Adventures in Obnoxious Parenting

The past few days, I have seen some parenting skills that have really made me shake my head in disbelief - and of course, I have to share:

1) There is a 4 year old boy that we know - let's just call him Wild Child - who is completely out of control. Now, normally I try to give kids the benefit of the doubt (maybe they are having a bad day, didn't take a nap, etc.), but after watching this little hellion down five Coke Classics in a row at a BBQ and then eat two bowls of ice cream with a popscicle chaser, all while his mother looked on without so much as batting an eye, I realized that this kid's problem is actually a serious lack of parenting. He's consistently disruptive, pitches a fit when he doesn't get his way, and rarely does his mother even look in his direction, let alone try to curb his behavior. The last time we ran into him, Wild Child decided to make Rory his new "best bud"" and was constantly jumping on him, putting him into a strangle hold and trying to get him to be his partner in crime. Hoby and I kept having to step in and pull Wild Child off of our son and tell him to quiet down - and to my utter disbelief, his parents were NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. And trust me, I looked. AND LOOKED. Who the heck leaves their hyper-active four year old son without direct supervision for 40 minutes? UNBELIEVABLE!

2. Shortly after that, we took Rory to an outdoor mall where they have a cool little fountain/wading pool that keeps him happily occupied hours. As we were sitting there keeping an eye on Ro, we saw a little girl slip and fall down on the pavement pretty hard. I mean, she REALLY ate it. I quickly looked over at her parents, who were sitting across the fountain from us, and then jumped up to see if she was okay. I helped her up, and again looked over at her parents because this girl is obviously upset and probably hurt and astonishingly, her parents are not even moving! They don't come over to see if she's okay, don't call to her, no reaction at all! And it's not like they didn't see what happened or couldn't hear her crying. They just sat there and watched us. Uh, don't bother to get up or anything, people - feel free to let a perfect stranger look after your injured child while you finish your soda. Sheesh!

3. And last, but certainly not least... Yesterday Rory and I went to an indoor play area called Playsource. There weren't a lot of kids there, but being the social butterfly that he is, Rory went over and started to try and play with the only two little girls in there, who were probably around five years old. I was sitting right next to both of their mothers watching the kids interact, when I suddenly hear one of the girls say to Rory, "You're a LOSER and I don't play with losers, so get lost!" I was totally stunned - I actually think my mouth may have dropped open in surprise - and poor Rory had no idea what she meant but I could tell he knew she had said something mean. So I looked at her mother, expecting her to say something to chastise her little bully-in-training, but all she does is turn to me, shrug her shoulders and say with a smile, "Kids these days! They just say the darndest things, don't they?" Uh, WHAT? That's it?! Are you KIDDING?

Now, obviously, I'm not exactly in the running for "Parent of the Year" either, but when I see crap like this take place, it actually helps me realize that I may not be doing such a bad job after all...

Saving Your Bucks at the 'Bucks

Can't live without your daily stop at The Mother of All Coffee Houses? You and me both! It's been a painful (and expensive) adjustment now that I'm no longer working at a coffee shop and getting my drinks for free. However, there are a few tricks I've learned over the years that will help you save some green while still getting your daily fix of caffeine.

1) Take advantage of refills! Did you know that you can get refills of coffee, iced coffee and iced tea for only fifty cents? While this technically is only supposed to apply to refills during a single visit, they will rarely question you if you show up with your cup from a previous visit and ask for a refill. So remember that saving your cup means saving money.

2) Bring your own cup. Okay, so bringing in your own travel mug only gives you a ten cent discount, but if you get coffee every day, this will eventually add up to big savings. And it helps save the environment, too.

3) Taking your kids to the 'Bucks for a blended ice cold treat? Order a Venti of their favorite Frappuccino and ask to have it split into two small cups. You'll save several dollars without sacrificing a single sip of sugary goodness.

4) Your little ones want hot chocolate but you're a little low on cash. No problem! Ask for child sized hot cocoas (or vanilla steamers) - they only cost a dollar and ten cents each and are the perfect size for tiny tummies.

5) Are you one of those people who always has to dump some of your coffee out in the trash so you can add just the right amount of cream? Next time, ask for them to put your coffee in the next cup size up (for example, "Can I have a grande drip in a venti cup please?") so you can add as much cream as you like without having to dump any coffee. You get a couple of extra sips that are your perfect blend of cream and coffee, and your favorite barista will be happy that they don't have to drag soggy trash bags across the store. Trust me, happy baristas = better coffee!

Okay, so now that you know all my tricks... go out there and get your daily fix for less!

Winning the Food Fight

My son is a finicky eater, especially when it comes to dinner. It's gotten to the point where I wonder why I even bother to try and put food in front of him when we sit down for dinner. Things he WILL eat: veggie corn dogs, lollipops, fruit popscicles - are we seeing a trend here? So I finally got the brilliant idea last night to shove some of the chicken we were eating on a stick - and lo and behold, the kid ate it! Not only did he gobble it up, he even asked for more.

I guess the trick is in the stick!

A Near Death Experience at Chipotle

How crazy would it be if my husband had to tell people that his wife choked to death on a tortilla chip at Chipotle? Well, today it seriously almost happened!

I was snacking on some chips and salsa at lunch today when suddenly, I felt a piece of chip get stuck in my throat. I wasn't too worried about it at first. I grabbed for a drink and took a big sip to wash it down. But instead of going down, the drink actually backed up in my throat. And suddenly, I couldn't breathe.

Cue panic! I tried to calm down because I knew that panicking would only make my throat close up even more, but let me tell ya, it was HARD to do. Hoby saw I was choking and started pounding me on the back, and finally, after more than a few hard wacks, the chip started to very slowly scratch it's way down my throat. OUCH.

What did Rory think of all this? Well, let's put it this way, when we tried to put him down for a nap after all the excitement of the day, the King of Procrastination grabbed his throat and said, "I can't go to sleep, Mama - I'm choking!". So while I might not be interested in eating chips again anytime soon, at least I provided my darling son with another way of putting off his naptime!

We Love Wii!

Our family loves our Wii. It's a regular evening activity at our house and is a definite crowd pleaser when family and friends come over. (We should warn you - a few hours at our house may cause you to run out and buy a Wii of your own!)

And now, I have a whole NEW reason to love Wii! Wii Fitness is coming out on May 19th and it looks pretty awesome. Here is the game description from Amazon.com:

The active-play phenomenon started by Wii Sports now spreads to your whole body thanks to a pressure-sensitive Wii balance board, which comes packed with Wii Fit. The board is used for an extensive array of fun and dynamic activities, including aerobics, yoga, muscle stretches and games. Many of these activities focus towards providing a "core" workout, a popular exercise method that emphasizes slower, controlled motions. Family members will have fun staying active and talking about and comparing their results and progress on a new channel on the Wii Menu.

Check out a demo video here (also compliments of Amazon).:

Happy Wii-ing!