My Mom's Night Out

MY MOM'S NIGHT OUT 

Nearly every girl – big or small – loves to dress up, don beautiful jewelry, get her hair fixed, and look beautiful when she walks a “red carpet” at some point during her lifetime. For most girls, such a procession actually takes place several times even if the rest of the world doesn’t notice! These events are always special enough for the girl!

When was your last 'red carpet event'? Just last week, we witnessed a granddaughter process up the aisle for her First Communion. The event had all the markings of having been honored with VIP status. Teresa certainly felt it - materially and immaterially. And then there is the procession for Confirmation. Every girl dreams about  walking the 'red carpet' at her wedding first on the arm of her father and exiting on the arm of her newly beloved - all the while looking radiant and gorgeous. Let's not forget those other lesser chances to walk the red carpet: Homecoming; Prom, friend’s weddings and other formal events. These also incorporate mini grand marches on  imaginary red carpets. 

The red carpet treatment refers to those special events in which guests are greeted and welcomed graciously by a person or group of persons. It signifies being treated royally; the welcoming helps make the guest feel very important  and that is the source of the acronym:  VIP (very important person).  The red carpet was first introduced in 458 BC by Greek playwright Aeschylus during the performance of Agamemnon? It continues to be used during ceremonial and formal occasions and visits by of heads of state, celebrities, royalty, clergy and even the popes. 

Why red? According to Aeschylus, red was the color assigned and reserved for the deities; thereafter it became associated with royalty and luxury.

On April 29, 2014 the red carpet was rolled out for the premiere of Moms’ Night Out - an event I was fortunate to be invited to attend with daughter Kelly. While the actual movie premiere took place inside the Chinese Theater (where films have been shot) on Hollywood Blvd., the main characters, screen writers, producers, etc. walked the red carpet into the theater. 

  

The red carpet events generate a lot of interest, buzz, and intrigue among everyone on the street! While outsiders are not told when the talent will show up; the premiere is a well orchestrated event by the promoters for the movie. Media is invited to attend and they arrive hours ahead of time staking out their best position along the red carpet. They know where to line up since the red carpet is laid out well ahead of time as well along with publicity backdrops. (See enclosed pictures)  The red carpet doesn’t seem very glamorous due to the industrial fencing positioned to keep media several feet away from stars who emerge onto the carpet from shiny, black limos. Bystanders have little opportunity to get very close to the area or the stars. 

The red runway gives the media what they want: the opportunity to snap photos and shout out questions to the stars as they pass by hoping to get one or  more to stop and chat for a few minutes. Questions shouted out range from interest in what the stars are wearing, to what they are working on next and even personal questions. Responses are instantly posted, tweeted or Instagram-med for a star-struck person's consumption. 

The event bolsters the desired effect: attracting hundreds - if not thousands – of non-participants to the area in hopes of raising interest in the new film that is scheduled for release in theaters everywhere. Having the chance to see a celebrity in person helps to boost the interest among the general public. 

This is how local girl, Kelly Kracht, (behind Patricia Heaton in photo) came to walk the red carpet. But, first things first. 

Last summer Kelly was employed by Carmel Communications, a Catholic PR firm, out of Atlanta, GA when the “boss lady” mentioned that they were going to be promoting a new movie that had yet to be shot. Kelly – intrigued with how movies are made – asked whether she could take time off in order to help make that movie. She thought immersion on the set would help her promote the movie when that became necessary. After mulling over the request, Lisa Wheeler, the boss-lady, agreed that it would be a great opportunity for Kelly, Carmel Communications and the movie makers. Wheeler had a great working relationship with the Erwin brothers (show's producers) due to previous promotions and agreed to the request. What better way to get an inside look at the way movies are made, the talent, the mission of the production company, and the film itself? Wheeler contacted the Erwin brothers and they agreed to bring Kelly on as a set production assistant. So, Kelly drove to Birmingham, Alabama in her brand new Honda to see firsthand how movies are made.  

 Moms’ Night Out was shot over a period of six weeks. During that time, Kelly did everything from controlling traffic, to alerting the talent of their upcoming time for action, to painting actress’ nails, to getting coffee for talent and crew, to allowing her car to be used for some of the shots; to babysitting the younger talent. Kelly loved the work despite the many long, hot nights spent on the set. Most of the shooting took place during the evening/night hours since the movie is about several moms’ night out.  

