While hitting up the Bath & Bodyworks semi-annual sale yesterday :-) and using Jason as my giant bag carrier while I pushed the other two creatures in the massive double stroller, Jason struck up a conversation with another poor male soul who got roped into being a bag holder for his own mother. The conversation went like this:
Jason: I got to see Kungfu Panda 2
Other Boy: Well I'm going to see Mr. Popper's Penguins
Jason: Ohhh that's so cool
O.B.: I'm 6 years old
Jason: I'm five
O.B.: I have a swimming pool at my house
Jason: I wish I had a swimming pool at my house
O.B.: I have a four wheeler I can drive on the road
Jason: Wow, I just have a bike. But it's new, I got it for my birthday.
O.B.: I just got a BRAND NEW XBOX
Jason: Well I have my very own LIBRARY CARD!
O.B.: No way, my mom says I'm too little, AWESOME!
I could have jumped up and down and done the Rocky Balboa cheer---hands above my head and everything--right there in the middle of the store. We had just finished at the library (ALWAYS a stressfull time trying to use our "inside" voices) and stopped by B&BW on the way home. Nice to know something is working! Chalk one up for momma, the library, and a house full of reading time not video time!
Mom: 1
Mushy-Video-Game-Little-Boy-Brain: 0
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Hello Santa, It's Me, Natalie
Dear Santa,
You may think this is a little premature considering it is only May or even strange since I am a 29 year old mother of three writing a letter to you. However, I have exhausted all options. I really really really really (ok you get the picture) would like something but no one is listening to me and I am desperate and have nowhere else to turn. I'm writing early because my birthday is in August and I'm hoping that in order to make your holiday less stressful, you could just give me my gift for my birthday instead. I'm not asking for anything too tough; not world peace, not my "pre-baby" body back, not even kids who magically clean up after themselves and potty train themselves as well. I am asking for one teensy tiny, itty bitty, magic machine found at any JoAnne’s, Michael’s or even Ebay (soooo much less expensive on Ebay!) I would like a (drum roll please.....) CRICUT CAKE MACHINE! I have drooling over this thing for a year and a half; I have been a very good girl and promise to be a very good girl FOREVER if I could just have one for my birthday.
My husband says it is totally unnecessary and says "it'll never happen". But I thought his golf clubs, shoes, nice golf bag, golf clothes, constant golf outings with friends, lost balls/broken tees and buying replacements for all of the above seem UNNESSECARY and yet he still owns them, still plays, still replaces and does all of this generally unhindered and supported by yours truly! Now that I think about it, he went golfing Wednesday night and is going again for 5 hours Saturday morning! So if the world of golf can eat hundreds of dollars a year for my dear sweet supportive husband to have a relaxing, enjoyable, usually peaceful hobby which I totally support, I would think that I could have one little $150 Cricut Cake Machine that will make all my wildest dreams come true. That's just five or six golf outings--certainly fair under the current circumstances right? I promise to decorate cakes and cupcakes for the poor and needy—you can even stop by for your birthday and I’ll make a cake just for you!
You may think this is a little premature considering it is only May or even strange since I am a 29 year old mother of three writing a letter to you. However, I have exhausted all options. I really really really really (ok you get the picture) would like something but no one is listening to me and I am desperate and have nowhere else to turn. I'm writing early because my birthday is in August and I'm hoping that in order to make your holiday less stressful, you could just give me my gift for my birthday instead. I'm not asking for anything too tough; not world peace, not my "pre-baby" body back, not even kids who magically clean up after themselves and potty train themselves as well. I am asking for one teensy tiny, itty bitty, magic machine found at any JoAnne’s, Michael’s or even Ebay (soooo much less expensive on Ebay!) I would like a (drum roll please.....) CRICUT CAKE MACHINE! I have drooling over this thing for a year and a half; I have been a very good girl and promise to be a very good girl FOREVER if I could just have one for my birthday.
