Most recently there was an ad posted by a mother who was searching for a nanny where she starts off by describing her 4 children as “a pain in the ass“. She talks about mostly her vices and quirks and includes a few sentences here and there give you a slight idea of what the job will actually consist of. Her rant leaves you wondering if she really wants a nanny and if she does, you know she’s gonna have to have nerves of steel and a great sense of humor. Reminds me of working for Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” or the guy on Bravo’s “Flipping Out”.

I’ve never personally had the luxury of placing an ad for a nanny, but I suppose if I did, I would have to be as blunt and honest as the chic writing the ad as well. I mean you don’t want another “The Hand That Rock’s the Cradle” on your hands. Either being the nanny or being the parents that hire one has to be an extremely wiring experience.

I guess what struck most people that created the buzz around this post was the beginning catch with the kids being a pain in the ass statement. I mean how many parents feel this way, and how many parents will actually say it? I don’t go as far to say they are a pain in the ass, lol - but I will say that the weekends their dad doesn’t occupy, feed and bath them, I’m still on duty, at work and praying that my wine box doesn’t run dry.

My kids are a blessing, there’s no doubt about it. I couldn’t imagine life without them at this point. However, if more people told the truth about parenting, rather than judging others for showing the truth of it, then there would be more vasectomy’s That was my husband’s greatest gift he could’ve ever given me on my birthday!! That alone makes him the greatest man that ever lived as far as I’m concerned.

If you have the strength to survive years of regular parenting and somehow still keep your mind in tact, you have the strength to fight in any war or run any country.

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He is suppose to arrive at his bus stop at 4:40 PM. I made sure that I arrived on-time, which is difficult for me- being on-time. I pulled into my little area where I sit and began the short wait - at that time - for my son.

I see the bus. Here it come. Finally! It’s a little, well a lot hot outside. I was getting impatient in the heat. One kid. Two kids. Three kids. Four. They keep piling out of the bus. Then the door closes. All of the kids begin to disperse down the sidewalks and streets to their homes. Hmm. Where is my son? Definitely not among the kids now walking in the hot weather to their enticing cold homes. What? Where are you child?

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This doesn’t come to a huge surprise since it’s a pretty common occurrence for people to make life changing and altering decisions under pressure from the people who are within their immediate circle. I mean look how many people go through with a marriage just because they can’t get their deposit back or wouldn’t want to make 200 people figure out what else they can do on a Saturday.

I’m not sure how many children go missing in this country, but I know there’s a lot, and many of them aren’t missing due to the stranger living next door. If the case that the media is putting out there is accurate, then the odds are that this woman killed her daughter.
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Out of the blue, I thought to myself, “When did I lose time?” I can never seem to arrive on time anywhere, anymore. It was as if that component of my life simply vanished. Just driving to work the other day the question popped into my head. Why? I was on schedule to being late for work! The honest truth to when I can think of on time vanishing for me - after having my second child.
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For me, I don’t find the idea of dying so scary. I came very close to death when I was 23 yrs old and my youngest was 3. I was basically carried into the hospital when my appendix ruptured and I was possibly only a few days or weeks away from death because it had ruptured and the poisons had began to infect other organs.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a very scary experience and the most painful physical experience I’ve ever had, with three weeks in the hospital and three plus months of recovery. However there was some definite strength that I drew from it, as well as the knowledge of how easily death can come knocking. With that memory, I’m often reminded that had it not been for modern medicine, I would have died young and left a three-year-old child behind.

One of the things that I took from the whole experience was that I always want my children to be able to be okay and live on healthily & happily if something were to happen to me. I make sure that their father’s are fully capable of parenting on their own as well as having several other people in their lives whom they share dependency on besides me.

There are tons of ways to prepare children for the inevitable without scaring them and leaving them emotional scarred for life. It’s not only your death when they are young that can leave children handicapped, but some adults lack coping skills that hinder them for years after a parent passes. Understanding how you can make a big difference of how your children handle your death and whether they are prepared is a huge responsibility and in my opinion, part of being a good parent.

