Responsibility and Other Reasons Being a Grown-up Sucks....

Being a grown-up is both awesome and terrible. I know the benefits on being a grown-up like picking your own bedtime and being able to drink alcohol, but it also comes with a ton of responsibilities that actually prevent you from really being able to pick your own bedtime and drink alcohol. Things like making money, budgeting money, budgeting time, cleaning, feeding yourself and your offspring, the list goes on and on.

The thing that sucks most about being a grown-up is balancing the wants (really really really want!) with the practical decision making that is should be part of adulthood. I point this out because, I want a new car! So very badly. I have had a minivan for most of the last 20 years, so when my oldest started driving I quickly went and got me a car, all the way back in 2011! Okay, I know that's not that long ago, but I like having a new car. The reason I NEED really really want a new car is, I may have jumped the gun on getting a 5 seater. I drive around too many children and have too many people in my house to not have a mini-van. They are so practical and useful! I hate SUVs, mostly because you can get all the features plus some additional for a lot less money and better fuel mileage with a minivan. The "soccer mom" image never bothered me because I am a soccer mom, without the soccer. And look at this!

 Isn't this beautiful?

 It has an ultra-wide screen that can be split into 2. 

Also hdmi ports and headphones. 

Guaranteed to have peaceful road trips. 

There is a built in mother f'n vaccum! Vacuum sand off the kids at the beach! 

I love this van. I could buy it. The monthly payments are affordable and not much more then I currently pay. It's all doable. BUT there is that grown-up voice going.....is now really a great time? Shouldn't you pay your car off some more? If you saved a bit more of a down payment think how much cheaper your payments could be? 

Stupid grown-up voice.

BTW - The tiny little grown-up that lives in my brain doesn't help me in the majority of situations in which I WANT to feel/act grown up (how do you set a table? What is appropriate adult conversation? What types of people throw dinner parties? Am I that type of person? How does make-up work? What are grown-up clothes?), but in this instance that voice is loud and annoying and won't let me buy a new car. 

Share my pain and if anyone is reading this feel free to leave a comment about your grown-up voice...does anyone else have one? Is yours helpful or annoying? <crickets> 

Toddler Tuesday! Dentist time!

Disclaimer- is ma in no way a medical, dental, or psychological professional. The sight of blood makes me pass smooth out. What I'd do have is lots of experience with kids. So let's talk about first time dental visits! It really helps if you've been brushing you kid's teeth. When they are infants, you can wipe their gums clean with a clean wash cloth. This gets them used to the sensation. We took Eric when he turned 4. Our dentist said that it is better to wait till they are a little older for their first visit; so I waited until he was 4. A couple of days before we talked about what the dentist was and what they were going to do. We repeated every night till the day of the visit, and discussed it on the way there. I let him bring a toy to hold in the dentists office.

To;dr

Get them used to brushing

Communicate and explain fully what to expect. 

Repeat. 

There's No "I" in Team...

How lame is that blog post title? Pretty lame, but it's early and I am irritated so I can't be concerned with creative things like blog titles, I have important things to say rant about!

Okay, not so important, but when I have things on my mind, it plays on repeat in my mind, plus it has volume ramping, so if I don't share it, it will become like a siren in my head. I end up blurting it out to random people.
Yeah, I don't really do that, but I could. I have no natural verbal filter, my homemade one is flimsy, but very important and prevents random people everywhere from having conversations with me, also it prevents me from saying a wide variety of inappropriate things. So here is my rant...

I listen to the radio in the morning while taking the kids to school. A morning show on a music station, it's usually sort of funny, it's where I get the news, which like most Americans, I typically avoid. The news is depressing and its super biased, I read the same story several times and spend my time trying to piece together the raw information. It makes my brain want to explode and I end up super depressed or angry or both, (if I continue to write blog posts you will probably learn I am not as good at avoiding the news as I would like to be).

They start talking about the super important news of the day - Tom Brady went cliff-diving! I mean what could possibly be more important?!? (Certainly not the super depressed pilot who crashed into a mountain or Iran nuclear talks or the Nigerian election...kids may be listening and learn there are other places in the world or something horrific).  I was listening to the DJs discuss this and they reached the consensus, "It's his life, he can do whatever he wants!" I was irritated. They started taking callers, and every single caller had the same opinion as the DJs. Not one voice of opposition.
My first thought was, did they screen these calls and only accept ones that agreed with them? My second thought was I should find a morning station with less news. My third thought was that football is stupid and the Patriots are the kings of stupid, so why am I getting so irritated about so much stupid?!?

