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I've been worried lately. I've been worried about how I'm going to afford Christmas. I've been worried about getting everything done- decorating, entertaining, work, family, friends. I've been worried about, well, everything. Seriously. That's why Slarti's post was a breath of fresh air:

Here’s the way I see it: most of our frustrations in life come from measurements against some perceived standard, and our lives falling short.  This is true of marriage.  This is especially true of the Christmas season.  Something in our brains insists that there is such a thing as an ideal Christmas, and even though we can’t remember the particulars, we’d swear we had one in our childhood.

It just isn’t true. Even if it SEEMED perfect, your parents were highly stressed out to make it appear that way to you.  The good old days were NOT that good.  This is a trick our brains play on us.

You know, he's right. I grew up with big family Christmases with all the cousins and the ham and the presents and decorating. And in my mind's eye, it was perfect. But I know my parents stressed over whether it was not even perfect, but okay.

See, I think it's normal and possibly even good for us to worry about things, but when we let it take over, as I have lately, it goes from keeping us on our toes to making us neurotic. So this Christmas I'm not going to sweat it. I'm going to accomplish what's in my capability and not worry about everything else. Whew.

Create You Squidoo Lens On A Shak Subject And You Could Be Featured On Shakadoo! Once you have built your lens, submit it to the group HERE.

I Hate to Clean by rms

Join Me in My Diversion from Cleaning

I'm just sitting here at my computer.  I'm not vacuuming.  I'm not doing the laundry, washing dishes or scrubbing the floor.  I'm not sweeping up dog hair.  I'm not looking for dust bunnies under the beds.  I'm not even making the beds, or fluffing any pillows.  In other words, I'm sitting here, playing on the internet instead of cleaning my house.  Don't get me wrong.  I do feel a wee bit guilty about it, but not quite quilty enough to get off my butt and actually pick up a mop.

Are you like me?  Would you rather do anything besides clean?  Are you always looking for things to do that will keep you away from cleaning?

Scroll through my I Hate to Clean lens to find more important things for you to do, besides cleaning - like take a few polls -do some online shopping- play a game or two - learn about something new - make a lens of your own. etc. etc. etc.

And if you really hate to clean as much as I do, please let me know by rating this lens using the stars above. 

Photo from www.tys.fi/www/siivousopas_eng 

I Really Hate to Clean

And I Can Prove It

I hate to clean so much that I made enough lenses, in a few short months, to be honored with this badge and inclusion into the elite Giant Squids group here at Squidoo.

Now that adds up to A LOT of NOT cleaning. More than 50 lenses worth of NOT cleaning to be precise.

Don't believe me?
Go ahead and ask my family. I have no doubt that they'll back me up on this 100%. There has been almost no cleaning done at my house since I joined Squidoo.

And the fun doesn't stop there. My next goal is to be included into the 100 club!

I'm hoping to soon make enough money to hire a maid.
Again, my family is with me 100% and are encouraging me to please do it quickly.
Isn't my family the BEST?  If you need a diversion from cleaning, click here to read the rest of this amusing Squidoo lens!

To learn everything you ever wanted to know about ways to avoid cleaning, visit the entire lens by clicking: I Hate to Clean

My oldest son is eight years old. He is smarter than me. He is also smarter than his father. In fact, he is smarter than the whole planet! Do you have one of these?

My son JD has always acted older than his age. When he was 3, he was actually 13. Now that he is 8, he is 18 or so it has always seemed. When he was very young, people used to always say how cute he was "just like a little man". My husband and I would smile and nod politely and then give each other a look to say "if they only knew"!

Don't get me wrong, JD is a really cool little boy. He just thinks he is right about everything! He will argue with us about every single thing we say. If we say the sky is blue, we are wrong. I am surprised that he has not challenged the fact that my name is Kelly!

Luckily, he does not do this in school. He saves it for his parents, family members and friends. It drives me completely crazy! We have spoken about it with him numerous times. We have told him that people do not like to be argued with and that it could affect friendships and relationships throughout his life. Of course, according to him we are wrong.

