Hang Up!

I have no idea why, but I love the T-Mobile "butt dialing" commerical. I realize most folks think it's stupid, but it cracks me up each time I see the boyfriend say "Awww... My butt hung up on you. Sorry!"

Darling

As I was searching thru my pictures, it was brought to my attention that I have lots of pics of the children sleeping. I guess that is true... They are definitely the sweetest and cutest when they are sleeping. So peaceful and QUIET. Besides since they never EVER let me sleep, I figure I have to capture a picture of someone resting.
In case you can't tell, I am excessively sleep deprived (going on several days now) and it is positively just about putting me in an early grave. And let's not mince words -- I am CRABBY. My precious two year old said it perfectly this morning when he turned to me and said , "Mommy a crab apple now!"

Parenting 101

Yesterday was one of those days that started out with a broken glass shattered across my kitchen floor and ended with kids antagonizing one another and generally acting like brats.

Yeah. Fun.

Finally, at 7:15, I’d had enough and declared it bedtime. I might have lost my temper just a little bit.

It was like I’d suggested we cancel a Disney vacation with the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth that followed my proclamation. All of the munchkins collapsed into bawling heaps on the floor, just further evidence of the necessity of the early bedtime.

I calmly (ahem!) herded them upstairs and started the PJ/teeth/potty routine.

I got E into bed and then lay down with her as is our habit. We chatted briefly and then I kissed her and got up to leave. As I turned away, I heard a plaintive, "Mommy?"

"What, angel pie?"

"Why are you so crabby?"

I stopped in my tracks and did a mental head slap. The child didn’t even know what she’d done wrong. No wonder she was so upset.

As I went back and explained gently that it was her attitude and tone of voice and the way she was speaking to her sister, I wondered how many times I get upset with her and she doesn’t even know why. Isn’t that like Parenting 101?

When she was first born, I read the parenting books and very intentionally laid out my expectations and the consequences of good and bad behavior and did my best to follow through with firmness and love. With each successive child, I fear that I have regressed into knee-jerk parenting — reacting rather than responding. It’s so much easier to give into my short tempter and impatience when what the kids need is a loving, caring, thoughtful parent. (And unfortunately, I have a legendary, short temper.)

Last night was a wake-up call. I only have one chance. I don’t want to mess it up. It was a humbling experience.

Soap Box

Let me set the record straight right here at the outset, I am not a goodie-two-shoes. I like loud music, I like adult beverages. And when it comes to addiction, I have a long and sordid history with chocolate.

But I am not a national champion or American icon. I am not a role model to millions of children, and even if I were, I doubt my indulgence in Bacardi Raz and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups would bring my image crashing down. Though, I would probably get some flack for eating Peeps Marshmallow Chicks and the occasional Tequila Popper.

So now I want to know... when is it going to be okay for me to tell my children they can look up to an athlete? Ever? Performance enhancing drugs (also widely known as cheating), recreational drugs, infidelity, outlandish salaries and yet always asking for more money... The greed, corruption and excess is not okay.

Hello, Michael Phelps! Work with me.

"Mom? What is that famous man smoking? You always told me smoking was bad but he was good this summer, right?"

"What, Daughter? Oh, that? That's your idol, and that there is his bong."

I can keep my kids from watching trash television; I can keep my daughter from listening to Britney Spears, but now am I supposed to ban them from watching the Olympics too?! Ridiculous.

For those of you who say Michael Phelps is just a regular guy having fun, that's bunk. He is not a pop-star. He is an athlete and he's an American superstar. If he didn't want kids to look up to him, he shouldn't have gone and won eight gold medals. And basically broke every record there was.

I have no patience with this type of behavior. People of all ages who are given the gift of celebrity status, and in the public view, should and must be held to a higher standard so our children can have acceptable role models. Amen. I will step down from my soap box now...

Remember

For those of you who haven't yet seen this, it's fabulous. This is the letter that the Bush twins wrote to the Obama girls about growing up in the White House. It is read aloud by Jenna and Barbara Bush themselves.

No matter how your feel about our 43rd President (who was not my favorite leader), there's no arguing that he and Laura Bush raised two wonderful young women -- full of kindness, warmth and each possessing a generous spirit. Enjoy.

239 Films

Borrowed from a friend's FB entry...

Supposedly if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, paste it in your own blog, word doc, etc. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up and see how you do.

