Totes Magotes.

People are lazy. Everything is shorthand these days. No one says full words anymore. Totally is totes, awkward is awks, adorable is adorbs, crazy is Cray cray, etc. I'm sure you have all heard these, or some other variations. They are silly, and mildly annoying. I do not use them, and would correct my children if they did. However, the worst, by far, is one I saw the other day. Someone commented on my sister's Facebook post, and simply wrote "dem feels". I was clueless, so I asked what on earth that meant. Apparently it means "those feelings". Um, no. I completely reject that. I don't care what anyone says, it in NO WAY means that. First of all, "dem" is not a word. Even if it was, you would not say "them feelings", you would say "those feelings", so I guess it would be "dose". Second, "feels" is not short for feelings. So stop it. Right fucking NOW. (sorry Aunt Barb). Even if any of those things were words, or sentences, which they are not, it makes no sense to say "those feelings" on someones post. The post was my sister talking about how crazy it is that the baby in a movie that she was watching will be 18 this year. I guess MAYBE it could be like saying "I feel the same",  but no, not quite. Say full sentences people. Parents, make your kids say full sentences. If you don't, there is an excellent chance that my head is just going to explode. Then I am going to make you clean up the mess. Totes magotes, Jobin.

Sanctimommy

Wikipedia has the definition as follows: Sanctimommy^[1] is a portmanteau of two words, sanctimonious and mommy. The word is a colloquialism used to refer to a person, usually a female, who has very opinionated views on child rearing and presents them upfront without any sense of humility.

I have been accused of being a sanctimommy, on occasion. Now, I will admit to sometimes judging. Usually when a parent seems to never want to spend any time with their child. However, on most parenting issues, this is how I feel:

And, to be honest, I no longer judge parents for pretty much anything. With the exception of abuse or neglect, of course. But everyone judges for that. I'm sure some people think that my posts on this blog would indicate otherwise, but no. Yes, it annoys me when kids don't use manners, don't pick up after themselves, and things like that. However, I do not think that the parents are "bad" because of it. There are two things that happened to make me rethink and reform my attitude.

The second thing was discovering someone who was/is an even bigger sanctimommy then I could ever be. She judges everyone for everything, myself included. Seeing it on someone else made me realize how nasty it really looks. I find myself wanting to defend people that, in the past, I would have probably judged myself.

The first, and most important thing, however, was Lucas. That child... Now don't get me wrong, I love and adore my youngest child. He has the sweetest disposition, and his smile breaks my heart every single time. He is polite, and asks permission before he does almost everything, even playing with his own toys. That being said, the kid is hell on wheels. My other two were nothing like this kid. Everything that I always said my kids don't do, Lucas does. I can't leave the room for even a minute without some sort of mess. He learned to open the fridge, and now I can't keep him out of it. If he wants something out of a cupboard, he pushes the chair over, and climbs on up. I spend all day taking him down off something, or pulling him away from whatever mess he's making in the refrigerator. Dinner time is a nightmare, because he wants to help cook, and SCREAMS if we won't let him stand on a chair in front of the stove while we cook. Last night, he screamed for 20 minutes because I would not let him eat cake out of the fridge...at midnight. Why was he even up at midnight?! I don't spank, but this kid reminds me daily of why a lot of parents do.

Lucas isn't always into everything, sometimes he's perfectly fine, and just plays nicely. And he does clean up after himself. He even tried to clean up the egg he dropped last week. It's adorable that he always wants to "help". He helped me bake his dad's birthday cake yesterday, and today he stirred the pancake batter for me. But he is definitely a handful, and not at all what I was use to! None of that matters though, when he snuggles up in my lap, or gives me that sweet smile. He has such a personality, and when he asks, so sweetly, for something, I want to give him everything. I don't, of course, but now I can absolutely see why so many parents do. I also can see why some moms wait until dad is home, or drop the kids with Grandma, to go to a store. I never had a problem shopping with my kids. I still don't, really. But it is much easier with Lucas at home while I shop.

