Sunday 16 November 2014

Baking With a Two Year Old and Dealing with Trolls









You may have noticed that I have activated comment moderation for the moment as I had a troll comment on my blog.   I really don't know why people would want to spend so much time on line making an ass of themselves, but hey ho as John from Going Gently would say,  I will remove the moderation again in a few days.  Do you have trouble with trolls?  How do you deal with them?  I don't want to keep the moderation on as then they have won.  I'm more than capable of dealing with trolls but I don't want people to have to read their pathetic little comments.  Why do people have to be so nasty, they must have sad and lonely lives.


We have been looking after the grandchildren for a few days to give their mum a rest.  They are 2 and 4 so our days have been full of wiping faces and bums.  We had an excursion to an indoor play area as it's been raining most days, we were both exhausted after climbing around the obstacle courses with them!  I think we were the only ones going around with the children, are we over protective grandparents?  The children enjoyed it but I think we will just put boots and rain macs on and go to the beach next time for some fresh air and create our own climbing challenges on rocks and slides down the dunes.  We have been building dens, having picnics in an indoor tent,  helping grandpa sweep the patio in the rain and baking buns.  All good fun.  They are going home tomorrow, the house will seem a lot quieter.

There has been a debate on Facebook about a teacher who slaughtered a rabbit in class and cut it up to show the children where their food came from.  There were a lot of people who thought this was a good thing to do as children need to see these things.  My thoughts are that we tell children how babies are made but we don't give them a demonstration!  I explained to my children exactly where their food came from and what was involved  in the production of meat.  They both decided to be vegetarians and still are.  There is enough cruelty in the world, I would rather they didn't witness it in school.  What are your thoughts?

Chickpea xx

Welcome to Elaine and Plain Jane :)


23 comments:

  1. You will need a days rest after your busy weekend by the sound of things, but it must have been fun. Was your odd comment the anti USA women thing that we all got?

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  2. It is such a shame that you got a nasty commenter. I bet it was an anonymous comment. I have not had any problems yet, thankfully. I think it goes a bit far to slaughter a rabbit in class to demonstrate where food comes from. There are subtler ways, like a good conversation or maybe a well and thoughtfully illustrated book. We talk with our children about where food comes from as and when we eat it, or when they ask. I want them to develop a respect for our food but not a fear to eat, which might well happen if they had been in the class when that poor rabbit was slaughtered. Have a lovely (troll free) week. x

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  3. Sounds like the same one, I left it on my post and replied politely :)

    It wasn't directed at me Christina, just a very bitter man who is venting his anger on anyone he can.

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  4. I got the same comment, and saw it on other people's blogs. It's a particularly pathetic MRA/PUA type who has been making the rounds to boost traffic to his pathetic website.

    We had an excursion to an indoor play area as it's been raining most days, we were both exhausted after climbing around the obstacle courses with them! I think we were the only ones going around with the children, are we over protective grandparents?

    No, you aren't over protective grandparents, you're athletes!

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  5. I think killing a rabbit in front of children is unacceptable. My GD would have fainted in class then probably have thrown up. My little GS would have flatly refused to eat meat at all from that moment on. It's one thing to know where food comes from but quite another to show it being killed.

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  6. I'm against killing a rabbit in class. I think the dispatching of animals should be left to the experts. The less stress to the animal the better. And in this instance the less stress to the children the better. Jean x

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  7. You might have seen that I had a nasty comment - I imagine that it was the same one you got. I mentioned it and ended up with another comment from someone else who assumed that their missing comment was the one I deleted and a few other things.... Not the best. I think that your approach is a great one and I hope that you are OK and will not have any more troubles. xx

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  8. Haha first time in my life I have been called an athlete, thank you! I was always the one smoking behind the bike shed when anything remotely athletic was going on. :)

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  9. Flipping heck he has been doing the rounds, and there I was thinking I was special :)

    Yep good thanks Amy xx

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  10. I just don't understand the troll thing. Does someone get enjoyment saying vile things and posting them on numerous blogs? Or is there even a real person behind it? I'm sorry you have had to deal with this.

