Killing them with kindness....

We've all heard the saying before, but it really is true. I've been refinshing our kitchen table this week, which means time in the garage (and little people following me in there!). It also means that the cans of paint that Daddy left out, opened I should add (to dry them out so the dump will accept them) were available for the little people who follow me around all day.

So when I heard my oldest start crying and saying "you're gonna be mad at me", I really wasn't that surprised. I mean, come on, 10 gallons of piant and three children? Can anyone really expect anything less? When she finally coughed it up, apparently she had gotten paint on the Cinderella dress up clothes that Megan had been wearing.

Now I don't claim to be a perfect mother. Heck, I don't claim to be mediocre, and I will admit that my normal response to things like this would be (said in wicked-witch style of course) "Why would you be playing in paint? You know better than that. Go outside!" Yes, I would have said that even though I was letting them in the garage with the paint in the first place. But I didn't say it this time. I was good, people, I was very, very good! I looked at her and simply said in a nice, calm voice, "Oh, I guess you'll be earning money to buy a new dress for Megan then won't you?" and I went back to work on my table. When she continued to cry, I put my arm around her and told her, "It's only a dress, Emilee. It's ok. You'll just have to work it off and make it up to Megan."

I can't tell you how proud I was of myself. Emilee, on the other hand, continued to sob and cry. She didn't seem to be appreciating my soft, kind approach. In fact, when I came out of the garage 20 minutes later I heard her inside the house still sobbing. Now if I had screamed, she would have cried...and gotten over it. Something about the whole "under" reaction thing really threw her for a loop and she was either scared that a) aliens had abducted her mother and replaced her with someone else or b) I was disappointed, which we all know is the worse possible punishment a parent can really bestow upon their offspring.

You really can kill them with kindness.

Must be nice

This is my daughter's beautiful hair after a summer of fun in the sun.

Must be nice to have hair this color, complete with highlights, without paying $100 or more.

I wouldn't know.

Actually, that's a lie. I did know, once upon a time. Of course, I was a child myself, so I certainly didn't appreciate it. Why is it that we appreciate things so much more when we don't have them? It's like when I used to think I was *gasp* fat....as a teenager I lamented my thighs.

Now, I would kill for those thighs! I need to learn to appreciate things when I have them. All those things I had when I was younger....beautiful bright hair color, smooth skin, good muscle tone....now only a memory. I wonder what things I have now, that I may take for granted or even dislike, that will only be a distant wish-I-had-that-again memory 20 years from now.

Some chocolate....

Well, the PLAN was to post you some chocolate anyway. But a certain really annoying and pathetic website that shall remain unnamed (*cough*blogger*cough*) won't let me.

So thanks to those who answered! You can have the self satisfaction of knowing you made someone's life easier and it was fat free as well!

17!

That's how many people have come to my blog today and ignored my desperate pleas for help with my little poll. Apparently, not as many people like chocolate as I thought.

STOP!

Do not move on to another blog. Do not pass Go. Do not read and think you'll respond later but never come back.

Help a poor girl out. I'm in charge of a baby shower. I know many of you, having been in my shoes, will take pity on me and help me. Those of you who haven't, will put your imaginations to work.......and help me. Those who lack imagination, will see me groveling and begging and feel sorry for me.....and help me.

So we're doing games at the shower. I know, I know....I hear complaints about games all the time. But I like baby shower games! And the other gal in charge with me likes them as well. So we're having games! One such game will be Baby Fued, taken after Family Fued. So I need your answers to the following. Please....pretty pretty please....with a cherry on top? A cherry dipped in chocolate? Aha, I knew I'd get some of you with the chocolate!

Name the best things about having 3 children ages 2 and under...(we're asking this because...well, she is doing just that, and needs some warm fuzzies to think about! lol)

Name something you love about babies

Name something you pack in your birth bag

Name an activity you WON"T be doing right after you have a baby

Name a must-have baby item

Name a common item in a diaper bag

How many times does a baby wake a night?

How many diapers will a new mom go through each day?

Name a baby item that starts with B

What time of day will Jennica's baby come? (such as afternoon, dawn, middle of the night)

How old will baby be when he gets his first tooth?