Behind Every Great Man...

On this day we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But behind every great man... is his proud mother who instilled her values and morals in him. Without Alberta Williams King, there would be no MLK.

According to the King Encyclopedia, Martin Luther King, Jr. acknowledged his mother's positive influence on his life and moral development, deeming her "the best mother in the world." He described his mother as being "behind the scene setting forth those motherly cares, the lack of which leaves a missing link in life." He remembered his childhood as one of harmony spent "in a very congenial home situation," with parents who "always lived together very intimately."

"It is quite easy for me," King, Jr. wrote, "to think of a God of love mainly because I grew up in a family where love was central and lovely relationships were ever present."

Makes you realize how important we mommies (and daddies) are!

Mommy Quote of the Week

"I told him he was going to be so happy he picked me as a mom. I was gonna love him and support him no matter what he wanted to grow up to be... except a mime.... They just always freaked me out."

-- Jenny McCarthy, about holding her newborn son for the first time, in Baby Laughs.

Why Boys Need Parents

"You did want me to wash the windows, didn't you?"
"Okay, now... how do I land?"
"Geronimo!"

Billy tries his hand at a science experiment about metal conductivity.

"Look out below!"

Dinner Table Topics

I know it's been a long time, but it's back! As you may remember, Dinner Table Topics are family issues in the news that you can discuss at the dinner table (making sure to edit as necessary). So, set the table, pull up a chair, and get ready to discuss these things with your family!

Looks like moms aren't the only ones choosing to be full-time parents and raise their kids hands-on. At times, the dads are the ones being the at-home parent, and now there are plenty of resources for dads who take on this task. AtHomeDad.org gives resources, information, and connections to dads who have decided to make their children their sole occupation. There's even recipes and a humor page to occupy their time! I love it! (And they don't check I.D.'s: you don't only have to be a dad to read it!)

In Ohio news, a teen decided to shoot his parents after they took away his favorite video game. His mother died, but miraculously his father survived the injury. I definitely think the kid should be locked up forever (and get some serious psychiatric help). It makes you wonder why he had violent tendencies: the game he was playing was the violent game Halo 3. Maybe he shouldn't have started playing it in the first place. But, his priorities are in order -- when the teenager fled the scene, he only took one item with him: the Halo 3 game. Hmmm... I think we'll stick to our Wii Music.

And I'm still reeling from this story: Megan Meier was a 13-year-old girl who was being bullied on MySpace. As a result, she committed suicide. Lori Drew, Meiers' 48-year-old neighbor, admitted in a police report that she created a fictitious MySpace account and pretended to be a boy with a romantic interest in Megan. According to the police report, Drew created the profile to find out what Megan was saying online about her teenage daughter. However, the mother actually wrote hurtful and hateful things, such as "the world would be a better place without you." Shame on Lori Drew -- she needs to set a better example for her own daughter. High school is a cruel enough world with teenagers inhabiting it. We don't need mothers jumping into the melee to make it worse.

Mommy Quote of the Week

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child!"

-- William Shakespeare, King Lear

Mom My Ride!

You've heard of Pimp My Ride on MTV? Well, here's the version just for us moms!

Mommy's New Year's Resolutions

Resolution: Help the kids learn something new every day.
Mid-Year Modification: Hook up the kids to pbskids.org for 30 minutes every day.
Year-End Modification: Have the kids count to 30 while in time-out every day.

Resolution: Stop yelling.
Mid-Year Modification: Close the garage and windows before yelling.
Year-End Modification: Glare back at the neighbors who stare at you accusingly after yelling.

Resolution: Become more spiritual.
Mid-Year Modification: Try to avoid grimacing at the kids.
Year-End Modification: Pray for an end to daily bouts.

Resolution: Get out of debt.
Mid-Year Modification: Look at the bank balance once in a while.
Year-End Modification: Hope for a really good tax rebate.

Resolution: Remodel the house.
Mid-Year Modification: Give the house a good cleaning.
Year-End Modification: Rearrange the junk drawer.

Resolution: Start exercising more.
Mid-Year Modification: Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Year-End Modification: Take the stairs instead of yelling at my kids from the first floor.

Resolution: Reach my ideal weight.
Mid-Year Modification: Stop eating my meal and the kids' leftovers.
Year-End Modification: Revisit this goal in early 2010.

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

After reading on Stuff in My Brain about Father of Five's challenge to show your crib, I thought I'd add our little Oregon nest to the mix.

Oh, and by the way... it's still snowing...

We're taking off for the holidays, so have a good Christmas and a Happy New Year!

See you all in 2009!

It's a Potpourri of Precipitation, If You Will

Wow. We here in Oregon are still freaking out.

Hubby finally slapped on the tire chains, I helped dig out the Explorer, we bundled up the kids, and we headed out in the snow yesterday. We finally made it to church -- better late than never -- and the place was practically empty. Maybe we'll get some special points with The Man upstairs?

While we were out, I said, "We're out of the house, we might as well stay out." There was no way I was going to be stuck in the house all day again. So we headed to the mall. That's when a "heated" (a-hem... pardon the pun) argument broke out at the sporting goods store.

"It's sleet!"

"No, it's hail!"

"That is frozen rain!"

What do I know? The argument just confused me more. What the heck is all this stuff? I know what snow is. I know what rain is. It's the cold stuff in between that this native Californian is trying to figure out. And I couldn't help but laugh that some Oregonians were still debating the issue.

Yahoo! News and the other local newscasters are calling it a "Wintry Mix." Now doesn't that sound nice? Like, a little medley of your favorite winter flavors. How nice. But after 8 days, it doesn't seem all that nice.

Wikipedia describes it as "Rain and snow mixed (called sleet in the United Kingdom and other British English speaking countries, but not in the United States where the term has a different meaning in meteorology) is a precipitation consisting of rain and partially melted snow; it is common where the temperature is slightly above the freezing point (0 °C, 32 °F). This precipitation is soft (unlike ice pellets) and transparent, but it can contain some traces of ice crystals, due to partially fused snowflakes. It is usually a transition phase to pure rain or snow."

Hmm. That actually explains things quite a bit. But who knew there was such a controversy to the terminology. The article goes on to say, "Professional meteorologists tend to shy away from using the term under any circumstances, but radio and television weather reporters use it regularly, the same way wintry mix is used in the United States." I didn't know there was a weatherman "slang" that determined some sort of hierarchy in the meteorolgy world. You learn something new every day.

As I was running (and CRUNCH-CRUNCH-CRUNCHing) after my dog in the backyard, who couldn't for the life of her find a soft, comfy place to poop, and was instead slipping and sliding all over the backyard, I was thinking that it was more like a snowy creme brulee. Hard, glass-like surface on the outside (like burnt, carmelized cream), and soft, powder-like snow underneath (like the custard). Like Annie Lennox says, "It's like walking on broken glass."

Whatever it is... I'm ready for sunshine!

Mommy Quote of the Week

"Humans are the only animals that have children on purpose with the exception of guppies, who like to eat theirs."
-- P.J. O'Rourke