Rules that all kids should know by the age of 10

1) Suck up to Mom as much as possible. Remember-this is the woman who will probably end up bailing you out of one of the following: school, trouble, homework, chores, or jail. 2) Telling your parents you hate them does not win your side of any argument. EVER. 3) Chores are part of life. Shut yer trap about making your bed and be glad you don’t live on a farm. Those are REAL chores. 4) Ice cream cures most mental woes. 5) Band-Aids cover most boo-boos, but a kiss makes them heal. 6) Yes, you do have to share with your siblings. Everything except your underwear and toothbrushes. 7) When your parents tell you to go play in your room-don’t argue! Just go! 8) Slimy creatures are a lot of fun…as long as you keep them outside. 9) Mom absolutely loves every picture you draw and will display as many as possible. 10) Mommy magic fixes almost anything. Anything it doesn’t is up to God!

T.V.-To Watch or Not to Watch

So about 2.5 years ago I split up from my T.V. My ex-DH use to watch it CONSTANTLY and it drove me NUTS! He had one in the living room, he put one in the kid's room, and one in the bedroom-which was 'his' domain. I am all about compromise (till you threathen to remove my coffee) BUT I am not a big T.V.-in-the-bedroom fan. I am sure I am about to offend someone, but I just think it breeds laziness to have a T.V. in your bedroom. He was a fan of watching reality shows and would keep it on late. Even when I would beg him to simply go into the living room to watch it, he wouldn't budge. As it happened, I not only divorced him, but I divorced T.V. as well. I have to say-IT'S WONDERFUL! I don't get sucked into meaningless shows anymore; I don't lose hours of daylight in one fell swoop; and I have no friggin clue who is on American Idol, and I am not afraid to say I don't give a hoot. I also don't have to pay a ridiculously high cable bill just to access the 2 channels I really want-Disney for the kids and HGTV for me. As much as I miss certain shows (how are Stacey & Clinton doing? Does she still sport that awesome streak in her hair?) I have to say overall I don't miss it that much. The kids do, but they have adjusted to playing DVDs at will and getting their T.V. fix at their Dad's house. I also stopped watching because of the affect on my kids. My oldest was at her G-ma's house when news broke of a little girl the same age as her who had been kidnapped, then killed (Carlie-the car wash girl from West Coast of FL about 4 yrs ago). It seemed there were a couple other girls about the same age that were also kidnapped or killed, and she caught all of that from the T.V.s that were on 'just in the background'. We had many discussions about kidnappings, and safety, stranger danger, etc. About that same time my van got broken into in front of her sister's church pre-school. Suddenly looking at the broken shards of glass in my van, and hearing my calls to freeze my accounts (my purse was stolen) clicked in the reality to her that she could be hurt, very easily. And my once easy-going child seemed to transform overnight into a paranoid version of herself. She began double checking that we set the security alarm at night, so much that I ended up teaching her how to use it so she could set it herself to feel safer. She started being more aware of her surroundings-which can be a good thing-but it seemed a little excessive. If I moved too far away from her she would grab my arm and hang on tight & say "Don't leave me Mommy!" with a panicked look about her sweet face. That finally did it for me, knowing that my girl was suddenly so fearful of her world that she refused to order from a waiter, or walk to the mailbox at the end of the driveway (although, it might have been her fear of lizards that ended that one...). I didn't look back as I literally 'cut the cable cord'. One major drawback is anytime I am in a group of people, someone will always end up asking me "Did you see that one ___ commercial? The one with that guy who does that thing with the thing? That's CLASSIC!!" I of course have 2 options: A. laugh hysterically and pretend I know what the hell they are talking about; or B. stare blankly and say "Ummm, no actually I didn't. I don't watch T.V." If I choose option A, then I blend well with the crowd but end up feeling deceitful somehow cuz I just LIED! If I choose option B then it seems like the entire room stops and it gets dead quiet for a couple beats, and then the questions start. Prosecutor: "What do you mean you don't watch T.V.? Like not a lot?" Me: "Ummm, no, like not at all." Prosecutor: "Are you part of a cult?" Me: "NO!" Prosecuter: "Then why don't you watch T.V.? You don't like sitcoms? Or Comedy? Or American Idol? Are you sure you're American?" Me: "Because I got tired of all the meaningless drivel they show. I love sitcoms, but they seem to have died with Seinfeld, and I love comedy, but I can do quite nicely without AI.Oh, and yes, I am definately still an American." Prosecuter: " Uh, ok, I gotta go, to a thing, with a friend...LATER" Apparently I am some sort of freak of nature. LOL. HOWEVER, I would like to point out that I catch my fave shows (Grey's and My Boys) on the web and unlike most of you shlubs I can watch 2 or 3 episodes in a row AT ONE TIME! Then I can also annoy my BF by texting her at midnight and saying "OMG! PJ AND BOBBY!?!NO WAY! I LOVE IT!" ;)

Debut Night!

This is my debut night for my new blog-hurray for me! If you don't appreciate my views then please feel free to move on to someone else. Otherwise, welcome aboard & enjoy the ride. :) I got to take a mini-vaca trip this weekend and enjoyed a nice long drive with NO kids in the car! I went to pick up my rental car-I had reserved a 'economy' size-and the guy told me I got a free upgrade, how about a Prius? I said "Listen, I am almost as tall as you. Why don't you bring me something you would be comfy driving?" He said no prob, be right back. 5 mins later he pulls up in a Jeep Commander, which looks like a friggin tank! It about the size of the H3 Hummer! He hops out and I said "Seriously?" and he just grins and says "This outta work better than the Prius right?" Uhhh, YEAH! LOL I think the Jeep ate a Prius on the way out of the lot...