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As parents we don’t want to imagine that we will not be here to see our children grow to adults, graduate college, marry, and expedience the miracle of their own children. We can see ourselves spoiling our grandchildren and then send them home to mom and dad. Unfortunately, not every parent will experience these milestones with their children. We see it everyday, children raised by family because parents have died.

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While I do not necessarily agree with China’s sentiment of presenting a flawless image, I can’t see how it is that far from what goes on in America. Let’s face it, how often do we find “average” or “less than average” looking children on cereal boxes, in commercials, or even getting lead roles in their school plays? The only difference it seems between China and the U.S. in this attempt to standardize beauty and portray a false sense of perfection, is that when confronted…China is at least honest about it.

I must admit that China’s presentation with the “dancers” seemed a little bizarre and there is a lot I don’t quite understand about their culture or how they see things. However, I can say that in the land of child pageant’s and plastic surgery, we really have little room to talk or point the finger.

And just for the record, the child they showed who really sang the song actually seemed just as cute to me.

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I’ve only seen a few episodes in which I saw nothing wrong minus the fact that she was a good example of what being human was all about. I did a post on it saying that the show actually made me feel normal as a parent, knowing that I wasn’t the only imperfect one out there. There were times she wasn’t as cool as a cucumber and I saw where it appears that her and her husband don’t have the perfect marriage…but, like most - it seems they try.

One lady suggested that the show be cancelled until Kate underwent psychological treatment. Surprisingly, it didn’t appear that this woman had any children (or at least she didn’t mention how she never treated her children that way) much less eight. Having eight children in the first place might make any normal woman angry, for a while anyway! While the lady made some very valid points and pointed out examples that proved that Kate had some dysfunction and wasn’t always as loving, kind and caring as the perfect mother and wife should seem to be, I have to wonder what the point of pointing these things out was really all about?
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I asked her to explain what exactly she meant by a “popular outfit” and she proceeded to explain to me that popular outfits are what girls that are popular wear in school. OK, so I knew that is what she meant, I just wanted to hear her, “Duh.” I was amazed that at 7 the outfit I showed her seemed perfectly OK.

I do not allow my daughter to wear outfits like the one in the picture. There is no need for a 7 year old to wear it, but for her to completely accept the look means that children in her elementary school DO wear similar outfits and their parents are obviously OK with the look.

How is it OK for a child to wear fishnets? How is it OK for kids to wear skirts so short that when they bend over you can see their underwear? I was shocked that my daughter truly liked what she saw. Why? Simply because it was an outfit girls wear to gain popularity. What happened to attending school for education? That is out the window. It is a popularity contest even for those as young 7.

I decided to take a look at some of the other clothing in the Abbey Dawn line created by Avril Lavigne, pictured and found that not all of the product in her line is depicted like the picture of her. Thanks goodness. No, I do not approve of either skirt, barely at 12 inches, not much will be covered. I’m not thrilled with the jumper either. The sad point to this, these would be the most sought out items of her line because they are flirty and fun apparently.

The line is of course for older children, tweens to teens, but I am not going to allow my daughter when she turns 12 to wear the skirt you see above. The frustrating part of this is knowing that my 7 year old completely feels that outfits, like the one on Avril, is completely acceptable. What are 7 year olds wearing?

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Growing up, I hated my name. Hardly anyone could ever pronounce it (and still can’t) and I was always a little jealous of the girls with such easy to pronounce and common names like Amanda, Leigh or Ashley. However, as you get older and grow into adulthood you can begin to appreciate and love what’s different about you. To a kid though, who wants to just be like everyone else, having a user unfriendly name can be an irritating experience that takes a lot of growing up to be able to overcome. So from the time I was about 8, I took matters into my own hands and made sure that I was known to all of my friends as “Kim”. It wasn’t until I moved away years later that I felt it was too exhausting to keep the fraud going, and decided to just let it go & give into my annoying name Laurel. However, after years of living w/her, I’ve actually grown into my name and today would choose it a million times over a plain name like “Kim”. But I’m all for people being able to name if they don’t like it, it is their name after all.
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