I've been keeping a "Random Thoughts" document open
and adding thoughts to it as I think of them.
It's gotten very long, so I'll share some now.
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Ever wish you had GPS tracking on EVERY item you own,
particularly the kids' stuff?
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My SIL's parents took all of their children on an Alaskan cruise with them.
Cruises haven't ever sounded like my kind of vacation.
Part of it is the whole germ thing
(there always seem to be listeria breakouts on cruise ships)
and being stuck on a boat and the thought of cheesy cruise ship shows.
All that being said,
she may have sold me on it with all of her fun, detailed descriptions,
particularly what she said about the food and service.
I'd rather go to the Caribbean than Alaska, though.
Alaska looked beautiful, but the Caribbean is warm. :)
(Then again, I'm a bit of a homebody in general).
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Our Wii broke this summer. :(
We ordered a special screwdriver and tried to fix it
using every suggestion we found online,
but having exhausted them all, it’s broken.
We just got it Christmas 2008.
Is that a good run? Too short?
I think things should last pretty much forever,
but as The Story of Stuff teaches us,
planned obsolescence is real.
Bleh.
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We recently had to replace our Wii and Thing 1's iPod;
both had broken due to no fault of our own.
We got used, refurbished ones for both in order to save money,
and they both work great.
The kids are so thoughtful,
both of them worrying about the cost.
Of course we reassure them and tell them not to feel bad.
I think it's sweet that they are thoughtful and considerate that way.
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JK Rowling is GORGEOUS.
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The kids filled out their annual report cards on us as parents.
I got all As and some Bs!
I'm pretty sure that's an improvement from this past year.
It's fun (and a bit humbling) to see how their minds tick.
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I don't like to hear complaining if the person who's doing it
is not willing to do anything about whatever it is they're complaining about.
If they are actively working on doing something, complain away!
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Remember Jake?
He finishes over 3 years of chemo treatment this weekend.
What a journey it's been.
They're having a big celebration to mark the occasion.
He's a great kid.
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Be yourself - no one can say you're doing it
wrong.
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Thing 2 is super excited for Halloween.
His favorite part is dressing up.
He told us again this year, like he did this past year,
that he loves that everyone dresses up
and that no one makes fun of you for it.
He also loves the Ren Faire.
Dressing up for that is also a lot of fun.
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Everyone I know is scattered, forgetful, and overloaded.
I blame technology. What do you think?
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I’m no prude, but since when does “being an adult”
mean ANYTHING related to the pornographic performance
Miley did at VMAs?
Why does “shedding a Disney kid image” have to mean, well, that?
I have a very different definition of what it means to be an adult.
And a performer.
And a woman.
And a citizen.
And a human.
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That being said,
she can do whatever she wants.
Honestly, my bigger issue with the whole thing
is parents carrying on about how she's supposed to be a role model.
I disagree.
You're the parents.
It's your job to teach your kids not to emulate everything about people,
not someone else's job to act in whatever way you see fit.
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I want a maid.
Sometimes I think that’s crazy.
I mean, theoretically, I’m home all day, right?
But we have so much going on
that the house is often neglected. Ugh.
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They canceled Go On?!? WTH?!?
Are NBC executives totally
stupid?
(Seriously, I've had this document open for a long time).
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Mark looks like an actor,
whose name and credits I can not recall.
I swear someone on our blog is the one
who gave us the name of the guy as a look alike,
but I can not remember who.
And it's driving me crazy.
Any ideas?
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Even our dog thinks we only clean for guests
(not entirely true).
Every time we turn on the vacuum,
she jumps up on the couch
and looks out the window
searching for who’s coming over.
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It is a great time to raise geeks!
Both of our kids have recently informed us
that they prefer
the Ren Faire to Hersheypark.
Awesome.
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I find it ironic (and maybe telling?)
that our
TVs are getting bigger
but our computer screens are getting smaller.
What does
that say about us?
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Keep coming back and reading! I have lots of posts and pictures coming up . . .
10 comments:
Ha! I hit "publish" and then noticed that the post title says "pictures" and I didn't add any. Oops. Next post . . . :P
My report card from Thing 1 was an improvement on last year's, in general. Thing 2 upgraded me, too; but he still gave me one C and one D. At least it's better than the F I got last year!
I'm really looking forward to Thing 2's costume this year. It should be really fun to make.
Blame technology. It's as good a scapegoat as any. Plus, it really is technology's fault.
Having a maid wouldn't be crazy. If you figure that much of your time at home is spent schooling or facilitating learning for the kids by assuming a teacher role, that gives you a lot less time for the myriad other roles you have.
Don't get me started on how TV is both better than ever and worse than ever, all at the same time. I'd love to know what the real issue with "Go On" turned out to be. They blame ratings, but plenty of shows with worse ratings avoid cancellation.
A crazy guy in Japan kept telling me, "You a-look like-a Tom Ca-ruise." He wasn't too swift.
Our dog may be on to something . . . ;)
Wow! Bill and I were just talking about how TV is really good these days, but also really awful.
I love that you have your kids give you report cards. I can't imagine why you two wouldn't pass with flying colors. I'm totally curious now.:)
The thing I didn't mention about our cruise: you can't go anywhere without a man standing there with a hand sanitizer pump. Signs everywhere to wash hands for 20 seconds, etc. plus in the card rooms we toted Clorox wipes and wiped down the tables and surfaces. They're good at keeping people clean. Before we unpacked in our room we Clorox wiped every surface too. We're all kind of germophobes in my family and we stayed healthy!
