High efficiency vehicle parking

We drive a 10 year old mini-van, one that my kids friends have a hard time opening the doors, since they are manual, not automatic.  We're not interested in replacing it, much to the disappointment of the kids, since we don't have the money for a new car right now.  Recently, my 8 year old noticed the painted spots in a parking lot, reserved for high efficiency cars.  She asked what that meant.  I explained that that car manufacturers can use new technology to make their cars use gas more efficiently.  If people purchase those types of cars, they can park in these reserved spots.  My 10 year old asked if our car was fuel efficient, I replied no, that technology wasn't around 10 years ago.  The 8 year old chimed in, saying 'well, we may not be using fuel efficiently, but we're certainly using money efficiently.'   I love her wit and wisdom.

8 year olds campaigning

My daughter shared with me the classmates who'd received her vote in the student council election.  Her first vote went to her best friend.... of course, her second went to the classmate who, in her speech, vowed to encourage "all girls to flush when they use the bathroom."  If only politics were so simple for adults.  The boy sitting next to my daughter voted for the same gal twice, because she'd vowed to get chicken wings on the cafeteria menu, a very important issue to him, apparently.

The Talk

As a parent, I've learned that most important conversations are impromptu.  One day you hear a friend with older daughters say, well we had 'the talk' today, and you think, I won't have that talk for years.  Then, your 6 year old has a teacher that is expecting, which leads to the question "where do babies come from?"  My two daughters teamed up on me too.  I started with the talk about love, marriage, baby, etc.  They wanted more of the physical details.  I elaborated, with what I thought they could understand, they pressed for more details, I responded "you really want to know?"  I offered a little more.  Their eyes got wider with each new morsel of knowledge.  At the end of the conversation, the younger one responded, "oh, I thought the woman just ate something and it grew in her tummy."  The older daughter said 'So a woman's body changes when she gets pregnant, what happens to the man's body?"I replied that nothing physically changes for men, she said in turn "well, thats not fair!"

Sitting on the bench

My 10 year old recently joined a club soccer team.  She's good, but the other players are better. She spends most of her time on the bench at games.  Sometimes she cares, sometimes she doesn't, she loves soccer, so for the most part she's happy to be on the team. I've noticed that I'm more bothered by her being on the bench, then my husband is, and possibly more then my child is. I don't want to be 'that' parent who complains... and I am trying to treat this experience as a life lesson for her.  I patiently explain the important role she plays on the team, that her time will come, make the most of your time on the bench, etc, etc.  In doing so, I also find myself at a place in my life where I too am sitting on the bench.   My team is other moms in the community.  I always wanted to be included in the group, and now am, I am blessed to be in a community of amazing women.  I've realized that I sometimes feel that I'm watching them play, while sitting on the bench.  They are playing the game of leading a philanthropy effort, hosting the discussion group at church, earning an income, leading the volunteer effort at school or training for a marathon, and I'm sitting on the bench. I play part of the game, volunteering here and there, looking for a part-time job, I'm certain the team would say that I am 'doing great', but mostly I feel like I sit on the bench.  I guess I need to take to heart the advice I gave my daughter 'you are important to the team, you will get your time and in the meanwhile, watch, learn and have fun. Make the most of your time on the bench, its going to make you a better player in the long term.'

Thankyou, have a nice day.

My seven year old walks to school every morning and is helped across the street by a policeman, directing traffic. I joined her one day this week, to take muffins in for her classroom. As we were directed to cross the street, she yelled "Thank you, have a nice day" to the officer, he responded in kind. I asked her if she always said that, she replied "everyday" It was a proud mom moment, because, after years of telling her "remember to say thankyou" etc, etc, she just does it, like its second nature. I'm raising a good kid. Sometimes, I just have to remind myself of that.

Homeshopping network and 75

75, thats the age my mom was when she started referencing products that she'd heard of on HSN. I'm not certain if she's bought any yet, but many have caught her eye. Most recently its the WOW bra. She said she wanted to get it, but then, she heard from a friend that was equally impressed with the infommercial and had actually purchased it.... she said she'd wait until her friend's had arrived, and just try it on then.

Bifocals--- Really?

So my last eye exam was two years ago and I was told my vision hadn't changed much, my current script for glasses, which was two years old, was fine. So, naturally I was shocked when I heard the optometrist say that I need bifocals... then he added "well, you're about the right age" REALLY? I'm 42?
So I offered my new standard response that "40 is the new 60." He didn't laugh, he was probably 60, and, he was ugly, but that's not relevant, and perhaps petty on my part, since I was blindsided by the new script... but come on bifocals, really?
I've had them now for six hours, and the only thing that I've noticed so far is that the letters that show up when your change your password on Google, you know that funky curved script on a word that may not be a word, well, they're no longer blurry... I just assumed that they were designed to be blurry. So if those letters and numbers are blurry to you, you might be joining the bi- club.