It didn't take my long to figure out I was irritated because of philosophy! Rather a philosophical debate, that is rather important for society and since philosophical debates are not a national past-time in this country (my husband didn't know what a french salon was, he thought it was a fancy place to get your hair done), discussing Tom Brady cliff-diving is as close as we will get to having discussions on philosophy.
Brady chose a profession that being a team player is a requirement. He is depended on by his team and is very important to the team or so the fan boys claim. He is depended on by the team owners, the fans, the tax payers (who fund the tax-exempt NFL) and so on. He is paid like $11 million dollars a year and part of reason he earns such an absurd amount of money is because he is giving up his ability to be selfish! I know everyone loves Individualism, but like it or not Collectivism is important too. He is paid to put the wants and needs of the group (his team) above his own, which means he doesn't get to do things like go cliff-diving or sky diving or visit Indianapolis. I don't know or care if his contract allows for cliff-diving, he should know better then participate in activities that put him at increased risk for injury or worse.

There is no I in Team! Almost no one really cares about Tom Brady cliff-diving. People get riled up about the underlying philosophical debate of individualism vs collectivism, they just don't realize that is the actual argument here. I am not a football fan for  variety of reasons (violent/dangerous, tax-exempt, when my kids do it I have to go outside in the heat and stay there and I volunteer to do things that suck) and the Patriots are my least favorite team (I prefer underdogs...Go Lions! Go Browns!), but I care because of that aforementioned debate. Brady chose collectivism, whether he realizes it or not, when he accepted millions of dollars to be a part of a team sport.

It would be much more acceptible for Tom Brady cliff-diving if he had just took his whole team with him. :D

Cinderella- the review.

Ok so- saw Cinderella and can I just say I loved it. Since everyone knows the story there is no way there can be any spoilers.  I found that the CGI was amazing. I couldn't tell. One of my friends called it "Lord of the Rings level"

Now if you are looking for some Bippity boppity tunes and talking mice- well then go watch the cartoon because this has a distinct lack of catchy tunes. It's a movie not a musical so no songs for you. I liked it without the typical Disney Song repertoire. 

To me the movie was very well executed and I was movies to tears a couple of times. The movie just flew by and it felt like it was only a 30 min show. Loved it and I can't wait to watch it again. 

3 am

Word to the wise: when you are exausted and are hanging out with your friends and/or peers who may or may not be as smart as you (if not smarter); it may be wise just to go to bed rather than continuing on with the conversation. You may say such jewels as "I watch the bbc because I am not a criminal".  

This you can never live down. EVER. 

Short Story Saturday!

Sasha shivered as she looked at the creepy doll on her bed. The doll was a gift from her stepmother. It was delicate, with lace details on the dress, and a head full of golden curls.

     "It's pretty, there is just something about it," said Christie, Sasha's best friend.

   "Shhhh she'll here you. Plus she's trying to be nice. She feels bad because it's the anniversary of mom." Sasha's mom had died when she was little, but Sasha didn't remember her; she was too young. Her stepmother, Claudia, was a new addition to the family. She tried, but it was so strange having another person in the house. 

     Christie looked at the doll "I've got it, it's the teeth!" 

     Sasha picked the doll up and looked at the mouth. Sure enough, there were four little teeth between the top and bottom lip. "Are they kinda pointy? Or is it just my imagination?"

     Christie looked. "It's just your imagination. Maybe it's the eyes. They're kinda filmy? We can wipe them off, I'm sure she'll be fine. Either way it's a pretty doll."

    Sasha put the doll back on the bed. "Let's go see what the gang is doing." She looked back at the doll as she closed the bedroom door.  The doll stared back at her smiling. 

      Sasha and Christie opened the door and turned on the light. The doll sat there on the bed, looking at them with glass eyes. "Let's get started on homework. Ugh, English. Mr. Jowell give the worst homework ever! Hand me the book will you?" 

    As Christie handed over the book she glanced up. "What are you going to name it?"

    "What?"

     "The doll? What are you going to name it?"

     "I'm 17 years old. I don't need to name the doll."

     "How about Christie? I think that's a perfect name for - ow!" 

     "How about pillow?" Sasha laughed as she hit her friend with the pillow. "Now let's study!" 

     It was much later after Christie left when Sasha decided to take another look at the doll. 

     "You're too creepy to be called Christie. How about Agatha? That's creepy worthy. " Sasha sighed and put the doll down. "She means well" she said as she closed the door behind her.
It was late when Sasha returned home. As she was getting ready for bed she couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching her. 

**************************************************

It was the middle of the night. Sasha had awakened suddenly. She couldn't see anything but blackness. She noticed her arm hurt slightly, but not enough to rouse her fully. "I'll worry about that when I get up," she thought. 

     Sasha opened her eyes and looked around. She was in the middle of the bed. She couldn't move.  She felt the panic start to ride up in her chest, but she couldn't make a sound. Her mouth would not open. She was fozen in place. All she could do was sit on the bed and watch as the doll like girl in her room wore her clothes and closed the bedroom door as she took her place. 

   

Friday

I was going to write this awesome fashion post, but it's Friday and I am fresh out of care. Instead I will leave you with this great tip: if you work in an office and are running late stop and get donuts. That way you can say "oh I was on time, but there was a long line at the bakery. Have a donut!" Then you come off looking like a hero and no one will really know the truth. Pro tip: it only works about once a month. 

Natalie Dee illustrated the below. Check her out! Www nataliedee.com