I hate Halloween.
I lose everything. I seriously would invest in GPS for my stuff.
Miley was super gross.
I am constantly wishing I could find things I lose by pushing a button. I lose my keys and phone a lot.
I would hate going on a cruise. I need more freedom to roam.
I agree with your thoughts on Miley Cyrus. I wish more parents would start taking a more active role in their kids lives instead of passing everything on to someone else (school teachers, church leaders, celebrities).
I think technology has some series draw backs. People spend more time on their phones and computers than they do anything else.
I would love a maid some days. I am rarely home.
I never watch TV, I have no idea what any shows are. We have Netflix that's it. I would rather read or watch some movies (I am strange with movies).
On one hand, I think I'd love a cruise. The abundance of good food and some corny entertainment sounds good to me. However, I've got a quirky fear of being stranded way out in the water. I'm afraid that if something should happen to the ship, I'll be stranded and couldn't even walk to safety or anything. The constant movement of the boat probably wouldn't make me sick, but I'd be nervous with every major movement that we're about to sink. This is why I'm a nervous flyer too; I kind of freak out inside everytime there's terbulance.
Okay, LMW, it's crazy how many overlaps and similarities we're having!! It makes us want to get together in real life and have dinner together!
As for the report cards, Thing 2 is a tough grader. Thing 1 calls things as she sees them (as does Thing 2), but isn't necessarily complaining (like I got a "B" on "makes good meals" and she explains that that's not because I'm not a good cook, but because Mark does most of the cooking). :P
What's interesting to me is that we're a pretty snuggly family (all of us - including the dog - sit on the couch together to watch TV), and we all hug just because and pretty often, too, and yet the kids want more hugs. Okay!
Thing 2 is also requesting that I watch more TV with him one on one, specifically "Malcolm in the Middle." We've been doing those Saturday Night dates where Thing 1 and I watch "Gilmore Girls" and Mark and Thing 2 watch Star Wars, Clone Wars, and other stuff. I think he'd like more one-on-one time with me, too. I'm happy to oblige!
Oh, and apparently Mark and I aren't clear enough when we explain things, according to our report cards. :P These are hilarious (and very telling).
Thing 2 also usually downgrades us for "Doesn't scream at me when he or she is angry" - that one always gets me, because we are very much NOT a family who yells (and that's really important to me - I grew up with yelling and I never liked it), so it throws me when we get Bs or Cs on that one. We ask him about it and he explains it to us and we figure out that even a frustrated tone - to him, that's "yelling." He's a pretty sensitive kid (I can relate - I've always been that way, too), so he doesn't care for frustrated or stern tones (neither do I). He agrees that we don't "yell," but he's letting us know he doesn't like it when we sound frustrated either. It's a good reminder. I love getting to know them better through doing these.
Emily, that is AWESOME to hear. I'm such a germaphobe . . .
Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, though I do like fall festival stuff like pumpkin patches, apple orchards, etc.
Kim, so true about phones. Did you see that viral video that was gong around about the woman whose entire day was with people whose faces were stuck in their phones?
And oh, lots of good shows on Netflix! I recommend Freaks and Geeks and New Girl and Malcolm in the Middle. But I agree that reading is great, too. LOVE reading. Did you see my movie post? Lots of good ones there.
LMW, wait, you have an active imagination with phobias and anxieties? Huh, we have yet more things in common! :P
Just getting back from business travel and catching up...
I've been afraid of cruises. I watch too much Dateline and hear about people falling overboard inexplicably. But Emily's family cruise sure sounded fun.
I'm not sure if I want a report card from my kids. But I don't know why, because I have a bunch of notes from my girls in my office as reminders of how much they love me. I bet they're easy graders.
Youre comment about complainers is really good advice for someone new to a job.
Hurray for Jake! Prayers for him and his family.
In the past I have defended Hannah Montana in this blog. Now I'm just worried about her. What is it about fame that makes all these young stars become such lost souls?
I agree about "you're the parent." Recently the Albuquerque Journal had a letter from a reader really upset about the Ke$ha concert here in town. She had taken her daughter. I couldn't help but think she could have solved her problem by being a parent enough to not take her young daughter to a Ke$ha concert int he first place.
Ha. I have a 10-year-old student whose parents took him to a Key$ha concert and they were shocked by the language in her songs. Really? I'm not saying that I expect them to know her music, but I'd think they'd do a little research before taking their 10-year old to the show.
Yes, I think we'd get along quite famously. I sure you guys lived closer to us.
That's pretty interesting about the report cards. I honestly think it takes a lot of bravery to do that and I admire you two as parents even more for doing it. It's interesting how the minds of children work. I'm sensitive to yelling too. I love my parents, but yelling was very common in my home growing up. That's something that I like about my marriage; we don't tend to yell at each other, even after over nine years of marriage. Then again, we don't have children yet.:)
Jimmy, I think they get no childhood and that just can NOT be healthy.
LMW, I think we should meet sometime. We met Jimmy when he was on business in DC and it was so nice to meet him. It felt instantly comfortable, since we'd already been friends for so long on here and on email.
I'm with you on that, too. We don't yell in our marriage either. From the get go, we've been respectful of each other (there's even a story about that in our post here about Egalitarian Marriage).
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