Two For One - Television Ads and A Twin

I normally don't post two blogs in one day, but I'm on a roll!!

I've made my post about kids not having the cartoons today that we got to watch. I really am not a fan of today's cartoons, since all they seem to do is use bodily functions and stupidity to make kids laugh. At least some of the cartoons that we watched growing up had a touch of a moral to the story. Anyway, not too long ago, I was listening to the tv during the "family hour (7-8pm)" while Older Son was watching (Younger Son was in bed and Daughter was in the shower) when he said something about the robot on tv. I turned around to see a woman dressed as a robot advertising for Heineken. I had two problems with this. First, it was another ad that attracts the attention of children. Older Son is almost 10 and he was mesmerized by this commercial. Second, after the meltdown the FCC had about the Janet Jackson incident, they were supposed to be cracking down on what was to be aired during the time that children would be watching. I'm still waiting for them to do this, since airing a beer commercial attracted by children is certainly NOT honoring this statement.

I believe I found my twin today. We bought a "new" van about six months ago and by new I mean new to me. Not long after getting it, I start noticing people waving at me - people I don't know. A couple of months back, my dad asked if I was at a certain area around a certain time. Nope, I was at home with the kids. He said he could've swore it was me. So this morning I had to run to Wal-Mart to get the kids some chips for their lunches as they took the last two bags this morning and I followed a van identical to mine to a parking spot. It was identical down to the color (except for it was a touring van) and this little mark - a mark that said stow-n-go (or something to that effect). I so want one of those marks on my van!! I would love to have stow and go seating but mine is before they thought of the idea. The lady driving had her hair pulled up into a ponytail, about the same length and color as mine and I figure she had to be roughly my height as she was sitting about as high in her van as I sit in mine. Now I know why I keep getting waves from people I don't know, just glad to be able to confirm it!

Things of the Past

Most of us have memories of the things we used to play with when we were children. My brother and I had an old cardboard tube, carpet had been on it, at my grandparents house that we would drag out every time we were there. This thing was made of real thick cardboard, so thick that he and I could sit it across the arms of two chairs and sit on it. It could hold us both at the same time at least until we were almost 10 anyway. We could roll marbles and cars down this thing, hang upside down on it and it would amuse us for hours. There were also plastic canvas "masterpieces" that Mom (and I found out recently Dad) had made for Bryan and me. One was a pencil holder, another was a van shaped bank. I borrowed (stole - I've had it the last few years) a book that had crochet stitches that Mom had bought years ago (so long ago the pages are yellowing) to find that it contained all of the masterpieces in it. Not only did it have the bank, a doll, a bear but it also had another book in it that had different magnet patterns. One afternoon, I came home from errands, Mom was babysitting here, and Younger Son had found the book. And he HAD to have one of those banks. I completed it a couple of days ago but of course Older Son and Daughter have to have one too. This means long strands of yarn over and over again. Then you have to keep in mind that I have a five month old kitten that absolutely loves string. And yarn. So much so that after I clipped a piece he grabbed it between his teeth and took off with it, needle still attached. I recovered the yarn, gave him a different one (his third now) and realize that I would finish faster without having to stop the cat from taking my string. But it wouldn't be as interesting if I wasn't competing to keep it and regardless of how long it takes me to complete them, the kids will still have the memories of the interesting things they had that no one else did.

Depriving Our Children

Sitting with the kids this afternoon found me watching the slow shows that are offered on PBS. Daughter mentions how most cartoons are all for adults. She means the ones that I refuse to let them watch. Bart Simpson, The Family Guy, King of the Hill, etc. So I told her, she would've loved being a kid on Saturday morning when I was growing up. We used to watch The Gummy Bears, Fraggle Rock, Smurfs, Loony Tunes, Muppet Babies and those were just the ones I could think of off the top of my head. Now on Saturday mornings they have the pleasure of watching news shows first thing in the morning (Weekend Today) before moving on to some "educational" cartoons and then to shows like The Suite Life of Zach and Cody. There have been so many "people" saying children don't need to waste their time watching cartoons and such. When you really think about it, we watched them growing up and chances are those same "people" that don't think our children should have that pleasure probably also watched them. I think we all turned out ok and I hate that my children don't have the pleasure of getting up on Saturday, fixing themselves a bowl of cereal or a pop-tart before sitting down in front of the tv to watch the gummy bears or smurfs teach them about being a good person. Granted, kids probably do watch entirely too much tv and mine are no different (working on that), but they also do a lot of homework during the week, more so than we did. Why shouldn't they have the same type of cartoons and Saturday mornings that we used to have?

Am I Speaking a Foreign Language?

Just trying to verify that this is really the English language that I am using here. Anyone who is around kids enough learn that there are times that no matter what you say, they act like you are speaking a completely different language. Tonight is one of those nights. "Take a shower" actually means "sit on your butt and don't stop what you're doing". "Time to come in" means to "stay outside and keep playing". "Turn off the gameboy and go to bed" means to "finish playing the level you're playing or wait until mom totally flips out". "Go to bed" also means to "take your time brushing your teeth, go potty, get a drink as slowly as you possibly can, and then come lay down in the floor so you can play with the dog until mom flips again". So please, if this is not the English language, someone please let me know so that I can learn how to speak their language.