I never expected to have a "teenager" so soon. I think I would deal with it better if he was an actual teenager because this behavior is somewhat expected at that age. When it comes from a young child (starting from the time he learned to talk), it is extremely exasperating.

He really has a great personality aside from the arguing and the "I am right" syndrome. I just need to figure out how to break him of this horrible habit. I really am concerned about it turning people off to him especially when he is older. I would love to hear any suggestions or stories of similar behavior. Is your child smarter than you?????

Blogarita's blogging again, and I'm so glad she's back! However, I'm not glad she had to deal with this at her kid's preschool:

Today, however, the daycare provider had an extra child in her care and wasn't able to get Sparky. She sent her husband to get him, and the preschool let Sparky go with him! He is NOT on the approved list, and they did NOT check to see whether he was on it or not. They simply put her in his car and let her go.

I can't even begin to tell you how angry this would make me if it was my kid. Heck, I read the post and got angry and it's not my kid. One would think that just the fact that it was a man picking Sparky up when it's usually a woman might make them question. Sounds like they are paying no attention whatsoever. Fortunately, Blogarita knows and is cool with the daycare provider's husband. But what if it had been a kidnapper or a crazy drunk uncle? (I have a few crazy drunk uncles in my family, Blogarita might not)

What do you think, Love Shak-ers? Would this make you absolutely ballistic, or am I overreacting? Read Blogarita's whole post for more info to help you make up your mind.

If you would like to find a special way to send your love to family across the miles, here it is! You can create an online greeting card from the entire family.

First, you pick your design. Then you invite others to add to the card. You can add pictures, videos and voice messages from the whole family. What a great way to send a special greeting to loved ones who live far away. Of course, you could also send one to someone nearby as well. The best part about this is that it is free!

Create an online Christmas card, complete with photos, text, voice, stories, signed by your friends and family.

I think the grandparents of our grandparents would be absolutely shocked at the manners people display today. Go back a hundred years and people were far more polite than they are now. Is it modern conveniences that have caused us to drop the manners, or what?

I was sitting in a dentist's office waiting for my daughter to be finished with her procedure when a woman said, rather loudly, "This room reeks!" Her approximately 3 year old daughter said, "Yeah, it's coming from over there," pointing at a woman sitting by herself across the room. "No," the mother said, "It's this whole room. It smells terrible in here."

My mother always taught me not to say a place smells or, heck, she even taught me pointing at people was rude. For the adult woman to start going on about the room was bad enough, but not correcting her daughter who pointed at a woman and essentially said she smelled bad really took the cake for me. I was completely shocked.

Today I was in a public restroom when a woman came in, obviously talking on her cell phone. I was torn- should I stop peeing lest the person on the other side of the phone heard me? What should I do? I quickly finished up and flushed the toilet. Did the woman apologize for obviously being in a restroom on the phone? No, she just talked louder, over the sound of the flushing toilet.

Again, I think it's completely rude to carry on a phone conversation in the bathroom. Sure, having a phone that can go anywhere is convenient, but does the other person on the line really want to hear someone else's bathroom business? What about the people in the restroom, do they want their bathroom business broadcast to the entire world? I mean, what if I had had gas?

Perhaps white glove manner courses are in order for these rude people. I have to wonder if some good manners would set in if they were properly taught, or if they would just continue with their rudeness.

These days, it is more important than ever to stay on top of what our children are doing. We need to be involved parents who monitor their activities. Does that sound too strict? I do not think so considering the potential dangers this modern world presents us with.

First, there is the internet. It is crucial to protect your children from danger while browsing the web. There are so many ways that harm can come to them via the world wide web. Next, television shows made for children are trying to strip away parents authority one show at a time.

What about video games? Sure, you can monitor what video games your child purchases through the game rating system. What if your child's friend brings a game to your house that you wouldn't approve of and are not aware of? Mama Divas has a great answer to that situation. Parents Can Use Controls Based on ESRB Ratings to Filter Content on Gaming Consoles:

"Well what if little 9-year-old Johnny decides to sneak Manhunt 2 into the House and play through its gory stages on the sly? What some parents may not be aware of is that they can use the built-in parental control features in their children’s consoles to allow or deny a games to be played according to its ESRB rating."

