What the CIA, Green Beans & Darth Vader Have in Common

My purpose for starting this blog is to share my experiences as an educator and parent, share my thoughts about how in the world we can provide kids the education they deserve and really must have if they are going to survive the next 50 years in a world none of us can fathom, and start a conversation with like-minded people so we can get cracking!

But I just saw the craziest thing! Here I sit in the slightly-dented place on the couch where I always sit with my coffee in hand, bundled up in my college dorm room comforter, reading whatever it is I'm reading with the news providing background ambiance and the much-needed weather forecast. Then this happens!

Aerial pan over what looks like a city in Belgium at night. This gorgeous, tall woman in a red and black suit and four-inch high heels is walking like a Victoria's Secret model with a purpose across the street, pausing to glance sideways, making sure she's not being followed. The voiceover says, "My office could be anywhere......but I can't tell my friends what I do." Tall underwear model meets a distinguished-looking man old enough to be her father in a little outdoor cafe. (I'm sure no one is looking at this point.) The voice is back: "Don't watch the news......BE the news." It turns out even the CIA's Clandestine Services has started advertising.

SIGN ME UP!

I have been a James Bond fanatic since I was about eight. I own every single James Bond movie ever made. I have always thought it would be extremely cool to be a spy! I wonder if I could still be in the PTA if I became a CIA operative...

Did I mention that we had evil spies hiding out in our front hedges last summer? My six-year-old son is not a fan of green beans. No amount of butter or brown sugar works. He is not a fan. One balmy summer evening, green beans made it to the dinner menu. He was not happy, but there was no complaining. There was a long pause as he looked at his green beans. Then he looked at me with his I'm-not-messing-around-I'm-about-to-tattle look and said, "Mom, don't eat the green beans! They are not safe!"

As the person who cooked the green beans, I was a little offended but asked, "What's wrong with them?"

"These green beans were invented by evil spies," he says in a voice just above a whisper. "The evil spies are hiding in the bushes out front, and they IN-VEN-TED these green beans! If we eat them, the evil spies will know where we are and they will win!"

I remember blinking a few times, putting my fork down, which was stuck somewhere between my plate and my mouth, and saying, "Well, I love green beans so let's go take 'em out!"

My kids were a little stunned, but we grabbed out Nerf guns and light sabers, the Superfab Barbie laptop, the Darth Vader costume and a black cape, and headed for battle.

I'll have you know that green beans the world over are now safe eating.

I wonder if the CIA provides on-site after-school care or has its own charter school. Hmmmmmm....