JESSE MURPHY: Down to the nitty gritty - who is the poopy-head?

I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter, but my will gets weak, and my thoughts seem to scatter. But I think it's about forgiveness…

Not apologizing for the Don Henley reference. I hope you can forgive me anyways.

A few little spats between the children, along with some general naughtiness and a few things that have come up at church have me thinking about forgiveness lately.

The latest "mudslinging" around our house seems to concentrate on exactly who is the poopy-head.

At times it becomes a heated debate, with serious allegations coming from both sides.

The requirements for what designates one as a poopy-head, actions a poopy-head regularly makes, and statements about previously declared poopy-heads have not been discussed in entirety, but have been somewhat defined.

The definition is not limited to one with literal feces on their head. It is a lose interpretation of a term that is vague in and of itself. This leaves for very serious areas of contention.

Attempts at moderation have only resulted in further dissension between both sides, along with adding more potential poopy-heads and "meanies" into the debacle.

As our government is entrenched in their budget debate concerning trillions of dollars and millions of people, our household is concerned with who exactly is the poopy-head.

Through all of the claims, it has actually become unclear as to whether or not there is, in fact, a poopy-head in our midst.

That confusion has driven to even further debate and more grievances.

To some, the situation has become somewhat of a joke, not about the terminology or the ideology behind the debate itself, but about those involved.

It seems to those with an outside yet vested interest in the poopy-head's identity that the persons involved in the debate are conspiring to keep the ordeal going.

Sources close to the circumstances have said that they are beginning to suspect that in the event of discovering who the poopy-head actually is, neither side would be willing to admit the charge.

No one wants to be the poopy-head.

But as the moniker seems to continue flowing throughout the house, action must be taken.

Neither side has been willing to commit to an approximate date for a resolution, but both are demanding that the poopy-head be labeled and declared as such, all while denying that they are accusing the other of being a poopy-head.

A poopy-head cold war is brewing. Time to start practicing the duck-and-cover drill.

Animosities and differences aside, this situation is a perfect example of genuine forgiveness.

The kids can both accuse each other, blame each other and grudgingly sit down at a table and repeatedly call the other a poopy-head all day.

But they still swallow their pride, apologize, stop the name calling and move on. For a little while at least.

And when they can't put their differences aside, they know when to move on and go play somewhere else.

I've heard that hate is not the opposite of love, indifference is. Hate means that you still care, even though it's from the negative side.

Indifference hurts much more.

So let the poopy-head debate rage, at least we know they like each other a little bit. If it wasn't for the other, they'd have no one to call names and throw peas at.

Maybe our government could learn something from that idea. Maybe we all could.

Jesse Murphy is managing editor at the Maryville Daily Forum. He can be reached at jmurphy@maryvilledailyforum.com