What Will the Neighbors Think?

Well, between the Coexist and pentacle bumper stickers on the van, and the seven kids in the house, I'm pretty sure the neighbors already think we're nuts. But I'm a bit more concerned than usual about what people might think of us.  Let me rephrase that.  I'm kind of worried that my wonderful, precious son is going to give the impression that he's being threatened at home.

Thanks to Piper, Ciaran has discovered what may possibly be the worst series on the internet.  And if you've spent more than five minutes traversing the web, you know that's not a mild statement.  It is, The Annoying Orange:

I would rather poke needles in my eyes than watch this web series.  So, of course, Ciaran has memorized it. 

Thanks to the butcher knife in this and a few other episodes, we've had to lock ours up to prevent him from trying to get it.  With his Autism he has zero sense of danger.  And in one episode a character says "If you say that one more time, I swear I'm gonna hurt you." which he's taken to repeating along with other parts of the show. 

Now, when I say he's taken to repeating it, I mean he parrots it constantly until you'd like to shove cotton in your ears and see if it might possibly be legal to tape a kids mouth shut.  Now, Ciaran doesn't tend to be violent, but I'm scared to death he's going to say that line about "I'm gonna hurt you" at school and someone is going to think that's the kind of thing we say.  

We don't, by the way.  

I'm suddenly feeling very grateful that those working with Ciaran know both him and us very very well.  And I'm also grateful for the parental controls on Windows.  Now when he goes to his page, he can see ABCMouse.com and nothing else that I haven't authorized.  That kid is wicked smart.  He'll type anything into the search box, wait until google pulls up videos, then gets to You Tube, and from there, to The Annoying Orange.  

Who says the web can't be a tool for evil?

And, as an aside, over the years I've had an amazing amount of interest in the decisions that my family makes.  I understand.  I write a blog.  I share my life with the public at large.  And I have comments.  So that must mean I want everyone's input in everything from what kind of coffee I should drink to how big my family should be.  The thing is, I actually care very little if the anonymous commenter (because people rarely choose to be assholes under their real name) thinks I should be using more birth control, or I'm destroying the planet with my horde of kids (seriously, shouldn't Michelle Dugger get a talking to before me?), or thinks I'm going straight to hell without the love of Jesus (I happen to think Jesus is pretty awesome, just for the record).  

I don't publish anonymous comments as a general rule.  There are some exceptions.  Like if you add your name in the post, or you know, are nice.

I also think if you've got all the answers, you should go apply them to your own life and let me worry about me.   The internet can be an amazing source of support and comfort.  But I learned when Sarah died that it can also be a place to be badly beaten up.  Some people think you should take the good and the bad.  But I've decided to only take the good.  And I can do that.  Because it's my blog.