Out of Routine

Today, Older Son had to take his "mad scientist" experiment to school so that he could perform it for the class. Since this required him to take a foam board to school, I drove them to school this morning and picked them up this afternoon. Now, the best I can remember when we were kids, if mom or dad was to pick us up, when the bell rang, we made a mad dash to the front of the school to search the cars for our car. Not anymore. Now, because of the school shootings and especially since the VT shootings at the beginning of the year, the kids school has beefed up security. Now, I'm no way saying this is a bad thing. On the contrary, I believe it is a hassle but warranted. I drop the kids off at school on occasion so I am familiar with this routine. I can either park my car and walk them in, which requires me to sign in at the door, or I can drop them off in the "car loop" which is basically a pull up, open the door and throw them at the school type situation. I chose to throw them at the school this morning, as Older Son was perfectly capable of carrying his board, I just didn't want it destroyed on the bus for 30 minutes. This afternoon, I left for the school early, just to be sure to be there on time. I got to the school at 2:17 and was still at least 20 cars back from the front of the line to pick up my kids. Eighteen minutes later, I spy Younger Son's teacher making a break for the parking lot. She was the first facutly member to head for the parking lot, and the buses haven't even left the school yet!! Exactly 20 minutes after pulling up to my parking spot, the buses leave and the cars start to move in the line so that I can pick up my kiddos. I waited twenty minutes so that Older Son didn't have to carry a big piece of foam on the bus. We make the trip home in no time, but had they rode the bus home, they would've been home sooner since I met the bus six houses past mine. The joys of school in today's age...

Stating the Obvious

Daughter came home from school today and sat down right away to read her story. At the end of the stories are usually five or six questions they have to verbally answer to ensure they actually paid attention to the story while they were reading it. She read the questions and answered them.

"Describe Mr. So and So. (I didn't actually catch his name..) He's a wise, old man.

"How do you know this? Ummmm..."

"Because the story said so," I whispered loudly from across the room.

"Moooommmm! You can't answer with that!!"

Well it was the obvious answer, wasn't it?

A Helper or a Hinderer?

I couldn't decide.

Is It Possible?

We got the night off last night...a night long over due. It's been so long since we had a date night, that I honestly cannot remember the last time we did something, just the two of us. So of course, we had a hard time deciding where to go with our precious night.

"We can go to the bookstore..."

"Without the kids?? You mean, I don't have to go sit in the kiddie section and read the kiddie books?? Is that LEGAL???"

We got to enjoy a quiet dinner, with any "but I don't want to go there". I got to sit on a bench in the bookstore and read all the People magazine I wanted. We even went to Petsmart and petted a couple of kitties (they didn't ask to be there...they need attention, too). We went out for ice cream (shhhhhhh...)...and even stopped to bowl a couple of games before coming home to call it a night. No arguing, no crying, no fussing, just us. Gonna have to do that again soon...

Love you, baby...

Who Needs Teeth

Youngest Son has lost his two top front teeth and two bottom front teeth which leaves him with nothing to bite off food and with a nice little lisp when he talks. He decided this morning that an apple was a good thing to have.

"Peel it but don't cut it."

"How do you expect to bite the apple without teeth?"

Biting motion made...then he thought about it. He ran for a plate.

"Cut it like a watermelon please."

That's what I thought...

Ladybird Tagged Me!

The rules are: once you have been tagged you can't be re-tagged. You have to write a blog with 10 weird, random things, facts, or habits about yourself. At the end of the blog, you chose 10 people to be tagged and list names. Don't forget to leave a comment on the 10 people's page that says, "you are tagged", and to read your latest blog.
10. I don't like my feet so much that I very, very rarely wear open toed shoes.

9. I don't drink alcoholic beverages. I've had two sips in my entire lifetime.

8. I hate dusting furniture. It's just going to come back in a couple of days anyway so why bother?

7. Turning 30 did not bother me as much as I thought it was going to.

6. The kids birthdays are odd. Older Son's birthday is Oct 30. Daughter's birthday is Oct 29. They are actually 364 days apart because they like one day being exactly one year apart. Younger Son's birthday is Sept 17, exactly 6 weeks before Daughter's so for those six weeks my kids seem to be a year apart. This year it will be 7, 8 and 9. Then I will have twins for a day when Daughter turns 9. There is no way I could've planned that (but I would've done it again because it's just cool!!).

5. I love fall, not only for the cooler weather and the changing leaves but also for the fall t.v. lineup.

4. I think finding these 10 things have taken me longer than any paper I wrote in high school or college.

3. I believe one day, someone will come up with laundry that washes itself (or that doesn't need washing) and I will be their biggest supporter (if during my lifetime).

2. I named my cat Zeus at 6 weeks old because we didn't think he'd make it through the night at 2 1/2 weeks. I also named him Zeus because Hercules was too long.

1. I am still trying to master the art of patience...I am failing miserably.
I am tagging DH and anyone else who finds the time or the interest to try this...it's not as easy as it looks.

My Latest "Addiction"??

I've always been intrigued by blogs. Never really understood it, but it interested me to read what these people had to say and how funny some of it turned out to be (have one of those stories myself but it's going to have to wait for another day). Anyhoo, after reading some favorites from another person's page, I was really hooked!! So not only did I go through a lot of those blogs, but I have gone to links from those pages to other pages and my favorites list is steady growing. I didn't realize when I started how interested I was going to become. I'm ready for the next installment so that I can see what interesting thing has happened with them lately.