I still think too many kids have no discipline, and need to be taught manners, and basic rules. However, I no longer look at that mom dragging the screaming child through the store and think "Wow, my kids NEVER acted like that in a store!". Instead, I usually follow her, with my own screaming boy.

Nutella, I hate you.

Okay, well I don't really hate Nutella, just the commercial. You know the one. Where the mom is talking about how her kids never listen to her? If you haven't seen it, here it is:




What I hate about this commercial, is that we are all supposed to smile and nod at her kids that straight up ignore every damn thing that she says. "Yup, I hear you there!" we are all supposed to say. Well I'm sorry, but no. MY kids will listen when I tell them to put their plates in the sink (and I shouldn't have to tell them, they know better!). If they don't, I will drag them back by their ears, and THEN they will definitely put their plates in the sink.

It is really, really irritating to me that having children that listen is so rare these days. Almost every parent I know either doesn't even bother trying, or has to bribe, reason with, or beg their kid(s) to listen. SERIOUSLY?!? When did the kids become the ones in charge??

You are not doing your kid any favors by being lazy with your parenting. Yes, it can be hard to teach kids proper manners, respect, and listening if you haven't been teaching it. However, it is worth it. My kids are not perfect. They can be bratty, and have fits, like any child. But they also pick up after themselves (even the two year old), use manners, and know how to listen. It wasn't hard to teach them these things. It was expected of them from a very young age, so it is now second nature to them. Starting now will be hard, if you have never taught your child these things, but please do it anyway. Your child will thank you as an adult. No boss/landlord/teacher/etc. will give your child their way because they throw a fit, demand it, or try to bargain. And you will not be able to call up these people if your child gets fired, or evicted and convince them that Little Johnny doesn't deserve such mean treatment.

Now, not everyone I know is like this. Some people are big meanies, like I am. So if you are reading this and thinking "Hey! My kids do clean up after themselves, and they always use manners, you asshole!" Then clearly I am not talking about you. So calm down ;) However, if you are thinking "That Toni is such a mean judgemental bitch. Just because she's mean, that doesn't mean I have to be!! Screw her!". Well, you keep thinking that, as you are cleaning your six year old"s room, since he won't. Or picking up your eight year old's plate, because she "doesn't feel like it". I'll be over here relaxing, since my kids already cleaned up :D

Holy Run-on Sentence Batman!

I have one specific person on my Facebook who never uses any punctuation. Her posts read like this: "kids are driving my crazy wish I could go out ribs for dinner no oven need to grill them wish it was warm out again Girl Scout cookies in soon can't wait for the weekend husband being mean again wish I had a job"

It takes all of my willpower to not write "Holy run on sentence Batman!" on every one of her posts. Sometimes I have to read them several times before I understand each sentence. I know that it's "just Facebook" and not a huge deal, but it makes reading anything she posts difficult. Is it really THAT hard to stick a comma in between your thoughts? Perhaps I should just put "Dafuq?!" on her statuses. That'll show her ;)

Dafuq??

Dafuq. I hate this awful non word so much. In case you don't know what it is/means, (I had to ask someone) I'll teach you. It is apparently another shortened version of "what the fuck?". The evolution went something like this: people would type "What the fuck", but that was too long. So they shortened it to WTF. Then that was either not cool enough, or just kept getting confused with "where's the fudge?", so it became "the fuck?". That, of course, was not ghetto enough, so it had to be changed to "da fuck?". Then, someone, somewhere, still wasn't satisfied. So, they smashed it together and stuck a 'q' in there. I still don't know why, and sadly, probably never will. I just know that I hate it very much, and if you type it, my opinion of your maturity goes down. A lot. Now, if I just saw this written by young teenagers, I would roll my eyes, but whatever. Usually (hopefully!!) teenagers will eventually outgrow that. However, the main place I see this, is on Babycenter. That is a website filled with full grown woman, with children. Most of them are pretty sanctimonious, but it's hard to take them serious when they write "dafuq?" on a post. It takes all of my willpower to not ask every person who types that, their age. I really dislike that slang, and I hope it goes away, fast. Now here is my question for anyone reading this. Do you know anyone who types this? Does it bug you as much as it bugs me? More importantly though, do you know anyone who actually SAYS "dafuq"? Is it just a typed thing, or will have have to see it in the dictionary some day?