The work – though rewarding – proved one thing to Kelly. She would not want the life of a film star. It's not the work - though intense! Rather it's the obvious loneliness that sets in when the stars have to spend weeks and months away from family and friends. On top of that, everywhere they go they are  hounded for autographs, photo shots, and interviews. They really have to avoid the public if they want any privacy! Consequently, they seem a bit wary of  new people. They are too used to people wanting something from them. Kelly, though having many opportunities, did not ask for something from the stars. 

During ordinary conversation with them, she learned that that they like their work, they love their families but they do not necessarily enjoy the publicity or the celebrity status. They endure the red carpet in order to secure more work in a highly competitive field. There are only so many movies made in any given year! Female stars also have the added benefit of being loaned a $70 K pair of earrings and/or a $200 K diamond bracelet to wear for the world premiere- every girl loves bling! 

After the filming, everyone went back home to their usual gigs. In this case, Kracht went back to Carmel Communications to promotion of this film and many other works to the Catholic audience. And so this is how Kelly came to walk the red carpet with actress Abbie Cobb – aka Bridgette in Moms’ Night Out. Each PR person is assigned one or more talent  for the purpose of introducing him/her to the media that has waited for their chance to interview a star. 

After the premier was the after party – the invitation only opportunity to take photos and mingle. The food & drink bill had to total more than any wedding we have ever attended but the expenses were part of the movie budget. There was a lot of food to go around that is for sure. 

I had the advantage of being just a spectator with an inside edge. It was exciting to be on the red carpet and to  speak to the talent who stood near by. I also enjoyed catching sight of other actors who came in support of the film along with the stars' families and friends. I had the privilege of meeting the screen writer for Mom's Night Out and her husband and two young children. I also got to chat with an actress from God’s Not Dead who will remain unnamed to protect her desire for anonymity.

Kelly had invited me to the world premiere given its close proximity to Mother’s Day – lucky me. Thank you Kelly! It was great to see her work the professional end of her life with grace and ease while staying grounded to what really matters in life. 

By the way, the movie is good. Of course if I were writing the script, some of the lines would have been different. Hmmm... here's a thought. Maybe I should try and write a movie script to realize just how hard it really is! By the way, information about the movie can be found at   http://momsnightoutmovie.com/ or  http://www.momsnightoutmovie.com/.

One final thought, even though this red carpet event was special, the one that matters most to me lies within my home. As Cardinal Mindszenty once said: The most important person (VIP) on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral – a dwelling for an immortal soul."

So next time you think that life is just not spectacular enough, think again. Count all your blessings. And then imagine, walking  that crystal carpet into heaven while being introduced to the King. That will be the most spectacular enough for all of us. And just think of our VIP status then! 

 

Videos used during Parenting Teens Building Strong Futures

Embedded are links to the videos shown Saturday (as well as several others that we recommend watching with your teen ). Thought you might enjoy watching them again! 

Inspirational video for Parents

The 'Mom' Song

'Eating Out' Ad from Blue Cross of MN

MIT Gangnam Style

'Money' - Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey (not shown)

Every 15 minutes a Teenager Dies from Drunk Driving (not shown)

R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts (video)

Social Media Revolution 2011

11 Facts about Body Image

Every Life is Beautiful: Melinda and Will Delahoyde (not shown)

Every Life is Beautiful: Robert Amaya

The Miracle of Life - Right to Life Video - Hyper Pixels Media

Every Life is Beautiful: Gianna Jessen

Fishers of Men (Part 2) 

Dad's Life 2011

What is Worldview? (Not shown) 

WatchingYou

St. Therese's Canticle of Love (Not shown) 

A few questions and thoughts from a connected mom

I am interested in reading the one on Parenting Good Social Citizens as I want to ensure there are "how to" tools that parents can use to teach our children social and emotional skills that you seem to refer to. But most important: how to engage children in having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? And how to prevent that in later years they rebel because they feel that parents forced the faith on them.

I have a 7 year old daughter is just said last night "It is MY choice, not yours mom" on whether she should do something or pray. And for the first time, I hear "Mom, I really like someone"... thank God my husband Jesus and I don't react but rather respond asking wisdom from the Holy Spirit!

