Random Thoughts By Mj

Just to clarify (since there were so many responses to my last post), I did not necessarily offend anyone, I just believe that perhaps the things I wrote were either taken the wrong way, or someone thought I was speaking directly to them when I was speaking to someone else entirely. I realize that I can write whatever I want and that this is my blog, yadda, yadda, yadda. I also feel it is important to get my point across (whatever in the world that point may be) in a way that is least offensive or emotionally upsetting as possible. You dig? So, while I do not believe I will censor what I decide to spew on the intertubes, I do feel I should take care in the WAY I say it. Okey Dokey? Good. Moving along...

(PS - nothing ups your stats and delurks folks than a good controversy.)

• So the other day Darling and I were out with the boys. Bug Boy was telling us about his friend Zachary and how lucky Zachary is. How so? Well, for starters, apparently Zach celebrates Christmas AND Hanukkah! I mean, THAT'S ALOT OF PRESENTS!!! When we tried to explain that Hanukkah and Christmas were not about the presents, they were about celebrating something important, Bug Boys replied, "Well, Mom and Dad, I've given this a lot of thought. I am going to become Jewish. I WILL celebrate Hanukkah!" We almost died laughing. Quite a bit of conviction. We did let him know, however, that since his friends celebrated Hanukkah and Christmas and Ramadan and other holidays and observances, that it was ok to want to celebrate things that we do not usually partake in. We may not do those things at home but we are fine with him reading about it, talking with his friends and asking about it. I think he was satisfied with that answer. Until he told me in very plain words that he was angry that Zachary did not celebrate Easter. Ummmmm...Yeah. That was a difficult one to explain.

• So, help me out, friends. When he is upset and asks what his Jewish friends do on Easter, what do I tell him? One friend said, "We go to the movies and eat Chinese." Is that an appropriate thing to tell him? We've just been working the angle that we are all special and that we all celebrate things in different ways. It is fun to learn about other cultures and holidays. We have to respect that others celebrate differently than we do and they do they same for us. But we are all the same in God's eyes. We are all special and unique people and are all given a special life...
  

• We went to the car show last night, MIL stayed with the kids. She is good at putting them to bed before we get home but never passes up an opportunity to let us know how Bugaboo did and how much he cried. Or that he climbed in a window sill. Or that if he is constipated and needs prune juice! Prune Juice will do it! It helps everyone! Get PRUNE JUICE! AAAAHHHHHH!!!! Ok, nevermind the fact that this child has amazing taste ability and one drop will be enough to begin a hunger strike. And she makes it sound like, "OMG! He did THIS and THAT! Can you BELIEVE IT? I mean, you know, you need to DO something about that. THAT is not safe. THIS is not good. SO-AND-SO cousin (who is perfect to her) is a year younger and stopped doing that! HE'S STILL DRINKING OUT OF SIPPY CUPS!" Now, I love her. I appreciate that she cares and wants to offer. When walking out the door she made sure WE were sure that we wanted to leave our heavy jackets at home since it was cold (we parked across the street in a garage from the car show, we were not cold in the least). But, I cannot take it when she keeps telling us how to run our lives with Ian. She has no idea what it is like. She cannot possibly imagine how hard we work with him. He was sooooooo testing her last night, just by the description she gave. You know, "I think I'll flip the light switch. On. Off. On. Off. ONOFFONOFFONOFFONOFF. Oh, you want me to stop? Stop doing this? onoffonoffonoff. Stop turning the light switch on and off? This light switch right here? ONOFFONOFFONOFFONOFF. Ok, I'll stop switching THIS HERE light switch on and off. Just a minute. ONOFFONOFFONOFF." Yeah, that about sums it up. He knows how to push her buttons. He knows how to get her attention. He eats it up. And then he wails when she corrects him and she feels sorry for him and rocks him and walks around holding him (he is 36 lbs and four-years-old, y'all. Getting too big for the infant routine!). I think he does it to get her to pay attention to him, otherwise she kinda tends to just keep the peace and not try any harder. She just wants to keep him happy. In a way, I believe she is afraid of him. And woe is her for letting him know that, he will ALWAYS push it with him!

• I have about 200 errands and phone calls to make today and I will be lucky to get to ten. I have a ton of appointments to confirm or make, people to call to follow-up on paperwork, paperwork to fill out, copies to make and mail to the appropriate people, a meeting to attend to fill out more paperwork, an appointment to take Bugaboo to, etc, etc. Fridays are soooooooo crazy. We almost always order out because the after-care kids do not leave until 6:30. Darling wonders why I crash on the couch at eight o'clock Fridays. Hmmmm...I wonder

Time to get #2 on the bus. He has announced he will no longer go to school on Fridays. Fridays are not good and he won't go. Do you think that since Daddy has been working from home on Fridays it has ANYTHING to do with it?