Holiday Cheer ;)

Merry Christmas everyone!

This is gonna be a sad one....

Sorry for the bummer post, but it's that time of year. Today is October 29th. To most of you, this day means nothing more then any other Monday. But to a select few, it means everything. It is the day, 17 years ago, that my father died. I'm not going to go into the details of that day. Everyone who needs to know already does. But it was the day that changed my life, and my family, forever. I miss my dad every single day. Some days less, and on those days I'm grateful for the 14 years I had with him. Other days, I'm sad that my kids will never know their Grandpa. My dad would have been the best Grandpa! Seriously, he would've rocked at it. And it's total crap that my kids, and my niece and nephews miss out. Yes, they have family that loves and adores them, grandpas included. But it's not the same as the awesomeness that was my dad. A lot of things changed when he died. So much more then most people realize. My sister Heidi moved away, and we didn't see her for several years. My mom had a tough time dealing with the loss of her husband. She STILL has a tough time with it. She will until the day she gets to be with him again. They were a forever kind of thing. My sisters and I were lucky to have each other. It definitely changed us all. But it wasn't just us that things were never the same for. Some friends stopped coming over so much, because it was too sad, and those friendships were lost, or changed. Some family members came around even more, and some friends became like family. Take my friend Jennifer, for instance. She is not just my closest friend because we have been friends for 23 years. Also, because aside from my mom and sisters, she is the only other person in the world who knows every detail of that day. She was there that morning, having slept over the night before. She literally stood next to me through the entire ordeal. She held my hand at his funeral. And that makes her family. There is not a single day that goes by that I don't think of my dad. Thankfully, it's usually with a smile from a happy memory. But even then, I sure do miss my daddy....

Please Say Please!!

I am a mean mom. I will freely admit that. I am also a mean Aunt, babysitter or hostess of sleepovers/playdates. In my home, manners are not optional. I drive my niece Lilli crazy when she visits. She will come up and say "I'm thirsty." I will reply "It's nice to meet you Thirsty, I'm Aunt Toni." She will then say "No! I'm THIRSTY, like for a drink." I will follow up with "Okay Thirsty Likeforadrink, I'm Aunt Toni Pleaseaskcorrectly." This can go on for awhile, but eventually she will ask if she can please have a drink. I think now she might do it just for fun. However, most children whom I encounter these days do not use basic manners. I have heard several parents proclaim that their children are "too young" to learn manners. That's interesting. My nephew Tyler is not yet two, and has been saying "please" and "thank you" pretty much since he could talk. My own son, also nearly two, has said "thank you" for months. We just finally nailed "please" in the last few weeks. The look of shock on our faces when I said "Can you say please Lucas?" and he said "Peas!" instead of "Uh huh!" was pretty comical. I don't understand not teaching your kids manners. Why wouldn't you? My children learned simply because I use my manners. I will ask them to do something, and say please and thank you, so they do it too. I am constantly told how well behaved and polite my children are when they go to their friends' homes. My oldest calls his best friend's mom Mrs. Herlastname, thanks her for letting him visit, and according to her, uses his manners while he is there. I would be mortified if he didn't! Now, don't get me wrong, my children are not perfect. They can be downright monsters! The older two are awfully snotty sometimes, and my youngest is in a super fun screaming-when-he-gets-mad stage. It's truly amazing. However, they still use manners, even when tattling. Yesterday, Matthew came up to me and said "Mom, may you please tell Alyssa to stop jumping on my bed while I'm trying to read?" After I complied, he thanked me. To them, manners are just second nature. They very rarely even need to be reminded. Teaching your kids manners is very, very easy, and can begin at birth. If you use your manners in front of, and with, your own children, they will follow suit. My sister Tracy used to make fun of me for making my kids ask for things correctly, even at very young ages. Now that she has her own child, it doesn't seem so silly to her anymore. I feel the same way about manners as I do about grammar. When it comes to my kids, I don't care if they are gay or straight. I don't care if they get married and have babies or stay single and have cats (or married with cats even). I will not care if they decide to be doctors and lawyers, or instead move to Paris and become starving artists. As long as they are safe and happy. AND as long as they are polite, well spoken individuals with a good sense of right and wrong. Oh and as long as they NEVER think they are better then anyone. EVER. (But that is a blog for another day.) That is really all I can do as a parent. It's not too late for you either. If your children are among the ones I see out there that aren't required to use manners, now is the perfect time to change that.