My husband says it is totally unnecessary and says "it'll never happen". But I thought his golf clubs, shoes, nice golf bag, golf clothes, constant golf outings with friends, lost balls/broken tees and buying replacements for all of the above seem UNNESSECARY and yet he still owns them, still plays, still replaces and does all of this generally unhindered and supported by yours truly! Now that I think about it, he went golfing Wednesday night and is going again for 5 hours Saturday morning! So if the world of golf can eat hundreds of dollars a year for my dear sweet supportive husband to have a relaxing, enjoyable, usually peaceful hobby which I totally support, I would think that I could have one little $150 Cricut Cake Machine that will make all my wildest dreams come true. That's just five or six golf outings--certainly fair under the current circumstances right? I promise to decorate cakes and cupcakes for the poor and needy—you can even stop by for your birthday and I’ll make a cake just for you!
Thank you for granting me this one small, insignificant birthday/early Christmas wish that will benefit those around me for years to come. And just in case you are REALLY busy and forget, I'll be sure to have all my friends and family remind you the closer it gets to my birthday...August 15th...I'll be 30...I'll be really good I promise......Thanks!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Mothers Never Sleep
I have to attribute this adaptation to my cousin but it was too perfect not to pass along. I love my mother and grandmothers--all women to aspire to be like (clean homes included :-)
You may be familiar with President J. Reuben Clark’s notable quote on how interest on debt never sleeps. I believe that there is a parallel with Motherhood:
"Motherhood never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never fails to visit or travel to you; it is never laid off work or discharged from employment; it never works on reduced hours. [. . .] Motherhood is your companion every minute of the day and night; children cannot shun it or slip away from it; they cannot dismiss it; it yields to polite entreaties, but not to demands or orders; and whenever you get in your Mom’s way or cross her course or fail to meet her demands, she crushes you with love."
Motherhood may not yield monetary rewards. But like the compounding power of interest, one day moms will turn around to see what their children have become. Sister Hinckley said that:
"Being a mother at any age is a blessing, but as we age and our children become interesting and productive adults we really begin to savor the joys of the harvest, the fruit of our labors. How could we have known when they were young and the demands so constant that we would ever have the luxury of simply enjoying their loving companionship?"
I loved this Mother's Day most of all--I think it will continue like that, each one better than the last as my children learn to create, serve and express their love for family. Thanks to the preschool and Primary teachers to went above and beyond, helping them make adorable cards, taking pictures and printing them and teaching cute songs to sing to me. Thanks to a great husband who is appreciative, gives me flowers, cooks me bacon just the way I like it and knows that the way to my heart is through gourmet food!
You may be familiar with President J. Reuben Clark’s notable quote on how interest on debt never sleeps. I believe that there is a parallel with Motherhood:
"Motherhood never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never fails to visit or travel to you; it is never laid off work or discharged from employment; it never works on reduced hours. [. . .] Motherhood is your companion every minute of the day and night; children cannot shun it or slip away from it; they cannot dismiss it; it yields to polite entreaties, but not to demands or orders; and whenever you get in your Mom’s way or cross her course or fail to meet her demands, she crushes you with love."
Motherhood may not yield monetary rewards. But like the compounding power of interest, one day moms will turn around to see what their children have become. Sister Hinckley said that:
"Being a mother at any age is a blessing, but as we age and our children become interesting and productive adults we really begin to savor the joys of the harvest, the fruit of our labors. How could we have known when they were young and the demands so constant that we would ever have the luxury of simply enjoying their loving companionship?"
I loved this Mother's Day most of all--I think it will continue like that, each one better than the last as my children learn to create, serve and express their love for family. Thanks to the preschool and Primary teachers to went above and beyond, helping them make adorable cards, taking pictures and printing them and teaching cute songs to sing to me. Thanks to a great husband who is appreciative, gives me flowers, cooks me bacon just the way I like it and knows that the way to my heart is through gourmet food!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Noteworthy: "Parents, don't dress your girls like tramps"
I read this one and think it speaks volumes. Read it & pass it on--women everywhere (mothers in particular) need to see this!
Parents, don't dress your girls like tramps
Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) -- I saw someone at the airport the other day who really caught my eye.
Her beautiful, long blond hair was braided back a la Bo Derek in the movie "10" (or for the younger set, Christina Aguilera during her "Xtina" phase). Her lips were pink and shiny from the gloss, and her earrings dangled playfully from her lobes.
You can tell she had been vacationing somewhere warm, because you could see her deep tan around her midriff thanks to the halter top and the tight sweatpants that rested just a little low on her waist. The icing on the cake? The word "Juicy" was written on her backside.