So do you have tools to help us counteract these lies that the enemy is feeding our children? If we do not address them, these lies become entrenched and they base their choices and behaviors on these deceptive thoughts. The enemy is actively working to create a divide among children and parents. The truth is that the faith formation classes offered at parishes are ineffective at building and strengthening that relationship in Christ so they can support the work and faith formation and leading by example we do at home. M. C.
 

My response: 

I think my book (Mothers Forever, Fathers Forever: Parenting Against the Tide)  fits the bill that you are hoping for. That was my intent – to offer tools on how to parent good social citizens, children of faith, etc. ... I think I forgot to attach the first lesson so here it is again.

How did you respond to your daughter when she said it is her choice? My suggestion would be the following: God, as a loving parent, gave us all free will. This is true, all of us have our own choice to make however that is also why God gave you parents rather than having human babies on their own completely after being born like many animals. Certainly by the age of seven, all animals are on their own. So by your age, they have to fend for themselves, feed themselves, etc. I don’t think you want that or are ready for that. Then God also laid on our hearts the commandment of obedience. We obey for good reason (outlined in my book). Even Jesus was obedient to his father . Children have the duty of obeying their parents in part because of appreciation for being given life freely, being taken care of …. Etc. So, right now, it is our choice to pray and since you are a child and bound by obedience, you will pray as well with us.

 Regarding I really like someone. That’s fine dear except, why do you really like that someone… Then have that discussion and suggest that love and like are two different things. IT’s ok to like someone but we are called to like everyone. Inform her again, that at the age of 7, one is not ready to be exclusive. Not even at 15 or 18. (again, in the book)….

The book doesn’t have these types of examples, that’s the purpose of the book club. And also my blog… check that out as well. I am happy to continue our dialogue. I am going to post your questions and my responses on my blog after I finish with this email.

Also you should ask her where she came up with the choice thing? I doubt it was her own idea…. So that would be a good line of questioning to pursue.

And I agree, the forces are there to separate parents from teens and children. That is the whole point of our Parenting Teens: Building Strong Futures; Daughters Forever, Sons Forever, etc.

Sincerely,

Linda Kracht 

Fortifying Families of Faith 

Another scandal, more hand wringing, assurances from the Church that they will try harder... The result is that people lose faith in their church leaders and it affects their faith in God. That's the truth. That's the problem. What's the solution?

While it is unlikely that the majority of the faithful will serve on the panel to investigate sexual misconduct by priests, we ought to. After all, we are the faithful in the pews who year after year support the Church with our time, talent and treasure. We are also the ones who want to protect our children from abuse of any kind. We are also the source of tomorrow's priests. We have a lot to give We have a lot of reasons to make sure this stops happening.

In light of that these are my suggestions, concerns, and solutions.

1. It's time to start admitting that clergy misconduct is a whole lot more than misconduct. It is SIN with a Mortal consequence. It destroys lives of faith. It is sin that shrinks membership into the church. It is sin that fails to evangelize.

2. Its time to admit that clergy misconduct gets its start long before the actual incident of pedophilia or adultery takes place.

3. It's time to admit that few parishioners want a priest to act as minister when he is mired down by personal temptations and problems.

4. It's time to admit that failing to admit the truth is always problematic.

Long ago a priest friend told me that the Bishops and priests who seem to hide behind sanitized press releases and lack courage to fully support all aspects of authentic, orthodox life and love issues fail to do so because they have been compromised by some personal sin. This could explain the lack of leadership in and outside of the church.

5. It's time to admit that clergy misconduct includes downloading pornographic images of any kinds.

6. It's time to admit that clergy visits to brothels, hot spots in the city, chat-rooms,etc. is an act of clergy misconduct. It is not just playing with fire as suggests Fr. McDonough. It is an act of misconduct that ought to be punished immediately.

7. It's time to admit that a priest's  sexual encounter with any person, any age of person, any time, any place is an act of clergy misconduct. But acts of pedophilia are even more heinous because it involves a minor who is young, impressionable, and vulnerable. Priests take the vow of permanent chastity and we can rightfully and righteously hold them to that standard - no matter how perverted our general society is getting. We have to have priests willing to live differently if we are to teach others how to love. 