"I Seen...."

Yup, that about sums it up. I hear, and see, this frequently. It drives me crazy, and quite frankly, lowers my opinion of the person's intelligence. You SAW it, you did not SEEN it. I just don't understand how that even sounds right to anyone. People who say it have to know that it makes them sound unintelligent. Right?! The way you speak matters! It really does. You can be a super smart Harvard graduate, but if you say things like "I seen", or "I ain't got none", you sound like an idiot. I am sure that seems mean to those of you that say "I seen", and you are probably right. It is mean. Go ahead and tell people how mean I am, heck, even write your own blog about it. Just please, please, don't tell people that you "seen" this blog...

Get Over Yourself

A trend I tend to see a lot on Facebook is the "Too cool for Facebook" poster. You probably all have at least one person like that on your friends list. If not, it's probably you ;) They join FB with much fanfare, posting about how a friend/family member/coworker finally convinced them to join. Even though they are MUCH too busy, because they actually have a life. Then they proceed to post every couple days about how they are "never" on, because they are much too busy, and so on. About three months or so after joining, they post a long status update about how they are deactivating their FB. Of course you know why, too busy, actually have a life, etc. If you want to get a hold of them, call or text, like in the old days. Naturally life goes on as normal, and you may, or may not give that friend any thought for the next three months or so. Then suddenly, a friend request pops up from them. Again. You may briefly be confused. "Aren't we already friends??" But then you'll remember how they are, or were it seems, much too busy for FB. Guess they must not have a life these days. You accept the request, and first thing you see is their post about rejoining Facebook. As it turns out, they are still much too busy, and still have a life. They just rejoined FB to keep in touch with family and friends far away. Whew! Good to know, you were worried for a minute that maybe they weren't busy anymore. Cue the daily, or semi daily posts about the evils of FB, and how busy they are. They actually HAVE a life you know....

Don't Lose The Magic!

Do you remember being a kid, and thinking that fairies, and leprechauns and unicorns were real? Me too. My mother never sat me down and explained that all of those things are fake, and to stop believing in them. She let me outgrow them naturally. And now, when she tells me about a book she just finished that I have to read, she doesn't say "It's about fairies, but those aren't real, okay?". She simply says "it was a great series, it's all about fairies and based in Ireland ". But these days parents seem to want their children to grow up way to fast. No one believes in magic, or allows their children to, anymore. It makes me so sad, not only for the child, but for the parents as well. One of my favorite things about being a parent, is being able to see the world as a child again. When my daughter sees fireflies, and says "Look Mommy! Fairies!!" I don't say "no Alyssa, those are just bugs". I say "Wow, would you look at that!". On Christmas Eve, when she sees a red light in the sky and says "Mom, look, it's Rudolph!", I don't correct her with "That's an airplane Alyssa." I tell her that she better get to bed then, because Santa must be close. My children will only be little for a short time. I'm in no hurry to make them grow up. My nine year old asked me the other day if it was "too babyish" to call me mommy. I told him he can call me mommy for as long as he likes, and I will never tell him he's too old. I'm certain that this will not cause him to still be calling me mommy when he goes off to college. I'm not concerned that Alyssa will drop out of school and move to Ireland to search for leprechauns, or that Lucas will run off in search of the elusive unicorn. But I am going to let them be kids, and keep that childhood magic, as long as possible. I, in turn, get to keep the magic awhile longer too. Children do grow up, they stop believing in magical things. But, if they are really lucky, they get to have children of their own. Then, for a little while at least, they can believe in magic again.

