I've just ordered a t-shirt (black) from cafepress.com that says...

"I am skilled in the arts of teaching

(in the middle of this is a silhouette of someone giving a roundhouse kick to someone else)

and kung fu fighting"

It makes me laugh, and I can't wait to wear to teacher inservice in a couple of weeks.

See It Here!

Hmmmm....parenting dilemma #125: Equal treatment of all children.

This morning, Brent took Spencer and Kirby to the Y for basketball camp. This was from 8:30-Noon. That left Elliot and I to run errands.

Now...we've been trying to potty-train Elliot. So, everytime he uses the toilet by himself, he gets a sticker on his chart. When the chart is full, he gets a treat. The chart has about twenty spots on it, and if he pees in his underwear, I cross out a sticker and he needs to make up for it. Anyway, it's been a big deal, and he's had his eye on a Go, Diego, Go backpack at Walmart.

Which we finally got to get for him today! Yay Elliot! Potty Prince!

Back to the story. When I picked the kids up, Spencer told me how he had trouble keeping his shoes on during play. They're the zip-up kind, and they actually functioned as his gym shoes during the last year. Needless to say, between gym class and regular wear this summer, they're pretty shot. So, we went to the shoe store to buy new shoes for him.

Guess who's upset because she gets nothing special??? Kirby. Elliot got the backpack and Spencer gets new shoes. She didn't talk to me all through lunch and had tears in her eyes whenever she'd look at me.

My first reaction was to tell her: Look, sometimes you get things and the boys don't. That's how it goes sometimes. What I snippily wanted to add, but didn't was: Sometimes you're more special on some days than others. Get over it. But then, I started to feel bad for her - WTF??

After I said my above piece, I went ahead and ignored the silent tantrum, and eventually she did get over it, but it got me thinking. Have I been so worried about making sure my kids all get the same stuff, that now they expect things when they don't need or deserve it? Christmas is a good example. In the past, we've always tried to spend the same amount of $$$ on the kids. Well, the older they've gotten, the trickier that's become. But, they're still young enough to raise a fuss when one child has more presents than the other...so we buy a couple of "filler" presents for the child who's got the least to alleviate the problem. Soon, the belief prevailed that if "she got something at Walmart, I should get something too." Yuck. I'm raising greedy little yard gnomes!

I've got a parenting problem that needs a quick remedy. Stop buying things for them unless they really, REALLY need it. Argh. If it was so easy, I'd be doing it, dammit.

And it's not Charles.

And it's not me or my husband, either.

Recently, life has been toddling along a decent pace. Summer is going fast, kids are active and healthy, my sanity is somewhat intact, social network is fluid...you know, all that life and liberty stuff Thomas Jefferson promised us way back when.

Just when I think life is good and going exactly the way I want it, the Divine Beings throw a kink in the works.

The latest...we are a two-car family. We really don't need to be, because I live five minutes from my work and Brent works at home. But...we're blessed enough to have two cars (one is paid off already; has been for along time). So, because we have the two cars, we seem to depend on the two cars...know how that goes?

Now I try to send some thanks of gratefulness Her way everyday, but maybe I've gotten a bit uppity for my own britches. Anyway, our car's alternator died Wednesday...

*at a gas station
*after it had just run fine three minutes before
*with three kids and a dog in tow
*with two adults who did not anticipate having to get out of the car
much and thus did not dress their three-year-old appropriately
(hence t-shirt and diaper, no shoes)

This was a potential bad, bad thing. Fortunately, my mom was still awake, so she gave us a ride home. The next morning, we all went bright and early to jump start the car and drive to the nearest Chevy dealer (fortunately just down the road). Turns out the battery is dead and so is the alternator.

So we've just paid a car repair bill to the tune of $850.

Again, yet another message from the Goddess. If what you seek you find not within, you will never find it without.

So I'm little by little updating the colors in my house. Trying to freshen things up with a coat of paint and some new decor. Good times.

Right now I'm working on the front room, which is sort of a sitting/reading/parlor room. Basically, the front door opens up onto this room and has an excellent view of the street outside. The walls are a plain off-white, nothing spectacular, but this was the room we've been using to house our art that we've bought on our last two trips (Greece and New Orleans). This room was also sort of a hodgepodge of whatever. There were two bookcases, a console table, coat tree, sofa and oversized armchair.

As of today, the two bookcases have been relocated. I'm substituting a piece of decor from our bedroom to this room, and I think I'll put the family pics somewhere else in the house. Our furniture in this room is ten years old...blue, green, and white plaid (large scale) and matching armchair. I love the armchair...it's overstuffed and my favorite place to read. However, the couch needs to go...cushions are ripped, etc. Maybe the couch SHOULD go - and I won't replace it with another couch but another armchair. Oooooooh.....inspiration.

The feel I will attempt to evoke in this room is a French Country Cottage. Walls are in the process of going from off-white to a deep gold color. Window treatments ideas are leaning towards black-and-cream toile drapes. Our three pieces of collected art will add splashes of reds and blue, as will a couple of extra red items here and there.

The problem is...the front room opens up to a hallway that leads to office and bedrooms. So...I've got to paint the hallway gold as well, because there's no logical place to stop painting. Heh.

Click Here to See the New Front Room Paint Color Note: You'll have to type Gambol Gold in the search bar.

OK - I've told about my current home improvement project - what are you all working on?

:) Between fellow bloggers here wanting to avoid spoilage by my discussing the last HP book and my husband (who's reading it right now) taking several days to get through it, I'm caught in limboland.

I have lots to talk about, but nobody to discuss it with.

I'll try not to be specific. First off, though, I was shocked about the number of people who died in the book. Especially in the beginning. I mean, really, what a tone to set for the rest of the book! Second, the Epilogue is a great idea...but it still left lots of questions unanswered. I mean, I want to know what happened to EVERYBODY in the book, not just the handful Rowling focuses on. Finally (but not finally), the saddest part of the whole book was the unrequited love story...I mean, damn! It really put events and people in a different light and explained some things.

Well, I'll stop now. I hope to say more at a later date.