Yeah, that 8-year-old girl was something to see all right. ... I hope her parents are proud. Their daughter was the sexiest girl in the terminal, and she's not even in middle school yet.
Abercrombie & Fitch came under fire this spring for introducing the "Ashley," a push-up bra for girls who normally are too young to have anything to push up. Originally it was marketed for girls as young as 7, but after public outcry, it raised its intended audience to the wise old age of 12. I wonder how do people initiate a conversation in the office about the undeveloped chest of elementary school girls without someone nearby thinking they're pedophiles?
Push-up bikini controversy
What kind of PowerPoint presentation was shown to the Abercrombie executives that persuaded them to green light such a product?
That there was a demand to make little girls hot?
I mean, that is the purpose of a push-up bra, right? To enhance sex appeal by lifting up, pushing together and basically showcasing the wearer's breasts. Now, thanks to AF Kids, girls don't have to wait until high school to feel self-conscious about their, uhm, girls. They can start almost as soon as they're potty trained. Maybe this fall the retailer should consider keeping a plastic surgeon on site for free consultations.
We've been here with Abercrombie before -- if you recall, about 10 years ago they sold thongs for 10-year-olds -- but they're hardly alone in pitching inappropriate clothing to young girls. Four years ago the popular "Bratz" franchise introduced padded bras called "bralettes" for girls as young as six. That was also around the time the good folks at Wal-Mart rolled out a pair of pink panties in its junior department with the phrase "Who Needs Credit Cards" printed on the front.
I guess I've been out-of-the-loop and didn't realize there's been an ongoing stampede of 10-year-old girls driving to the mall with their tiny fists full of cash demanding sexier apparel.
What's that you say? Ten-year-olds can't drive? They don't have money, either? Well, how else are they getting ahold of these push-up bras and whore-friendly panties?
Their parents?
Noooo, couldn't be.
What adult who wants a daughter to grow up with high self-esteem would even consider purchasing such items? What parent is looking at their sweet, little girl thinking, "She would be perfect if she just had a little bit more up top."
And then I remember the little girl at the airport. And the girls we've all seen at the mall. And the kiddie beauty pageants.
And then I realize as creepy as it is to think a store like Abercrombie is offering something like the "Ashley", the fact remains that sex only sells because people are buying it. No successful retailer would consider introducing an item like a padded bikini top for kindergartners if they didn't think people would buy it.
If they didn't think parents would buy it, which raises the question: What in the hell is wrong with us?
It's easy to blast companies for introducing the sexy wear, but our ire really should be directed at the parents who think low rise jeans for a second grader is cute. They are the ones who are spending the money to fuel this budding trend. They are the ones who are suppose to decide what's appropriate for their young children to wear, not executives looking to brew up controversy or turn a profit.
I get it, Rihanna's really popular. But that's a pretty weak reason for someone to dress their little girl like her.
I don't care how popular Lil' Wayne is, my son knows I would break both of his legs long before I would allow him to walk out of the house with his pants falling off his butt. Such a stance doesn't always makes me popular -- and the house does get tense from time to time -- but I'm his father, not his friend.
Friends bow to peer pressure. Parents say, "No, and that's the end of it."
The way I see it, my son can go to therapy later if my strict rules have scarred him. But I have peace knowing he'll be able to afford therapy as an adult because I didn't allow him to wear or do whatever he wanted as a kid.
Maybe I'm a Tiger Dad.
Maybe I should mind my own business.
Or maybe I'm just a concerned parent worried about little girls like the one I saw at the airport.
In 2007, the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls issued a report linking early sexualization with three of the most common mental-health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression. There's nothing inherently wrong with parents wanting to appease their daughters by buying them the latest fashions. But is getting cool points today worth the harm dressing little girls like prostitutes could cause tomorrow?
A line needs to be drawn, but not by Abercrombie. Not by Britney Spears. And not by these little girls who don't know better and desperately need their parents to be parents and not 40-year-old BFFs.
Parents, don't dress your girls like tramps
Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) -- I saw someone at the airport the other day who really caught my eye.
Her beautiful, long blond hair was braided back a la Bo Derek in the movie "10" (or for the younger set, Christina Aguilera during her "Xtina" phase). Her lips were pink and shiny from the gloss, and her earrings dangled playfully from her lobes.