Someone Fetch Me My Escape Goat!

Now this may come as a shock, but Facebook is not the only place on the internet filled with awful spelling and grammar. There is also Babycenter. If you have never heard of Babycenter (BBC), well you probably don't have kids. Seriously though, it's a message board for pregnant women and parents. It's mostly mothers, but you have the occasional father as well. It can be a great place to go for information and/or support. My birth board for my daughter was, and still is, the best group of ladies ever. We are still a very close knit group, even five years later. It can also be a place full of heated debates over everything. Such as breast vs bottle, cloth diapers vs disposable, or if you should vaccinate or not. Not to mention the always fun chocolate milk threads ;) And the spelling.... Oh the spelling.

Today I was reading a post on the birth board for my youngest. A mother was asking for advice on an overly clingy baby. Several moms commented, but then I saw this: "wraps his arms around my leg and balls." Wha..? o_O After several very confused seconds, I realized that she meant BAWLS, as in cries. Not balls, as in testicles. Well, that makes a bit more sense. I continued to read different posts on the site, and saw somany lovely gems. Such as a young "pregnate" girl, someone who had all their belongings thrown out on the "curve", and someone who was not vaccinated, and "either" were her parents.

I think my all time favorite though (so far, of course), is the escape goat. A young lady was complaining about her "syco MIL". It didn't take long for the group to decipher that how she meant it: phsyco mother-in-law. They proceeded to give her their usual brand of advice, and a few snarky comments on her spelling. No, I was not one of them. I very rarely post on DWIL. Then the OP, or "original poster", came back to update. She proceeded to give more details, then complained that her mother-in-law was "accusing me of using her as my escape goat!". Cue the pictures of goats in saddles.

That awkward moment when....

You don't actually know what the word awkward means. Here you go:


awk·ward  (ôkwrd)
adj.
1. Not graceful; ungainly.
2.
a. Not dexterous; clumsy.
b. Clumsily or unskillfully performed: The opera was marred by an awkward aria.
3.
a. Difficult to handle or manage: an awkward bundle to carry.
b. Difficult to effect; uncomfortable: an awkward pose.
4.
a. Marked by or causing embarrassment or discomfort: an awkward remark; an awkward silence.
b. Requiring great tact, ingenuity, skill, and discretion: An awkward situation arose during the peace talks.
[Middle English awkeward, in the wrong way : awke, wrong (from Old Norse öfugr, backward; see apo- in Indo-European roots) + -ward, -ward.]
awkward·ly adv.
awkward·ness n.

I am constantly seeing "that awkward moment when..." posts. Some of them are funny. Such as "That awkward moment when you find out that your new boss is your husband's ex.", or "That awkward moment when you call your friend a bitch and she's standing behind you.". Yes, those are both pretty awkward situations. However, "that awkward moment when you can't find your cell phone" and "that awkward moment when you stub your toe and it really hurts!"? Not awkward. Inconvienent? Yes. Annoying? Yes. Even painful? Sometimes, yes. But not awkward. If you are going to constantly use a word, at least know what it means.