    It must be fun to have your grandchildren stay over for a few days. I'm looking forward to Lucy getting a bit older so she can spend an overnight here.

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  11. Yes , he is doing the rounds, I don't know how I set up my comments but any one that is Anonymous comes through to my email but can't be published, I think this is more luck than anything that I set up.
    I have mixed feelings about the teacher, I think it depends on the ages of the children, so many kids grow up not knowing anything about where their food comes from, there was a survey done here in Ireland a few months ago asking children where certain food stuff came from, I cant remember all the details but one question was where do potatoes grow, the most common answer was they grow on trees, and that is in a country where the main industry is farming. I do know that schools here show the film Food.inc to fifteen year olds, I think that is a very good thing, I also think that maybe the series that ran on British TV, Kill it , Cook it, Eat it. should be shown to teenagers in schools. But killing a rabbit in a class room I'm not sure about, we breed rabbits for our table, killing them is never pleasant, on balance I think I am against it as it is not an appropriate place to give that sort of demonstration, a visit to a farm would maybe have been a better place for the demonstration.

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  12. (Active) parenting is the reason that there are grandparents LOL Parents have the energy to keep up with little ones - we're just here to spoil them. And love them. And get hugs from them :)

    I agree - slaughtering animals in front of children is sick - not even adults can handle going to an abbatoir. That teacher should be fired.

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  13. Killing a rabbit in class is appalling behaviour and totally unnecessary. Hope you've sorted your troll problem.

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  14. I just deleted it and left a comment to that effect, I do not give a fig for trolls. As to the rabbit, not in the class room, entirely the wrong place. I knew where my food came from at an early age because we raised meat for food. I was never made to see the process but curiosity won. It was a normal process and part of our lives but my younger sisters never went near it.

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  15. That comment has been sent to so many blogs it sounds like computer generated spam. I've had it twice already! :o)

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  16. I go round the soft play with grandchildren until they have the confidence to do it themselves. It's a good workout! We save it for deluge type rainy days.
    I brought my children up as vegetarians. At 2, my daughter was looking in all the shop windows until we came to the fishmonger and she asked why all the dead fish were lying there. When I explained that people would eat them she refused to believe me. No further demonstration is needed. I've since gone back to meat but my children haven't. I eat whole, not processed meat and make my own brawn, which involves looking the pig in the eye. I think it's the only honest way.

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  17. I like a good troll myself but having a job where I'm disliked greatly helps! Slaughtering an animal in front of children is a big no no to me, certainly in a class room. My children have been taught by me where their food comes from, I never needed to demonstrate it!

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  18. Actually thinking about it, I hope they taught the children that you don't have to eat meat, and explained about vegetarianism and veganism. Though I very much doubt that.

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  19. I think slaughtering a rabbit in a school classroom is disgusting and definitely not the way to teach children about food.
    I had a troll the other week too, who also moaned about my comments being moderated!

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  20. sounds like youll need a rest after they go home! fairplay on soft play, no your not over protective! just fun!

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  21. My daughter's hen party was held in a 'soft play' place. We were jiggered after all the climbing and sliding, and I had lots of bruises from hutling down the helter skelter! It was great fun though!
    I had the spam comment too, but have had my share of nastiness in the time I've been blogging. Last year I was slated for my appearance after posting some photos of me at my daughter's wedding.

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  22. Killing rabbits for educational purposes seems unacceptable. There are other ways of educating children as to where their food comes from. I spent some of my childhood in Australia. As a ten year old I was taken on a trip to the country and shown around an abattoir. It sowed the seeds to eventually being vegetarian.The smell and the horror is still clear in my mind forty years later!

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  23. I rarely get trolls, but I would imagine it can be a pain in the arse. I don't think the rabbit killing was appropriate. I appreciate the concerns about children being disconnected from where their food actually comes from, but I would imagine that this was just upsetting.
    Leanne xx

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I love reading your comments and will try to reply to all you lovely people xx Spam will be deleted so don't even bother!