24/7 D/s

I have been investigating a few sites lately in which I frequently have to explain TIH, and a number of Doms have told me in their infinate wisdom with great authority and absolute conviction that a 24/7 D/s relationship simply can't be done. That you can not live D/s 24/7 because you have to interact with the rest of the world and you have to be yourself outside of the relationship. (I mean how can you be a sub at the offce). I of course disagree. I get the feeling these Doms are the ones who prefer a mechanical sub. One who is silent and dutiful and quite content to be a cast of what her Dom desires. Since one really can't be a robot 24/7 they are correct. But a sub who is allowed to be herself even in her greatest acts of submission, can be a sub all day long until the end of her days.

I personally do not undestand the desire for a sub who is "master made". I see a real need on the Doms part for personality and freedom of expression on the subs part (to an extent of course). If I am free to be myself then I will serve prompted by myself, I will regulate my behavior myself, I will hold myself accountable for my failiures. Now that's not to say my Dom will not also prompt, regulate, and hold me accountable for my service but if he is the only thing moving me, working me, thinking my submission for me, then I will never contribute anything to the relationship more than robot-like obediance.

I've heard of Doms missing the women their subs once were. The women that attracted them but dissapeared under her submissive burnoose. I realize I'm a sub speculating about Dom perspective but it just seems odd. The book of my submission should be written by me dedicated to my Dom, edited by my Dom and owned by my Dom. But it seems like these Doms are also trying to author it as well. In that case what did the I contribute? The title. Cat's Submission written, edited, illustrated, published, distributed, and copywrited by DomXYZ.

Whores In Training

I made the mistake of walking down the toy aisles of a store recently. I went in search of a "Barbie dancing princesses" dance tape for a young cousin of mine (she loves ballet). While walking up and down the aisles my heart began to break. I looked at doll after doll. All marketed to the female youth of today and the woman of tomorrow and it made me sad. Every toy was worse than the one preceding it. Why you ask? The toys girls play with today are little more than miniature gold digging prostitutes. I looked at these dolls marketed to elementary age girls, and I wanted to cry. They play with Bratz big baby dolls that literally wear hooker boots, crop tops, lipstick, belly rings, and eye shadow to beat the band. BABY DOLLS! They have the little pudgy baby tummies but also a designer purse. And the "adult" Bratz dolls (which are supposed to be teenagers) wear sparkle hot pants, bra tops, beauty marks, they carry cell phones and diamonds. They drive tricked out cars and go to ski lodges with their accompanying boyfriend. Mind you the dolls are teens but they are for your 5 year old to play with.

What exactly are we trying to do to our daughters? People have the nerve to wonder why our girls get pregnant at thirteen, why they flaunt their sex parts, why the rest of the world thinks American girls are slutty and without morals but will buy their daughter a "Diamond Diva" toy the next day. What is going on?!

What happened to the pogs, a care bear, a pound puppy, kid sister Skipper? In my youth the most controversial/risqué doll was Malibu Barbie because she wore a bathing suit. And it was a one piece. Now they wear panties, mini skirts, and 5 inch heels. Our little girls don't stand a chance. As teenagers they see Pussycat dolls dancing in their drawers wanting to be "a freak" like them, they hear smack that ass on the radio, they see the booty shaking video vixens on t.v. But even in their youth, when they are most impressionable, when they should be playing hopscotch, and hulahooping, they are bombarded with the "if you've got it flaunt it" mentality. It is so ingrained by the time they're 16 there's no hope. Where are the parents? Where is the system who's job is protecting our youth? Everyone was up in arms about video game violence, but who speaks up about the dehumanization of American girls. They are dying. They commit suicide by becoming no more than body parts. Walking talking vaginas. Breasts who buy pants with “juicy” written on them. Curves who want nothing more than to be playboy bunnies.

Why, why, why would our girls engage in oral sex at school? Why would they "go wild" at spring beak? Why would they sleep with partner after partner trying to feel desirable, popular, pretty? It doesn't happen over night. It starts ... with a Bratz doll. Now someone will say "why are you picking on Bratz? Lots of toys are inappropriate". I use Bratz as the quintessential example because they have had unparalleled success. The company has made record profits. A few years ago no one had heard of Bratz but today you'd be hard pressed to find a little girls sleep over with out one present. They are this eras Barbie. Remember the controversy over whether or not Barbie was atomically correct or whether she gave girls an unrealistic body image? Well look at a Bratz doll. Nothing but lips, eyes, and high heel shoe. There isn't even any real room for a nose. But we don't need noses who finds noses sexy anyway right?I'm just heavy hearted. The industry won’t regulate itself. Why would toy companies care whether or not your daughter grows up to be a materialistic whore? Their only concern is whether or not you paid for their product. The only real option is to be a responsible parent! Don’t let your daughter watch, listen to, read, or play with inappropriate things.

HMB Help Is On The Way

I'm excited! I'm almost done with my Home Management Binder. For those who don't know a Home Management Binder (or Control Journal) is a tool many stay at home wives/mothers/keepers use to run their household effectively.