Small Business

I have noticed a major trend on Facebook. Everyone has a business of some kind. Some people are photographers, some are cake makers, or sell Avon. But I'm betting at least one person on your friends list has a business of some kind. If not, then you probably do. I have no problem with people promoting their business via a FB page. However, if you are going to do this, you should at least spell words correctly, and use proper grammar. I recently saw a page for a candy making business, in which the word marshmallow was spelled marshmello and homemade was homade. Rambling and run on sentences are very unprofessional as well. It's okay to promote yourself, but please do not post 17 times an hour, and never in all caps. STOP YELLING AT ME! If people are not responding to your many, many posts, I don't think it's because you wrote in lowercase letters.

On a similar note, if you are constantly posting about your business, and no one is responding, there might be a reason. Just because you own a camera, that does not make you a photographer, knowing how to work an oven does not make you a baker. A lot of people do have genuine talent, and do very well. For instance, I have someone on my friends list who makes hats. She does a wonderful job, and her page is very well written. I will gladly go to her in the event that I find myself needing a hat for myself, or a loved one. The people on my page, however, who have several different "business" that they post about non stop, with very poorly written pages/posts, do not, and will not, get my business. Just because it's on Facebook, doesn't mean that it shouldn't look professional.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR KIDS!!!!!!

Seriously. What is wrong with people?? Why does no one want to just take care of their own damn kids these days? Now I understand, some people have to work. That is understandable. But if you send your kid to a sitter every single weekend, especially if you work too, so you can party, then you should have waited to have kids. Plain and simple. Having a "date night" every couple weeks, or even once a week, fine. However, if you ship your kid off to anyone who will take him or her every chance you get, you disgust me. Or if you leave your kids home alone so you can go down the street to get wasted. You don't deserve kids. Some parents have kids who have died, or are dying right now. They have or had precious little time with their babies. Yet you so willingly give yours up?! Why? Honestly, tell me why? What in the world is more important than your child? Drinking and partying? Before you know it, your kid won't want to hang out with you. They will be a teenager, who just wants to go out with their friends. You'll have plenty of time to go out and do anything you want then. You can NEVER get this time back. People always make rude, snarky comments, and joke about the fact that I (almost) never have/let anyone watch my children. Why is it a bad thing that I enjoy being with my kids? They won't be little forever. One day, much too soon, they will have their own things to do. I will have plenty of time to myself then. Of course everyone, even myself, needs a break sometimes. But hang out with your kids sometimes too! I bet they are fun. You don't need to buy them everything under the sun to give them a good childhood. Just be there, with them. It doesn't matter how much stuff you cram into their room if they are never in it anyway! Now, before you start talking about "fostering independence" and all that crap, let me be clear. I am not saying that children should never be babysat, or that they should spend every waking moment with you. My children have been babysat. My older two both go to school, and do quite well. My oldest goes to his best friend's almost every day after school. The baby spends pretty much every moment with me, but he's only 10 months old, give me a break here. I am just saying that if every single thing you do, or are invited to, does not allow kids, you might need some new hobbies, or new friends. If every single weekend you need a sitter for the entire weekend, you might be partying a bit too much. My friend's little boy is sick. He very well might not be around next year. (It's no one you know Holly.) She has precious little time with her child. There are so many parents out there going through the same kind of thing. Just please, spend time with your kids! Next time you get that "No kids please" invitation for the 3rd time that month, consider sending your regrets. One day your children will thank you.

You should get married. You over there, however, should not.