The article goes into more detail about this and you can read it here.

Life is pretty funny. I always thought my parents were way to strict. Their rules seemed silly and I thought they were just trying to prevent me from having any fun. Now as a parent, I completely understand the necessity for such rules. Thank you Mom and Dad!

Kathy T's more nervous about her daughter's performance in the National Vocabulary Championship than her daughter is. I totally understand this, when I watch my kids do anything in front of an audience, I wring my hands in fear that they will be embarrassed.

My kids have had all sorts of performances and other public exhibitions and they've always come through. No, it's me that's the embarrassment- like those moms you see in the backs of beauty pageants mouthing words and putting big, fake smiles on their faces, I always want to try to help. The kids just don't look at me, lest they die of embarrassment right there on the stage.

I've really got to work on that before I get myself banned from the kids' performances.

What a sickly household I have at the moment! My son had pneumonia earlier this month. He seemed to get over it and returned to normal activity. The day before Thanksgiving, he started getting sick again. I took him to the doctor and everything checked out clear. I figured it was a new bug and hopefully it would just run its course.

Next one up! Now my youngest DJ is sick. He has the horrible cough and congestion too. Both Lou and DJ have had a fever for several days. Back to the doctor we went! It turns out that Lou still has a touch of pneumonia. Golly gee, why couldn't they hear that when I took him last week and he sounded just as bad then! Lou also has an ear infection. DJ's lungs are clear but the poor baby has a really bad ear infection.

Next one up......ME! Both of my ears are clogged so bad that I can barely even hear. They both hurt and I have a horrible ringing noise in one of them. I have not had an ear infection since I was a small child but I feel sure I do now. I will be going to the doctor today. I have not been to a doctor in a year but not being able to hear is driving me crazy!

I am knocking on wood while I write this but so far my oldest son is doing fine. I think he has a more mature immune system since he is older. He used to be my sickly one but has been on a pretty healthy road lately.

I know the source of all of this sickness. I put Lou in preschool about two months ago. I wanted for him to get more interaction with peers and I wanted some time to work! He has basically been sick since I put him in. I am debating keeping him out until the end of the year. I want him to get past all of this and be healthy again. I don't know if that is too drastic or just good common sense. What do you think?

Are there any bachelor fans out there? For those of you that watch the show, you will appreciate everything that I am saying. For those of you who don't, you may as well quit reading because you just won't get it. I hate to admit this, but I do not miss an episode when it is on. Everyone in my family knows that when it's Monday night at 8:00 p.m., I am to be left alone. So, if you saw the latest edition of The Bachelor, you can't tell me you weren't disappointed.

I am all about the fairy tale. I know that most of the people on that show end up apart but I want to see the fairy tale at least at the end. Could he not have chosen one of the girls and then dumped her a couple weeks later?

I am done. I will not watch it again. It was like watching a really good movie and being totally into it and at the end the good guy dies. I know I am rambling about something that really doesn't matter but I just had to get it off my chest.

Thanks for listening.

Black Friday has come and gone. Normally, I'm out there shopping with everyone else, but I spent the day sick. Instead, I get to live vicariously through everyone else' Black Friday shopping:

Mom Of 3 Girls has some very good advice and the story of her shopping trip.

Laura Williams went shopping, but not for Christmas gifts.

BusyMom lets us know 3:33 AM is very early to be up and dressed. Pshaw.

Lindsay is very concerned that people who can't afford it were out there for the bargains.

Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer was out in the mess, and has a great comment thread about it.

What about you? Did you go out shopping or did you stay home?

[photo credit: Heather Solos]

I turned on my computer this morning ready to tackle the day and found that I had been tagged. I noticed a comment on one of my posts and this is what it said....

"You are IT in a game of blog tag! Find out the details of the game by visiting the post that you were tagged in http://www.shakinstyle.com/2007/11/i-was-tagged.html

Looking forward to seeing your blog tag post!"

