or certificates to the tanning. Her gift is wrapped up in the kind of love that only children feel for their mother. Heart Stains I wiped prints off the window and crayon from the wall. And just when I thought I was through, I found mud in the hall. I scrubbed the lipstick from the rug and snipped gum from your hair. I scoured the grease stain from the tile. (But super glue's still there.) I whisked away the cracker crumbs and vacuumed, up the dirt. I presoaked off the kool-ai- d from your overalls and shirt. My morn began with cleanliness, then all throughout the day, I worked my very hardest to wipe your tracks away. But then at night, when all is right, (with pink and shining mug), You throw your arms about my neck and give a sticky hug. Then suddenly I've forgotten of the havoc you impart, For there's not a chance I'd want scrub your kisses from my heart. by BECKI GRASS JOHNSON immaculate homes. Not only do their kids speak three different languages fluently and make the honor roll, but play musical in-struments as well. Meanwhile the rest of us are trying to figure out how to scrape the hardened glob of Cream of Wheat from the kitchen wall without tearing off the wallpaper. The schools and churches have special speakers and programs that eulogize "marvel mother." Marvel mother never yells at her children, sleeps in or scratches in public. Maravel mother can sew 15 dance costumes the night before the an-- . nual dance review. Marvel mother knows the shoe size of every family member. Marvel mother can even " Former commissioner questions emmission testing program with the standards they have established? Their answer was, "Yes, very likely." When asked if that meant they would be imposing more stringent requirements in the future, they either could not or would not give a definite answer. If any other form of government were to impose a tax of $1M to $2 million per year upon the citizens with no more reason or any more guarantee of some beneficial results, there would be an uprising of the citizens and the next time they came up for election they would be voted out of office. Based upon the information that I have seen and the reasons they have given for what they are doing, it makes about the same sense as killing a fly with an atomic bomb. Let's hope that the County Commissioners will do everything they can to prevent the im-plementation of this particular program at this time. If I felt that this would improve our way of life and be the answer to a specific problem I would be in full support. To this point what they have done, the way they have done it and what they have said, does not convince me. Richan After July 1, the E.P.A. will require all vehicles in Utah County to be inspected and made to con-form to emmission standards. The E.P.A., State Health Department and the City-Count- y Health Department justify this based on atmospheric tests they performed. I question the need for these controls because of the way these tests were conducted. While County Commissioner I sat in on two briefings detailing what they were doing and how they were conducting the tests. They displayed on a map where they were testing and the area impacted. The number of tests they were conducting was either 2 or 3 and the ground area negatively impacted was very small in size, an acre or so. No one lived in these areas and anyone passing through them would be in a car and only in the area for a few seconds to a minute or so. As I questioned them regarding the methods they were using, they stated they knew the areas to test and could determine the at-mospheric conditions that would guarantee them the results they wanted. Knowing these things they could, in fact, predict and predetermine the results. With the ability to do this, the tests were little more than a farce. Had they desired to, they could have tested and proven the county to be free of contamination. When you look at the small area negatively impacted, and look at the cost in-volved, it makes absolutely no sense to me. Using their figures it will cost the citizens of Utah County between $VA and $2 million a year to have their vehicles inspected. Will it accomplish a cleaner environment? When asked this question at the hearing in American Fork, they said they did not know that it would. Using the knowledge and methods they have for testing, after of the program, could they pick their testing sites and atmospheric conditions and find that we are still not in compliance If v ' v -4 . i - ,v ' ... . , - A 1 r IX . ' 0 P f Three seriously injured in mishap Three people were injured Tuesday morning in a head-o- n collision near 900 West State Road in Pleasant Grove. Winona Kirk, 65, Lindon; Bradley Hansen, 18; and Shane Davenport, 17, both of American Fork; were injured in the mishap. All three are listed in good con-dition with multiple fractures at American Fork Hospital. Officer Lonnie Wilson said that the eastbound Hansen pickup ap-parently strayed into the westbound lane of traffic where it collided with Mrs. Kirk's station wagon. Both cars were totalled. Rules for letters to the editor This newspaper welcomes letters to the editor on all sub-jects. Letters must be signed and bear the writer's full name, signature and address. Names may be withheld for a good reason, but they must appear on the original letter. Letters should be typewritten and double spaced. Preference will be given to short letters, and all letters are subject to condensation. Mail letters to the editor to Editor, P.O. Box 7, American Fork, Utah 84003. |