My little sister and I were having a conversation recently, and she mentioned how she is annoyed by people who say that marriage is pointless. That it is "just a piece of paper", and they don't need it to prove anything. Now, I don't necessarily think that everyone needs to get married. However, I do think that couples, especially ones with children, should make sure to have some sort of legal documents if they choose to not marry. Such as a power of attorney, or a living will. Take for example, my sister and her boyfriend. They have been together for 20 years. That is more then half their lives. They have a child together, and are married in every way but legally. In their case, getting married would really only affect them legally. For instance, right now, if my not quite brother-in-law were to be injured and unable to make medical decisions for himself. His daughter is only 5, and he is not married to my sister. So, all medical decisions would fall on his mother. Luckily my sister gets along great with her, but that is not the case for everyone, and if you disagree with the decision that they make, you have no legal leg to stand on. Then on the other hand, some people get married to soon, or for the wrong reasons, and then end up divorced within a year. If you choose to get married, it should not be after only 4 months of dating, for insurance, or because you got pregnant. I get especially annoyed when couples end up with a surprise pregnancy, and are suddenly "engaged". No ring, no wedding planning, just forever engaged. Then they break up 6 months after the baby is born, still no ring, or wedding planning ever having happened. Or in some cases, the girl tragically suffers a miscarriage, and there is never a mention of the engagement again. Now, if you really feel that you need to get married because you are pregnant, fine. Get married. Do not, however, get "engaged" with no actual plans to marry, just because you think it's more socially acceptable. If you want to get married, get married. If you don't, then don't. However, please make sure that you are doing it, or not doing it, for the right reasons.

Your name is what...?

I was commenting on a friend's status recently, and I saw that another person had commented as well. A person by the name of Everlasting Gobstopper. Um...really?? I have noticed this trend. People put incredibly odd things in place of their name. But why? I know it was big on Myspace, to put weird things instead of your name as your "headline". However, on FB, it specifically asks for your first and last name when you sign up. So, what posses a person to put things like Everlasting Gobstopper,Little Bit, or K Nasty? Is your actual name too boring? Are you trying to remain incognito? Is it a witness protection thing? If it is, you might want to remove the 75 pictures of yourself, in the bathroom, making kissy face. Flashing a peace sign. This brings me to my next issue. Is it just me, or have young ladies become quite narcissistic these day? They will have quite literally (and I really DO mean literally Holly) hundreds of pictures of themselves, that they took, themselves. Usually in the bathroom. With almost always the same pose. Some have the kissy face/peace sign combo, others prefer the pout. Some do the half smile, look off to the side pose, while others do the "I'm too cool to smile" look. Now, of course, there is nothing wrong with having pictures of yourself. How else will people know that you really are you?  If you just got a haircut/color, or recently lost weight, or have a baby bump to show off, by all means, take the picture and post it! However, you don't need 17 albums that are all yourself, in the bathroom mirror. Also, if you are the beach, then bikini pictures are okay, and understandable. But a picture of yourself in a bikini, in the mirror, is just kinda silly. Now maybe I'm just old. I never got into the taking pictures of myself trend. I feel weird doing it, and I don't like having a ton of pictures of myself on my FB. It makes me feel vain. At one point I actually had none at all. Then my sister called to inform me that I needed to add some, so when my niece Lilliana asked to see my pictures, I was actually in some! So, I added a few. However, when I want a picture of myself, I hand the camera to whomever is nearby, and have THEM take the picture. If you like the way it looks when you take the picture of yourself, then by all means, carry on. But you don't need to add every single picture that you have ever taken of yourself to FB. That is what sites like Photobucket and Snapfish are for ;-)

You're how old...?

Okay, as you all know, the bad grammar/extra letters, things like that, annoy me. It's even worse, however, when it is adults doing it. I have come to expect it from the under 18 crowd. But, if you are old enough to legally drink in the United States, you should AT LEAST be able to spell the word 'what'. It is not wat, people, it is what. Also, although "gonna" is technically not proper, it is widely accepted. However, it is not gunna or ginna. It is short for "going to", therefore, it is g-o-n-n-a. I have a teenage girl and her mother both on FB. And sadly, they talk EXACTLY THE SAME! That brings me to another complaint I have. What is the deal with people taking pictures of themselves and their boyfriends (because I never, ever see married people doing this one) kissing, and posting them on FB?? Don't get me wrong, I love my husband, but I don't need 75 pictures of us kissing to prove that. Which must be why I don't see this in the married folk. Anytime I see these pictures posted, it makes me think that the poster is either trying to flaunt their relationship to someone, or they are excited to finally be "grown up" enough to have a relationship. The exceptions to this, are pictures others take, such as wedding kisses, or kisses when a child is born. Now I don't object to the actual taking of these pictures of yourself kissing whomever you choose. But why do they need to go on FB, especially as your profile pic? Oh, and one last thing. If the way you are sitting on your boyfriend's lap can also be considered a sexual position, then it is not appropriate in front of family. Straddling him is NOT the same as sitting on his lap. FYI.