I then headed over to Shak In Style to see what this was all about. This is what I learned...

"Post these rules on your blog.
List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
Tag seven random [?] people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting on comment on their blog."

Here we go!

1. My whole life I have been deathly afraid of flying. I would cancel trips just so that I didn't have to get on a plane. I planned vacations that we could drive to no matter how long it took. This year I tackled my fears and made myself fly. I now love it and can't wait to plan that next trip.

2. I love to sing. I can't sing but I love it. I drive my kids crazy in the car because I sing the whole time. I always tell them that I was asked to go on tour with Kelly Clarkson but being the great mother that I am I chose to stay with them instead. I don't think they are buying it.

3. I am a junk food addict or I should say was until I found out that I had high cholesterol.(imagine that) I could hit 3 drive thrus a day and be perfectly happy. Obviously I don't do that but I crave it terribly.

4. I have to have 1 fountain soda a day. I love the fizz and it wakes me up.

5. I am an animal lover. Many days I stop by the Humane Society just to pet the cats and see the dogs. My dream is to one day own an animal shelter.

6. I can't keep my eyes open if I am driving in a car on the highway for more that 15 minutes. Whenever my husband and I have to go anywhere that is a ways away you can be certain I will sleep the whole way. I manage to stay awake when I am driving. Thank Goodness!

7. I dunk 1 cookie every morning in my my coffee. It doesn't matter what kind it is, I just have to have one. I can be cranky if we are out.

I guess that's it for me. Take a look at the 7 seven people that I have tagged...

badbadivy at shakhammer

Fussypants at Fabulous Mommy

Kailani at Islandlife

Megan at Velveteen Mind

Amanda at The Pea Chronicles

Monawea at Super Mom Life

Char at Casual Keystrokes

That does it for me.

On Friday, I wrote a post in Shak In Style. My post was tagged for a game of blog tag!

I took my turn in the tag game today. You can view it in Shak In Style right HERE. I hope you enjoy it. I found it to be very fun!

I went outside to the mailbox this morning and was very sad by the letter that I received. An old neighbor of mine was asking for a donation for a foundation that she founded in honor of her 17 year old son. He was diagnosed with a very rare brain tumor that will eventually take his life.

Lately, I have known so many people diagnosed with cancer. In fact it seems that more young people are diagnosed all of the time. This just breaks my heart.

Slash Your Child's Cancer Risk written at DrGreene.com gives some recommendations to follow in hopes of cutting your child's risk from developing cancer.....

"Choices we make with our children can strongly influence their odds of getting cancer for the rest of their lives. Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective, released in November 2007, is comprehensive analysis of over 7000 different scientific studies. Based on these, the expert panel makes 8 core recommendations (and two special recommendations) for cancer prevention. Among other things, this is the first major report to recommend breastfeeding for preventing cancer in both mothers and their babies. The potential benefit from following all of these recommendations is huge (preventing as many as 1/3 of all cancers), but for many families they may feel overwhelming. Knowing the targets, though, may help to make some steps in the right direction. The report includes recommendations for all of us, but I will focus here on how their recommendations apply to children"

Make sure that you read all of the recommendations listed at DrGreene.com.  He talks about fruits and vegetables being so important. I do believe that fast food is so unhealthy, but I also know how easy it is to hit the drive thru when you are on the run. We are a family on the run so I do it all of the time.

I am ready to do whatever it takes to help protect my children from this awful disease. If it means better planning on my part, I will just add it to my list of things to do.

My prayers go out to any parent dealing with a child that has cancer!

Last Christmas I bought my son a lot of Thomas The Train engines. He loved them and played with them all of the time, That is, until I heard about the recall and had to take them away. He was left with an empty train table to stare at.

This holiday season, consumers and parents are struggling to find safe and lead free toys. The choices are limited and often expensive.

I came across this adorable little train set. It is made in the USA and is lead free. The great part is that it is compatible with Thomas and Brio sets. The price of $36.90 is reasonable too. It is quickly becoming the fastest selling toy this holiday season.