8. It's time to change the language and the words used to describe the misconduct.

9.  It's time to change the way church leaders inform seminarians about the consequences of the misconduct. For example, several years ago, I asked our parish assistant priest what/how the seminary trains them  with regard to sexual scandals. This is his reply: "They tell us to make sure we never involve a parishioner!" My reply: a priest preparing a young couple for marriage would never tell either person to make sure any adulterous affair didn't involve someone they knew! Why any seminary training would suggest the above, explains the problem - partly.

Also there is no way to give proper feedback when a young seminarian is assigned to a parish. Why are there not proper channels that we can rely on to offer the feedback - both positive and negative.

10. Corporations have long instituted a policy of inspecting all computer usage among employees for inappropriate usage. The Diocese ought to institute the same scrutiny of the priests' computers, laptops, iphones, any internet access points.  The first offense is punishable immediately and appropriately - removal from ministry.

11. Provide clergy living accommodations in which priests are held accountable to each other. The priests ought to live with other priests.

12. Security cameras ought to be installed in each office.

13. Accountability to everyone is necessary. Priests need to be protected from loneliness by instituting regular community discussions about these matters. It's not happening now according to more than one priest source.

Simple solutions for complex problems. These work.

Catholics Cheer Pope's Remarks

Words matter. How we interpret words matter. Twisting words to massage our consciences matters.  

What did the Pope really mean during the three interviews by Antonio Spadaro, S.J. Editor in chief of La Civilta Cattolica (August 2013; Rome)? It seemed to fire the shot that was heard round the world. The interview was captured and then translated for the English world by a team of five translators. It was also translated into the various languages of the world for both believers and non. Interestingly, it continues to be in the news even a week later - that is impressive considering the news cycle seems to last one day at most - maybe a week if its huge. To read the 12000 word interview,  visit http://www.americamagazine.org/print/156341.See for yourself what you think the Pope was trying to say. This is my interpretation of his message.

 Francis' sentence (lifted from the translated document):  "The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules" does not in any way match up with the following statement from the press: "The church has become too focused on small minded rules on hot button issues like homosexuality, abortion and contraceptives?"

First, note that Pope Francis does not define when, where, and how the church has locked itself up in small things! Yet the press took that statement and defined it for the rest of us by running all of his next thoughts together as if this is the context of what he was thinking. In fact, NARAL thanked the Pope for including Abortion in this small mindedness. So what does Pope Francis do and say next? He meets with Catholic physicians the very next day and says the following: "Your being Catholic entails greater responsibility: first of all to yourself, in the effort to be consistent with the Christian vocation, and then to contemporary culture, to help recognize the transcendent dimension in human life, the imprint of the creative work of God, from the very first moment of conception. This is a commitment to the new evangelization that often requires going against the tide, paying a personal price. The Lord counts on you to spread the 'Gospel of life.'"!

Pope Francis strongly condemned abortion as a manifestation of a “throwaway culture.”

"Every unborn child, though unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of the Lord, who even before his birth, and then as soon as he was born, experienced the rejection of the world," the pope said. 

Do these words sound like a sentiment that NARAL can support?

The same can be said for the Pope's comments about contraception and homosexuality. As he says: he is a son of the Church. This means he has been formed by the Church and faith, hope and charity. He loves the Church but is its newest visionary, He sees how it can do more. He sees the need to bring the truth to people in a new way, a new language, and personally with love!  

I think he is saying this... Faith doesn't seem real to the little people when priests, clergy, Archbishops and Cardinals are buried by administrative details and fail to connect with the people on a daily basis - the little people not the big shots of the world. Religion doesn't seem to make a difference when so much of the donated money goes to bureaucracy rather than direct aid to the people of hurricanes, and other disaster relief. It doesn't seem to make a difference when we fail to provide ongoing help for women in troubled relationships and/or pregnancies - personally and time and  time again. It has little impact when the religion does little to nothing to support parents with special needs pregnancies. It seems to have little impact when young people attend Catholic academies for their  academics and sports and not matters of faith and charitable works of mercy and vocation development. It seems to have less impact when special needs children are left out of the Catholic education system. The pre-marriage formation programs last only weeks and we wonder why divorce is so common among believers. Church going parents seem to just be going through the motions when attending Mass and doing little to  nothing to swim against the tide of materialism and secularism. It does little good to hear the admonishments that we need to hear but think it points to someone else. It does little good to take the Pope's words and twist them so they fit my lifestyle. It does little good to talk against contraception without being able to explain why cogently and consistenly. It does little good to talk against homosexuality without conducting Catholic studies that really look at what it is and why is comes about. It does little good when we  'behold a God dead on the cross for our sake and not love him." It does little good when we behold a God dead on the cross for our sake and not be appreciative of his sacrifice and proving it by changing the way we live!