You can tell she had been vacationing somewhere warm, because you could see her deep tan around her midriff thanks to the halter top and the tight sweatpants that rested just a little low on her waist. The icing on the cake? The word "Juicy" was written on her backside.
Yeah, that 8-year-old girl was something to see all right. ... I hope her parents are proud. Their daughter was the sexiest girl in the terminal, and she's not even in middle school yet.
Abercrombie & Fitch came under fire this spring for introducing the "Ashley," a push-up bra for girls who normally are too young to have anything to push up. Originally it was marketed for girls as young as 7, but after public outcry, it raised its intended audience to the wise old age of 12. I wonder how do people initiate a conversation in the office about the undeveloped chest of elementary school girls without someone nearby thinking they're pedophiles?
Push-up bikini controversy
What kind of PowerPoint presentation was shown to the Abercrombie executives that persuaded them to green light such a product?
That there was a demand to make little girls hot?
I mean, that is the purpose of a push-up bra, right? To enhance sex appeal by lifting up, pushing together and basically showcasing the wearer's breasts. Now, thanks to AF Kids, girls don't have to wait until high school to feel self-conscious about their, uhm, girls. They can start almost as soon as they're potty trained. Maybe this fall the retailer should consider keeping a plastic surgeon on site for free consultations.
We've been here with Abercrombie before -- if you recall, about 10 years ago they sold thongs for 10-year-olds -- but they're hardly alone in pitching inappropriate clothing to young girls. Four years ago the popular "Bratz" franchise introduced padded bras called "bralettes" for girls as young as six. That was also around the time the good folks at Wal-Mart rolled out a pair of pink panties in its junior department with the phrase "Who Needs Credit Cards" printed on the front.
I guess I've been out-of-the-loop and didn't realize there's been an ongoing stampede of 10-year-old girls driving to the mall with their tiny fists full of cash demanding sexier apparel.
What's that you say? Ten-year-olds can't drive? They don't have money, either? Well, how else are they getting ahold of these push-up bras and whore-friendly panties?
Their parents?
Noooo, couldn't be.
What adult who wants a daughter to grow up with high self-esteem would even consider purchasing such items? What parent is looking at their sweet, little girl thinking, "She would be perfect if she just had a little bit more up top."
And then I remember the little girl at the airport. And the girls we've all seen at the mall. And the kiddie beauty pageants.
And then I realize as creepy as it is to think a store like Abercrombie is offering something like the "Ashley", the fact remains that sex only sells because people are buying it. No successful retailer would consider introducing an item like a padded bikini top for kindergartners if they didn't think people would buy it.
If they didn't think parents would buy it, which raises the question: What in the hell is wrong with us?
It's easy to blast companies for introducing the sexy wear, but our ire really should be directed at the parents who think low rise jeans for a second grader is cute. They are the ones who are spending the money to fuel this budding trend. They are the ones who are suppose to decide what's appropriate for their young children to wear, not executives looking to brew up controversy or turn a profit.
I get it, Rihanna's really popular. But that's a pretty weak reason for someone to dress their little girl like her.
I don't care how popular Lil' Wayne is, my son knows I would break both of his legs long before I would allow him to walk out of the house with his pants falling off his butt. Such a stance doesn't always makes me popular -- and the house does get tense from time to time -- but I'm his father, not his friend.
Friends bow to peer pressure. Parents say, "No, and that's the end of it."
The way I see it, my son can go to therapy later if my strict rules have scarred him. But I have peace knowing he'll be able to afford therapy as an adult because I didn't allow him to wear or do whatever he wanted as a kid.
Maybe I'm a Tiger Dad.
Maybe I should mind my own business.
Or maybe I'm just a concerned parent worried about little girls like the one I saw at the airport.
In 2007, the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls issued a report linking early sexualization with three of the most common mental-health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression. There's nothing inherently wrong with parents wanting to appease their daughters by buying them the latest fashions. But is getting cool points today worth the harm dressing little girls like prostitutes could cause tomorrow?
A line needs to be drawn, but not by Abercrombie. Not by Britney Spears. And not by these little girls who don't know better and desperately need their parents to be parents and not 40-year-old BFFs.
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