Gov’na Mills

Yesterday at 3:00, along with the rest of my quiet state of Maine, I was patiently waiting for Dr. Shah and Governor Mills to enter my facebook live feed so that I could see the fate of the nation. My son, who is like a barnacle these days, was glued to my left and we were both snacking hard on a bag of salt and vinegar almonds. As it turns out, the stores are still stocking nuts and chocolate in droves. “I don’t see anyone yet,” Payson told me, impatiently, pressing the wow emojis and the love emojis on my keyboard. “Now people are going to think I’m crazy because you are pressing all of those buttons”I told him. “If they know you, they already think that”. Isn’t he sweet? Anyhow, as we were sitting there watching, I got to thinking, this video feed is a historical moment right now. When he is 26 and taking a girl out on a date and his credit card is declined, he will go back to this moment of sitting with Mom and hearing if we the zoo animals are allowed to escape or not. I told him it was such a moment. That this was history. This is like watching O.J. and that white bronco buddy, this is like watching the man on the moon, like watching Clinton say he did not have relations with that woman. “What the heck are you talking about?” he asked me. It was at that moment that I noticed he was reading all the commentary to the right as Dr. Shah was speaking. People, I am worried about the beings in our state as I looked on. Viewers did everything you could do on a keyboard to Janet Mills. They called her Austen Powers (who throws a shoe honestly?), they called her cuss words, they said she was ruining their livelihoods and their sex life. I”m not sure how she is capable of ruining both. It was real, real disgusting, whether you voted for her or not. It got me thinking, how much do you as parents let your kids see of this “history” in the media? Do you just let it all flow at your house and let them make their own decisions? Do you all put on your red hats at dinner time and give a quick nod to each other? Do you openly discuss the ins and outs of this virus and who is affected so that your kids don’t think you are torturing them with all this family time?

My kids have been damaged goods, politically, for some time now, so I think I parent somewhere in the middle. For instance, we all watch Rona Watch on Bob Marley’s facebook feed and shriek with laughter. I love him, right to the tips of my toes. If he ever reads this blog, I would be so tickled. I love your videos Bob, keep growing that hair out! I also have SNL on a running loop, so I think they are both confused on who Donald Trump really is. But I also do try to impress on them being good people and the comments that people were making to Janet Mills indicate maybe it’s not happening other places? Like you do know she is not going to respond to you when you comment that it looks like she cut her hair with a lawn mower right? You know she is probably busy speaking and won’t catch that you typed socialist in all caps AND additionally spelled it wrong. I’m not saying I agree with all of her decisions, as I am in danger of imploding before we ever get to phase 3, but please take your frustration and haterade out on the treadmill a little bit, before you watch the CDC updates. We have little people watching , with big eyes, and they will go through this again, in their life time. They will look back on this moment of history, and when the writers write the books, I hope they highlight the nurses, and the scientists, the good deeds and the community support. I hope they don’t caption the people hanging out of their trucks , with their confederate flags, and the words free me and free Jesus on their white t-shirts. What are your thoughts, whether you like Mills or not? Think Cuomo is doing the best he can or sucking the air out of the room? Do you let it all fly in front of your family? or save some for post 9 pm when you are having your Quarantini? In closing, be kind even when it is hard and if you have to be nasty, do it without an audience.