Is the Pope bringing the Church to a new place? I think so but not the place talked about in the secular press or by many of us. The real Pope is a revolutionary for Christ. He means it when he says " I ask you to be revolutionaries, to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes that you are incapable of responsibility;  that you are incapable of true love."

Does this sound to you like he is trivializing abortion, contraception and homosexuality? It sounds to me as if he is really calling us to an even higher plain - to the Beatitudes. This is a tall order and only with God's grace can we love authentically. That means being close to Christ and he never suggested that we ought to just go along to get along!

Bullying - What Parents Can Do About It 

Recently, a twelve year old girl jumped to her death. The local sheriff said that the girl committed suicide after being bullied online by over a dozen girls. Not sure that's the real story... but if you want to read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/13/sheriff-says-fla12-year-old-committed-suicide-after-being-bullied-online-by/#ixzz2enIQg0Es

What troubles me about the report is what isn't said. What were the parents doing about the bullying? Did they know? If not, why not? Was the girl getting appropriate counseling and support at home? Why was she online so often and with odd sorts of social media? Even foreign ones? Why did this twelve year old girl have all the time in the world for the online posting but lacked personal, face to face friendships? Why her interest in the story? Why our interest in this story. I am pretty certain, there are other twelve year old girls contemplating and committing suicide but the news media doesn't cover that out of respect for the family. Why this story? What's in it to shock us?

Am I suggesting that the bullies are not culpable? Of course they are; but, we have to ask: who are the players that led up to this death? What led up to the act? What was her family life like? Did she have any good family support? If not, why did the sheriff zero in on the online bullies? Was he misquoted or taken out of context?  It appears as if her self esteem had tanked a while back or she would have had more to do than post what she did on Facebook.

Not knowing the full story, it's easy to assign blame to one group while looking away from another  In my opinion, the authorities ought to look beyond, (while including in the mix), the online bullies. They need to find out whether  this girl was abused by a 'trusted' acquaintance, friend, teacher, relative or parent.

The take away for me is this: what we say and write matters. Several days ago, my sister said to me: America has to change. We have got to stop spouting our mouths off about anything and everything that we know nothing about! Perhaps she was referring to my blog overtly! Her point was this: none of us are any longer being held accountable for the things we say  unless we get suddenly are thrown in the limelight. Then things we said or did decades ago can be held against us depending on who exposes it and why. But for the most part, the average Joe gets to say anything - even when it is completely fact less  - and no one challenges him on anything he says or why he says it. Yet the cumulative effect is there! There has been a steady state erosion of civil dialogue and commentary - both public and private. There is a general coarsening of the words used. If someone is offended we act as if they are too simple or native! It's their problem. Don't believe me - check out the Facebook postings! They are anything but civil. This girl was taunted to kill herself over and over again!  And so the cycle of hurt people hurting people continues without check. Listen to the TV, radio, awards' presentations! Shock talk is everywhere!  And it comes at the expense of someone!

Let me list a few more examples of bullying that seems ordinary and acceptable of late: a street gang of college students followed Gen. Petraeus to his first class at City University of NY all the while calling him a baby killer, a war criminal, etc. Even if they disagreed with his position as General of the US Army, where is treating each other with human dignity gone? The pundits right and left using name calling to get their point across. Maybe even the re-posting of things I find humorous are offensive to some others.  It has to start with each of us - person to person. Even if everyone around us is name calling, being liars, being a bully, we have to resist the urge to match fire with fire. Yes, its humanly impossible but not when we arm ourselves with supernatural grace.