Get your own oven!

Something that I have notice in life, is that some people just enjoy being miserable. We all have that friend, or family member, who complains about everything, but when you try to help/offer a solution, they have a million reasons why "that just won't work". Well, it is even worse on FB. It goes something like this:

Complainer: I really want ribs for dinner, but I don't have any here :-(
Helpful Friend: Go to the store silly!
Complainer: I don't have a car :( :(
Helpful Friend: I can drive you if you want.
Complainer: I have no money, it sucks.
Helpful Friend: Awww! Well I will buy them for you!
Complainer: I don't have an oven either, and never will.
Helpful Friend: I have two ovens! Take one of mine.
Complainer: I have no room in my house for ovens. It's too small. Boo hoo :( :(
Helpful Friend: I have two houses too. I'll give you one of those as well :)
Complainer: I'm just gonna order a pizza.
Helpful Friend: .....

*New Post*
Complainer: I sure wish I had some ribs to go with my pizza!

I'm sure you have all seen those posts, or a variation of them. Maybe you've even been the helpful friend at some point. I know I have! I once had a friend like that. I tried and tried to help her all the time. She always had a reason why it wouldn't work. So, I no longer offer my help. Go ahead and vent to me, I'll still listen. But if I have offered you help, or solutions, and you just continue to complain and refuse to take the help, I won't offer it anymore. I do have many friends and family that at least TRY my solutions, or take my offers to help. So I continue to try to help those ones whenever possible. But the few that are still waiting on ribs, well, they will just have to get their own ovens!

I never wanted a daughter....

It's true. I admit it. I wanted all sons. With Matthew, I knew the moment that the test turned positive that he was a boy. And that was exactly what I wanted him to be. With Alyssa, everyone assumed that I wanted a girl, since I already had a boy. But no, I wanted Matthew to have a brother. Instead, I got my princess, Alyssa. I never wanted a daughter....until I had one. Now, of course, I love my sons. Adore them even. After all, I only wanted sons, remember? And I was blessed with two wonderful boys. But that girl of mine... she is something else. She is such a girly girl sometimes. She loves to wear pink, loves dresses, purses, and My Little Ponies. She puts on her pretty pink dresses, has me brush her hair and put in pink bows, and goes outside to play in the dirt, with her best buddy, a worm, by her side. I never realized how cool it would be to have a little girl, who looks up to me so much. The other day, she wanted a fake tattoo on. She asked me to put it on her ankle, the right one, because that is where my tattoo is. Now, she tells me, we are twins. Just today she came out of her room in her Hello Kitty dress, with her pink sunglasses on, and her purse on her arm. She informed me that she is a mom, just like me, because she has a purse, just like me. But she is also 100% her own person, even at her young age. She is a little fashionista. The child is better at picking out matching outfits for herself then I am! That is all her, she certainly did not get that from me. Today, while I was browsing pictures online to get ideas for a haircut, she kept stopping me to tell me what hairstyles she loved. She has also decided that she wants to be an artist one day, more specifically, a painter. And I think it may just happen. She is my little artist already. She draws "abstracts", colors, and can draw a person much better then I can! We are the only girls, her and I, surrounded by boys. And us girls have to stick together. Especially when Lucas gets older and joins his daddy and big brother, doing all the "guy stuff". I always felt like I would be better at raising sons. I have never been very 'girly'. But, as it turns out, raising a little girl is pretty great too!