WARNING: BRIEF RANT TO FOLLOW

At least I'm going to try to keep this brief.

A few months back I bought this fantastic steam mop. I have 2 large dogs, 1 cat, a box turtle and 2 kids under 8. This thing's awesome! Last week I was filling the reservoir and I read the small warning label. It reads 'WARNING: NOT TO BE USED AS A SPACE HEATER, SERIOUS INJURY COULD OCCUR' or something to that effect. Really? Am I that stupid? Would a person normally use a steam mop for a space heater? I almost googled it. There must be millions of injuries occurring from misuse of steam mops as space heaters, right?

Everything has these ludicrous labels. Are we that creative in our product use? I personally would have never thought to use my steam mop in this manner, although now it has crossed my mind... It's not that I am not a huge fan of safety, but COME ON! REALLY? Who thinks of these alternate uses and dangers in order to warn us against them? Now that is creative thinking. Perhaps if I had a little more of that in me I wouldn't be blogging about warning labels.

Current Events and Politics

When I was very pregnant with Lea, over 7 years ago, Laci Petersen went missing. The world was searching. Somewhere around that time, 2 children died while playing hide and seek in a chest. I was overwhelmed with fear and grief. I stuck my head in the sand and have kept it there these past 7 years. I was frightened by the fact that I was now bringing another innocent human being into the world that just seemed so ugly.

It is so difficult for me to hear and watch the current events of our nation, let alone this world full of war and hate and catastrophe, especially through a media stream of sensationalism and biased opinion.

I realize that I can't continue to hide in my shell. I feel like a child pulling the blankets over my face to ignore the monsters. I have never thought of myself as a weak-kneed individual, but WOW- I am a complete wimp. I am also a Christian- where is my faith? I see that it's time for me to let those covers down, pray, and step back into the world with my eyes and ears open.

Oh Pickles!

A few years ago I read a book by Kevin Lehman about parenting. I don't remember the exact title. All I remember is that it said something about 'not losing your mind' on the cover. My mother-in-law picked it up for me when it caught her eye at the store. This should say something about my skills as a stay-at-home mom. I'm typically frazzled, sloppy, and exhausted. I probably do need a manual- not sure that it would help though. As the girls are getting older, I'm getting a better handle on it. There were definitely times that I felt as though I'd go crazy. Maybe I should have spaced the girls out a little more- or at least kept them in playpens til they were 5.

Anyway, the book was based on his principles of 'reality discipline.' The gist of it was to let your kids learn from their actions and choices through the natural consequences. Of course there are limitations, and at the time of reading it, my girls were so little I had no idea where to apply this method. But it did make a lot of sense to me. I don't want my kids growing up in a bubble. I try hard not to 'overparent' the girls - but they are still kind of young so their freedom is of course age appropriate. So far so good. They have the skills they need for their current station in life. They know how to handle bullies and disappointment. I'm doing okay.

Yesterday we had a natural 'reality discipline' occurrence in our household. It's little- but it's funny and it's something we all need to learn along the way. Bodily functions are important. They are up there with personal hygiene and manners. So here's what happened.

Lea comes off the bus around 4:00. She's always starving which is apparently a common trait for kids after school. Yesterday I told her to have a couple of pickles. Yippee! She sure does love her pickles. So she tells me that the pickles were gone so she drank the juice. I have let her have sips before, but wow- she drank a jar of Claussen extra garlic straight up. Hm. (yuk.)

Dinner time comes. We all sit down, Lea says BRB. Calls me to the bathroom a few minutes later. I'm a mom. We see everything- they have this strange need to share EVERYTHING. Alright, poor you, etc. Within 5 minutes, she's gone again. This eventually led to a 45 minute stint in the bathroom. You get the picture I'm sure. Now being a frazzled spaz of a mom, I'm thinking she's got a virus and she'll probably miss school tomorrow, bummer.

Eventually, spasms have retreated, pajamas are on. It suddenly dawns on me that consuming 10 ounces of garlic, vinegar and salt would likely cause tummy problems. Yay, no virus, schools back on. I shout to Lea, "Hey Lea- it was just the pickle juice!" and she's says something like 'duh- I figured that out a long time ago mom.' Now this may sound really stupid- but for me it was an Aha! moment. My babies are definitely growing up.

I wonder if she'll ever drink the pickle juice again?

New Year

It's beautiful here. Another good 3 inches of snow has blanketed everything,
washing away the crud from yesterday. I was just sitting outside, enjoying the wonder of it when my DirectTV dish had an avalanche. It's an HD Dish, about the size of my turkey platter. Covered in snow and slush, yet our TV is happily blaring PBS morning shows.

Wow- it just doesn't seem that long ago that enormous saucers were showing up in yards all over the county. I grew up in the city. We were fortunate that cable came to our neighborhood when I was just a kid. Our remote had a cord. There was some sort of A/B switch that was a little confusing. But we had MTV and HBO. Not that I was supposed to be watching these channels, but...I must have seen Poltergeist a hundred times! So, these saucers, what are they? Satellite Dishes? Huh? Crazy stuff! TV from space. They had to have been 8 foot diameter or more. Where are they now? I wonder if they'd make a nice family sled.

A few years ago (probably ten), I was shopping when this man, a stranger, struck up a conversation with me. He was looking at me, lips moving, words coming out. I replied. He's just looking at me. Then I saw it. A Bluetooth. Hm. Guess he wasn't talking to me after all. Just a phone the size of a glue stick attached to his head. Weird.

Technology scares me just a little. I'm starting to fall behind-way behind. But I can't live without this stuff. When we're getting in the car- 'do you have your phone?' while I'm double checking that I have mine. When the wind blows, 'is the TV working?'. My wireless router isn't working- panic attacks ensue. We now have Monopoly, Battleship and Yahtzee for our XBox 360. Whoa!

This year I'd like to try to remember how to live more simply. Enjoy my family and friends, learn to be quiet. But here I am, still drinking my coffee, and I'm at the desk. It will be a big task.

Welcome Me!

Wow! This is totally new to me. Blogging. Hmmmm...

So basically I guess this is going to be my personal diary. I have found through the social networking sites (IE Myspace/Facebook) that when I randomly spew thoughts via the keyboard I feel a certain amount of release. I have no idea how that works out since I am in no means a licensed psychologist - but there it is. I think it's the possibility of being understood.

Why? I guess it's the yearning to be appreciated and understood. I wish I had another way of phrasing that, but that's all I can come up with. I really don't want to go on and on to friends or family about 'how I feel' but I want someone to understand me. Part of me has a sometimes overwhelming fear of anyone knowing the inside me, yet there is this yearning...

I'm really not sure how I'm going to blog yet, this is all new to me. But I'm trying. We'll see.