Rocky Horror Picture Show
Grease (x)
Pirates of the Caribbean (x)
Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest (x)
Boondock Saints
Fight Club
Starsky and Hutch (x)
Neverending Story (x)
Blazing Saddles
Airplane
Total: 5

The Princess Bride (x)
Anchorman (x)
Napoleon Dynamite
Labyrinth (x)
Saw
Saw II
White Noise
White Oleander
Anger Management (x)
50 First Dates (x)
The Princess Diaries (x)
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 11

Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3
Scary Movie
Scary Movie 2
Scary Movie 3
Scary Movie 4
American Pie (x)
American Pie 2
American Wedding
American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 12

Harry Potter 1 (x)
Harry Potter 2 (x)
Harry Potter 3
Harry Potter 4
Resident Evil 1
Resident Evil 2
The Wedding Singer (x)
Little Black Book
The Village
Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 15

Finding Nemo (x)
Finding Neverland
Signs
The Grinch
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
White Chicks (x)
Butterfly Effect (x)
13 Going on 30 (x)
I, Robot (x)
Robots (x)
Total so far: 21

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (x)
Universal Soldier
Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
Along Came Polly
Deep Impact
KingPin
Never Been Kissed (x)
Meet The Parents (x)
Meet the Fockers (x)
Eight Crazy Nights
Joe Dirt
King Kong
Total so far: 25

A Cinderella Story (x)
The Terminal (x)
The Lizzie McGuire Movie (x)
Passport to Paris
Dumb & Dumber (x)
Dumber & Dumberer
Final Destination
Final Destination 2
Final Destination 3
Halloween
The Ring
The Ring 2
Surviving X-MAS
Flubber
Total so far: 29

Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
Practical Magic
Chicago (x)
Ghost Ship
From Hell
Hellboy
Secret Window
I Am Sam
The Whole Nine Yards (x)
The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 31

The Day After Tomorrow
Child's Play (x)
Seed of Chucky
Bride of Chucky
Ten Things I Hate About You
Just Married
Gothika
Nightmare on Elm Street
Sixteen Candles (x)
Remember the Titans
Coach Carter
The Grudge
The Grudge 2
The Mask (x)
Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 34

Bad Boys (x)
Bad Boys 2
Joy Ride
Lucky Number Slevin
Ocean's Eleven (x)
Ocean's Twelve
Bourne Identity (x)
Bourne Supremecy (x)
Lone Star
Bedazzled
Predator I
Predator II
The Fog
Ice Age (x)
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Curious George
Total so far: 39

Independence Day (x)
Cujo
A Bronx Tale
Darkness Falls
Christine
ET (x)
Children of the Corn (x)
My Bosses Daughter
Maid in Manhattan (x)
War of the Worlds
Rush Hour (x)
Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 44

Best Bet
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (x)
She's All That (x)
Calendar Girls
Sideways
Mars Attacks
Event Horizon
Ever After (x)
Wizard of Oz (x)
Forrest Gump (x)
Big Trouble in Little China
The Terminator (x)
The Terminator 2 (x)
The Terminator 3
Total so far: 51

X-Men
X-Men 2
X-Men 3
Spider-Man (x)
Spider-Man 2 (x)
Sky High
Jeepers Creepers
Jeepers Creepers 2
Catch Me If You Can
The Little Mermaid (x)
Freaky Friday
Reign of Fire
The Skulls
Cruel Intentions
Cruel Intentions 2
The Hot Chick
Shrek (x)
Shrek 2 (x)
Total so far: 56

Swimfan
Miracle on 34th Street (x)
Old School (x)
The Notebook
K-Pax
Krippendorf's Tribe
A Walk to Remember (x)
Ice Castles
Boogeyman
The 40-year-old Virgin (x)
Total so far: 60

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (x)
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (x)
Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King (x)
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 63

Baseketball
Hostel
Waiting for Guffman
House of 1000 Corpses
Devils Rejects
Elf
Highlander
Mothman Prophecies
American History
Three
Total so Far: Still 63

The Jacket
Shaolin Soccer
Night Watch
Monsters Inc. (x)
Titanic (x)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Shaun Of the Dead
Willard
Total so far: 65

High Tension
Club Dread
Hulk
Dawn Of the Dead
Hook (x)
Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
28 Days Later
Orgazmo
Phantasm
Waterworld (x -- watched most of it. Did anyone truly watch the entire montorsity?!)
Total so far: 66

Kill Bill vol 1
Kill Bill vol 2
Mortal Kombat
Wolf Creek
Kingdom of Heaven
The Hills Have Eyes
I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
The Last House on the Left
Re-Animator
Army of Darkness
Total so far: Still 66

Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace (x)
Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones (x)
Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith (x)
Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope (x)
Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back (x)
Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi (x)
Total so far: 72

The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
Animatrix
Evil Dead
Evil Dead 2
Team America: World Police (x)
Red Dragon
Silence of the Lambs (x)
Hannibal
Total so far: 74

Having only seen 74 of the 239 listed... does this prove exactly how much I am disconnected from popular culture? I guess this means that I should stop watching public television or the History Channel and listening to MN Public Radio and perhaps watch more movies?! (Or not. Most movies I have not seen, but want to, cannot be watched when the kids are awake and honestly, by the time they finally go to sleep, I am ready to pass out too...)

Citizens

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful

committed citizens can change the world;

indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

~ Margaret Mead (1901-1978)