Here is further product information from the manufacturer:

Little Engine That Could Wooden Toy Train Set

Featured on ABC & NBC

Looking for a toy train set that's child safe and made in the USA? We love Watty Piper's classic story around here, so we were thrilled to find this Little Engine That Could train set. This wonderful made in the USA toy is compatible with Thomas and Brio sets. Includes the engine, three cars, and red caboose.This is crafted just like traditional toys were made in the past, so you can bet it will last!

:: Authentically made to last for generations
:: Painted with child-safe lead free paints and sealers
:: Fine Hand Detailing
:: Handmade of reforested birch hardwood
:: Railcars are heavier than other brands

Made in:
USA

I already bought this train set for my son for a Christmas present. He will be able use his train table again and I won't have to worry about taking his trains away again. Satisfy your little train lover with this lead free train set!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and now comes the countdown to Christmas. What should be such a fun time turns into utter chaos. Ian's Messy Desk gives 10 Steps To Getting Into The Christmas Spirit.....here are a few.....

1. Shop early
2. Share the spirit
3. Give
4. Do something nice
5. Volunteer
6. Organize a food or gift drive
7. Play Christmas music
8. Watch Christmas movies
9. Read
10. Decorate

Ian goes into more detail so head on over to Ian's Messy Desk.

The best advice that I can think of is to try and slow down and enjoy the holidays. It is the most wonderful time of the year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. I am proud to say that my first Thanksgiving dinner turned out just as well as I had hoped it would!

While we all enjoyed great food and a great time with our families, our American troops were not so lucky. They were away from their families and in less than ideal conditions. How can we help make then feel a little closer to home during the holidays?

The Flugpo Blog had a nice post about how to Support Our Troops:

"Even if you don't support the war, it is important to support those men and women who feel they are fighting to protect freedom and liberty for humanity.
The easiest way to do that this holiday season is to send them a Christmas card. You can pick different cards that have different sayings. You can even make your own greeting. You can't pick a certain soldier to send one to, but you know whichever soldier gets your card, he/she will share it with their whole camp. So, please, sign up to mail Christmas cards so our troops. They need all the support and love we can send them this holiday season."

It's all over my feeds today: the classic Sesame Street DVDs are going to carry a parental warning. How sad is that? My mom claims Sesame Street is the reason I taught myself to read when I was three years old.

A few years ago, Noggin was airing these old Sesame Street shows and I sat down and watched them with a lump in my throat. I remember how engaging it was and the shows weren't the slick, overproduced things they are today. They were just good fun.

I'll be buying these DVDs, and I'll be showing them to my children. I really don't think Cookie Monster's overeating or pipe smoking is going to turn my kids into overeaters or pipe smokers any more than it did me. I'm unconcerned.

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. May your traveling be safe and your heart full of thanks. I hope it will be a day filled with love and cherished memories for all.

I would like to share a Thanksgiving poem in the spirit of the holiday. This is from Poetspassion.com:

Poem Title: Give Thanks

Sitting round the table
Take a look at every face
Be thankful for their presence
Bow your head in grace

A day for family gatherings
When calm is in the air
Be thankful for the memories
Of all the good times shared

Remember all the blessings
That have always come your way
Say a daily prayer of thanks
Each and everyday

When you sit down for dinner
Take a look at every face
Bow your head in silence
Take a moment to say grace
~ ~ ~
FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS
HAPPY THANKSGIVING

©2007 Rose Marie Streeter
  [View all of Rose Marie Streeter's work!]

It seems every time I turn on the TV, I hear of more and more toys that are making the recall list. The latest recalls included several toys that were on my kids Christmas lists. It made me start wondering why so many more toys are recalled today than when we were kids. Did they recall any toys when we were kids?