I became rather obsessed with the idea sometime after I realized I wanted to be a homemaker. I had figured out what I wanted to do... now what? As a young woman in 2007 what's my next step, there's no degree in applied household science, but I certainly don't know nearly enough to run a household well. I thought "there must be a system, some book on how to properly run a home. A method of training to educate and refine me into the best homemaker I could be". I mean you receive rules and training to sell shoes, certainly running a household and raising children should have a few resources. Schools no longer really teach home economics: how to budget, clean, sew, cook, care for children, etc. and most people don't know how to do those things. I see people throw away a shirt because they got a stain on it, pay a tailor to sew on a button, buy frozen dinners for every night of the week, drown under debt because they've no concept of a ledger or a price book, and make a doctors appointment for the sniffles. They pay a maid and a nanny to do what they should do for themselves.

I looked and found a few websites and groups dedicated to just that. Fly Lady and other various home management sites, where home keepers share their HMBs and methods. I was amazed at all the information. Successful mothers raising six and eight children explaining stress management and child rearing tips, stay at home wives with spotless "guest ready" homes sharing stain removal tips and first aid protocol, grandmothers who are delighted to pass on their household knowledge and recipes, etc. I fell in love with the idea of a management binder for the home and so took off running.

The first thing was to read everyone else’s. Everyone starts there. You read what others have shared and try it in your home. What works for you stays along with you own methods and become routine then the routine is analyzed for benefit, written and becomes a part of your family's binder. Each section grows little by little until it's a fairly portable, organized, wealth of information on your family's household affairs. Ultimately a stranger should be able to run your household fairly well just by using your binder (especially babysitters). They know what to clean and how, what to cook and when, what projects need to be addressed, who should be doing what and when, etc.

My binder has ten sections:
· inspiration (quotes, articles, rules that inspire me to be a good home keeper, etc.),
· schedules (my master schedule, year by month, and yearly calendars, etc.)
· cleaning (daily cleaning zones, stain removal guides, proper cleaning instruments/techniques, etc.)
· kitchen (master grocery list, meal planner, recipes, etc.)
· finances (paid and unpaid bill pockets, calendar of bill payment, budget, etc.)
· emergency (first aid procedures, emergency contacts, disaster plans, etc.)
· family (phone numbers, birthdays, etc.)
· general (home remedies, order forms, etc.)
· faith (daily focus, prayers, concepts, etc.)
· entertaining (etiquette rules, place setting rules, decoration ideas, etc.)

Of course when I have children my binder will drastically change. A mothers HMB is almost always 50% children issues (vaccination charts, chore lists, after school activity timelines, grade tracking, etc.)

I'm almost done with the information and have started on the aesthetics. It is beautiful. It's something I'm very proud of and am excited to put to use :)

Bra Tops And Bloomers

I am a modern woman. One who wants to be considered attractive, sexy, fashionable etc., but I'm finding that increasingly hard to do with today’s fashions. For some reason in the fashion industry there is no such thing as sexy yet modest. Either all your jiggly parts are on display and you're "hot" or you’re covered from head to toe and you're a schoolmarm.

I've been trying to rebuild my wardrobe, or at least take it in a new direction. The problem with that is all the clothes nowadays are mini or bejeweled, or see through, or designed with some inappropriate phrase on the chest and butt like juicy or boy toy or angel or goddess. I found myself in store after store with a fist-full of cash just dying to give my money away to any store that would carry a regular skirt. But I couldn't. I thought maybe I'm getting old because I do not understand the fashion of today. Why in Florida in July young ladies are wearing sherpa boots, or why in Michigan in December young ladies are wearing low rise jeans and short tops so their stomachs mushroom and get frost bite, or why one's pants need to be so encrusted with fake gems you can't sit without busting a rhinestone I will never know. So I moved to the misses sections. There I found a sea of ill fitting poorly designed bland clothes. "Mom jeans" as far as the eye could see. Shirts obviously designed to hide ones shape, tunics and dusters, and drawstring cargo pants. Obviously fashion is sacrificed for comfort in that stage of life (or so clothing designers would have you believe).

Well misses was obviously not for me, so I moved on to stores that call themselves "modest clothing retailers". Which apparently means “old timey” crap. I'm not on the prairie homesteading; I don't milk cows or plow fields. Durable denim jumpers, and cotton peti-skirts are not really what I had in mind. I just want a skirt that comes to my knee and a shirt my breasts don't pour out of. I don't think that's too much to ask. I don’t want a burqa, or a habit, or a hoop skirt. I just don’t want my wears on display. I can be sexy without showing my nipples. I can be seductive without exposing my thong. I can be fashionable in a ¾ sleeve; I can be stylish wearing a full skirt. Why is there no happy medium? What happened to the days of sexy sophistication, elegant modesty, reserved sensuality, and conservative haut couture? You can either dress like a whore or a prude. Where is the clothing for ladies?