And parents have to step up their game. They can't have it both ways. Either they attend to their parenting duties or they admit they can't. All of us have to make sure our own children are not bullied in ways that spiral out of control. We have to give them effective tools when they are bullied. We have to  fill the emotional tanks of our children so they don't care about the bullies they encounter. We have to make sure we know what our kids are doing and why! We have to set the example or else bad stuff like this happens and then its too late to do something about it.
You can read more about this in my next book due to be released in November, 2013 entitled Mothers Forever, Fathers Forever. The subtitle is still up for grabs...

Finally, we have to make sure that we say what we mean and mean what we say in a civil way!

It just isn't true that sticks and stones can break my bones but words can't ever hurt me!

The Obvious Contradictions - Where America Goes Blind

Contradictions do not normally need any explanations because they are so obviously ridiculous - that is unless we refuse to acknowledge or recognize them.What follows is a short list of the more obvious contradictions that Americans seem content to put up with.... Some of the contradictions are addressed in the form of a question.

This will be updated as more come to light.

1. Choice assigns pregnant women the unilateral right to decide to have  an abortion or not. Fathers of these babies have no say in this decision primarily because they  are not the ones who are carrying the baby even though the baby would not be present without him. 

2. Mothers have all the say prior to birth yet after birth are told that it takes a village to raise a child.

3. Minors need their parents' consent to get their ears pierced, have an appendectomy  or other medical procedure with the exception of procuring an abortion.

4. All states allow for abortion of an unborn baby; criminals who kill a pregnant mother can be charged with two murders in 20 plus states.

5.  Dennis Rodman goes to North Korea and touts the goodness of a dictator that continues to sentence dissenters into concentration camps. Is that why Rodman seems so agreeable with Kim? He doesn't want to be put in one!  Yet, he refuses to defend the rights of  his fellow American sentenced to 15 years of hard labor just because he wanted to bring the message of the Bible to N. Korea. 

6. The US couldn't launch a rescue mission to Benghazi according to the president, but Syria is more of a national interest than the lives of the 50 people in Benghazi.

7. Help me, Harlan (regular columnist for St. Paul Pioneer Press)  offers this advice on 9-10-2013 to Conflicted (when asked: If I have a girlfriend back home and I want to have sex in college, what do I do? I still have feelings for my girlfriend but I feel conflicted."). Have sex with yourself, break up with your girlfriend and date other girls ... Don't cheat! Wait to see if the idea of random sex with random girls is worth losing what you have. " And what is that Harlan? You already told him to break up with his girlfriend and have sex with himself. As if that will be fulfilling and non-cheating! Maybe this advice counselor needs counseling.

8. CBS reported that people with Down Syndrome may hold the keys to our understanding of Alzheimer Disease. After all, about 50% of these people get Alzheimer Disease by the age of 40; the remainder don't exhibit the Disease yet have plague buildup on the brain. Nearly 90% of all parents given the prenatal diagnosis of Trisomy 21 elect to have an abortion. Doesn't look like we will be having any answers for Alzheimer Disease in the near future... 

9.  There are only a few (rare exception) Catholic schools (in the nation) that willingly admit and recruit children with special needs - even though the Church is solidly against abortion of these children. That includes CCD religious educational programs as well.

10. The American people want answers for the IRS scandal, Benghazi, the NSA email scandal but don't get them from the people they vote into office. Will they keep voting for these incumbents anyway?

11. Why do we only have term limits on the office of the President?

12. America is concerned about eating disorders, yet the only one talked about openly involves those regarding over eating and being overweight.

13.  The Assad regime has been the sole protector of the Christian sects in Syria according to some articles.

14. America did nothing during the genocide in Rwanda; over 1 million people were slaughtered by government sponsored tribal peoples.

15. We are the richest country in the world, yet we can't lift the poor out of poverty. Since the War on Poverty was launched, we have more Americans in poverty than when it began.

16. Women's health issues focus on how to avoid being a wife and mother - by choice.

17. Men's health issues center principally on how to be sexually active.

18. Contraception was touted as being the thing that would save and improve upon marriages; since its nearly worldwide use, marriage rates have fallen and divorce rates have skyrocketed.

19. We are in a time of economic sequestering - we even had to limit air traffic controller hours, cut back on national park services, and close the White House to tours; suddenly we have 100 million dollars available to send cruise missiles into Syria. 

20. Kids are out but pets are in.