Remember Jarts Yard Darts??? How many of us and our friends were wounded by that smart invention for kids?
And what about Click Clacks? That provided hours of fun carefully beating the glass balls against each other in a rhythmic motion until they finally shattered and caused sever injury to hundreds of young eyes or left you black and blue as you tried to click the clack rather then your face and hands
And who doesn't have a Slip and Slide horror story to tell? You could also tell who secretly hated you by the fact that they bought your kid Lite Brite for Christmas. That wasn't a choking hazard for little kids and a complete mess to clean up.

What about Stretch Armstrong??? Anyone remember him? He was the rubbery man filled with some petroleum based goo that you could stretch and stretch until he finally started ripping and oozing that likely highly toxic gel. Remember what our recall was for that problem?? You could get a patch to put on his rips or perhaps your parent fixed it with duct tape! Oh how times have changed. Its amazing that we all made it this long.

Ah, the good ole days! What are your memories of favorite or dangerous toys. We'd love to hear them and stroll down memory lane a bit longer.

Here's a great Slip and Slide Video...enjoy.

Kathy T's struggling with her almost-teenager:

The only stress right now is the youngest kid who is 12 and thinks she should be allowed to walk to the park with her boyfriend after school. Um, NO.  Final answer.  Why am I so strict?  Because I accidentally read a text message he sent her. Accidentally on purpose.  With  him, the answer will NEVER be yes.  So she informs the husband that the biggest mistake he ever made in his life was marrying “her” she says pointing to me.  Is it illegal to throttle our kids?  I love my daughter.  I do.  But I want to lock her in a room and slide bread scraps and cheese under the door to her.

Recently I was in a fight with my 13 year old, Flip. I looked over at him, seething with anger, and I thought back to my own 13 year old self and realized he was sitting there hating me, just as I did my own mother nearly 20 years ago. I said, "You know, it's okay to hate me."

"No! Mama, I love you, I just..." Flip responded with all the angst of the 13 year old heart.

"No, I understand. I remember hating my mom, too. I think everyone hates their parents at some point or another, and it's okay. You just have to watch and be careful that you don't let those angry, hate feelings take over." Flip was shocked that I ever hated my mom, we get along so well now that I'm older. But I think we all go through it when we're teenagers, that anger and hatred. And as a parent, it hurts, but really, haven't you wanted to pitch your teenager out the window sometimes when they're being mouthy? The door swings both ways, my friends. Both ways. Give your kids the gift of their feelings. They will come back when they're ready.

My middle son, Lou, has always been so good about going to bed at night. That is, until now. All of a sudden he is scared to be in his bedroom during the night.

Lou is three and has started hearing "noises" in his room. He has also requested a second night light. He wants to sleep in my room and has started throwing a fit each night to do so. I am fairly firm about going to bed so I usually get him settled in after reminding him that he is safe. However, he has also started waking up in the middle of the night crying and I am less firm when I am half asleep. At that point, I usually give in and let him come in with us.

I wonder what has brought on this new fear for him? Why has he suddenly become fearful at night? Well, it seems to be typical for this age. http://www.kidsgrowth.com has an article entitled Mom - There's a Monster in the Closet! It makes me feel a little better knowing that Lou is just going through something that is normal for his age:

"Around the age of three or four, many children begin to experience certain fears when they go to bed. Their imagination can invoke monsters or ghost images in the closet, under the bed, or somewhere in their bedroom. They may experience bad dreams that seem very real to them. Children this age are able to imagine scary situations because they begin to think about possibilities of harmful things happening to them."

I really hope this difficult bedtime phase ends soon. Last night Lou threw such a fit that he woke up his sleeping baby brother. That was the last thing I needed was to have two of them crying that late in the evening. I am like most mothers and value a little bit of time after the kids go to bed. I am very tired at that point in the day and want to unwind and relax!

Does anyone have some great suggestions for me? I know this is just a phase but if you have any ideas that might have worked for you, I would love to hear them.

This is a hard post to write on many levels. The girl in this picture is my daughter, and she thinks she is too fat. She is 7 years old and is not fat in any conceivable way. One of our family jokes is, "(Insert any color here) is the new black". She recently said to me, "Thin is the new black". And she wasn't kidding.

It's not just