Mommy Quote of the Week

"Child-rearing myth #1: Labor ends when the baby is born."
-- Unknown


oh, and...
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Can You Believe This?

A story on aol.com reports that police near Cincinnati, Ohio arrested and charged an 89-year-old woman after she refused to return a neighbor's football that ended up in her yard. I agree, the woman is being petty and needs to return the football. But, on the other hand, what kind of moron would call the police for something like that?

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Mommy Quote of the Week

"I'd like to be the ideal mother, but I'm too busy raising my kids."
-- Unknown

Floating Around Cyberspace...

There was a story of a man who was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home.. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed:

Dear Lord: I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through. So, please allow her body to switch with mine for a day. Amen!

God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish.

The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman. He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to school, came home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners, and stopped at the bank to make a deposit. He then went grocery shopping, drove home to put away the groceries, paid the bills, and balanced the checkbook. He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog.

Then, it was already 1 P.M. He hurried to do the laundry, vacuum, dust, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor. He ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home. He set out a snack and got the kids organized to do their homework. Then, set up the ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing.

At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetables for salad, breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for supper. After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed.

At 9 P.M. he was exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed where he was expected to make love, which he managed to get through without complaint.

The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said:

Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh! Oh! Please, let us trade back. Amen!

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied:

My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were. You'll just have to wait nine months, though. You got pregnant last night.

Anyone Know a Good Exterminator?

The kids and I were on a recent shopping trip at the mall when we stopped for a quick lunch. Volcano started talking about how his sandwich could dance and sing. Monkey was laughing as Volcano started to make everything on the table -- food, drinks, napkins, you name it -- dance along to his song.

We were having a great time when I saw some teenagers at the next table giggling. One of the boys was moving around his soda, mimicking Volcano with this stupid look on his face. I just looked at him with a smile. "That's cute..." I told him, "...when you're five."

This made all of his friends go "Ooh!" and laugh too. Sure enough, he stopped.

Mommy Quote of the Week

"The hand that rocks the cradle usually is attached to someone who isn't getting enough sleep."
-- John Fiebig

Things I Enjoy...

Thanks to Marla at Pak Adventures for this award! And for giving me something to write about today! So, to pass it on, I write:

6 Things I Enjoy:

1. My morning cup of coffee.

2. Baking cookies, muffins, cupcakes, or ANYTHING with my daughter.

3. Playing board games with my son.

4. Shopping.

5. Going out to eat.

6. Getting a blogger award!

Then pass it on to 6 others:

1. Emma @ A Job in Hell

2. Sweepea @ Sweepea's Lounge

3. Clemmy @ How to Get the Guy

4. Kally @ A Little Bit of Life on the Side

5. Lanxi @ Chinese Take-Away

6. Dad Stuff @ Stuff in My Brain

I wish them all the best!

I'm Gonna' Be a Bear

In this life I'm a woman. In my next life, I'd like to come back as a bear.

When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that, too.

When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.

If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.

If you're a bear, your mate expects you to wake up growling. He expects that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

Yup, gonna' be a bear!

(Thanks to Ali for this internet find.)

Mommy Quote of the Week

"All these people who have time to write [criticism] about us, I wish upon them eight children."

-- Kate Gosselin, mother on Jon & Kate Plus Eight

What Happened to Sugar and Spice, and Everything Nice?

I've been shopping for Volcano's friends since his birth, but I'm always stumped when the gifts are for a girl. Since Volcano is the older of my children, I usually end up asking friends for advice and ideas. Or I'll ask my niece, who is 5 years older than Volcano. I know what boys like at age 6 or below, but girls' tastes are beyond my reach (until Monkey becomes that age).

So when I arrived at Target to shop for a girl classmate's birthday party, I was already confused. And as I looked over the products that lined the shelves, I felt a great frustration mounting. Gone were all traces of dolls, dress-up clothes, and princess toys that I would give to my own daughter. In their place were BRATZ!, Hannah Montana, and an array of other similar looking dolls and related merchandise. Then there's the "clothing" that they were wearing; half shirts, mini skirts, halter tops, high-heeled knee-high boots and other heeled shoes. On their faces were lipsticked smirks, eye-shadowed eyes, blush-drawn cheeks, and an overall attitude that was quite visible from their expressions. The name "BRATZ!" is self-explanatory. It reminds me of the twenty-something club girls who proudly display a "Zero to Bitch in 60 seconds" bumper sticker on their Miata. Is this what I have to look forward to for my own daughter?

I am finding it harder and harder to find wholesome toys and clothes for my niece or my own little girl, let alone to give to some little girl as a present from my son. Clothes, toys, and television shows (mainly Disney Channel's and Nickelodeon's shows) are more provocative by the minute. T-shirts that say "Flirt" or "Boys 'R' Toys" come in toddler sizes. Is this supposed to be funny? Or cute? I feel we are just sexualizing our little girls.

I won't allow my kids to play with a lot of the toys and games that are targeted for them at their own age simply because I believe that they are inappropriate. In Volcano's case, the toys are often too violent: toy weapons, explosives, or combative "action figures" make it difficult to find a suitable toy for my son. And t-shirts in his size reflect a slacker's attitude, or a misbehaving deliquent bragging about his latest trip to the principal's office. If the shirt doesn't say "Homework is for losers" on it, it has some WWF wrestler or some superhero from the latest PG-13 movie on it.

Society is telling us that girls should be sexpots and boys should be warriors. I just want them to be kids, as long as they are young enough.

Saturday Survey!

It's time for another Saturday Survey! Answer the poll to the right and then leave a comment here!

How are your kids' Halloween costumes coming?

Mommy Quote of the Week

"When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child."

-- Sophia Loren